Happy Birthday Dad!

We celebrated Jay's birthday last night at home with pizza, dairy queen ice cream cake, beer and a fire outside. All his favorites. ;) Joseph has been into the camera lately, and the picture of Jay opening his gifts is a Joseph Conway original.

Getting Ready for the Girls

For anyone who doubted the magnitude of the belly that has become, evidence has now been provided. Twin A weighs 4lbs 3oz and Twin B weighs 4lbs 1 oz.....imagine what the belly will become in a few weeks! Both are now head down, but I guess that really doesn't mean anything in identical twin world since both babies are attached to the same placenta and one can move or get turned around after the first comes out (hence the c-section, which I think I'm still leaning towards). In addition to adding the second crib to the baby room, we also spruced up the walls with some flowers to add a bit of a girl twist to what was once Joseph's room. Basically the main color is still green, but now has pink, brown, white, and blue accents. I think I've only got one load of baby stuff left to wash, and then I just need to pack our bag for the hospital and we're set. Jay will be getting out the swing soon, and will hopefully be finding the minivan of our dreams soon (what a ridiculous statement to make) so that we have a vehicle that fits three car seats and all our stuff. Other than that we're just relaxing this weekend, watching football and Handy Manny. Tomorrow night we'll be going out to dinner to celebrate our 6yr anniversary. It may be our last evening out together without kids for quite some time! We're planning to spend the majority of the winter in the man room watching sports and playing Wii while the younger Conways sleep soundly upstairs (yes, I'm still under the dissolution that the girls will be great sleepers just like Joseph was). We shall see!

Learning New Things & Making Pizza

Joseph made pizza with Jay tonight, and had lots of fun spreading out the flour, pressing the dough, and smoothing out the sauce. While waiting for the pizza to cook, he of course requested to watch "Woody, Buzz, Zurg" (very specifically, Toy Story 2, not Toy Story). Jay got him to quickly look away from the riveting animation and say cheese for the camera after he finished eating. He's been learning about painting at daycare....he knows that Surratt paints with dots, and Jackson Pollock used splashing, and that Van Gogh did Starry Night. The kid knows more about art than we do! (That knowledge was cleared out of my brain long ago...I had to google the names to make sure I was spelling them correctly). The little man has also been counting to 12 and trying to do 13 through 20, and has started recognizing more letters. We figure we'll tackle the quadratic formula next. He seems ready.

The Biggest Baby Belly I've Ever Had

The combined weight of the twins has officially passed Joseph's birth weight of 6lbs 14oz. The girls are fast approaching 4lbs and as of Friday they were estimated around 3lbs 10oz each. I measure at full term but of course am not at full term yet. Twin A gets the hiccups quite a bit, and I can now tell the difference between one moving around versus the other (it helps that at present they are on perfectly separate sides of my belly. Jay is amazed at all the body parts you can feel moving around. Crowded quarters makes for a lot more action I guess!) Things are going pretty good for me other than my back hurting off and on and whatever it is that's going on with my hands (related to swelling...could be carpel tunnel), it's hard to make a fist at times, but hopefully that will all go away afterwards. Weekly biophysicals start next week, where they check each baby for breathing, blood flow and things like that (done using an ultrasound) and if all continues the way it has then we have about 7 weeks left until we become a party of five. We are still targeting Oct 16th for a c-section, but who knows what the little ladies have planned. I'd like to say that I'm in control, but I don't think that will happen until a few months after they arrive. ;)

Parrot Head or Clown?

Proof that Joseph is doing just fine. ;) And I also threw in a shot of Jay and Rosco. We all had a great time at our alley party last weekend in the hood. The next day while Jay and our neighbors tried to polish off the keg, Joseph and his friend Ruthie had fun with some body paint. Joseph looked kind of like a clown, but Ruthie resembled Uncle Leo with the stenciled in "angry eyebrows" from Seinfeld. Quite amusing for the adults.

Joseph's First Real Ow-Wee

Yes, it's true. Joseph has had his first real "ow-wee" (as he calls them). He and I stopped at the park the other night on the way home from daycare and reached a point where he wasn't listening very well so I issued the "if you don't stop doing that, then we're going home" statement. And in typical 2 year old fashion (or at least typical 2yr old Joseph fashion) he looked me right in the eye, threw the wood chips, and smiled, so I grabbed his hand and we started walking away from the playground. When we were almost out of the park he tried to pull me back the other way and when that didn't work he dropped his weight like a sack of potatoes in the direction that he wanted to go (which was of course the opposite direction that I was going) and can you guess what happened next? One of the bones in his arm pulled away from his elbow, and there you have it, his first real owe-wee. I figured something was wrong because he wasn't pulling anymore. ;) And holding his arm and not being able to climb into his car seat was another clue. So Jay met us at home and even though Joseph tried to persuade us it was "all better" so that he could watch woody and buzz, we were not convinced. So off to children's hospital they went, I packed them a bag of snacks and drinks thinking it would be one of those epic emergency room adventures, but they were in and had the bone twisted back in place in minutes. And when he arrived back home he enjoyed a nice "big treat" (popsicle on a stick).

Pictures of Both Girls

For the first time in a long while we were able to get good shots of both girls....Twin A's profile and Twin B's face shot. Everything looked good in the last ultrasound and the growth discrepancy is no longer of any concern (it's being chalked up to a distorted image). Twin A weights 2lbs 11oz , Twin B weighs 2lbs 13oz and both seem to be enjoying their crowded quarters. Twin As head is waaaaay down at the bottom of my belly which explains all the pressure I feel and frequent jabs to the internal organs, and Twin B is in a breech position on the upper right side of my belly which accounts for all the visible dance like moves throughout the day. I'm in week 29, I measure at week 37, and I will be absolutely thrilled when I get to week 34 (to make it past Oct 1 has always been our goal). I'll be even happier when we come up with some names! (though we'd still refer to them as Twin A and Twin B, so don't get your hopes up) ;)

State Fair - Joseph and the Cow - Take 3

We went to the Wisconsin State Fair last weekend so that Joseph could see the animals and Jay and I could sample the chocolate covered bacon (a new item on a stick this year in addition to all the oldies but goodies....pb&j on a stick, smores on a stick, mac n cheese on a stick....just to name a few....and of course all are fried). We're that family that shows up as close to 8am as possible to avoid the crowds, and in this particular case, the heat and humidity. Though this year we discovered the downside to arriving early....not sure if something's changed or if last time we lingered longer among the cows...but they don't start serving a lot of the food until later. And even at 9, I wasn't able to get potato pancakes or french fries with cheese and bacon. (Are people seriously supposed to eat eggs and sausage for breakfast at state fair? Puh-lease....not when there are cream puffs and fried pickles to be had!) I bet I could have found a beer and some cheese curds though. ;) In addition to our traditional cream puff, we were able to score a new flavor of milk....banana (and when I say we I really mean Jay and Joseph. I don't do milk unless it's accompanied by cookies or cake). After a few hours of walking the fair grounds even my slow pace was starting to turn into more of a crawl, so we traded pigs and $3 bottles of water for lawn chairs and a kiddie pool at home.

A look back at Joseph's previous State Fairs:
http://conwayupdates.blogspot.com/2008/08/state-fair.html

http://conwayupdates.blogspot.com/2007/08/gotta-love-cows.html

Umbilical Cords...Check!

All went well at the follow up appt at the hospital to check the "flow" through each of the umbilical cords. So everything is good and it just so happens that they were growing at different rates over the past two weeks (or if when we go back for our next appt they are equal again, mayhaps the tech made a small error on one of the measurements) But no matter....it's nice to know that everything is ok, and we got a pretty good picture out of it...Twin B's profile with Twin A's arm. Next friday is when we will return for more measurements and we'll have updated weights on both girls. Now that Jay's back from his trip to London and India, we're both in planning mode. He called while tied up in some traffic on the way back from picking up the crib and started asking about sheets and diapers and formula and do we have enough birp clothes for two babies....some could describe it as momentary panic but I'm pretty sure it was just his preparation instinct kicking in. ;)

27 Weeks - End of the Second Trimester!

And to me it looks and feels more like the end of the third trimester, but I guess that's what happens when there are two babies instead of one. According to my growth measurement on Friday, twin A is 1lb 15oz (39%) and twin B is 2lbs 3oz (49%). (That's 4lbs of baby for those of you less skilled in the art of math...it actually took me a while to figure that out as it seems that hormones and pounds have replaced brain cells and memory.) A ten percent difference can be normal with mono-di twins, but since at my last measurement they were the same I will have weekly appts with the high risk doctor to see how things go over the next few weeks. Everything else checks out though, so no need for concern! They've both been moving around like crazy today. I can't always tell the difference, but tonight there was visible action on all sides of the belly. Aside from growth, there's no other changes, except that I started insulin over the weekend. I'm not the biggest fan of needles, but actually the shots are much better than the finger pricking! I only have to do it before bedtime so it's not that big of a deal. I have my regular every other week visit with the obgyn tomorrow, and then back to the hospital on Friday. They should consider offering spa services while you get your ultrasounds. A facial or a pedicure would be nice while having your belly probed by the transducer.

Ribs, Pinocchio, and Park

Joseph has had a lot of fun over the past week...he got to play at his friend Morgan's house and eat ribs for the first time, went to Festa Italiana and celebrated Pinocchio's 125th birthday, had a field trip with daycare, went out to dinner with his friends Morgan and Connor and got to see the choo-choo trains (the restaurant was right next to the train tracks), and this morning visited the park in our neighborhood for some fun on the playsets and splash area. Of course with all this activity came exhaustion, and he had a bit of a meltdown during lunch and went down for his nap without eating. Joseph is talking quite a bit these days, carrying on actual conversations with us or his toys. Yesterday he said "the train is loud" and this morning he stated "I want to play with Morgan". Nice to know what's on his mind! Which 80% of the time is usually Nemo, Woody, or Buzz.....but still...the words help. :)

The Week of the Doctors

This week I met with the cardiologist at Children's Hospital for fetal echos, my new ob gyn at her office, and the high risk doctor at Waukesha Memorial (where Joseph was born and where we are planning to deliver the girls). The hearts are good, I am much more comfortable with my new ob, and the high risk doctor joked about how well things are going. (I told him I take full credit.) Both girls weigh 1 lb 9oz, and it seems that every time I go now they are in a different position. Their bodies kind of make a circle around my belly, with twin A's head and butt in my upper left belly region and twin B's head and butt down towards the right. If I understood correctly not all of the parts shown in this ultrasound belong to twin A....just the left body portion, with the legs belonging to her sister. We haven't been able to get clear face/body shots of the two of them for the past few appts because of their position, so this is the best I can do for all you ultrasound lovers out there. But don't worry....I get these done at least every two weeks so there will definitely be more to come. Though there are only three more months to go! The doctors are targeting a delivery between week 36 and week 38 which ideally puts the expected arrival in the first half of October. Only time will tell if the girls decide to go along with this plan or whether they come up with their own scheme of when and how to enter the world. Personalities form very early you know.

Just Like His Mom

Apparently I used to fall out of bed all the time. Though how he ended up with his blankets, grover, and yurtle next to him I do not know. ;)

Joseph's Big Boy Bed

We did it! We made our move to the "big boy room" last night after Joseph returned from Minnesota. Figured it was good timing since he'd been staying in a different room all week and was completely wiped out from an action packed vacation with the grandparents and Aunt Trish. So last night he crawled into his bed, Jay read him a book, and Joseph then said to us "I lay down here" and that was that. We said goodnight and walked out of his room and he was asleep within minutes. We were awoken several times at night (because we had the monitor on just in case), but each time Jay went up to check on him he was still in his bed, so we assume it was either his arm or head whacking the wall as he moved around. I think tonight we'll turn the volume down a bit lower. ;) This morning at 6:15 when we awoke to calls of "Mommy" and "Daddy", we figured he'd be standing at the gate we put up in his doorway, but instead Jay found him sitting cross-legged on his bed. He then told Jay "I want to get up", Jay said "ok", and Joseph then crawled out of bed and started playing. The pictures are actually from his nap time today, which was a little more challenging because he usually prefers to play instead of taking a nap, so I laid there with him until he fell asleep (didn't take long). So far I'd have to say that this is much easier than we thought it was going to be....pretty nice when that happens!

Joseph Playing and Babies Moving!

Joseph spent 5 hours yesterday playing at the beach in Lake Zurich, IL yesterday with family. He is loving the water this summer, and apparently can't get enough of it because last week he woke up saying "I want swim". We've got his "big boy room" just about done, and plan to move him into it sometime in July so that we can get him used to a twin bed before the babies arrive, and get a second crib and a few "girly" items into the baby room. When the high risk doctor mentioned 36 weeks as a delivery time to me last week (of course we still have no idea of exactly when), I realized for the first time that we only have like three months left to get everything ready. (to a normal person this wouldn't be a big deal, but to someone who plans everything this means I should have ordered our crib yesterday). The girls are about a pound each, and have maneuvered themselves into the head down position! Pretty early for them to stay that way, but it seems they still have room to flip. There's a lot more kicking and punching going on in there, and quite a bit of belly out here!

Happy Father's Day!

DISCLAIMER: Photo not taken this weekend. Dressing a child in long sleeves and jeans when temperatures are approaching 90 is borderline abusive. More so than spanking. :)

20 Weeks - Halfway There!

Summer Fun Has Finally Begun

Seems the warmer weather is finally here to stay (nice considering it's June and all). After the Penguins won the cup on Friday night, we spent the rest of the weekend outside enjoying the sun. Brewers vs. White Sox at Miller Park on Saturday, and the Milwaukee Zoo and Conway Sprinkler on Sunday. In preparation for all the weekend activity Jay cut the grass during the week, and as usual, Joseph was right there beside him doing his part.

Anatomy Scan....Check!

Today we had our "marathon ultrasound", aka full anatomy scan on both babies. While we're not sure how many toes each baby has or who's feet belong to who, we do know that all limbs, organs, chambers, spines, and heads are accounted for (see two heads pictured above). The girls (yes, they are definitely girls) are facing each other and both feet down so all that could be seen from the 2D ultrasound was a big foot party going on at the bottom of my belly. They each weigh in at 11oz and are measuring on track at 19weeks. The doctor said not to loose any sleep over the feet, and I assured him that is not what keeps us up at night (barking dogs, street sweepers, and the sounds of birds chirping way too early in the morning have that covered). He also said that I need to come back to meet with a different dietitian on Friday to start the finger pricking, and then back in two weeks to meet with both him and the dietitian on the blood sugar levels and next set of growth measurements on the babies. I asked if they had a frequent flier program I could join for free beverages or food in the cafeteria, but apparently no such program exists.

Our First Prom...Together

Now if it were photos from our proms back in high school, Jay would have been sportin a mullet and I would have been wearing a very stylish banana clip back in the early 90s (I still think the banana clip dos look good, but can't say the same for the mullets). For this prom we were out in our neighbors back yard, slow dancing and bustin a groove to popular 80s hits and more recent hip hop (bend over to the front and touch your toes). Hmmm, wonder why there wasn't any country music....

It's funny that you don't realize how big you are until you see yourself captured on film. This time around my belly is super high and super huge compared to when I was pregnant with Joseph (yes, I do realize there are two babies in there but c'mon...that's 14 oz of baby instead of 7). But according to the dietitian, I am "right where I need to be" in weight gain and need to continue gaining a pound a week. I was confused as to how exactly I would do this while on a low carb diet, but to my surprise and utter happiness I am being allowed 30-45 carbs per meal this time and 2000 calories a day. Now it would be nice if those 2000 calories could include a smoothie or huge bowl of pasta, but I'll be ok with apples dipped in peanut butter and a cup of pasta with two meatballs instead. :)

Go Penguins Go!

Penguins start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs tonight....Jay and Joseph are very excited. :) And yes, our girls will also be dressed in Pittsburgh attire (with the occasional Bears outfit of course).

Joseph in the Sprinkler

We turned on the sprinkler to water the grass out front when we got home from work last week (the never ending battle of us vs. the lawn), and the minute Joseph saw it he got super excited and started playing in the water. Hopefully he'll be just as excited about going in pools this summer! (Last summer he didn't particularly enjoy being in water if his feet couldn't touch the bottom) We spent lots of time playing outside this weekend, and visited a few parks (afterall, Joseph "needs park" almost every day) We also got the little pool out and gave Rosco a bath. Joseph was waaaaay more excited about this than Rosco, and kept saying "I want bubble bath". But it was a bit chilly so instead Jay gave him a cup to help rinse Rosco off. Of course most of the water ended up on him and not the dog anyway, and somehow I ended up getting squirted by the hose and dumped on by the cup.

Girls, Girls, Girls!

That's what you get when you count me plus the two little ladies in my belly! Jay has already said that because he is going to be outnumbered, he gets vito power on all decisions (sounds like reality hasn't set in for him yet). The girls are 6oz each, and looking good. I weigh much more than that, and am doing pretty good too. I'm enjoying my last week of a carb filled diet, the official news came this morning that I failed the initial glucose test. And so I graduate to the three hour blood test on Friday, which I also anticipate failing. And so I am eating all the fruit and pasta that I can, and will be indulging in desserts and potato salads this weekend before I meet with the dietitian. (after all, 5mos with hardly any carbs means I'm proceeding as usual until the finger pricking begins) And now back to the girls, we go back in three weeks for a full anatomy scan, and then every two weeks following for growth measurements. They are both positioned with legs down and heads kind of facing each other now, but that is likely to change. They literally look right on top of each other (somehow I thought separate sacs meant separate sides of the belly...not the case). They appear to resemble Joseph's ultrasound pics, they are ok with pink but it's not their favorite color, and they would prefer not to wear identical outfits (though they aren't opposed to coordinating). That's all we know for now. :)

16 Weeks and Growing!

Well apparently it's true, two babies do take up more space than one. If you had to take a guess and didn't know me you'd probably put me at the end of my second trimester instead of towards the beginning. I seriously don't even think I'm eating that much, but I am trying to get some carbs in now while I can because I get tested "early" for gestational diabetes this week. Oh well, the upside is that this time I have the clear drink instead of the nasty orange and cola flavors that I've had before. And of course the more obvious upside of not being able to gain much weight on a diet of vegetables, nuts, cheese, meat, and fish. Oh yeah, and eggs. Yummmm. (is the sarcasm coming across?) But until then, bagels and fruit for breakfast it is! I'm also making pasta sauce. Wishful thinking that I'll make it through the entire batch before having to prick my finger after each meal.

Chatterbug

An appropriate nickname for Joseph these days. Over the past week or two he's turned into quite the talker! We went out to dinner on Saturday night and he jibber jabbered the entire time (and not using an inside voice...something I was told to do quite often when I was younger) I think Jay noticed the difference right away after being gone for a week....hard not to because it's amazing how much Joseph understands now. At breakfast this morning Joseph said "momma fork please". And after I gave him his gummy bear vitamins and told him to chew them he finished and said "I chewed it". The best was last week when I told him if he ate his macaroni then he could have a treat, and he looked at me, rolled his eyes and said "no-ooo, I eat chicken" (like duh mom, I don't want the macaroni I want more flippin chicken). A not so cool recent development is that he screams like crazy during his bath, like it's some form of ancient water torture. Seriously, our neighbors must wonder what the heck is going on inside our house. :)

Turn my back for one minute...

And Joseph climbs his way up to sitting on the kitchen stool and tries to make a phone call. I literally only turned my back long enough to wash one sippy cup! Maybe he wanted takeout (thai please!).

Actually I've been pretty weird about food lately...I get hungry but I don't feel like eating (and let me say that is a very new feeling for me!) Nothing is very appealing though I do become fixated on certain things that I have to have right away. Yesterday all I could think about was an asiago cheese bagel with veggie cream cheese, so that's what I got this morning. (I'm thinking of getting it tomorrow morning too.) The other night it was pasta, so Jay was very accommodating and made dinner while I sat on my ass (something I am always in the mood to do these days). I have to get my carbs in while I can, since I'm being tested for gestational diabetes in a few weeks (oh joy of joys). I've already been told that I will fail the test it's just a matter of when. Lovely.

Joseph is clapping his hands to sesame street right now (ladybugs twelve, at the ladybug picnic). We also worked on his letters and sounds using starfall.com (awesome site!) The banana and cookies for dinner didn't exactly score me high parenting points though (at least there was milk). And now Rosco is licking the crumbs off the couch. Nice.

Twins!

That's right...I'm pregnant....with twins! It all started with this ultrasound picture on Friday, March 13th. They had just wrapped up taking pictures of "the" fetus when they started taking shots of my ovaries. As they moved across my belly to get to the other ovary another heartbeat flickered on the screen. Jay actually recognized what he was seeing, and the technician and doctor confirmed...there's two in there!

Another ultrasound with the perinatologist last week confirmed that the twins are identical, two sacs but one placenta (mono-di). That means that through some twist of fate the egg split into two sacs, but the babies share the same food source and blood. So there's a higher chance of complications....yadda yadda...we'll be having lots of ultrasounds.....blah blah blah....had to switch doctors and will be seeing specialists....likelihood for bed rest and c-section....I could continue with all the details but then your eyes would glaze over and you'd be less likely to come back to the blog for updates and I'd have to talk to people on the phone more and that sure isn't going to happen.

While it may not have been fate that split the egg, it wasn't genetics either. While fraternal twins can be hereditary, there is no answer for what causes identical twins. Tall moms, obese moms, moms that eat lots of yams and dairy....all are linked to higher chances of twins...but since I didn't start eatting ice cream by the gallon until after I was pregnant it seems we were just lucky!

I'm feeling fine other than being tired and hungry all of the time....hoping that goes away soon...if not I'll be one large mama my the time the babies arrive! Due date is November 1, 2009...12 weeks down, 28 more to go!

Joseph's 2 Year Stats

Height: 36 inches (100%)

Weight: 30 lbs 4 oz (80%)

Head: 48 3/4 cm (50%)

No surprise that Joseph is still on the tall side...but the nurse was a bit generous with his height because she measured him at 37. (which he is definitely not). He started screaming the minute she walked into the room and told her "bye bye" several times before coming to terms with the fact that we were in a doctor's office. He calmed down in time to get checked out by the doctor though, and even said "Ahhh" so that we could see his 2 year molars. Only needed one shot and one blood test this time around, and that's it for the needles until public school time! He wasn't very pleased with the shot in his thigh but he got over that as soon as he realized there were robots on his band aid. But seriously....what happened to the suckers? No cutesy band aid or sticker could ever be as good as a lollipop.....unless they start coating band aids and stickers with sugar.

Two, Ha, Ha, Ha!

"Two, Ha, Ha Ha" is Joseph's consistent response to the question "How old are you?" And after weeks of preparation the answer finally fits....Joseph is 2! We made cupcakes to take to school and share with everyone, but did some pre-celebrating this weekend with family and will have post celebrating next weekend with more family. Hopefully next weekend he'll be a bit happier at cake time. While his mood did make for some cute pics I decided not to post the ones of his screaming. After all, it is his birthday.