Summer Fun!

I have to say, it has been so much fun playing with the girls this summer!!! We have been doing lots of fun things.... going to parks, the zoo, factory tours, etc.

I was watching the news one morning and it said that there was going to be a "garage sale" at this place called Hammond's Candies.  I thought.... hmmm.... candy.... a sale.... I have to go!  I called my friend and asked her if she was up for an adventure, and she said, "Of course!" We got a little lost going to this factory because it was sort of in the warehouse district in Denver.  The GPS took us right there, but the building was set a little bit off from the road.

Evy- at the zoo

Charlotte- at the zoo

Charlotte- yummy stroller! ha ha

Charlotte- sleeping... finally! 

Evy- just waking up from her nap while strolling around the zoo

My friend Nina and I at Hammond's Candies

Charlotte was not amused

Neither was Evy

Charlotte ended up eating the hat haha

Evy didn't want to wear it either... but it was so cute!

This was one of the rooms that had the "garage sale" candy.  All candy canes and lollipops were $1!

Inside the factory.... where the magic happens!  They were making candy canes

Charlotte- eating her shirt

I set the free broken candy cane that I got on Evy's lap while we strolled around the store.  I didn't expect her to try and eat it!!

Charlotte ate her shirt while Evy tried to get to the good stuff

I want this one now, Mom!

It was a really really really hot day and neither my friend nor I have central a/c.  She doesn't have anything and I just have a swamp cooler.  We decided to swing by her new neighborhood so that I could check out the outside of her house!  (And sit in the nice cold car!)  When we entered her neighborhood I noticed an amazing looking park so we decided to stop!  We lathered the girls up with sunblock, changed their diapers and let them play in the grass for a couple minutes.  Charlotte was very hesitant and didn't really want to touch the grass at first.  It was pretty cute.

Charlotte and Evelyn- Char has her hands in the air as if saying, "Woah, what is this stuff??? It feels funny!"

Just looking around

Charlotte- swinging with her sister

Evy- hanging on for dear life!

Me and my friend Nina

Char & Evy

 After the girls played in the grass for a while and swung on the swings, I saw an awesome T-Rex mouth!  The original plan was to put the girls IN the T-Rex mouth and take their picture, but it wasn't set up for little ones to sit in.  So, I put them in the sand instead.  They hadn't ever seen sand before and I wasn't really sure what they would do.  They both really enjoyed playing with the sand!  I just love watching them discover new things!  Charlotte likes to "discover" by eating everything, so that's what she did.  Evy just kept grabbing handfuls of sand and watched it fall back out.

Charlotte

Evy & Char

Charlotte

Evy

The girls had so much fun at the park that day!!  They loved the sand so much that I went out and bought one of those green turtle sandboxes.  But, since I've had it, it has been over 100 degrees every single day!  I don't want to risk any sunburns.

Another day, Brian and I decided to go to this big park right by our house.  I'd driven by it a billion times, but never stopped.  The park includes playgrounds, a really nice walking path around a lake, several pavilions, and an amphitheater.  We were originally just going to the playground but the girls looked really tired so we decided to walk around the lake.  I think it was about 1.5miles around and about halfway there is a Barnes&Nobles so we stopped for a cold drink :)

Evy- eating her foot. Yummmm

Evy & Char- I just love putting them together in the swing!

Evy & Char

My friend Nina and I always like to find adventures in our own backyard.   While we were driving to the park with the T-Rex, we saw a sign for a botanic garden that we didn't know existed.  It was close to home, and the admission was only $5/car so we decided to go one day!  When we got there, it was super hot and sunny.  Little did we know the weather was going to change and severe weather was moving in!

This place had a lot of paths to walk around and one of the "attractions" was an old time farm looking place with a chicken coop.  The girls just loved listening to the chickens!

Chickens

Double trouble in their double stroller!  Charlotte just looooved the chickens.  Look at her face!

I spotted these neat looking flowers.  I may need to find out what they are and plant some.  Beautiful!

Me and the girls (Evy in front, Charlotte in the back)

There was a cute little barn in the background that is used for wedding receptions.

The weather kept getting cooler and cooler.  We got out of the woods and this is what we saw.  It was time to head back to the car!

Nina and the barn

Me and Nina

Evy- looking very serious!

Charlotte- trying to spill her bottle all over herself!

Mama's big girls in their double stroller! About 8 months old

This picture isn't that great, but it was the only one I took at that moment.... The girls were only 5 days old and on their way to their first doctor's appointment! I think Evy is in the front and Charlotte is in the back.  

38 + 1 on the outside

As of 2:44am (and 2:46 for Evy) the girls have been on the "outside" as long as they were on the "inside!" Where does the time go, seriously?  Happy 38weeks + 1 day!

I still remember taking that first FRER test 6 days past transfer and seeing those two beautiful lines.  I watched the betas double and will never forget the moment when we found out we were having twins!  I had an amazing pregnancy and loved every appointment where I got to see them and hear their beautiful heartbeats.  I really miss feeling them kicking around inside my big 'ol belly.  I loved being pregnant!!  I was as big as a house, but it was great.

The girls have brought so much joy to my life..... I feel like I have known them forever!  Its amazing how fast they grow and change.  I can't wait for what comes next :)

It is what it is

Implantation has either happened or not happened at this point and what is going to be... well, is! I just need to wait some more now!  I POAS again today at about 5:30am and there was barely a 2nd line there.  So, the 2000 iu of hcg takes at least 48 hrs to leave the system.

I got my progesterone checked this morning and it is up from 13 to 29 which I now feel good about.  It needed to be above 20.  My clinic has a new online patient portal where I can check my lab results.  I really like that!! I got my blood drawn at around 8:30 and at 10:30 the results were in.  They could have been in sooner, but I didn't check.

Ok, Charlotte is stealing toys and crawling over her sister. Its time to intervene :)

The two week wait

I have to say the 2ww is the worst part of all of this.  I've been sitting around doing pretty much nothing for the last 2.5days and its all I am thinking about!! (Well that and my sad babies that keep crying for their mama.)

I haven't really had any symptoms, cramping, or anything like that.  I took 2000 units of HCG yesterday around 9am and it was still in my system as of today at 1pm.  I have to take another 2000 units on Friday so I plan on testing again before I take the shot to see if the first one is out by then.  

Yesterday on The Price is Right they had an all pregnant women show and today they had an all twins show.  I also something about preggo bellies after giving birth on the Today show.  So, if these aren't good signs, then the universe is playing a dirty trick on me.  

Just a few more hours of bed rest.... tomorrow I am free!

Speaking of tomorrow, I have to go in and get my progesterone checked.  Let's just really hope that its above 20 so I don't have to take even more PIO or those yucky Crinone inserts.  

Transfer complete!

The transfer went as smoothly as it could have gone.  We were actually on time! I got my blood drawn, checked in and went back for the acupuncture.  I am still really not a fan of needles, but acupuncture is so relaxing!  I love the acupuncturist I saw and she is so great at lightening the mood. 

The embryologist came in when that was done to tell us how our embryos were doing. We had 3 day 5s and 4 day 6s. The first two day 5s didn't do so well so they had to thaw two more to get two high quality embryos.  I'm a little sad that we had to thaw so many, but what are you going to do? We still have three left which would make for one more transfer if these little ones don't stick (but they are going to!!) He said the ones that did thaw looked amazing!

My bladder was insanely full when we finally went back to the proceedure room. The doctor came in and off we went! They have this new thing where there is a tv showing the embryos in a dish with your last name on it. They also show you the embryos being loaded into the catheter. They didn't used to do this, but I guess its good to have precautionary measures.

The actual transfer went perfectly. The embryos went into the right spot without any trouble.  They gave me some valium to take 30 minutes prior to the transfer so that helped relax things a bit :)

I sat on the table for 10 minutes, peed, did acupuncture again, and went home. 

I fell asleep when I got back and got a call from the nurse.... My progesterone was only 13 and they need it to be at least a 20. I had to a booster progesterone shot right then ane starting tomorrow up my shot to 1.5ml instead of 1. My estrogen was 755 and that seems high but she didn't say anything about it so it must be alright.

So now here I am, hanging out today and the next two. The hardest part has been listening to my babies cry for their mama and not be able to pick them up.  Our nanny is coming by tomorrow afternoon to give Brian a break, play with the dog, and help out with anything we might need.  We don't have a ton of friends out here, but the ones we do have sure are great!!

These pics are my views of the girls from the couch :)

Oh, I forgot to mention that it was 105 here today! Holy hotness!

The List

Here was the list that Brian and I made yesterday...

Buy dog food
Buy sand for the girls' sandbox
Go grocery shopping
Bring garage sale tables back
Go to Tradesmart and trade in games that didn't sell
Wash clothes
Put away clothes
Clean girls' room
Clean living room
Clean Kitchen
Sweep, vacuum, and mop laminate floors (most of our house)
Fix Brian's wheel
Clean cat box
Clean the bathroom
Buy box fans so I don't sweat to death for 3 days while it is 100 degrees!


I'm glad we got most everything done, and it is obvious to me that I left the things I hate the most for last.  Its 6:43am and I have about 3 hours until our friend gets here to watch the girls so we can leave for the transfer.  Is this really happening?  Looks like it is!

I probably won't be blogging from my computer for a few days because I don't want to put my warm laptop on my lap while I am supposed to be laying down, but since I now know about the blogger app, I just might use it some more!

The girls always wake up sleeping next to each other or in this case, on top o each other!  Charlotte even managed to find her bottle that she didn't finish last night.  

I had to buy some donuts before the garage sale on Saturday so the girls ran out with me at 7am! Charlotte is in the back and Evy is in the front.

No, Evy's finger is not in her nose!  If you see the little wicker table behind her..... she swiped the whole bag of Twizz.lers and started chomping on them!  She was not a happy camper when I found them and took them away.

104

Yesterday it was 104 degrees here in Colorado and today its going to be 101!

I thought last summer was hot when I was pregnant, but this is crazy!!!  Our swamp cooler (aka evaporative cooler) keeps the house around 78 degrees which is not terrible, but its not great by any means either.  Normally when its hot we go out to eat, go walk around Tar.get, go to the mall, etc. but for the next three days, Brian and I will be going nowhere!  Today we have a huge list of things we have to get done like get dog food, sand for the sandbox, groceries, and all of that.  We successfully ran all the errands we had to do and now just have to do the not so fun stuff like clean the house.  All I really want to do is play with my little beauties because I won't be able to for the next couple of days.

Transfer is less than 24 hrs away! Maybe I will stay up all night doing the laundry and cleaning so I'm good and tired tomorrow :)

Getting Ready

It is way more complicated to have a transfer when you have 8.5 month old twins.  Brian is going to be taking care of the girls while I am on bed rest for 3 days, but I still need to clean the house, do laundry, go to the grocery store, etc. so that everything is in order.

Brian took care of the girls while I was at work during the school year, but since I have been done with school I have been the girls' primary caregiver.  He's even had a little trouble getting them to stop crying when I run out to the store for a couple hours.  I think they must be at that stage when they need their mama and only want their mama.  It's going to be hard not being able to play with them, pick them up when they are crying, etc. for a few days.  And even after that, I should probably be careful with the whole lifting thing and just try to change their diapers, play with them, feed them and such on the floor.  One of our highchairs comes off of its stand so it can be placed on a chair so I could just place it on the floor instead.  When I was pregnant with the girls, I don't think I lifted over 10lbs for the whole first trimester.

We are just putting a lot of time, money and energy into this FET and I want to give it the best chance of working that I possibly can.  5K is a lot to spend on potentially nothing at all....so yeah.  I really want this to work.

I had a garage sale yesterday and today with a friend of mine.  It was probably the hottest that its been in a while... 100 degrees!  The girls were totally sick of the heat and were pretty cranky today after a while.  I tried to give them just some plain water to keep them hydrated.  Charlotte drank a few ounces, but Evy didn't really want anything to do with it.  As soon as we got inside both girls fell right asleep.  I can't sleep in the heat.... how can I expect them to?  The house isn't "cold" by any means either.  Its probably 76 degrees or so, but it sure beats the 100 outside!!!

Tomorrow will be a very busy day!!  Transfer is at 11:30am on Monday with acupuncture at 10:30am.  The wait for this transfer seems to be the shortest so far.  I guess I've had my little beauties to keep my mind occupied :)

8 Months Old!!

I probably say this every month, but I really can't believe how big these girls are getting.  It seems like in the past few weeks they have really changed and grown a lot.

 

Evy & Char- 8 months!

Charlotte is really moving!  She really started crawling a couple weeks ago and there is no stopping her now! Evy is not making a lot of effort in the crawling department.  She is perfectly happy just sitting on her butt playing with her toys.  In fact, when I put her on the floor sitting up with her toys she will play for as long as you let her!  Charlotte on the other hand wants nothing to do with sitting still.  If you sit her down with her toys, she doesn't stay for long!  She is very comfortable moving from laying down to sitting, to crawling, and even to her knees!!  Evy for the first time sat up on her own today and I was so proud of her!! I have also found her on all fours kind of rocking back and forth a couple of times.  This is what I saw Charlotte do a few weeks before she started crawling so maybe Evy does want a little bit more freedom.  

Both of the girls are trying more new and exciting foods.  I am giving them one or two solids meals per day now and trying to increase the amount a little bit each time.  Evy eats her solids like a champ and Charlotte is not super excited about it.  Charlotte will take a few bites of whatever I feed her and then push it away or hit the spoon with her hand so she can play with the food instead.  I started giving them baby puffs a couple weeks ago and they both love them!  They gagged on them at first but have now gotten the hang of eating them.  In about a week's time, they both figured out how to pick up the puffs and put them in their mouths.  Charlotte is better with the pincer grasp than Evy... she just puts a bunch in her fist and puts her hand in her mouth in the hopes that some get in there.  Its pretty fun to watch them learn these new skills!  Their meal usually starts with puffs which also gives me some time to prepare whatever it is that I am going to make for them.  Our baby Beaba died so in the meantime I am cooking and pureeing their food the old fashioned way.  

Charlotte is a very observant little girl.  She gets distracted easily by the dog, cat, music, etc.  She loves sitting in her high chair and watching everything that is going on around her.  That girl doesn't miss a thing!!

Both girls are still sleeping from around 7pm-6 or 7am.  We have been having some bedtime issues lately, but I think it will be okay.  The girls have been wanting to stay up later and later and then just play and play when its time to go to sleep.  I'm pretty sure Charlotte is saying, "hahahaha mama, I don't want to go to sleep!!!!" as soon as I lay her down because she instantly squirms around and tries to bother her sister who usually falls asleep instantly.  

Both girls said "mama" and I couldn't be happier!  Although, they have figured out that if they cry and say mama I just can't help but to pick them up.  Evy still only has two teeth and Charlotte has one tooth coming in at the moment.  I just packed up their 6-9 month clothes and Evy is getting close to growing out of the 12 month clothes as well!  All of their summer stuff is 12 months, so I just hope that will last until August at least when the next MOMs sale is.  They are wearing size 3 diapers and I don't think those are going to last very long for Evy either.  They are both getting so big so fast! If I had to estimate, I would say that Charlotte is 18lbs and Evy is 20.5lbs.  I did a quick weight on my scale with them the other day which I know is probably not that accurate.  We go for their 9 month checkup on July 6th. 

Both of the girls are really starting to "talk" a lot more these days.  Evy is definitely the talker out of the two.  She just loooves to hear her own voice.  She often makes "alien" sounds I call them in kind of a raspy tone.  Charlotte is the quiet observant one as I mentioned before.  But, if you have her one on one she really comes out of her shell and talks a bit more.  Lately she has been yelling more (in a good way.)  She is finally figuring out what she can do with her voice!  These girls seem similar to how me and my sister are/were.  I have always been the loud one that was happy just sitting around, and my sister has always been the quiet one that likes to get out and do stuff.  My mom was just telling me on the phone today that in 1988 she wrote in my baby book that I was going to be a talker :)  I sang happy birthday to myself on my 1st birthday and haven't stopped talking since!  

I am so proud to be their mama!  The girls have really brought joy and happiness to my life.  I love watching them grow and change each and every day!  They are always trying to master a skill (crawling, talking, etc.) and learn something new.  It was super hard to leave them in January when I had to go back to work and I think it will be even harder when I go back in August.  They have such personalities now and know more of what is going on.  I just don't want them to cry for their mama when I'm not there.  School starts in exactly 2 months and I plan on making the most of every day!

Charlotte

Evy is giving crawling her best shot!

Char and Evy- day of fun at the park! Post coming soon on that :)

Evy and Char- mama's big girls!

Charlotte playing with her avocado and banana 

They are squirmy little girls!! It is a workout to just get a good shot!

Evy and her toy

Charlotte loves to try and get the kitty!

Charlotte also crawled over to where the dog hangs out...

Brian and Charlotte

Evy and Char... Evy really does love her blankie!

Evy and Char... "sharing" the blankies :)

Evy was trying to fall asleep sitting up