Our Trip

Our baby moon was great! We didn't necessarily relax, but we didn't over do it either. There was so much to do and see.

We left for Niagara Falls Sunday morning. When we got in, we ate some lunch and walked down to the falls. It was a beautiful day, though a little hot. I realized just how pregnant I really was after all our walking. It's amazing how hard it is to lug around an extra 30lbs! Then we went back to the room, took a nap and ordered in.

The next morning we had to catch our train at 6:30am. We took a 2 hour train ride to Toronto and then switched trains and took a 5 hour train to Montreal. The 5 hour ride was a little long, but nice. We were able to walk to our Bed and Breakfast from the train station. The Bed and Breakfast, Bons Matins, was very cool. Very eclectic. The only downfall was our room had an open concept bathroom. Yep, that means no door on the toilet! And, unfortunately only an open hot tub... which meant I needed help getting in and out of it for my shower everyday. We tried to switch rooms, but they were fully booked. In the end it worked out fine.


While in Montreal we visited the Biodome, Botanical Gardens, Archeology Museum, Science Center, Olympic Park, Old Montreal, and the Old Port. It was very interesting to be in a city whose main language is French. Most of the signs were in French. The architecture in Old Montreal was amazing. It's a great city and there was definitely more we could have done if were there a day or so longer and if I wasn't pregnant. While I don't know that we'll necessarily make an effort to go back... if you've never been, it's definitely worth seeing. We had lunch at the infamous St. Viateur Bagel shop, and had some pretty tasty bagel sandwiches!





We then headed back to Niagara for the day. We had dinner and went to the Ripley's Believe it or Not! Museum.

It was nice to get away and we had a really good time. The best part was that the babies were happy and kicked away the whole time. Christian had so many chances to feel them. He was so sweet the whole time because we was so worried about everything I did or didn't do and especially worried about the crowds. He made sure no one came near our precious cargo :)

Click here to view more pictures from our trip!

On Sunday, we spent the day in the ER. Christian has 2 kidneys stones... one of which is 3mm! I've never seen him in so much pain!

21 Weeks

This is a little late, as we were in Canada for the week! I will post more about the trip soon. In the meantime, I'm on modified bedrest for the weekend, recouping from perhaps a little too much walking. I have pretty bad swelling and stopped in to see the nurse on our way back to Pittsburgh. She suggests that I relax and keep my feet up all weekend. If the swelling gets worse, or is accompanied by headaches, she wants me to call the on-call doctor. The good thing is my blood pressure is nice and low.

This week the kids were VERY active and Christian got to feel them a few times every day. One of the kiddos has decided to snuggle right next to my rib cage which is a little uncomfortable when traveling :)

At 21 weeks:
They now baby weigh about three-quarters of a pound and are approximately 10 1/2 inches long — the length of a carrot. They sleep for about 12-14 hours a day, but to me it feels like they are up alot more than that! They are learning how their arms and legs move, and using their hands to feel their facial features. In other developments, their eyebrows and lids are present now. The taste buds are also being formed on their tongues this week. I may also start noticing them hiccup :)

Christian felt a kick!

He felt a kick Wednesday! He can't wait to feel them again. They are getting stronger and more frequent, so hopefully while in Canada this week he'll get to feel them again.

Off to Niagara falls...

Kicks!!

The kiddos started kicking enough for me to feel it with my hand on the outside! It feels like tiny taps. The first time I felt it was Monday night (20 weeks) on my way home from work. I felt them again yesterday morning and this morning, again during my car ride into work. Their daddy has been asking them to watch Karate Kid for inspiration and he has also instructed them to do the "Mommy Pokey" instead of the "Hokey Pokey". Hopefully within the next week I'll be feeling them more often and he'll get to feel it too.

My fatigue is high again, so I've been taking hour naps again when I get home from work. I've also started swelling pretty bad in my ankles. The doctor says to keep an eye on it, but it's normal. I need to watch my salt, drink water and put my feet up.

Fighting Twins

Too bad this is so short...

20 weeks

The babies now weigh about 10 ounces. They are the length of bananas (about 10 inches from head to heel)! They are swallowing more now, which is practice for their digestive system. They are also producing meconium, a black, sticky by-product of digestion. This gooey substance will accumulate in their bowels, and we'll see it in the first soiled diapers. Nice!

Their skin is beginning to thicken and develop into four layers. Hair growth is continuing and hair can been seen around the upper lip and eyebrows. They will now cover their ears with their hands if a loud sound is made near me or jump if they are startled. HOW CUTE!!

It may now be possible for Christian to hear the babies heartbeats by placing his ear against my bare lower abdomen (we'll be trying this tonight)!

This is what they are looking like now...


We're still waiting for the first good kicks, which I'm sure I'll be soon wishing didn't come so soon. I'm feeling pretty good, just tire very easily. This weekend completely wore me out. I'm starting to get swollen ankles and my feet hurt pretty bad after walking and first thing in the morning. My energy level hasn't increased, which I was hoping for right about now. I'm listening to my body and napping when it tells me it needs it and getting to bed early. My belly button is still trying to "pop" out, but hasn't succeeded yet :)

On another note, Christian's family is in from out of town and we had fun this weekend with our nieces. All 4 of them! Abbi and Izzy, our twin nieces from Phoenix, will be in all week. I'm sure we'll learn plenty more about taking care of twins while they are here from them and their parents.