PRETTY IN PINK

Well we painted the nursery this weekend and we LOVE the color. Here are pics from our painting!

BACK TO WORK??

Well, as of yesterday K is officially employed again. K will be working part-time (4 hours) teaching Algebra through the end of September. Another teacher is out for maternity leave and the school had not found anyone to take the position. K took the job with the understanding that she may have to quit at any moment depending on how she feels and what the Drs say....they are going to keep looking for someone who can firmly commit.
But in the meantime, K is very excited, but D is very nervous. K swears that she will be very sub-like and just use what is prepared with no modifying or additions and that she will sit during class and during the planning period.

UPDATES!!

We have been really busy lately!! Here are just some random updates of what we have been doing. Sorry it is so long. Hopefully K will be able to figure out how to add some pictures to this posting!

1. K had ob appointment...pretty uneventful. K is still size greater than date (which they determine just by using a tape measure. It seems like there would be a more sophisticated way of doing that in the year 2007) and is measuring a belly of around 25 weeks. This was the first appointment that dr did mention that bedrest may be a possibility in the future...boo! K is now on a 3 week cycle of seeing him.
2. We have our crib bedding...no theme: just pinks, beiges, and browns...and have picked out the paint color for the nursery. It is a rosey pink (we think it has more of a beige undertone). D is worried that the room is going to look like a giant explosion of pepto bismal, but K assured him that at worst it would look like a giant explosion of cotton candy. We plan to paint this weekend!
3. Our car seats and snap-n-go double stroller should be here on Thursday...Thanks to Grandma Di and Papa Hadden!!
4. We ordered our chair...Thanks to Granma Hazel...and it should be here in 6 - 8 weeks. We bought a recliner that is a swivel rocker/glider. It is beige with swirleys on it (it looks better than that description).
5. We got a side-by-side stroller. It is grey with pink edges.
   
6. We have firmly decided on the first names (Audrey: she is the one on K's right side of the belly and Brooke: obviously she is on the left side of K's belly!) and are firmly still up in the air about the middle names...any suggestions? They are super movers!! In Sunday School this past week, you could see K's belly jumping through her shirt! maybe Brooke really likes the book of Malachi.
7. We bought our new car: Honday Odyssey!! Yes we drive a mini van...but our current cars were totally not cool, so it is not like we are taking a step downward on the cool-o-meter. It is silver pearl metallic on the outside and grey leather (yes leather seats in Houston) interior. We LOVE it. It is K's first new car since she was 17 and D's since he was 16.

SUGAR AND SPICE AND EVERYTHING NICE...

Well, trying to continue the little girls' theme, this is my lame title for my NICE reports from the other doctors this week.
My endochrinologist appointment went well. My latest A1c was 5.6% which averages a blood SUGAR of 100. He was pleased. However, it seems that K's body is starting to revolt against her insulin and she is taking way more than before. The Dr. said that this is normal and the dosages can even double before it is all over.
According to the fetal echocardiogram, A and B have perfect little fetus hearts. This was quite a long test (almost 2 hours) and quite frankly was boring...how many times can you see them measure some valve or chamber and then some associated heartbeat stuff?? The most interesting things were:

• A and B had both turned headup (they were headdown just 2 days prior!!)
• K could feel B having jerky little hiccups and could simultaneously see the jerking on the screen!
• Babies have 2 little "shortcuts" in their hearts since they don't use the lungs. These close up 1-2 days after birth.
  

WE ARE THINKING PINK!

We had our 20 week ultrasound today. Within seconds (D estimates 15 seconds) the Dr. asked if we wanted to know the sex. We said yes, and he immediately said "they are both girls. 100%"
He then went on to measure all of the body parts (there were 3 screens in the room so everyone could see well). Baby A and B were both measuring slightly ahead on their growth. One of them is just over 21 weeks and the other is like 20 1/2 weeks....which is good since they will probably be born a little early. The ultrasound was neat because he switched over to the 4-D type several times! They looked cute...though it was still hard to tell exactly what we were looking at the whole time.

D GOT KICKED!!

The day finally arrived when D was able to feel either A or B (possibly both)...How exciting!! Sunday evening, K noticed that the babies were really active and seemed to be actual hitting/kicking rather than just the bubbly stuff. D put his hand on her belly and in just a minute or two, he got kicked! He was able to feel them several times before they settled back down.

As an aside, our regular ob appointment went fine. K is looking good...and quite big. As the Dr said she is still "size greater than date." All total, K has gained approximately 20 pounds so far.

BABY CLASS #1

Not surprisingly, K and D have signed up for 5 different classes offered by Women's Hospital. Our first one was Saturday from 9 to 5 (1/2 hour for lunch...we were introduced to the cafeteria food). Thanks heavens the lady doing it was very engaging and entertaining. The class was called Birthing Marvelous Multiples. There were 9 couples who were all expecting twins between Nov and Jan. This is what we learned:

• after watching the videos, K is not sure she wants to have a vaginal birth (no one in the video had an epidural and they looked awful...many were totally naked and K can only assume that the pain was so bad they had to rip off their clothes) and K is not sure she wants to have a C-section (that fluid comes shooting out of the incision like a geyser) K is currently trying to figure out what the other delivery options may be...they seem limited.
• the hospital pretty much insists that you have an epidural if you have twins (twist my arm!) and regardless of the delivery method, the babies will be born in the operating room...so only D and the team of doctors are allowed (sorry everyone else that was just dying to see me give birth!)
• Baby A and Baby B will both be taken to the NICU regardless of how they look because K is diabetic and they have to do some monitoring of their sugar and insulin....good to know so K will not go into an enormous panic on the day of.
• the rooms are TINY!!!