Happy Birthday...

to Ringo!! Our first 'baby' is 6 years old today! I've been spoiling him with treats and bits of my peanut butter sandwich today. He's very excited about becoming a big brother. He already loves to play with the baby toys... we'll have to work on that. :)

Everything is still looking on-track for a Monday birthday for the new little Correa's. They both did well during the ultrasound this morning and I'm hanging in there. I am excited to finally see these babies in just a few days!!!

37 Weeks!

We made it to "month 9"! I think two watermelons in my belly about sums up how I'm feeling these days. Well, watermelons with very strong arms and legs that like to poke and kick. Funny story - last night we were laying in bed and talking and watching my belly move around. Juan was talking to the babies and blew a rasberry near my belly button - just to be funny. I immediately got one of the hardest kicks I've ever felt right where he blew the rasberry. I didn't know if it was just a coincidence, so he did it a few more times and every time I got another huge kick! I'd like to believe that the baby was playing with him and reacting to the sound/vibration in a 'laughing' kind of way - not in a startled kind of way. Either way, it was entertaining to us ;)

There's not too much going on these days around here. We had a fun Halloween hanging out with Steve and Emily. Juan made some very yummy chicken enchiladas with homemade tomatillo sauce and Emily made her famous rice and beans and two buttermilk pies! Yum!

We had a bunch of very cute trick-or-treaters come by the house. My personal favorite was a little boy dressed up as Billy Mays (RIP), complete with a bottle of OxyClean and a magic marker beard. We ran out of candy pretty early in the night. Luckily Steve and Emily had a backup supply at their house and they were able to save the day!

I'm just continuing to take it easy. One week from right now we'll be getting started with our scheduled c-section! (unless they decide to come on their own before then...) Yay!!! Our next and last appointment before the babies arrive is Wednesday morning to see how the babies are doing in there. The finish line is near!

Sitting and Waiting...

Today is my first day of maternity leave! It's strange to know that I'm done with work for a long time. I am pretty tired and uncomfortable, so I'm not going to have the most productive next few weeks. Just below the surface I feel like cooking all day long and getting every little thing ready for babies, but then there's reality... I can't be on my feet very long (because I start hurting, not due to dr. orders or anything) and I take frequent naps. So, my freezer will remain empty and my house will not be spotless :) I'm okay with that though. I just want these babies to keep growing and growing.

We're 36 weeks today! This was our main goal date, so I'm thrilled to be here. The babies are still very active - moving all over and making my stomach contort into some pretty interesting shapes. One baby (at least one...) has hiccups quite often lately, so that's been fun to feel. The baby girl was hiccuping on our last ultrasound :)

This weekend we worked on getting more ready for the babies. Hospital bag is almost all packed (missing only my toiletries), cameras are charged an on the kitchen table, car seats are installed... I think we're ready!

What am I forgetting to do???

My next appointment is on Wednesday. Hopefully all is still going well!!

We have a (latest possible) date!

Proud big brother to-be

Juan and I had another weekly appointment yesterday. Babies and I are still doing good! We're a little over 34 weeks now - which was our first "goal" date! Our next big milestone is to make it to 36 weeks. At 36 weeks the babies will likely be able to avoid the NICU and come home with us from the hospital!

My doctor went ahead and scheduled a c-section for 38 weeks - November 9th! He doesn't really think we'll make it all the way to the 9th, but wanted to go ahead and have the date on the schedule. We're just going to keep an eye on whether the babies keep growing well and seem happy in my belly. As long as they keep doing well and I'm doing well, they'll be allowed to stay put until the 9th.

I'm doing my best to stay relaxed, comfortable and off my feet. Juan is being soooo good about cooking, cleaning and giving foot rubs :) I owe him big time! (well, I guess I am carrying his two babies... hehe)

We also chose a pediatrician and turned in our hospital pre-admission paperwork today! I'm going to get the hospital bag packed very soon - as soon as my delivery from gap.com arrives with a few essentials :)

We're getting close!!!

Baby Boom

You may remember a few months ago when I posted something about a neighbor maybe being pregnant... well, it turns out she is very pregnant :) She is due in 10 days with a little girl! Juan also found out this morning that we have another neighbor on the attached cul-de-sac that is due TODAY with a little boy! (I obviously NEVER see this other neighbor...)

So, there's about to be a little baby boom in our little slice of Austin!

10+ Pounds of Baby!

Today was our LAST appointment with our Perinatologist (the high risk doctor). We had a growth scan and he did another biophysical profile assessment. The babies are looking great! They are each right around 5 pounds. The boy is a little over 5 pounds and the girl is right at 5 pounds. Yay! I am totally feeling all 10+ pounds of baby these days...

My current 'goal' is to get to 36 weeks, or October 26th. All of the doctors seem to agree that the babies will be very big, healthy, and ready to come home with us at 36 weeks (or even earlier...). After I meet that date, my next goal will be 37 weeks.

I just can't imagine my belly getting much bigger. I'm just going to be sitting/ laying on the couch for the next few weeks. Fun fun :) I'm glad that the fall TV lineup is back...

Best Melon of the Season!

I'm now 33 weeks and 1 day - the babies are the size of honeydews!

We have our next growth scan on Friday, so we'll see if we're still actually in honeydew range, or if we've moved pass that 5.8lb mark. I'm hoping that both babies are measuring big, since they could really come any time in the next month. I want them to be big and healthy.

Today we had our second biophysical profile. The babies did great again - both scoring a perfect 8/8! The sonographer also showed us that both babies have hair on their heads! I am so amazed that they can see HAIR on an ultrasound. It was so fun. They were both moving around like crazy, but baby A (the girl) is still breech. So, it's looking like I'm going to have to have a c-section. Neither baby has turned around in several weeks.

Tomorrow Juan's coworkers are throwing us a lunchtime baby shower! It is so nice of them to do that. I'll update again after the shower tomorrow or after our Friday growth scan. :)

Nursery Progress

Juan left last Saturday to go to Dublin for a week. He NEVER goes on business trips. He found out about it a few weeks in advance. I wasn't too excited about being by myself while 32/33 weeks pregnant, but I knew it was important for him to go. I did end up having to take the dog to boarding on Wednesday - he was a little bit too stir crazy without Juan here to take him on jogs or evening walks. My wonderful friends and neighbors took good care of me! Juan's home now, so all is good... He came home with gifts for me and for the babies. Here is a sample:

Last Tuesday I had the first of my weekly doctors appointments. The babies are looking good. They did a "biophysical profile" ultrasound to take a look at how the babies are practicing their breathing, how they're moving around and all sorts of stuff like that. They both scored a perfect 8/8... not sure what that means, but a perfect score is a perfect score ;)

My doctor measured my stomach and said that I was measuring at 41 weeks. I was just 32 weeks pregnant. So, yeah, I am already measuring larger than a full term single pregnancy. He said that he was hoping I would make it to 35 weeks. At that point the babies would likely be able to avoid going to the NICU and would likely be able to come home from the hospital with us. I am still aiming for November 1st (37 weeks), but I get more and more tired and uncomfortable every day. Ugh. I have my next appointment this Tuesday, so hopefully we're all still doing well. It's hard to believe that these babies could be here in 2 weeks!

My parents and my aunt Mary came to Austin on Friday. It was really great to see Mary - it's been a really long time since I've seen her!! Too bad she was put to work while visiting... Mary and my dad put together a ton of baby swings, bouncers, strollers, and a book shelf! Thanks!!!

My mom took ownership of getting everything else organized, washed, and put away! Yay! My dining room is no longer piled 7 feet high with baby things. There are NO BOXES left and the nursery also actually looks like a nursery now!

I had great intentions of getting all this stuff done myself over the next few weeks (with Juan's help), but it was so nice to have someone swoop in and do it for me. We still have a few things to do, but our list is soooooooooooo much shorter now.

Today we went to La-Z-Boy and bought two rocker/swivel recliners (see above x 2)! They are going to be delivered next Saturday. Yay! I'm glad we found something that was in stock (otherwise we'd be waiting until Christmas for delivery). I think they'll be good for rocking the little babies in the living room. I have a feeling that with the addition of two dark brown leather recliners, the rest of our living room furniture will look a little drab :) Oh well... We'll get a new sofa eventually.

After La-Z-Boy we went over to Fuddruckers for lunch. My day was pretty good up to this point. One lady at La-Z-Boy did say something along the lines of, "don't have your baby in here... We'd have to boil water." Um. okay. I'll try not to. BUT, at Fuddruckers, after I order my burger, the cashier said, "you must be having more than one baby. I've never seen a stomach that big." REALLY? Never? Great. Up until today I was feeling pretty good about my girth. I know I'm definitely growing, but "never seen anyone with a stomach this big"?? Ugh. I was a bit deflated. She lost a little bit of credibility when she then asked if boy/girl twins could still be identical. Ummm. No. That would make for a very manly looking daughter or very feminine looking son ;) haha.
I leave you with this cute picture of my puppy :) I just found it on the camera when I was downloading the rest of these pictures. hehe. The rest of my weekend is going to be football and sleep. :)

Broncos, Mavs and Nursery Photos

On Friday night the AMOM (Austin Mothers of Multiples) group had their fall consignment sale. It was a very well organized sale and the clothing was priced so well! For example: two, like-new, coordinating boy/girl onesies with matching bibs were about $4 - total - for two! There was a lot of great clothing, toys, strollers, blankets, etc... We stuck to the clothes racks for this sale and just browsed briefly through the tables full of toys. I think that we'll focus more on toys and other things at the spring sale after we know more about what kinds of things these babies are going to like.

Juan was happy to go with me to the sale to carry stuff around, but I wouldn't say he was thrilled to be there. His whole attitude changed when I found this:

Yes, that's a Denver Broncos outfit for a baby girl. That made him a bit more enthusiastic about going through the racks of clothes ;) He was really a very good sport. We were in and out of there within about 45 minutes. (oh, and I also found the Mavs outfit, below... hehe)

(This outfit is honestly not so bright in real life... it's dark navy and royal blue)

Yesterday Juan painted the nursery a great creamy yellow color. It was yellow before, but it was much brighter and I didn't really like it that much. It is much prettier now! We also put up a ceiling fan a few nights ago!

We put together the cribs today! I've attached a few pictures below. We need to go and get the crib mattresses next week and then the cribs will look a little more comfy. The dresser is still sitting in the living room. Juan's going to have to bribe Steve with a beer to get him to come over and help move it.

We were originally thinking about putting a bookshelf against the wall between the cribs, but I don't really think that's a good idea anymore. I wouldn't want the babies grabbing stuff off of the shelves as soon as they're able to stand up in the cribs. That space will probably remain empty for now and we'll see where there's room for a bookshelf after the dresser is in the room.

I found a website that has chair pads that fit the old rocking chair that I got from my grandparents. It's really comfy and I'm happy to have something in the room that has been in the family for a long time. The chair pad isn't exactly the color I was expecting from the website, but I think it will still go well with the bedding and other decor. We'll see. I might go ahead and buy a second cushion, as I'm sure it would be nice to have two to rotate while one is being washed. :)

Not too much else going on today. We're just watching football and taking it easy! I have two doctors appointments this week. One on Tuesday for just a regular weight/blood pressure/urine test appointment and one on Friday for a growth scan! I am excited for the growth scan - hopefully these little guys have grown well over the past month!

Also, on Tuesday, we have our "Newborn Care" class. It should be interesting and I think it includes a hospital tour. I have no idea how to care for a newborn, so hopefully I'll learn a thing or two.

Wonderful Weekend

This past weekend we drove to Dallas for our last trip out of town before these babies arrive. We had a great weekend full of time with family and friends.

On Saturday my sister and a few of my great childhood friends threw me a baby shower! Erin, Ashli, Ellen and Lynne were so nice to host this shower for us. We went to Chocolate Angel in Richardson and ate some very yummy salads and dessert and then I worked up a sweat opening all the amazing presents for these little babies!! Everyone was so generous - we have the best friends and family anyone could ask for. Thank you thank you thank you to everyone. It was a great afternoon.

While I was being showered, Juan went to play golf with his dad, Pedro and Steve. Pedro had the round of his life and everyone else played pretty well. They were all in good spirits on Saturday evening :)

We spent a lot of time with both my family and Juan's family. It was great to be able to spend some quiet quality time with everyone one last time before the arrival of these babies... Our family time is going to look a lot different starting in a few months!

Yes - this is a horrible picture - but it shows the massiveness of my belly... It was also a very interesting pedicure experience :) Right Seester and Emily? haha!

I'm now 29 weeks along! I will hopefully keep these babies safe inside for another ~7-9 weeks (eek!! That's single digits!). I have this week off from doctors appointments, but have two the following week to make up for it. I'm looking forward to our next growth scan a week from Friday to see how much these little guys have grown. Judging from the size of my belly (and the addition of a few stretch marks to my tummy) and the strength of the kicks/punches/rolls that I've been feeling - I have a feeling the babies are growing nicely!

Our next project is the nursery! We will hopefully freshen up the paint this week or weekend and then start setting up cribs and decorating. I'll definitely post pictures of the nursery in progress... Oh, and just to clarify... when I say "we" will freshen up the paint and set up cribs, I really mean Juan will do it. I'll be a supportive and thankful wife from the couch. :)

27 Week Growth Scan

We went in today for a quick growth scan. Everything is looking good and the babies are "chubby". They are between 2 pounds, 11 ounces and 2 pounds, 15 ounces. That at least accounts for ~6 pounds of my weight gain ;)

We are 27 weeks now, but the babies are measuring closer to 29/30 weeks. So, that's good news!

The sonographer took a few pictures of the babies that I'll scan and attach later on this evening or tomorrow.

Tomorrow is another big day - we're getting the furniture delivered! The cribs and dresser will be arriving sometime in the afternoon. We need to get moving on cleaning out and painting the nursery (former office)!

I Passed!

Just a quick update - No gestational diabetes for me :) Woohoo!! That's one less thing to have to think about...

The orange drink was pretty gross and it made me a little bit shaky during my appointment this morning. I think I'll be eating protein the rest of the day today - no more sugar for me.

The rest of the appointment went really well. The babies both have great heartbeats and are kicking all over (like ninja babies - hehe). Trust me - they like using my bladder as a trampoline at 3am and 4am and 5am... I might need a nap today. They're still positioned sideways or breech, which isn't ideal. I don't want to have to have a C-Section, so I'm hoping they'll flip over before they get too big to move around.

My next appointment is on Monday for a growth scan. Those appointments are fun - we'll get a good look at how much the little babies have grown!

I also noticed this morning that my neighbor is pregnant! I just saw her in her yard when I was on my way to my doctors appointment. I didn't have time to stop to talk to her (plus I was hopped up on my sugar drink and was having a hard enough time focusing on driving). I don't know her very well at all, but if we have babies at the same time maybe we'll bond over our sleepless nights. She already has a little boy who is maybe ~4 years old. Hopefully I'll run into her soon and find out how far along she is and how she's doing!

Eggplant

It's been a pretty quiet weekend around here. Emily and I went yesterday to see Julie and Julia - I loved it. I smiled through the whole movie and even shed a few tears. Afterwards we went to La Madeline for lunch - we were in the mood for something French after the movie. Juan went to play golf in the morning and then did yard work while I napped :)

(actual image from http://www.theuppercrustbakery.com/)

Today we went to church and got breakfast at the Upper Crust Bakery. Yumm!!! I think that will definitely our Sunday morning routine for a few weeks. They have the best cinnamon rolls!

This afternoon I signed up for the Austin Mothers of Multiples club (http://www.austinmoms.org/)! They have monthly large group meetings and several other play groups, lunches, happy hours, etc... throughout the month. The next group meeting is August 31st - I've already RSVPed.

They also have a huge resale event/consignment sale twice a year. Members of the "MOMs" group get to go on Friday night for first dibs on all of the items at the sale. It opens to the general public on Saturday. The next sale event is on September 11 - 12th - I'm looking forward to checking it out!

On the baby front - they are now the size of Eggplants! They're moving around a bunch and giving me some pretty good kicks. I can't wait to see them again on an ultrasound in a few weeks!

I have a meeting with HR on Tuesday to talk about Maternity Leave and get rolling on the necessary paperwork. Yay!

Nursery Furniture and Crib Bedding

We took the plunge and ordered furniture and bedding for the nursery (or what will be the nursery after we take all the 'office' stuff out of it... That's a project for another weekend.)

We went with some cute and somewhat gender neutral bedding from Land of Nod (the Crate and Barrel kids store).

Crib --> (ignore the bedding inside the crib, this isn't what we are getting)

Dresser (which will also be used as a changing table!) -->

Bedding Set #1 -->

Bedding Set #2 -->

Hopefully we'll like everything when we receive it in the mail in a few weeks!!

6 Months!

Juan and I had a great weekend away at the Lakeway Resort. It was a really quiet weekend - we just played in the pool and took it easy!

On Sunday we celebrated our 6th anniversary. I can't believe we've been married for 6 years! Time flies when you're having fun :)
We had a doctors appointment on Tuesday. Everything is looking good! The babies are squirming around a bunch and are in about the 60th percentile for size - so they're bigger than average, but not scarily huge. We have appointments now every 2 weeks and then every week starting at 30 weeks! We're getting close!!!

(This isn't my picture - I stole it off the internet)

At my next appointment I have to take a Gestational Diabetes test. I have to drink this orange soda sugar drink an hour before my appointment and then get a blood test to see how my body reacts to the sugar. I've heard that the drink can really mess you up - it's soooo loaded with sugar.

So, no sugar for me for a few days leading up to the test ;) I'm not sure if that will make any difference, but I really don't want to be on a restricted diet or on insulin shots for the next several months!

Three Pounds of Baby

We had our 23 week 'growth scan' today to make sure the babies are growing on schedule. One problem that is often seen with twins is that one baby grows more than the other or that they are behind on growth vs. a single pregnancy. Our babies were looking good! They were even called "big" a few times. I was a nice chubby 10 pound baby and Juan was a tiny little premie, so these babies could be any size when it's all said and done!

According to thebump.com the babies should be about the size of a papaya now. The doctor today told us that ours weigh about 1.5 pounds each, so they're growing well!!

Our new activity is monitoring my belly button as it gets more and more shallow. I started off with a pretty deep belly button, but now it's getting really close to disappearing! I'm sure that my non-existant belly button will get a blog post of it's own when the time comes. I know, I need to take pictures... not of my belly button, but of the belly itself.

Juan and I are taking a little mini-vacation this weekend to the Lakeway Spa and Resort. It should be a nice relaxing getaway! I think the weekend will be filled with laying around in the pool, drinking some virgin pina coladas, and maybe some golf (for Juan) and golf cart driving/riding for me (if it's not too hot!). Hopefully we can still see the lake from the resort - it's drying up quickly... our lake view room may be a dry ditch view room by Saturday. We need rain badly!

We've started thinking about nursery furniture, room layout, and nursery themes (or lack of theme). It's fun to start getting into this part of the pregnancy :)

It's a...

BOY and a GIRL!

Yay! We are very very happy about having one of each. Although we would have been happy with any combination - I think it will make it a lot easier for the babies (kids, teenagers, etc...) to have their own identities as they grow up not having a twin sibling of the same sex to be compared to all the time.

Baby "A" - the girl - is in the pictures on the left. Baby "B" - the boy - is in the pictures on the right.

It was really fun to see the babies on the ultrasound and to see how much they've grown and changed! We were told that they now weigh between 10 (girl) and 12 (boy) ounces. I checked out thebump.com again to see what size the babies are at 19 weeks. It says that they're the size of mangos and weigh about 8 ounces. I guess we've got some big babies, because at 10-12 ounces, they're weighing in at the average weight for 21 weeks!

We are now seeing two doctors - my regular OB and a high risk doctor. Everything is going okay now, but I feel good about having two doctors keeping an eye on me and on the babies! More appointments means more chances to see the babies and hear their little heartbeats. We'll just try to keep them cooking as long as possible!

Now on to the fun stuff... names and baby shopping! whoohoo! Juan is working right now on brainstorming some names. I already have a few names in mind, so I'll see if they're on Juan's list... If so, maybe the naming process won't be so hard! :)

Major Milestone :)

Juan and I walk the dog over to get the mail every evening. Our neighborhood has community mailboxes, so ours is just at the end of the street. Last night my neighbor stopped us to ask when I was due! I had to hesitate a minute before I answered to make sure I'd heard her question correctly - she was the first person to flat out notice that I was pregnant! Well, notice enough to be confident that I hadn't just put on a few pounds :) Yea! Still no pictures, but I'll take some soon...


Last night was a lot of fun. We ate dinner and then went for an evening dip in the pool. We came back inside, put on our pj's and had cupcakes and strawberry nesquick. Can it get much better than that? haha.

My First Post

I am finally going to break in this blog. I have had it sitting here empty for weeks, not knowing how to get it started. So, I'm just going to jump in and do it!

Juan and I are really excited, happy and a bit nervous about the change that is coming soon to our lives. Our whole family is very excited - these babies will definitely be spoiled rotten!

I am now about 17 weeks along and I'd have to say that this is probably the hardest part of the pregnancy so far - not physically, but mentally. I feel totally fine (knocking on wood!!) but have not been able to feel the babies move yet (at least I don't think I've really felt it). I wish I had a little window so I could look into my belly to see how everything is going.

Speaking of a window into the belly - I have my 'big' ultrasound in 2 weeks, so I should be finding out whether we're expecting 2 boys, 2 girls or 1 of each! I'm ready to start shopping and working on choosing names, so I'm really excited about this appointment! If you haven't already, go and vote in the poll on the right side of the screen. There's not a place to leave your name or a comment on the poll, but feel free to leave a comment on one of my blog posts with your guess so I'll know who guessed right ;) Just to keep the playing field even - at my 13 week appointment the doctor guessed 2 boys and at my 15 week appointment he guessed one boy/one girl.

According to one source (http://www.thebump.com/) the babies are the size of onions this week. They're about 5.1 inches long from crown to rump (top of the head to their bottom) and weigh about 5.9 ounces! I'm okay with them being the size of an onion - I don't love to eat onions. A few weeks ago they were the length of a taco shell (from head to toe - no, they're not shrinking) and I had a major problem eating tacos for a few days... and yes - it was a problem going without tacos for a few days. :)

Hmm, what else...

I have officially transitioned into maternity clothes. My 'old' pants no longer zip or button, so I'm now all about the elastic waists and sundresses. I need to take some 'belly' pictures to post on here... maybe I'll start that this weekend.

My first trimester wasn't too bad. I was pretty tired and didn't feel great in the evenings, but I think I had it pretty easy! I started feeling pretty "normal" again about 3 weeks ago. I still try to get in an afternoon nap when I can - I know I won't be sleeping very much for the next several years.

Future Family Photo?

We've been given several name suggestions - our current "favorites" are Paul and George. That way we'll have a Ringo (dog), John (Juan), Paul and George in the household. ;) No, we won't be naming our children Paul and George. I'd feel too much pressure to change my name to Yoko or Linda to fit into my own family.

Well, that's all I've got for today! Maybe there will be some fun weekend adventures or photo sessions to blog about soon.