25 weeks!

We had another growth scan this week and the babies almost weigh 2lbs each!  They are only a couple ounces apart which is fantastic news!  Sometimes twins grow at very different rates which makes doctors worry that one twin isn't getting enough nutrients.  Thankfully, we're steering clear of that.  Good Job guys!!

In new developments, Baby Girl has turned herself and is now breech!  Thankfully, Baby Boy is still head down.  As long as he stays that way, my doctors will plan for me to have a vaginal delivery (which I'd really prefer).  They said that they actually prefer Twin B to be breech as they can do a breech extraction which is faster and safer since the cervix doesn't have time to close back up between babies.  Baby Girl really knows what she's doing!

Babymoonin' in Jamaica, Mon!

We decided that we should take one last vacation before the babies join us.  These trips have been dubbed "Babymoons" by Marketing Geniuses.  They similar to honeymoons in that a couple plans on spending some alone time, enjoying each other's company.

We chose Jamaica as our destination and with my doctor's blessing, hoped on a flight (mask on!) and made our way our tropical island getaway.

With Ebola making it's way around the world, I wasn't about to take any chances!

Our first night at our hotel, The Spa Resort, was magical.  

It was perched right on the edge of these beautiful cliffs in Negril.

It was really nice to be able to reconnect with each other, away from all our responsibilities. 

The next day, we headed off to check out the amazing beaches.  

The sand was so fine and soft and the water was so warm and clear!

I wasn't sure how I was going to feel in a bikini so I packed a one-piece I bought at Target while in Houston a few weeks back.  I surprised myself by not only rocking the 2 piece but also decorating my belly with some metallic temporary tattoos (thanks, April!)

We made some new friends while in Jamaica.  This is Roza.  Does she look familiar?  Well, she should!  She's part Ridgeback, part German Shepard.  Just like Sirius!  We love how the universe puts what means the most to us around us all the time.

As many of you know, we're really active and on vacation, we usually pack each day with excursion after excursion after excursion.  However, since I have the twins onboard, I wasn't allowed to:

Scuba dive, horseback ride, paddle board, sail, hike waterfalls or even take a river boat tour.  I was allowed to: Eat, Sleep, Shop and Snorkel   Fine.  We really did have such a nice, relaxing time.  

We were on a hunt for live reggae music.  Sometime that seemed to elude us the whole time we were there!  Who would've thought!!!

After a few days, we were practically Jamaican.  Yah, Mon!  

Or Yes, mon! if you want to be proper about it!

Another friend that didn't fair as well as Roza.

24 weeks!

Yay!  We've reached the 24 week mark.  This means that if the babies came today they would have a 50% chance of survival.  This is a statistic only a medical professional can really appreciate.  Obviously, we don't want to try our luck with these chances but it's still super reassuring.  Every day they stay inside me, their chances get better and better.  and I can feel them getting bigger and stronger.  Their kicks have way more umph behind them!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!!!

We took my mom out to Hillstone for her Birthday Brunch. We're so lucky that she happened to be in town for it!  True to her generous fashion, she came loaded with presents for the babies- blanket and books and supplies. Oh my!  We can't wait for our babies to meet their grandma and be showered in her love! 

Ridgeback Pack!!

Archie and Sirius are members of the Ridgeback Pack which meets twice a month in Central Park.  We had our monthly meeting this morning and had a great time!  The weather was perfect.  It's really shaping up to be a beautiful fall in the city.  Sirius and Archie love going to their club meeting, not just to see their friends but also because it's off leash time in Central Park.  As soon as we enter the park, I let them lose and it's like they can't believe it's legal!  And thankfully, they're on their best behavior!

There were about 6-8 Ridgies there this time.  Archie's buddy Zeus was there and he made a new friend named Ullysses.  They are the dynamic mythological trio.

Sirius stayed out of the commotion but had a great time taking in the fresh air and beautiful scenery.  We climbed up on a rock pile but it was hard to get us all in the picture.

Checking on the Babies

We had an ultrasound this week and got to peak in on the babies.  They are growing so fast!  They're both still head down which is super exciting.  My doctor did caution us that they still had room to turn and that their position would be more relevant around 31-32 weeks.  They're also usually face to face which we love.  We can't wait to see they're bond when they're born.  However, because they are so close, their amniotic sacs often interfere with pictures.  Here's a couple that we got.

  

This is our Son!!!  He kinda looks like Sirius and Archie in the 3D picture.  The sonographer reassured us that he doesn't have a snout.  It's the amniotic sac interfering with the image.  Phew!!!  We love our dogs but would prefer the baby to look more like us.

This is our Daughter!!!  Our little lady kept her hands in by her face the whole time.  At one point it even looked like she was sucking her thumb, but we couldn't be sure.

23 weeks along!

Can't believe how quickly time has flown!  We are 23 weeks and I can feel the babies moving all the time.  Since Twin A's (Baby Boy) placenta is anterior, meaning in the front of my uterus, I don't feel him as much.  But Twin B's (Baby Girl) is posterior, so I feel her moving and grooving all day.  They are both still head down and BB is on on my left and BG is on the right.  With all this information, I can pretty much determine with one I'm feeling.  They're both most active right when I lay down for the night around 10pm.  We're nervous that we're going to have2 little night owls on our hands!

This week Scott was finally able to feel the babies move.  He felt our son moving first.  One night, I had my belly buds on (those are headphones for my belly so I can play music for the babies) and Baby Boy was going nuts!  Scott was next to me and put his hand on my belly and felt him right away.  When we looked to see what song was playing, it was Lauryn Hill "Can't take me Eyes off of you".  Those of you who made it to our wedding in the Bahamas will remember (maybe...) that was the song we had our first dance to!  Then a few night later, Baby Girl was jamming and Scott was able to feel her!!!  

22 weeks!

We're 22 weeks and it feels surreal!  I've been feeling really good and love feel all the tiny kicks and jumps. The weather in manhattan has been perfect and we've been gettin out and enjoying the fall. 

Fun outside the city!

Sometimes New Yorkers get stuck in our little city bubble, refusing to leave the boundaries of Manhattan or even our own neighborhood out of sheer convenience. 

Today we busted out of our routine, packed up the car an dogs and ventured out of the city, a whole hour away. 

Our day started by going to Saxon Woods Preserve in Mount Vernon, NY and hit the hiking trails. We found a great easy 4-mile loop and hiked for about 2 hours. The dogs loved it!  Sirius led the pack while Archie, a total gentleman, would run from the front to the back to keep checking on me. The babies must've wanted to join the fun because I kept feeling their little feet hiking all over my belly. 

Sirius leading the way

Picture Perfect Hike

After we finished the loop, we headed over to our friends', Jeff and Christine, new home to meet their baby, Elon.  It was so nice to drive around and see the beautiful houses in a 'normal' neighborhoods (another thing that New Yorkers don't see a lot of). Elon was the happiest little guy with such a charming smile!  And with the busiest little feet. He would hold my little hands, stand up and just bounce!  I'm still trying to figure out how I'll play similar games with 2 little babies... Maybe I can grow another set of arms??

 And since the dogs were with us, they got to meet baby Elon, too!  It's was super cute to see them all staring at each other with such friendly curiosity. Funnily enough, Archie was the biggest baby and cried most of the time. 

"Whoa. He's big". "Whoa. He's little". 

Happy baby!!!!

Lunch with my Boyfriend/Girlfriend

Life has a wonderful way of bringing incredible people into your life.  Time has a funny way of then splitting you apart.

My dear friends Mike and Jenna are shinning examples of this paradox.  I met Mike in 2006 through a mutual friend in Miami.  Mike was down for Spring Break and we were all hanging out in a big group going to dinners and clubs in South Beach.  As we chatted, we discovered we were both moving to New York City later that summer.  Mike was starting his Orthopedic Residency and I was headed to nursing school.   So a few months later, we met up in the city and Mike introduced me to his beautiful new wife who would become one of my closet friends.  We spent the next few years, pal'ing around the city together.  They never made me feel like a third wheel and I came to affectionately refer to them as my boyfriend/girlfriend.

Manhattan circa 2008

Jenna and I in Guatemala circa 2008

Sadly, our run came to end at the same time Mike finished his residency.  The Halls (plus their new baby boy, Dylan) packed up and headed out West to sunny Los Angeles.  We've seen each other through the years.  Mike and Jenna traveled down to the Bahamas for my wedding, and flew to California to meet their new baby, Mila.  While not as frequent, the time we spent together was just as fun!

Thankfully, due to social obligations in form of a wedding, Mike and Jenna were back in the city this weekend.  We met up at Hillstone's Midtown and laughed a couple of hours away.  It was great reminiscing over old times and planning the months to come.  I can't wait for my babies to meet their Uncle Mike and Auntie Jenna!

This week in our lives...

Scott and I had a really eventful week.

Scott flew out to California to sponsor Mike Tyson's one man show called The Undisputed Truth. He spent 2 blissful days with Mike, traveling with him to appearances, grabbing lunch, playing video games and getting to know him better. Mike even told him some new stories about Cus. They were really able to build more trust and strengthen their friendship. 

Meanwhile, back at the Manhattan Ranch, the babies and I had another big anatomy scan. Since Scott was in California, his parents came with me to the appointment. My favorite sonographer, Nagina, showed us so many fun baby parts!  Turns out the babies turned and they are now both head down!!! This is huge news!  If they stay this way (at least Baby A needs to), we can try for a vaginal delivery, which would be a dream come true for me! While, I'm trying to let go of expectations, and just focus on growing healthy full term nuggets, I would still prefer to deliver them naturally. Lots of people forget that Cesearan Sections are major abdominal surgery. It would be less than ideal to have to recover from that with 2 newborns in the house. Both babies being vertex, also means that I have 4 tiny feet kicking me in the belly button. If you recall to my 20 week update, I complained about belly button pain. It's all making sense!  

In other developments, the babies both weigh 1 pound and are in the 50th percentile for growth. I'm so happy they're growing so well.  And then the funniest story that we came away with from the scan involves watching the babies interact with each other. We were looking at our Little Man's perfect little brain when his sister's hand came into focus. We watched in shock as she gently poked him in the eye and then lightly popped him on the nose!!! Looks like our little princess is playing dirty!  When we focused back on our little baby boy, we noticed that he had turned away from her as if to say "Forget you! I'm outta here!"  Ironically that caused him to moon us!!

Check out this cute tushy and those little crossed feet (and that perfect spine)!

And this is Baby Girl gloating over getting more camera time.