20 Is My New Favorite Number!

Ellen posting and I'm elated to report that we reached the 20 week mark this past Sunday. It was an exciting milestone (normally the halfway mark with a singleton pregnancy) and while we know the twins will be making an appearance before 40 weeks, it was still worth celebrating.

We had an appointment on Monday with the peri (ob specialist). Kevin had to work so I went to Richmond solo. We had a full house in the exam room with Brooke, Dan and myself and a special appearance from Brooke's son Benji (age 5). Everything went well and, as always, the u/s was completely amazing. Baby A is in the breech position (apparently Brooke hasn't been doing the proper "visualization exercises") and Baby B was laying lengthwise across her stomach. Baby A weighs about 13 ounces and Baby B was 12 ounces. Baby B was very active and moving all about and we actually witnessed him kicking his brother in the head. I know...I should be very worried!

Brooke, Benji and I had a nice lunch and then headed over to Brooke's house to relieve Grandpa of his babysitting duties with Brooke's other two boys. I was given a grand tour of the Collawn house and we then were able to hang out, relax and enjoy the day.

I am attempting to post a 3D u/s picture that Brooke was able to talk the u/s technician into giving us. It might take a minute to figure out that you are looking at their faces, but it is absolutely amazing what you can see! They still look a little alien (those were the u/s tech's words, not mine) but that will change as they start to fatten up a bit.

And before I end this entry, I would like to nominate Benji to be our birthing coach. Apparently, he has watched enough episodes of "The Baby Story" on The Discovery Channel to know that someone is going to have to yell "Push", "Push" for Brooke to be able to get these babies out.

Pretty much half way there!

18wks.

Well, not a whole lot new going on here. I've been feeling pretty good. This is the so called "honeymoon" stage of the pregnancy I know. Before too long I'll be getting uncomfortable I'm sure with two little guys in there. I'm definitely growing more quickly than I did with any of my own. A little worried they won't make maternity clothes big enough for me by the time I reach 30something weeks. We're at 18wks. now and my goal is to make it to 38, although I'd settle for 37wks. 36wks. puts us at Mother's Day weekend and also my oldest son's birthday weekend so I'm hoping to at least make it past there. I keep thinking positively because there's no reason not too. It's been an exciting ride so far and I'm sure it will continue to be!

Cat(s) are out of the bag

Ellen here posting.

Well, Christmas finally arrived and Kevin and I had waited to share the news with my family until we were all together. Side note to post: M & D knew but were sworn to secrecy and I had talked to my family this summer to give them a general idea of our plans for surrogacy.

We were all gathered at Scott & Karen's house to celebrate the holiday and we prepared a little surprise. Kevin brought a box into the room and said we had an announcement. He said we needed to add two new stockings to the mantel for next year. Then, he opened the box and we had two Christmas stockings, each with a bottle of champagne in it, with baby hats on the bottle (picture attached). So, obviously the biggest reaction was due to the fact that there were TWO stockings and both of the bottles were wearing BLUE hats!

We had a great Christmas and we heard many suggestions for names that we would like to note will NOT be under consideration...Calvin & Hobbs, Ogilvie & Starship (Kevin's brother) and many others.

Now, we will officially begin the panic that time is ticking away and we have lots of things we need to do to start preparing. We need to move our focus from wallpaper removal to nursery preparation very soon. As Brooke and I discussed on the phone, we are about at the halfway mark and agreed that in some ways, it has gone by fairly quickly (I know you wouldn't think that by reading our earlier posts). The various doctor appointments have kept things moving along and all of us have been a bit surprised that we already have appointments every two weeks! Brooke is about due for another belly shot picture.

Happy New Year and cheers to an exciting 2010!

Here is a picture from our last appointment. The babies are too big to shown full body together. I decided not to post the pictures that gave us a hint on the gender!

Merry Christmas!

Ellen

Wooo Whoooo

Hi there, KEVIN POSTING,

So, this was a MAJOR week for us. Huge snow storm, really, record breaking in the area. Other than that, we have some "minor" news about having twins they are...... BOYS!!!

I was able to take my reconstructed knee down to Richmond and witness the 16 week u/s (ultra sound for all the new people I have just invited to the site), and well, I am a proud father of two boys. Oooopssss. Did I give away the color scheme of the bedroom????

So, all of you reading this blog, you are "in the loop". I have already announced to my immediate family due to learning a few things.... Imagine my surprise, I am going to steal a phrase from Danny -- Apparently, my father is a "leaky bucket", and my siblings were not surprised a few weeks ago at my announcement about Ellen and I having a baby/babies. I told my brother last week about the pregnancy, and he said "oh, yes, Dad told me." So, I then called my sister, gave her the news, and she said "Congratulations, I heard from Dad about it." So.....

Well, I made sure that they all heard from me first hand that we had twin boys on the way. Of course, as I type this, I can't help but feel some apprehension about the whole twin thing and the potential complications. This is just something that Ellen and I have learned to deal with over our past experiences. We are thrilled, excited, can't believe where we are, but have gone through so much that we can't help but be cautious (well, I think we have already thrown caution to the wind, I was so excited I couldn't wait to tell my already informed siblings about what was happening, as I already mentioned). According to our current "peri", he is "bored" after we make it past week 32, so that is my goal to be literally jumping up and down.

Ellen is waiting to spill the beans to her whole family when we are all together over Christmas. We have already planned the event, hopefully it is big news, but we are competing against Ellen's brother/sister-in-law as they just adopted a puppy. I think we will win over on the adults (hopefully), but the kids will be excited about the puppy. Any good ideas on how to make a dramatic announcement? I have my plan, but I am always looking for some different angle.

As for our visit to Richmond to see the doctor and the u/s (ultra sound to my very slow friends), it was great, but the tech was so fast, I couldn't follow a thing she was showing.... well, except, for the still photos of the "proof" of boys. I scanned them in and everything, so will work on uploading them.

But, after the appointment, Brooke, Danny, Ellen, and myself had a great meal at my new favorite deli (Kenny's or Jason's, one of those two....). They make a great sandwich and excellent chili, not to mention the free corn bread and garlic bread (please note, I receive $0.000000001 each time you Google "Kenny's/Jason's Deli".

We are just totally excited about where we are right now, and as each week passes we are more excited. Brooke and Danny continue to be so positive and great. Time just seems to be crawling along, however, as Ellen and I are ready to take on the twin challenge we are facing (although, technically, we have wallpaper and rooms to decorate, so, we really are not ready yet....). Working on it, and it will be done.

Phew..... Another long post from me, but I love writing and am incredibly excited about the news.

- Kevin

Two healthy babies!

Just wanted to post that today's u/s went well. We have two healthy babies in there! Baby A measured in at 6oz. and had a heartbeat of 151 and Baby B measured in at 6oz. as well with a heartbeat of 145. Both babies look great and healthy. We had a chance to finally meet Dr. Christmas, the peri. He was very informative and I really liked him. I'm glad because I'll be seeing him about as much as my regular OB. We'll have appts. every two weeks pretty much the rest of the way through. Not a whole lot more exciting news except Ellen and Kevin did get to find out what color(s) they will be buying for these little ones, but I'll let them share that news since it's their news to share! Thanks Ellen and Kevin for a great lunch today! I always enjoy my time with you two! We're almost half way there so that still leaves us many more enjoyable times!

Not much new.....

14 weeks

Not a whole lot new here. We're officially past the 12wk. mark though! Yesterday made us 14wks! I have been feeling a little under the weather lately, cold, stuffy nose and headache but feeling better today. It's much more difficult dealing with the common cold when you're pregnant than when you're not. I am defiintely feeling more pregnant lately, but that's not a bad thing. I like it when I get past the "I'm not just fat, I'm pregnant" stage. LOL. That should be coming soon. Had an appt. last week with Dr. D. Ellen and Kevin weren't able to make that one. Poor Kevin is still trapped in the spare bedroom with his recovering knee and Ellen had training at work and a broken fridge to deal with. I think I had the easier task for the day. It was just a regular OB check-up and Dan and I got to hear the heartbeats via the doppler for the first time. I do wish Ellen and Kevin could have been there for that because it's still the most amazing sound I've ever heard! They will hopefully make it to the next appt. and get to hear the heartbeats then. Well we do have another u/s scheduled with the peri for Dec.21st. We'll be a little over 16wks then so it should be an exciting one! Hoping they'll get to find out whether they'll need to buy pink or blue or maybe both! What a Christmas present! Until next time...... I suppose it's time to bless you with the oh so dreaded "baby bump" picture. Here goes.........