25 Weeks

We are now 25 weeks along and are doing nicely. Time is flying by so quickly! We're already in month 6!

I've been feeling good and have no symptoms to report, much like my pregnancy with Claire & Hayden. It is starting to get harder to bend over to pick things up off of the floor (where nearly everything a toddler - or in my case two - leaves their things). I'm also tired a lot more than normal, but that's really to be expected.

I am consistently gaining about 1 pound per week, which I didn't think was a lot, but apparently 40lbs in a pregnancy is "too much". With Claire & Hayden I gained approx 70lbs and then fairly easily dropped 60 of those pounds before getting pregnant this time. So the random doctor I saw last week at the Low Risk Maternity Clinic has told me that I should see their dietitian next month. Being that I've previously lost 85lbs by eating properly in the past.. I'm very skeptical that a dietitian can help me at all. I could see if I was binge eating or drinking lots of soda, or something crazy, but really I'm eating fairly normally. I just gain weight easily. Go-go crappy metabolism. Sigh. However, it is free, so I'll gladly go and talk to them and see if they have some type of miracle to help me stop gaining pregnancy weight. I do miss working out and running, and am looking forward to getting back to the old me at some point mid to late next year. I'm proud to have carried 2.5 children and after baby is born, it'll be time to shape up and get myself back - right after the sleepless nights end.. As I know those are coming! At least this time I know what to expect and can take comfort in the fact that I've been through it double time so can survive it again.

At the doctor appointment Friday Aug 9th babys heartbeat was 150bpm. My BP was 119/75 - which is high for me but the nurse said it was because she had me talking while taking it. We are going to do our glucose testing around week 26-28, and I haven't booked an appointment as I'm hoping to just walk into the South Hospital (they don't book appointments yet as far as I am aware) and get right into the lab there without too much waiting.

Baby has been kicking quite a bit lately and last week Phil was able to feel baby kick for the first time! His awe was nothing short of our first pregnancy and I think it'll be more real to him from here on out. Baby seems to kick first thing in the morning and then most often at midnight every night. Though I do feel random kicks all day long. It's neat to actually know who is kicking me this time!

We go for a 3D ultrasound on Friday August 23rd. We opted to go as we had paid to go last time and really are curious to see who baby looks like. Though we will still not be finding out babys gender. We are having it broadcast live to our family and I'm happy we can share our experience with them too, even from hundreds of kilometres away. I can't wait to meet our baby in November and really hope they will arrive right on time. It will be very exciting to hear what they are as they're born. A new experience for us. There are a lot of days when we're so busy - especially with two toddlers - that I don't take much time to just enjoy and talk to baby. I pray and hope everyday that baby will keep their heart beating, keep on breathing and grow big, strong and healthy.

24 Week Belly - Aug 7, 2013

Nineteen Month Twins

Our babies are 19 months old! They're on the small side for height and weight, but still seem so big to us. I was watching old videos of them from last summer and it is amazing how fast they've changed from babies into tiny little people.

They're repeating all kinds of words now (butterfly, turtle, purple, please, teeth - when we brush our teeth, ball, bear - just to name a few) and they babble sentences of "words", that we can only explain as them trying to communicate with us, while pointing to things or showing us objects. It's really adorable to watch them analyze things and learn about the world.

They love to climb and are getting good at climbing up onto the couch to watch cartoons and movies with us. They're nearly able to climb up on our kitchen chairs too, but not quite yet. They can climb onto Grandma & Grandpas chairs though and they love their independence. The pantry is also very popular, particularly the bottom few shelves.

We're now getting canine teeth. As of today, Hayden has three (all but his bottom left) & Claire has her top two (soon to have her bottom right as well). They're sharing a bedroom at our new house for now and we think that they like to be together, even if they do wake each other often. Also today I watched as Claire proceeded to try to get her foot up over the top rail of her crib, so I suspect we'll be converting their beds into the toddler beds and bolting our dressers to the walls sooner than I'd planned. I may move them into their own rooms at the same time and try to make a big deal about it. Hoping it will work out well!

I love these guys more and more every day and am so very proud that I get to be their mommy. They love to give me kisses and cuddles which are always so very heartwarming to receive. I've even (almost) become a morning person just to wake up and see their happy little faces.

Month 5!

We are now officially in Month 5 and Week 22! Baby is doing great and Monday morning we had a follow up to our anatomy ultrasound, since last time baby was cuddled up, belly to the placenta, and wouldn't flip over no matter how much movement I did. This time baby cooperated and let the technician see everything needed. Baby's heart rate was 157bpm and they told me everything is looking good. It's a little bitter sweet, as that was our last medical ultrasound this pregnancy (and likely our last one ever as a family). We do plan to go for the 3D ultrasound for photos and to see baby one more time, sometime in late August.

22w0d baby profile

I'm slowly making Baby a matching blanket to the two I made while pregnant with Claire & Hayden. I decided to make this one yellow since we won't know if it is a girl or a boy until November.

Yellow yarn for babys blanket

I am really looking forward to having a surprise reveal at birth this time. There aren't many good surprises left out there, and although I did love knowing Claire & Hayden's genders so we could plan, I think it will be so nice to hear the words for the first time "It's a .....!" right as we meet the baby in person.

I do plan to wait and buy newborn baby clothes until after baby is born so we don't have a bunch of green/brown/yellow. We have a ton of girl & boy clothes from 3-18 months but have little to no newborn clothes as we had borrowed a lot of them last time and then gave them back.

We are planning to go to the new South Hospital Campus and I am also looking forward to seeing the new facility and seeing how it differs from Rockyview and our experience last time. I'm confident that no matter where we go the doctors and nurses will be wonderful again. I'm also considering hiring a doula this time around for the extra support.

Baby has been kicking harder and harder lately. I'm sure that Phil will be able to feel it for himself soon. Last week Claire yelled and the baby kicked, so I know baby can hear us now and I'm sure they are getting used to all of the random toddler yelling.

22w2d belly - July 24th

Our New House

We finally moved into our new house on July 5th. We had nothing but our babies' playpens, and our spare bed mattress which we pulled out of a storage locker. It was kind of like camping in our own basement. We chose the basement because we had (and still have) no blinds on any of the windows.

The following Monday the movers delivered our furniture. It was nice to no longer have to sit on the floor (or on top of the kitchen island) to eat. We quickly set up the babies' room and our bedroom for some comfort and with the help of my dad. My mom came for a few days to help with the babies and it was also much appreciated.

The week was filled with service and trades people coming in (with their dirty shoes on!) and this week is much of the same. There's still a lot of little things to be done or to be fixed up so I suspect we will have trades people in for awhile yet, but it is starting to feel like a home.

Yesterday we got our new kitchen table delivered and its very strange to eat at a table again. (It's been a few weeks!) Tomorrow we get the last delivery, a couch for the kids play area and also where mommy will spend most of her days (and nights with baby).

We have a landscaper coming in to start work tomorrow and a fence guy to give us a quote as well. All of these trade appointments are a full time job on top of my already full time job of being a mommy. Add a pregnancy on top and its no wonder I've been feeling like a sack of potatoes lately. I'm looking forward to having everything completed soon so I can lay on that new couch and eat my bonbons..

A Year & A Half!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
My babies are doing wonderfully and they're now 18 months! I often wonder how time moves so quickly and watch them with awe as they do or say something new. Today I'm certain that Claire said "flower". The other day she very clearly said "baby" as Hayden put his finger to his cheek and whispered "shhhh". Hayden also started babbling sentences about two weeks ago in some language that we can't understand, but we play along and talk right back to him. I'm sure he's wondering why we don't speak his language.
So adorable. I just love these two so much. They spend a lot of their days playing with odd things and laughing. Today it was the toilet bowl plunger (good thing its new!) and a roll of paper. Claire decided she needed to clean her Disney princess castle with toilet paper. It was too cute. The very best part of each and everyday is getting cuddles and kisses from my babies. XOXO

Canada Day at our hotel

Playing at the park near our house

Playing with blankets on the floor in our new house

Playing with our wagons in our playroom

Last night Claire slept 13 hours and Hayden slept 14.5! I'm guessing it's a growth spurt. Hayden also woke up with his two top canine teeth poking through! He normally has quite a difficult time teething and has this far been behind Claire on getting each tooth, but not these two. They just suddenly appeared.

At Stampede with Daddy & a tank!

At Stampede with Mommy

Baby 3, or new baby or baby cub, is doing well too. We saw baby on Monday at an ultrasound. Everything looked good as far as they could see. Baby was all cuddled up and wouldn't flip over to show its tummy so the tech couldn't finish looking at everything. I go back next Monday to try to do the same scan. We will be 22 weeks along. I've noticed that I'm slightly more tired than being pregnant with twins. It could be that I just don't remember (there's some kind of memory erasing hormone which makes you only remember the good parts) or it could be that I'm chasing after two very active 18 month olds this time around. (I'm also two years older but shhhh.)

20wks 4d ultrasound photo, taken July 12

Nearly a Year and a Half

We are almost into month 17 now. Our kids amaze us everyday with all of the new skills they're learning.
Claire and Hayden both can ask to be picked up now. They aren't talking much yet (still a lot of babbles) but its coming soon. They clearly understand so much more than we thought. If you ask them to do something (aka bring an object to a person or animal) they will usually do it. They can also point out objects when asked in books and seem to be absorbing a zillion new things a day.
They can now climb up onto furniture and get in and out of their kiddie pool at Grandma & Grandpa's house. They also cover themselves with blankets when they're tired. Just yesterday we have them their first wooden puzzle (for ages 3+) and they matched up the pieces, most going in the correct direction and nearly all in the correct spots. Huge accomplishments for not even being a year and a half old yet.
I look forward to having conversations with my kids someday (I'm in no big rush) and I wonder what they will teach me.
For now, we will continue to push out those last bits of "one year" molars. Claire's are nearly all through all the way now And Hayden's still working hard on getting his through. Poor guy, he teethes so slowly.
We got new swings this week at Grandma & Grandpa's, which are a huge hit. Also, a kiddie pool which seems to be for splashing, climbing and tossing toys and random objects into.

Last week we sold our first house. The house that Phil and I bought when we were just 24. It was really sad to leave it for the last time. We spent a few days in a hotel and then the past week at Grandma & Grandpa's house. Next week we are going on a business trip, staying in another hotel (I'm hoping the babies don't get too bored!). Then another business trip and a stay with friends, and a week with Grannie & Grandpa.

Our new house is set to be finished on July 5th and hopefully we can get everything moved in July 6th. It will be very nice to be home for awhile and get everything set up and get back into a routine. We are thankful to have such wonderful family and friends, giving us places to stay and looking after our dog when we are essentially homeless for five weeks. Our cats are in a kennel and we are going to visit them tomorrow to let them know we haven't abandoned them entirely. They'll stay for the next month.

We're now 15 weeks along in our pregnancy and I'm feeling good. My energy seems to be coming back and I haven't felt dizzy or nauseas in awhile. We go for our next ultrasound in early July for the anatomy scan. There they check all of the baby's body parts and organs. We aren't going to find out the baby's sex. It'll be really nice to have a surprise this time being that its our last baby. This will likely be our last medical ultrasound as well, which will be strange, since we had so many with Claire & Hayden that we really got spoiled.

15wks

Next update and we should be moved into our new house!