26 weeks!!

No procedure here - it is officially too late to get the TTTS procedure now. Which is good news because the babies are doing great and growing strong. They are now 2 lbs and 1 lbs & 13 oz.
I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable at times and feeling pretty large. But keeping a smile on my face. Took the twins to see New Kids on the Block again with Sarah & Christine - the Bonk twins will be the future of boy bands :)

Sherri - John-Adam will definitely take a picture this weekend so you can see the roundness :)

There ARE babies in there...

We had a great scan this week!! We got downgraded a bit in risk factor, just an ultrasound every other week now. AND the tech took some 3D pictures and they aren't aliens any more - they are babies!!!

Check out the boys...

Twin A

Twin B

Both their faces, side by side

One Pounders!!

Had another good ultrasound today! Both babies are over 1 pound: 1 lb 7 oz & 1 lb 3 oz! For some reason that just makes me really happy and feels like a little hurdle on our way to full term baby boys.
We went to the zoo last weekend, it was a blast! The weather was nice and the crowds were low. Here are some pictures...

Emerson found a bird in the trees...

John-Adam & Emerson saving some rain forest, 340 sq ft for a buck - not too bad!

Another good ultrasound!

We saw the boys yesterday and they are doing great. There is still a size difference but it is stable so we are still taking it week by week. They are very, very active! Every ultrasound they are twisting, kicking and punching each other :)
We also have an update with Emerson, he is completely head over heels for Sadie!! They have a real thing going on, check it out...

First the super bowlThen an entire day of 'playing' - that must be what the kids are calling it these days :)


Thanks for looking - we will keep you up to date!!

Good Ultrasound Today!

First off we would like to say thank you to everyone for all the support and love.

Good news today, the twins are both doing great. Baby A (the donor baby) has a little more fluid in his sac. Monday we are going in for another ultrasound and ego on both babies. We will also be meeting with Dr. Cook, a pediatric/fetal cardiologist. She will determine if the babies are under any stress. If they are we will be off to Cincinnati, if not we will continue close monitoring and as much 'rest' as I can get with Emerson running around.

More waiting game!! I will try and scan some pictures in this afternoon and post them.

Thanks again for the support!!
Love you,
J.E.M.

oh BOY - they are BOYS!!

Well it was an overwhelming day yesterday to say the least. The ultrasound started and within the first minute I saw a penis flying around. The tech quickly confirmed that yes, we are having two boys!! After feeling shock and disbelieve she took a side profile picture of baby b's face and it looks just like Emerson's ultrasound profile and I got all warm and fuzzy inside.
After an hour of measuring body parts a doctor came in to talk to me. Unfortunately John-Adam was not able to get off and wasn't there. She asked me if someone had ever explained the risk associated with having mono-di babies and at that point I knew something was wrong and didn't feel like playing 20 questions. I told her I heard about Twin Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) and she confirmed that was in fact what is happening. I paged John-Adam and he was there in 10 mins.

TTTS hardly happens in mono-di babies, only about 10% of all mono-di twins get this. The shared placenta contains "abnormal blood vessels which connect the umbilical cord and circulations of the twins." The common placenta is shared unequally by the twins, twin b is getting too much fluid and nutrients while twin a is being deprived. This is a good picture describing what happens...
There is a laser treatment done in only 5 cities for this - on of them happens to be Milwaukee but our doctor works with the Fetal Care Center of Cincinnati. We have another scan on Friday just confirm the diagnosis and then we will most likely head to Cincinnati next week for tests and treatment.

They caught it relatively early and twin a is developing good, he has all his organs and moves around a lot, in fact when the doctor was scanning him he was twisting and turning and had the hiccups. If everything goes well we should still have two healthy babies! We will post on Friday with an update.

Love,
J.E.M.

Orange you glad to see us!

Well now that the holiday season has slowed down I have no excuse not to update the blog! I am feeling great and starting to definitely 'feel' preggers. I 'popped' over Christmas and definitely have a "lovely lady lump" :) I think I have felt the twins moving three times now, but a certain doctor type tells me it is a little too early to start feeling them. I can't wait to start feeling the oranges on a regular basis!! Here are some fun pictures from a 'western' rehearsal dinner and a very lovely wedding...