Is this all a dream?

We're still in a state of shock over having twins. I keep thinking about a story on the last Father's Day edition of This American Life about where a dad of 20-month-old twins broke it down like this:

Another blurry ultrasound pic of the girls

"We have twins. No, that word should be banned. You know what twins are? Two f*#$@ing babies at the same time.... So when someone says, 'Oh, you have twins!', tell them, 'No, that doesn't really cover it. I have two f*#$@ing babies at the same time, and you know what that is? It's pretty f*#$@ing crazy all the time.'"

I think back to when I first heard that show over the summer. Mike and I were listening to it on a podcast as we drove home from Oregon the long way through the Sawtooth Mountains in Idaho. We thought it was so hilarious; who knew we'd be face-to-face with that reality by Christmas? One of the first things I think I said to Mike after we left the ultrasound was, "Two f*#$@ing babies at the same time!" In so many ways, I have no clue how we're going to do this - how we will have enough energy, both physical and emotional, to take care of two newborns, then two infants, then two toddlers, then two pre-schoolers, etc., without becoming wasted husks of human beings. But our good friends Leah and Chris (who had their own set of twin girls last Spring) assure us it's possible, and even actually fun sometimes. And that we will eventually get to a point where we will feel so very lucky to have twins and maybe even a little sorry for all those parents who just got singletons.

Belly bump at 20 weeks

Already the waters are starting to calm and we're able to think about our girls without completely freaking out. Part of me still can't believe it's real - even though they're right there inside me, I can't tell yet that there are two of them - and another part of me has already gone into "research and plan" mode. For now, we're happy to report that they are healthy (and big - 12 oz. each!), I am healthy, Mike is healthy and my belly is growing at an alarming rate. We have each other, our senses of humor, and a wonderfully supportive bunch of family and friends, and that's enough for now.

Eating for Three!!!

This is what we were expecting

Friday we went for our 1st ultrasound.  The tech asked, Has your midwife said anything to you about how you're progressing?"  Katy responded that Heather had said that she was a little big for how far along she is.  The tech responded, "You want to know why you're a little bigger than normal?  It's because you're having twins."  And she steadied the traducer/ultrasound wand against Katy's belly and slowly, through the ultrasound fuzziness, we could see two two heads, two spines, two tiny beating hearts.

To say we were surprised is a bit of an understatement.  Shocked, overwhelmed, happy, overwhelmed.

Baby B (on reft), Baby A (right).  Heads are both on the outside of the image.  Spines are in the middle, close together

Baby A

Lynnette, our wonderful, very cheerful tech, gave us a minute after first telling/showing us and as she said, went into the hall to compose herself as well.  She has a twin sister and was the first person to reassure us that, in her case, being a twin was great.

Baby B, with hand in front of face

 We sat there for an hour or so, staring up at the flatscreen on the wall, watching her examine both of our girls to make sure they were healthy.   She referred to them, as you can see in the ultrasound photos, as Baby B & Baby A.  Both babies looked healthy - woohoo!  Here are a few photos from Friday December 16th.

Wow

What Lynnette, the tech, wrote down as the name of our CD of ultrasound photos

Katy with the first photo of our girls

Movement!

Katy felt the baby move for the first time on Tuesday.  A little flutter now and again.   Apparently the little dude/ette is pretty active between 11am-2pm as of now.  Or, as Katy has figured, likes (or doesn't like) when Mom grades papers for those three hours.   Off to get the ultrasound and find out the sex this afternoon!

Cottage Cheese & Zofran

So here (to the left) is a little old school tribute to one of the few cheeses that I (Mike) don't like.  But one that has kept my lovely wife going throughout this pregnancy.   I especially love the small print about "this meat substitute."

Secondly, I'd like to share how thankful we are for Zofran.  Katy's prescription ran out last night and our midwife had not yet called in her next dose.  So then like clockwork, this morning at 6am, Katy turned back the clock a month or two to the harrowing 1/2 hour vomiting sessions that she became known for by all cats, dogs, and chickens at 1086 Blair St.  It was a sad sight.   So, although, it's been a tough first 19 weeks, we're thankful that we at least have this anti-nausea medication to allow her to be a normal person now and then.

I promise that my next entry will focus less on vomit.

Katy's Not Throwing Up (as much)! & Maternity Clothes

 Katy getting strength from Mowgli & Twyla.

Hi all.  It's Mike.   Logging on for my first blog post in this whole baby adventure. 

What can I tell you?   Well, Katy has been a trooper.  The little turnip (that's the piece of produce that books are telling us to compare her/him to now) caused Katy to be involved in some serious daily ab workouts from week 6 to week 14.  Weeks 6 to 10 were really bad.  She was always nauseous and usually on the verge of heaving (I have learned that those are two different things.)  It was difficult watching her rush (or sometimes, when she had more time, todder) to the bathroom for her morning vomit.  After week 10 or so, though her nausea came and went throughout the day, her morning vomit usually was just another morning ritual that helped her get a start to the day- like coffee or reading the paper.  I will spare you further illustration of her wretching (yes, I have moved on to the thesaurus for new fun ways to say "throw up"); though I have amassed enough material during weeks 5-17 to continue on for another 4 posts. 

We had a nice visit from Meg and Jon two weeks ago.  And Katy and Meg went out looking at maternity clothes while Jon and I decided that a ceiling light needed to be replaced.  What stalwart husbands we are!   Katy came back with some nice Old Navy maternity gear.  And then this week, we received two boxes in the mail from Katy's college friend, Renee, with some baby clothes and a number of  fashionable maternity tops and decently fashionable maternity pants with a less-than-fashionable maternity waistbands.  (Note to those looking for Christmas presents - Katy may be good-to-go on maternity clothes.  I'll let her confirm or deny that in her next post.)

We've also begun looking into cribs and are overwhelmed at the array and cost of these little wooden baby-sleeping places.  Katy spent a good deal of the afternoon searching online for them; and I finally decided that I needed to tear her away when her pupils turned into little black cribs. 

That's all for now.  I'll leave you with this photo to meditate on.  Perhaps from Halloween, perhaps Katy showing off some of her new maternity clothes, and perhaps from a work luncheon in the lobbying world.  You are welcome.

Making Wine

 We lucked into about 80 pounds of grapes this fall from some folks we met on a gallery stroll one evening and decided to try our hand at making wine. It's a long process (about a year and a half from first fermentation to drinking), but our main goal is just to have something drinkable at the end. We've made it through the crushing, primary fermentation, and pressing stages with the help of our new bffs at the Beer Nut, and are now waiting on secondary fermentation to wrap up before starting the first long settling stage. So far so good, but I'm sure we'll never know how close we've already come to ruining the whole process (and poisoning ourselves). The grapes were a mix of red and white, which is why the wine is pinkish.

 

 Pressing the wine after primary fermentation and getting ready for secondary fermentation.

Belly Shots Series 1

A series of belly shots. Not much change, actually, but maybe you can see my beer belly getting pushed up and out by the uterus? Or not.

                            7 weeks                                  10 weeks                                 13 weeks

A Tour of Napping Spots

There's been a lot of this type of "activity" for the last several weeks:

The cats seem to like it, but I'm looking forward to not feeling so sick and tired in the second trimester.

Harvest Time

While my morning sickness continues to keep me on the couch or in the bathroom (hello cool tile), Mike has been hard at work. Not only does he handle almost all pet and cooking duties, he's also been harvesting tomatoes, grapes, cucumbers, eggplant, squash, strawberries, herbs, and melons from our garden. While we've canned some tomatoes, he's also been experimenting with pesto, grape juice concentrate, sun-dried tomatoes, herbal sun teas, drying herbs, grilling eggplant, and freezing large quantities of veggies.

Inspiration

I have long admired Wendell Berry's poem, "The Peace of Wild Things," not only for its simple and calming cadence, but its pattern of locating rest and stillness in moments of chaos and alienation. By transforming his own fear of the unknown into the graceful patience and potential of "day-blind stars," the speaker helps bring my own anxiety down a notch. In the tumultuous journey of pregnancy, birth, and new parenthood, I will constantly need reminders to find the peace in the wild moments, the stillness in the overwhelming chaos, and the grace in the unknown.

    THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS
    When despair for the world grows in me
    and I wake in the night at the least sound
    in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
    I go and lie down where the wood drake
    rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
    I come into the peace of wild things
    who do not tax their lives with forethought
    of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
    And I feel above me the day-blind stars
    waiting with their light. For a time
    I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
               — Wendell Berry