Introducing our babies- ultrasound pictures!

Here are some of our latest ultrasound pictures. I may be biased but I think they're pretty damn cute :)

Baby A - Katharine (Kate)



Baby B - Daniel (Danny)



Katie sucking her thumb



Danny waving



3D image of Kate



3D image of Danny

Ultrasound today!

This was the big one - the Level 2 u/s in which we would get to see the babies' development and growth, and make sure everything was going smoothly. Oh yeah, and find out the sexes too!

I have had a feeling for weeks now that there was at least one boy in there. I have no real reason to believe this, just mother's intuition I guess. I thought we might even end up with 2 boys. Maybe it's because having 2 boys seems scary to me (I'm definitely a girly girl) so I was mentally preparing myself. We would have been thrilled with anything, but one of each would be ideal.

Anyway, everything measured well and both babies are developing normally! Phewww. I can't tell you what a relief that is.

Ok, here are the results and the real reason you're reading (I know you probably skipped ahead to see this ;)

Baby A - GIRL!

Baby B - BOY!

I thought it was funny that when the ultrasound tech was looking for the genitals of Baby B, she wouldn't say penis. Yet she had no problem pointing out his scrotum. "Here's his scrotum, and here's his, um, boy part!" You can say scrotum but you can't say penis? I think scrotum is a weirder word than penis, but whatever.

The only semi-disappointing news was that the doctor pretty much shot down my little remaining chance of having a vaginal birth. I had been told earlier that I had about an 80% chance of needing a C-section, which I was OK with. I've been mentally preparing myself for a C-section but I knew that 20% chance still existed if both babies were head down. But because of the placement of Baby B's cord, it doesn't look like that will happen. With twins it's common for the babies' cords to be more to the edges of the placenta rather than in the center. With a vaginal birth, there's a very good chance that the strain of delivery could cause a serious hemorrhage in the babies, which is obviously dangerous. He basically said I should just schedule a C-section around 37 or so weeks, and if I go into labor any earlier than that, they will just do a C-section then. Pretty much anytime after 34 weeks they won't bother to stop the labor. So while it's somewhat disappointing, I will do whatever is recommended to keep me and my babies safe. And hey, now we get to pick their birthday! :)

I'm being brave...belly shots!

One thing that drives me crazy about seeing belly pics in other people's bios or blogs is that every.single.one of them are super skinny pre-pregnancy. They have flat-as-a-washboard abs til about 8 weeks or so, and then suddenly they get the cutest, tiniest little bump.

Um, yeah, mine aren't like that.

I had a belly pre-pregnancy. So my pregnant belly is really more like 2 bumps - one that's babies, and one above it that's just fat. I'm halfway through the pregnancy and still waiting for that to go away. Not so much. So I have decided to show you all some REAL belly pictures. I hope you enjoy!

::deep breath::

10 weeks, 6 days



14 weeks, 1 day




19 weeks, 4 days




19 weeks, 5 days - full shot

East Coast vs. West Coast

I spent last week away from my cozy home in suburban Philadelphia, and was all the way across the country in Olympia, Washington for a conference. Olympia is about an hour south of Seattle and might honestly be one of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen. I couldn't help but notice some major differences between this area and my home back East.

I am a Northerner, a true Jersey girl. With the exception of 2 years in graduate school, I have never lived outside of the New York or Philadelphia metro areas. I loved my time as a graduate student in Virginia, and was happy to get to know another part of the country. Southerners are just so sweet and friendly, but it took some getting used to. Everything is sooooooo slow, and it feels like there's nothing to do. As much as I loved it down there, I was often aching to go back to the craziness and activity of home.

Those who live in the Northeast (which I'm defining as the Boston/New England area down to Washington DC, and about as far west as Pittsburgh) are very different from the rest of the country. Quite frankly, we don't like anybody. We don't trust strangers, we're always stressed out because of traffic and congestion, and we always need to get where we're going a ridiculous hurry. Yet in my limited experience with the rest of the country, it seems that people in the South, Midwest, and West Coast are (gasp!) NICE! It's shocking at first, but I found it to be quite refreshing.

One thing I noticed about Olympia (and possibly Washington State in general) was a strong focus on environmental issues and vegan/organic lifetsyles. Nearly every restaurant we looked at had several vegan options, and even the microbrewery we went to served organic beer. (Wish I could have had some!)

The folks of Olympia also seem to be much more liberal when it comes to, um, chemical enhancement. (Translation - the city is a bunch of stoners.) We passed by a restaurant with a huge sign that read "NO ALCOHOL OR DRUGS". You know you're in a special place when the banning of already illegal substances needs to be clearly spelled out.

The people are interesting too. We were walking towards the microbrewery when this random guy comes up to someone in our group (one of the most unassuming guys you'll ever meet) and says, "Dude, I bet you 5 bucks I can hit you harder than you can hit me!" Yeah, cause that's a bet you want to take. Needless to say, we kept on walking, chuckling to ourselves. I guess he must have been kicked out of the NO ALCOHOL OR DRUGS place.

All in all, it was a great experience, but I must admit I was happy to come back to the humidty, traffic, and general crabbiness of Philadelphia. Welcome home.




The incredible Mt. Rainier, which is simply amazing.