36 weeks, BIRTH.

At 36 weeks and 2 days I had a suspicion that labor was coming soon. 

Went to my doctors appointment, and the doctor began his routine 36 week exam. 

Wouldn't you know it, my water broke right there in the doctors office! 

How's that for timing! (and mothers intuition)

Then it suddenly hit me...wait, that means I have to have my babies today. Like, today is the day. Like, right now. No looking back, I don't get another week.

 ILL NEVER SLEEP AGAIN.

Doc went to send off a test to make sure it was amniotic fluid. When he left I burst into tears. 

Tim was anxiously pacing and trying to calm me down while he was beginning to feel the nowness of our babies coming to meet us.

We were freaking out.

Doc came back and affirmed that it was amniotic fluid and asked me when I ate last. 

"Um, right before I arrived, maybe 8:30-9?"

"Ok, we'll schedule your c section for 5pm then, go home and sleep and don't eat or drink anything, not even water. Check in at the hospital around 2, congratulations."

Just like that, having babies. Woah. 

We went home, and we TRIED to rest.

Tim cleaned up the house, I sat in our bed wide awake. Then we packed our van and headed over to St. Joe's.

It was about 2:30 when I got into my room. The nurse had me shower and get into a robe, we were all smiles and giggles. Steph and Tim got into their scrubs.

Nice nurse lady monitored my belly for the heart beats, and then quietly slipped out of the room and came back with 2 more nurses. They started prepping me for surgery. One lady put socks on me that we're hanging off the edge of my foot. Man, I hate that.

The drugs guy came in shortly after and explained the 2 different ways it could go. Most likely I would just have an epidural and Tim and Steph would be my support people in the room. If something went wrong or they felt like they needed to get babies out quicker they would put me under. 

Tim and Steph got dressed in their scrubs and hats and took selfies.

The nurse then said "Ok, well you walked right in here, you wanna walk to the OR? We'll come get your husband and sister when it's time"

I wasn't in pain at all, so I did. 

I did notice though that it was only 3:50 or 3:55. That seemed a little early to me. 

When I laid down on the surgery table, the drug guy leaned over and said "Baby B's heart rate is a little low, we're going to have to go a little faster. I'm going to put you under right now and it will feel like no time has passed, and you're going to wake up with babies."

Then I started to realize...oh snap, something is wrong! They're moving really quickly and putting me under! 

Oh Yeah, but they didn't have time to wait to put my catheter in...so they did that while I was fully awake and un-drugged.  I will never forget that feeling.

As they started to tie my arms to the table I leaned over to the nurse closest to me and said "since I can't hold them right away, I want you to bring them right to Tim and have him hold them skin to skin, and can you tell him what's going on?"

She said that none of them could leave at the moment but she'll fill him in as soon as possible. 

It was like a movie, a mask went over my face, drug guy told me to breathe deeply. 

You better believe I breathed as deeply as I could to make sure I got it all. 

I tried not to let panic or fear set in, but you know when someone is really comforting and it makes you wanna cry? Yeah, the nurse near my face was too nice and I almost started crying....but I held it in long enough to breathe in my drugs. There were really bright lights, a mask, lots of people in scrubs, and then BOOM. 

The next thing I knew I was coming to and Tim was over me holding our babies. I tried to talk but my throat was so sore. Apparently they put something down my throat. I managed to shed a little tear and say through my oxygen mask "oh my gosh, they're so cute I want a million more!"

The whole procedure was only 15 minutes long. Tim was holding our babies by 4:15. He had no idea what was coming, they thought they were waiting to go in, and suddenly a nurse came in and let them know they had to do an emergency C section and that the babies were on their way.

He explained it to me and I saw pictures, but what happened next was so sweet. Tim sat down with the new tiny babies and put them skin to skin on his chest to regulate their temperatures. He cried and held our babies and comforted them while I was getting stitched back up. He is an amazing dad. I still cry looking at the picture of his face when he first saw the little miracles.

I might keep that picture to myself.

On June 22, 2015:

Rose Summer Norris was born at 4:10 pm, 6 lbs 7.4 oz.

Theo Mutlu Norris was born at 4:12 pm, 4 lbs 8.8 oz.

I don't remember how long they were, sorry. There was a lot going on, none for which I was conscious.

We were told after the fact, but Theo's heart rate was down in the 60's. That is about half of what it should have been. He also had a chord wrapped tightly around his neck and shoulder. 

Rose had the chord wrapped around her ankles.

I joked that she was going to bungee jump out but never had the chance.

Me, Tim, Rose, Theo and Steph were transferred to recovery, where I would deliriously begin to fall in love with my new family, my 2 new perfect healthy children.

Week 34

I kinda feel like I don't have to write ANYthing after you see this photo. I mean, look at me! 34 weeks and completely huge!  I don't know if you can tell, but my nose has grown. Like, straight up big nose. Is that even a thing?!

I must admit though, I don't feel this big. It actually shocked me when I saw this image from someone else's perspective. I just look down and see a belly, and I can kinda see it in the mirror, although we don't own a full length mirror. (Probably a good thing)

My body just grows little by little each day, and then one day, BAM! I have a hard heavy beach ball on the front of me and I'm like, where did that come from?!

Ya know, those videos that show men putting on pregnant suits and wearing them for an hour, or even a day, are very amusing.  They are not that fair though. I didn't just wake up this big and feeling kicks in one day. It's been a (very) slow process. I think it's super funny to watch them, but poor guys don't even get a chance to get used to it!

So, here I am...haven't been blogging for a number of weeks. I have no excuse. It's like the less I have to do, the less I want to do ANYthing.  I am very fortunate to not be working, but I think this whole "resting" thing has made it so I don't want to do things that people who are resting should be doing...like reading, writing, or getting the house ready. I am just straight up sleeping all day and eating when I'm awake. Sorry everyone for waiting so long. Pure laziness.

Our babies are doing GREAT! They are both around 5 lbs and moving a lot! Every ultrasound has been positive.  The doctors and ultrasound techs are very impressed at my long torso. They say they have never seen twins NOT be squished together in there. They have their heads together in the middle of my belly and baby girl is breech going down and baby boy is head down with his bottom up!

Straight Yin Yangin'

They even said that the boys head is on the girls belly.  CUTE ALERT

It is pretty cool, although every once in a while I wish they were squished more, because they will kick me in the pelvis and in the ribs at the same time. I really love that. I just have to straighten my body and hope it stops.

I'm not sure this is a sensation that I really want to remember, or to happen again. It is pretty intense.

So, with baby girl (yeah we know her name, no we're not telling) being breech it looks like unless she flips it will be an automatic C-Section.  The doctors didn't say she couldn't flip, but they didn't tell me to hold out hope for it either. I'm thinking she has run out of room, but anything can happen! Nothing is final! We will just pray for her to flip, and if she doesn't then it was the way my birth was supposed to happen, and that is just fine with me.

Although I am all about birthing the natural way, and if baby girl flips I will do that if I can, I have to say that having a scheduled C-Section doesn't actually sound that bad either.  What I am most afraid of going into labor is all of the unknowns.

How long is it going to take? Back labor? 36 hours? Epidural? No Epidural? Ripping? Episiotomy? Pushing forever? What if, what if, what if.

With a C-Section, although it is a surgery and I will have to recover, I kinda know what to expect.
Go in this room, put on this gown, we're giving you this drug, it will be over at this time, you will recover in this amount of time, etc.

I know, nothing is the same for everyone, but I feel ok with either way of birthing my babies. Whatever is the most safe for them and for me.

I am NOT wrapped up in the "This is the best way to give labor, other ways are not" mentality. As long as I have my 2 babies safe in my arms, they can come whatever way they want. I really hope I am never caught judging another woman's labor. YUCK. Not my story, not my place to talk about it. It causes so much unnecessary damage to comment on (criticize) labor and motherhood.  Let's be honest, it's going to be hard and we're all going to do it a different way. There.

Hey, I'm having a contraction right now!

Just a braxton hicks...don't worry.

So, basically, babies could come anytime now. They are totally full grown and safe to come out. In about a week and a half I will be full term, and anytime after that is a bonus.

If I go into labor, they will check to see if she's still breech. If she is we'll go ahead into the operating room. If not, we labor.  Please just pray that it is safe, not stressful, and the babies get everything they need to come with me as soon as they can.

I can't wait to introduce them by name!

I'm contracting again! It has been longer for me though, then for you reading this. I stopped to watch an Ellen youtube video and cry. That's real life. Thanks for reading!

April and He and She who shall remain nameless (for now)

Week 31

I feel like I'm on summer vacation.
The kind of summer vacation that is confusing because I haven't had one of those in over 10 years.

My last day of work at the bank was now about a week and a half ago. It is AWESOME! My feet don't swell as much, I eat a lot more, and I take naps on the regular. I am so fortunate to have this opportunity!

We went to our appointment with the OB, and just asked "Can we talk about what it would look like for me not to work anymore?"

She replied, "Oh, you need a note? Let's get you one, when do you want to stop?"

In shock, Tim and I looked at each other, and I said "How about tomorrow is my last day."

Just like that it was done. No more work, Doctors orders. It blew my mind!

Could it really be that simple? I'm just allowed to not work and still get paid for a little while? Is this real life?

It makes me feel a little weird, but I know it is a good thing because my job right now is to grow babies. Growing babies includes doing stuff like sleeping, drinking water, putting my feet up, and coming up with cool ideas on how to dress our babies when they come out.

I think my clock in/clock out mentality is just part of how I have lived for the last 14 years, but now I am clocking in and never clocking back out which is probably much harder.

I do help Tim with our business, but it is very relaxed. I think I could get used to this. Although, it will only be another month or so and then It'll all radically change again. (I'm so excited!)

Check out how big I am now!

They say I am measuring at 37 weeks. My body has about 8 lbs of baby in it right now, and I'm not done yet. (Injesusnameamenstayinthereforaslongasyouwant)

We had our second ultrasound to measure Baby B to see if he is growing at the same rate as Baby A. He looks good! He is still a bit smaller, but he is growing along with Baby A just fine. Nothing to be worried about. I think he's going to be a professional diver, or a yoga instructor. Check this one out!

Fully bent in half and loving it.

I tried to do that same position because Baby A is breech right now, but I can barely even touch my own knees anymore.

Downward Dog is nearly impossible for me, even when Tim helps me. I don't know how pregnant ladies do yoga at all. Actually, I don't get how anyone does it. It's hard and I hate it.

I will do whatever I have to do though, to get my Baby Girl head down so a Cesarean isn't my only option.

I'll downward dog for you little girl. I'll try my best!

The last couple of weeks have been awesome, hard, uncomfortable, relaxing, and necessary.
I am feeling good and the doctor says I'm doing great. The babies are moving a LOT!

There's your update! See you sooner than later, I don't have much else to do.



April + Babies

Week 28

Today I woke up in my 3^rd Trimester with hands so swollen I couldn’t make a fist.

 

It’s hard to believe I will have babies soon, and I won’t just be pregnant forever.

I am in my 28^th week, and I have a LOT to update on, so buckle up readers!

 

First of all this is what I look like now. 

I don't feel so big, but then I'll see a picture and be like, dang! 

 

I'm feeling over all fine, but it's getting a little harder to sleep. I guess I should take that back, my hips are doing a GREAT job falling asleep, and so are my forearms.

Ok, so I want to talk about the medical side of things first before I dive into the wonders of birthing class.  A couple weeks ago we had an ultrasound to measure the babies growth.  Now normally when we have these, we don’t really get a call to tell us how it went, we just see the results at our  next appointment with the OB or CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife.)

 

This time though, I received a voicemail at work from the Nurses office saying they would like to discuss the ultrasound results with me at my earliest convenience.

 

That was a little scary.

 

Then I received a voicemail from an office called “Maternal Fetal Medicine.” They wanted to make an appointment for me as soon as possible to run a high risk ultrasound.

 

That was a little more scary.

 

I had no idea what was going on, so I asked  my boss if I could take a moment to make a few phone calls.

As soon as she gave me the go ahead, I headed back to the break room, already trying not to cry, and started making calls.

I was freaking out inside… “What is wrong with my babies?” “Are they ok?, am I OK?”  Of course, the worst scenarios were running through my head.

 

So I sat down to call, and they explained very shortly that Baby B was measuring quite a bit smaller than Baby A, and they’d like to take a more in depth look. They referred me to “Maternal Fetal Medicine” who I called next, and they made appointment for me the next morning at 8 am.  They promised more answers after the appointment.

 

Right away I called Tim and told him everything. We prayed for our little boy, and tried not to be too stressed out for the rest of the day.

 

The new doctors office was really nice and had a HUGE screen for us to watch the ultrasound happening. It was pretty cool. They took over an hour to measure and check and look at the babies. As much as I like ultrasounds, and as much as I love seeing their little faces,  I was pretty over this one toward the end. I just wanted answers!

 

We double checked, it’s still a girl and a boy.

 

When she had gotten all the measurements the doctor came in to talk to us about the results.  Looks like Baby Boy is measuring close to Baby A in every way except his little belly. They see nothing to be worried about, as long as he keeps growing in proportion to Baby Girl. He says Baby Girl has better “Real Estate.”

 

If we don’t see growth in the next few weeks we could potentially have to have them soon to keep him safe. Woah.

 

So basically, from now on, I can have my babies ANYTIME. Like, next weekend or June 20.

Our babies will be perfectly normal and healthy and stay in for 36 weeks (injesusnameamen)

Ok. So we're taking a class called "birthing from within." It is us and 3 other couples and we're meeting every Friday for 5 weeks. We have only a couple weeks left. 

Our teacher is a doula with a soft voice and a middle part. She is very nice. 

This particular class leans more toward the "inward" side of birth. Not like, inward, like, uterus, but inward like spiritual and emotional.

Every class we have artwork, questions, and exercises to figure out how we will react in labor to the pain and extreme emotions that come up during such an extreme moment (or hours.)

My favorite (and least favorite) exercise is the "Ice test." In this test we clutch an ice cube for a minute to see how we respond to pain. For the first minute we focus on the pain. For the next minute she turns on music, or tries to distract us. The third minute she'll have us focus on our breathing, or moving to help with the pain.

Turns out if I'm singing and counting things I am totally distracted from the suckiness.  First I start looking for patterns and stuff to count (I counted all the panels of glass in sight.) Then I had to start making noise. I sang "let it go" and it was great. 

There are a few things in this class that are "not my style" but those things are easily overlooked and the helpful things outweigh them for sure. 

We have class tonight and we have to bring our "birth bundle." I'll leave that one  to your imagination. 

Week 25

My hair is awesome. 

It's so soft, nice and growing so fast! It's too bad my legs are following suit, I can't even reach them anymore.

In fact when I look down all I see is belly. Like, no matter how hard I try.

One of of the many cool things about my belly is the fact that my mid section was my biggest area of self consciousness before I got pregnant. So now that it's a highlight of beauty I feel really good about my whole body!  

I know, I know, I should have already loved my whole body before. I did most days, but let's be honest. Every once in a while it can be a struggle with our ever expanding and contracting bodies. 

Now I am confident that if I can love my body when it's big, I can love it forever after this. It will now be my beautiful reminder that I carried (at least) 2 babies and they found their home in me for a little while :)

My friend Nalia told me I don't look pregnant from behind. She is now my best friend. 

Week 25 is proving to be the hardest week yet, body-wise. It's harder to do normal things like slouch or sit up from laying down, or sleep without a pillow UNDER my belly. Sitting in chairs hurts if they aren't squishy, standing up hurts because my feet swell at the sight of shoes. 

C'est La pregnant Vie.

I love everything about it.

I believe God made us to feel like babies when we're pregnant so we can have compassion when our babies are here. 

Seriously though, If I can't burp I feel like crying.

I can't sit up by myself and it makes me want to cry.

If I lay down right after I eat it hurts until I sit up and burp.

When I am sad, angry, hurt, in love, happy, overwhelmed, I cry and can't explain what im feeling.

I can only have certain foods.

Do you see what I'm getting at? I feel like a total baby! When they get here and they're freaking out about something I'll be able to look at them and be like "I get it."

It's the grace of God I tell ya.

Oh hey, look how cute Tim looks holding a baby with a matching outfit on! What a guy. So comfortable with a baby in his arms.

This is actually a twin! Not ours though. Thanks Rhee's for having a twin boy and girl for us to play with and get ready for our two! We will be happy if they're half as sweet as yours!

We're starting birthing class tomorrow! I am sure I'll have a great update next week. This class should be awesome and also a little stretching. It includes this pain coping test where you hold an ice cube until it melts and your partner tries to comfort you. I can't wait. This is bound to be hilarious. 

Anyway, peace out.

Week 24

So whether or not I am ready, these eggplants are coming. We're going to actually have babies. 

I must admit, last night I broke down crying because I was scared. Scared of giving birth, scared of something going wrong, scared of not being ready, scared of not having the stuff we need, and scared of beginning a new type of life.

As I was sitting (inthebathroom) crying, my wonderful husband came up and sat with me and comforted me while I was practically uncontrollable and asked me what was wrong. I cried for a while before I could start talking, cuz who can cry AND talk amiright? I explained all my fears that I kinda felt guilty for having because I'm supposed to just be excited and ready. He looked at me in my face full of mascara and said:

"Do you like adventure?"

I nodded yes

"Do you like surprises?"

Another nod, and I started to smile a little

"Do you like babies?"

"Do you like living life together?"

Ok I see where this is going...

"Do you like problem solving and being creative?"

"Do you like following Jesus?"

I paused, sniffled a little and looked in awe at him through my smiling, tear filled eyes.

He did it again, relieved my fears by reminding me of who I am. 

Of course this is going to be new, scary, unknown, tiring and unpredictable. That's a promise, but I don't know when I forgot that is exactly what I LOVE about life.

I love adventure! I love surprises and I LOVE BABIES! There is something so powerful about being reminded of how I am made to be.

Thank you Tim.

Nesting is in full effect, and part of the reason I broke down. I just had this overwhelming feeling our house just wasn't going to be ready. I've been rearranging, cleaning, folding and beginning to put things in place in our home. It is going to be great, and there is time. Also, they're just going to be tiny and in our room for a lot of the first few months. I have to remember in reality, after the baby shower, we could be ready in like a day.

Tim reminded me too that I don't normally plan so far ahead. He once again made me remember that I like just crossing bridges when I come to them. I think he was surprised I was planning 3 months ahead in the first place, and told me to relax and live how I normally do. That made me feel better. I like Tim. 

Now we are almost to 25 weeks! I am coming up on my third trimester, and I look almost full term. I started getting the question; "So, when are you due??" 

They don't expect me to say July. I have a feeling this is the beginning of that question being asked everyday. That's ok though, is still fresh enough not to bother me. Ikindalikeit.

Last Saturday we registered at babies r us! It was really tiring and really fun! We took a long time to decide which stuff to register for, and even took a break in the nursery section to "test" gliders. It can be an overwhelming thing, but I think we got through without too much harm.

Tim picked out this nose sucker that you PUT IN YOUR MOUTH AND SUCK SNOT OUT OF BABIES NOSE. 

I was so extremely grossed out. He thought it was brilliant. I told him he could register for it but he was going to be the ONLY one to use it. So. Gross. I also scanned the normal baby nose sucker. For those of us who don't like to eat snot accidentally (or on purpose.)

Overall, the babies are healthy and kicking and moving a lot! We are so excited (and a little nervous) to meet them, name them and take them home!

We can expect to meet them anywhere from 34-38 weeks. I'm hoping they'll stay in until 38 weeks so they can be born on the 4th of July, just like we joked about last year. Also, so I can name them America and Liberty. Or Stars and Stripes, or firework and freedom.

Let's all keep praying they're head down and ready for a smooth, short, painless delivery.

In Jesus name, amen.

Week 21-22

22 weeks. 

5 1/2 months.

2 corn on the cobs.

2.

2 humans.

There's no denying that I'm pregnant. I'm huge and I saw things in an ultrasound I could feel at the same time.

I keep thinking "this doesn't feel real!"

But does that even make sense?

I don't know how any other moms feel (still weird lumping myself into that category) but does it become "real" ever?  Do we suddenly wake up and "feel" like moms? Or do I have a gross misconception about mothers I see and assume they have the "feeling" and are, from conception forth, a different person in a maternal way? Or is everybody just scrambling to figure it out and hope no one sees how "unqualified" they are, or rather, feel.

Maybe no one really knows the "right" way to raise children, and maybe that's the right way.

Deep stuff, man. 

All I know is that inevitably these little things moving around inside of me are going to come out and I'm going to have to "feel" like their mom. 

Just something I've been thinking about.

So here we are at 22 weeks!

March 5 was our ultrasound. It was 1:45 pm and I had ingested all the liquid necessary and was holding it in waiting for Tim to come get me from work. He arrived and I was just about ready to burst with excitement and possibly because of my full bladder. 

We arrived at the doctors office right at 2:15 for our 2:30 appointment. I had timed it just right! We were about to see our little buddies and hopefully find out the gender too! I had been anticipating this ultrasound for a long time! I checked in and sat down.

Well, 2:30 rolls around and no one calls my name. 3:00 rolls around and the pregnant lady next to me is called in and they apologize telling her that they are slammed back there. I assumed at that point I was after her. So then 3:15...bladder practically exploding ...3:30... Sitting on my feet to keep it in....3:45...

Tim decided to go check on the status. 

Apparently the lady NEVER CHECKED US IN!

I was so annoyed and had to pee so bad that I started crying in the waiting room right as the ultrasound lady came to get us. 

"Oh great, a crazy lady and now I need to take care of her"

I just apologized for being hormonal and she said if I ever wait more than 15 minutes to check what's going on. Looks like I'm going to be that annoying customer now who always makes sure the customer service representative is doing their job correctly.

We finally arrived in the room right before 4 and once I layed down I was ok. 

She asked me what I thought the genders were. I said "baby A is a girl and baby b is a boy" She smiled and replied "let's see if you're right!"

They were so big and moving so much! At one point it looked like baby b was sitting in the lap of baby a, it was so cool to see them and feel them at the same time!

The first one to show us was baby A. She is a little girl! I was right! I was so excited I pinched tims ear really hard. It was all I could reach. This would happen many many times throughout the ultrasound. She has all her limbs, heart beat is good, spine is straight, all that stuff. Healthy beautiful girl :)

Then we moved on to baby b.

This little sucker had its legs crossed. He was fully lounging. We checked his head and all the other necessary things, and then since he wasn't showing the goods, she had me go to the bathroom and move around. 

Best bathroom break ever. 

Finally we saw it front and center. He in fact was a HE! It felt so good to be SO right. I should start gambling. Wait, no.

We celebrated by having burgers. In fact we celebrate a lot of things by having burgers. We just like burgers.

Other than that exciting news, they have been moving a LOT and I'm getting bigger by the day! I waddle now a little since my legs and back are loosening up.  It seems like loosening would feel good but it kinda hurts. 

I think it's time to get a pair of shoes a size bigger too. There have been a number of times I've made Tim get the car because I can't fit my shoes back on my feet when we leave someone's house. 

My ankles fold over sometimes.

Oh yeah and I had an OB appointment and she said I am doing great, babies are doing great, and for a "high risk" pregnancy I am low risk! Just praying these babies get in the right position to come out smoothly and they stay in for as long as they want!

Hopefully next time I won't wait so long to post :/

Cheers!

Week 19

Today I'm writing from a particularly sleepy state. I slept for 8 hours, but I'm just STILL tired! I know what you're thinking..."just wait, you don't know what tired is, you poor little first time mom" 

You're right, but I'm still tired, so there.

I'm feeling a little complainy, but I really have nothing to complain about. We drove home from a very relaxing time in Phoenix in our new MINIVAN. I'm telling you, it is the way to go! Baby or not! It's so roomy and such a smooth ride. I'm 6 feet tall and pregnant and I could stretch out in the front seat. It was glorious!

So, our babies are about 6 inches long now each (like a zucchini!) they are definitely on their way to making me really uncomfortable. There's some major pressure goin' on that makes it hard to do normal things. The other day I felt a sneeze coming on and I yelled "oh no! I'm gonna sneeze!" Tim ran over, not knowing what to do and tried to help by holding my legs in place, but when I let it out it made my stomach cramp like CRAZY and I yelled "OOWWWWIIEEE, OW OW OW"

It's like what little abs existed are now stretched to capacity and are unable to  protect my insides whatsoever from any outside force, whether it be sneezing or trying to sit up wrong.

Woah, when I was typing just now, I sneezed while typing "sneezing." 

I'm ok.

We're almost to 20 weeks now which is crazy cuz that means I'm 5 months pregnant! That's like, real life pregnant. 

If I thought my pants didn't fit before...oh man, good luck finding a rubber band long enough to hold the fly together now!

I watched a video of a baby moving around in someone's belly on YouTube. Man, that was a bad idea. It is CRAZY looking! Don't look it up if you want to sleep at night. It's called "baby moving and grooving in utero" 

That's right, not movin' and groovin' like it should be. 

It's STILL crazy to me that I'm actually growing children inside of my body. It's still unreal that there are 2! I am not sure when it'll become real, but so far it's just like I'm more fat and tired.

I started to think of funny things to do at a baby shower. I called my sister Summy to ask if she had ideas. She had already come up with a Pinterest board and a list of funny things to do. I knew she was the best person for the job! I'm thinking everybody has to dress like twins with someone else and eat double cheeseburgers. It's easy and something I already love doing. We'll see how it turns out! 

I've started nesting too. I didn't think it was real, but I have already purged almost everything I own that is unnecessary, and even some necessary things have been switched out for new ones. I think it'll kick into high gear after the baby shower when i actually have baby things to put out. 

We're getting very excited over here! Maybe I should set up a calendar for guesses on their birthday. The person who gets it right gets to bring us dinner after they're born! 

That's all for now! If you have any burning questions, you can comment and I'll try to answer them! Otherwise, until next week! 

 

Weeks 17-18

I'm in Arizona! 

Tim is here too. My brother in law just got married, but any excuse to get out of the northwest in February, AMIRIGHT?

It's so nice hanging out in the sun and having my mother in law feed me until I can't eat anymore. The first thing she says when I wake up is "time to feed those babies, how do you like your eggs?"

Well, maybe she says good morning first.

I love it.

So, I know this shouldn't be news by now but I'm getting bigger everyday, like not a little bigger but NOTICEABLY bigger. 

I'm so glad I'm past the "is she fat or pregnant" stage. Now I can wear maternity pants without guilt (like I ever did) and wear things that are tighter on my belly without being self conscious.

MY LOVELY BABY BUMP, checkitout

The babies are the size of a sweet potato each now, and have little eyelashes and fingernails and stuff. They don't move much, but I just figure they're kinda squished in there. I feel them sometimes like right when I wake up, because since I sleep on my side they're in a different position in the morning, all sticking up on one side.

I've been a little sicker the last few days. When I eat I immediately feel THANKSGIVING full and need to lay down or lean wayyy back to digest...for a while. I missed all the dancing at the wedding because of my stomach, but eh...who wants to dance to all their favorite songs anyway :'(

Can't wait til I'm really big though so I can dance and look insane. 

We're coming up on our appointment to find out the genders. We can't wait! Not so much to buy blue or pink things (boring) but to be able to pick names. We have so many in the running, and it'll be nice to know what to expect! I go back and forth what I think they are, but the man on the airplane next to me said "it's 2 girls" and then his wife leaned over and said "he hasn't been wrong yet"

We'll see sir. We'll see.

I automatically thought it was one of each, but lately I've had an inkling it's 2 boys. No real reason. 

It'll probably be triplets all of a sudden and really throw us off, because of course that'd happened to us.

It's been nice to see family and just rest and eat. Seeing my sister Steph has been great, mostly because she suggests cool names like "gibbles" pronounced like "jibbles" but with a g of course.

Also, another friend suggested the names "Magellen and Tesla." Those names are perfect I think. For girls. 

We are definitely on an adventure here in Norrisland, and I can't wait to see how it progresses! I feel pretty good, and I'm hoping it keeps up!

Until next week.

 

Week 16

I wrote my WHOLE post and then it deleted. I'm so annoyed! Maybe I'll just post a picture of myself and go eat a cookie. No, I'll just re write it and hope I remember it all. 

Anyway, here's a picture of me a few minutes ago when i was happy.

So I know I'm not showing too much, but those little dill pickles are definitely in there and making my belly hard and round. Before I could kinda squish myself into pants, but now it's like trying to put a size 4 on a size 8 statue. 

I have graduated into my maternity leggings and dresses, actually who am I kidding, I bought maternity leggings back in November and never looked back. It's never too soon to dress in maternity clothing, AMIRIGHT? No muffin top. (Although the top is the best part of the muffin)

We went to an OB last week and saw our little buddies moving around! They're so alive and active! Right now they're head toe, so one keeps getting kicked in the head. Well, baby, get used to it. Your brother or sister will probably never stop doing that. At least, when no one is looking so you can't prove it.

It doesn't feel real sometimes, because I can't feel them moving yet. I should any day now, but maybe I should be thankful for this time pre-insidepunching. They're going to be making me extremely uncomfortable in the next few months. I guess I can wait. 

Oh also my feet are swelling a little, it's pretty cute. My feet didn't fit in my shoes after the Super Bowl party. Maybe I sat around and ate too hard. 

I like to say that I have 3 brains now, although that would make you think I could remember words I need on a regular basis like "envelope" or "balance." Those words would come in handy working at a bank as a teller, but somehow they escape me. Every. Time.

"Thanks for coming in, here's your amountofmoneyinyouraccount, would you like a paperthingthatholdsmoney?"

All in all, with the body changes, brain farts and slight sickness, I am very fortunate to have these little twinkles coming! I can't wait to hug them and put them in matching outfits and watch Tim be their dad. How does one girl get so much favor? I'm so thankful. 

Until next week! (reporting from Arizona!)

15 weeks

It's 9:50 am. Church starts at 10 am. 

"Tim, can I cut my hair off right now?"

"Sure."

I would like to say that in that moment I was taken over by hormones and hot flashes making me cut it off or die. I think that was my excuse at the time, but the truth is I have done this a million times before. I just took advantage of the fact that my hair grows INSANELY fast right now, and not just on my head. I have to shave like every other day (or not) AMIRIGHT pregnant ladies?

So I'm at week 15. I have 2 little avocados in there making my stomach grow slowly but surely. Everyday I wake up and it's a little harder and sometimes it's off to the side a little! 

I can't feel any kicking yet, which surprises me because there are 2 little movers in there! In the ultrasound, baby A has its arms up next to its head like it's doing the salt and pepa dance to "push it"

See! If you can tell what's going on there, on the left is the scary face and baby is laying on its side, belly going to the right, lounging with its elbows up. Straight up dancing.

And this is baby B looking like an alien

So far Baby A has been in the spotlight every ultrasound, dancing and jumping for the camera. Baby B has been hiding a little and looking annoyed with Baby A. I'm not sure if that's a picture of what's to come. 

I can't remember if I mentioned this in my last post (sometimes I can't remember normal things) but my due date is July 18. That is 40 weeks, but they say to expect twins 3-4 weeks earlier. So, we're going to have babies literally 9 months after we got married! Last year at the 4th of July party we joked about "next year when I'm super pregnant" be careful what you joke about! We also joked about seeing "how many" we're in there before our first ultrasound...

Wouldn't it be so funny if someone gave us a house to live in? Hahahaha...ha...ha...

In 3 weeks we are taking a huge leap into grown-up-hood. We're picking up our MINI VAN!

Now, most people cringe when they realize they have to move up to mini van status, but I have been dreaming of this day for a long time! Even before I was married or pregnant. 

I LOVE vans! 

One of my first vehicles was a van and it is just so useful! You can not deny the convenience of a minivan, and the style isn't that bad either. Everyone get over it and embrace the vehicle designed to make your life extremely easy and roomy. I promise, Honda is not paying me to say this, but I wouldn't be mad if they sent me a free Odyssey. 

Just imagine all the goodwill finds you can just go ahead and take home with you! Imagine the cool garage sale you can treasure hunt with ease! All of this, and my babies fit too. Booyah.

Overall, week 15 has been a breeze, here's for hoping the rest of the weeks are this easy 😁 (injesusnameamen)

Pregnancy up to week 14

The last time I wrote on this blog my life was very different.
Before I was trying to lose weight and now I'm trying to gain it.

Quick timeline of my life since last year as it pertains to this blog post

February 15, 2014: first date with Tim Norris
June 5, 2014: got engaged to Tim Norris
October 4, 2014: got married to Tim Norris
October 25-27ish, 2014: got pregnant
December 31, 2014: found out it was TWINS

So....2014 was pretty cool I guess.

I won't spend a lot of time catching you up on the pregnancy thus far, it's been pretty tame. I will tell a few highlights that I think are pretty funny.

I cry all the time, one time Tim accidentally scared me and I started crying. Also, I cried watching Hook, Annie, and Hunger Games. Like sobbing uncontrollable hot mess type crying. That's just the beginning. I could write a whole blog called #whyisaprilcrying. It would be full. Poor Tim.

I haven't been sick really, sometimes my favorite foods make me gag, and foods I've never wanted to eat are the only things I can stomach. For the first few weeks I only wanted Starbucks breakfast sandwiches and Cheerios. Now I don't want either ever again. Other stuff makes me gag, like hearing someone spit or brushing my teeth.

Moms, please don't hate me for not having morning sickness, I promise I'm trying my hardest!

The day we found out we were having twins was an unbelievable day.

We went in for our first ultrasound when I was at 12 weeks. The midwife was really nice. She smelled like coffee and I was so jealous. It was probably even Folgers. Too bad my bladder was more full than it had ever been.

We joked about seeing how many were in there.

She pulled out the Doppler to listen for the heartbeat...and there was nothing.

She told us not to worry, the baby was probably just hiding or I had a tipped uterus or something. I was like, "you don't know nothin about my uterus"

Then she pulled in the robot machine to take a look. At this point we were a little nervous because what if there was no more baby? What if the test was wrong? What if? 

So she squirted the extremely cold gel on my belly (I was the first patient so it hadn't had time to warm up) and we got a glimpse of what was inside of me. 

She looked and looked and then looked concerned and confused. She took the screen away and told us she needed to look at it alone. She was pressing the wand thing into my bladder and making a face we didn't like, but then after what seemed like 10 years she said "a-ha!" And turned it back toward us.

"I understand now, see this line? This is the separation between 2 sacs. Here is the first baby and here is the second baby!"

...

Then both of our jaws hit the ground. We were laughing and crying, the kind of nervous laugh that makes it sound like you're happy when you're not sure if you are. I looked over at Tim and a single tear was falling down his face. Then he asked for a chair.

We sat in shock for a while and the midwife congratulated us and sent us to radiology to get another ultrasound, but I had to go to work. So I went to work.

That was 2 weeks ago and we're still reeling. This changes everything! We had a plan! WE HAD IT ALL FIGURED OUT! 

Alas, just like everything in our marriage so far, we have to trust God in the unexpected times. We have to know that His plan is best even if we are scared or overwhelmed. We also are privileged to jump in the river and see where it takes us! 

Wanna know what made me suddenly ok with all of this? It's a love that was put inside me long ago. A love for matching outfits. Thank you, Lord.

I'll post a picture next time, I don't look any different yet, my stomach is just harder.