And...Our First Purchase for the Baby Room!

I went up to Evergreen with girlfriends this past weekend and found this picture in a wonderful little art shop (all Colorado artists). I was drawn to the bright colors, and got teary-eyed when I read the words...and I knew it needed to go in the baby room! :)

Baby Belly

OK, so it has just been confirmed that babies eat brains. I just wrote the title for this post as "Babby Belly" and then changed it to "Babe Belly" ...
Not to mention the fact that in my car I now have a neon sign affixed to my driver's side door handle asking "Where are your keys?" that Chris installed after I locked my keys in my car for the third time in a month.

But on to more exciting things...like this recent picture of my 12 week belly. I'm kind of feeling in the "chubby" mode right now, not obviously pregnant, maybe just "that lady who needs to lay off the oreos and do some sit ups."

11 Week Ultrasound

Here they are at 11 weeks. The one in the top picture was showing a beautiful profile, and the one on the bottom was mooning the camera! :)

Oh! And Also...

We had another ultrasound on Tuesday when I had my first regular OB appointment. The babies have just about doubled in size since the last ultrasound. It was so wonderful to see them again! The first one he showed me was in the perfect ultrasound position, I got to see its lovely profile, and it was really easy to picture the baby. It was moving its arms and did a little see-saw motion, and I could see its heart beating clearly.
The second baby, on the other hand, was in a funny awkward position for the camera. All I could see was a leg kicking and a butt. It was like this baby was mooning me! :)

Spreading the News!

So we went to dinner with my dad, Lynne, Dylan and Britney, and Grandma and Grandpa Hicks on Wednesday evening and announced the pregnancy. Everyone is very excited. It's dawning on us that all this waiting to get pregnant hasn't just been impacting Chris and I... we've had so many people waiting, and praying, with us! I think it's as much of a relief to our loved ones as it has been for us! It's wonderful to share the news because it really does feel like it's actually happening. I told Grandma Nicoll on Tuesday so that if she runs into G&G Hicks at Windsor Gardens, they can talk about the newest great grandchildren coming into the family.

Britney had used her detective work and had somehow figured out that we were pregnant. She actually brought a baby present - onesies and socks - to the restaurant because she was sure that we were going to reveal the news at dinner! Don't try to hide anything from that girl! Britney is sensing "boy" but she wasn't sensing twins - that was a surprise! :) Hopefully we will find out the sex of the babies at the 20 week ultrasound.

I'm slowly telling friends, too, which is so much fun. Chris and I have already gotten a couple of wonderfully sweet baby cards in the mail. Whenever my friend Jennica greets me with "Mama" it leaves a lasting smile. It's slowly sinking in, this is really happening...we really are going to be parents. It's something we've been waiting so long for, and we're just so happy!

Pictures

"Left" Twin

The left twin had a heartbeat of 159 bpm and measured 2.93 cm

"Right" Twin

The right twin had a heartbeat of 164 bpm and measured 2.91 cm

Both twins together:

Ultrasound Number 2!

So we had our second ultrasound this morning. We still have two babies!

They are each a little over an inch long and both measured at 9 weeks 5 days.

My favorite nurse, Robin, was there and I was so happy to share the news with her since she's been such an encouraging, helpful person in this whole process. She figured the due date from their current gestational age and it is March 7th.

Chris is going to scan the ultrasound pictures so I will post them later, but the pictures don't do the movement we saw justice! Both babies did a little dance for us, and one of them was waving its little hand!! Their heart rates have increased, one was in the low 160s and one was 159.

We are so excited, and can't wait to begin spreading the news in a couple of weeks!