Babies A & B "money shots"

Here are the ultrasound photos I didn't have scanned in yesterday when I posted the 20-week update. Your guess is as good as mine on exactly where the boy parts are in each photo labeled "boy". There's also a nice profile of each baby. Handsome, aren't they? :)

Nursery Update

Just to give you an idea of where we're headed with the nurseries, here are a couple "in progress" shots. These shots of the first nursery were taken at the beginning of January - featuring one of my helpers, Cait Rebera. I used the argyle design on the crib bumper pads as my inspiration for the diamond pattern and colors in the border on the wall. The second nursery is in progress and will look the same - though we've run into some issues with the yellow paint coming off with the tape. We'll have more pictures of the completed walls hopefully this weekend - once the 2nd nursery painting is finished and the gifts piled in the 1st nursery are organized. We'll have some white shelves to hang on the walls. And I'm still looking for ideas on curtains. It's coming together - slowly, but surely.

20-week update (a week late...)

Hi everyone! As many of you already know, last Thursday was our 20-week ultrasound appointment. And we're happy to report that all five of us came thru with flying colors.
The appointment started out like any other, but this time I received a flu shot - just as a preventative measure. I also got a lab slip to get my glucose tested. With multiples, there's a higher risk of developing gestational diabetes. We'll get the results at the next appointment.
Next was the ultrasound. We knew we were in for the long haul - up to 30 minutes per baby in what they call the "level 2" ultrasound. Our tech, Lori, looked for and measured virtually everything from head size to the number of toes the babies' feet - including every organ and bone in between. As she studied each baby, she also confirmed their sex. We already know that Babies C & D are boys, so we were anxious to find out what Babies A & B had in store for us.
(drumroll please...) ... We've got FOUR BOYS. Yep, that's right - 4 boys. But I guess we shouldn't be too surprised. We've beaten the odds with this pregnancy so far - all 3 embryos attaching, one embryo splitting into twins, etc. The odds would say we should have a mix of girls and boys...but why would the odds apply now? :) We're still working on the names. We know Samuel is a major contender for a first name; McKay and Donald are front-runners for middle names. We'll definitely let you know once we make some final decisions. (I don't have the ultrasound pictures scanned yet, but will post the "money shots" for Babies A & B this weekend.)
The really good news that came out of the appointment is that all 4 babies are healthy and growing right on track. Baby A is weighing in at 14 ounces, Baby B & Tommy are 13 oz, and Joey is 12 oz. In addition, when Dr. Donald saw my cervix measurement on the screen, his eyes widened and in true ESPN Sports Center style he said, "She - could - go - all - the - way!" Certainly he didn't imply that I'd go a full 40 weeks, but he did say that a cervix measurement like mine at 20 weeks is a "very promising sign" of a long gestation. Very good news all around. And from this story, my coworkers have come up with a new superhero: Super Cervix. :)
So the appointment ended with another "2-week pass": Dr. Donald sent us off saying, "Keep resting. Keep eating. We'll see you in 2 weeks." So no bed rest yet - but I am trying to take it easy when I can. Tim is certainly picking up my slack around the house - and we've discovered that we've got a great circle of friends here in Indiana. They've offered to help us with everything from grocery shopping to house cleaning to snow shoveling. Our local peeps are definitely our family away from home. Thank you!!!
I've been feeling more and more movement from the babies. Some kicks are strong enough to be seen and felt from outside - and Tim got to feel a couple good kicks last week. Just tonight while I'm typing this, I stopped to watch my belly move while a couple of the boys worked on their wrestling moves. :) I can only imagine what it'll look like as they get bigger. Tim is convinced it'll be tag team wrestling going on in there before long.
Tim is out of town this weekend - up north with his dad for 5 days of snowmobiling - so I'll have lots of time for more blog updates. I hope to get you all caught up on the nurseries and both baby showers earlier this month - with lots of pictures. Thank you again for your continued support and prayers!
Love, Kristin & Tim

Happy New Year!

We started out the new year with our scheduled 2-week visit to the doctor this morning. All 5 of us are progressing well and received a clean bill of health. The appointment this time was short and sweet: no growth measurements on the ultrasound. They measured each baby's heart rate and all are very good - in the 140s and 150s (within the "normal" range). The ultrasound tech commented that things are starting to get a little cramped for space in there - so much so that we still couldn't get clear shots of Babies A & B to determine their sex. Hopefully we'll be able to find out at our next appointment on January 22. The doctor used a tape measure to check my fundal height (or is it fundal length?) - basically the size of my uterus. I think he was a bit aggressive last time when he estimated my size at 26 weeks - because this time with the tape measure, I'm coming in at 27 weeks (though I'm only 17 weeks along). The only words of caution he gave me today were to be sure to get more rest. As I near full-term size, the risk of pre-term labor increases and one of the best ways to avoid that is to get plenty of rest. Since we'll have the painting finished in the nursery in the next week or so, that will certainly help increase my rest time. Speaking of the nursery: With my friend Dana's help, I'm about 75% done with the border in the first room and will start with the border in the 2nd room on Sunday or Monday. I'll post pictures soon. I think that wraps it up for now. We wish you all a wonderful 2009! Love, Tim & Kristin