Babies Bump?

So here's the long awaited picture of my Babies, errrr....ummmm....well, bump doesn't even do it justice!! It's a mountain!! It's a large mound! It's a hill!!!

And you all know how I was so freaked out about how big my tummy was?? Well....

Suddenly I'm proud of my big belly.  Isn't that crazy?? I guess I now have Two Precious Excuses to have a huge belly!!

Hannah took this picture on Tuesday, after my ultrasound.  She took a few before I liked any, because even though I am proud of my tummy, that doesn't mean I'm proud of ME! Ha.

Without further ado, I give you.....

The Babies @ 18 weeks

                                                              

How do you like that?? That is one big bump! And now I KNOW why it's so big!!

I'll post another picture in about two weeks, at my 20 week (5 month) check up.  By my specialist's calculations, I'm 18 weeks, but by the Lilypie twins ticker I wanted to put up on my sidebar that was cut off, I'm 18 wks and 2 days.

Lucie Beans @ 20 months

And because this is my blog and I can pretty much do anything I want, I'll leave you with two more pictures that just make me want to chew on some Lu-lu:

Sara said, "Smile, Lu-lu!"

  

A Surreal Dream

 CAUTION: SUPER LONG post ahead!

Okay.  It's the "morning after", if you will, and boy, has my mind been on speed-dial!!

Yesterday seems like a surreal dream!

It was the single most life-altering day of my life, aside from accepting Christ as my Saviour, even more than getting married or getting the news that we were having our very first child.  I was handed the biggest, most incredible surprise of my entire existence yesterday, and I'm still trying to process things!! I'll try, in this post, to articulate some of the things that are running through my mind!

We do know with about 100% certainty that the babies are IDENTICAL!!! From here on out, we will refer to them as "The Babies" instead of "the girls", as that nickname is already taken by 6 OTHER girls!!

You all should have crowded into that dark, peaceful room with me yesterday just to see my face!!!

I have to tell you that I was scared to get on the table, for fear there was something wrong with my baby.  I stood there for a good 10 seconds looking down on that bed....until the tech touched my arm and said "this is going to be good! It's going to be okay."  So, I laid down.

I had told her that I thought I was fairly large for where I was in my pregnancy and that I had never been as large, and she asked me if I was sure I was only having one.  Of course I was sure! Dr W had only found one baby all those weeks ago, and only one heartbeat thus far.......

I was totally prepared to see that we were having a boy.  I thought that's why I was having such severe symptoms, and why this pregnancy has been so different so far.......

*Excuse me while I laugh out loud!*

You ought to have seen the office staff looking at me so funny, when I walked in.  I'm certain they knew right away that I was carrying twins.  This office specializes in multiple, high risk pregnancies.  Oh, they knew, and so did the tech, as soon as she came out to the waiting room to get me.  I waited in the waiting room for oh, about 3 seconds!!

After I laid down,  she said, "well, let's see if there's only one baby in there."  My son, who I brought with me, sat down in the chair and she squirted the warm, wet gel on my tummy.  She put the wand on my tummy, and her first words were.......

"There's two babies.  You're going to have twins!"  Her voice was quiet and confident and totally sweet.

I said, "you're joking!!!"

She said, "no, I'm not!" I then said, "of course you wouldn't joke about something like that!"

And, I immediately and shamelessly burst into tears! I looked at Russell and said, "call Daddy NOW!"  Then I asked the tech if we could actually use our cell phone in the room!!! We called Daddy and Russell handed the phone to me.  I just couldn't stop crying! He could barely understand me.  Our conversation went something like this:

Me: "Are you sitting down?"
Him: "No, I'm at my case.  What's up?"
Me:  (sobbing pretty good by now) "We're having twins!"
Him: "No Way!"
Me:  "We're having TWIN GIRLS!" (because right after she told me there were two, she zoomed in on bottoms and sure enough, there were no *ahem* "appendages" on either Baby!)
Him: "O My Gosh!" Are you serious?"
Then he started laughing hysterically.  My husband laughs and paces when he's nervous.

We talked to each other several times on the phone yesterday.  I think the shock hasn't worn off for him. He is uber-busy at work, working 11 hour days, 6 days a week and doing a music project on the side that has to be done by Friday......he's a bit preoccupied right now!! It hasn't sunk in with him yet.

I tell you all that I cried for most of the ultrasound, which was pretty short, since I needed to talk to the doctor and start at the beginning with them.  Heck, I cried for most of the DAY!!

I will continue care with Dr Whelan in my hometown, but The Babies and I will receive most of our care from Dr Winkler, who practices south of here.  From my house right now, his office is an hour and 16 minutes away!! Talk about being far away from the hospital! I thought three blocks was far!!

The hospital is adjacent to my new doctor's office, accessible by a sky bridge!! It is brand new and has state-of-the-art care for me and The Babies.  I will be going down there every two weeks.  I will be getting ultrasounds every two weeks.  With identical twins, there is a risk, 20%, of Twin-Twin Transfusion, which I had read a teenie bit about in the past.  We will be watching The Babies very, very closely, and watching me, due to my nice and extensive history.  You ought to see my folders at my regular OB's office! There's a Volume 1 AND a Volume 2!!

Suffice it to say that these Babies CANNOT be born at home! The tech, who is a twin mom herself, told me that twins typically are born at 34-36 weeks.  And that they tend to be smaller than a "singleton" baby.  I told the doctor how far I lived from them and how my last baby was born on the toilet.  I could see his wheels turning!! I'm going to be a fun patient for him!!

I will be monitored closely for pre-term labor, as already my uterus is very, VERY heavy!! My uterus is measuring 6-8 weeks ahead.  So, NO WONDER I'm feeling like I'm 6 or 7 months pregnant!!! DUH!!

She said that I needed to be prepared for potential bed rest, according to how my cervix was acting, and it could be hospital bed rest, seeing as how far we live away from the hospital.  The doctor said that if I was to go into labor at 35 weeks, I could potentially deliver at my old hospital......hmm, no thanks, the changes at my old hospital make it a wrong choice now for us.

We have names for The Babies.  Baby A, who is down over my cervix, sitting transverse, is Pennie Jane. She is rather behind and under Baby B, who's head is snug up under my left rib and is sitting straight up.  Baby B is Olivia Caroline.  We love these names!! The potential for nicknames is fun!!!

Pennie Jane and Olivia Caroline.  I can scarcely believe I just typed that.  Surreal.

I will go back to Dr Winkler in two weeks, actually 13 days, for a more extensive work up on The Babies.  This will be the new plan till at least 26 weeks.  So, I'll be doing a lot of traveling, in my husband's old 1987 Pontiac 6000 work car!!! Awesome.  Such luxury.  *Cough Cough, choke choke!*

I'll end this post now.  Believe me, there IS a part two!!!

My son left for a bit during one part of the ultrasound to explore the hospital and gift shop, and he thought it was the neatest place and said I ought to deliver there! (Everyone, relax! The "boy" is almost 16 years old.  Yeah, I figure it's safe now to let him roam!!!)

My son's face, on hearing that he was going to have twin sisters, was so precious and so priceless! His mouth hung open and his eyes got really big! He asked a lot of questions, and I loooove that!!!

I'd love for you to follow us on this new road we're on! I told Dave yesterday to fasten his seatbelt, he's in for the ride of his life!!!! And I sense that I will never be the same, and that God is about to do a major work in our lives!!!

Results

I'm home from my ultrasound.

I'll just get right to the point.

We're having

A Girl!!!


And


A Girl!!!


Hello! My name is Leanne and I'm having twin girls!!

More to come.  Stay tuned.  PRAY FOR US!!!!

A Date

Now for the appointment we've all been waiting for:

My ultrasound is scheduled for Tuesday, September 28th at 8:30 AM!

Just an FYI!!

Yes, I'm nervous! Yes, I'm excited! Yes, I'm happy! And yes, I AM counting down the days!!!!!!

I'm going by myself because I want to surprise my husband with Baby's gender.  We will all decorate the table with Baby's name, cupcakes, balloons, onesies and socks in the colors of Baby's gender, so that when he walks in he will see right away who is on their way!!

I will let you all know next week!!!!!!!!!!!!

GYMBOREE, HERE I COME!!!!!!!

A Must Read

I stumbled across a site recently that reported that an agency based in California had bought and tested many, many brands of juices and baby foods marketed to parents for their children, and the agency found levels of LEAD that far exceeded the EPA's guidelines.

Here is only one link where you can read about this:
/http://pregnancyandbaby.sheknows.com/blog/baby-health/lead-found-in-popular-baby-food-and-juice-products/

You can also just google "lead in baby food" and a whole host of links will come up.

There is an extensive list of juices and fruits made by many companies, but a lot of them are made by the Nestle corporation.

Most of the brands and foods are approved for purchase by WIC.

Please, all of you who have babies or young children, would you please do a bit of research and pass this info on to your friends and family?? Lead is a serious neurotoxin with a whole host of dangerous side effects.  I encourage you to know what you are feeding your families!

Brilliant!

I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.


Hellen Keller

Update

I'm so thankful for your prayers!!

Stay tuned to your emails as I get caught up on responding to your comments.

Today I'm 17 weeks.  I've been paying very close attention to what I eat and have been checking my blood sugar regularly.  Yesterday I think I poked my poor fingers six times or more! I always use different fingers, for obvious reasons!  I think my blood sugar, after testing two hours after a meal, is in the low 100's to about 125.  I think that's normal?? No idea.  I have read some research and facts about blood sugar, but it's all so conflicting and confusing! Dr W, when I was pregnant with Lucie just two years ago, said that a blood sugar of 110 after a meal was in the high range, but last week he told me that the safe range is 145!!! See what I mean??

My blood sugar seems to be normal, to me.  I'm not sure whether my glucometer is the most accurate.  It is more than 5 years old, and maybe there's a more effective, accurate model out there.  I'm going to Dr W Thursday to do my fasting blood sugar test and another test, it's a relatively high-tech blood test, and the name of it escapes me right now.  Then we'll know how accurate my glucometer is.  If it isn't accurate and if I'm not getting a good reading, I'll get a new meter.

Gals, I can tell you that I am TIRED! I haven't been sleeping well!! Yet, I'm so exhausted when I go to bed at night! I know it's hormone-related......that, and the fact that my body (read: my bladder) compels me to wake up at LEAST 2 times a night to go to the bathroom.  Last night, it was EVERY TWO HOURS!!! I don't usually have to go to the bathroom like at night during my pregnancies.  Old age?? Lol!  I know lack of sleep affects blood sugar, or that's what I've read.  One of the guidelines, after exercise, is to get good sleep.

I can't tell you how many people think we're having twins! It's so funny!

The maternal fetal medicine clinic down South, where I have my ultrasounds, has not called me to schedule my ultrasound appointment.  I should have gotten a call no later than Monday.  I will be calling to check on that tomorrow.  My gal at my Dr's office called them last Thursday and tried to get me set up for an appointment, but the gal on the other end said she needed to review my records first, then she would call me for an appointment.  No call yet.  Sitting on pins-and-needles here!! Dr W wanted to have my ultrasound done at the end of this month.  The end of the month is quickly approaching.......

One reason I'm antsy about knowing what we're having: I've got $175 GymBucks burning a hole in my purse!!! The coupon is good till October 10th!!! If you all shop at or have EVER shopped at Gymboree, you know what that means! Ladies, let me tell you, just between us, I ADORE ME SOME GYMBOREE!!!!............


"Hello, my name is Leanne and I'm a Gym-o-holic!!!"


PS: I think we've changed the boy name Daddy picked.  I confessed to him that I wasn't terribly crazy about the name.  I was going to use it though because he liked it.  I do have a name that I adore picked out.....we'll see.

PSS: Renata, if you're reading this, please please leave me an email where I can reach you!!! Love you.

17 years........

Saturday was our 17th wedding anniversary.

It always causes me to contemplate how fast time flies when our family celebrates a milestone.

I met Dave when I was 15.  Our "story" is somewhat legendary in our circles of friends, and we have a very long history together and apart.  Maybe sometime I'll do a series of blogs about our history.

But today, I want to post about some of the things I love about my husband.  Although we have been married for 17 years, I chose 22 things I love about him because I have loved him for 22 years.  Sometimes it seems that I have loved this man from the time before the Lord scattered the stars, or at least from before my birth.  He is intertwined in my soul and my heart.  So, here goes.

• I love that he is so incredibly clean.  He is well kept and always neatly dressed. Even when he is out doing farm chores, his shirt is tucked in and a belt on. He keeps himself clean shaven too.
• I love that he was the first person to make me really laugh, I mean, a real belly laugh.  He is corny and loveably dweeby!!
• I love it that he calls our girls "honey".
• I love that he is extremely organized.
• I love it that he prays with the kids and tucks them in each and every night, and tickles them and makes them laugh.
• I love that he knows how to do a whole bunch of things.  He's a bit of a jack-of-all-trades.
• I love how he tirelessly researches a purchase (no matter what it is) before we make it and that he always buys the best.  I love that he is not careless with his money, ever.
• I love that he has his finger on the heartbeat of so many issues that could potentially impact Christians and our family, both for the better and for the worse.
• I love that he goes to work 6 days a week, 10-11 hours a day, and then commutes 80 minutes round trip without so much as a whine or complaint,  so that I can stay home with our children.
• I love his determination and enthusiasm to learn new things from the very best teachers.
• I love that he genuinely cares so much about our friends and how he is always lifting them up in prayer.
• I love that he is so willing to allow the Lord to sanctify and refine him.
• I love how he is willing to stand up publicly for what is right and how he never takes any "trash" from anyone, and how he is willing to fight against tyranny and Godlessness.
• I love how he makes our bed for me every single night.
• I love how he wants to keep himself healthy and that he cares about our health too.
• I love how he always wants to do things as a family.  He never likes to be away from us for too long.
• I love that he wants to have Family Time every night, whether it's singing together at the piano or watching a movie or reading out loud together.
• I love how he's always telling me that "no cookin' is as good as Mama's!"
• I love how steadfast he is when it comes to finishing a project and how, when he's in the 11th Hour, when it's the Home Stretch, he's going to finish it and make sure it's absolutely perfect, even when it means staying up all night long to see it through.
• I love how he waves to me every morning as he's going down the long driveway heading to work.
• I love how he always wanted a big family, even when he was a boy, and how he wants to have as many children as God will grant us.
• I love how he's always been right there, totally involved, even at the "Business End" through each and every one of our labors and births, even when it meant seeing me lose quarts of blood, and almost die, even when it has meant saying Goodbye Till Heaven.  I love how he has taken care of me through some very, very difficult and long recoveries.

Most of this list was not very hard for me to come up with.  I have so, so many reasons to love this man that God saw fit to bless me with.  I have been learning, through our first 12 years of "Hell", to our last 5 years of joy and near-bliss, to meditate on the things that I love about him.  Recently, I have started doing this, and let me tell you, it makes the few things that drive me nuts look puny in comparison!

I have one more thing to add: I am constantly amazed and totally thunderstruck and taken aback at the depth of the music which God gave to this man's soul.  Even though I've heard his stuff millions of times, it still amazes me and I look at him in awe each time I hear his music.  He is truly talented and beyond any shadow of a doubt enormously gifted by our Abba Father.  Just weeks after we got together back in 1988 he played the concert grand piano at our church, and I sat there totally absorbed and in reverence and wonderment at what flowed from his fingers.  I can tell you with clarity that that is the moment when I began to love him and I knew I was going to marry this man.

I'm so grateful and thankful to still be with this man.  I know women who would give their closet full of treasured high heels to snag him.  But he's mine and he's got it goin' on and ladies, I'm keepin' him!!

PRAY!

Okay.

I had my 4-month check up today.

I've actually had some concerns this pregnancy that just won't leave me alone.

The weight gain issue has been haunting me.  And ladies, I have gained 10 POUNDS in 5 WEEKS.  Whew.  That seems like a LOT to me in a short amount of time! Is it?? I'm thinking that I have 6 MONTHS left of this pregnancy and I can't be gaining that much weight each month! That makes 12 pounds of weight gain so far this pregnancy.......it's scaring me!

I've been having weird symptoms, like thirst and dizziness and extreme fatigue about a half hour after eating.  My gut has been telling me to get back to checking my blood sugar, which I was doing very regularly after each meal not too long ago.  I ran out of my tester strips, and when I went to get them, they told me it was going to be $125!!!!! Excuse me??? I had NO idea you had to have a prescription for them! Needless to say, I didn't get them.  But I talked to Dr W about my concerns today, and likety-split, he had a fasting blood sugar and another blood test ordered, which I'll go in soon for, and he said he'd fax in a prescription for those tester strips.  He wants me to see a dietician too.  Ladies, I feel great.......IF I DON'T EAT!!!! The good news (sort of) is he does not want to do the glucose tolerance test next appointment, yay! He just skipped it totally and we'll do the fasting thing........which I've never done.  I'll just go in in the morning and get that done......

The news that surprised me is that I don't have to wait till mid-October to have my ultrasound! He wants me to have it at the end of the month.  I was taken aback.  I had prepared myself to wait a loooooong time, or what seemed like a long time, to see our Baby.  The office is going to call me to set up that appointment.

So, the reason I asked you all to pray is because I am navigating very unknown and strange waters here! I've never had blood sugar problems a day in my life.  I just feel really weird physically and this pregnancy is already taking a toll on me, big time, and I'm not sure why.  I know I should choose to believe and cling to the thought that our Baby is perfect and fine........I tell ya, I feel like this is my first pregnancy with all of these symptoms and concerns!

I know that blood sugar problems can cause severe weight gain.  Since hearing all of this, my husband has gone extreme with me, but I expected that.  My husband has gone from a hard-core sugarhead to being as anti-sugar as they come! So he told me that I am not having any more COFFEE DRINKS and no more of my favorite Blue Sky Natural Cola........but truthfully, I knew I needed to quit the coffee drinks anyway.  It's just kinda tough when Husby is on board and watches eachandevery move I make and eachandevery thing I put in my mouth......isn't that what spouses are for??? Lol.

I'm excited to think that we'll know who our Baby is by the end of the month.  Ought I to reveal the names we have picked out????

I'll let you know the very latest breaking news as soon as there is any to report!!!

Your Thoughts?

I've seen polls on some other pregnant ladies' blogs, but, lacking the computer skills to add one to my sidebar, I'll opt for the old-fashioned way, having you gals leave comments on your opinion on the matter of.......

WHO this baby is in my womb.

I'm starting to get excited about finding out just WHO is in there.  I have my 4 month check up on Thursday and we will probably make an appointment for the big Ultrasound.  It will be sometime in October.  I see a perinatologist down South of here.  He's Dr Winkler and he's really amazing.  I don't see him that much, just for ultrasounds, because there are no specialists or second level ultrasound clinics around us and we have to travel.  Dr Whelan, my long time regular OB, feels comfortable with second level ultrasounds for me, since Janie.  So I have two really great doctors on my team!  And I love getting to see my babies in high resolution, almost-real-time images.

A lot of people think I'm having twins.  As of yet, we have only heard one heartbeat, the two times we have been able to get a heartbeat, at 7 weeks and again at 11 weeks.  I just think the thought of twins is nothing more than wishful thinking and an overactive desire for them!! But still we pray.....

What I want to know is, what do YOU think we're having?? You all know we have 7 children, well, 8 really, and 7 of those 8 children are girls, although one lives in Heaven, she was still a girl and still part of our family.

Lately, I'm placing Janie as a member of our family here on Earth.  I hadn't wanted to tell people that we really have 8 children, for fear of making them uncomfortable, but I've had a desire to make her  place with us known by acknowledging her presence to others.  She has a permanent place in my heart, and a lot of times, we've felt like someone is "missing" in our midst. To me, she lives here, with us.  She is just as real to me as any of my other babies. I held her.  I kissed her.  I touched each of her tiny fingers and stroked her peach-fuzz hair.  This year, I have been wanting to remember her out loud, to everyone, for her short life changed me in ways that I could never have been changed had she not moved and kicked in my womb for the short almost-7-months she did.  Sometime soon, I will tell her story here.  I feel the need, very soon, to inscribe, here, that time of my life that was the darkest, scariest, loneliest, most growing, most becoming time in my entire life.  I can see bits of her in our babies that have come after her, in Sofia, in Lucie.  And because of what I learned after she had flown to Jesus, mainly about how my fertility and my womb do not belong to me, I've made room in my heart for other babies, three of which aren't here either, and finally, there is Life in my womb!!!!

So, taking into account our current stats as of now......

Is it a BOY or a GIRL??

We have names picked out for both a Boy and a Girl, which will be revealed on that day that we find out who will grace us with their presence, come March.

Leave me a comment and tell me what you think!

Voila!

An update:

I figured out how to directly email each of my commentors on any given post! Actually, it wasn't ME who figured it out........A dear friend helped me.

Here's the scoop: If you have Followers, their pictures will appear on your sidebar.  You can click on each picture, and a window should pop up.  On the left, you should see "Send a Message".  Click on this, and an email window will pop up.  Compose your reply and just hit send!!

That's it!

Laura, thanks for your help.

Help!

I know I've put out an SOS before on the ol' blog.  But I'm in need of a helper here.

I'd like to make my blog more friendly, and so I decided, after reading several dozen or so blogs, I now want to include an email feature on my blog that would let me respond to comments by email.  I love this touch on a couple of the blogs I read, and I want to add it to my own blog.

Now the SOS: How in the WORLD does a gal do that?? How do I add this feature?

I went into my blog and tried to add some stuff that I really liked, but when I viewed my blog after supposedly adding the features, they weren't there.  Discouraging!!!

I'll go back and see what I can do about adding a couple of things I like.  But I need someone who's computer savvy to help me on adding the email feature.

So, who's got tons of spare time on their hands and who's willing to help me???