Babymoons in Maui

Jon and I just got back last week from a beautiful and relaxing week in Maui. We wanted to take a beach vacation together and hoped to find some time to relax a little just the two of us before everything changes in the coming months and pretty much for the rest of our lives. Maui was beautiful, lovely, and a place I'd love to return to someday when I'm less pregnant and can engage in all the fun looking adventurous activities! Kayaking, hiking, snorkeling, sailing, paddle boarding, etc. All of it looked so fun and it was hard to not want to join in on all the beach activity fun. Jon was a super trooper though and he rented beach chairs and made a nice little beach lounger for me while he went snorkeling nearly every day we were there... he of course informed me of every fish he saw on the color guide they gave him at the snorkel shop ;)

One of the days Jon got back from snorkeling and I let him know that baby A had kicked the crap out of me and he could probably feel for himself now. He eagerly laid on the sand next to me with the ocean in front of us and put his hand on my stomach and waited patiently, till then without fail she delivered a swift kick. He jumped and said "omg I FELT IT!"  They've been letting me know they are in there ever since then, and are kicking and punching up a storm ...sometimes at all hours of the day. I can't imagine what it will feel like when they really start putting some weight on, I swear at times they are practicing kung-fu.

Besides the moving girls and finally having something tangible to share with Jon in this experience other than an ultrasound and my occasional (ok regular) complaining...

We took a drive along the north shore which was not really written about much but was seriously one of the most beautiful and freaky drives I've ever been on, think large sections of cliff-side one lane two way roads.... really room for about 1.5 cars. It's not a drive I would suggest for most drivers, in fact... please if you are the least bit faint of heart in yours or your partners driving do yourself and everyone else a favor and DO NOT drive this stretch of road :)

On our final day we had to check out of the hotel by 11 and our flight didn't leave till 11 that night, so we set out for Hana hwy and the Garden of Eden, it took quite a bit longer to get there due to some of the less than skilled aforementioned drivers who decided to they would try their hand at Hana hwy driving, confusing the gas and brake pedal at randomly determined times within the curves of the road. The garden was so perfect, I only wished we had more time to explore before we had to head back to the coast for our whale watching excursion! It looked like we weren't going to get to see any whales, but on our way back we came across a mom and her week old baby whale splashing, playing, flapping, nursing, breeching... it was so amazing to witness. What incredible animals they are! It was so special to get to see them up close  (for a good solid 10-15 minutes) and before they made their way further away from our boat, for an extra bonus, you could see their tails flap and dive in the setting sun out the back of the boat for most of the ride back to the harbor, it was a fantastic way to end the trip.


In other news....
We have our 24 week appointment next week making it just a little more than 3 months left before we will likely meet our two little girls (assuming they make it to 37 weeks, which I HOPE!). My stomach is growing like a weed, and I'm finding it harder and harder to eat much, my stomach feels like it's the size of a peanut and my bladder, maybe smaller. Fun times! I'll update next week with some video and mini's related news.... after that it should be more frequent as our appointments will start to be more frequent than they have been to this point.... we're getting closer everyday.

The Nursery is finally done!

After a lot more work and more time than we could have even anticipated the nursery is complete! (Glad we got an early start!).... except for a few minor details. But it's most certainly time for the big reveal! :) We're thrilled with the room and can't wait to share in all the memories this room will hold in the coming years.

Ta Da! 

My grandfather Jack made this chest for me a very long time ago.

A few trinkets from around the world, and generations before them.

A dear friend made this for me, and I adore it. 

Pound puppies! 

Update: Twenty week Scan! Photos And Videos!

We've officially past the halfway point for twins. It's wild to think we've come further than we have to go before our little girls will grace this earth with their presence. It's been a pretty crazy past couple of weeks: we've finished the nursery (my next post); my mom came for a great week-long visit to help buy clothes & organize; and of course help me celebrate my 33rd birthday! This may be the first birthday in 12 years that hasn't included a glass of wine or toast with bubbly, somehow the cucumber water I was drinking just didn't do it for me. Oh well just a few more months and then it will be five o'clock somewhere!

It was wonderful and special to have my mom in town for the week, we were able to hit up the thrift stores and found a MAJOR score at our very first stop, two onesies for a buck you say? We went item by item, ooo-ing and ahhh-ing at the cuteness of it all with the intention of going back through the cart and narrowing it down to the really good quality cute stuff. That was our plan, anyway. In reality, we put back three things from a cart full of clothes. We checked out and the gentleman at the counter was so sweet and overwhelmed at the quantity of things we purchased he just gave it all to us for 30 bucks! Mega score! We also found a few other stores that were filled with cute and adorable things we couldn't resist. After the first day of shopping, we got back and needed to do three laundry-loads of infant clothes, then sort, fold, and hang it all! After going gleefully through our purchases again, we decided it was probably best to focus on the bigger sizes now -- "9 months and bigger from now on!" -- and we held to it, mostly. Let's just say these two little girls are going to be quite stylin' and will have a wardrobe to challenge mine.

Marvel at the collection of hanging dresses

Mom made these while she was here! So adorable! 

This drawer is stuffed full of newborn and 0-3 month clothing

And the bigger sizes! 

Mom also took me shopping for my birthday (waaay to generously) and we picked up some very exciting maternity items for me, a beautiful maxi dress, a totally banging hot red tankini for the upcoming babymoon next week, a pair of cute maternity jeans (if I have to wear the ones I have another day I might start screaming), and some maternity underwear!! Yahoo! Who knew you could get so excited about maternity panties?



It's been a fantastic month, I can't believe if all goes well.. we have just four months left..... I also can't believe my stomach will be growing for another four months! YOWZA!

The two week span shots I have taken are really alarming! Babies, they are a growin'. Oh and one more great thing, I did hit my weight target for the 20 week appointment, so at least now I know I've done what I can to give these little ladies the best start they can possibly have, hooray for bread, cheese, and the occasional fried pickle for helping make the weight gain happen!


I have some exciting pictures to share this time, ultrasounds, clothes, belly shots, and a few video clips from the ultrasound. PS, did you know with twins, you get charged for TWO ultrasounds! Ouch.

Video Clips!

Baby B's face and she's touching her head

And let the space feud begin! Some pretty good punches and kicks, the thing waving back and forth in the middle is the amniotic sack, looks strong enough I guess. 

Whoops! Sans boy parts, hello girls.

Update! So we went in for a quick appointment today with my doctor to get some paperwork I needed for work and, since he had a medical student with him today, he offered to take a quick look at the mini sterns. Last week, for those of you who follow my Facebook, you might have seen a post saying something to the effect of "HI, I'm a BOY" and B, still a mystery cause they wouldn't show their goods at all to us... tucked up in a very difficult ball and weren't budging.

Um, after today we found out that last week perhaps they caught a little glimpse of the umbilical cord between the legs and that lead all to believe we were having a boy. However, after today... and with pictures to support this news, it appears as though Jon will soon be significantly out numbered in this house. 4:1, if you include Dahlia our sweet goldendoodle.

I was happy when I thought we were having a boy, and now I'll say I'm super happy we're at least having a girl... and two girls? Well, that's just ridiculous fun. After the appointment, we stopped at Trader Joes, and caught a glimpse into our future. A dad was shopping at the store with his twin daughters, both sporting their matching yellow and pink polka dot rain coats pushing the mini child shopping cart... when one of the girls starts hitting her sister with the cart, of course the sister exclaims "DAD!! She keeps hitting me!!" Jon and I immediately laughed, and I turned and said, "look, it's you in a couple of years!"

I do have to add, I've thought I was pregnant with two girls the whole time..... I guess it seems my instincts were right, although I'll be keeping the tags on any purchases until our 20 week anatomy scan in a couple of weeks. Sorry Mom, all those boy clothes you bought this week were adorable, I'm glad you could find the humor in this news.

What will the winning combo be? Girls, Boys, or Both?!

I haven't written in a couple of weeks. I've been busy with work and the few times I've had energy I've been going to workout again, FINALLY. I am thrilled to be back with my Bar Method family and getting these legs, arms, and "abs" back into the groove of things.

We had some testing done last week with our new co perinatal doctor (high risk doc)... and everything came back great. Let's just say though, I hope I never have to see this doctor again, one, cause that would mean things are complicated with my pregnancy, and two, cause I DID NOT like her, at all (period). I am happy to report that this coming week we have our second appointment with the OB and at 15 weeks I *should* be able to find out the genders!!! I have my fingers triple crossed they cooperate and we get to know the sex of  these little ones! So far we've been told one I don't know for Baby B, and Baby A looked like maybe a boy... onto another ultrasound where they still said they weren't sure but they looked like two girls.... however I believe that person was basing it off the nub theory and well that's just not all the accurate. So fingers crossed folks, let's hope they let it all shine.

Other than that we've just been getting the nursery together, I didn't want to wait to get started on it... it's a big room and well twins are unpredictable and who knows if I might have to go on bed rest or just become to tired to work on anything, so we thought it best to get going on the decor and set up now. I will post pictures of the final room, I promise. I do have to say though, it's turning out freaking amazing.

I also have been reading, reading, reading... parenting books, pregnancy books, etc. It's weird to feel such a maternal instinct already, it's like I can just imagine who these little people will be and how much I will love them..... and already do. My girlfriends have coined the twins as mini (baby A) and mini mini (baby B) mini mini, has always been a few days behind in size and so of course they love the underdog, exclaiming things like "mini mini is my favorite!" It's strange to know there are these living beings inside of me, but I can't hear them, or feel them (yet)... sometimes I just look down at my now growing stomach and think wow... the miracle of life indeed.

I'll update on Wednesday if we find out! PS we also booked a babymoon to Maui for April.... fingers crossed everything is going well so I can go! We're super excited to swim, see the countryside, and enjoy the beach... and I'm sure enjoy a few mocktails.

Twenty Fingers & Twenty Toes!

Quick update that we were officially released from our fertility care today!!  All is looking amazingly well in twins baby land. I'm a little worse for wear the last week, overwhelmed with exhaustion and it's no wonder! Today we saw hands and feet, legs and arms bouncing around... they were dancing up a storm having all kinds of fun while I'm trying to get some rest! Every time we have a scan I am always so blown away by the growth and just how quickly beating hearts turned into miniature humans. So far it's been the scariest and most exciting thing I have ever experienced....most of the time it feels so surreal and a bit unfair as I've felt ill for what feels like months now. I pray for energy filled days soon!

At our last appointment today we were able to see our fabulous doctor, talk with him for a few minutes, and say thank you for all he did. What an amazing job to be able to give life to couples who have spent too many heartbreaking months and years without success. We feel truly fortunate for his kind and calm spirit as we embarked on our journey and today it was clear he was happy for us and definitely enjoys this part of his job.

We've been working hard already to get ready for the twins, we found an amazing deal on two Chicco car seats on craigslist, a double clip n stroller for the car seats and the baby items are piling up in the garage. My mother has been working tirelessly for a while now sewing bibs, burp clothes, collecting clothes, and knitting blankets so furiously she gave herself knitting wounds!

We sold our totally awesome 98 4-runner, to make way for a more baby(s) friendly car, dare I say we're looking at getting a minivan? For any of you that know Jon and I, you understand the hilariousness of this thought. Jon and I met at PIR in Phoenix as two circuit car racing geeks. Jon my instructor, and I his totally bad ass student (also the only girl on the track). A romance in the fast lane for sure, but we've come a long way from fire suits, racing helmets, sticky tires, and roll cages... when we're talking about minivan's to tote around our two future children, our adorable 65lb puppy, and any visitors we might have. Our family of two is growing to five (with dahlia) before we'll even be ready for it.

A very long journey

I've decided to jump on the bandwagon of family blogs and I have been told I should journal through this process so that I can look back on this time and reflect. Also have it to share with our new additions..... So here we go, my attempt to blog about food has always been a spotty process. I hope I can approach this task with a little more vigor and regularity.

Given the Facebook comments we received it seems people are very happy for us and also quite shocked we're pregnant! For many of you who know me, you know that his journey has been one that started almost twelve years ago, an entirely different life ago, it's been literal years of specialists and fertility care... a couple of surgeries, lots and lots of testing and really no answers to any satisfaction. After Jonathan and I were married and babies weren't happening, it just seemed like the right time to change the focus of our lives and spend some time having fun instead! So, that's what we did. It's only been since our move to Portland that we realized that this part of our lives was still calling for an answer: "are we or are we not going to have children?" After spending the majority of my twenties with a big question mark around this topic, we decided it was time, and we were ready to seek an answer. Whatever that answer was, we just wanted to know how to proceed in the planning of next stage of our lives together.

We saw an amazing team of nurses and doctors at a phenomenal local clinic and decided to move forward with IVF. The process is long, filled with un-fun things like shots (a lot of them), medications (a lot of those too), a million appointments, a lot of stress and anxiety... and of course, you go through it all knowing it's a gamble, that there are no guarantees when it comes to IVF. We were lucky and we know it. We ultimately (before the big day of our transfer, frankly the most important day in the whole process) ended up with only two viable embryos (blastocysts)... honestly, I was pretty devastated about it. I had hoped for at least 4 or 5, so we could have some to freeze and try again later if things didn't work out with this cycle. Alas, that wasn't in the cards. We determined there was no point in freezing just one egg, so we transferred them both. This increased our odds and also increased the chances we might have two.

After the transfer, we began the ridiculously long two week wait, arguably the hardest part of the process. There are no appointments to hang onto, no real protocols to follow for medications (ok, a few things). Literally, it's a sit-and-mark-an-X-across-the-days-on-the-calendar kind of wait. I HATE WAITING.

Since I hate waiting I decided, after much reading that there was a chance I could get a positive on an early home pregnancy test.... so of course, we decided to try. I made Jon buy two boxes of 2 pack pregnancy tests, yes FOUR tests. At just 6 days past our five day transfer (so 11 days after the egg extraction) I took the test, first thing in the morning. I couldn't even look at the results, I went and made the bed and then summoned up the courage to go take a look... to my surprise! There was a very, very faint second line! Seeing as how I had taken these tests for 12 years and had never seen even a hint at a line, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time.... Hope. With a very unceremonious holler to Jon to come upstairs, I showed him the test and said, "I think that's a line!" It was a life changing moment, and while we didn't jump for excitement, we knew at that moment there was hope for us and that all was not lost.

Being type A I took a test every morning leading up to the first blood draw, and they each progressively got more clear to the point we used the blood draw to confirm what we already knew.  We were in fact, pregnant. For the first time in a decade of defeat... something had happened. Our leap of faith, the gamble, turned into something incredible, our first real chance at a family.