Pics of my beautiful girls!

Siera with her new hair cut snuggling Hannah

Alyssa on the 4th watching fireworks... starting to look a lot like Taylor

Taylor on the 4th, that was a lot of hair to curl.

Ashley on the 4th the day after her hair cut.... starting to look a lot like RaeLynn

RaeLynn on the 4th with her fake smile!!

Smiling Hannah with the fat cheeks

Smiling Hayden with the double chin

Keep checking in for more pics... I took a couple hundred over the last two months and can't wait to share them with you all!

Weeeee're Baaaack!!

Hayden Grace

Hannah Faith

Well I have been informed by several people I have actually been missed! I am sorry it took me so long to get an update here on my blog. Most of you may know... 1st I ended up on 3 weeks of bedrest that ended in a very exciting delivery of our twin daughters, Hannah Faith and Hayden Grace. They arrived early Memorial Day morning weighing in at 6 lbs 3 oz and 5 lbs 11oz. We came home the following Wednesday. By Saturday afternoon I was in the throws of the worst post-partum depression I could have imagined. Monday a week after their birth I was back in the ER with blood pressure 165-115, Thursday I started to hemorrage and was back in the ER that morning but the bleeding stopped on its own so I did not have to have a DNC. I fondly called it the never ending pregnancy from hell! Fast forward to today.... Babies are 7 weeks and 1 day old, I am feeling 110% despite being just a tad sleep deprived. LOL I have gotten Ashley and Alyssa potty trained, this came about when Hannah and Hayden were 3 weeks old, 3 weeks of four kids in diapers was long enough. All in all I would call it success, we have gone 2 days now and have each only had one accident and are both finally pooping in the potty! The three big girls are on summer vacation and I am dreading having to send them back to school. They have been so awesome playing with their two year old sisters so that I can breast feed the new babies, basically I spend the majority of my day in my recliner with one or both boobs out!! The big girls have even been a big help with the potty training.

I will post a few pics and for the sake of keeping this short I will continue to update throughout the week... granted I get a chance everyday to sneek away to my computer! Thanks for all the support and well wishes!

32 week appointment!

Wow oh wow, why has it been so hard for me to keep up on this blogging thing?? It isn't like I am not sitting at my computer a couple times a day!! Oh well, I will try to do better.

Anyway, things are looking GOOD! I did not dilate any further and am still at a one. We found out at the ultrasound that Baby B did a flip flop and is now breach (both babies had been head down). After about 26 weeks with twins it is pretty rare for one of them to flip. It happened with the last set too at around 34 weeks. I did have some pain on Friday night and Doc said that was probably the night baby girl did her gymnastics! Well it all worked for the best because when both babies were head down it was putting a lot of pressure on my pelvic bone, with one flipped up it will help keep me from dilating anymore for now. God does know what He is doing doesn't he? So I will continue to stay on "Take it easy" mode but am glad I do not have to go to full bed rest. I even have permission to keep traveling, so that means I get to go to my little sis's Bridal Shower this weekend. My blood pressure is still nice and low, 122/72... didn't get a heart rate reading for babies this week, I spaced asking what they were. Babies are still big, estimated to be 4lbs 4oz and 4lbs 3oz... Doc wondered if I was trying to break some kind of record for biggest twins! No really that is a prize I don't care to win (I think the biggest twins on record were something like 14lbs apiece!). Both babies look healthy as can be... this time during the u/s we actually saw hair sticking out the sides of both heads. I can not wait to see what these girls look like!! If the heartburn = hair wives tale is right it is ringing true for us... I have the worst heartburn ever this pregnancy. I have had to be bumped up on my prescription actually and am taking twice the dose I ever had to take with any of the other girls.

Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes! I will try to get some pics up tomorrow.... and maybe actually update on what else is going on with the Normal family these days!

29-30 week appointment

I had my appointment yesterday and the news was pretty good. Blood pressure is still nice and low 122/70. I got to have another u/s and see what I could see of babies. Baby B seemed to be sucking two thumbs at once and Baby A was very busy but gave us very clear shots of her cute baby feet! One of them (not sure which one either) apparently is going to have alot of hair... get this... we could see it's fuzzy hair sticking out all around its head!! Babies are still big, Baby A was 3lbs 5oz and Baby B was 3lbs 2oz... their weights made the Doc happy because they were closer to the same size this time. A big relief to momma too. Their heart rates were right around 150 again, but I can not for the life of me remember exact numbers today, and of course I didn't write them down. Mom is weighing in right at 192 pounds and measuring 38 weeks!! WOWZA!! The only thing causing concern this time is I am dialated to a 1 and 50% effaced. Doc says it is not time to panic and just told me to take it easy for the next couple weeks. Hopefully I will not dialate anymore before my next appointment on the 22nd. I also have another ultrasound that day to check weights again. So please keep us in your prayers... oh and I would totally let you come mop my floors and clean my bathrooms for me!! And if anyone is interested in potty training a pair of very stubborn two year olds we would "let" you take Ashley and Alyssa for a few days! LOL

UPDATE ON THE BABY NAME GAME!!!!!!!
We have chosen the girls' names. But SORRY we are not sharing our picks. (don't throw tomatoes please!!) LOL I know we are horrible friends who ask for all this advice and then after you give it and you all anxiously wait we have the nerve to tell you "too bad so sad". But after all the pain we went through picking these names we do not want to hear any negative feedback from anyone that could cause one or the other to change their minds and send us right back to the drawing boards! I will give you a hint though... Owen picked his from the baby name book and it was NOT one of the ideas given by any of our friends. I picked a name that WAS given by a friend. And they do not start with the same letter. So there you go that is all you get until "Birth" Day!! Thanks for all the help everyone!!

Ultrasound pics and videos.

Okay I got two short video clips again this month. Both babies are being pretty calm, in the videos anyway... you should have seen them squirm when she was trying to do measurments. In the video of Baby A you will be able to see Baby B's arms and legs moving right above her. Oh heartbeats were A-147 and B-151.

BIG babies!!

Well as most of you know we had our 27-28 week appointment yesterday. 1st was my glucose and hemoglobin tests which I passed with flying colors, Hallelujah! Then we headed to my ultrasound, which Grandma Bev got to come watch with us. All doubts were erased, we are FOR SURE having two more baby girls! They estimated the weights to be 2lbs 6oz and 2lbs 11oz, which is BIG even for one baby. (no wonder my tummy is getting so big!) 2lbs 6oz is a little closer to average. The weight difference was also enough to make the Doctor want to see me a little more often, so I have another u/s in two weeks. More than likely it is nothing because they have their own sacs and own placentas so that pretty much rules out any chance of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS) but there are cases where Frat twins do something called "Surface Transfer" when one baby can still steal from the other baby. So anyway that is what we will be watching for. Besides that my BP was really nice and low, 108/66, I only gained 2 pounds and my cervix is still closed. Doctor joked that he "felt funny" giving me any advice because I have "been there done that" and really don't need his help to get through this again. LOL I forgot my u/s pics upstairs so I will post some little video clips later today!!

27 weeks and counting

Here are my pics from 26wks 5days....

This was the only green shirt I could find for St. Patty's Day, did not fit very well! LOL

Wow for some reason it has been really hard for me to keep up on my blogging these last couple weeks! I was 27 weeks yesterday, only 10 more weeks or so to go!! I have had a ton of energy and it has been hard to keep myself from "over doing it." I have gotten the nursery pretty ready, have moved Ashley and Alyssa into their new rooms with big girl beds and sorted through all the kids' clothes to find their summer stuff because I will be just too big and tired to do it in a few weeks. In the last two days or so my Braxton Hicks have been becoming more frequent and pretty hard (still painless) so I have forced myself to lay down as much as possible. Owen says he doesn't feel like spending a month or two in Denver, I agree so I will do my best to bake these babies as long as possible. My next Dr. Appt is on Tuesday the 24th, I will have an ultrasound, an exam and lab work done that day.