The Meyers…. Plus Two!

…. but i’m outgrowing this blog.

i can’t find a layout i’m happy with, and it’s so frustrating just trying to upload pics and find things in this blog’s dashboard.

so, i’m making the switch to….. drumroll please…..

http://meyertwins.blogspot.com/

it’s so much prettier, it’s a nicer layout, and it is happy-looking.  not that this one was depressing, but there’s just not much to choose from when it comes to color schemes and layouts. 

i’ll leave this blog up and active for a few weeks until everyone’s updated their links.

see you on the other side!

hellloooooo, belly!  nice to meet ya…. again. 

How far along?  13 weeks, 4 days

Total weight gain/loss: still – 3 pounds

Maternity clothes? starting to buy size mediums now. i’ve found i’m most comfortable in cheap little old navy sundresses, like the one i have on in the pic.

Stretch marks?  not yet – thank you jesus – although i am sure they are to come.

Sleep: the middle of the night peeing has started again. =(

Best moment this week: being able to consistently find both heartbeats in the same spot.  leftie seems to be up high, and righty likes to sit down low.

Movement: i’m feeling some sloshy/rolling movement, but it could just be my underactive bowels starting to churn again.

Food cravings: watermelon.

Gender: i honestly have no “intuition” on this one anymore.  who knows.

What I miss: climbing up on stuff… kitchen counters, chairs, etc.  now jeff makes me come get him when i can’t reach something.

What I’m looking forward to: registering, once we finally find out what these two are.  i feel like we’re on hold until we’re able to know the sexes, but once we do, everything will kick into high gear.

Weekly wisdom:  jeff insists that i need to buy a bottle of vitamin E oil and slather it on my stomach every night.  i went to the store and bought palmer’s stretch mark cream (with vitamin E and cocoa butter) but he swears it’s not enough.  um, i’d rather use this and smell like a tanning bed than have a greasy belly.

Milestones:  getting my first stranger asking “when are you due?” at work today.

***** p.s. please send some “go into labor soon” thoughts to my best friend d!  she is due on thursday. =) *****

This is the last week of your first trimester and your baby weighs 14 to 20 grams. The crown-to-rump length of your growing babies is 2.6 to 3.1 inches. Your babies are each now about the size of a peach. Fetal growth is amazing from now through about the 24th week of pregnancy.

At this point of your pregnancy, there is a steady flow of pregnancy hormones in your bloodstream. Your body will adjust to the changes and morning sickness might stop and other early symptoms will begin to ease. Because the second trimester is approaching, feelings of anxiety or nervousness may also diminish. You have probably gained some weight by now. You are losing your waist and your clothing is probably fitting snugly.

There is a milky membrane that surrounds each of your babies. It is pierced by the umbilical cord and is made up of two layers, which are fused together. The placentas provide most of the nutrients and oxygen that your babies need. By this week, the placentas are well formed and ready to take over hormone manufacture from your ovaries. The placentas will produce progesterone and estradiol. These hormones will be crucial in the maintenance of your pregnancy. Tissue that will form your babies’ bones is being laid down, especially around the head and limbs. The nose and chin are becoming more prominent. Your babies’ eyelids meet and fuse together and they will not open again for nearly four months. The eyes started out on the side of your babies’ heads and they are now moving closer together on the face. The ears come to lie in their normal position on the sides of the head. If examined outside of the womb, you will be able to distinguish male from female at this time.

The sockets for all twenty teeth are formed in the gums, and vocal cords are beginning to form.

the one that can’t tell her children apart. =) these pics are over a week old, but i’ve had alien pic requests, so here ya go.  i don’t know which one is which in the pics…. hopefully by june 9th, we’ll have some definite “markers” (turtle or hamburger, for those who know what i’m talking about).  please excuse the horrible cellphone pics.

here’s one…. doing the “police! hands up!”…..

and, of course, jeff says the big white blob in the middle is a penis.  more like an umbilical cord, i think:

and here’s the other, kicked back and lounging with its arms behind its head:

my dad came by our house last night to drop off our first baby gift….

my double stroller! it’s the “melbourne” graco duoglider, and the swirly pattern is too cute.  there’s matching carseats we’re planning to get that snap into the seats (rear-facing).  thank you, dad! =)

okay, i added an extra pic just so you can see the difference…..

belly hidden in scrubs:

belly in all its glory in regular clothes: =)

How your baby’s growing:

The most dramatic development this week: reflexes. Your babies’ fingers will soon begin to open and close, their toes will curl, their eye muscles will clench, and their mouths will make sucking movements. In fact, if you prod your abdomen, your babies will squirm in response, although you won’t be able to feel it. Their intestines, which have grown so fast that they protrude into the umbilical cord, will start to move into their abdominal cavity about now, and their kidneys will begin excreting urine into the bladder.

Meanwhile, nerve cells are multiplying rapidly, and in your babies’ brains, synapses are forming furiously. Their faces look unquestionably human: the eyes have moved from the sides to the front of his head, and the ears are right where they should be. From crown to rump, your babies-to-be are just over 2 inches long (about the size of a plum) and weigh half an ounce each. 

i replaced the scrubs pic with a normal-clothes pic. =)

much cuter than last week’s prunes. =)

Your babies continue to grow and are now approximately the size of a large lime! The crown-to-rump length of your developing children is 1.75 to 2.4 inches each. The weight of the fetuses is approximately 8 grams each at this point. The growth of your babies is phenomenal now and your babies’ length will double in the next three weeks. The head is grossly out of proportion and is almost half of the baby’s length.

You are almost at the end of your first trimester and while changes continue to occur quickly in your babies, they are happening at a slower rate in you. Your uterus has been growing with the fetus inside of it and is now almost big enough to fill your pelvis. Your uterus may be able to be felt in your lower abdomen, above the middle of your pubic bone. You are not able to feel the babies moving inside of you at this time.  You might also be noticing changes in your hair, fingernails, or skin around this time. Some women notice an increase in hair growth and nail growth during pregnancy and others lose small amounts of hair. You are burning up calories at a faster rate than you did before you became pregnant! The amount of blood being pumped around your body will increase and you might feel warmer than usual.

External genitalia are beginning to show distinguishing features and the development of male or female will be complete in three weeks. The two placenta’s blood vessels increase to provide your babies with the nutrients and oxygen he needs for continued growth. Your babies’ ears are gradually moving from the neck towards the sides of their head. Inside of your babies’ abdomen, the intestines are developing. Because the intestines are so large, some of them project into the umbilical cord and they will return to the abdomen within the next week or two.

At the size of a plumb, your babies are now able to swallow. The urinary systems function. The babies swallow and urinate the amniotic fluid and the fluid is continually replaced. The babies is kicking but the mother cannot feel it yet. All vital organs are formed and, for the most part, function normally. From now on, they will grow in size and efficiency.

had my first appointment with dr. e yesterday, and everything looks good. 

– i’m still worried about my weight, which is down to 127 today (i was 132 on iui day), but they don’t seem to worried about it.  i guess that’s my clue not to worry about it, either.

– dr. e was able to pick up both heartbeats on the doppler, much higher up than i thought they would be – right underneath my belly button.  i did preregistration for the hospital and had my initial bloodwork done.

– dr. e told me that there’s basically a 2/3 chance that i will have to have a c-section.  the only scenario he will allow a vag attempt is if both babies are head down.  if one is head down/one is breech, or both are breech, then it’s off to the operating room.

– he also said that he will allow me to go to 37 weeks before induction or sectioning, so we’re looking at a new date of October 29th. 

– i have an appointment set up with maternal fetal medicine (mfm), or the perinatologist, on june 9th.  i don’t know how often i will have to see him yet – hopefully not much. since i’ll be 16 1/2 weeks at that appointment, we can probably find out what the babies are!