few more...

Just a quick update on how babies are doing...

They have never needed assistance breathing! They are holding their body temps steady! Nursing like CHAMPS every 3 hours! And most likely coming home this weekend...yeah, God is GOOD!

few more pics

baby pics

Pictures!

Oh my word...these last few days have been such a whirlwind! We are all getting confused as to what day it is, what happened what day, so on and so forth! Kurt and I are fairly well rested, me probably better than him because the beds that are on this floor for the men are less than desirable. Jeff & Denise slept on an AWFUL bed last night but are on the natural high that comes along with the birth of your children. I dont want this to be a long post but let me say...seeing Denise, Jeff and their family and the pure joy on their faces is ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS!
Enjoy the pics!

Happy Birthday Justin and Jillian

Our beautiful babies arrived today
Justin was born with a head full of dark hair and weighed 5lbs and is 18 1/2 inches long!!!!
Jillian was born with a head full of blond hair and weighed 5lbs 9oz and is 18inches long!!!!

Jill is doing well and has already been up to see the babies!!!!!

HERE THEY COME!!!!!!!!

Babies are coming today by c-section will post as soon as possible.

weekend of contractions...

So, it's been an interesting weekend. Quick little update...
Started out my Saturday like any other, nothing unusual. We had a birthday party/ open house with some good friends that afternoon to be at. Made a couple stops along our way there, the last one being Target...I quickly ran (not really ran, but ya know!) in by myself. As I was standing in front of the childrens books I had a "contraction" that made me break out in a sweat...quite intense. Had this happened before? Sure. So, any big deal? Nah, not really. I leave the store...have another shortly there after in the car....hmmmm. Well, they didnt stop. Infact, they got rythmic...10min apart. We left the party early to go home and lay down. All the while, mind you, texting back and forth with Denise with as accurate detail as I possibly could. The contractions that night did not stop BUT they lessened in intensity & became less regular...sometimes 7min apart, and then 14min apart. Off to sleep I go, knowing that if I can sleep through them there is no reason for concern. I sleep great and wake up Sunday...same drill, different day! I spent Sunday trying to lay as much as possible to keep comfortable while keeping the little kiddos entertained, ah, the joys of multi-tasking! Kurt had a golf day planned with his brother otherwise he would of been running the show here...he has definately been a ROCK STAR through this, picking up the slack with the kids when Im unable to, love him! He did come home and make a PERFECT steak dinner for us~yummo! Oooh, and then he ran to the store to get the neccesities to make me a Vanilla Malt that I NEEDED...needed right now (at about 10:00)! He's the BEST! So anyways, here we are, Monday morning and it appears to be the same routine...several "contractions" have started again. I shouldn't say "started again" because I dont believe they ever stopped. Everytime I woke up last night I was having one. What does this mean? Honestly, Im not sure...but, I do know that typically my body will do this for a few days prior to "real labor". Who knows. I'm certainly not gonna pretend like I do!
On less of a "housekeeping" note...it amazes me how many people I encounter that care for these little babies, people who don't even know Jeff & Denise~who will probably never even meet the babies & honestly people who barely know me. There is a woman at church who has prayed with and for me before, she just has a very soft spot in her heart for these babies. She again yesterday laid hands on my belly and prayed...not for me but for Justin and Jillian. She prayed for their salvation and for their walk with Christ as they grow. What a beautiful thing....

34wk appt. & "will I be OK?"

Appt went great! Babies each scored 8 out of 8 again. What a miracle it is to watch them in there moving around! So many things are new to both Denise and me, such as amniotic fluid, did you know that the fluid can be different from one sack to another...not by amount, but by COLOR! We've been able to watch the fluid literally "slosh" around, and we've watched the membrane that separates the babies flow back and forth, almost like seaweed in water. At one point during an ultrasound, Jillian had her foot on Justins leg and she was curling her toes on him...it's just AMAZING!!! Selfishly, I feel so blessed to be a part of this journey, it's just been so fun and I'm constantly amazed by what I learn and see...thank you Jeff & Denise for taking me along on this journey!....OK, speaking of being on "this journey"...
my 3rd question that I didn't have time to answer last post, let me address that as best I can.
3.) Will you be OK when this is over???
The first part of my answer comes in the form of a question..."when is this OVER?". I have the amazing honor of helping my best friend & her husband become parents together, yes, carrying the babies is an honor but ONLY because of the outcome that it brings about, right? For Jeff & Denise to look at these little faces and analyze who looks like who or who acts like who. For Jeffs parents to watch their only son become a father. For Jeff to hear a little voice (well, 2 little voices!) one day call him "daddy". The pregnancy comes to an end but none of those reasons go away, does that make sense? I am fortunate to be doing this for someone who will always be in my life, I will have that constant "gratification", if you will (I'm challenged to find the right word), of watching this happy family grow for years to come. I COULD NOT do this "for contract"~ya know, for a stranger....THAT would be too hard for me & NO, I'm not sure that I'd be OK after (because there is an "after" in that case). I'm just not wired to be able to do that, God bless the women that can~that appears to me that it'd be tremendously tough. I AM attached to Justin & Jillian, I love them. I cannot wait to meet them, I cannot wait to kiss on them and cuddle them...yes, I will be doing all of the above...because they are my best friends babies (not because I want them!). I am excited to watch them drive away in Jeff & Denises truck! And I'm excited to be able to pick up my children and cuddle them close, which I haven't been able to do for several weeks. I'm excited to hug my husband tightly, no more sideways hugs! I know that the hormones that follow any birth are going to come and I believe I am prepared as I possibly can be for that.

Another perfect score

We had our 33 week appointment along with a biophysical profile and non stress test. Both babies got all the possible points that they could. Jillian is quick to do everything they want to see and our sweet little Justin makes us wait a little longer until he is ready to "perform". Just like his daddy. Its kinda cute.....for anybody that knows my husband and I, I'm a total spaz and Jeff is always calm and cool. These babies have acted like little mini Jeff and Denise from the start with Jillian always flipping around and Justin just chilling out. It will be fun to see if that still is the case when we finally get to meet these little ones! And man oh man its getting close!(32 days to be exact) I find myself "missing" them a lot these days and also quite emotional. All I have to do is try and picture myself or Jeff holding them and the tears just start flowing! I'm so excited to see their little faces. We did see some "fuzzy" little heads as the sonographer called it so we know they have hair! Its all just so exciting. Both babies still head up but there is still time for change. Keep up the prayers please! And also for Jill's back! It really hurts bad at times. We are back in one week for more of the same!

3 most commonly asked ?'s.

So, here we are 33wks and holdin' steady. Nothing too exciting going on pregnancy wise...which is good. The babies continue to be real active & not to "beat a dead horse", both heads up :(. There is still time for them to flip, I'm not giving up hope & I'm asking you not to either, please keep praying! I would be curious to know what it would be/feel like to carry these sweet little twins when both of their heads weren't under my rib cage! My 5yr old, Grace, will ask me in the morning..."mommy, are the babies heads in your ribs today?!"...ah, so compassionate! People are always asking me 3 different questions & so I thought I would share them with you...
1.) Does it feel different carry twins -vs- a single?
Yes. It does. My stomach is much tighter, as you can imagine. There isn't any "manuevering" around it, I can't shift it to the side even just a little bit, NO GO! There is generally something always going on in there, with a singleton you can feel their awake and sleep times but with 2 it seems that someone is always awake (Im gonna miss that!). When I lay on my side it does feel like my stomach may just tear right off of my body...its heavy, heavier than I've ever experienced before!

2.) How are you feeling?
All in all...real good. I have no swelling, which is strange~ I ALWAYS retain water and for some reason, that hasn't begun yet this pregnancy. I'm sleeping good at night, which is great! I get tired mid afternoon and usually need to take a rest when my kiddos lay down but then am able to stay up quite late, so that's nice because I can have alone time with Kurt. A couple minor inconveniences are that my ribs are sore from their heads, but at least it's just the left side rib cage since that is where they have decided to park their sweet little heads! And then there is my back...I'll be honest, it hurts. The pain isn't continual, some days Im fine and other days the pain can get intense enough to actually make me sweat. It appears that it is just from baby positioning, which is good because like I said- it's not all day, every day.

3.) How do you think you will be after this is all over?
Hmmm...this post has gotten a bit lengthy already, so I'm gonna save that answer for my next blog entry.

Today we are off to the dr. again for the babies weekly biophysical profiling and non-stress test. We're assuming everything will be status quo, no reason to believe otherwise.

Every week appiontments already!!!

We had another appointment with our peri today and it was perfect! It was the start of our weekly appointments! Can you believe we are this far already???? Today, we had an ultrasound with a biophysical profile on each baby and also a non stress test. Justin is 4lbs and Jillian is 4lbs 4oz! They also both scored a perfect on the biophysical profile and the non stress test. We had a perfect day! Jill is doing well and looking as cute as you could imagine. I will be curious to see how she feels in the next couple of weeks as she is measuring 39 weeks for a singleton pregnancy. Her body is now getting ready to be pushed farther than ever before. Please pray that she isn't too uncomfortable. I cant bare that thought. We have 39 days left as of today if she makes it to 38 weeks and I want her to feel as well as she looks. On a tender note....... I love my friend Jill today like words cant even describe. Not because of what she is doing, but because of our friendship. She truly is my souls sister. Plain and simple. Anyways..... So we are back next Thursday for the same thing as today! I also wanted to share pictures of the nursery! I think it turned out really precious. A thank you to my friend Deb who helped me paint the stripes on the wall and do the lettering as well! And of course.............a new belly picture! Also a prayer request please........BOTH babies are breech/transverse. We are really hoping that one or both of the babies will turn head down so that Jill can have a vaginal delivery. The doctor says that there is still time so please say a prayer for those little beans to flip!

JULY 1st!!!!!!!!!!!!

Today is JULY 1st!!!!!!!!! Did you read that right???? JULY 1st!!!! The babies could come this month!!! Are you hearing me????????