10 Weeks with TWINS!!!

Actually, I'm 9 weeks and 6 days with only hours away from being 10 weeks...but who's counting???!!! We had a sono at our fertility clinic again today...our very last appointment there!! Everything looks GREAT! Both babies look perfect! One measured 10 weeks 1 day and one measured 9 weeks 4 days. They aren't very far apart in size at all, and they are both just perfect in size! Their heartbeats were 182 and 179 bpm...Matt is getting more and more nervous that he's going to have 3 girls! The doctor reassured him that the higher heartbeats do NOT mean girls like people say, but then Dr. Kevin proceeded to call them each "she" the rest of the appointment. We could not be more excited about twins! I thought I would be more nervous, but after seeing them both doing so well and looking like little babies already, I just feel at peace that it is meant to be and I'm so excited and feel so blessed that we'll get to bring home two little ones!! It's still hard to believe every time I say that! Here are some pictures from our sono - the 3D images are pretty amazing! It's hard to believe that they have developed that much at only 10 weeks! Unfortunately, the way they are positioned, it was difficult for the doctor to get them both in the same shot. Baby B is harder to get a picture of usually.

It was so cool, because one of the babies moved it's arms quite a bit during the sonogram! It is so crazy to watch on the screen, because they are still too small for me to feel them move hardly.

Campbell still always says "one more baby and that's all" when we ask her how many babies are in Mommy's tummy. We also ask her if they are boys or girls, and she says "they are brothers and sisters" as if to correct us. She definitely doesn't have a good feeling one way or the other, because her guess changes every time we ask her.

This is a 3-D image of Baby A - pretty cool! The head is at the top, and you can see the shoulder, the arms and the legs at the bottom. In the picture you are looking from the backside of the baby.

This is actually a split screen with both babies. Honestly, I don't know which one is which though...I know, I'm a terrible mother! It's already starting that I can't tell them apart!

This is a 3-D image of both babies. I believe Baby A is at the top right, and the top of Baby B's head is in the bottom left. Baby B was much harder to get a shot of, and it was impossible to get both together very well.

This is a 3-D image of Baby B

Happy Birthday Pops!

Yesterday was Pops' birthday! Campbell did a solo performance of Happy Birthday for him and blew out the candle on the cake!

Also, this is for Aunt Kiki...Campbell has learned to sing the chant at the beginning of the Rhianna song, Live Your Life. It's amazing what little kids pick up on when you don't even realize it! Matt has the song on a mix CD that he made, and she apparently pays attention more than we thought! One day she just broke out singing the chant at the beginning - pretty funny!

Double Trouble!!!

It hasn't even truly set in for us yet, but we better get in gear soon...we are having TWINS!! Most of you know, but for those that don't, we did conceive with in-vitro fertilization. The crazy part of it is though, that we only had ONE embryo to transfer! Multiples are very common with fertility treatments, but usually because of having multiple eggs and multiple embryos. Because we only had the one embryo....we know that we are having identical twins!! It is just so crazy!! Twins weren't even on our radar as a possibility since we only had the one embryo. We are still in shock!!

We first found out at our 6 week sonogram. It wasn't exactly an exciting announcement at that point though. Here is how the conversation went:

Missy: We actually call the baby Nemo since it was our only embryo left to transfer.

Dr. Kevin: That's so funny, what a perfect name!

Missy: Yeah, it's so crazy that this happened the exact same way with our daughter.

I guess we are just meant to have one baby at a time.

Dr. Kevin: I wouldn't be so sure about that.

Missy and Matt: What are you talking about? You're joking, right?

Dr. Kevin: No, I definitely see a second sac, but it is much smaller.

I can see a heartbeat too, but it is very faint.

Baby B's gestational sac measured much smaller than Baby A, and the heartbeat was not even detectable when they went to measure it even though we could see the little flutter on the screen. Baby A measured just fine, and the heartbeat was 113 bpm. We were told that it would most likely be a case of a "vanishing twin". He told us that thankfully they are in separate sacs and each have their own placenta, which is very rare with identical twins. Usually identical twins share a sac and placenta, which is very high risk to both babies. He assured us that if we were to lose one as a "vanishing twin", it would not be detrimental to the other. They planned for me to check back in a couple weeks for another sonogram. So, while we thought we would leave that appointment so relieved to have seen ONE strong heartbeat, we left worried about this possible "vanishing twin". It was the strangest feeling that we weren't prepared for at all. The doctor was pretty confident that this twin would not be "viable".

This was my prayer:

God, we are still in awe of this miracle of twins that you have given us. And while we trust in your perfect plan for us and these babies, whatever that may be, I will continue to pray for the desire on my heart that you protect both of these precious little ones. I know that our perfect single embryo was in your hands, and it was clearly meant to be that two babies came out of it. We have SEEN their little heartbeats fluttering away just as you have protected them and given them life to this point. We praise you that they are protected in their two separate sacs, and we are so so thankful for this! We just ask that you continue to protect both of them and strengthen their little hearts and allow their bodies to grow. I know that the doctors rely on statistics to guess this outcome, but I'm not going to let that doubt creep into my head because I know that YOU are the ultimate healer and miracle worker. I know that if it is your will for these two babies to come into this world, you will have them thrive and grow. I also pray that you continue to give me peace of mind and peace in my heart over the next couple weeks leading up to this next sonogram, because I know it is not of you that I worry and I know that it won't do any good for either baby for me to worry myself over this. I thank you for the blessings that each of them already are to us, and we just praise you for such a miracle! Amen.

So, we went in on Thursday for another sonogram. Since Dr. Kevin is out of town this week, we saw a different doctor. She said, "I understand that you had a viable and non-viable twin at your 6 week sono, so we will take a look today and hopefully see that your viable baby is still viable." She was so certain that we really had a vanishing twin. MUCH to our surprise...and the doctor's too...there were very clearly two babies and two strong heartbeats right away! While Baby B is still measuring smaller than Baby A, she said that is very common with identical twins. Their heartbeats were 156 (Baby B) and 167 (Baby A) bpm! God truly is the ultimate miracle worker!!

Here you can see the babies stages...

Here is our embryo picture. The 3 half circles around the edges of the picture are the other 3 embryos that we had that were not able to be transferred since the cells had stalled out and were not splitting or they had vaculations (don't ask me what that means!). You can see that our embryo had actually started "hatching" before we transferred it - see the tail-like piece coming out of the bottom. In hindsight, I think it was already starting to split, and we just didn't know it at the time!

Here is a picture of the two sacs at 6 weeks - the babies are so small in these pictures that they just look like white dots inside the black sacs. Baby B is on the left and Baby A is on the right.

Here is a picture of the two babies at 8 weeks!! We hope to get better pictures with both of them together when we go back on the 31st! In the first picture, you can see Baby B on the right, and Baby A on the left even though the picture cuts off part of the sac. In the second picture, it is a split-screen. On the left is Baby A. On the right you can see both sacs, Baby A on the left and Baby B on the right.

Here is Baby A at 8 weeks

Here are two pictures of Baby B at 8 weeks

Campbell really doesn't know what is coming!! I doubt she really understands that one baby, let alone two babies, will actually be invading her house later this year, but we do talk about the babies in Mommy's tummy to her a lot. We say there are TWO babies in Mommy's tummy, and she always responds, "there's only one baby, and that's all!" It is the funniest thing, because no one told her to say that. Oh the poor little girl!! She seriously doesn't know what is coming! Although, I don't know that Mommy and Daddy realize what is coming yet either!!

We are 8 weeks and 2 days today! It's still very early, but this last sonogram was very reassuring that both babies are doing well. We have our last sonogram with our fertility doctor on March 31st at 2:30, and then we see my regular OB the following week on April 8th. It's so nice having sonograms so frequently for reassurance! It is also helping pass this time during the first trimester!! We appreciate your continued prayers for both babies!! We will keep you all posted!

That's right...

That's right...we're pregnant!!! We have been wanting for so long to announce this exciting news, and it is finally here! I'm only 7 weeks today, but we are still so excited already! We have already had one sonogram to see the heartbeat, and we have our next one scheduled on Monday March 23rd. We will keep you all posted!!!

When we told Campbell that there is a baby in Mommy's tummy, she smiled and said "I tickle it!" She always tickles my tummy when we remind her. She also thinks it is so fun to give my belly "whoopy kisses". She also sings "Happy birthday to the baby" quite often. I'm sure it will get old over the next 8 months, and I'm sure she doesn't fully understand yet, but I know that by the time the baby is here, she will be ready to fill the role of big sister!

Our due date is October 28th!

Another fun weekend

We went to Incredible Pizza with our Home Team last week. Here are some cute pictures of some of the kiddos!

Here are a couple of funny shots I got of Campbell watching TV in her favorite red shoes this past weekend. Seriously, she LOVES her red shoes!!

Weekend Fun!

Well, I guess I shouldn't say this all happened just this past week, because I'm so behind! This is really an update over the past couple weeks.

First, we had Matt's grandpa's 80th birthday celebration on Feb 7th. The ENTIRE family was in town...all 5 daughters (Matt's mom included), their spouses, most of the grand kids (9 out of 12) and both great grand kids...Campbell and Channing. It was so much fun! We had dinner at this adorable little Italian restaurant in Arlington. Luckily we had a private room, so Campbell and Channing had free reign to run around and play pretty much. I was named the "photographer" for the evening and was even given a list of pictures to take - it was fun! I think we got some good ones with everyone together, which doesn't happen too often. Anyways, here are some pictures of the big par-tay!

Campbell and Blake

Campbell and Taylor

Campbell and Channing in their matching party dresses

Papa with his two favorite great granddaughters ;)

Kisses for Papa

Matt and his girls

Papa dancing with his lovely bride

The whole gang

Campbell has also become very fond of Channing's new cat, Holly. This cat is so mellow, it lets the girls just carry it around however they please and even put it in a baby stroller as if is a doll. I'm not a cat person at all, so I was a little freaked out at first when Campbell decided she too could pick up Holly and carry her around, but the cat didn't seem to care and doesn't have its front claws, so we left her to play Mommy to Holly. We did have to regulate when she thought it was OK to CRAM the cat into the stroller or hit her on the head repeatedly...poor cat! Sorry Holly!

We also got to have a play date with some friends on Saturday. Here is Campbell with Cole and Cade...they are some CUTE little boys!! Campbell, however, was not in the mood to share her chair, but Cade thought the two of them could fit just fine - cute!

Here are a couple of pictures of Miss Campbell in one of her many Valentines outfits with all of her festive accessories! She LOVES to wear her "wed" shoes! She has actually requested to sleep in them too!

Excuse you!

Our sweet and precious daughter did a not so sweet and precious thing this morning...but it sure was funny! I went into Campbell's room to wake her up and pick out her clothes. If she's not already awake, I usually start talking to her while I'm in her closet to have her start waking up. I say, "Good morning Campbell, it's time to get up." She doesn't open her eyes or sit up right away. Usually she has to stretch quite a bit and slowly wake up. Now, it's a fairly normal occurrence that when she is stretching, she'll toot. It's pretty funny, but nothing unusual for her morning stretches. Well, this morning, she tooted as usual, but the sound lasted as long as her very long stretch. I was laughing pretty hard, and said "oh my, girl!" She then picked her head up, and with her eyes barely opened and a big smile on her face, she said "SCUSE YOU!!" It was so funny! We always say "excuse you" whenever she toots or burps, so she has started saying the same thing now. We've heard her say it before, but it was pretty funny for it to be the first thing that she said this morning. She even said it so loudly that Matt heard her in the other room. He said, "did she just say excuse me?" I said, "yes, but did you hear why she said it???" It was so funny!!