TWINS!? - Adjusting to the News

Slowly and surely we are beginning to accept the fact we are expecting TWINS. I just have to share with you though, it has been interesting the things that run through your mind as the mother finding out that you will not only have one baby to take care of in 7 short months, but you will have TWO babies to take care of in as early as 6 months.
(Twins usually come early if some of you readers {Tadd} didn't realize that before)

Initially, all I could think about was having to buy TWO of everything! TWO cribs, TWO carseats, TWO strollers - okay just one but with room for TWO babies, diapers for TWO, clothing for TWO, TWO bedding sets...you get the idea! It was difficult not to get overwhelmed and to think solely about the money aspect of things. 

Nursing TWO babies is a little overwhelming to me. We had already talked about it, and I was planning on nursing the babY (when we just were thinking of one). Now that there are TWO mouths that need to eat every two hours for the first little while...I'm not sure what will happen. I would like to think that we will be able to figure out how to make it work, because formula is so expensive. I also would like to be able to do more with my day than sit in a chair and feed babies all day. I guess we will take that as it comes. Who knows. Maybe the football hold on each side like my mom suggested really will work. Or maybe it will just be worth it to spend the time to nurse them each individually. Or maybe neither one will want to, or I won't be able to nurse, and we will have to figure out how to pay for formula after all. That is just something we will have to take as it comes.

Perhaps the biggest shock for me when it hit me was, I cannot carry TWO carseats! Those things are heavy! It takes two arms for me to carry one. That revelation hit me with a whole load of overwhelming thoughts...How will I get them from the house to the car? How will I go grocery shopping - only one carseat fits in the front. Even if I put one in the back too, where do the groceries go?? I told Tadd I am going to have to take our stroller everywhere! It's the only way I will be able to tote those darling babies around. I joked I will have to put them in the stroller just to walk from the house to the car, put them in the car and then take down the stroller and put it in the car too.

And then of course there are the even more random thoughts...like 

I will have to potty train TWO kids at the same time!

TWO highchairs? How is that going to fit in our tiny kitchen? And how do you put TWO spoons of food in TWO different mouths? 

How do you carry TWO babies?

At church, do I take both babies out to feed them at once? Or take one, then bring that one back to Tadd and take the other one?

And just in case you all really wondered (like my mom) if I am actually having TWINS, here's another belly shot to prove it! Yep, it's officially a pregnant belly folks. No more of the
 "muffin top/maybe I have a belly/maybe I don't phase"...
It's here!

And it's not going anywhere other than outward...because it just seems to get bigger everyday. Those nuggets are busy growing. And yes, in case you also wanted to ask, I do wonder how enormous I will be. Because if this is 11 weeks, thinking of 30 weeks is a little terrifying - let alone anything past that!

And no, I don't wear the same shirt everyday...I heard you should take every picture with the same shirt so you can tell the changes better?! We will see if I continue with that, or get sorta bored with it...And also, forgive the dorky smile. This was me saying "Really, you want a full body shot?!" as Tadd took a picture.


Oh, and another random tidbit, I told Tadd that it is probably a good thing we didn't wait until the "safe" 12 week mark to start telling people. I am pretty sure with this belly already here at 11 weeks, people might have started to notice!

So, no, my brain is no longer capable of thinking about anything other than TWINS. And no, I am not sick of people coming up to me and asking me about it. I love talking about it, it is what I am most likely thinking about anyway, so I might as well be able to talk about it too!

Still, even with all of the random overwhelming thoughts, I take one look at those ultrasound pictures and I'm completely in love. Already those little nuggets have melted my heart. We truly are blessed. I know we will figure it all out. It's just fun to give you insight to the craziness that goes on inside my brain. 

Yes, all I think about is TWINS. But it is not all overwhelmed and crazy thoughts. A lot of it - especially as I look at their little pictures - is love. Pure love for those babies growing inside and moving around. Thank goodness we have the next 6 months to prepare for them to come and the chaos to break loose.

TWINS!? - the Reactions

TWINS!! Yep folks, we are really having TWINS! There are TWO babies! And yep, it is still the waves of emotions. I am getting so excited though. I just have those occasional freak out moments every, oh, 30 minutes! Haha, okay - maybe not quite that often. But it is still several times a day that I have that shock hit me like a freight train. I asked Tadd today if that feeling of shock and panic is ever going to stop coming out of nowhere. His reply?
"Maybe after birthing them".
Thanks babe. So comforting!

Telling people we are having twins has been a lot of fun! The responses have been hilarious.

When we told my older sister - screaming and yelling and (I'm assuming since I wasn't there to see it) jumping up and down - SO excited!!

When we told Mom Ormond - laughter! (Apparently it runs in the family!) After she stopped laughing she said, "I am SO happy for you guys," quickly interrupted by "I am so happy for ME - I'm going to be the grandma of TWINS!!"

Mom Dutton's reaction was shock. She asked me probably 10 different times, in 10 different ways if I was being serious. 

"Seriously" - "Seriously Mom"

"You're not joking?" - "Can't really joke about it yet mom"

"Like honest and truly?" - "Honest and truly mom, we are having TWINS!"

"You are really being serious?"

And it continued like that for a good 2 minutes. Then a wave of overwhelmed hit I think, because she just kept repeating "Oh my goodness" over and over.

Dad Dutton was thrilled. He had a giddy laugh and just kept telling us how great he thought this was going to be. That he knew it was overwhelming, but he thought it was just fantastic news!
(And shortly after was on the phone with all of his family to tell them the news. Not too much later that night, he began searching for furniture to make for the nuggets, and was telling the Facebook world the happy news!) 

*Sorry to rat ya out Dad, we just love that you're so excited!!*

Dad Ormond was thrilled as well. Tadd gave him a little bit of a heart attack when he called us. Mom O had simply told him to call Tadd as he walked in from work. Tadd assumed he had been told the news, so when his dad asked how things were, Tadd's answer was, "Well, it's been an emotional roller coaster of a day!" I am sure TWINS was not the response he was thinking of after hearing that. But he was also ecstatic! He told us how happy he was for us and what a blessing this was.

It was fun to tell the grandparents they were going to have twin grandbabies. Their excitement helped me get a little more excited too rather than just simply panicked! But they weren't the only people who were fun to tell. People's reactions, whether family, friends, coworkers, or teachers have been quite amusing to us. 

Here's a list of our favorite responses, in order of how frequently we got them.

#1. Shut up!

 #2. Seriously?!

#3. You're kidding.

(And possibly the best response of all)

#4. No sh*t?

We've come to the conclusion we just must not be very trustworthy people! :) It took a lot of convincing for some people to believe us. It probably does not help that we had joked about it so much before the doctor's appointment.

Truly, everyone has been so supportive and excited about our news. More than anything we are so very grateful to have such love and support all around us. It is a bit overwhelming how much people have offered to help in every possible way - babysitting, food, baby furniture, baby clothes, advice. We appreciate it all! And don't any of you worry, we will be taking you up on every last offer! I'm not sure we will survive if we don't! :)

The Nuggets - Part III

Well, I don't really feel like I can put the BIG news off for much longer. I thought about torturing all of you with a post solely about pregnancy tidbits...but let's be honest, we all know why you really keep checking up on our blog. You want the juicy details of the doctor's appointment!

Before we go into those details you should all know...Ever since we found out we were pregnant, Tadd has joked that he thinks twin boys would be FANTASTIC! He would talk about it all the time. In fact, my sister and I as well as my mom and I had many conversations about "What if I had twins"...topics like "How would I nurse them BOTH?!" or "That is a LOT of diapers to change". Stuff like that. We would joke about how it was a possibility since there are twins on both sides of my family.

Not to mention that my six year old niece told us that she thought we would have two babies. When I asked her if she meant one now and one later, she said,
 "No. Two now. There's two babies in Heaven waiting for you".

Now she's the type of six year-old that just might be that in tune with things, but she's also the type of six year-old that has a wild imagination and says random things all the time!

So twins has been the joke all along. But let's be honest...I'm not sure either one of us or anybody we joked with about it actually thought it was really going to happen.

We'd been counting down the days to our doctor's appointment. When I called to make it and they told me we had to wait until 10 weeks I was highly disappointed. I was all geared up to wait only 3 or so weeks for an eight week appt, but our doctor prefers to wait until 10 weeks...which meant FIVE whole weeks until we got in. It seemed like forever. 

FINALLY, the day was here. I kept myself occupied that morning by hanging out with one of my bestest friends Tami and her little girl. We went to the mall and played on the playground, went to lunch...kept ourselves distracted. Apparently VERY well too, because as we got ready to head home so I could go pick up Tadd for the appointment I realized I had lost my keys. They were nowhere to be found! I panicked! 

We looked through every pocket of my purse. Went back to the mall and searched. I called Tadd in a panic. The whole nine yards. Tami assured me if we couldn't find them she would just take us. We pulled into the parking lot of our condo and I was highly disappointed to not see the keys in the parking lot. 

But don't you worry, when I looked up at our door...There were the keys! Hanging IN the door! Apparently I locked the deadbolt and scampered off to Tami's car without at thought. Thank goodness we have good neighbors who didn't steal 'em!

Anywho, that was just to share a little bit of my panic with you! Even if it was random and unnecessary information - it's a funny story. I hurried off to pick Tadd up from work and we were off to the doctor!!!

We checked in and got our paperwork to fill out. But before we could even fill in our address we got called back. Our doctor is fantastic! She came in and asked how I was feeling. When I told her "Terrific!" she looked a little skeptical, and had to double check I was having some pregnancy symptoms at least. 

After chatting for a few minutes with her, we were off to the ultrasound room. She asked if we were ready to see the baby, and I jokingly looked at Tadd and said, "Baby. NOT BabiES!" She chuckled and asked if twins were possible. We told her they could be, that they ran on my side of the family.

"So, you could be next, huh?" She asked. We all kind of laughed. Then she told us, "It would be kind of funny. I just told my nurse today that I haven't diagnosed twins in a while!"

And with that we started the ultrasound. About 30 seconds into it, she let out a slow

"Oh my goodness!"

Like any pregnant lady I started to think of every possible terrible horrible thing that could be happening. She quickly wiped that fear away and said,

"Everything is fine! Don't worry" and with another chuckle,

"You ARE next in line!"

I'm pretty sure my heart stopped for about a minute. I looked at Tadd, he looked at me, we looked at the ultrasound. She told us we were in fact having TWINS! There were TWO heartbeats! See?

(She said the little black hole on the left was one heartbeat, 

and the one on the lower part of the right was another)

I looked over at Tadd. He was now on the floor. Somehow he managed to fall OUT of his chair! Literally! 

And in case you wondered how he would react? 

The laughter began! There were once again tears on both of our cheeks, and Tadd was laughing! (Sound familiar?) :)

He laughed through the rest of the entire ultrasound.

So there you have it. We are having TWINS! The doctor said it looks like they are fraternal. Although she had a bit of a hard time telling if they were sharing a placenta or not. She ended up looking at where the umbilical cords inserted and said that they were far enough apart she really thought these twins were the 

"less complicated" fraternal kind.

And here they are! Baby A and Baby B. Both exactly the same size with healthy heartbeats. 

Two heads

Baby A

Baby B

Baby B - Heartbeat 161 beats per minute

Baby A - Heartbeat 165 beats per minute

There's our lil Nuggets. That's what we started calling them in case you hadn't guessed that by the titles of our posts. 

And here's us after the doctor's appointment

 Putting our happy faces on...

But this is more like what our reaction was like when she first told us.

 

 Say what?!

And after the news sunk in a little more...this is how we were really feeling!

 

TWINS?!?! 

It has been a roller coaster of emotions. They come in waves. First shock. Then overwhelmed. Terrified. Excited. Happy. Then back to Shock! There have been several text messages to Tadd that have simply said

"TWINS!! We are freaking having TWINS!"

And yes, ever since we found out, it is 'TWINS'

not just 'twins'. Because I kinda feel like it is something to be emphatic about. There is no saying it quietly. we are having TWINS! Yep. TWO babies.

But how awesome is that?! I mean really. We are ecstatic. We feel truly blessed. There are moments of terror and overwhelming feelings, but overall we are counting our blessings. Not only are we going to be blessed enough to have a baby of our own, but we get to have two precious gems join our family.

And just for good measure, here's a belly shot from after the doctor's visit. Because let's face it, there's no sense in hiding this belly now! There are TWINS in there!! TWO babies. So it's okay that I'm already showing.

So now that you got to hear the big news, don't just give up on us. We still have plenty of stories to share! How people reacted when we shared the news of TWINS, more pregnancy tidbits...All sorts of good stuff! Plus, pretty soon I will have projects to share. You didn't think we'd forgotten about being crafty around here did ya?