Two-by-Two They Came...

One boy, one girl; two hearts beating wildly!

So, this post too has been a LONG time coming!

(if you don't already follow me on facebook, and want to just skip over the details to get to the funniest part, scroll to the very bottom and start just below the triple star that says "***And for comedy's sake")

After 3 longs years to get our first, oh-so-handsome baby boy, we decided  to start trying for baby #2 pretty early on....in fact, as soon as Ty got home from Iraq and Gage was just 9 months old, we started again.  So, we got a little anxious when it was announced that Ty would be deploying again and we still weren't pregnant, and we quickly got on chlomid.  Last November, just as Ty was heading off to Afghanistan, we spent a lot of money buying all of the expensive pregnancy tests only to find that one after another turned up negative.  So, we had our plan in place, and I was set to begin IUI and IVF this spring while he was deployed.  I kept peeing on sticks, hoping one would be positive, and Ty would call and ask if I had tried again, but sure enough, they were always negative.

After a few weeks of Ty being gone, I was laying in bed pretty late having a hard time trying to sleep, and kept feeling a mild pain in my lower right abdomen and all of my google and WebMD searches kept coming up with an appendicitis...which I was confident it wasn't...so, at 1AM, I went on a desperate rampage to find the last of the pregnancy tests I still had somewhere in my bags and boxes from the move...despite the fact that I'd just taken a test a couple days before, I was very hopeful...and two plus signs later  (a nice little foreshadow there) here we are!

Being that I had just moved, I was having a very hard time getting my insurance switched over, especially since I was in a fairly remote spot...at least for someone with military insurance.  I got my first appointment when I assumed I was about 10 or possibly 11 weeks along...however, despite my no weight gain...actually, weight loss (clearly due to my daily bent over the porcelain throne visits!!!) I had quite the little belly poking out!  I begged my sister Brittany at the last minute to cancel her day and come with me to my first ultrasound.  

After a quick exam, the doc pulled out the measuring tape and said I was 20 weeks along!!? What?  

I turned to him and said,

"That's seriously not even possible.  Do you want to re-measure?"

and the Dr. said with a chuckle; "I'm pretty good at my job...ya know, I've been doing it for a little while now"...(like 20 years)

I laughed in disbelief as he told me not to worry and that the ultrasound tech would be in in a moment to confirm the due date. (I really think he had a good suspicion of what was coming at that point...but he didn't clue me in at all!)

So, as soon as the monitor was pulled up, I saw...a LOT of body parts!!? And then, suddenly I was looking at the photo you see above, and my sister calls out, "Are there TWO in there??"

The tech looked stunned, like I should have already known this by now! He smiled and said, "yup."

In that moment, I was nothing but thrilled, laughing and crying all at the same time!  The tech kept asking me to hold my breath so I could stop long enough for him to get their measurements.  

Not only were there two little buns in the oven, but I was almost 14 weeks along, not 10!! 

Being the ever patient person that I am , I made an appointment at the fetal studio that same day to determine the genders.  I invited my parents to surprise them...and once again, I'm such a great secret keeper, and blurted out that I was having twins within the first 5 and 1/2 seconds of being on the phone with my mom! :) So I made sure not to call my dad since I can't keep my blasted mouth shut, and had her get him there without blowing the surprise!  I had to lie and say that I was further along than I was to get the studio to let me come in, but I was confident my babies would cooperate....eventually.  I mean, the hubs would be calling from Afghanistan that evening to see how the Dr.'s appointment went and how AMAZING would it be to not only announce that it's twins, but what their genders are too!?

After a lengthy session with the ultrasound tech, both babies cooperated, the the gal gave me a 90% confidence rate that it was one girl and one boy, along with a card to come back 1 week later for a double check...which also proved the same.  

Telling Ty was a little bit of a joke...since I had planned this fun way of telling him, only to have it completely backfire.

How I planned the phone conversation to go:

Cass: "So I had this great idea today on how to decorate the babies' room."

Ty: "Oh yeah, tell me about it."

Cass: "I was thinking of doing a Noah's Ark theme, and I could order a vynal sticker to go on their wall that says, 'Two by Two They Came', I mean, I just think it would be so appropriate as well as darling."

**pause for it to set in....

Ty: "What are you saying honey?"

And then he'd figure it out and we'd laugh and cry...it was going to be perfect!

Here's how the conversation actually went:

Cass; "So I had this great idea today..."

Ty, cutting me off; "How's the baby?? Is everything okay? I know you had your appointment today, I've been waiting all day to hear about it."

Cass: "Everything's fine, it was a normal appointment, will you just let me tell you about my idea?"

Ty: "Okay, but hurry, I want to hear about the ultrasound."

Cass: "So I had this great idea today on how to decorate the babies' room, I was thinking of doing a Noah's..."

Ty, cutting me off again, clearly exacerbated; "I don't care about that, I want to know what they found out and what happened in your appointment, is everything normal and healthy, when's the due date, also, I was on our bank account today and saw that you went to the fetal studio...did you find out the gender??"

Cass, unbelievably frustrated that things weren't going as planned....obviously a flawed plan when the hubs is thousands of miles away and is dying to just know if his wife and baby are doing okay, but I persisted: 

"I'm getting around to it; can you indulge your pregnant and mind you, very hormonal wife for 5 seconds while I tell you my idea??"

Ty, annoyed, but realizing he might soon be treading on thin ice if he didn't shut up and listen already: 

"Okay, okay, what was your grand idea?"  

Cass: "I was thinking we could do a Noah's Ark theme and I could order vynal to put on the wall that says, 'Two by Two They Came', I just think it would be very cute as well as appropriate, don't you think?"

**pause for it to set in...still paused...still paused...

Ty: "Is that it?"

Cass: "Yeah, don't you think that is so appropriate?"

Ty: "Yeah yeah, it's Noah's Ark, I get it, real clever Cass, now if that's all, could you please tell me what you found out today?"

Cass: "UGH! I just did!"

Ty, waiting amid the confusion for a moment and clearly not getting it: "Um, okay? Well, since you went to the fetal studio, did you find out the baby's gender?"

Cass: "Yes...what do you think it is?"

Ty, clearly not one for wanting to be surprised or playing along at this point: "I don't know, just tell me. A girl?"

Cass: "Yes!"

Ty: "I knew it! That's so great! Are they sure?"

Cass: "Yes, but you're only half right."

Ty: "What does that mean?"

**Quick interjection here, I swear my husband is the smartest man I know and every test score and GPA will attest, but yes...he seems a little dense in this conversation...also, it was just a whole lot of frustration on both parts clouding the clarity in there. :) 

Cass: "There's also a boy!"

Ty: "What? What does that mean exactly...half right?"

Cass: "Well, it's certainly NOT a hermaphrodite! There's one boy and one girl!"

It took a minute to convince him that I wasn't teasing...I'm kind of a mean tease, and while it is absolutely like me to tease him about something like this, I certainly wasn't teasing today!  By the end of it all, I finally got the results I knew were in there somewhere, with tears and laughter...I'm not sure it was really even possible, but he was more excited than I! 

(here I am at 23 weeks with these two babies of mine)

Since then, there's been time for the fears as well as more excitement to set in further.  The hubs got to come home half way through his tour of duty so he could come to his Captain's career course here in Oklahoma.  And I've had the "joy" of switching doctors mid-pregnancy in an already high-risk pregnancy...not fun!  I've read everything there is to read about twins and the pregnancy etc., and had already bombarded my previous, wonderful doc with every imaginable question, so when I got to Oklahoma at 28 weeks pregnant, I knew exactly what protocol should be happening...and it wasn't!  I've been fighting tooth and nail to get into ultrasounds and appointments that I knew I was supposed to be having, and frankly annoying EVERYONE on the hospital staff, day after day to make it happen.  But then I heard a story of a friend who lost one of her twins so close to the end of pregnancy, and it only strengthened my resolve to not care one little bit who I annoy along the way, as long as my babies get the care they deserve.  I finally got into one doctor who definitely knows what he's doing, and actually only treats high risk pregnancies, and since then, life has been rolling along very smoothly...uncomfortably, but smoothly (and I DO mean ROLLING along!). 

So, the main question I get:  How does this pregnancy compare to my first?

It doesn't at all!!  I didn't get sick one day with Gage, in fact, very soon after delivery, I told my sis that if she ever couldn't get pregnant, I would be her surrogate.  Yeah, thank goodness she got pregnant, because I'd have to re-neg on that offer after this pregnancy!!

I puked every day for the first 18 weeks of this pregnancy! When I wasn't puking, I generally WANTED to puke!  Everything aches all of the time!  I was still walking 7 miles a few times a week clear up to 8 months with Gage...yeah, that's laughable this time around!  

I'm currently at 33 weeks, and have gained 22 lbs, which is considerably better than where I was at with Gage, but I am literally as big as a house!! People stare!! And I honestly can't blame them! I'm shockingly huge, and NO, I have no intention of posting any photos anytime soon. 

But for the fun parts; I LOVE feeling this little circus inside my tummy! (okay, but not at 3am when they're keeping me awake! But if I don't want to be awake alone, I just roll over and cuddle up to my hubby so they can wake him up too!)  Despite all of my aches and pains, I am doing really well as far as my health goes!  With Gage I had gestational diabetes, borderline toxemia, I was swollen like NO other with my blood pressure always on the higher side, but I felt great.  This pregnancy, my blood pressure is better than it's ever been in my life!  All of my nurses are shocked, because that's not very common among twin pregnancies.  I have no gestational diabetes, and frankly, passed with flying colors.  I'm not swollen...I'm huge, but not water-retention huge. And I  have the pregnancy high that I had with Gage; whatever is coursing through my veins should be given to anyone with depression! Seriously!  Unfortunately, this pregnancy has left me still very tired most days, rather than having the typical nesting feeling...I mean, I feel it, but I don't have the energy to do anything about it this time!

Am I ready for the babies to get here?  As far as their room and supplies go, not yet.  Mentally and emotionally? Probably not, but physically, YES!  I want my body back...and no, I'm not talking about my pre-pregnancy figure (let's be honest, that one needed work), but I can't handle the near 10lbs of baby I got kicking around in there!!  Whatever is coming my way when these two get here, I'll take it! Double duty poop and crying, bring it on. Just get them out of me!

I know in a couple of weeks or so, when these wild things finally arrive, I'll be saying I can't imagine life without them, but right now, I am ever amazed and cannot imagine my life with two more little babies?!  Right now we're this cute little family of three, and by mid-July, we'll be this cute full-sized family!  Crazy!

***And for comedy's sake (for those that don't follow on facebook) Here are some of my favorite encounters I've had with people this pregnancy:

Inappropriate questions get inappropriate answers.

Random Lady: "oh, so you're having twins; were you on fertility?"
Me: "if I say no, are you going to ask me what position I was in next?"

Inappropriate touching gets you inappropriately touched...

Random lady says, "oh my goodness, twins?!?" as she reaches out and gropes my tummy.

I respond as I reach back and touch her stomach, and she gasps in horror, "oh, was that really awkward? It was for me too."

And this is just plain funny:

Random person: "do you know what you're having?"

I assume they mean besides a couple of human babies and respond, "yes, a boy and a girl."

Random person: "that's so exciting. So at what point will you find out if they're identical or not?"

Me, trying my very hardest not to sound sarcastic: "well, at the point when I found out one was a boy and the other a girl."

(I kid you not, that last question has been asked by some of the very most intelligent people I know!!)

And this last Video is to show what a great big brother Gage is gonna be! (Probably a little annoying to the kiddos...hahaha)