Half Way There! (18 Weeks)

We are half way there! For twin pregnancies, the most likely time you will give birth is at 36 weeks, so another 18 and we will be there. Can you believe that?!? Clay and I cant believe it is going by so fast. Here is the pic for week 18...

Getting big, huh? I told my mom that I was already getting uncomfortable and she starting laughing. I know that it is very early to be getting uncomfortable because I am not even a fourth of the size I am going to be, but it is true, after I eat especially, I feel pretty uncomfortable.

Speaking of my mom, I got to spend a wonderful few days in Charleston with her this past week. I knew I was going to be unable to be with her on Mother's Day (which made me very sad because NONE of her children were home for Mother's Day) so I wanted to be able to spend a little time with her during the week. It was wonderful! We had a great time being together and I miss her very much. Of course being pregnant makes me think about being a mother and makes me think about what a wonderful amazing mother she was. I know that ANYONE who knows my mom knows that I have the BIGGEST shoes to fill. She of course disagreed, but I told her that I could ask anyone that knows her and they would definitely agree. She did so much for us. She does so much for us. She gave so much to us. She gives so much to us. I cant think of one thing I lacked... spiritually, emotionally, physically, ect. She made sure we had it all! I literally could go on and on with how much she has done for us and I just want to say THANKS TO HER!

16 Week Update

Well today I am 16 weeks and 4 days pregnant and I am definitely starting to feel like I am. My belly has grown considerably and I am getting a little nervous about how big it is actually going to get (considering I am only just 16 weeks). Here I am...

On a better note, my nauseousness has almost completely subsided (knock on wood)! It is really nice to eat something and not have to see it again a couple minutes later! But now that is gone, I am experiencing some pretty bad back pain. My doctor said it was from my uterus stretching those muscles in my back to make room for the babies. They are actually back spasms and hopefully should go away after they finish stretching me out. I sure hope so because sometimes they take my breath away they hurt so bad and it has made sleeping at night a little bit of a task!

It has been cold here this week and I refused to turn on the heat so this is what I have been looking like...

Cute, huh? Clay was outside working on his golf swing with the use of our camera and took this when I was trying to convince him to come back inside. Notice the Cheetos bag... It was my dinner because I didn't feel like anything we had in our house, which happens a lot these days. At least Clay thinks I am beautiful like this.

Well I have my college room mate coming in town for the weekend so I better go clean up a little around here...

Our boys!!!

Well.... our little buddies are boys!!! How fun!! Our families got the news yesterday. We invited them over for dinner and served them this blue cake for dessert. It was a great time. Clay's family was there, and my parents were able to come up from Charleston. Although some were certain that they were going to be girls, nobody was disappointed with the news. In fact, its very exciting for Clay's family because it was up to him and his cousin Brit to create the next generation Kimsey boys. We're glad to get that weight off our shoulders on our first try... and get two for one too!!

We're also excited to report that our visit with Dr. Allaire, the parinatologist, went very well. The boys are measuring perfectly, and are exactly the same size. Both are currently 5 ounces. During the ultrasound we got to see them move around and hug eachother. They are already best friends. We will visit Dr. Allaire again in three weeks, and at that time I will do a very detailed ultrasound that takes an hour to complete!

Tomorrow will make 16 weeks. I'll be posting a picture of my belly in the next couple of days. Its definitely getting bigger (and more uncomfortable). My nausea is betting much better. I still have my moments, but overall its not too bad. I'll tell you more about that later.

Before I go, here are our "money shots" of the boys, and some more pics from Friday night....

Here is Mrs. Lisa making the discovery (notice Jaime loving the fact that she knew before anyone else... she made the cake for us!)....

Another fun part of the night was the debut of the Kimsey family backyard theater. This was designed by the boys at Clay's work. It was really awesome! I want him to sell these things...

The kids (and Grandaddy) loved it!!

We find out what we are having today?!? Are you dying to know?!?....

14 Week Update

Today makes 14 weeks and 2 days.  Mandy now looks like this....

She has a nice little pooch now, and its getting bigger looking every week.  I am a big fan of it!  She really looks great, but its been a rough couple of weeks for her.  She can hardly keep a meal down.  And it is more than just "morning" sickness.  It can happen after lunch, dinner, and snack time too.  She had a prescription drug called Zofran, but it gave her really bad headaches that lasted all day.  She has also tried a couple of other drugs that are supposed to hold off the nausea but the results haven't been very good with those either.  In the last couple of days she has gone without taking anything, which has just been so-so.  We really don't know what to do at this point other than wait it out.  We're hoping that it will settle down soon.

The twins are doing good.  We had an appointment with our midwife, Shelley, today.  It was mostly to checkup on Mandy, but we did get to have a quick ultrasound to take a look at them.  Here they are...

They look like actual babies now.  Pretty amazing!  The sex will be revealed next week.  We have an appointment with the parinatologist, Dr. Allaire.  He will get to take a close look at the babies to make sure everything is progressing normally.  We are really looking forward to that.

Aside from baby stuff... Things have been going good.  We spent Easter at my parents house with our niece and four nephews.  We also got to go to Clemson for the spring game, which was glorious.  Lastly, we got a new babymobile.  The Volvo we bought last year was great, but the mileage was getting up there because we drove it everywhere.  We weren't excited about the maintenance costs of a high mileage Volvo, plus we knew the car still had some value, so the time was right.  We put it up on craigslist and had it sold within two days.  We were then lucky enough to find a good deal on our next car the same day we sold it.  Here is our Highlander...

Next post we'll know if its girls or boys!!

Forgot to mention....

Our next visit with our midwife, Shelly, is in a couple of weeks on the 13th.  This is just a check-up to see how Mandy is doing.  Hopefully nothing major.  Then the following week, on the 22nd, we will visit the perinatologist again.  From the sound of things, we will be seeing him quite frequently in the next few months.  He will be montoring our buds pretty closely.

One exciting thing to mention about our visit on the 22nd is that we will (hopefully) be able to find out the sex of the babies!  At that time, Mandy will be about 15.5 weeks... so the babies will be devoloped enough for the doctor to tell.  Hopefully at least one of them cooperates enough and gives them the view they need for us to find out.

Oh No! I am one of those bloggers...

Sorry everyone for taking so long to write this next post! Please forgive me. As an active reader of many blogs, I hate when people forget about their blog and don't remember that there are people counting on them to update it. SO, I am finally getting around to catching you all up on our life this past 4 weeks!

Well, I am 12 weeks and 4 days pregnant today! Can you believe it? Everyone said that time goes by so slow when you are pregnant, but for us it has flown by! We graduated from our fertility clinic after our 10 week ultrasound which was fantastic, but we got some news that was a little concerning. Without going into too much detail, they noticed something in Baby A during the ultrasound that could indicate that it had a chromosomal disorder, such as Down Syndrome. There are certain measurements that can be taken during the first trimester that can show if there is an increased risk for this type of disorder. It was not a diagnosis by any means, just a potential indicator. Basically, it was something that needed to be looked at further by a specialist to give us a better idea about it. Of course, we were a little concerned. We wanted these babies to be whole and complete, not lacking anything, but maybe God has different plans. Clay and I discussed it a good bit and we were amazed at the peace we felt we were given about the situation. We knew these babies were a gift from God and we know that our pregnancy is a blessing that is supposed to bring HIM glory. We also knew if God wanted to give us a baby that had any type of abnormality then He knows best and knows exactly what we need. Of course finding out your baby may have a problem is disheartening, BUT we are so thankful for these little babies, and we felt great knowing that God has/had a plan for us in this!

Finally, at 11 weeks 4 days I got to go to my first OB appointment! This is a major milestone for people who have gone through infertility because it means you have made it to a new stage in your pregnancy. The visit was awesome, and our midwife was SO sweet. She is a friend of Clay's family and has been involved in the birth of our niece and four nephews. When she learned that they had seen some concerning things with Baby A in the last ultrasound, she got us in with the perinatologist, which is a doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies. The perinatology office uses a powerful ultrasound machine that allows them to take accurate measurements to help determine your risk factors for chromosomal disorders. The test they did was called a nuchal translucency screening. A long story short, they saw NOTHING that concerned them. They said everything was looking great and measuring perfectly! What a blessing! We were both about to cry! God is just so good. And even if something indicated otherwise, He would still be SO good. He loves us and takes care of us and is so faithful to us and all He wants back is for us to trust Him and His plan. AND WE DO.

We still have a long journey ahead of us, with many many more appointments to come, but we are rejoicing in this great report and are so thankful. Our doctor did mention that with twin pregnancies in general, there is a high risk for complications. And with identical twins, the risk is even greater. So we would love your prayers during this time that are babies would continue to grow strong and healthy!

Here are some pictures from the last 4 weeks...
                                                                     

 8 Weeks... 10 Weeks... 12 Weeks (and starting to show!)

The Babies at 10 Weeks

The Babies at 12 Weeks