Week 35!

Crazy to title this post "Week 35". I can't believe we are that far already. It seems like at first it took forever to get to the point that we could tell people we were expecting and then the middle part we just coasted...always thinking that the day the girls come is still a very long way off. Well the last several weeks have flown by and here we are at 35 weeks.

We had an appointment for another ultrasound this past week and found out the girls are each a whopping 5 pounds! I still can't believe it! The ultrasound tech was clearly very new at her job so it was definately not the most exciting appointment as she definately stuck to the basics. She did struggle at times to get good pictures/measurements, which is ultimately how they estimate the weight so we are taking the weights as just that--estimates. Can't say I blame her though, there are a lot of body parts to measure crammed in a small space so I am sure it's not easy to get the pictures. Regardless, we are very pleased with how the girls are doing and are so blessed that they are as big as they are.

I have another appointment this week Wednesday so hopefully we find out more of what the plan is for our next couple of weeks!!

The fruit for week 35 was the weight of a honeydew, which I forgot to get. Sorry! :)

Since I don't have pictures with a fruit I thought I would share some fun pictures that Kevin's sister, Heather, took for us. We actually did these last week Saturday, which was week 34. If you go on the Pinterest website at all, I am guessing some of these will look familiar to you. We thought these kind of maternity pictures would be a fun keepsake and no, there are no bare belly shots!!!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to our dad's, Ron and John! :) We are very blessed to have such positive male role models in our lives.  We love you and hope you both had a great day!

There is not a lot new this past week. I had no doctor appointments but I have been fighting a cold and sinus infection for the last 2 weeks! I finally called my doctor on Tuesday and she called in a prescription for me and that finally knocked it. I feel WAY better. Crazy how much having a cold like that can really take it out of you.

This week I have an ultrasound which I am excited for. Kevin and I are guessing the girls will be around 4 and 1/2 pounds but we really have no idea. I was supposed to have Centering on this coming Friday but Dr. McKay is out of town so I have an appointment with her the following week. I am hoping we really nail down some details as far as a timeline goes at that appointment...but I guess we will find out :)

This past week was week 34! Here is a little more about what is happening with the girls:

Your baby now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds (like your average cantaloupe) and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well. If you've been nervous about preterm labor, you'll be happy to know that babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

And here are the week 34 pics:

Have a great week everyone!

Remembering a Friend

It's been an interesting week....
On Wednesday morning I got a call that my friend and former Dordt roommate, Sarah (Mulder) Ribbens, had passed away unexpectedly. I am still in shock and can't quite fully grasp that this has really happened. I don't know all of the details, nor do they matter, but what I do know is that Sarah is now enjoying being a mother in heaven. I know how excited I am to be a new mom here on earth, but just imagine how much joy you would have getting to be a new mom in heaven. This is the aspect my friends and I have decided to focus on, rather than the sadness and confusion we are also feeling.

Sarah lived in Chicago with her husband and was one of the most competitive and driven, caring, and crazy smily people I know. I cant even pretend to explain what kind of work she did but I know it has to do with wealth management and portfolios. She was also working on her Master's Degree in Business at the University of Chicago. Even in the craziness of work and school, she managed to come back to the area just last month for the baby shower that my friends threw for me. I was so excited that she was able to make the trip, and even more thankful now since that would be the last time I would see her. I "spoke" with her just last Friday over text message and she was so excited to hear any updates about the twins. I know she enjoyed reading this blog and told me she had a recurring "appointment" set on her work calendar each week as a reminder to check if we had updated.
The last several years we have made it a tradition to head to her parents place at Round Lake on the 4th of July. Her and Ben would come back from Chicago and a couple of girls would meet her there. We would lay out on the lake and tan ourselves silly. Sarah was the kind of person that even if you didnt talk to too often, you could always pick up right where you left off. Definately a great friend.

Saturday morning we had to say our final goodbye to our friend. Something I hope I don't have to do again for a long time. The last time that I was in this church was almost 6 years ago-when I was a bridesmaid in her wedding.  Please pray for her husband-Ben, both sets of parents, siblings, the rest of the family, and friends. They have a long road ahead of them that I can't even fathom and will definately covet our prayers. Sarah, you will be missed.

Here are a couple college throwback pics: (Sarah, Valerie, Joni, me):

Our B4 Christmas card picture: (Sarah, Joni, me, Jeanna, Val, and Kari)

And all of us on an air mattress while visiting Sarah and Val on their semester in Chicago: (Val, Joni, Sarah, me, Becky, and Kari)

Wednesday night our church threw an open house baby shower for us. They do that if you are expecting multiples, which is very thoughtful of them! We got a lot of great stuff and appreciate everyone's support. Thank you to our Lay Shepherds and everyone who came!!!

This week I also had my Centering group. I am now measuing at 40 weeks! Turns out I am only 33 weeks, so the picture below would give you a good idea what I would look like full term if I was caring one child. We briefly disucssed what time frame we were thinking and she said we are still on track to hope for 38 weeks. This would put us at the July 12 (Kevin's birthday) time frame, but she was going to double check which days she was on call so we could schedule for one of those days. Crazy that this is only a short 4-5 weeks away. I am sure we will know more as we get closer and as I start to go in more frequently. Our goal is to have everything ready to go by Saturday... just in case :)

Have a great week everyone!

4 Pounds!

Just wanted to do a quick update again because I had an ultrasound this week and we found out the girls are at 4 pounds! Actually Baby A is 3 pounds 15 oz and Baby B is 4 pounds exactly. We are so thankful for how much they have grown and that they continue to grow at the same rate. We feel a little better that if they do come early, at least they are this far. I will have another ultrasound in 3 weeks so we will see where they are at at that point. Crazy that I have 8 pounds of baby in my belly already and we are only at 32 weeks.

The fruit/veggie for week 32 was a jicama. Anyone heard of it?  We opted not to buy two of them at over a $1/pound (the first one we weighed was over 5 pounds) but I did take a side shot picture just to document the week.

Today (Sunday) is our 6th anniversary!! Crazy that we have been married for 6 years already! The time has definately flown by, a lot has happened since then, but we have been very blessed. We celebrated after church today by going to brunch at Bracco...we are suckers for breakfast :).

Hope everyone had a great weekend!