they're identical....

BOYS! At three to one poor Alexa is going to be sorely outnumbered. At least for a little while. I'm not sure how I feel honestly. Though, talking through it, I have to admit that three girls within 18 months of each other could get very unpleasant! Just imagine the fight for the bathroom...or the boys...or just the high emotions in general.

On the other hand, now I have to worry about the trouble these three boys in. I can see it now: Keith will the mastermind, the boss if you will, and the twins will be his flunkies. I can just see a 12-year-old Keith convincing his 8-year-old little brothers to try something that he would never do, so when something goes horribly wrong he can point and say "it was them..." Or the Priest convincing the two naive deacons to do something stupid at Scout Camp. Oh, I don't relish the possibilities, (or the amount of windows we may have to replace!)

Some good news though, they do NOT share a sac! They are mono/di twins, meaning they have one placenta, but two separate sacs. We did see a membrane. It was a very thin membrane, but it's there, yay. I was very happy to hear that. This means they can't get wrapped in each others cords or cut off each others blood flow through the cords. There are still other risks, but this one thing is a load off.

Despite all my talking, I didn't ask about L&D. I know, crazy right? Oh well. It's kind of early to be too worried about that right now anyway (which, I suspect is what she may have said to me), and I will be seeing her AND my regular doctor every 4 for weeks, alternating every two weeks between them for now.

This means I can put all Alexa's clothes AWAY for awhile! Yay. A little bit less stuff IN the house.

Now, the naming process starts....

I'll post some ultrasound photos later. There's some pretty good ones.

Steps!

Something seems to have flipped a switch in Alexa today. I've caught her standing up all over the house, without leaning on anything. I put her in her highchair to eat and caught her standing several times very steadily. She was quite pleased with herself. Paul fed her some dinner and she chose to stand most of the time he was feeding her. When she'd fall, she'd get right back up and let go immediately. She is now standing for long periods of time, and seem to be enjoying it.

A friend came over to pick up her daughter and she was showing off her standing skills and decided to try taking a couple steps! She's getting ready to walk! She mostly just falls forward and expects you to catch her, but a few times she would stand, take a little step and continue to just hang out before she fell. I think she's very close, and so much sooner than Keith did. Yay!

Square One

I used to think that by the time my third pregnancy came around I'd have a pretty good idea of what to expect during L&D. I realize that all L&Ds are different, but really, after the first two for sure, most women have a pretty good idea of what they'll be doing come the start of contractions or their due date. With the first one I always had a feeling things wouldn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. Having two older sister who had both experienced c-sections for different reasons, it was a concern for me what would happen to me. However, it's expected that a woman will go into her first L&D with almost no answers and a lot of apprehension.

With #2 I got to experience that first time feeling all over again with a lot of "what if"s and "maybe"s. I really wanted to try for a VBAC and was pleased beyond words to be successful, and with almost no complications at that.

Because I did have such a successful VBAC with almost no concerns, I was sure when I got pregnant with #3 I would continue with another VBAC and all would be well. I would finally know what to expect and not have to go through the constant worry during the whole pregnancy of "Can I?/Can't I?" And now, having found out I'm having twins I feel like I'm at square one again. Right now, I have no idea what to expect. Part of me is prepping myself to hear "I'm sorry, but a VBAC isn't an option." While the other part of me does research and reads reports and thinks "Well, maybe I still can..." I cannot even describe how frustrating this is! Hopefully, the specialist will have some answers for me, and yet, part of me is convinced her answer will be "Let's watch the pregnancy and their growth and positions, etc. and see how it goes," leaving me again without any definitive answers. While, I'd prefer to hear this than a straight "No," it still leaves so much up in the air. I know the best thing for me would be to just forget about it and worry about all that when it actually comes to that point, but unfortunately, that's not entirely possible for me. The not-knowing drives me crazy!

Wish me luck that the doc has some encouraging answers for me next Thursday when Paul and I (and Keith) go to see her. Actually, I guess any answers would be nice. At least then the not-knowing could be over.

Fun in the Rain

Alexa was trying to grab the camera.
This one's just funny
He was loving running through the rain.

Taking a sip of water.

Look at me!

This one's my favorite cause her eyes look so pretty.
Yeah, Paul just took her outside without anything on. I had Keith go in and keep the sweatshirt, but didn't know where any pants where. We kept her all covered though.

She's got that windblown look.
He kept trying to get close to her.
She wanted none of that!
I think she looks like me in this one.
Paul finally grabbed them all to try to
get them both in a picture.

Um...wow?

I had my second real doctor appointment today, and got a lot of really good information. since I said I'd keep ya'll updated i thought maybe I should share the important stuff with everyone. I saw the NP this time, and first thing she told me is my due date has been moved to April 2nd. Yep, that's right, it's been moved back again. She said when there is a 5, or more, day discrepancy between due date based on last period and the due date the size of the baby indicates, they go with size of baby. One was only 4 days I think, but the other was 7, so, they've moved it back. This may mean nothing if I go into labor by myself at whatever point. However, if I don't go into labor and these babies decide to take as much time as their two predecessors, then they will schedule a c-section (if I have to have a c-section) for 39 weeks, and no earlier, which would basically put me at my original due date of March 26th.

Really, all these dates mean very little. I don't know if it's going to have to be a c-section or not, but even if it is that doesn't mean I won't go into labor at 36 weeks. Who knows! The whole L&D thing is just one big guessing game anyway!

Second important thing, NP says we can travel, though slowly and with lots of stopping, but still, so Lissa and Jen, we're coming for Christmas! Seriously, that is the plan so get ready. Unless something happens between now and then, we are coming for sure. Can't wait to see you guys and spend Christmas with you! Oh, and Ashlee you are also on my list of VIPs to visit! Can't wait to meet Parker.

Okay, next item of business, and it's a doozy. Because it's difficult to hear two distinct heartbeats on a doppler she said she either uses the ultrasound machine to check cardiac, or two dopplers at the same time. Ultrasound machine is probably easier, or at least sounds easier to me. Anyhoo, they're not side by side anymore. They're now horizontal, one on top of the other, head to toe. And, they are very close to one another. When I looked at other people's ultrasounds of fraternal twins you could almost always see a distinct line between sacs, and with my first photo you couldn't see anything between them, even though they were quite far apart, which leads me to: She said the doc had notated that the babies are sharing a sac. This means...wait for it...they'd be identical. Wait, what??

And now, I'm stumped! With the other two, I was sure of what they were by this time and I was right both times. I haven't gotten any feelings with these, and when I was told I was having twins was convinced the reason I had no ideas was because it was one of each. It just made sense. I'm just not sure what to think! Mom asked if we'd thought about more names then, and I said "oh shoot, i hadn't even thought of that." She just laughed. How do you tell them apart?? I think I'll have to make them wear bracelets or something if they're identical. Yikes. This totally changes things for me and adds a whole other layer of anxiety for me, yippee. haha

Anyway, this issue should be cleared up soon, as my appointment with the specialist is just two weeks from tomorrow. I'm counting down; can you tell?

Last, because I'm high risk, about halfway through this trimester (the second, that is) I will start having an ultrasound every month just to monitor the growth of the babies, and so forth, so I'll have lots of pictures of them as they grow! I got one today, but they're not very good, so unfortunately you'll have to wait two weeks to see more. Hopefully she gets a few good ones.

So, that's the news. I came out of this appointment with a very different attitude than when I went in. I thought the surprises were over. How wrong I was.

The Belly

15 weeks and 2 days with twins.
i will try to take and post a picture every couple of weeks or so.