30 week maternity shoot

Click here to view these pictures larger

Showered with Love

Click here to view these pictures larger

I will have had 6 showers of some form or another before these babies come! I feel so blessed to have people in my life that will go above and beyond love and friendship.
Shower #1- Greenbrier Elementary Faculty and Staff threw one in the library in May
Shower #2- My stepmom threw one with my aunts and family in Atlanta in August
Shower #3- Great friends (Kim and Lori) threw a shower for friends and family in September
Shower #4- Seth's aunts threw a family shower in September
Shower #5- Great friends (Nicole and Anjelica) hosted a church shower in September
Shower #6- A "proxy" money tree shower from my family in West Virginia (over skype) in October

Each shower was special in its own way and I am thrilled and thankful for each one! Thanks to these showers, we were able to cover our "doubled needs" and get many things necessary for the twins. I wish I had pictures from all of the showers but I have most from the 2nd and 3rd showers. If I can get my hands on all of the pictures, I would love to create an album of baby showers!

Baby Revenge

So, I love these boys so much but the last few days I have been completely miserable! Pain in my lower abdomen from the weight of the twins and stretching of the uterus is making every step I take excruciating! Moving very slowly and trying to rest as much as I can....

All 3 of us are running out of room already! I don't think I can stretch anymore or I may split in half. Baby A is really active and has been flipping and rolling around a lot. Baby B likes to kick and punch and to have his foot or arm or something in my right ribcage! SO PAINFUL! I try to push him down but its like he is stabbing me!! I'm considering poking him in the ribs as soon as he is born so he can know what it's been like! Baby revenge! :) haha just kidding! I love him too much already!!! 6-8 weeks to go!! :-)

7 month itch...ing my belly

28 weeks with twins

7 months along and feeling great! My belly is itching some and I am less than thrilled with the stretch marks that continue to plague my poor body. It looks like a cat attacked my stomach......praying these Freddie Kruger claw marks fade after delivery!

People say the craziest things when they find out I am having twins. Some are excited and ask lots of questions but some blurt out kinda rude things.....
TOP 5 NEGATIVE COMMENTS:
1. Twins?!? Hm, good luck with that......
2. Better you than me!!
3. I hope you have help.
4. You're never gonna sleep again!
5. GOOD LUCK.......I  wouldn't wish that on anyone.

People also ask a lot of questions! I try not to get annoyed because it is sweet that they are so interested but after you answer these questions about 50 times a day, it makes me think about wearing a sign around my neck with the answers! :)
TOP 5 CONSISTENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
1. Are they identical?
2. Do twins run in your family? Neither side?
3. Were you on fertility drugs?
4. Were you surprised?
5. Are you going to have help?

As uncomfortable as sleeping and moving around is getting, I am feeling kinda sad that this pregnancy is nearing a close (anywhere from 8-10 weeks left). It really is special to be able to tell people you are having twins! Just the look on their faces is priceless (good or bad) and I know the shock factor won't be there if we have only one later on. All babies are a blessing but it really does feel like a double blessing, for which we are so thankful!!!
                                               

Double Stroller...Double Chin

RECAP/Summary of weeks 19-26

24 weeks with twins



25 weeks with twins



     These past weeks have been a roller coaster...physically and emotionally! One day I feel terrified that something is wrong or that I won't be able to do this and the next day I want to cry with joy because I love these babies so much and  am so excited about our lives!

     I must say that I never expected the weird aches and pains and bodily changes that occur in pregnancy. From constant back pain, waddling like a duck, and being breathless from walking to the car, I am learning there are a million changes that have been taking place. Aside from being uncomfortable and feeling like I'm carrying a 25 pound watermelon around all day, I really have had a complication free pregnancy...especially for twins! There have been a few "scares" along the way but they have turned out to be nothing.

*Scares:
10 weeks: kidney stones (this was real and I had to be hospitalized but babies were not affected)

13 weeks: a little spotting/bleeding one day (called Dr. but it was a small amount and never happened again)

20-21 weeks: not feeling babies flutter, kick, flip or move that much (sonogram showed babies were kicking each other and not me the last week or so)

26 weeks: thought I was leaking amniotic fluid (just babies kicking my bladder and pee coming out!!)

                The twins are kicking around and moving like crazy now! The last sonogram showed that they were nose to nose having a little western stare down. Both are breech but I hope that in the next few weeks they will flip to be head down...I want to try a normal delivery if possible. I am fully aware of the fact that I may have to have a C-section and am okay with that too.
              Seth is so excited about the boys! He tells the babies he loves them ALL the time (p.s. kinda weird when someone talks to your stomach) and I swear the babies kick more when they hear daddy's voice! With the kicks and movements becoming more frequent and stronger, Seth gets to feel them more often. It warms my heart to see how much his face lights up with excitement and joy when they kick his hands. He is going to be an amazing father!


26 weeks with twins



"Mutant Cricket Terrorizes Family"

It's the wee hours of the morning and I cannot sleep. The culprit is not my large, uncomfortable belly or the "heat wave" that seems to strike my pregnant self in the middle of the night. Nope...it is an insane cricket that is keeping me awake. From what  I can tell, he is right below our bedroom window. This is not a normal cricket! This is a cricket predator, out to destroy the peaceful dreams of unsuspecting victims. There is no cute "chirping" involved...these are full blown 2 minute consecutive SCREECHING sessions. How long can this go on?! It's sad when the extremely close, extremely loud,  honking train coming by is actually a  temporary relief from his antics. He has not stopped for 2 hours.....I want to murder him. I know that I am about to be a mom of two precious newborn babies so I should probably be feeling lovey and maternal about all living things but I am fantasizing about ripping off his little legs and crushing his head! This has got to be some mutant cricket because it seems like he is getting even louder!  What can I do? Maybe I will get a hotel room tomorrow night? I could get some peaceful sleep.....what if the cricket follows me there???? Wow, this cricket is getting in my head. I have got to do something! So I get up to devise a plan...I need a new plan because my previous tactics for getting rid of the cricket noise are not working:
5 INEFFECTIVE WAYS TO STOP CRICKET NOISE:
1. Toss and turn and huff and puff while nudging your husband in hopes that he will wake up and suffer too.
2. Cover your head with all of the extra pillows in the bedroom.
3. Pray that the cricket will spontaneously combust.
4. Think of noises that would be worse.
5. Blog about it.

So I get up and google, "How to get rid of a noisy cricket". There are actually several sites devoted to this. I am not alone in this misery! All of them have great suggestions: cricket traps, boric acid, cutting the grass, etc. but none of these are things that I can do now, and none of them mention my next plan- going outside in my husband's shoes and nightgown (my nightgown, not his) and stomping wildly and frantically in the grass in hopes of killing it. Sure I will look insane, and come back covered in dew, dirt, and grass clippings, but at this point anything is better than this cricket torture. So, I am just about to head outside when something unexpected happens: my husband flies past me in a rage and goes outside banging and stomping the area right underneath our window. Okay, now he looks insane.....BUT...have I gone deaf??? No.... it worked! The cricket has stopped!! What a relief! We climb back into bed to snag the few extra minutes of sleep left in the night. I snuggle in ready to catch up on my z's when...low and behold....yep.....the sun rises and  it's time to start the day! Good Morning Friday!

Egg Drop (you) Soup

I went on a road trip with my sister, brother, and aunt to visit family last week. We stopped at a little Chinese buffet for lunch on the way. This was the fortune in my cookie:

Very true and funny! My 15 year old sister opened her fortune cookie and found what appeared to be a death threat or warning of impending doom! Who comes up with these things?! :)

The Big Reveal

Click here to view these pictures larger

The Big Reveal

Revealing the babies' gender at a 4th of July family cookout! Grandma cut one cake and Grandpa cut the other!

The Waiting Game

*Today is the big day!!! We found out what we are having! I am so excited! Although I am regretting telling people that we know what the babies are because we are making them wait until Saturday!We aren't going public with the news until Saturday because we are doing a reveal cake thing for family. (Stephen should get it on video too!)  I SHOULD have said we weren't finding out until next week or something because the harassing has started! "But  I am your sister!! But I am your best friend! But I won't tell anyone...." and so on and so forth.  I mean my sister is crying, my friends are mad, and my family is anxious! 3 days people, 3 days! Patience is a virtue! Haha! We will post Saturday afternoon!
Be sure to vote on the babies!! What do you think they are??!! Take the poll on the right side of the page!!

The Honeymoon Trimester

 Weeks 13-18
*Feeling much better this trimester! I got my appetite back and have some energy to clean this house! Seth and I are both doing some summer reading to try to prepare as much as we can for what is coming in November!

*I broke down and bought a "Snoogle" yesterday. This is one expensive pregnancy pillow! I was pleased with the C shape that cradles your neck and your legs at the same time. I snuggled in last night and fell asleep, relaxed and happy. When I awoke in the middle of the night, the top of the Snoogle was in place, but I couldn't find the bottom that was supposed to be in between my knees! I was confused in my sleepy daze...wasn't this a one-piece pillow??? I quickly realized that the Snoolge thief was sleeping next to me! Seth had the bottom of the snoogle between HIS knees! I tugged on it but it wouldn't budge and Seth groaned sleepily. So I did what any loving wife would do.......I punched him hard in the thigh and yanked my pillow back!!! :-) I need to be on the lookout tonight for the "Snoogle Thief"!!!

To Puke or Not to Puke.....

The First Trimester: Weeks 1-12
*One-Five: Well, these were already under my belt before I even knew I was pregnant. I don't drink or smoke so that was not an issue however, I was trying hard to shed pounds for a church weight loss competition. I was dieting, working out 2 hours a day, sitting in saunas (yikes) and had one encounter with a fitness machine that shakes you violently for 3 minutes. I guess a baby is in there pretty tight! Still ended up dropping about 15 pounds before I knew!

*Six-Eight: We found out at our first appointment that we had a double surprise! Twins! This thought had never crossed my mind as an option! I think our mouths dropped open and I sat there stunned while my husband was grinning ear to ear like superman! We were so shocked and excited!!

*Eight-Twelve: Around week eight I started to get sick in the mornings. I knew this was coming and each morning, like clockwork, I puked for about 10 min. and then felt nauseous all day. There were a few afternoons that I threw up in the driveway, behind my desk, in parking lots, etc. but for the most part I was just nauseous. I tried everything suggested and then some....this part was not fun. I actually remember saying that after 5 weeks of this I forgot what it felt like to NOT feel nauseous all day. Thank the Lord that this stage only lasted until about week fourteen before disappearing altogether.

*What did you just say? One particularly bad morning, I was throwing up non-stop & dry heaving for a good 15-20 min. I was trying to leave for work and walked out of the bathroom breathless, and with mascara streaming down my face. I see my husband standing there and I am thinking he is feeling concerned when he says, "Let me give you a little tip on how you aren't throwing up the right way...." I think my head spun around like the girl from the exorcist. "Excuse me???!!" I snarled. "Guess I haven't had enough practice these last 6 weeks!!!!" Bless his heart he really meant well but it didn't come across that way. He was worried about how I wasn't breathing in between "heaves" but I don't think he understood that its not something I could control. I like to give him a hard time about that comment and wanted to document it for laughter in the future! Love you babe!

You Can't Go Bananas

We found out we were pregnant on Thursday, March 31st, 2011. We had gone out to eat Japanese and I realized that I was "past due". The days had slipped my mind because I was so busy teaching, getting my students ready for the CRCT, and working out like crazy for our "TEAM LEAN" challenge. We bought the test and both checked the stick at the same time...what a feeling! I think we laughed, hugged, and cried at least 3 times before we both walked around the house saying, "Oh my gosh...wow...". That was a special time. It is hard to hold such a happy surprise in so we called Seth's brother Stephen first and he came over to hang out. It was almost April Fool\s day and my hubby is a big prankster so Stephen did not believe us at first. After the initial shock, we told him our plan: I had always been thinking of creative ways to share this news with his parents one day (surprises are a big thing in our family) and I knew it couldn't be the old fashioned opening a present thing. We love playing games and needless to say each of us is very competitive. One game we had recently been into was "BANANAGRAMS". It is like a scrabble game. So I thought we could start playing and spell out that we were having a baby. Stephen got the whole thing on his iphone! This video is so amazing and I love watching it! Seth's mom is one of the most competitive game players I know (next to my husband and myself). She was so focused on winning the fast-paced game that she didn't even stop to see the message in the letters!!!

This is me:

My name is Megan. I am 26 years old and have been happily married to my husband, Seth for 3 years now. We were married June 2008 after dating 5 years (met in high school). High school sweethearts, senior prom, you know the story. I am an elementary school teacher* (5th grade) and I love it! So, I am starting this blog for 2 reasons: Number one- I want a place to document big and not so big things in my life (I may be the only person reading this after all) and Number two- I have a feeling that I will need a place to "vent" after a long crazy day and writing is theraputic for me. K, that's all for post #1. Boring...I know...but give me a break, I can't break out with all my funny, scary, dramatic stuff yet......I'm just getting started!

*Disclaimer: just because I am a teacher does not mean I will spell things correctly or use grammar the right way...I have no desire to provide an English lesson..PLUS....I teach math!!