Pictures from 13 Weeks

And it's about time, too. I know, I know. Sorry.



Our kid's head looks like an alien!



Sorry this isn't so clear. The head's at the bottom left... we think.

2nd verse...same as the 1st?

We've officially been in the 2nd trimester for a week (as of today!), and I must say that it's been a pretty easy road considering my body is caring for 3 people at the same time. I've had some pretty harsh headaches, which are either associated with hormones (sorry...) or sinuses or a combination of the two. Headaches are NO FUN when you have to teach a bunch of hormonal teenagers all day long. And, headaches are NO FUN when you can't take the usual Aleve or Excedrin Migraine...only Tylenol. I've felt a bit icky this week, so I was starting to wonder if I was going to be sick during the 2nd trimester since the 1st was relatively easy (no morning sickness!). I think the ickiness may have been a few isolated days, but I'm starting to realize that I can't eat much of the same food I'm used to eating. Nothing huge, but I've been more cognizant lately of that.

Ryan and I worked in the nursery one evening this week. We put some clothes away that Mary Beth gave us from Lucas, and we put the maternity clothes we've bought or received on loan from friends away too. It's actually starting to look like a nursery! We even set up our really cute pack 'n' play. Now if we can just figure out where to put the elliptical machine so we can have room for the changing table and rocking chair/ottoman that we'll hopefully get from a generous friend/relative.

I guess it's time to start registering for things... I've been thinking about strollers/travel systems since that's going to be the biggest thing we'll need. We already have the cribs! :)

My perinatologist's office called this week to reschedule our Oct. 22 appointment. Apparently the doctor will be out of town. Fortunately, they made a special appointment for us late one afternoon so I don't have to miss school and Ryan doesn't have to miss work and/or school. Our appointment is now Oct. 23 - thankfully we don't have to wait too much longer past the original Oct. 22 appointment!!

13-week update

We went to the doctor on Tuesday afternoon, and after waiting for a while (of course!), we spent a good hour or so with the doc. We got to see our little ones again, and they looked happy as can be! They were very active, and they've even started kicking each other. I looked at Ryan and said, "it starts already!" Both babies are measuring well (6.8 cm if anyone's interested), and the heartrates were 154 and 161, which is nice and strong.

Of course, I had 4,000,000 questions to ask. I can't help it if I'm curious! :)

Our next appointment is in 2.5 weeks (YAY!), and then 3 weeks after that we're going to a perinatologist, which is a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies. There, we'll be able to determine the genders of our little ones. We'll also get a really long ultrasound to check for birth defects, etc. Apparently this doctor has one of the really high-tech 3-D ultrasound machines, so we're looking forward to seeing our babies a bit clearer!

We'll post pictures from our last visit soon.

"Reactions" addition

I failed to include one other reaction in the previous post. I decided to go to school the day of the ultrasound to see my good friend Mary Beth (principal's secretary extraordinaire). She had just started her Hot Pocket for lunch when I showed up with the pictures. She was so caught up in looking at the pictures that she didn't realize the microwave never stopped! It got stuck and kept heating and heating and heating. Before we knew it, my principal came in (we were in a conference room) and huge amounts of smoke came wafting into the room. Mary Beth tried to burn the school down!! To top it all off, the room where the microwave was STILL smells a bit burnt. :)

Starting to show a little bit...

Reactions...

Jayne (Beck's mom): *scream* *another scream* *the sound of a phone dropping* *another scream so loud that we could hear it even though the phone had been dropped* (We respectfully admit that Jayne claims to have not dropped the phone. We also respectfully don't believe her.)

Pam (Ryan's mom): "Ryan Kendall Stone, if you're kidding me...!"

Martin (Ryan's dad): *chuckle* "Are you serious?!?"

Chris (Beck's brother): "Holy crap, that's cool... Holy crap, that's cool! That sounds like a lot of work." (Thanks for the nod to TWINS in your response!)

Stan (Ryan's brother): "Are you kidding me?!?"

Aimee (Beck's sis-in-law): "What?!? That's awesome!"

Michelle (Ryan's sis-in-law): "Are you serious? Tell me you're not joking."

Kate (Beck's niece): "Two babies... There are two babies in Becky's tummy."

Josiah (4-year-old from Redeemer): "But Ms. Becky, won't they fight in there?"

If you're wondering where Don (Beck's dad) is, then wait no more. This was our favorite reaction, partly because of the way we told him (he was the first to find out, by the way). Beck's dad has always prayed for his not-yet-born grandchildren that they would have 10 perfect fingers and 10 perfect toes, a sharp wit, a sound mind and a heart that longs for God. Here's our phone conversation.

--------------
Ryan: How's it going?

Don: Oh, it's going alright. Busy day. (brief side note, Don's dealing with massive plumbing problems in one of his rental properties at this point. He's been jackhammering a concrete floor, in someone's living room!)

Ryan: Well, we've got a request for you.

Don: Sure, anything.

Ryan: We need you to change your prayer a little bit...

Don: Ok (in a hesitant voice).

*pregnant (ha! punny!) pause*

Ryan: Well, we're going to need 20 perfect fingers and 20 perfect toes.

*silence again*

*more silence*

*slow, quiet chuckle*

Don: Really? Are you serious?

Ryan: Would we joke about this?

Don: Well. How 'bout that?

Pictures!

My silly wife (who has pregnancy brain) forgot to add the pictures to her last post.

We also forgot to post about the different reactions we got when we told people we're having twins. It should pop up in the near future.

Anyway, here are the pics!

Seeing Double...

We had our first ultrasound appointment at about 8 weeks, so you can imagine our excitement at the thought of getting to see our little one! The doc got me all set up and called Ryan in, turned the lights down low, and turned on the screen. Keep in mind that I'm flat on my back and Ryan's standing by my side...and it didn't help that the screen was turned so we couldn't see it! Silly doc...

Before we knew it, the doctor looked at Amanda, the nurse, and said, "you may want to get him (Ryan, obviously) a chair." Now, I'm not really sure what to think at this moment. Was it good news? Was it bad news? In the split seconds that followed, I did some quick "teacher-like" observation of both the doc's and Amanda's faces. Amanda's was priceless - she was completely silent with this enormous look of awe on her face. The doctor was smirking a bit, and he finally broke the incredibly-long-what-seemed-like-eternity-but-was-really-only-a-few-seconds silence by saying, "Well, Becky, it's a good thing you never went on Clomid, because you might be having 4." I started laughing, looked at Ryan, looked back at Doc and asked, "Twins?" At the doctor's confirmation, I promptly teared up and squeezed Ryan's hand a bit harder. Little did I know that at this point, most of his body weight was now supported by his one arm propped on the table! He smiled one of the biggest smiles I've seen and started chuckling a bit...I think out of shock!

Doc turned the screen so we could see BOTH of our children. There they were, two little beans, two little miraculous gifts from God. I asked the doctor if he knew if they were identical or fraternal, and he told me that it was still early to know for sure, but that if he had to guess, he thought they were identical. Amazing! They had two strong hearbeats, and they're just the right size for their age. The funny thing is that I knew we were having twins before we went to the doctor, but I didn't say anything to ANYONE...mainly because I didn't want people to think I was crazy. That, and I wasn't sure if it was mother's intuition (although I was pretty sure it was) or just a really, really, really big desire of my heart.

I can't describe how blessed I feel (not speaking for Ryan of course, but I know he feels the same way). God chose ME to carry two children, and He chose US to be the parents of TWINS. TWO BABIES! This is completely His work, and we are humbled by His choosing us for this adventure.

Thus began our amazing adventure...our adventure of raising TWINS!