And the gender is...

Yesterday was our 20 week doctor appointment and ultrasound. I couldn't believe how nervous I was. I have wanted a son for as long as I can remember. I love my daughter, but want so much to have a little boy as well. When I went to sleep the night before I had butterflies like before a trip.

I woke up with the butterflies still rattling around in my stomach. I felt like I was off to Disney World or Six Flags as I started my day, not to a doctor's appointment.

We dropped our daughter off with a fabulous friend, as children under age 12 are not allowed at the prenatal screening department of the hospital, and made our way in to Cedars. I was overwhelmed by the well wishes and excitement echoed in my friends and family via Facebook and texts. I felt so blessed to realize everyone else was as excited as we were!

We made it to our doctors appointment and waited patiently to see our OB. He was wonderful as usual, answering any questions and never making me feel like any question was a dumb question. Dr. Brock was great and wished us luck at our ultrasound.

By now it was nearly 1 o'clock and not only did we have an hour and a half until our ultrasound, but I was hungry! I wanted so badly for the babies to be in good spirits that I ate very productively at Soup Plantation! Usually I eat my salad and then my body is so busy processing, it's hard for me to peruse and snag myself much of the other good stuff. Not this time!

I left my hubby still setting down our tray of salads and made my circuit coming back with a cream of broccoli soup (with giant chunks of broccoli in it, I'll have to make mine like this from now on) and a delicious lentil soup. That was my first round. Back again and I got a hot baked potato and some shredded cheese to melt on it. Extra protein when you can! Split that puppy open and mashed it all out with the cheese melting away while I started on my soups!

Two soups down, I licked my spoon clean and it was on to that hot cheesy potato! I slathered it in the ranch dressing I picked up just for this reason when I was making my salad and happily pushed away an empty plate a couple minutes later. I was on a roll!

Last, but certainly not least, was my salad that I dove into with much eagerness despite what should have been a nearly full tummy. With its spinach and dark leafy green lettuce, black olives, kidney beans, butternut squash, beets, raisins, hard boiled egg, carrots, zucchini, celery and a refreshingly light creamy cucumber dressing I was packing in the good stuff!

I will say that, especially when I am pregnant, I do my best to eat about 90% organic. Certain things I just don't eat if they are not organic. However, doing this regularly allows for a bit of room on occasion, like going to Soup Plantation. I know they use organic whenever possible, but nothing on their salad bar, or otherwise, is specifically labeled organic.

I figure since I eat so much organic otherwise, the small concentration of undesirables in an occasional, not so unhealthy, trip to Soup Plantation is reasonable.

Okay. So, full tummy and away we go!

Back to the butterflies as we walked from our car to the elevators and rode them up to the prenatal screening department. We signed in and waited our turn. The closer we got the more excited I felt. I guess I can liken it to that feeling when you finally get to the front of the long line for the new roller coaster. You're so excited you are almost giddy!

When we were called I was delighted to find the nurse to be the same we had last time. The reason I remembered her so clearly was all in the way she uses a needle! At my last ultrasound they needed to do blood work as well, as part of the genetic testing they were doing. She told me to look at my husband and take a deep breath. I did and then waited and waited. I couldn't figure out what was taking so long. I turned to ask her and realized she was changing to the second vial and I never felt the needle even touch me. I'm pretty good with needles, sure they hurt a little, but not that much if they are doing it right. I honestly never even felt the needle touch my skin.

After we caught up and visited with her a bit, our ultrasound technician from our 12 week ultrasound came in. The first thing she asked as she squirted that warm gel onto my belly was whether we were looking for gender today.

Absolutely!

She started the ultrasound and within two seconds there was baby on the screen. She didn't tell us but pointed out that what we were looking at was a view of the baby from under the bum. There were two little legs and you could see that cute behind. "What do we see here?" she asked. I looked and sure enough, there was something very prominent between those little legs. We had a boy!

We were so excited, I had my one boy! She moved over to get the 'up the kilt' view of baby B and sure enough, there was something there too!

Two boys!!

We were ecstatic! I had wondered and speculated about who was in there for months and now I knew. My little boys were in there! I have two sons. That still just makes me smile!

We got to watch as she took all her measurements of legs and arms and heads with big strong brains. We were in awe as we watched all four chambers of each of their hearts pumping like champions. We were blessed and relieved to see that everything was as it should be!

We even accidentally got a beautiful picture of the two of them touching wiggly toes through the membrane between them.




Now that we knew we had two healthy boys on the way, the question on our minds was 'identical' or 'fraternal'?

We met with the doctor when our ultrasounds were done and Dr. Williams, Dr. John Williams (which made me smile and ask my husband if he was going to write them a song, I know I'm cheesy), looked at our babies and at the membrane so thin between them. He pointed out that there was also only one placenta that he could see. He said we would have to do DNA testing to be absolute certain, but he didn't see any reason to think they were anything but identical. Healthy and I'm happy. No matter how much they look alike, I'm sure once we get to know our boys they will be easy to tell apart either way. I hope!

We said goodbye to the doctor and headed for the exit. I sat down in the lobby to start texting people, starting with my friend watching our daughter, and was halfway through the first sentence when my vertigo went into overdrive. It only took a second to realize that it was just an earthquake.

But when you are pregnant, and you have vertigo, (which I discovered when my wonderful husband, then boyfriend, took me to NYC for a weekend and we were almost to the top of the Empire State Building) there is no such thing as 'just an earthquake'.

On top of being in a tall building in downtown L.A. when the tremors occurred, I was also in a building built on rollers to help it continue to stand when the ground shakes. So even though the quake ended in about five seconds, the building continued to sway for another ten. It was apparently a 5.7 somewhere near San Diego so other than a little shaking, it didn't really effect us too badly.

As strange as it was for me, my poor husband had just sat down in a stall in the bathroom when the building began to move!

It was certainly a day neither of us will forget! Two boys AND an earthquake!

The Natural Boob Job

What small chested woman hasn't looked at the other bikinis on the beach with their B cups to DD cups and wondered for a moment about a boob job?

Most of us follow that thought with a laugh and move on.

Little do we know that all we have to do is wait. Wait until our Mom body arrives. Nothing comes for free, but while you are putting on those Mom pounds and making a baby, your boob job is in the works.

I was always a small chested gal. I joked that I sported an A and an A-. When I got pregnant with my daughter that all changed. In a matter of months I was busting out of most bras and, though I began to live in sports bras at the time, I knew things were changing. In addition to the pain and weight of my new-found breasts, my tops were getting tighter in more than just the belly.

When I nursed my daughter I had to keep going back to buy bras because once my milk came in, and my daughter was exclusively nursing for that first six months or so before solid foods came along, I found myself filling out first a D cup and then an E cup!

Even after my daughter was weaned at 15 months, I still had more boobs than before. I took myself to Victoria's Secret and got sized. Something I had never done and always wanted to do. The best part is it's free. They will tell you exactly the size you should wear.

It's a whole different ballgame putting on the correct size bra. I discovered after wearing from a 36 B to a 38 D (I was told going up in the band size would compensate because the bra I liked wasn't made in the E cup needed) that when all was said and done I was supposed to be wearing a 34C.

Sounded good to me.

The main reason for the C cup was that one breast was a C and the other a B. This is typical, most women have a breast that is larger than the other. You ladies know however, once you get pregnant nothing stays the same. My first pregnancy I figured they just might balance out. HA! Of course not! My larger breast just kept getting larger.

Now I am nearly tumbling out of my 34C I bought myself at Victoria's Secret on one side and just almost a C cup on the other side. I think I actually have one breast that is twice the size of the other.

On a side note: An assumption I discovered was untrue when nursing, "A bigger breast must mean more milk!" Quite the opposite it seemed. My smaller breast consistently made more milk than my larger breast, as I discovered when I began pumping regularly so my husband could enjoy those feeding bonding moments with our daughter too.

My first visit to Destination Maternity happened around 8 weeks. I was already having trouble with my pants being too tight and was so sick I just wanted to be comfortable. I intended to fill out my maternity wardrobe a bit. Which since I still can't find half of it, took more filling out than I intended.

For my bottoms I found a pair each of khaki shorts, jeans, and khaki pants. For my top I also purchased two ribbed tanks and another two t-shirts. As well as some new preggo undies, as my lovely Victoria's Secret panties no longer had enough give and the band was cutting into baby land. In addition to these necessities, I got an adorable white tank with blue flowers that I fell in love with and thought would be adorable on a growing belly. I thought this should have me set, but I hadn't thought of bras because at the time mine still fit.

Since it is now the end of summer season, according to their company head, and the beginning of summer here in Los Angeles, now is the time to buy maternity or nursing wear! Most of the stuff I now need is on sale.

Now that I am 20 weeks and finding myself only able to wear maternity clothes I am also finding that I am running out of them before laundry day rolls around and it's just too hot these days, pregnant or not, to wear my husband's big t-shirts and my sweat pants even if that's all that fits and is clean.

My wonderful husband took me back today to Destination Maternity, where I found myself bra shopping. The women at this store have always been very helpful and supportive. Most have been through pregnancy themselves and understand the needs and frustrations of shopping for maternity wear. Jennifer was my shopping friend today and the first thing she did for me was measure to see what size bra I needed at this stage (halfway through) of my pregnancy.

She took out her tape measure, wrapped it around my bust and ribs and told me I was between a 36D and a 36E. I almost asked her to do it again. That couldn't be right, could it?

36E was supposed to be my size when I was horribly engorged with milk, not my preggo boob size!

So, Jennifer set about getting me all set up. While I sat in a chair and sipped some cool water, (I had to walk the length of the mall to get to the store. Which doesn't sound like much, but man. These days that's half a marathon for me! ) Jennifer went to the bra section and got every style they had in my size and set it up in the larger dressing room with a large seat so I could rest in between trying things on.

She also overheard me ask my patient hubby, who was busy corralling our almost 3 year old as she tried to create a form of foot race combined with peek a boo for him to join her in, to see if any light dresses caught his eye as it has been warm and will only get hotter in the coming weeks. When I stepped into the dressing room to try on the bras I discovered half a dozen dresses in my size from their sale rack. Including a wonderfully light dress I picked up that I may very well live in for the next few months.

I removed my firm, supportive Victoria's Secret 34C bra and caught my reflection in the mirror. This is the first time I've been in front of a mirror that large while dressing and I was shocked to realized my boobs were HUGE! No wonder they hurt if I don't wear a sleep bra or go without a bra for even a couple hours.

I picked up the first bra, a great compromise of comfort and support. Like a sleep bra it is very light, you almost don't realize you are wearing it, but it also has a bit of padding and great support. "This," Jennifer said, as she began to describe each bra for me before she had closed the curtain, "is the bra you will want to live in when you first come home and your milk comes in."

She wasn't kidding. I only bought one of them today, but I am so going to go back over the next few months and slowly build up my supply. I have a feeling I will be living in these nursing bras once the babes arrive. They are my favorite bra and once I put it on and adjusted it, it was like my heavy boobs disappeared. All that weight that had been dragging at my shoulders and back from wearing too small of a bra just evaporated.

Along with this sleep/comfy bra (which I bought and had Jennifer remove the tags so I could wear it home) I bought one much like the 36 B I wore at the end of my nursing days with my daughter, but in the new 36E size. Yikes! That still feels strange coming from a former A cup girl. Haha.

I also got another pair of shorts, denim to go with the khaki shorts I already have. I also picked up more panties so now I should have just over a week's worth of those as well, since none of my other undies fit anymore. The ribbed tanks I bought at my first visit have been so comfortable I picked up two more of those today too. Of course, it didn't hurt that they were on sale!

So here I am with at least a week's worth of maternity clothes, including two cute dresses total and if I'm lucky all I'll have to shop for in the next few months is a couple more of these super comfy bras!

I'm dreading what shopping for bras will be like once the babes arrive though, I had trouble finding E cups in the 36 in a number of the styles of bra I like. I am NOT an under-wire girl, but finding good supportive bras without it apparently gets more challenging the larger your bust. I honestly don't know what large busted women do when they get pregnant.

If things keep going, and growing, like they are I guess I'll find out!

Ah, the Weigh In

What woman doesn't love the words: "Just step onto the scale please."

I am genetically petite and have also always been relatively tiny. The most I weighed in my life was 118 lbs and that was when I trained in martial arts and had 'beefed up'.

Then I got pregnant the first time. Each doctor visit I would watch the woman tick those little metal boxes up the scale. I had myself convinced it didn't bother me in the least, until the day that same smiling nurse started her measuring by putting the larger weight onto 150 and then moving to the little one.

I was shocked.

For someone who really had never thought about my weight, I was surprised by how much that growing number bothered me. Of course, the fact that I could look in the mirror while getting dressed and tell you exactly where those extra pounds were residing probably didn't help.

At my last prenatal visit before my daughter was born I weighed in at 165. Which may not sound like a lot, but that was almost 50% more than I had weighed at conception!

My beautiful baby girl was born and my weight shifted to some place in the back of my mind where I thought it would stay. Then I went in for my checkup one week after the birth. I stepped on the scale sure that the loss of the 7lb 4 oz my daughter had contributed, along with all the other fun stuff that was no longer in there, meant I had lost at least 10-15 lbs.

I stepped on the scale and of course she started by moving the larger piece up to 150. But then that little one just kept sliding. It stopped at 167!

WHAT?!?

I had given birth a week before and I weighed 2 lbs more! Are you kidding me??

I was not happy. I tried to make a joke of it and move on. Luckily I had a newborn in the house keeping me busy so I didn't think about my weight for a bit.

Two years later, between breastfeeding for 15 months and chasing around my little imp, I was down to around 130. I was happy there. I didn't feel like I had that 'last ten lbs to go'. I had curves that my little petite body had never possessed and was happy as a size 8.

I went in for my first appointment with my new OB because we were ready to try again. As usual they directed me to that scale first thing. I stepped up and wasn't too upset to realize I weighed in around 136.

After we were successful and I was tossing my cooking all over the place I was worried about that scale at my 8 week appointment. I climbed on and was relieved when I came in around 134.

At my 12 week appointment I felt like even with my zofran it had been a rough few weeks and was a little sad when I saw I now came in around 124. A number of the books and information I had been reading on twin pregnancy suggested putting on the bulk of your weigh in the first trimester and then adding slowly from there. I was a little dejected to realize I had done the opposite.

At my 16 week appointment I knew I had been keeping more food down and my appetite was increasing. Happily, I weighed in at 136. I've decided to use the 124 as my low weight so that putting on the 45 lbs suggested for a twin pregnancy (unlike the 30 I was supposed to put on with my singleton pregnancy) will put me around 170 instead of 180. Even if there are two people in there, that is a lot of weight on this little frame.

My concern at the moment is managing to put that much weight on. I'm trying to eat plenty of protein and, since my body doesn't process it like it use to my first pregnancy, not much in the way of sweets. Looking in the mirror isn't really helping this time as I seem to literally be 'all baby'.

My arms and legs have lost any baby fat from my first pregnancy as well as some muscle due to how sick I was my first trimester. Other than my enormous round, round belly I look trimmer than I have in years. My boobs are another story.

We'll see how I weigh in at my 20 week appointment. Something tells me I will hardly notice as my focus will be on that ultrasound we have scheduled that day and the hope that these two little imps will give us a peek at their genders!