Derek's Baby Shower

The wonderful ladies at Derek's work threw him a baby shower today. I had known about it for quite a while but it was a surprise to him. I'm so glad that they invited me- it was great to meet so many of the people he talks about from work. They brought in lots of food to snack on throughout the day and decorated the conference room and his cubicle. We were blessed with so many wonderful gifts from everyone. I think Derek enjoyed opening bag after bag of the cutest outfits. Our kids will be the best dressed kids for the next year or more! Now I have lots of sorting to do- newborn and 0-3 month things will be washed and put in the nursery, older clothes to be put into bins for storage until they are needed. No extra room in the nursery!

30 weeks

I can hardly believe that we are already to the 30 week mark. It seems like not long ago we got the great news that we were pregnant. It all goes too quickly. Today I had my monthly ultrasound. Unfortunately they didn't print any pictures this time but they really didn't get too many good shots. Go figure, Baby A was moving too much to focus on him for too long! The good news is that both babies weigh exactly the same (they weigh them in grams right now which roughly converts to pounds so sometimes the pounds is the same but they are actually a little different in grams). At 30 weeks 2 days they are 3 pounds 5 oz each- that's almost 7 pounds of baby in there. No wonder I'm starting to gain more weight. This puts them in the 50th % for a singleton which is perfectly average and excellent for twins.

I continue to feel good for the most of the time. My restful nights are getting few and farther between, which I know is to come anyway. The boys are so active at night I'm sure that's what is waking me up several times. Then once they wake me up I realize I have to go to the bathroom. It's a vicious circle but I am happy to be in the circle. I find I can't sit very long as I get this sharp pain in my right side/rib area. No doubt it's from Baby B shoving his head up in my rib cage- yes, he's still breech. But all in all, not much I can complain about. Dr said we will schedule my C-section for between 38/39 weeks so only 8-9 more weeks- Yikes!

Maternity Pictures

Here is the link to some professional maternity photos we had taken last week. I'm not thrilled with the white scarf ones- she used too much fabric. I'm pretty happy with the rest.
http://Alexanderphotography.zenfolio.com/ring
I saw the OB again today- 29 week check. BP was good. In two weeks my belly has grown 2 more centimeters and I gained 4 pounds! The boys should have gained quite a bit when I go for my ultrasound next week. Dr said everything was great and see you in two weeks! I'll take that!

the nursery painting is done!

Grandma Ring came this weekend and put the finishing touches on the nursery walls. I am so excited about how it all turned out. Now I can't wait to get everything in there organized!

The dresser for the nursery is on back order so I can't really get things set up too much until that comes and we know exactly where all the furniture will be placed. This week we plan on shopping for mattresses for the cribs. There is still things from our registry we need but we'll start stocking those things in July.
On Saturday while I took a test towards my masters- Derek, his Dad, and my Dad worked hard on the pond. They got the liner in and the waterfall/pump working. It's amazing how much they got done. I came home from my exam and the pond was full of water! Now we just have to work on placing the rocks around and in the pond. We'll wait a little while to put the fish in so the water has time to balance. We've gone from under 100 gallons to 12oo gallons!


Sunday was my family/friends shower here in Illinois. We had a lot of fun playing a few games, opening gifts, and having yummy cake and ice cream sundaes. Another batch of baby things to drool over! They gave it a slight sports theme for the little sluggers in my belly- a Cubs cake, bats and balls on the tables, etc. Derek liked that!

OB check-up on Wednesday 6-10
Ultrasound next Wednesday 6-17

27 week check up

Went to the OB today for my 27 week check up. Every two weeks now! I'm a bit disappointed as it looks like a C-section is in our future. My dr and her partners don't do many vaginal births with twins any more. Too many risks with baby B and would rather schedule a C then to have to do an emergency after delivering baby A. I understand and know they are just looking out for what's best for me and the boys, but it's still surgery and scary! She said that if I haven't gone into labor, that she would schedule me for 38-39 weeks. On a plus side- everything looked good today. I passed my glucose test so no diabetes for me. Babies weights looked good, BP was good. Nothing much else to report on that!

Grandma Ring worked on the nursery walls this weekend. She worked so hard and did such a great job. I know the boys are going to love their room and will think of Grandma Ring every night when they fall asleep. We just need to add the stars to the white boarder. Then I need to think about window treatments, closet doors, a ceiling fan/light. Never ending! :)

26 weeks already!

It's hard to believe we are already into our 26th week of this pregnancy! The babies will be term in about 10-11 weeks (36-37 weeks). I am still feeling really good. I am lucky it's the end of the school year and the kids are so independent. It allows me to stay off my feet more. As I sit here typing I can see them wiggling around- the ripples rolling across my belly are so fascinating!

Today I had a glucose test- drank some orange sugar water stuff then had to wait an hour at the lab so they could draw my blood. Hopefully that will all come back fine. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Then in the afternoon we got our monthly ultrasound. Derek was able to come this time to see the boys again (yes, they are both still boys!). Baby A has now flipped head down while Baby B has flipped breech. I thought B had moved this weekend when I felt what I thought was his head shoving under my ribs. Baby A is 2 pounds, 2 oz and Baby B is 2 pounds, 1 oz. They are measuring in the 50th % for singletons so for twins they are doing well. The tech commented again how Baby A has such long legs. Guess he'll have some Reyelts height to him. Both Boys were really active during the ultrasound. We got to see profiles, them looking at us, what looked like a smile, one resting his chin on his hand. The really neat shot was Baby B grabbing his leg with his hand. We could clearly see his little fingers wrapped around the leg bone. So cool!

Baby A- profile shot


Baby B- looking right at us, you can see his nose (the light lines in the middle of the face)


I am looking forward to Memorial weekend- Derek's parents are coming to visit. Derek and Keith will work on enlarging out garden pond while Susan will be painting the nursery. I can't wait to see it finished! I have some yard work I'm hoping to have the energy to get done. Most things are coming back nicely in the gardens, if I could only keep the bunnies away from my purple cone flowers!

showers galore!

The past two weeks we have been "showered" by my co-workers and Derek's family/friends. We feel so blessed to have so many people excited to share in preparing for our little ones.

Friday, May 8th my co-teachers threw me a fun shower during lunch. We had a yummy salad bar and an ice cream cake (yum!). I received lots of gifts from our registry to make bringing home the boys much easier.

My cake


The shower was extra special to my Mom and I because Donna Bowden (on the right) threw my Mom's shower when she was expecting me. Now she is throwing my baby shower. Kathie Mangun (between Mom and I) was also at my Mom's baby shower. Such a special event to share with them!


This past weekend we went to visit Derek's family in Indiana. Grandma Ring and Aunt Alli threw a wonderful shower for me and the boys. We were spoiled with lots of great gifts- many clothes, these boys will be the best dressed babies around!

Here's all the baby gear we have so far:


Check out the cake Grandma Ring made: