24 weeks!

Well, they are officially viable. Meaning, that if they were born now, they would probably live. I know that sounds pretty morbid, but it is important to a pregnant woman. Each week is important. Only about 12 more weeks until they will be born! Yikes...that's not much time. We went for our ultrasound on Monday, and both babies are doing great. They are growing like they would if they were the only one in there. Graycen was 1lb 8oz (up 8oz in 3 weeks)! Gabe did not want to be outdone by his sister, so he was 1lb 15oz (up 13 oz in 3 weeks)! Now, I understand that ultrasounds aren't always 100% accurate, but all their measurements were good too. They seem as happy as little clams in there. We got to see them kicking each other, and because they are facing opposite directions (she is head down, he is feet down), in a few pictures, they looked like they were kissing each other's rear ends! No more passing out scares for me, and I have gained another 5.5 lbs in 3 weeks. Getting on up there!! Of course, like I said before, this is the one time in your life when people lie and say how great you look, and you know they are lying, and you don't care at all! Pregnant women need compliments! Anyways, back to the ultrasound news...it was all great news until they measured my cervix. Last time it was at 4cm, but this time is was down to 2.88cm with tunneling?! So, my doctor is letting me work 4-6 hours a day, but said that next appt (Nov 17th) he will probably pull me out of work completely. That's really scary for me, because I think the last time I worked that little was in high school. It's also scary because if I go out then, I have 9 weeks of FMLA left...and that is about 9 weeks from the babies' expected delivery date. So, that's how long I will have insurance. That's scary. But, I know that God is providing, because it could have been now that I had to go out, and then I wouldn't have insurance when they are born. Today begins the hardest chapter of this pregnancy so far...the wait. Up until now, I have been busy enough to not think about the wait, but now I will have plenty of time to think about it. Also, I can't do any housework and have to lay/sit down as much as possible...that's going to be very hard for me. I'm not sure exactly what to ask for prayer about right now, except that these babies stay put for at least 12 more weeks.

BABY SHOWER!!!

Sunday we had our first baby shower, and let me tell you, these babies racked up!! It was a super cute shower at my sister Anna's house. It was really decorated in a baby theme (way better job than I would have done). We even had a diaper cake and "baby bottle" cookies with their initials monogrammed on them! Lots of old friends showed up, including my old college roommate from Atlanta!! We got such great gifts for the babies too. I think one of the best things was that so many of them have babies already, so they bought what I would need, not necessarily what I "naively" registered for, (ie---a different bath tub). I'm glad, because I would rather learn from them than learn the hard way! A friend from Colorado sent us piggy banks for the babies. Gabe's is wearing a baseball cap and has "stitching" on his sides, and Graycen's is a ballerina with a tiara. They were really the hit of the shower! It's hard to pick any favorites, because they were all so good. Some were very practical (thank you so much!), and some were more for fun and decoration. Our nursery theme is "Vintage Pinocchio and Snow White"---otherwise known as "good luck finding any of that!!" My parents did give us a Snow White lamp that my mom found at a consignment sale and a Pinocchio lamp that my dad MADE for us! They are super cute, and will really tie together our nursery (when we have one!) Anyways, it was the most fun I've had so far being pregnant! Thanks girls for coming, and thanks to everyone who sent a gift! We are already grateful for your friendship, so thanks extra for caring about our babies too!

"Mission: Surprise Jeremy" complete

I am so proud of myself. I successfully, for the 2nd year in a row, surprised Jeremy by flying his mom out. He had no clue, and we had this planned for 3 weeks now. I picked her up this morning so she could be here for the shower and ultrasound this Sunday and Monday. We went to Jeremy's work, and she walked in and asked for someone to help her. The look on his face was priceless. All he could say was, "What are you doing here?" I wonder if that was all he was thinking too...probably so! It was a fun surprise, made even more fun by the fact that he was so clueless about the entire thing! Tomorrow is our first baby shower, and I am so excited. I think Gabe and Graycen are excited too, as they have really ramped up their kicking. I probably will be bruised internally by the end of this pregnancy. Anyway, I will post another update probably on Tuesday, after the shower and ultrasound visit. Everyone is doing well here, and Jeremy had an entire "fun pack" of peanut M&Ms that was green yesterday. He said that was supposed to be lucky, so hopefully he feels like he is! I love surprising him!

How we picked the babies' names

I thought Cassie's comment was a good idea, so here is the reason we chose our babies' names.

We chose Gabriel Blake for our son about 10 years ago when we watched the movie "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. That was Heath Ledger's name in the movie. We both have always liked the name since then, and Jeremy really liked Blake (but it was never my favorite), so we decided it sounded good as a middle name.

We chose Graycen Rose for our daughter because it is "sort of" a family name. Gray is my mom's maiden name, but you can't really name a baby Gray..kind of somber. We picked the "cen" on the end of the spelling because it seemed more "girly." As for Rose, I have always liked it as a middle name. We have also always liked this name.

It's funny because if they had been two of the same sex, they would not have both had "G" names. We are not into "matchy-matchy" names, but it just worked out that way. We also had these names picked out before we even started trying to get pregnant, so at least for the last 4 years! So, that's where we got the names from! Glad you like them!! We hope Gabe and Graycen do too!

Hectic, but fruitful time!

Well, now I am 22w4d! Wow, how time flies. It feels like we were just in the Czech Republic getting our babies! I have been so busy trying to get things done while I still can, as my job is going to make it very hard to do anything but work and sleep in a few weeks. Apparently, I have pregnancy amnesia, as I have been forgetting things left and right, which is not like me. I told everyone at work to leave me notes when they need me to do something for them, as I am having a hard time remembering everything. At home, I have an ongoing list of things that I am trying to get accomplished by the end of this month. On the top of the list is deciding where we are going to live and what kind of childcare we will have. If we stay here, we will have to rent a less expensive apartment, and probably Jeremy will have to stay home with the babies. That is not top on my list of ideas, but it would be doable. What I really would like to do is transfer to Greenville somehow with my job, and then use our connections there to have childcare we know and can trust to help us with the babies. Thankfully, my work provides and employee assistance program that I called today. The lady is going to do a search for childcare providers in Charlotte and Greenville that have weekend care. If we stay here that is our biggest concern, as we both work retail hours right now. Please keep this as #2 on your list of prayers for us. #1 is the babies' health, of course, but this is definitely #2 for us. The babies appear to be doing well, and they are busy kicking me daily. I think that Jeremy is a little jealous, as they usually stop moving right when he puts his hand on my belly! I did remind him that if I have a c-section, he will be the first one to get to hold each baby, and I think that made him feel better! I just realized this has been a very rambling post, so I think I will go ahead and end it now. Off to check more things off the list!

POP ROCKS!!!

Today we had our 21 week ultrasound. Our little babies are growing like weeds. Gabe measured at 1lb 2oz, and Graycen was 1lb! My mom got to go with us to the ultrasound today. She was so excited, it was like she was having the babies herself. The babies are very healthy looking, and both were head down when the ultrasound started. Fast forward to after I almost passed out on the table, and then Gabe had turned all the way around and was head up! Once again, we got the most active shots of Gabe, but Graycen was more active this time too. We had one brief moment when we got a good face shot of Gabe (it almost looked 3d), and he looked like his daddy! Unfortunately, we didn't get a photo of that one. They are moving around like crazy now. As I type, I have little "Pop Rocks" in my tummy. That's pretty much exactly what it feels like. I am getting poked and kicked in all sorts of different places at the same time. It makes me wonder how they are positioned in there, as the movements seem to be all over the place. We had a lot of excitement this morning, so I am going to rest now! I should take my time to rest now, as I am sure that I will have very little time later on:)

Bigger and more Refreshed than ever

Well, we survived the cruise. No hurricanes in our path. It was really fun and somewhat relaxing. Jeremy kept getting mad at me for not wanting to nap or go to sleep early, but I felt fine and didn't want to miss all the action. We bought a cute picture of us on the ship that we can show to the babies one day. When the babies whine that they have never been on a vacation, we will whip out the picture and show them that they were obviously on a cruise with us. Today, I am really tired, but it could be a combination of things. A) the 12 hour trip from Ft Lauderdale yesterday, B) the lack of real resting that occurred on vacation, or C) the super rainy day that we are having. I do have a new symptom though, my first really uncomfortable one. I have been having a lot of "catching" in my lower left side of my back (to the left of my buttbone), which makes me feel like I may fall a lot of times. I called the doctor, and he thinks it is just my hips starting to spread coupled with the overdoing it on vacation. So, I have been trying to rest more today. On a much brighter note, I finally felt the babies move this week. I was sitting on the 5th deck staring out at the ocean, and I felt 3 little "pops" in my belly. It was really fun, and Jeremy also got to feel a little movement this week too. I know that soon enough, I will probably be begging them to not move quite so much, but for now we are thrilled that they are moving. Also, today we registered at Babies R Us. It was incredibly overwhelming, as we need two of somethings, one of others, pink of this, blue of that and neutral of other stuff. We just closed our eyes and clicked!! Just kidding, but we probably would have been just as successful doing it that way. We will probably be readjusting the registry as we go on, but we needed to have one started for showers and such. Please keep us in your prayers for the babies health and our job/living situation as we will have to make some decisions soon.