Mommy & Daddy felt Jillian!!

We had dinner tonight with Jill and Kurt and for the very first time Jeff and I got to really feel baby Jillian kick! I got to feel a really good "thump" and Jeff got to feel some other really cool movements as well as a good thump too! SOOOOOO cool. Can you imagine ladies what its like to feel your child moving around in your friends belly!!!! Pretty amazing. I especially enjoyed watching Jill's smile when Jeff felt it for the first time. It was such a heartfelt excitement for him as this was the first time he has ever felt a baby move in a pregnant tummy. Of course we know how much Jill loves us just because of the situation but to watch her smile for us tonight brings a smile and squeeze to my heart as I type this! We are so truly blessed. So now our little man Justin needs to let us have a feel!

Its already been a month??!!

I cant believe it has already been a month since our last appointment !!!We had another OB appointment and it went great! We had an ultrasound that was SO long and super cool! It was well over an hour and we saw every little detail of these kiddos. They were so cute and really growing! Justin weighs 12.5 ounces and is 10 inches long with a heart rate of 171 bpm. His sister Jillian weighs 13 ounces and is also 10 inches long with a heart rate of 164 bpm. They looked great! We will go back in 4 weeks for a check up and then 2 weeks after that for another ultrasound. We cant wait to see how they have grown in 6 weeks! Jill is doing great and feeling great! Her body was so made for this!! And like we promised....enjoy another belly shot of the cutest belly ever!

next time.........just move on please

Well, I had such a wonderful day today and was so bummed out to come home to an email update about an anonymous comment left on Jill's (ya know, my VERY best friend)latest post.
Or should I say the one before the last one as she felt the need to clarify herself on the other one that the comment was left on. Well now I need to do some clarifying to everyone and the anonymous comment author.............We all walk through life experiencing different things from one another. For me personally there have been lots of ups and down. In fact I think that's true for most. When my husband Jeff and I got married, we very desperately wanted to have children together. Bottom line, plain fact, no if and butts about it...........we couldn't because I cant carry a baby. In steps my best friend Jill. Who out of nothing but the kindness of her heart says "please, let me do this for you". Then goes further and says "I want your families to feel connected to this pregnancy as well. So I'm going to try really hard and blog about every little detail". She blogs about all the little details including, how hungry or not she is, how her tummy is growing so fast because there is two and every other little thing she can think of...FOR US. She is NOT complaining. Just sharing. Thank God she is that thoughtful considering this is what I will share with the children she is carrying as I wont have any of these experiences except for through Jill.Here comes my clarification for you anonymous comment author...........Your sister has with out doubt gone through a lot and I'm so happy for her that she has twins on the way. My husband and I also have twins on the way because of one person. Jill. So you can imagine how protective I feel of her when I read through your rude words to her when all the while she is just trying to keep my family informed about her day to day life. I'm not trying to be rude to you as this blog is meant to be a place for fun loving reads. However, in one of my prior posts I said that I feel like I'm in the role of the husband. But you helped me realize something more.........your words made me feel like a mommy lion. You were rude not only to my VERY best friend, but also the woman who will bring my son and daughter into this world. Jill is one of the most selfless, caring and loving women I have ever known. I'm very sad for you that you stumbled across this blog and decided to leave a comment to a perfect stranger only to pass judgment on her. This blog is to share wonderful news about my children. Shame on you for making it anything less than that. Because of this, I will be disabling the option for people to anonymously leave comments. And further more, don't we all have more to do in life than to simply just be rude? I will pray for the author of this comment that God may change your heart and that you may find the true meaning of the gifts your sister and I have been given. God Bless.

Clarification

Apparently, I need to clarify a little something...
I began this blog so that Jeff and Denises family could feel as much a part of this pregnancy as possible. I know all of them and see them occassionally as Denise and I are best friends. But OBVIOUSLY they are disconnected to this pregnancy to some extent because of its unique circumstances. So when I share small details of what is happening with me, my body, my appetite...whatever~its because these people WOULD have had the pleasure of enjoying those details with Denise, and so this is for THEM...so that they feel as connected as possible. Anyone who knows me knows that I could care less about what "happens" to my body during pregnancy, if I did...I wouldnt be doing this! So, as much as I like this to be a "pleasurable read", Im going to be honest...my intention with this blog was ONLY to keep the extended family informed and connected!

20wks!

I cannot believe that we are already at 20wks! This has been flyin' by! I have been feeling GREAT for several weeks now. My energy level has even been very impressive, I haven't been feeling tired during the middle of the day. I will still spend about an hour (when the kids are resting) JUST SITTING, with my feet up. Evidently, even if I don't "feel" the need for it, its suppose to help in the later part of the pregnancy if I do this now.
My belly growth has been slow paced for the last month, I feel. In the last week or so, I have been feeling the "stretching pains"...so, maybe I'm getting ready for a growth spurt. Cute story...we haven't told Griffin (my 2yr old) that there are babies in my tummy or anything like that, I don't think he'd really get it anyways & it's not as if we are preparing him for babies to "come home". So anyways, the other day he lifts up my shirt, touches my belly and says "Mommy...You got a 'berry big' tummy", gee, thanks Grif!
The babies have been very active and that has been fun to experience! I can feel when Justin has the hiccups or when Jillian is rolling around. At times, they kick so hard that my shirt moves! They are each in different "quadrants" of my belly so its been easy to differentiate between the two so far. I'm seeing a pattern in their active times...6am, Justin is always moving, both are active during the "typical" 9pm time & most nights at around midnight I can feel Jillian, sometimes both of them. Their movement is a much welcomed sensation, for ALL of us. Its something that I'll never grow tired of feeling and I'm sure something that Denise & Jeff will never tire of hearing about.
I've got some of the best friends in the world...my girlfriends (& their husbands) have been so supportive. They don't even care that these babies are not mine, they always ask about them, "rub" them (a couple will even "talk" to them!), are always concerned with how I'm feeling and always inquiring how Jeff & Denise are doing as well. One of my good friends has made mention that after the little ones are born I'll have to make an occasional "appearance" with them~everyone loves these little babies! They are gonna have so much love, they aren't gonna know what to do with it all!!! I need to say thank you to all of you who show your love & support during this very unconventional time!
Kurt and I were out the other day and saw a young couple with a little set of twins (so cute!), we were both like..."awww, that's gonna be Jeff & Denise!" & then we talked and decided we should have put something in writing in reference to a "visitation schedule"~Ha! I'm joking! But seriously, we love these little ones and look forward to meeting them and spending lots of time with them...like another set of "aunt & uncle"!

Half way there!!!

We cant believe that we are half way through this pregnancy!! Time has just flown by! Jill is feeling really well which can I selfishly say I'm so happy about. I have learned something......my role in this pregnancy is like the role of the husband. Except that I have been pregnant before and I have delivered a baby before so I know exactly (minus the, ya know 2nd baby in there!) what she is going through. Now I would also say in a non weird way that I love Jill as much a friend could possible love their best friend so now that she is feeling better, it makes me feel better as well. SUCH a helpless feeling to know she felt sick. We have our next appointment on the 15th and that is another ultrasound. So fun to see them moving around!
I was out walking the other day with my family and a friend from high school who knows only from facebook that we are expecting twins saw us walking. Later that night I got an inbox message from her saying how good I looked for carrying twins. She called me "one of those". I laughed and sent her a message back directing her to this blog. The reaction of others when they see that I'm clearly not pregnant has been pretty fun.
Jill and I and all the kids went to the zoo last week and Jill was walking in front of me. Just like a mac truck it hit me..........my children are in her belly! VERY surreal!!!!! Couldn't ask for a better place for them to be! A new belly picture next week! God Bless!