20 Week Pictures

Baby B's little foot!

Baby B's profile :)

Baby A's face, the best we could get!

This non-maternity shirt didn't last long...too short!

Seeing....PURPLE!

Today was pretty awesome!
I wish I could describe how cool it was to see both babies for the first time, but all I can think to say is it was just very surreal. Reading descriptions online or even my awesome "From Conception to Birth" book complete with in-the-womb pictures just doesn't do it justice. I really enjoyed Andy's response of: "No kidding!!" over and over with each new image. I had to agree with him, the last time we saw them they were little black balls in the middle of a large grayish-white space. Now the white space is all but gone gone and the picture is allll baby! There were 20 fingers, 2o toes, 2 healthy hearts, livers, stomachs, spines, 1 set of boy parts, AND one set of girl parts!
Our little girl was being shy for the majority of the ultrasound...wiggly! But shy. In fact it wasn't until the very end that she finally allowed us to see for sure that she was a girl. Her brother was baring all proudly from the moment the nurse turned the image to him to the moment we were done (such a boy!). Baby Boy is also known as Baby A. He is on my right and already head down like a good little baby. He is the one I've been feeling the most and is also apparently responsible for head-butting my bladder from time to time. Baby Girl, aka Baby B, is on my left and much higher in my abdomen with her cute little head under my ribs. Her feet were constantly kicking her brother in the face throughout most of the ultrasound, but if she rolled over her face was smashed right in her brother's behind. Thankfully they are separated by their placentas or things might get a little awkward!
After the ultrasound we met with Dr. Taber and discussed all kinds of things- like the fact that carrying two babies has me measuring the size of a single pregnancy 6 1/2 weeks ahead of me! I told him about my plans for the summer- Georgia in June, which he OK'd, hopefully Mackinac Island with Andy in July, and Petosky in August with Rachel. His reaction to Petosky at 31 weeks?: "Petosky has a nice hospital." Oye. He said he can tell already he'll have to tie me down to keep me from over-doing. I beg to differ, I'm no glutton for pain, but only time will tell!
At the end of 3+ hours I can say without question it was a truly awesome experience, we are so thankful to have these two healthy, and already a little rebellious (Baby Girl refusing to show "the goods" and Baby Boy refusing to show his face for much of the ultrasound) babies. Our ultrasound tech was great and very understanding that I needed 3 breaks from the measuring when laying on my back got me nauseous, and Dr. Taber is extremely helpful and informative, plus the excitement and support of friends and family- we couldn't be more excited or feel more blessed!
I promise pictures to come but right now I'm way too exhausted. Good night!

Look! I added a ticker!

does it look too small to everyone else?

Baby at the end of the road?

Random Thought of The Day:
I don't think it's hit me yet. One baby or two, September or October, I don't think any of it has truly sunk in. I still feel like I'm pretending when I research baby products, talk about due dates, even when I answer the question: "So how are you feeling?" a hundred times a day.
When is it going to sink in, and what is THAT going to look like?

Belly- OW

Tease me if you wish but today I could have sworn I had a hernia, appendicitis, a ruptured cyst, or all three. Around noon, while sitting at my desk I started to feel a pain in my lower left side that would not go away. I got up and walked around, got something to eat, drank some water, stretched, all to no avail.
After checking with my sister to make sure I wasn't crazy and this wasn't exactly "normal" I called the doctor and left a message. Two and a half hours later the office finally called back and said they wanted me to come in. In the meantime I'd managed to drive myself home and make my way to bed- the only way to not feel like I was being stabbed repeatedly in the gut.
On our way to the doctor I told Andy that this was feeling more and more like a pulled muscle, but how could I have pulled a muscle sitting at my desk?! I was going to feel really dumb if that's what it was, but by now the pain was radiating up and down my leg and was in my back too so I was still willing to let the doctor check it out.
Sure 'nough. According to the doctor it was a round ligament spasm...awesome. I guess it IS possible to pull a muscle while sitting at your desk if one of your orange-sized kiddos is using said ligament as a trampoline. I'm still having a lot of pain when I walk or press on the area but here's hoping it's better by tomorrow for work, and here's to more "normal" symptoms that don't require office visits.
Oh, on the upside I should mention that this doc (not my normal one) was able to find both heartbeats for the first time now that they are getting so much bigger. They were both in the 140's so that is probably why it was hard to tell before if we were hearing one or both. This time though he found one heartbeat on my right side and one of the left, before the left baby apparently scooted away and under his/her sibling. They must be on top of each other because that second one's was strong but much fainter than the first, like it was muffled by the other baby. It sure will be nice to have a better idea of where they are sitting in there and who is who in a couple of weeks!

2 Avocados

If ever I wonder if my belly is actually growing, it sure is nice to have pictures to look back on.

This is 12 weeks. I thought I had a bump then because I couldn't suck my belly in completely flat anymore:

Now at 16 weeks 5 days I can finally feel the "bulk" of my two little avocados in there and I truly have a baby bump! Ignore my weird faces, Andy loves catching me at awkward moments and we were in a bit of a hurr:y

By the way, can anyone tell me where that nose came from? The more profile pictures we take trying to capture belly growth the more I wonder about that nose...it's not distinctly Rottschafer or Huizinga, is it? Correct me if I'm wrong... Are my babies going to come out with that nose?!