17 weeks!!

It is so exciting to be at 17 weeks today!!! I think I'm just going to get more excited as each week goes by, so just humor me!!

No belly picture yet today--I'll take it later and post it sometime, but, in my opinion, I'm definitely growing!!

Here are a few pictures of the new cribs. I'm still just in awe of how God worked out the timing perfectly of Jonathan's crib leaving the same day that the new cribs for the twins came in. He really does care about the smallest details of our lives!!!

Now this is a EARLY picture of the nursery, and I debated whether to even put it on here until it was cute and finished. But, I thought, my life is an open book...so here you go! As you can tell, we are sticking with a simple decor--blues and greens, and I don't really have a 'theme'. I didn't want patterns or pictures, just because the room is so small and there will be two of most everything! So simple and boyish is what we're going for! Justin is going to start painting this weekend, and he and my dad are going to put up chair rail. I just can hardly wait to see what the final product will look like! And it is so nice to have my parents here to help! I call my mom my decorator, because she is so good at it and has so many great ideas! So I know Will and Jack's nursery will be adorable!!!

We had one mattress already, and when the people came to pick up the furniture, our neighbor gave us another mattress--her son is 3, and they don't need it anymore!! Thanks, Soprina!! How nice of you!

Yesterday was also my first visit to my Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor, Dr. Zaretsky. He and his whole staff were just amazing!!! Both Justin's parents and my parents came along with us yesterday to get to see the ultrasound, and I think they were all in awe! So were we! The ultrasound was about 45 minutes long, and we got a ton of pictures and a DVD of the whole thing! They tried a couple of times to switch over to the 3D/4D views, but since my placenta is on the front, it made it kind of hard to get clear shots. =( Maybe as they get a little bit bigger it will be easier.

They measured just about everything you could think of on each of the boys...all the parts of the brain, their hearts, kidneys, bone lengths, upper lip (for cleft palates), nuchal fold (for Down's syndrome), and they even counted each and every one of their 40 fingers and toes!! I couldn't believe how much we were able to see inside of them! Absolutely incredible!!! They look super healthy, everything is just perfect, and they are both measuring between 17 1/2 and 18 1/2 weeks on everything--so about 2 weeks ahead, size-wise! Which is AWESOME for twins! They are ahead of the game, with only a 2% difference in size between them. This is important because with mono-di twins (where they are in separate sacs but share a placenta) they watch baby size and amniotic fluid levels very closely to make sure there is no evidence of twin-to-twin transfusion (blood flow not going to each baby equally = very dangerous). If the number gets around 20%, they start to worry, so our babies were perfect!! They will monitor me every two weeks for this, and he said by 26 weeks, you're pretty much out of the woods for this if it hasn't shown up. So we're on the right track! Their heartbeats were still strong--146 for Jack and 158 for Will. The last three ultrasounds, this has been the norm--Will just seems to still be our wiggle worm and his hearbeat reflects that!

They were laying almost like a plus sign, Jack with his head on my lower right with his legs going up towards my left ribs, and Will straight across with his head on my left. They are just so cute, all cuddled up to each other in there! He says it is fun to watch as they get bigger, how they fit in there--he says you start seeing a lot of punching later! Ahh...boys. I guess it begins even earlier than I thought! =) Right now it is estimated that they are both about 5 inches long, from crown to rump, and are about 7 oz. each. From what I read, the next month or so, they are going to have huge growth spurts! I'm 17 weeks, but measuring around 21 weeks. He says by 27 weeks, I'll be the size of a full-term pregnancy. W. O. W. I'm a little behind on the weight gain part though...I've only gain about 4 lbs, and by now, I should have gained around 20! YIKES! Thankfully, the boys aren't reflecting that, and seem to be getting the nutrients they need to be growing bigger (or maybe just their Daddy's tall genes). But Justin is now my nutrition-master. He is determined to get some more weight on me! =) The more I can gain now, the better chance for them to be bigger (and healthier) babies when their born. So I'll do it! Dr. Z says that his goal for me would be to get to 37-38 weeks, but my uterus determines when they will come. The uterus can only stretch so much, so once labor begins after a certain point, it will be c-section time. Sounds good to me, but my goal is to make it to at least 36 weeks and have at least 7 lb babies!!

Okay--I think that is all of the important details! Now enjoy a few pictures!! (For some reason, these pictures are a little darker than normal--hope you can see them!)

Here is another head shot of the boys...

Here is Will's profile...look at his little nose and lips!

Jack didn't give as good of a profle, but you can make out his forehead, his nose (kind-of), and his lips/chin.


I'm going to try to figure out how to post a little bit of the DVD, but I'm not sure how. If my laptop ever comes back, I think I can do it on there!

****And Happy Birthday to my "sister" Diane! I've known Diane since I was 2 and she was 4, and she has always been more like a sister to me than just a friend! She even was the one to teach me how to tie my shoelaces!! I hope you have a wonderful birthday today, Di!!!! Love you!****