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!

Grandma Debbie Knows!

My mom came back in town this weekend and we asked her to come over last night, even though she was babysitting Callie and wouldn't be able to come over until 8:30 or 9:00. I told her we wanted to give her a birthday present we'd picked out.

We'd picked up a book this weekend while in Grand Junction in a national park gift shop called "Grandparents Colorado Style" that has all these fun things to do in CO with grandkids. I printed the pictures from the ultrasound and put them inside the book.

She unwrapped the book and ooed and awed over what a great idea this was. I kept looking at Chris with a big smile and a little giggle and I was like, "yea, it's a great idea, isn't it?" It began to sink in with my mom, then, and she looked confused and excited and Chris told her to open to the front. She took one glance at the ultrasound and began jumping and dancing around the deck shouting and screaming and clapping. Later when it began to sink in while looking through the ultrasound pictures, she cried.

I'm so glad I got to tell my mom! I finally got to ask her how she felt in the first trimester. I keep wondering if it's normal that I haven't been throwing up, but she never threw up, either. Just lots of sleepiness and some queasiness, similar to what I'm having now.

Ultrasound Monday

So we had our ultrasound on Monday. Chris and I were both very nervous before the doctor came in. What if something was wrong, or there wasn't a baby after all? But then we received the shocking and exciting news...we're having TWINS!
We got to hear both heartbeats, which was just amazing.
Oh, and we got the official due date. It will either be March 8th or 9th!

Who Knows?

So while we were in Michigan, we decided to tell the brothers since we won't see Mike in person until Christmas and we aren't sure when we'll see Eric and Cathy since they are moving to Turkey at the end of August. Mike and Rachel came into town early Friday morning so on Friday we were hanging out by the lake and Chris gave Mike a beer with an "Uncle Mike" sticker on it. Then Eric and Cathy came in Friday night and Chris gave Eric a beer with an "Uncle Eric" sticker. Everyone's very excited. Being so early in the pregnancy, though, it's a cautious excitement.
On Sunday, before flying back to Denver, we went to a Jubilee celebration for Aunt Sister Joan's 50th year with the church. She has been praying for us a lot about getting pregnant, and when she looked me in the eye and told me she was still praying for a baby, I told her to pray for the baby's health. She got tears in her eyes and said it was the best Jubilee present.
I am anxious to tell my parents, but my mom is out of town until the 24th so we can't tell her until Sunday. We decided we wouldn't be able to wait until August after all. As for telling my dad and Lynne, Lynne leaves for a two week trip to Kenya this weekend, so we'll have to wait until she gets back. I'm hoping to tell my brother and Britney soon, too. Of course, I want to tell everyone else, but we really want to be sure so we're going to wait a little bit longer.

In Michigan

Sue received the news with happy tears and Larry couldn't stop "wahoo!"ing. At about six weeks, our baby is now 1/6 to 1/4 of an inch long and may look something like this:



We are looking forward to our first doctor's appointment in about a week.

Rabbit Ears Pass

Up in Steamboat this past weekend we hiked up to the Rabbit Ears. Chris wanted to take our first belly pic up there. I really shouldn't have a belly at all at this point, so just admire that nice "flat" stomach! ;)

Five and a Half Weeks In

So we found out that we are pregnant on Tuesday, June 29th. I'd been expecting my period that weekend, and when it didn't come, I called my doctor's office and I was told to come in for a blood test. I went in on Tuesday for the blood test and was told it would take at least 24 hours to get the result. Well, at 9:36 that night, I had an email from Kaiser...

Component 6/29/2010
Beta HCG 607
Progesterone >40.0

Abbey,
The pregnancy test is positive.
Both levels are excellent for the number of days you have been pregnant.
Repeat the test on Thursday.
We will want to do your first ultrasound in about 2 1/2 weeks.
Nan

Chris and I were shocked. Shocked and excited! I think I only slept a couple of hours that night, Chris says he may have slept 4.
Second blood test on Thursday was followed by an email Thursday night...

Component 6/29/2010 7/1/2010
Beta HCG 607 1472
Progesterone >40.0

Abbey,
The rise in Beta HCG is excellent.
Call the office to schedule your ultrasound for about mid July.
Nan

We have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, July 19th when we get back from Michigan (we leave tomorrow). We haven't told anyone yet, as we want to be absolutely sure before sharing the excitement. We'll probably tell Chris's parents while we're in Michigan because it will be our only chance for awhile to see them in person. Then we're planning on telling my parents at the beginning of August.

Right now we're just praying hard that baby likes its new home and decides to stick around.