A & B at 24 weeks

I had my 24 week appointment yesterday for A & B (at 25 weeks).  At this point I will be going every two weeks and I’ll be getting an ultrasound every visit (which means they’ll be extra long visits).  Marcus was caring for Emilia so he wasn’t in during the ultrasound visit with me but, HURRAH I’ve finally managed to figure out how the scanner works!!

First – a look back at their 20 week ultrasound (when we discovered they were boys).  There are little labels on the pictures written by the technician, but don’t be worried if you can’t really tell what’s what… you get the general idea…

 For some reason the picture of them with their heads together didn’t scan properly.  I’ll try again when I have a bit more time.

Ultrasound pictures from this Friday’s visit…

 yes, B looks like an alien.  yikers.

no, he doesn’t have a hole in the side/back of his head – it’s just how the 4D picture is taken.  arm is up and he’s totally chillin’.

A didn’t really want his picture taken, so we have to make do with a profile shot.

At 25 weeks they are measuring 23w3d (for A) and 23w 4d (for B) – at this point it’s hard to keep them straight – in other words, A & B might have flip-flopped between the last ultrasound and this one (most likely based on the measurements).  A weighs in at 1.4 pounds and B at 1.6 pounds.  Both have similar heartbeats (146 and 143 respectively) and are basically doing great.  No concerns about placenta previa or anything.  I did fail my glucose tolerance test (and rather spectacularly at that) so I have to do the 3 hour test when we return from DC.

We’re off tomorrow for a week to the DC area to visit Grandpa, the tias, and some friends (and maybe get out just the two of us at least once).  It’s sure to be a whirlwind trip but at least it won’t be as insane as Christmastime usually is.  It’s also *sob* the last family trip in the Highlander – upon our return we’re getting *double sob* an MV.  My friend Anne swears I’ll love it, but I’m not totally convinced yet.

regalo and 35

Emilia’s big “third birthday” present finally arrived and was set up this week.  I thought it was going to be a nightmare to keep her out of the backyard but all I had to say was that there were some men doing some work in the yard (we’ve had people working back there all summer long it seems, hence our lack of any discernable grass) and she couldn’t have cared less.

Playset from Denise Glaser on Vimeo.

Yes, we finally caved and got her a playset between us, her 4 grandparents and Tio Equis (Eric, Marcus’ bro).  We figured with three kids that it would be best in terms of our own sanity.  To say she loves it would be an understatement – she just kind of can’t believe it’s all hers (at least for the time being – until the hermanitos are big enough to share with as she keeps pointing out).  The great thing about this set is that it’s movable – in other words, since this is not our ‘forever home’ we can have the installers un-anchor (de-anchor?) it from the ground and break it down enough to where it could be transported.

 the set.

“i cumplir (turn) this many mama!”

sliding after baby jesus.

“comforting” baby jesus after her slide (we’ve been talking about how to hold a baby – note that we’re carefully supporting the head! :)

Our baby girl is 35 months and in a few short weeks turns 3.  It’s going to be a huge year for her – the ‘end of the reinado’ as being an only child, welcoming her hermanitos, school, ballet, soccer… it’s kind of exhausting (and overwhelming) to think of it all. 

blame betsey

My good friend Betsey, is the owner of the most fabulous little knit shop here in Charlotte and is also the mom of Maisie, one of Emilia’s friends from playgroup.  (Our running joke is that they are each other’s oldest friends since they only 18 hours apart in age).

Every year Betsey makes Maisie the most fabulous little dresses/outfits for her birthday, and every year, I think… gee, I should really do that before she gets too big.  The other day when I was in her shop she finally convinced me which is how I find myself with this on my needles…

oh dear.

I must say I’m much further along than I was when I took this picture, but still.  Betsey insists that I can get it done with time to spare.  When I was in the shop Emilia was with me (re-arranging all of the yarns… I’m sure they were delighted) so when I asked Emi what color dress she wanted and she instantly chimed “pink!” Betsey was kind enough to steer her away from the bubble gum pinks and to something softer.

The joke at her shop is that, whenever you find yourself doing some crazy project, it’s always Betsey’s fault.  But of course, if I actually manage to finish it, she’ll also get all the credit.

Apologies for not blogging more this week… but clearly I’ve got my hands full.

party girl

This past week Emilia had not one but THREE birthday parties to go to for four good friends – Morgan, Kate, Aston and Graham.  She was such a trooper and loved each one and spending time with each of these special kids as they celebrated their special days.

First up, Morgan’s party…

Emi, Mia and Maisie enjoying cupcakes at Morgan’s pool party.

look at sweet Aston’s eyes! love it!

Kate and Aston had a joint birthday party at the gymnastics center at our local Y…

Mia – love that face!

lounging in the bounce pit.

putting on her mickey mouse ears.

the birthday boy/girl (we’re clearly singing to them because Kate’s pointing to herself probably saying “happy birthday to me!” :)

Finally, Sunday found us at our neighborhood pool for a birthday party celebrating our good friend Graham’s 3 1/2 birthday. (He had a big half-birthday party since he was in the hospital with RSV/pneumonia on his actual birthday – poor sweet boy).

Emi and Connor (from down the street).

a terrible picture, but please note that Graham’s birthday cake was a stack of Sweet Sixteen powdered donuts – it was all he wanted – that, and a dunk tank of all things! The kids LOVED both!

what are these donuts, mama?

woman, you’ve been holding out on me! DELISH!!!

los lopez/davalos

Over the holiday weekend we hosted Bernardo, Andrea and their two sweet girls, Federica (hereafter known forever more as ‘Sebe’ in our house) and Florencia.  The Lopez/Davalos family will always have a special spot in our hearts since they were part of one of our three first dates (long story short – the first two dates didn’t go so well.  Neither did the third really, but it was a vast improvement over the other two).  Our third first date was at the civil marriage ceremony for Bernardo and Andrea. (In Ecuador you have two weddings – one civil, one church).  Any wedding party where the groom is taken out in a stretcher has to be forever known as a raging good party.  Good times.

We visited with Berni & Andrea in September of last year when we went to NYC to the US Open.  I never got around to posting the pictures from that trip because, at that time, my fancy camera was brand new and frankly I couldn’t figure out how to download the pictures.  So I took this opportunity to put together a little video montage of pictures from then and now.  Frankly, I’ve spent far too much time on it, but I SO enjoyed the process.  The girls had a grand time both visits and this trip we were amazed by Fede’s awesome dancing skills.  I mean, Emilia might have enthusiasm for dance, but Fede’s got full Latina-girl rhythm.  It’s fabulous.  (The first song is pretty self-explanatory – I mean it’s “Empire State of Mind” – hello?!  The second song is the theme song from the World Cup.  With Bernardo and Marcus they watched an AWFUL lot of soccer over the weekend and so we kept hearing this music in the background.

NYC 9/2009 - CLT 7/2010 from Denise Glaser on Vimeo.

anthony’s birthday and - drumroll please – it’s an A & B update!!!

Saturday our friends the Maysonet’s celebrated ‘baby Anthony’s’ second birthday.  Unfortunately it was hotter than standing on the surface of the sun.  Fortunately, the heat only seemed to bother the adults – the kids had a grand time.  Hana asked me to take pictures for her since they are camera-less right now.

 with my equally pregnant friend Amanda (Sofia’s mama) – note that the more pregnant I get, the bigger my hair will get – it’s ridiculous.

 emilia, sofia (in blue) and another guest enjoying the ‘jumpy.’

 the birthday boy blowing out his candles with his mama and papa.

holy cats – a family picture (that’s totally terrible).

sofia and her papa enjoying the pinata.

worn out.

And now the moment you’ve all been waiting for… (or at least, we’ve been waiting for).  *Feel free to skip to the bottom if you just want to get to the ‘reveal.’*Monday was the ‘big’ ultrasound for A & B.  If I knew how to work my scanner I would have inserted a couple of the cool 4-D ultrasound pics we have, but no luck.  At 20 weeks they are measuring about 19 weeks and 18.5 weeks respectively which is just fine. (The concern is if there is a big discrepancy in the size of the two.  Heartbeat for A was 134 (hereafter known as our ‘chill’ baby – ha!) and 145 for B.  All the vital organs, structures, hands, fingers, toes etc were all there.  Both had a little fluid on the kidneys but the doctor said that was typical and that most babies with that have no problems once they are born.  Basically everything checked out as perfectly as possible.  My weight is good (though I feel more and more moose-like) and can continue light workouts (though no more yoga :() but I’ve felt great overall… no swelling or anything.  I remember the summer being pregnant with Emilia I had no ankles and could only manage to wear flip flops – terrible.  We were super glad to see them and to know that they are doing so so well.  They actually looked kinda cute laying head to head like they were  having a meeting or something.  Of course both of them had their feet on my bladder which explains why I had to pee every 2 minutes.  Felt like saying “Um, excuse me, guys?  Could you scoot over a bit.”

Did you catch that? - ‘guys.’

Because much to Marcus’ thrill (and, I’m guessing, relief to not have to live the rest of his days in a pool of estrogen and running to the drugstore to buy Tampax or something), they are both BOYS!!!  We are super excited to have our Emilia as our one and only best girl and to know that, while she’ll be the ‘enforcer’ for many years to come, she will have not one, but two hermanos to protect/defend her from mean boyfriends and even meaner high school girls.  I admit to being a little freaked as I know very little about boys, but I’m sure they look cute in smocked outfits as well, right? :)  We think Emilia was a bit bummed when we told her she was having two brothers – she wanted girls (and four of them!!!!!) but has promptly forgotten about them and hasn’t mentioned it since.  Out of sight, out of mind.

We do have first names picked out but we are not sharing them at this time.  With Emilia’s name we shared it right away and frankly, got far too many opinions on it (good, bad, and otherwise).  Once babies are born though, people are a LOT less likely to say “oh my, what a horrific name” or “huh, how do you spell that?” or “hmmm… I know a (insert name here) and I never liked them.”

I promise to be better with the A & B updates.  My next appointment is in a month and after that I’ll be going in every two weeks.  The great thing is that you get a ton more ultrasounds than with a singleton so hopefully I’ll be able to figure out this scanner at some point!