Photo Shoot

I just had to. My sister got these matching outfits and I had to capture it. I am sure it is the first of many....

Christmas Times Two

After a whirlwind week everyone is home! We luckily only spent 16 days in the NICU before they were allowed to go home. At first they were just going to let us take Alaina, but we both really didn't want to separate them and the doctor agreed to let us take both (I think they were just trying to be nice and didn't want to overwhelm us). Since it was so close to Christmas, we decided to not tell our parents and surprise everyone. My mom came on Thurs morning and Matt's parents came Saturday morning.
We had a very busy weekend, but all is well! Just adjusting to the every three hour feedings and they are so small they sleep pretty well at night. My mom is staying with us and helping at night since Matt is working. I will not be going back to work until March. I will be updating more as the weeks go by!

WHAT??? BABIES ARE HERE!!!

Funny how I finally updated my page on Sunday and then went to bed and my water promptly broke. And that's how it happened! I had a terrible time sleeping, turned on one side and it was like a waterfall. I had to call to Matt who had been sleeping in the other room to avoid my snoring and he was a bit frazzled. No bag packed, no preparations made seeing as I was only 32 weeks.

So we threw some stuff in a bag, headed to the hospital and two hours later my children were born.




Alaina Madison, born 2:27 am 3 lbs 12oz, 16 3/4 inches long





Ryan Porter, born 2:28 am, 3 lbs 151/2 oz, 17 1/4 inches long


Both are doing quite well in the NICU and working on gaining some weight so we can bring them home soon. It has literally been a whirlwind of emotion because we are so glad to meet them, but we want them to do well and be healthy. Luckily neither one of them need anything besides some monitors and IV's. We are allowed to change them, hold them, take their temp. They are being tube fed so far, so eventually they will get bottles. I just take them mommies special formula until we get to that point.

So that's the update! I stayed in the hospital for about four days after my C-section and we have been visiting them twice a day. Matt had already planned some time off, so he's been with me since I can't drive:( Each day I feel better and I'm able to get good rest since there are no crying babies at home yet!

We are especially thankful to all of our family and friends who have really stepped up to support, love and be there for us and the babies. It was unexpected for everyone, but we could not do it without everyone:)

I will keep things updated as much as possible-I am at home for the next 12 weeks!

Lofty Ideas Are Not For Pregnant People

I am approaching the home stretch. Going to the doc every week and ending work in just a few short days. I will say I am surprisingly well, just getting some severe leg swelling that will only go away if I sit still for awhile. This is a bit irritating since I am in full force "nesting" mode. I've had to just let it go because when you're pregnant you have all these grand ideas about how you're going to hand make every one's present and how you're going to do super sweet special xmas cards. Yeah right. Let's just reason with ourselves.....you're not going to make anything, everyone will simply get a gift card. If you can even get in the mood to make yourself look presentable, you MIGHT make some sort of xmas card that probably won't be printed in time to send anyway.

I think everyone will forgive me. They will get gorgeous newborn pics to make up for it. I will say my husband is the best for putting up xmas decorations, running out to get gifts and going upstairs to get various items for me like my ipod. Since I am about to be home starting this week, I will diligently pay more attention to the blogging.....so Carly can stalk me more:)

Pro-Active Peeing & Other Things

I noticed this week in my advanced pregnancy that if I literally think about going to the bathroom, I have to go. I also noticed that if I see or know there is a bathroom somewhere I have to go. Almost like a dog marking it's territory or something. I guess in a way I'm just saving myself from having to stop whatever mission I'm on to urinate. I consider this "Proactive Peeing." There's always gonna be times where it springs up on you, but if you keep it in the forefront, you'll never have any problems.

Here's me....BIG. According to my latest ultrasound these babies are over 3 lbs each! I'm currently 30 weeks, and I swear, I have not had any Miracle Grow or any performance enhancing drugs. They are also both head down, so they are preparing for launch....too bad they have to wait about six more weeks.

The good news is I have no Gestational Diabetes even though I had to endure the nasty three hour test and I also still have good blood pressure. The only concerns they have for me is work and I'm going to be adjusting that this week. The doc thinks I'll do OK for the next two weeks and then it will be time to stay home. So that means I'll get to update this sucker all the time if I'm at home!

Stay tuned.....I'm gonna throw up some nursery pics once I get done with everything.

Large And In Charge

I know, I know. Bad blogger. But look, when I get home all I can think about is .....well.....nothing. There is something so spectacular about zoning out and doing nothing before I pass out at 9pm. Which by the way is now my new bed time-AGAIN.

Thanks to Danielle for the AWESOME shirt which I couldn't wear until now. I had to put my hands on my belly because the profile just looked like a twin sheet stretched over a full size bed. I thought the effect was better represented with the help of my hands.


Speaking of hands, mine have now taken on the form of small link sausages. I surrendered my wedding rings awhile ago and was surprised that the hands went first. My ankles do get swollen, but usually by the end of the day. I wake up and go to sleep with the sausage hands-they are here to stay.

My most recent doc's appnt was very positive. My blood pressure was good, I got a swine flu shot and drank the dreaded orange soda. I don't know if I passed the "sugar beties" test yet, but we'll see.

I also had my baby shower which was fantastic, but I don't have any photos of. They wouldn't let me take any at the shower, but no one has sent me any and no one has posted anything. So sorry if you wanted to see that, there are people holding them hostage and I have no control over that. We got so many great things and it was a lot of fun. I was a little nervous going into it that I wasn't going to get anything which I know if completely ridiculous. I guess people look at the registry and then go buy stuff other places. Because I got items from my registry, but not from where I registered. So you can imagine my panic when I check the registry the day before and next to nothing has been purchased. Now I have so much stuff I don't even know what to do with it all. It required a trip to IKEA to figure out how I could Swedish-ly organize everything.

And finally, we are very close to finishing the nursery. We have some friends coming this weekend for some last minute home improvements to the room. My wonderful friend Carly spent tw o days in a row drawing and painting Dr Seuss characters on the wall and they turned out AMAZING! Here they are-she may do one more once I get all the furniture in place!

Sleep Will Cure Anything

It occurred to me today that time is speeding by. I literally have 13 weeks left and since I'm most likely not going full term, I'd say ACTUALLY it's about 9ish. I am doing really well right now, so I'm hoping to go as long as possible. I do find I can't stand up for long periods because my legs turn into tree trunks. I don't have the typical foot/ankle swelling. It's more like my entire leg and then a teeny little foot at the end. I did however go up a shoe size. I seriously looked at some modern looking bedroom slippers at Payless yesterday and was tempted. They were so comfy. But totally inappropriate for the outside world.

My shower is this weekend and we are expecting some out of town guests. I am pumped to see my best girlfriend from FL and hang out with her. She is a great organizer and promises to not only hang out with me, but also get everything put away after the shower-BONUS! I did have an irrational moment earlier this week after noticing that four days before my shower next to nothing had been purchased. I laid in bed hyperventilating wondering how much stuff we were going to have to buy. Then I got ten hours of sleep last night and it was like nothing ever bothered me. Sleep is delicious.

The most frequently uttered comment as of late is "You're so small!" I guess I should feel complimented at the fact I'm not a giant cow. Don't worry, I'm sure that's just around the bend. I'm just happy I don't have fat face yet so all my baby shower pics will be pleasant. Speaking of fat, I am now able to ingest multiple sugary treats and chocolate. The trick is taking Zantac twice a day as a preventative and then I can basically eat whatever I want. But really I want only Twizzlers and sandwiches. Ironic.

My husband is the best, by the way. He is powering through my list of chores with no complaints. I'm so lucky.

World Tour

Whoa! I didn't disappear or go into "pregnant hiding." We have been on some adventures and I'm happy to report our traveling has ceased for now. It feels good to know I will be in town indefinitely until these children are born. Anyway, here's the update:

Me at 24 weeks. I should probably get a bigger shirt. Whatever.

We took a road trip the day after my birthday to Akron, OH to Ray & Tara's wedding. We embarked with the Butners and endured an eight hour car trip-and no one killed each other! We've actually traveled with them before to New Orleans, so we knew they were good traveling buddies. Anyway, we had a few interesting situations (the one involving bad Mexican food was particularly memorable), but all in all it was a great time.

We even went to the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame and I kissed Bruce Springsteen:















Here's the happy couple. Notice Matt's removed tie (which ended up on his head) and me trying to stay up past 10pm and clearly over it:



It all ended about a week later at the U2 concert in Atlanta. My uncle and Dad flew us in and while the trip was short, it was great. I survived flying (only slightly nervous).




I am looking forward to my baby shower next weekend. Mainly because the room is really empty and I keep getting panicky thinking I'm running out of time. I've only broken down and bought one blanket with a giant sock monkey on it. I think that's reasonable.

I also just went to the doc and am happy to report baby girl is 1lb 10 oz and baby boy is 1lb 12oz. They were also having some sort of disagreement during the ultrasound which caused girl to try feebly to defend herself from boy's foot to the face. Apparently she's got the bottom bunk and not a lot of room to avoid his maniac kicking. She should have picked the top bunk.

Baby Bananas

Here is 22 weeks! Halfway done!

Yes, I'm wearing my Momma Redskins shirt proudly even though they suck. And there's my dog.

I look as if I'm smuggling a beach ball and in fact everyone keeps telling me I look very small.

Well, I'm pleased to say both my children are almost 1 pound (size of a large banana)! I swear I'm not drinking Miracle Grow! Maybe McDonald's chicken nuggets hold some sort of magical powers....

We have kept a busy schedule that won't really die down under November. Yes, I said November. We are sewing our oats and all that jazz before life changes.


I had a lovely weekend with family in honor of my 31st bday (not until tomorrow). We are about to embark on a road trip to a friend's wedding in Ohio. I have no idea how I'll tolerate the ride, but I am small enough I think I'll be fine. We are excited to see our friends get married and spend some time at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame!

I am having a difficult time sleeping already, so I may need to add six pillows to my sleeping regiment instead of five. In addition, my babies are now positioned in a "pancake" formation, causing baby boy to stick various parts into my ribs. I just end up pushing him down and he'll probably have a dent in his head when he comes out.

I will post pics of the Ohio trip!

Why Don't You Go Away, Cold?

Having a cold when you are pregnant really sucks. It would normally just suck having a cold in the summer, but then add in that whole pregnant thing and you get= DOUBLE SUCK. I seriously am working on day SEVEN of congestion, headache, coughing. My poor children probably think there is a permanent earthquake going on due to all the shaking. There is a small approved list of things you can take which magically none of them work or do anything. The only thing that helps is Benadryl, which helps dry things out, but really doesn't relieve the other issues. You never realize how much you appreciate NyQuil and DayQuil until you can't take it. I mean, I could, but I don't want my children to have unicorn horns or extra toes.

We have finished painting the nursery, which is a lovely aqua color. We put together our crib, have a dresser on the way as well as a changing table. We were able to get a spare crib from my boss at work which was hilarious. It is literally a thirty year old Jenny Lind spindle crib with metal sides you raise and lower. My husband had never seen anything like this and I had to do some supervising to help re-assemble. I assured him we would never lower the sides due to his pain and suffering. I mean, it really didn't come with instructions being old and all. Because of space issues, we are going to go with one of everything, put it together and then decide if we need to add more to our registry. Here are the pics from registering:


Me on Aisle 1 before I started closing my eyes and randomly scanning items so it could all be over with.







Matt on Aisle 4, already over it >>>>>>>>>>



We are moving quickly on the baby shower, so invites should be out soon!

PROGRESS

We had a very successful ultrasound this week. I'm happy to report all twenty fingers and toes are in tact and size/shape/growth is normal for both. I am glad we finally sat down and hashed out a girl's name because we are having both! We had always had a boy name picked out, but the girl's name was a little tougher. Will we share? I don't know. I think family gets irritated because they want to monogram or bedazzle a quilt, but I kind of like keeping it a secret. That way no one can say, "Really?" "Are you sure you like that?" Because people say weird stuff all the time when you're pregnant. But if you're willing to donate to the Neese Family Fund I may let you have 20% naming rights.

We are starting to kick the baby business into high gear. My sis is feverishly hashing out the details of my baby shower since I will be having it early. I really only have until November to get everything out of the way. Even if I do well and make it past 28 weeks with no bed rest, I still want it all done before I get real uncomfortable and cranky.

So we got new carpet, picked out paint and have a crib. We are going to tackle the registry tomorrow.

Paint: Valspar "Frosty" (to later be decorated with Dr Seuss pics by Carly)


Crib: I looked at both Babies R Us and online and wasn't finding anything I liked. I came across this one on Walmart's website and really liked it. What I haven't decided on is the color. I originally was going to sand it and re-paint it white. But the color is much lighter than the picture and it may work. We are going to put it together and see what it looks like.

Here is the room I LOVE and will basically rip off because it's too darn cute.




By the way, I just have to say how grateful I am for those who borrowed me maternity clothes. I went to Motherhood today because Matt's mom gave me some money to buy clothes. I was absolutely shocked at how expensive it was. A t-shirt for $20? It was crazy. So THANK YOU (you know who you are) to those who graciously lent me clothes that I love and have gotten many compliments on:)

As Promised...

Here's my 16 week baby bump....



We also went to the Watermelon Festival this weekend. It was only 100 degrees out! But the watermelon was good and we made an appearance.



Matt thrashes his....



I will be going to my "over 16" week appointment at the high risk doc next week. I am seriously hoping to see some baby "goodies" so we know what we're having. Otherwise I'll have to wait another month:( Hopefully they will cooperate and we will know something!

PREGNANCY EQUALS NO SHARING

I've learned a couple things after being on vacation this past week. The most important is that my tolerance for sharing has abruptly stopped. That means no longer waiting in turn with other family members for my share of the hot dogs and hamburgers. That also means feeling it necessary to write my name on food and feeling very hostile if anyone touches it-including my five year old nephew. Oh no, if you're around me, you better not touch ANYTHING I plan on eating. The effects will be one of two: 1.Meanness or 2. Meltdown. Hence when my husband found me crying hysterically in the bathroom a few days ago over some crab legs. What can say? I'M FRICKIN' HUNGRY.

Unfortunately when you aren't super huge, people tend to forget you're pregnant. They hand you a vacuum as if you're actually going to operate it. Or the heaviest grocery bag as if you're going to carry it somewhere. I hate to call attention to myself, but I'm getting to the point where I want a shirt that says: "I'm pregnant. I'm hungry. I'm tired. I'm useless to you. Now move." But, you can't really blame people. I think people feel inherently awkward around pregnant people. If I don't make demands, it will be another "bathroom crab night."

On the other hand, vacation was great, I got some sun, I have tan lines and now I have to go back to my ridiculous job. YAY reality. I'll post some pics soon-I do have a baby bump and it's kind of cute.

The Ice Cream Incident

Well, many know that when you are pregnant, you have irrational mood swings about stupid stuff. I have had a couple of unnecessary "meltdowns", but in general I've tried to keep a handle on it. Unfortunately for my husband there was a little incident last week regarding some ice cream. See, I haven't been able to eat anything really sweet because of overall sickness. I am just now coming out of that and when I want something specific, my stomach can usually handle it.

We ventured out to Ukrops for some dinner and I remembered they have little single serving sizes of Starbucks ice cream. I thought it would be a great re-introduction to sweets for the children and hurried to grab some before we left. Because of the "car melt" that occurs, I always throw the ice cream in the ice maker so that it will re-freeze quickly.

As we stood in the kitchen my husband starts using the ice maker and it makes a weird noise. I say: "Be careful, my ice cream is in there." Needless to say when I went to recover my sweet confection, the ice maker blade had kung-fued it right down the center. I immediately went into a major meltdown that went something like this:

Husband: "Why are you crying?" (dumb question)
Me: "I WANTED THAT!"
Husband: "I'll go get you more."
Me: "NO!"
Husband: "I feel bad, let me go get you another one."
Me: "NO-IT'S NOT WORTH DRIVING ALL THE WAY OVER THERE!"
Husband: "But I feel bad, I'll go get more."
Me: "NO-STOP YELLING AT ME!"
Husband: "I'm not yelling, I just want to go get you more."
Me: "Just drop it!"

It went on like that for a few more minutes and then I ate an apple. Isn't pregnancy fun??

Meaning

Definition of Baby Bogo:

*Literal: Paying for one thing and actually getting two. Also know as a "two-fer." Example: We paid for IVF in the hopes of conceiving one child and we got two-BONUS!

*Spiritual: Hoping, wishing, praying that you can become parents. Happy to get just one little baby and being blessed with two.