Pre Birth Order

Just a quick post to share that our pre birth order was signed this week! That means that these two little beans are now not just genetically but legally Seykora's! This is great news as it is a big pain in the you know what to do it after the babies are born. Also, it gives Jeff and I all rights over the babies in the hospital and also we are treated no different then if I had delivered. We get our own room and everything! Yay!!!!!!! Happy day! Thanks for all your prayers!

Single digits!!

That's right........we only have 9weeks left!! Single digits are here in weeks left to go! I cant believe how fast this is going! We had a doctor appointment last week and everything looked really good! We will go back next week and then we start our weekly appointments! Its crazy...........at our first appointment, there was snow on the ground!!!! As excited as I am for the babies to come, its a bit sad to me that its going so fast!

This past Sunday my family threw me the most beautiful baby shower. My sister in law Jodi did not miss a thing! She absolutely out did herself! We had such a nice day and the food was sooo yummy! We had some good laughs trying to explain surrogacy to my mother in law's aunt who just could not wrap her mind around how it happens. She thought that I was carrying one of the babies and Jill the other! Bless her heart it was just to confusing! I guess when your 80 something it was just a little to much modern medicine for her. Anyway, I must say that I'm a blessed woman! These two babies got more gifts than I could have ever imagined! And all of my friends were just so wonderful with embracing what Jill has done for us. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Trust.

I'm not really sure what has provoked these feelings inside of me but, regardless, they are there and I thought I would share them. Can you imagine literally giving your children to someone for about 9months? Can you imagine, handing them over & taking that leap of faith that someone else will do as good of a job at taking care of them as you would??? There isn't much difference between me giving a couple of my children to one of my friends and what Denise and Jeff have done...given Justin & Jillian to me to "take care of them" for 9 months. The overwhelming feeling has hit me, the feeling of immense gratification that Denise and Jeff trust me THAT much. They trust that I will take my vitamins and supplements, they trust that I will eat and drink the appropriate things, they trust that I will take the appropriate meds when needed, they trust that I will rest my body for a little bit everyday~so as to have enough energy to sustain through the end of the pregnancy, they trust that I will keep my activities at healthy/safe level, they trust, they trust, they trust...
I'm not sure if anyone has had that much faith in me before. Yes, of course my husband trusts me with all those things with our own children. But, Denise and Jeff didn't have to...they chose to. And Denise, well...ya know how some people just REALLY like to have control of situations....yeah, that's my girl! This is SO out of her element, she is so far outside of her box during this whole journey! And she's been a champ, she's handled it all with such amazing grace...if you didn't know the "controlling Denise", you wouldn't know that she even existed! Im proud of you Denise!
Anyways, this pregnancy has been such a breeze & uneventful (medically speaking), I just pray now that we've officially begun the 3rd trimester and are on the "down slope" that everything continues on smoothly. I pray we can finish out this last 10wks with incredible joy & peace! I trust that God is fully in control of this and that our last 10wks will be just as enjoyable as the first 28!
In case, you didn't catch this...10wks left! At the very most, 10 wks left!!! WHAT?!?! Its crazy!

2lbs & 2lbs 2oz! Getting so big!

Another wonderful appointment today and a peek at the babies as well! Now that they are getting so big it was really hard to see things as clear. We did get some great peaks at Justin as he was face out but Ms. Jillian was all tucked in and hiding. And they have changed positions again! They are back to the bunk bed position but on the opposite sides as they started at. Crazy! Justin is weighing in at 2lbs. 2oz. and Jillian is 2lbs. Jill says they were up all night having a party in her belly and then nice and quiet this morning. I told her that I'm sure they were sleeping in from being up all night! One thing really began to set in today.........we are getting close! Our appointments will be every 2 weeks now with another ultrasound in 6 weeks. Jill is doing and looking fabulous as usual. I will tell you one thing.....this girl does pregnancy VERY beautifully! Enjoy the belly pics!

pray for pre-birth order...

I don't mean to keep saying this over and over, but honestly, I just can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going by. There is really no new news to share...I'm feeling GREAT, the babies are both active (especially Justin lately) and we will be back at the doctor one week from today to get another solid look at how they are growing & developing. In 3 weeks we (Kurt, me, Denise & Jeff) will be taking a trip to Abbott to tour the birth center and meet with the care coordinators there. They have been brought up to speed regarding our unique situation. During our meeting we will be discussing what the birth of the babies will hopefully look like. We will be bringing along our birth plan so that whom ever takes care of us while we are there (at the time of birth) is aware of what our wishes are. I guess as I'm writing this, I would like to ask one thing of you...will you please pray about something for us? Ideally, by the time the babies are born we will have a "pre-birth order"...this is simply a legal document that states that even though I "birthed" the children, they don't belong to me. It states that Jeff & Denise are the parents and therefore legally responsible for them, it would ensure that they get the same priviledges as any other new parent in the hospital, so on and so forth. This pre-birth order needs to be approved/signed by a judge...my prayer request is that the judge who looks at this would see the need for it to be approved and that it would be done quickly. The alternative is a "post birth order" which is not appealing to any of us. Thank you for praying about this, it is very important.
Anyways, even as I write this the little ones are kickin' around in there, it seems that someone is always awake and moving BUT when they both are~it gets a little crazy! A good, welcomed kind of crazy though. Im sooo incredibly blessed to be a part of this, what an honor! What an honor.

94!!! My little over achiever!

We had our 24 week appointment today and Jill also had her gestational diabetes test as well. To fall in the "ok" range she couldn't score anything over a 130. Jill scored a 94! Oh yea she has to do everything just right! And I must say that I am ok with that!! We didn't have an ultrasound but did see a tiny peak just to check heart rates and everything looked great! Justin has moved head down and Ms. Jillian is still sideways. Her feet are right on her brothers head! Just for fun we had the nurse measure Jill's belly (which you don't do on a twin pregnancy because its NOT accurate) and at 24 weeks along she is measuring 34 weeks! Ha Ha we got a good giggle out of that. We are VERY lucky to have a fabulous nurse who feels far more like a girlfriend than a nurse so our appointments are super fun! All in all another great appointment. This pregnancy has been very boring from a medical stand point. Just like we like them. Jill said it best today in the clinic. She said we "singed up for the no glitch program". Perfectly said!
On another note...........I started the pumping phase of my inducing lactation protocol today and was over the moon to have been able to pump a little over an ounce on the first day!!! Such a blessing! If all goes well it should just go up and up!
Enjoy the belly picture! Ultrasound in 2 weeks at 26 weeks!

Love the extended family!

This past Sunday was a real fun day! Little Sam took his 1st Communion, so of course, it's a great reason for a big ol' family gathering! Kurt and I & all our kiddos were there as well. It was a beautiful day out & we had a ton of DELICIOUS food...and of course~ great company! It was so nice to see all of the "grandmas & grandpas" & "aunts & uncles"...it had been a while since we (Kurt & I) had seen them. It was such a relaxing day, the kids (alot of kids!) were all really well behaved, which allowed us adults to get into some good conversations...just so nice!
I tell ya what~you talk about a family just counting you as one of their own...Jeff & Denise's families epitomize that. Love them!
Oooh, & a couple of them were even able to feel little Justin & Jillian kickin' around~really fun! There were alot of hands "vying" for the best spot on the belly when they started movin' around, it was pretty funny! I think Denise's sister would sit with her hands on my belly all day if we'd let her! Ha! Very sweet, they all love these little babies so much~ I CANNOT wait for them to meet them!
Oh, cute story...when we were at the church Kurt, the kids & I sat in the pew behind Jeff, Denise and their family. Jeff was holding Brooke. She saw us, tapped Jeff & pointed at us. He said something like "yep, the Dahmens are here" and she says back to him as she points at me (or my belly) "NO, OUR BABIES!!!" How cute is that?!
23 wks and a couple days...another dr. appt. next week.