I Miss My Belly Button

This is my pregnant belly. It has grown twice the size within the past two weeks. This is the first time I am showing these photos off on the internet. I would normally feel vulnerable showing my belly, but as an artist I have no problem with showing off the beautiful part of pregnancy, because not all of it is lovely. Not only is it a pregnant belly...it's double pregnant and double happy. I love being able to eat, and I take full advantage of eating constantly without shame. If I wasn't sick in the beginning, it would have been much more challenging to bring myself to eat so much, especially after a year of watching my weight to look fabulous on my wedding day and honeymoon. But now my babies need lots of food! I realize that pregnancy is no time to have a negative body image. It is beautiful, a wonderful and miraculous gift of life that I feel privileged to have been chosen to carry. God entrusted me with two little 

baby girls, and the last thing I am worried about is the way I look. I guess it's easy to say when I'm not overweight or have stretch marks yet (I'm sure I'll post something in a couple months about how huge and ugly I feel). But one thing is for sure: I am losing my belly button! See how squinty it is?

As far as I know the girls are still kickin...and boy do they like to kick! Allan loves feeling the babies move. It's fun for me almost all the time. Other times it feels like they're wrestling around in there, and it gets a bit annoying. I tell them to settle down. Maybe they'll listen better in a couple years...

Two Girls!

Two girls, and clear as day (as my mom would say)! By the looks of the ultrasound, there's no question as to what their sex is. As far as we know they are both healthy. Baby B is a week behind in development, so we'll just keep going back to take a look at her growth. She also has a bright white spot below her diaphragm, which they told me nothing about. However, I read that it could most likely be a calcium deposit that disappears before birth. I'm praying that's all it is. We got a DVD of the ultrasound in 2D and 3D...not the kind where you wear 3D glasses, although that would be funny. I think technically it's called 4D. What's the fourth dimension? If we can figure out how to get a DVD clip posted on here, we'll post it. If we can figure out how to get pictures off of our camera, we'll post a picture of my belly too!

Allan felt one of the babies move one night. I didn't think it was possible to feel them that early, but they were squirming! It was a special moment indeed. He is really excited about the babies. He works on the house every chance he can get to prepare for their arrival, not to mention my inevitable hugeness that will keep me from running up and down the stairs of our apartment very easily.

Everyone keeps asking me if I'm getting weird cravings yet. I must say that I haven't had weird ones, but boy do I have cravings! Like pickles and milk. I never thought I would be a pregnant pickle eater. One day I made a special trip the store just to get them. I was so hungry that I ended up buying a bunch of other stuff. When I carried it all in, I dropped a bag. The only thing that broke was my jar of pickles. And I was sad. I bought another jar to prepare for my future pickle cravings. One time I gleefully reached into the refridgerator to grab the jar of pickles (I couldn't wait!). I poked my finger into the jar only to find that there was a three inch thick frozen layer on top. The thought crossed my mind to find something to chisel it. Luckily my conscience is loud, and I decided not to hurt myself for pickles.

I don't have much else to say about the babies or anything else really. This is as interesting as my life gets. Yes, pickles and milk.

Little Bit O' Everything

My sickness is much better. It is mild now, and eating is a full time job. I've gained six pounds since my last visit, averaging out to 1.5 pounds a week. I'm half way through my pregnancy, and I'm supposed to gain 45-50 pounds. This is the only time in my life that I've tried to gain weight and couldn't do it! Is that normal?

Conveniently my OBGYN is leaving in June, leaving me in the dust a month and a half before my due date. When she leaves, I'll see my maternal-fetal specialist regularly and she will most likely deliver the babies instead. That means we're taking the 45 minute drive to Carmel's Clarian North Hospital where they have a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) in case there are complications with the little ones. Clarian North is affiliated with IU and Riley...I think. So that is one burden lifted for us. For a while we were debating between Anderson and Clarian, and now the decision is made for us.

For all of you that think my belly looks too small for 18 weeks, I am actually measuring at 20 weeks. Ha! The twins are still ok as far as we know. Ironically we have boy names picked out, but struggle to find girl names we like.

The next extensive ultrasound is on St. Patrick's Day! That's the day Allan proposed to me. They'll have a better idea of what sex they are. They're also going to pay attention to the growth rate of each one. The babies are in a risky situation since they share the same placenta. One could get greedy and hog all the nutrients. I'm not sure if there's anything we can do about that. Tell them to share?

OH! And I think I felt the babies move at my staff meeting. They must have had a comment. Or if they are anything like me, they were throwing a fit because they were hungry.

I don't really have any funny stories to leave with you. I am noticing that, although I was born to be forgetful, no one was kidding when they said you lose your marbles during pregnancy. One day I sprayed bathroom cleaner all over my brand new maternity shirt because I thought it was wrinkle releaser. Thankfully the only thing that was damaged was my pride.