Is it wrong to wish triplets on my friends??

What do you think?  You are probably wondering if you are the friend I am wishing it on?  I have actually narrowed that wish down to a couple people...still wondering if it is you?  I will settle for another set of twins if that makes you feel better!  The first time I went through pregnancy I had several dear friends going through it all at the same time and one of my best friends had a 1 year old (my god-daughter) so I had alot of guidance...now this time around I have friends who are pregnant with me...but I really want someone else to be learning about multiples...so they can teach me! 

I am honestly to tired to sit and read when I get home from work, so I have only gotten about 60 pages into my multiples book, and Gie Gie is super busy trying to get settled into their new house that they are in the process of buying...not to mention all of the sewing she has to get done!  We recently realized that we only have one Christening gown!  So now she is working on trying to get another one created to go with the one she made before my cousin Caroline was born.  She has her work cut out for her!

So I first said we know that these twins are fraternal, I was wrong.  They are most likely fraternal, but we cannot know that for sure yet.  I first said multiples do not run in our families, and then we thought maybe their was a link, but now we are back to there not being a link!  It is all very confusing.  So below I am going to share some info I stole off another mothers blog who has fraternal twins.  Her research matches up with what I have read so far:

-The average woman has a 3% chance of having twins, this is a 1 in 89 chance.  (There is magic math involved here...I know this makes no sense but it is what i have read)

-Most likely these twins are fraternal because they are in seperate sacs with seperate placentas.  Identical twins are more likely to have shared placentas or sacs depending on when the egg splits.  However, if the egg splits in the first three days while it is traveling down the falopian tube then you can have seperate sacs, so at this point we cannot know for sure!

-Fraternal twins are hereditary.  Identical are not. 

-Identical twins are a complete fluke and doctors do not fully understand why it happens.

-The fraternal twin gene can be passed down to children either by the father or the mother.  However, a man carrying the gene cannot effect the outcome of his own children being multiples. 

-The fraternal twin gene does not skip a generation.  If a woman is a fraternal twin, she's more likely to have fraternal twins. 

Now this last little bit I am stealing from another blog, and I am going to be reading more on it, because I do not fall into either of these categories as far as we can figure. 

-In order for a woman to get pregnant with fraternal twins, she would have to have the gene somewhere in her family (in most cases).  Otherwise, it would most likely be due to fertility treatments.  The gene, or the fertility treatments cause a woman to produce excess amounts of FSH, the follicle stimulating hormone, therefore allowing her to release 2 or more eggs at a time. 

For those of you who heard me say that we found out multiples do run in the family...I was wrong.  Two of Grandmary's syblings did have multiples, one a set of identical triplets, and another a set of twins.  However, these were both brothers of hers and therefore the multiple gene was in the mother who is not a blood relative of mine.  So I am still just a random 3 percenter. 

Anybody know anything else they want to teach me about twins?  Anything above sound incorrect?  And I promise to post some pictures soon, so Michael don't bother with your snarky comments!

A Day Out with Thomas April

Yesterday, Michael and I took Riley to Calera for "A Day Out with Thomas".  Riley now considers himself to be quite the world traveler having been to the famous and imaginary Island of Sodor.  For those of you who are not aware the Island of Sodor is where Thomas the Tank Engine and all of his other engine friends live and work.  We met the McElroys there and the kids had a blast.  Below are some of the pictures from our outing. 

On Tuesday

I did not feel well on Monday night, so I got in the bed early, but could not sleep.  I woke up at 4:30 in the morning for probably the 3^rd or 4^th time and went to the bathroom.  I discovered I was bleeding and it looked pretty heavy to me.  I did not call the doctor bc I knew there was nothing they could do if the pregnancy was failing.  SO I laid in the bed and waited and waited until I could call my boss and the doctor at a reasonable hour.  I stayed in the bed all morning and then got in to see the doctor at 1:00.  We did an ultrasound and I did not want to look at the screen, then the tech said, “we have two heartbeats…” so I looked.  Both babies were doing great, Baby B had a growth spurt and was measuring 11 weeks and 5 days, just like Baby A.  Baby B’s heartbeat was 173, and Baby A’s heartbeat was 180.  She checked everything out and found no reason for the bleed on the ultrasound, and then we saw the doctor.  The doctor did an exam and he said the bleed, wherever it was, had stopped.  So he told me to go home and lay low for the rest of the day, but said I could go back to work the next day.  I have had no other problems.  I ended up going ahead and getting the Rho-gam shot, since there was blood involved.  He said that I needed to take it easy for the next two weeks and that I could keep up my normal activities for now.  So I am still free to go on my next sales trip and work as usual for now. 

Beautiful Weather this weekend...

11 Weeks

Today we had a doctors appointment.  Baby A was measuring 11 weeks and 2 days and had a heart rate of 184, Baby B was measuring 10 weeks and 6 days and had a heart rate of 175.  I asked Dr. Kouri about the difference in their measurements and he said it was more likely a human error in measurimg because the difference between their sizes is millimeters.  And, they have moved closer in measurements.  Last time they were 4 or 5 days apart and this time they are 3 days apart.  Dr. Kouri said it is normal for them to measure differently and that there is no reason for concern until later in the pregnancy if they start measuring multiple weeks apart, say, 29 weeks and 34 weeks. 

Anyway, here are there pictures:

If you are curious about the way they are sitting, Baby A is lower than Baby B, and they are facing each other in the womb...not that they can see each other!  Baby A was wide awake and bouncing up and down dealing with a case of the hiccups when this picturewas taken and Baby B was all curled up tightly sleeping.  Our ultrasound tech, poked at Baby B and woke him/her up for a second, but then he/she settled right back down and went to sleep again.  

10 Weeks Today

I am carrying around two little kumquats these days. 

Freaking Out...and ramblings...

I title this post this way because presently it is the opposite of me!  My friend Mel was just commenting on how calm I am regarding this whole new situation...and she actually remarked on how much "thinking" about our new situation I have done.  I can't say that I feel particularly ready for everything that is about to change, and I am certain that my mom, my mother in law, my husband, Holland, and Tracy have all witnessed moments where I was the opposite of calm, but I am trying to focus on what a blessing this is and not worry so much about the specifics of how we are going to make it all work.  We are so lucky!

Here is ane email I sent to my husband, my mom, and Etta, a couple of weeks ago:

On Fri, Mar 11, 2011 at 11:24 AM, Allison Godwin wrote:
"Things I have learned on BabyCenter.com...

Please know that I am not taking any of this too seriously, as I have decided to not spend time worry about all the little impossibilities of having two children at one time! Therefore, I am not worrying about our 1900 square feet that will be covered with 1700 square feet of toys, strollers, and other baby gear. I am not worried about 3 car seats in one car, or two cribs and a toddler in one room, I am also not worried about travel with 3 babies or the fact that our washing machine will be going 24/7 next year…I am not worrying. I will let everyone else do that.   Below is what I learned on Babycenter.com:

• Your babies first year will cost:  $8,331.00 (times 2)…according to the baby center calculator.
• “So if you're carrying twins, you should add roughly 600 calories to your normal load, which would probably take you to about 2,800 calories a day.”
• “Some experts recommend drinking up to a gallon of water — that's 16 8-ounce glasses — each day. You can get some of your fluids from milk and juice, but water should be your go-to beverage.”  (can y’all just imagine the amount of time that I will be spending running to the restroom?)"

As for Holland and Tracy they have just listened to my stream of consciousness and tried to make sense of it, and both of them have left me feeling much better afterward. 
 
Tracy sent the following quote to me the day after we found out we were having twins, it was on the cover of Frazer's weekly bulletin and she thought it was perfect for me, and it is!
 

“God loves me too much to allow me to miss his greatest blessings just so I can remain comfortable.”

Now, recently, I have been following my friend Deborah's blog very closely and yesterday she wrote the following words and I feel they fit her situation perfectly and bring me some reassurance as well.

"As our days bounce back and forth from good to bad to better to worse, it is important for us to look at the big picture and not simply what is happening in this moment or that. It's like Tera's weight gain. To gauge it from one day to the next would be nerve-wrecking and mind-boggling. But to consider it over a week's time shows a truer picture of her progress. In the same way, God's promises are not withheld on one day and freely given on another. Over the course of time, His sights are set on a big picture that will become clear to us when that time is right."

If you want to follow Deborah's story her blog can be found here.  She is presently on day 29 of her stay in Birmingham where her daughter is staying in the Contnuing Care Nursery.  Tera was born weighing 2 pounds 5 ounces and 15 1/2 inches long at 26 weeks 3 days gestation.  Tera seems to be making great strides everyday and I have enjoyed reading Deborahs posts because she is so inspiring.  Obviously, our overwhelming new situation is nothing comparable to her day to day, but I think that we all go through times where we could use the advice to stop and look at the bigger picture.