Maternity Photo Shoot by Fresh Picd...

My darling friend Kesha, of Fresh Picd Photography, took these pictures about 2 weeks ago. I owe her big time because not only do I love them, but she and a handful of other girlfriends convinced me that I would regret it if I did not take maternity photos, despite how swollen and uncomfortable I have been feeling. They were right and for that I thank you. All of you. I will cherish these forever.



I am 35 weeks today! I hope to make it just a few more weeks for optimal size and development, but if they came tomorrow, they'd be just fine. I'm so grateful I've been able to make it this far without any major complications. God is good! I can't wait to meet them :)

I have my last scheduled ultrasound tomorrow morning, and then we wait! I will finish the nursery this weekend too and post pics of that next week. Car seats are in the car, and the only thing left to really do is pack my hospital bag! The last few months have really flown by. EEK! I'm so ready! I'm so NOT ready! Haha, no but seriously...tick tock, tick tock...

Are We There Yet?

I was 32 weeks pregnant on Thursday. If I may be quite honest with you, I am done. I am not ready, nor are the babies - but I am done being pregnant. All of the 3rd trimester aches and pains and sleepless nights have set in, and I am hugely uncomfortable. I've received a few extremely rude comments lately in regards to the pregnancy and those surely haven't helped pave a smooth path for the home stretch. I no longer feel pretty and pregnant. For all of the pregnant ladies that have gone before me, I apologize for judging your exaggerated waddle. I get it now. Your hips hurt, your lady parts hurt, your back hurts, and you have this GIANT bowling ball in your gut throwing your whole equilibrium off balance. I am paying for the like now, and I am deeply sorry for my pre-pregnancy snickering.

I don't want my honesty to be misconstrued complaining...for that is not what I am doing here. I'm just keeping it real. These baby boys are a miracle, a gift from above, and I would go through it all over again just to know I get to hold them in a matter of weeks.

I had my 8th ultrasound a week ago, Friday. My blood pressure has been jumping around a bit, so they have been monitoring it more closely. They ran a panel of blood work at the appointment and everything came back completely normal. A friend loaned me an electronic blood pressure cuff, so I've been monitoring it myself at home, morning and night as well, and it's been very consistent - well within the "normal" range. My feet and ankles have been swelling quite a bit too, so my OB recommended compression stockings. I stopped by Walgreens about 3 weeks ago after my last appointment with her and picked up a pair. I opted for the super sexy "open-toed" style. Luckily, as I'm sure you can imagine, these are super stylish and will accessorize any spring outfit! YES. Case in point...


The great news is, as of Friday's ultrasound, both babies are head down! This will allow me to try a natural delivery, which I have been hoping and praying for. If anything changes or complications arise, I will have a c-section, but not if I can avoid it! Baby A on my right, has always been lower - until Friday. Baby B is now a whole head lower on my left. They will not be changing their A/B status, but now baby B will be born first. They call this the "presenting" twin. I guess we will be presenting him to the world first! I don't think I've mentioned their names yet, have I? Baby A is Hudson Tyler. Baby B is Crew Everett. Crew has been my wild child. He is more active on a regular basis and his movements are much more dramatic and exaggerated in utero. I even saw him kick his brother in the ultrasound! He also flaunts his little man parts every.single.ultrasound. Hudson is more reserved - he gives me little nudges each day, but overall is much more relaxed and chill. He is more modest too and has only showed us that he was a boy once - at the anatomy scan. It was very clear, so we don't question it, but Danny has already had the boys names tattooed on his arms, so I joke that he better hope and pray "Hudson" is really not a "Cora" like we had originally been told and planned for ;)

Here is Hudson's sweet little face...


At the ultrasound, Hudson was estimated to weigh 3lbs 13oz already and Crew was estimated at 4lbs 3oz. That means I have about 8 pounds of baby going on in there already. Actually, since it's been a week since the ultrasound, they are probably about a 1/2 pound heavier each now, so it's probably closer to 9 pounds of baby total! I'd be done if this were a singleton! 8-9 pounds of baby = a very full term belly. Here is my latest side by side.



As of last Thursday, I have a maximum of 6 weeks left. That seems like a long ways, people. How much more room can I possibly give them?! My goal is to make it 4 more weeks - to 36 weeks, landing us on May 7th. May 9th is our anniversary, May 10th is Mother's Day - so May is going to be an exciting month for us!

We really don't know when they will be here, so back to that slogan "Hurry up and wait" that I love so much...I have been forced to put my type-A personality on the shelf and just wait it out. Not an easy task for this girl :)

Cankles and backaches aside, I have been truly blessed at how smoothly this has gone overall, and I am very grateful for that. I know the next 4-6 weeks will fly by and I can't wait to meet them!

10 weeks to go and counting...

I was 28 weeks pregnant yesterday...which means 10 more weeks to go, give or take a few days! The doctors have made it clear they don't let twins go past 38 weeks at my clinic, so it sounds like we're in the home stretch.

I had my glucose test yesterday. Everyone WAY over exaggerated when warning me about how awful this was supposed to be. I checked in, and they handed me a cup about 12 ounces full of cold, orange soda-like liquid. I gulped it down in 3 minutes and waited an hour for the blood draw. Really? That's it? Not a big deal. They called later on in the day and I passed - no gestational diabetes for me! Thank God! I had a cookie to celebrate.

I took the picture on the right last Sunday night. These pictures were taken exactly 11 weeks apart, and as of Sunday, I had just about 11 weeks still to go!


10 weeks left. How, you ask?? That is an excellent question. Where will these boys go? I already feel stretched to capacity! I know they have quite a bit of room in there still because I can feel them flip-flopping around. I know the further I progress, the tighter their living quarters will be and eventually I won't feel as much because they'll be wedged in there. I just don't know how much bigger this belly can grow though! Praying I don't split down the middle, haha - but honestly, the human body is pretty amazing, right?! I don't even want to think about what it's going to be after they are born, so we will just say it's amazing NOW. :)

Now that I'm 28 weeks, I will have a check-up every 2 weeks with my OB. Yesterday, she said I looked great, the babies are doing great, and I very well could go the full 38 weeks and deliver full-term, 7 pound babies! Ok! Bring it on!

Next on the list - the nursery! After my shower, I'll crack down and get it all pulled together. I have a game plan at least, so it will pull together really quickly once I have everything I need, and we break down the guest bed and store my crafting supplies...and possibly (most likely, absolutely) make a trip to IKEA!

Stay tuned as things continue! I will keep everyone posted :)

25 weeks!

I can't believe I am already 25 weeks. I can't believe I am ONLY 25 weeks. Haha - that's how I feel right now! I'm excited things are progressing so smoothly, but at the same time, getting anxious to meet them and unleash the chaos! I've been meaning to update, but honestly - there hasn't been much to document other than belly growth! I am really grateful and blessed it's going this smoothly and I still feel really good...normal aches and pains for pregnancy are setting in, but overall no complaints! We are getting closer to committing to 2 names (or 4 counting middle) but nothing is set in stone, just yet. Boy names were hard for us! We had a list of about 10 names for girls that we loved equally, and only a couple of 'ok' names for boys. We have a lot of friends with little boys, so perhaps all of the good names have been taken :) We do know one name for sure; Crew. Baby B (who we knew was the boy all along) has always been Crew. It's clean, simple, and strong - as is he because he is on my left side and is definitely the more active of the two. Baby A we are close to committing to, but not 100%. We want the names to be as different from each other, as the boys are. I'll let you know as soon as we decide!

As far as the nursery goes, it's a hot mess. It's still a guest room so to speak, and we have just been piling all things 'baby' into it. We are quickly outgrowing our little, mid-century house with almost no storage, so just trying to make it work! I feel the nesting kicking in though, because I've been purging home decor and old clothes left and right. It feels good to make room - but we have a long ways to go. I will really get down to business after my baby shower next month. I'll post pictures as soon as it starts resembling a nursery.

A few weeks ago, I had another ultrasound. They monitor twins SO closely, I think that was my 5th or 6th ultrasound. It almost seems excessive - I even asked if I could skip it since everything was going smoothly, but they said no. I'd much rather spend a few hundred dollars in the nursery or on necessities, but it is what it is! Here are 2 of my favorite images from that ultrasound...
They are currently heads up in there. This is a picture of all 4 of their feet down in my pelvis - like a dance party on my bladder, haha. They are in separate sacks as they are fraternal, but it's hard to see the division here.


This is a seated picture of Baby B. Those are baby buns!!


Here is a belly shot I took yesterday. I'm trying to convince myself if I wear red lipstick everyday now, maybe people won't notice my spreading double chin...HA! It's also hard for me to look at this picture and know I still have 13 weeks to go. Eek!


I have another ultrasound in about 2 weeks, so I'll update again then! Thanks for following our journey!

Over Half Way...

Last week was our anatomy scan! The babies are measuring just as they should be and look perfect! It's taken me over a week to write this though, because I am still in shock at the outcome of the gender check. We were told before by the perinatologist, that he was 70-80% sure baby A was a girl, and baby B was a boy.

Well - he was WRONG.



Those would be wieners. 2 wieners.

I am 20 weeks pregnant with twin BOYS! Haha, wow!

After taking a moment of silence to wrap my head around this new information, I have redirected my game plan, Pinterest searches, names, and nursery!

Darling things like this:

and this:

Ty and I even took a quick spin through the baby section on our last grocery shopping trip. This was my first gender-specific purchase...classic and cuddly little boy hoody sets. I love that they are not exactly matching. We want to encourage their individuality, so we will not be dressing them identically.

A dear friend gave me these too a few days ago. She said she bought these weeks ago before we even knew gender. She has 3 beautiful boys of her own, so perhaps it was her boy-mom instinct! Still in the womb and already little rockers, like dad!

Meanwhile, this is happening...



I'm so thankful for these boys and that everything is going smoothly! I've been feeling better each day for the most part and I've even started to feel them move on a daily basis - even if it's just a nudge. I still have a long way to go, but I know it will go quickly! I'm trying to savor each day, each nudge, as I count down the weeks until we get to meet these little dapper gents :)

16 Weeks and Counting!

Wow - where has the time gone?! Oh yes. It's Christmastime and we own a retail shop. Is it January yet? Oh my, haha!

We had our nuchal translucency ultrasound on Dec 2nd. It went amazingly! I met with a genetic counselor and a Perinatoligist from OHSU as well. He said and I quote, "Babies look perfect!" - music to my ears! He said there is no reason to be concerned about any genetic abnormalities and no signs of Down Syndrome or heart defects and a list of other defects and deformities that they look for at this appointment. PRAISE GOD! Here's what I saw that day...

Baby A is on top, Baby B is on the bottom!


After spending an hour with the ultrasound tech, who informed me it was too early to detect gender at just 13 weeks and 5 days pregnant, the Perinatologist came in. He plopped the doppler down and within about 6.4 seconds asked, "Do you want to know gender?" YES! He took a good peek at both babies and was able to detect with 70-80% accuracy what their little "genitalia buds" were starting to develop into! I'm not going to tell you yet because I'm going to wait until our anatomy scan on January 5th to be sure. Let's just say, I really hope he's right!!!!!

This last Thursday, I was 16 weeks pregnant. On Wednesday night, I was sitting on the couch with my legs crossed eating chips and salsa and with distinct certainty, I felt baby B move! It was exactly how everyone says it feels - a little flutter! Baby B is on my left. Then, just last night, as we were locking up the shoppe and walking out of the boutique, I felt baby A very distinctly on my right! It was amazing! I can't wait until I feel them both on a regular basis which may not be for awhile still. These early weeks, movement will be really inconsistent and sporadic. I have 2 anterior placentas too, which means the thickest part of both placentas is facing outward, so it will be even longer until I (or anyone else) can feel their movement from the outside.

Everyone says second trimester is amazing and that nausea ends and your energy returns...I'm not quite there yet. I'm hoping that after the stress of owning a retail shoppe in the midst of the holiday season is over, that maybe this will be true! I'm closer than I was...more good days than nauseous ones at least! I'll take it!

All in all, things are going really smoothly! I can't wait until January 5th, when we can take another long look at them and really see gender for sure! I have been so good and haven't bought anything yet. I take that back, I bought a Solly Baby Wrap on Cyber Monday, - but that's it! I've been waiting to know for sure before doing any clothing or nursery related purchasing. BTW, the Solly Baby Wrap is awesome - I tried it out with a Cabbage Patch Doll (hilarious, right?) to make sure I could do it somewhat properly. I took a picture, but I'll spare you my ridiculousness. Ty suggested trying it with the cat, but I didn't want my beautiful new wrap all hairy and shredded before the babies get here :)

I promise a good belly shot in my next post! I'm rather rotund already and I'm not even half way there!! Eek!

June Bugs

I know, I know, this is LONG overdue. I'm sorry. With so much anticipation, excitement, and nervousness - on top of running a boutique entering the holiday season, this was the one thing I kept putting off. Thank you for all of the concern and sweet texts, messages, and prayers!! Here is what we shared with the world yesterday morning...

"We have so much to be thankful for everyday, but today we get to share this with you! We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of 2 little bugs due this June! Happy Thanksgiving! ‪#‎JuneBugs"


We had our first fetal ultrasound on October 14th. Even the doctor called it a "Halloween Face" haha...

Both embryos took! This was the first image we got of them. Here, I was only 6 1/2 weeks pregnant and the babies were the size of blueberries. However, with the miracle that is technology, we heard and saw 2 strong, fast, healthy heartbeats! Music to my ears!

We went back a few weeks later, on November 3rd, and got a second peek to make sure everyone was still looking good...


At only 9 1/2 weeks, this was the close up on one of them. Keep in mind the baby is the size of a grape here...AMAZING.


Again, we heard 2 healthy, strong heartbeats! Praise God! This appointment was bittersweet for me though, as it was our last appointment with the fertility doctor and his wonderful staff! I feel like they've been such a huge part of this journey, it was a little sad leaving the clinic that day knowing they wouldn't carry out my care with the rest of this pregnancy. We took a picture with Dr. Stoelk and his rockstar of a nurse, Milly! Love you guys! I promise we'll be back with the babies in tow!

Look at these cute onesies they gave us! "NWFC Baby" (Northwest Fertility Clinic)

After Dr. Stoelk released me over to a regular OB, I was able to get in just 10 days later. She did another ultrasound that I wasn't expecting. I was exactly 11 weeks pregnant at this appointment. She said the babies look perfect and I was going to "rock this twin thing"...yay!

She got a shot of each baby individually here...the baby on the bottom looks like a baby, but the verdict is out for the baby in the top picture. Sea Lion? Squirrel? Haha. I took me forever to see it, but the baby is on its head :)

I have another ultrasound (a nuchal translucency ultrasound) on Tuesday at the hospital. It's a newer ultrasound where they take a really close look at the babies, looking for early signs of Down Syndrome and heart defects. They have to do this particular ultrasound before 14 weeks, because the baby's skin is still translucent, and they can see so much more this early. I will also meet with a genetic counselor and a Periontologist from OHSU too. My doctor says this is all standard, so I'm not worried, however it's a 4 hour appointment! It is still too early to detect gender with much accuracy, but I will schedule THAT appointment with them when I'm there. I still haven't bought ANYTHING so I'm really quite excited to find out what we're having! Several months ago before I was even pregnant, I had a dream that I was pregnant with twin girls. The twin part came true - maybe just maybe it's 2 girls :)

Last, but not least - here's a belly shot of me from yesterday after our Thanksgiving feast aboard the Portland Spirit dinner cruise! Can I get an AMEN for paneled maternity pants?! YES!

With full bellies and full hearts, Happy Thanksgiving from the 5 of us!