Naming Twins

No pictures and no doctors visits this week. Sorry guys. I did have a doctor appointment last week with my OB. Just the normal checkup and listen to the little ones heart beats. Everything was great. At my appointment, I was 23 weeks and 5 days and I was measuring 33 weeks (if I were only carrying one baby.) I can only imagine what I will be like at my next appointment. Probably measuring 38 weeks and I will still have at least 8 weeks left to carry the babies (as long as all goes as planned.) Man, the time seems to be flying by. I also found out that my doctor will be having her baby (as long as all goes as planned) on June 12th by c-section. So that confirmed the fact that she won't be the one to deliver me. I'll probably start seeing the other doctors in the practice soon, so that I can be familiar with whoever will be there to deliver me. So now that I have left you in suspense for the last week and a half... here are the babies names....

Truett Reid Shirley

Ellis Jay Shirley

The story of how these names came about... when we went in to our very first appointment at 6 weeks, we had an idea of names for both a boy and a girl, but we had no idea that we would need to have two names until the ultrasound. So we found out at Thanksgiving that we would need to come up with two names.... 2 boys, 2 girls, or the best option for us would have been a boy name and a girl name. Well at the beginning of January, we found out it was most likely two boys and by the end of January we knew for sure that they were two boys. But before that time we had already started thinking about names. We had actually made some good ideas for boys names and we were no where with girl names.

Truett - was the name for a boy that we had picked all along. If we were just having one boy this was going to be his name because we liked it and it was unique. I only know of two people named Truett and I don't even know them personally, Truett S. Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A and Truett McKeehan, TobyMac's oldest son. Love it and also like that his name can be shortened to True or Tru.

Reid - Zach's middle name. Easy enough you would think, but Truett went through several variations because Zach wasn't sold on using his middle name. I on the other hand liked it from the very beginning, but it took some convincing. We had some other options, but I didn't like the one he liked and he didn't like the one that I liked... so we went back to the basics and are now happy with Reid.

Ellis Jay - This was the name that I threw out there I believe once we kinda knew that we were having two boys back at the beginning of January. I was thinking about our family names and this just worked for me.... Ellis is my dad's middle name Edward Ellis Kilgore, which is actually my dad's great grandmother's maiden name, Mary Caledonia Ellis Kilgore. Jay is Zach's dad's middle name, Rickey Jay Shirley. I'm not sure if there is history behind this name, but I do know that Zach's youngest brother also has the middle name Jay, so we're just going to be carrying that on.

As far as who is whom, we believe that Baby A is Truett and Baby B is Ellis as that is the order that they should come out.

So that's the story.

22 weeks and counting

Today I am 23 weeks. These pictures are from 22 weeks...

This past week, we took some maternity pictures. I called up my friend and old roommate Amanda to see if she would be willing to get some good shoots of us and of course she was thrilled. I was happy to have someone who is a good friend be able to take pictures of us. Here's a little sampling of the pictures that we took in Downtown Carrollton. I'm not going to show the rest because they will be on display at my shower which is coming up in 3 short weeks. ;)
This week was my visit to the specialist on Wednesday. I was a little nervous as to what they would say because this was my first visit after having been on the gestational diabetes diet. I was afraid that my weight gain and especially the babies weight gain wouldn't be enough. I'm not sure why I was even concerned because it was not a problem at all. I gained 6 pounds in 3 weeks (right where they want me to be for total weight gain). Then they did all the measurements of the babies and well... apparently I grow big babies. They are both weighing in at 1 lb 6 oz, a total baby weight of 2lb 12oz is what I am carrying. I think that this weight has a lot to do with the fact that I have gestational diabetes. The doctor said that she figures that their weight will start to taper off... this time they were in the 80-90 % for their gestational age, hopefully the next visit they will be more like 75 and then 68 and then average out. That's what we're hoping for anyway. I'm glad to know that they are strong and healthy though. It's a good feeling!

Another interesting thing that I found out this week is that they have sorta shifted in the womb. Now one head is in my diaphragm and the other is well down there. So it doesn't matter how I bend there is a head at both ends. Not the most comfortable, but I guess they are doing what they have to to give themselves some room.

Now here are their 22 weeks pictures. Maybe next week I'll reveal the names that we have picked out to the blog world. Most people know already, I've just been waiting to reveal to the internet. ;-)

21 Weeks

Update from last week... here's a pic from 20 weeks. Also, I must correct the post, Baby B is actually the one who we went to the cardiologist for. Our appointment for the cardiologist went well last week except for the fact that I went on the wrong day. Thankfully because I was already there and it was 8am, they made room in their schedule and worked me in. I was a day early for the appointment. I guess that's what happens when you lose the appointment card in the parking lot of the doctor's office.

The cardiologist spent an hour taking lots of pictures of the heart. At the end, his report to us was that he did not see anything that was cause for concern in either of the babies. I don't have to go back to that doctor again. He gave a report to my specialist and we'll go over it next week when I have my next doctor's appointment. We were very grateful for a good report from the cardiologist.

Since my first shower is coming up in a month, last week I started my registry. I took Shevawn with me so she could show me what I absolutely needed. It was big help!! We knocked out the whole store in a matter of 2 hours. I'm sure that Zach was so glad that he didn't have to go with me. He's been able to register online for the things that he knows that we need. I didn't realize until the next day that I had screwed up my registry. At the very beginning of the night I had tried to scan something twice, but it wouldn't take the second scan, so I just typed the #2 in. I was totally unaware that the #2 never went away, so then everything that I scanned from that point on I got double of. I had scanned one thing 4 times and I ended up with 8 of them. Whoops! So on Friday and Saturday, I spent the day fixing and reconciling my registry and figuring out what I still have left to register for.

Now these babies are 21 weeks along and they are getting more active everyday. Baby A on the bottom is dancing on my bladder and Baby B is trying to nudge out of my right side. Pretty crazy feelings!

Derby wanted in on the action of the progression photos. By the way, I'm so thankful to my good friends for maternity clothes because so far I have only bought 3 things myself. Everything else has been borrowed, thanks to Shevawn and Suzanne!

20 weeks

I'm actually 20 weeks now, but all of these pictures were taken last week at 19 weeks. The past week has been filled with lots of doctors appointments and changes to my routines. I found out on Valentine's day that I do have gestational diabetes. I was already preparing myself for that, but it's hard to face the reality when I now have to be on a diet for at least 15 weeks. I'm in a Catch 22 on the one hand I want my babies to big and healthy for birth, but on the other, I want to do what's best for them and maintain a good blood sugar levels. So last week started with a trip to the Diabetes Education Center where I was given my diet plan and told to go off and put it into practice for the first week. Here's my diet....

Before Breakfast - Test blood sugar (should be under 95)

Breakfast - 30g carbs or 2 carb servings

2 hours After Breakfast - Test blood sugar (should be under 120)

AM Snack - 30g carbs or 2 carb servings

Lunch - 45g carbs or 3 carb servings

2 hours After Lunch - Test blood sugar (should be under 120)

Afternoon Snack - 30g carbs or 2 carb servings

Dinner - 45g carbs or 3 carb servings

2 hours After Dinner - Test blood sugar (should be under 120)

Bedtime Snack - 30g or 2 carb servings.

For the first week, I had to write down everything that I put into my mouth and track my blood sugar on the schedules that they gave me. This morning I went back to the dietician to see how I was doing and I got a good grade... I'm on my own now. Keep checking my blood sugar and counting those carbs. You would not believe the amount of carbs that are in the things that we love... For instance, the large lemonade at Chick fil a, can't have it at all... 92g of carbs! Woozer!

Also, last Monday, I made my 3rd visit to the Maternal Fetal Specialist. The boys are both healthy and growing. They were actually about 5-6 days ahead of their gestational age measuring both exactly 12 oz. I have two coke cans in my belly right now! The Dr has referred me to a Pediatric Cardiologist for Baby A because he has a slight VSD (ventricular septal defect), otherwise known as a "hole in the heart" or sometimes referred to as a heart murmur. This hole is tiny and will hopefully not be a big deal at all, but we're going to get it checked out just in case. Prayers for that would be much appreciated.

Here's are their pictures from the specialist visit...

Last week, this is what I looked like. I feel like I am already bigger this week. It's much harder to bend over and I'm definitely not moving as fast as I once did. My final doctor appointment last week was to my OB. Those visits are nice and easy, sonogram to hear both babies hearts and then talk about any concerns that I may have. Then she measured my belly, with one baby the measurement should be equal to the weeks you are.... not for me, at the time I was 19 weeks and I was measuring 25 weeks. Makes me feel real good about what I have to look forward to in the coming weeks.

Only one more doctor appointment this week (the previously mentioned cardiologist), and then I have a break from doctors for two whole weeks. Can you believe it?!?

Zach is working hard on the remodel of the babies room. Nothing is ever easy in the Shirley household. While he works hard, I will be registering for all the necessities on Thursday evening. Everything in pairs!

And I'll leave you with this pic of our sweet puppy, Derby. He just can't resist a basket full of freshly washed laundry. He thinks it makes the best bed!

17 Weeks

This is week 17 with the babies. We're about halfway there if I go to the average amount of weeks for a twin gestation. About two weeks ago, I took the one hour glucose test as my doctor advised. Since I am carrying two babies and I have a family history of Type II diabetes, my doctor wanted to be extra cautious. I found out this week that I failed the one hour test, so tomorrow I go in for the 3 hour test. I know the babies and I are going to be starving when the test is over. I'll go straight to lunch, and then on to work. Hopefully I'll know the outcome of the test by Monday, so that I can get on a gestational diabetes plan right away if I need to. Since I'm preparing to have diabetes, Zach and I made a feast tonight. Tortilla crusted chicken, mashed potatoes and broccoli cornbread. Yum! None of these dishes will be friendly to me if the test comes back that I failed.

Hopefully in the next week our master bathroom project will be completely finished. Be looking for the final pictures of the latest project in the Shirley house.

Two boys are better than one!

Announcing Twin Shirley boys!!

At our 2nd appointment with the specialist today, we found out for sure that they are both boys. It was very evident from the ultrasound today, even Zach and I could tell for sure. Thankfully, they were both cooperating!

Here's another couple of sweet images that we got from the ultrasound today.

This is our 16th week... and so far it's starting out a lot better than last. Last Sunday night, Zach and I made a trip to the ER so that I could breathe. I had a mild asthma attack for the first time in at least 10 years. After a breathing treatment and some medicine, I felt like a new person. I could breathe without any problems, and I slept great that night. This week I have a lot more energy and I am excited to start fixing up the babies room.

In other news, today is our Derby dog's 2nd birthday. We think that he knows.... he's been a little more ornery today. Hard to imagine with a Jack Russell, right?

Oh Babies....

As most of you know, we are pregnant with twins. Due officially on July 17th, but hoping to carry till 38 weeks or July 4th.

These ultrasound pics are from my 12 week appointment with the specialist. At this appointment, they tested for chromosomal disorders. Before the appointment, I was told that my risk was 1 in 700 for disorders which is pretty minimal. After the appointment and testing was performed, I improved to a 1 in 2000 chance. I'd say I'm in the clear.

One thing I learned at this appointment was the distinction between the twins, doctors typically label Twin A as the one closest to the cervix. At the time of this appointment, Twin A was vertical and doing a handstand. Twin B is closer to my belly. Twin B was laying horizontal across me.

It was a fascinating appointment to see all the movement and I was amazed at how much they could see already at only 12 weeks.

I have really been terrible at taking pictures, but I hope to be better from here on out. I had Zach take some good pics of me today at 15 weeks. I am still wearing my clothes, but I can't wear my jeans without a Bella band. I am more comfortable in outfits that don't hug my belly like this dress. It was perfect and thankfully still fit when I took it out of the closet to wear to church yesterday morning.

I go to my doctor on Wednesday for a checkup and back to the specialist on Monday for another checkup. We should hopefully know for sure on Monday, January 31st what the babies are. We have a guesstimate right now, but we'll wait to share that with the world until we know for sure. So... stay tuned for exciting information!