Christmas with Kaylee

Kaylee had so much fun at Christmas last year! She loved the tree. We had to surround the tree with baby gates so that she couldn't get to the presents or ornaments. That didn't stop her, though....she would pull up on those baby gates and stand on her tippy toes to reach the lights and the ornaments. We'd tell her no, and she'd just laugh and laugh.

She loved opening presents. She was quite good at ripping that paper! She got a couple of dolls...which at 8 months old I have no idea how she knew to do this, but she would pick one of the dolls up, cradle it in her arms just like a baby and rock back and forth as she was sitting on the floor. She also got the Little People farm and house which she had lots of fun with.

Kaylee was a great sport with all of the traveling and everything! She loved people so all of the visiting was right up her alley.

Here she is Christmas morning with her cousins, Caden and Carley:





Here she is with GiGi (Kaci's mom) and Carley on Christmas Eve in her Christmas dress:



Kodi and I loved the magic that a child brings to Christmas. Yes, we miss her terribly right now, but we have such good memories to help us make it through this year. Next year will be very different with TWO 8-month old babies to make memories with. We are setting up some family traditions for us to do with the twins in honor of Kaylee, so that will be nice to do each year.

May each of you have a wonderful Christmas holiday, filled with that magic and excitement that makes lots of memories. Our love to all of you!

Doctor's Appointment

We had another doctor's appointment yesterday. This time it was with Dr. Owen. My blood pressure was great (actually a little on the low side) which is a huge relief! She did a quick ultrasound and the boy had turned, so that both babies were head down and facing each other. The first thing we saw were four arms and four hands....and it looked like they were fighting! They're starting that WAY too early. Dr. Owen just laughed. They were definitely interacting with each other. Their heart rates looked good and they still looked about the same size, which is good. So far so good...our prayer is that it stays that way! Our daily prayer is that these babies hold out until the end of April so that we can stay out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

I am feeling them more and more...when just one moves, it's hard to tell which one is which, but I know that will change. Every once in a while, I can feel both move at the same time...which is really weird!

We are past the halfway mark...full-term for twins is 37 weeks and I am already at 20 weeks. It's so hard to believe we're already this far....time will fly by.

Today's Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound today. Everything looked great...although they were much harder for Kodi and I to pick out what was what! I don't know how those techs do it! The babies are much bigger, therefore, not as much room to pick out major features for the amateur viewer.

The babies are still a boy and girl...hehe. We wanted to double check--3 medical professionals all agreed, so we'll believe them. They are measuring ahead of schedule and are just about the same size. The girl (baby A) weighed about 11 ounces and the boy (baby B) measured 12-13 ounces. This is the first time the boy has outweighed the girl! Their heartrates were 158 and 157. The doctor is pleased with my blood pressure and the overall progression of everything. The girl is head down, and the boy is breech right now, but of course, that could change. Since we are having a c-section anyway, it's not so important that they are facing the right direction anyway.

I am feeling them move more and more and even felt both of them at the same time the other night. Now that I know their current layout, I think I can begin to distinguish which baby is moving. I know that the movements will become MUCH more defined later on as they grow and grow.

All of their major organs look good so far and we'll be checked again on December 30 at the next ultrasound.

We visit the other doctor, Dr. Owen on Monday, the 15th, so more updates there!

Well......

We had another ultrasound today...this time revealing what the twins are! And--our gut instincts were right...Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy! We're three for three (our gut instincts were right with Kaylee, too)! They are both weighing 5 ounces and measuring almost a week ahead of schedule. Both babies are really long legged, armed, etc...if they keep this up, they're liable to be really long babies! This time, though, the star of the show was Baby B. He decided to finally wake up and let himself be seen! He waved to us and sucked on his thumb....all while being propped up against the placenta like he was watching a football game in his recliner. We think that Baby A--the girl--rules the roost as she kept turning towards him...telling him what to do, of course! Everything looked great and we'll go back for another ultrasound in about 3 weeks. It is so awesome to see how much they change in such a short amount of time. Thanks so much to everyone for their prayers and well wishes--we truly are blessed!

What do you think?

So we will hopefully find out what the twins are on the 13th...but we want to know what you think! Cast your vote......we'll see who is right!

Happy Halloween!

Kaylee's Halloween last year was so much fun....she loved her costume! Kaci caught a lot of flack for her costume choice for Kaylee...but she did make the cutest little cow. Kaylee was 6 months old last Halloween. She was just starting to crawl around this time and her little tail would stick straight up and she'd just laugh and laugh. We would too, of course. The knees are so worn out of the costume that there is no hope of passing it down to Kaylee's siblings. It's pretty funny. She didn't fight the costume at all and always smiled for the camera. We are so glad we took so many pictures that day!

Another Ultrasound

We went to Dr. Hales' for another ultrasound today. Both babies are doing great! They measured a tad bit ahead of what they should...and their heartbeats were going strong. We actually got to hear them for the first time. Baby A's heartrate was 170 and Baby B's heartrate was 155. Both were really strong and about the same size. They are just about decided that these are fraternal twins--the membrane between the two babies is very thick, and in identical twins, the membrane is usually very thin. Both placentas are in a great place so that we shouldn't have to worry about problems with that later on down the road. Everyone said they looked great! Baby A has really long legs right now, too....they looked like cute little toothpicks!

We should find out what they are at the next ultrasound, which would be November 13th...that is, if they cooperate. Let's hope and pray that they do so we can start shopping! We also will see Dr. Owen on the 13th, so we'll knock out both doctors on the same day. Maybe by then I'll get our scanner hooked up so that I can post the ultrasound pictures.....

Pumpkin Surprise

As I pulled into the driveway from work today, I notice there was something sitting in front of out garage...I get out, and this is what I see...

The card attached says, "Special Delivery for Kaci and Kodi" and the card inside says, "From Someone who loves you. Halloween Smiles."

This is just too precious.....and totally made my day. We have absolutely no idea who did this, but whoever you are out there, THANK YOU. We have received such touching emails and messages from so many people and we can't say enough how much they all mean to us. We truly are thankful for all of the thoughts and prayers on our behalf. Everyone means so much to us! It is such a nice feeling to know how much Kaylee and these babies have touched so many lives, also. We truly are blessed.

Introducing...Pancho and Lefty

We had our first doctor's appointment today and...there are still two! I have to laugh because I still don't think it has really truly hit me that there are really TWO miracles growing in there! (Kodi has dubbed them Pancho and Lefty. Leave it to him to think of something Willie Nelson related!) Everything was just great at the appointment. My blood pressure was perfect and I haven't been sick at all. Because Dr. Owen wasn't sure where in there they were, she did a quick ultrasound to see the hearts instead of trying to find them to hear them. One baby didn't stop moving the whole time...and the other one was fast asleep. So--one is just like Kodi and the other one just like Kaci...you can guess which one! ha! The heartrates looked great and they were about the same size which Dr. Owen said was right on target. She mainly just wanted to look at the heartrates, so she didn't go into depth. We have an ultrasound with Dr. Hales, the high-risk doctor--on Monday, and he'll go more into depth with everything.

Dr. Owen did mention that we would be doing a c-section. We figured this would be the case, so we were somewhat prepared for that. She said she doesn't even consider anything else because there is such a risk of something happening during the birth. She also said it would be about a month before we could hopefully tell what they are...if they cooperate (and if they're anything like their father........ha).

So--other than being tired and hungry, all of us are doing great! We'll update again on Monday after the ultrasound.

More than just a heartbeat....

We had our second ultrasound today. Yes--that would be two in a week. Many people have questioned why we were having another one so soon. Well, we had another so soon in order to confirm twins. Yes--that's right--TWO babies.

Let's go back to last week.......Kodi and I are looking at the screen while the technician is measuring the baby and the heartbeat. I kept thinking to myself, "boy, that looks awfully weird." I wasn't thinking "it" looked like it did with Kaylee. I asked the tech what the heart rate was, and she said 111. I panicked because I just knew that sounded really low. I said, "That sounds low....is that ok?" The tech replied, "Well, their hearts just started beating a couple of days ago." Mmm....I thought. That doesn't make much sense....wait....did she say "THEIR?!" She really said their.........a few seconds passed and I finally said, "You are only seeing one, right?" She laughed and said, "No, there's two." I immediately started crying and looked at Kodi and all he said was, "Cool!" and had this huge smile on his face. Not the reaction I was expecting.

The doctor comes in and says that it is still so early, that there is a chance we have a vanishing twin. We did have two heartbeats, two sacs and two placentas, but they couldn't really see the second baby. So, they asked us to come back in a week to verify and check to see if both babies were viable.

And...they were! They are just about the same size measuring right on schedule and the heart rates were 160. We had a conference with the doctor to discuss the risks and things--this is a high risk pregnancy now. He didn't seem to think that there would be any reason why there would be any troubles--he said that I had a good history and since they were spontaneous twins that the odds were in our favor. That was reassuring news!

So my due date is May 3rd (which ironically is Kaylee's Angel Day) but the doctor said we'd probably be looking at the middle to the end of April. We'll know probably in late November/December what they are (although our gut feeling is a boy and a girl....we were right with Kaylee, so we'll see if we are right again).

We know this is a God thing! With practically no history of twins (2nd cousins is too far away) and no fertility anything, we are just in amazement at God's handiwork. We're excited....overwhelmed, but excited...........the journey is just beginning!

First Ultrasound

We had our first ultrasound this past Wednesday. It was still very early, but there was a great looking heartbeat! We didn't get any pictures because there wasn't anything to see--everything was too small and there wasn't a "baby" to make out on the screen. The only thing Kodi and I saw was a little flicker--the heartbeat. It brought back so many memories of the first time we saw Kaylee's little "blip" on the screen. This whole process is truly a miracle and we are so thankful and blessed to be able to experience it again.