15 Weeks

We saw Dr. Donald again last Thursday. Sorry for the delay in posting our update - we had 36 people here for a family Christmas shindig over the weekend (15 of which stayed the night), so finding time to update the blog was tough to come by. Thank you again, to Tim's parents Pat & Don for all your help with the party preparations and clean up. We certainly couldn't have pulled it off without you!

But back to the business at hand. Everything went very well at the appointment. Dr. Donald is very pleased with our progress so far. The big news with this ultrasound is that all 4 babies are still growing strong and have great heart rates. They're all weighing in at about 5 oz each - right on track. Also, my cervix is still measuring very well - not shortening or causing any concerns. All great news.

I'm still feeling good - though I definitely feel the impacts of my rapidly growing belly. (Though only at 15 weeks, I'm measuring more like 26 weeks. We definitely have to get an updated "baby bump" photo out here on the blog.) My skin is already feeling tight and my stomach gets full with much less food. I also find myself out of breath after climbing a flight of stairs - but I guess this all comes with the territory; I'm just experiencing it a lot earlier than if I were expecting fewer babies.

Though it is a little earlier than the norm, we were able to find out the sex of the identical twins. Baby A was way too shy and didn't give us a peek at anything. Baby B was a wiggler and didn't provide a clear shot. But Baby C & Baby D are definitely BOYS! Meet Thomas Michael (formerly Baby C) and Joseph Timothy (Baby D). The photos at the top show a profile and a "money shot" of each boy. Tommy is definitely not shy...

Our next appointment on January 2 will be a short one - which will be a nice change. Instead of taking measurements of all 4 babies, they'll use the ultrasound simply to check heart rates - and hopefully the sex of Babies A & B. When we go back 2 weeks later, they'll do the full "level 2" ultrasound - like they normally do at 18-20 weeks. This is the ultrasound where they measure all of the anatomy of each baby: organs, limbs, spine, etc. It'll take approx 30 minutes per baby (hopefully they'll give me a potty break between Baby B and the twins). If we haven't found out already, this should be when we can get a final count on the number of boys and girls.

We're looking forward to seeing friends and family over the holidays - and comparing belly size with Nikki (approx 30 weeks along) and Katie (approx 28 weeks). :) Thank you again for your continued support and prayers. Merry Christmas!

Love,

Kristin & Tim