4 months old!

Wow I haven't blogged in quite a while! I guess when you have newborn twins blogging takes a back seat. I really want to do this though, so I'm going to try again!

The girls are officially 4 months old! I can hardly believe it. The last four months have been the most crazy, difficult, amazing, wonderful, tiring, hard, scary, rewarding, incredible months of my life. Alex and I were talking the other day about how our lives have changed drastically in the last 4 months and we can only imagine how it will continue to change as the months and years go on. All we know is that these two little ladies have been the most wonderful things to ever happen to us.

So here's an update on the girls-

Addie:
*12 lbs, 9oz.
Birth weight - 5lbs, 1 oz.

That is a gain of 7 lbs in 4 months. Addie is doing so well. We found out about a month ago that what we thought might be an issue with one of her kidneys was actually something called an enlarged ureter which she will eventually grow out of. She is on an antibiotic everyday to keep her from getting a urinary tract infection. Otherwise, she is one happy baby! We are very blessed to have at least one laid back child in Addie. She is very content by herself and when she does get attention she will smile and talk to you all day long. She is super strong and lean. She is trying very hard to turn over and usually goes straight to her feet when we work on pulling up. She loves her sister and is always very comforted when she is around Allie. She likes to talk to her sister and hold her sisters hand when Allie will let her. She is one amazing little girl and we love her oh so much!

Allie:
*13 lbs, 8 oz.
Birth weight- 5lbs, 5 ozs.

Allie is our bigger baby and has been that way since in the womb. She is cute and sweet when she wants to be. She can be very fussy if things aren't going her way or she isn't doing exactly what she wants to be doing. (Though she looks like Alex-some people have said she might have her mother's personality- I really don't know what they are talking about :)) She loves to watch TV and kicks her feet and giggles out loud when it is on one of her shows. She gives great sugar (hugs and kisses) and loves her mommy more than anyone! She loves to be held and does not really enjoy her sister too much yet, though I think Addie is growing on her!

Both of the girls are good babies. Even after a 13 day NICU stay and being born 6 weeks early they have no set backs compared to other babies their age. They weigh a little less but developmentally are right on track.

Everyone has said that we are very lucky that they are so easy going. I really can't complain. They do great at home in their routine and great when they are traveling. They are great car riders and really enjoy being in public. They get lots of stares and people just seem mesmerized by them whenever we go places. Though the most annoying thing people say to me is "Twins?" I would really like to say "Here's your sign!" but I just smile and say thank you or tell them how old they are. They often ask their names which I think is just funny that people want to know that but whenever I tell them they love their names. I must say I do too! I'm not sure they will ever be known by their birth names or anything other than Addie and Allie but that is okay with me.

The girls have been sleeping through the night for about 3 weeks now and this has really changed our worlds! I have a lot more energy during the day to get things done and have even thought about trying to find some type of work from home opportunity to bring in a little money (if anyone has any great ideas let me know)! As of right now, I'm not ready to go back to work anytime soon and don't think I will be next year either but I'm not ready to decide just yet. I really love spending time with the girls and can't imagine not being with them all day everyday.

I feel so lucky to be their mommy and be so blessed with two happy, healthy babies. The Lord truly blessed us with two beautiful daughters and I am so looking forward to watch them grow up.

Happy 4 months babies!

It Ain't Easy...

NOT RETURNING TO WORK...So this week has been weird...most of my teaching buddies went back to school this week for pre-planning to get ready for the new school year. Obviously, I didn't go back. Regardless of whether or not I had taken a year off I wouldn't be allowed to go back to work now because of the bed rest. I didn't think much about this week before it got here but now that it is here and I don't have babies yet, the whole taking a year off and not teaching thing is really getting to me. I know in a few weeks I won't have time at all to think about it and I will have beautiful babies to love but right now I feel sad. Who knew quitting your job would ever make you sad? I mean most people would love to be in my position to have the luxury of staying at home and I do feel very blessed to have this opportunity but I can't help the way I'm feeling now. I think my problem is I actually LOVE what I do. Many days I'm frustrated with the students or the politics of the school system but overall I enjoy getting up everyday knowing I'm going to a job that is 1) never boring and 2) very emotionally fulfilling. I know that I will eventually go back but right now I will just have to deal with the emotional feelings of not returning this year. And believe me...I made this choice and I know it is the right thing to do.

BEING ON BED REST... bed rest sucks! I know it's a means to an end but it's driving me crazy that I can't do anything for myself. Whether or not my family believes it, I really feel bad asking them to do EVERYTHING for me. My poor mom and grandma especially have to help me all day long. I know they want to be here but I feel bad because this isn't there house and I know how crazy I become when I have been away from home for too long. I feel incredibly blessed that they are here though. I just feel guilty. Today, probably, I am also mad because I'm missing small group once again and I can't go see the movie I have been looking forward to all summer- The Help. I know it sounds so incredibly trivial when we are talking about helping two little babies come into the world even more healthy than they are right now and believe me that is all I want but I just needed to vent for a bit.

BEING PREGNANT WITH TWINS....I have been incredibly lucky to have such a good pregnancy so far with no major problems but let me tell you I'm over it! I'm sick of the back pain, heartburn, restless leg syndrome, going to the doctor 2-3 times a week and paying for all those lovely visits, preterm contractions that hurt, remembering to take medications 4 times a day to keep those contractions down, going to the hospital and not bringing home babies, as I said before- bed rest, and the constant worry and anxiety that goes along with a high risk(twin) pregnancy. I know I sound like a big complainer but nobody tells you how your body and your mind are taken over with pregnancy, especially multiple pregnancy. Like I said before, I am so excited about my babies but I'm so ready to not be pregnant anymore.

Okay- I feel better now! Just needed to get that off my mind! Maybe I should delete this post but I won't because the reality is life isn't always easy!

Changes, Hospital Visits, and Bedrest

Changes-

So after a really exciting June and most of July with lots of events going on, my mom and grandma visiting, and getting things ready for the girls everyone left and thus began the waiting period. I still had a few things I wanted to do but the energy to do them just wasn't there for very long. Most days I went from couch to bed and back. Alex was in charge of supper every night and he did a great job taking care of me when he got home from work. I tried to do at least one thing per day whether it be going to the doctor, visiting a friend, or running an errand to Target or the grocery store. Things were going pretty well and I was feeling pretty well overall, just tired.

Hospital Visits-

On Monday, July 25th, at 32 weeks, I was resting at home when I started to feel a lot of pelvic pain that felt like really strong menstrual cramps. As I had been told this was what contractions felt like I began to get a little worried. I had also not felt this before so I felt like something was going on. I continued laying down for about an hour to see if they would stop. They didn't so I decided to call my doctor. She told me to come into the hospital to be checked. I then called Alex and he met me there. When I finally was admitted and hooked up to the contraction monitor I was having contractions every 2-4 minutes. I was shocked. I was convinced that I was going to get to the hospital only to tell me that I was fine and send me back home. This was not the case.

First, they decided to try a drug called terbutaline to help calm contractions. I had two shots of this medicine in the back of my arms. This medicine makes your heart race and you feel extremely jittery. The nurse warned me of all of this prior so though it wasn't pleasant, I was prepared for it. It helped to calm them a bit but the doctors weren't satisfied with the amount of contractions I was still having. I then had a test (can't remember the name) that tests to see if you are giving off a hormone that means you will deliver in the next two weeks. This made me really nervous because I really wanted to make it longer than that with the babies still inside me. Luckily, the test came back negative.

I then had my cervix checked and we found out that it was still closed, another good sign that I would not be delivering anytime soon. They also checked the babies via ultrasound and they were doing great and still had plenty of fluid to grow in. I was very comforted and felt certain that I did not have to worry about early delivery. I was still concerned about the contractions but not nearly as much as I was before. They decided to give me another medication called procardia. This is a blood pressure medication that they use to help your uterus relax. Luckily, it didn't have any side effects and could be taken as a pill. After waiting most of the day, I was told I would spend the night so they could monitor my contractions. They also wanted to give me two steroid shots to help the babies lungs develop.

When we finally saw the doctor on call she also broke the bad news that when I did get home I would be placed on strict bed rest for the remainder of the pregnancy. I had been dreading this since I found out I was having twins since it usually is not a matter of if but when you will be placed on bed rest. I immediately called my mom and she said she would be there the next day to stay with me and help me and Alex through the bed rest process. This was a huge relief and I was secretly very happy that my mom and grandma were coming back.

We were finally discharged from the hospital at about 6:30 on Tuesday. I was really happy to be going home. Alex had been with me the whole time and was so supportive. I was just glad everything was okay and that the babies were staying inside me for a while longer. Here is a horrible picture of me in the hospital bed.


Bed rest-

My mom and grandma arrived on Wednesday night and thus we began the bed rest process. The first week was fine, the second a bit harder, and now that I'm on the third week I'm so over it. I know it is necessary and good for my babies but it is really hard to lay around all day long. I know I will get through it and it will be worth it but man it really stinks sometimes. I am so blessed though to have my hubby, my mom, and my Nana to take care of me. I couldn't ask for better care during this time.

Last Monday, at 33 weeks, on my birthday no less, I had to go back to the hospital again for contractions. This time though I only had to stay about 6 hours and they were able to get them down with three rounds of terbutaline (not fun for me). I was discharged at midnight Monday and we went home all very tired. I guess with twins preterm contractions are very normal or so everyone keeps telling me. I try to stay positive and not worry too much. My cervix is still closed and so hopefully the babies will keep cooking in my tummy!

A note about my 25th birthday-

As I mentioned this hospital visit was on my birthday and I missed my birthday dinner that night. We had it the next night and it was wonderful. We had really good steaks, potato casserole (my favorite), and good french bread. My sweet friend Ericka also brought me cupcakes which were delicious. Alex got me a flip camera so I could record everything baby related when they get here. My mom got me a refrigerator that we will put upstairs for nighttime feedings and my Nana got me a cd/mp3 player for the girls room so I could play music while taking care of them in their room. It felt good to get gifts that I liked that would also be useful with the girls. I also got to see my best bud Kristen Moore who had been living in Dubai for the last year. This was such a nice visit and I really enjoyed catching up with her. I got lots of sweet cards and facebook messages. So although I was in the hospital on my birthday, I felt very loved and special! Thank you to everyone who made it special for me!

This Tuesday, August 9th, I will be 34 weeks which is a huge milestone for twin pregnancies. The doctors tell me that if the girls come after this milestone everything will turn out great. I am having lots of mixed emotions probably due to the bed rest and the fact that all I can think about is the girls coming. I feel very prepared but also very nervous and excited! I know the Lord is in control and I just need to go with the flow but that is hard for a planner like me. We are still hoping to make it to Sept 1st for our scheduled C-section. Only 3 1/2 more weeks to go! Hopefully we can make it but if we have them before that I feel really good about how everything will work out. I am so thankful for making it this far and can't wait to meet my daughters!

The Third Trimester and The Nursery

So my third trimester started at the end of June. I was so happy to have made it through all the events I wanted to attend. The one event I didn't get to attend which I was really bummed about was the birth of my nephew Rex. Jill's due date was July 4th and I knew I would not be allowed to travel at this point in time. She ended up delivering Rex on July 2nd. We kept in close contact throughout the birth process and Alex went to see Rex the weekend after he was born. Here are some pictures Alex took while he was there visiting. We are so happy for Jill and Ryan and I can't wait to meet Rex sometime soon and introduce him to his cousins!



Little Rex a few weeks after birth!



Jill and Rex right after birth!



Jill and little man...she looks great!



Alex's parents Paulette and Mike with little Rex...happy grandparents!



The Geis family...Ryan, Jill, and Rex



Alex and his nephew!


Almost as soon as the third trimester began I started to feel very differently....mostly uncomfortable! It's amazing how each trimester brings on something new. I was also getting really big, so doing normal things became very difficult for me. I had already started resting a lot during the day and only trying to do one or two activities per day. Even in doing those activities I would get worn out very quickly.

My mom and grandma were able to come and visit me from June 15th- July 12th. They came for all the showers and to work on the nursery. This was such a wonderful time spent with them and we got so much done in preparation for the babies. I will talk more about this when I discuss the nursery.

When I went to my doctors apts in the beginning of June everything was great with the babies and me and when I went back at the beginning of July things had changed a little bit. The babies were still doing great but Addie (baby A) was measuring more than 20% smaller than Allie (baby B). The doctors said they weren't too concerned about this because both babies were measuring in the 50th percentile or greater but because there was more than a 20% discordance they need to start monitoring me weekly. I would begin getting a non-stress test which monitors the babies heart beats on Tuesday's and what is called a BPB (biophysical profile) on Friday's- this was basically an ultrasound to check blood flow, heart rates, breathing exercises, and a few other things. The two days of testing would give them a score out of 10 to rate the babies well being. I started these on Tuesday July 8th and would do these every Tuesday and Friday for the remainder of my pregnancy. These tests are typical for twins to start at 32 weeks, I just had to begin mine 3 weeks earlier at 29 weeks.

Here is a picture of the non stress test. The babies get hooked up to the monitors and they watch their heart rates for 20-30 minutes. They hope to see the heart rate go up and down several times as they move around. The babies did great at this test for several weeks. I will talk about how things changed around 32 weeks in my next post.



The NST machine. My mom has fun pretending to be a nurse reading the results on this machine.



My belly hooked up to the monitors.



Here is me at 31 weeks trying to go to the pool on a Sunday afternoon. I lasted about an hour.



Okay so let me now talk about the nursery. As I said before my mom and grandma were here for about 3 weeks helping me with this, really doing it for me because I couldn't do much physically at this point. My mom is extremely creative and though we planned most of it together it was really her talent and creativity which brought it together. It was a lot of fun to do and I couldn't be happier with the way it looks. We think it's a designer nursery on a budget that could be featured on HGTV! HA! I must also give my Nana kudos because she washed, folded, and put away all the girls clothes, towels, socks, etc. It was a lot of work and I couldn't have done it without them.



This is the bathroom. My mom painted the flowers and butterflys on the wall. Our friend Kris painted the picture with the girls names on it. The shower curtain, towels, tooth brush holder, and rug all came from Target.



The right side of the nursery. The two gliders, table, lamp, and cd/mp3 player came from my grandma and mom. We were given the advice to get two gliders from our friends with twins so that two people could help out at bedtime. I love the way it looks.



The dresser (one I bought in college) with a changing pad, and the hamper that matches the crib bedding. You can also see the flowers my mom painted on the two side walls. Thanks to my dad and Alex for hanging the mirror. They have put up this mirror and taken it down in the last 4 places I have lived.




A glimpse at how stocked the girls are. Everyone has been so generous and I really think we have enough to get them through the first 3 months.



As you walk into the room this is what you see (we didn't have the gliders in when this pic was taken). I love the cribs (thanks to Paulette and Mike), the bedding (thanks to my mom and dad), the bookshelves (Ikea), the letters and paintings (thanks to my mom), and the curtain (again, my wonderful mother). I think it's the most beautiful nursery in the world!



And here is a picture of their closet. They have gotten so many clothes and we have gotten a ton of beautiful handmade blankets to use with them.

We feel extremely blessed to have been given so many things for our girls and to have such a beautiful nursery. Thanks to everyone who contributed (especially to Mama and Nana)!

Showered with Love!

These pictures I forgot to add to the last post but they are from my very first baby shower in April. I was just 17 weeks here. This was hosted by my mom and her friend Peggy. Peggy's daughter Amy and I grew up in church together and she is expecting a little girl 2 weeks before my "techinical" due date. They invited people from church who knew us as teenagers or have gotten to know us as adults. It was really fun to have a joint shower with Amy and I got lots of wonderful gifts for the girls. This was a babies bottom shower so I got lots of diapers, ointments, creams, lotions, and wipes (all of which I needed badly) but also we got some very sweet clothes for the girls. We had just found out they were girls a week before so it was wonderful to have my first true "girl" presents. It was a wonderful weekend to spend with my parents and a great shower. This was the first time it all really sank in for me.



Mrs. Degler and my mom and all the presents for Amy and I.



The wonderful food spread!



Amy and I at our joint shower!

June was filled with a lot of excitement for me. This is in backwards order but I didn't feel like rearranging the pictures.

Here I am at my baby shower in Albany, GA on June 25th. I was 28 weeks here. This was hosted by my second mother Ms. Elaine and her daughter and my good friend Kayla. This was such a wonderful shower and I got to see a lot of old friends and family members. I was so appreciative of how kind everyone was and I loved getting all the girly things for my daughters.


Me and Jessica Underwood- a good friend/like a little sister from my college days in good ol' Tallahassee.



The shower hostess and my second mama Ms. Elaine.


Presents!


The food spread- it was all so very nice and yummy!

Again this is a little out of order but the next two pictures are from Katie's wedding on June 11th. I was 25 weeks here. This was in Sarasota, FL. I was so proud of myself for making it to her wedding. That had been something I had worried about since I found out I was pregnant. She was my maid of honor and is one of my best friends and I wanted to make it to her wedding more than anything. I flew the hour from Atlanta to Sarasota, got on the hotel shuttle and was to the hotel in less than 5 minutes. It was really so painless and probably the best way for me to travel there at that time. Alex had a big conference in Washington, D.C for work so he couldn't go with me which I was initially very bummed about. But with all the bridal activities and the travel arrangements it couldn't have worked out better. It was such a wonderful weekend and Katie was absolutely stunning in her wedding dress. I was so happy that I could be there to share with her and Jon.



The beautiful bride and the bridesmaids.



Katie and I- luckily we were able to find a maternity dress because man did I ever need it! And it really looked very good with all the other dresses.

The next set of pictures are from my baby shower in Atlanta. This was on June 18th and I was 26 weeks. Luckily, I did not have to travel at all for this shower as we had it at my house. My wonderful friends from small group hosted it for me and I must say it was over the top wonderful. They did such a good job and I was so impressed at their skills! The food was wonderful, the decorations were so cute and the games were so much fun (I have been to a lot of baby showers and I think my games rocked the socks off of the other ones I have been to).

Again, I was so impressed by the generosity of my friends and family. It was so wonderful to receive the most adorable things for my girls. Truly girl things are just so much fun!


Me getting a plate of food- the red velvet cupcakes were amazing and my favorite but all the food was soooo wonderful!!

Some of my guests and such good friends!


Me, my sister, and my 2nd cousin Raleigh....so good to have those sweet girls there!



I had to include a picture of the hanging onesies and socks- so creative and a wonderful gift to the girls!

TWO GIRLS and Cont. Second Trimester

So at 16 weeks we had another ultrasound to see if we could possibly find out the sex of the babies. The date was April 7th and I had been waiting and waiting for this moment. With twins they can usually tell earlier (one of the perks) and I could NOT wait to find out! I was also on spring break and unpacking our house so it was the perfect time to go to an exciting doctors apt and not worry about having to go back to work. Alex and I had been talking about what we thought they were for weeks. I kept going back and forth but my gut instinct told me they were girls. Alex thought they were boys or one of each but he assured me he would be just as happy if they were girls. My mom thought they were boys and a lot of other people did too. Secretly, I did not really want two boys, although, I would have loved them just the same but something inside me really wanted at least ONE girl. Alex met me at the doctor for our 3:30 apt. Waiting until 3:30 that day just about killed me. The ultrasound tech could tell how excited I was and I made sure to tell her that today was the day we would find out. She said she would do her best to tell. Honestly, she upset me a little bit because she acted like it was only a MAYBE which I knew but didn't want to think about. She tried first with baby A who wouldn't exactly open his/her legs for us to find anything out. The tech said she didn't see any boy parts but couldn't be 100% sure. We also didn't see any boy parts but what did we know? We then looked at baby B who gave us a great view of HER girl parts! The tech said she was 95% sure that baby B was a GIRL. She then went back to baby A and we got a little bit better of a view that time around. We were pretty convinced we were having TWO GIRLS! I must say I was so excited to hear that! I just thought about them being sisters and being so close! I was just thrilled. Alex actually said he was too which I felt he meant. We then called my mom and she was in total disbelief but also excited. After that we called everyone else and they were all so excited for us. Finally we could start buying things! And girly, pretty things at that!


It's a girl- baby B!


It's a girl- Baby A!

After moving into our new house, our lives got very busy very fast. The second trimester (April, May, and June) was jam packed with things for us to do including my good friend Katie's bridal festivities (shower, bachelorette weekend, and wedding), a family reunion, a trip to Alabama to get furniture from my grandmother, Jill and Ryan's baby shower (Alex's sister and her hubby had baby Rex July 2nd) and my own baby showers in Raleigh, Atlanta, and Albany. Needless to say it was very busy but also so much fun. I am so thankful all of this happened during those three months because beginning in late June being pregnant became very uncomfortable and hard for me and there would be no way I could have made it to all these events after the third trimester started.

Here are some pictures from many of those exciting events and also of me at different points in the second trimester.

18 weeks at home!



19 weeks in Tampa at Katie's bridal shower! Late April!




20 weeks in Alabama picking up furniture and having a family baby shower! First weekend in May!




My students threw me a baby shower the last week of school- don't want to post pics of the kiddies!



Alex and I the first weekend of June- 24 weeks at Jill and Ryan's baby shower.



I love this pic because all these pregnant girls were so cute and brought such a happy vibe to the shower. Also, I was the only one pregnant with twins and the one who's due date was the farthest away!

The Second Trimester and Moving!

After seeing the two heartbeats, as I said before, I felt better about our chances of having a healthy twin pregnancy. At this point I started to think about just how much this was going to change our lives forever. What were we going to do with two babies? Would they be boys/girls/or one of each? We knew from the ultrasounds that they were fraternal twins because they were contained in their own placentas with a separating membrane. I was excited they were fraternal because I hoped it would allow them to have more of their own identities. I was consumed with all things pregnancy and twin related. I was also having a really hard time not telling people. We had already told our parents, siblings, and our grandparents (because we knew we would need their support if something were to happen) but I wanted to tell the whole world. Alex and I decided after our 9 week ultrasound we would begin telling people. I know we probably should have waited until 12 weeks but we couldn't keep it in any longer. Here is a picture from that 9 week ultrasound.

After telling everyone it became very real. All of a sudden being pregnant with twins really started defining who I was and how I was feeling on a daily basis. I was very lucky in the first trimester. No morning sickness, just extreme fatigue. I would come home from work and just pass out on the couch. Alex would get home from work several hours after me and just laugh and say "You're not even that pregnant yet" Needless to say that wasn't my favorite line of his but he was kidding (mostly)!

Here are the twins at 13 weeks (they no longer fit on the screen together). One nice thing about twins is that you get a LOT of ultrasounds. SO many in fact, that I don't think I will ever survive a singleton pregnancy with only 2 or a few more ultrasounds. This pregnancy has spoiled me with frequent visual assurance that everything is okay with my babies.

Twin A

Twin B


The second trimester began mid- March 2011. I was immediately relieved to discover that I had regained my energy, which was a good thing because we were getting ready to move. Alex and I had been working on buying a short sale home in Mableton, GA since November 2010. We found out we got it at the end of January and closed on it at the end of February. We took the whole month of March (I say we, it was mostly Alex and my dad) to repaint every wall, replace almost every fixture in the house and do some serious cleaning. The house was in decent shape but we definitely wanted it to be clean and ready for us before we moved in. I can't say enough about Alex during this time. I felt bad because I really couldn't help him but he really came through for us and did a great job getting our house ready. The one thing I could do was pack boxes. I would get them ready and taped and he would move them wherever they needed to go. We also had some great help from friends. We officially moved on Saturday,April 2nd, 2011. We purposely waited until this date 1) to get the house ready and 2) because my spring break was the week following and I knew I would be able to unpack most everything during that week. My parents came down two weeks later and helped us decorate and hang pictures. Everything came together very quickly! I am so super happy with our house and feel so blessed to have a nice home to bring our babies home to. Here is a picture of the house and also me at 15 weeks pregnant.

We're Preggers!

As I have not blogged, written in a journal or done anything to record the last 8 months of my life, I feel like I should do a summary of sorts. So here goes.

Alex and I got married November 21, 2009 after 3 1/2 years of dating. We always knew we wanted kids (he wanted 1 and I wanted 3) but weren't quite sure of when we wanted to begin our family. I wouldn't say immediately but after about 6-8 months of marriage I would say I began to think about when to start trying to get pregnant. I approached the subject casually with Alex and he basically said lets wait a while. I said okay and proceeded to try and not think about it for as long as possible. Well...that didn't last long, it seemed like once it entered my brain it stayed there. In October of 2010 we found out that Alex's sister was pregnant. I was overjoyed for Jill and Ryan but inside felt even more so than before that I too wanted to begin trying to have a baby.

The holidays were right around the corner and I thought this might be a good time to approach the subject again. Alex sort of had the same reaction as before but seemed a little more open this time around (I guess the news of his sister's pregnancy had a similar affect on him as it did on me). We decided we would just see what would happen. Little did we know it would happen very fast. In mid January I took a pregnancy test for the first time thinking that there was no way I had gotten pregnant that quickly. Well...guess what...I had. Here is a picture of us a few weeks before finding out, before our lives changed forever. We were at the airport on our way home from Colorado. We had just spent a week visiting with Alex's family for Christmas. It is not the best picture but shows the before.

The amusing thing about us finding this out was that Atlanta had just been hit by a huge ice/snow storm and we were stuck in our apartment for a whole week. Therefore, because I had to know, I sent my dear husband up several steep hills in the ice to the store to buy a pregnancy test. After I took the first one, I wasn't totally convinced so the next day I sent him to get another brand. After seeing positive again, I was sure! I immediately scheduled a doctors appointment to confirm. We were able to get in the next week. Alex and I were very excited but still very unsure as to what to expect. We went to the appointment and they did an ultrasound to see if they could see a baby yet. I was only about 4 1/2 weeks pregnant at this time. Amazingly, the nurse practitioner pulled up what looked like a little black dot on the screen. She asked if we saw it and we said yes. Then she turned her instrument slightly and said "Oh wow". I immediately got nervous at this point. She then asked us if we saw the second little black dot on the screen. We said yes. Alex and I were still clueless at this point. She said, "I don't mean to get you too excited because it is possible that it's not but you might be looking at TWINS. I was speechless and Alex didn't say anything for quite sometime. Finally, he asked her if there was anymore than two and she said no. She told us not to get too excited just yet but that she would schedule us back in a week and hopefully we would see their heartbeats. We left in total shock and excitement. What in the world had just happened? The doctor also advised us not to tell anyone just yet in case something happened to one twin in the first few weeks. Well I have never been good at secrets and I also figured it was safe to tell my parents and Alex's parents. They were just as shocked and excited as we were.

Here is a picture of that first ultrasound that would change our lives forever.
So, for the next week I went crazy researching all things twins related. I was excited but also really scared that something would happen to one or both of them before our next ultrasound. I have pretty much been this crazy the entire pregnancy and I think I would be the same if I was pregnant with a singleton. We went in for the next ultrasound and were able to see both twins heartbeats. This was the best feeling in the world. I felt confident again that this was meant to be. Here is a picture with the heartbeats.