How Are You Feeling?

So, I really am looking pregnant these days.  The kind of pregnant where strangers ask when you are due.  My due date is not until the end of March.  I then feel the need to qualify that I am having twins and that the babies can be considered full term at the end of February.  Yikes, February seems like it is right around the corner.

I am also being asked fairly often, "How are you feeling?" I appreciate the concern but the early months of carrying these babies were much rougher than it is now at 27 weeks.  I think because the pregnancy is now so visually obvious it prompts people to ask.  At this point I am actually really enjoying being pregnant.  Despite some people's comments that I must be sick of being pregnant at this stage, I have not felt that way at all.  In fact if all 40 weeks were like it is right now then I would say "what's the big deal?" But alas, those early months were a little difficult.  The morning sickness that lasts all day, the crazy break outs, headaches that evolved into migraines, pregnancy congestion, cold sores from a really active immune system, constant bathroom trips, and sciatica--all thanks to a surge of hormones my body was not used to.  Then when the boys got bigger (15-20 weeks) it was having both of them breech with a little head directly under my floating rib.  That rib felt like it had been punched repeatedly and whenever I laughed I had to put pressure on it to keep from feeling it pop out.  It was at this point of chronic pain that I told Eric I doubted my ability to keep doing this.  Every woman knows she can and must keep trudging on but the reality was I was miserable and felt guilty I was not enjoying the miracle of life. 

Somewhere I turned a corner around 24-25 weeks and my belly really popped out giving the kids the room they needed and me a sigh of relief.  I also found out that baby A turned back to the vertex position and baby B was transverse thus making me a whole lot more comfortable. I have been able to sleep more and get up to go to the bathroom less.  I have been blessed to have a complication free pregnancy thus far.  The only concern was a low hematocrit level (totally normal for twins) and my glucose was a little high on my one hour test.  I am going to go in this week for the three hour test.  The boys' last scan indicated that they were both in 48-50th percentile for a singleton and they had only a 5% variance.  I see and feel my belly move all the time which is really awesome (in true definition of the word, i.e. inspiring awe).  What I find even more amazing is having a sense of these boys' personalities.  Baby A seems to be more laid back.  If he moves, there seems to be motivation for it.  Baby B seems a lot more spunky and seems to move because he can. We'll see if those projections come true. I can feel them moving in tandem at times so they are already wrestling like little boys like to do!

Next week we start our childbirth education class.  We have not really started on the babies' room (sheepish look) but we have accumulated a lot of the essentials we will need for babies when they get here.  I am honestly trying to take it week by week because who knows what could happen?  Fortunately I have not been threatened with bed rest and I am even working still but I realize I have to be mentally prepared for those possibilities.

26 weeks

Fall Pictures

Our friend Harmony took our pictures at the beginning of November when I was twenty weeks pregnant.  One advantage to living in Northern Nevada is experiencing real seasons and seeing the fall colors come in.  I wanted pics for Christmas cards and ultimately just to remember this time in our life--expecting our baby boys and our little family comprising of our two little dogs, Eric and myself.  Harmony did a great job and I had a lot of "favorites."  Basically, that was all of the proofs.  Here are some the pics.  You can check out more of Harmony's work on her website and blog here.  As you can see I am doing some major overhaul to our blog and have used some of the fabulous pics to update the header.  It really needed it.  Isn't the picture with the sunset over the mountains amazing?  For those who aren't familiar with our scenery, Lake Tahoe is directly on the other side of those mountains. 

 

Recap of 2010

In somewhat chronological order:

• Eric turned 30 in January and I threw him an awesome 80's themed birthday party.  To see pics of the awesomeness, click here.
• We adopted two little dogs from the Mono County Animal Shelter.  We believe they are possibly miniature poodle/bichon frise/cocker spaniel mixes. They were brought into the shelter together and have the same color coat.  They might have been a breeding pair but we don't know for sure. To see the adorableness of these two, click here.
• I started a new job with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection in the Bureau of Air Quality Planning at the beginning of the year.  I have been working in ambient air monitoring this past year but have been transitioning into a position within program management.  I am managing grants for retrofitting diesel buses currently and learning a lot.  The new job has meant a lot less stress and a much shorter commute.
• My Grandpa Dykstra turned 90 in April.  He is a wonderful, godly example and I feel blessed to have had him in my life for so long!
• Eric's cousin Amy was married early in June.  Amy and Jon had a beautiful wedding in Reno.
• Our good friends Brandon and Dawn had their baby boy in June.  They named him Uriah.  Awesome name, isn't it?
• Youth Conference 2010 held in June was another big success.  We had our biggest group to date!
• Eric's grandpa Guddat went to heaven in July after a strong fight against prostate cancer.  We were able to travel to WA for the services and were grateful to spend that time commemorating him with other family members. 
• Our friends Woody and Sarah were married in July. Our friends, the Elliotts (James and Michelle), came for the wedding and visited with us for the weekend.  They have three kids four and under and make it look so easy.  We also found out in July that we are expecting. 
• Eric's friend and discipler Monty went to heaven in August after living with pulmonary fibrosis for a couple years.  He had a huge impact on Eric's spiritual walk and I am grateful his legacy continues on.
• Eric and I celebrated our two year anniversary in August.  So are we still considered newlyweds?  Well, I still like to think we act like it.
• My mom and stepdad came for a visit in August. We went to Hot August Nights in Reno (classic car rally). I was in the the throes of morning sickness but we had a nice visit.
• We went to the greater Denver area Labor Day weekend for a dear friend's wedding and turned the trip into a vacation.  It was our first time visiting CO and we had a great time seeing Rocky Mountain National Park.
• To see some pics of our summer, click here.
• In September we found out that we were not only expecting a baby but having twins!  It was quite the shock.  More shocking was when we found out they were identical twins.  God is good!
• Eric is still teaching the JH/HS bible study on Wed. nights.  I have been teaching the 4th, 5th and 6th grade class for Kids Desiring God (also on Wed. nights).
• We traveled down to So Cal to see our friend James graduate from the police academy.  He is working for Riverside PD. 
• You already know but we are having boys.  That's right.  Picture two little Erics running around. 
• Eric has now been with Bently for 11 years!  We thank the Lord for constant employment during this rough time in the economy. 
• We traveled down to So Cal to spend Thanksgiving with my family.  We had a great visit and the babies are already being spoiled.
• Christmas was relaxing and happy.  We went to Christmas Eve service at our church and had family and friends over that night.  We did not get snow on Christmas. I will admit I was a bit disappointed.  We drove up to Tahoe with Eric's brother Adam and had breakast at Zephyr Cove.  Later we took some pics at Sand Harbor.  Christmas evening we went to Eric's parents' for the traditional Italian Christmas dinner.  It was great and the tiramisu we made for dessert turned out to be scrumptious. 
• Baby Watch 2011:  Two of the weddings we attended this summer were soon followed by some baby news.  Amy and Jon and Woody and Sarah are expecting this spring.  Also anyone that was a part of our wedding seemed to have big news.  Matron of honor and best friend Kathy and her husband Dave are expecting in May.  Cierra Pera, college room mate and confidante, is expecting baby number four with husband Steve in March.  Groomsman Rob Palmer is expecting baby number five with wife Makela in April.  Groomsman James and wife Michelle are expecting baby number four this summer.  I now have a friend named Jolene and guess what?  Yep, we have the same due date.  Good thing we spell our names differently or it could be confusing for people at church (read sentence with slight facetious tone).  If I missed memorializing a baby announcement, forgive me but there was a lot of baby news this year!

Overall, we have had quite the year and we feel blessed to have so much to look forward to in 2011!

Listening to Their Papa's Voice

Eric is going to be a papa.  I think he is going to be an absolutely terrific one based on the fact that he is a caring and loving husband.  I honestly was hoping for boys because I thought it would be a blessing (and huge responsibility and challenge) to raise strong, godly men who would Lord willing emulate their papa.

I have been feeling the babies move since around 16 weeks and we are currently at 24 weeks.  The first movements were just flutters and now I am getting true kicks.  I seriously think the babies sense when I am holding or touching my belly because I get a little jab right where my hand or arm is resting.  I kept grabbing Eric's hand and putting it right where I had just felt them and then they would stop.  Of course.  I really wanted him to be able connect with them in that way but they were being totally uncooperative.  A couple nights ago we were laying in bed getting ready to fall alseep when the boys really started thumping.  And again, they stopped moving when I had Eric try to feel.  So I suggested Eric talk to them and he put his face right next to my belly and proceeded to chat.  They heard their papa's voice clearly because the room was dark and quiet.  They had no other distracting stimuli.  They (or at least Baby B) kicked his hand again and again.  It was awesome to know that they responded to him.  I pray that that is a sign towards the future.  Just like sheep know the shepherd's voice and trust the shepherd, I want my sons to know and trust that their papa is there to lead and guide them through life.

And because blogs are always more interesting with photos:

 

23 weeks

The Twins...I Mean the Babies

I don't want my sons to be know as "the twins."  I realize that this is inevitable to a certain degree but at the same time I don't want their whole identity to be about the fact that they share the same DNA.  I plan on referring to them as the boys or the babies (just as I do now).  I want people to get to know them for being their own person.  The hard thing with identical twins is that because they look so similar and can be difficult to tell apart, people feel embarrassed to ask which one they are and treat them as a collective unit.  I want my sons to feel loved as individuals and not as one half of their twinhood. 

I have read a fair amount about Abigail Pogrebin who wrote the book One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I've Learned About Everyone's Struggle to Be Singular.  She writes from her personal experience as well as numerous interviews with twins, both identical and fraternal.  You can check out her blog here.  So this is a book I have to snag from the library or maybe just buy as an investment into my twin knowledge. 

Most people know I am hopelessly analytical.  These are the type of things I think about. Perhaps it will be good to write again so I can have an outlet.  Anyone out there a parent to twins, have family members that are twins or a twin them self?   I seriously don't tire of the anecdotal twin info.  I am like a sponge absorbing all twin baby and parenting advice.  So please share.

What Happened in 2010?

How is it possible that my poor blog became so neglected in 2010?  I think that there were the moments where I thought I would get around to it but never actually made the time.  It's really about making the conscientous effort, isn't it?  And I am determined to be able to look back on some of 2010 and remember the big thoughts going on in my life. 

So what is our big news? We are going to be parents...twice. We are expecting identical twin boys in March. I hope to expand on all the many thoughts that impending parenthood has placed upon me. Eric and I are humbled, awed, excited, thankful, nervous and trying to absorb the fact that we are being blessed with not one but two sons.

This is a pic of the Guddat boys at 17 weeks

Adoption Part Two

As a follow up to my previous post on adoption, I found a post by a couple whom I attended college with who adopted two little ones from Ethiopia.  Their expression for why they are wanting to adopt based on Christian principles is clear, concise and beautiful.

The following is from Dave and Stacey Hares' blog Hare Adoption:

We've had many people asking what led us to adopt, so we thought we'd copy and paste one of our original posts. We're adopting...

Because God cares for orphans, and one of the ways in which he exercises this care is through his church.

Psalm 68:5 says that God is “Father of the fatherless and protector of widows.” Christians, who are being transformed into the image of Christ live out His heart when they care for orphans. “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction” (James 1:27). As God cares for the fatherless, so we as his children care for them too. Our concern for the orphans is a tangible manifestation of God’s love that has been poured out into our hearts.

Because we have been adopted by God.

Jesus left heaven, lived a very humiliating life, ultimately dying for sinners so he could bring people into the family of God and call them his children. Christians, from every tribe, tongue and nation, have been pursued by God and adopted into his family. In the same way we want to pursue those from another nation, not our own, and bring them into our family. We desire our family to be a little picture of this great Gospel.


So that these children will have the opportunity to hear of Christ.

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Believing in Christ is the only way to receive salvation and how will these children hear of Christ unless someone preaches to them? We, put very simply, want to adopt children, so that we can tell to them about salvation in Christ.

Because we have been given so much.

We want to give because we have been given the wealth of America, loving Christian families and most importantly spiritual truth. It is only by grace that we were born into such material and spiritual wealth, and we want to extend that grace to children who were born into poverty and little if any access to the truths of Scripture. We recognize that we are no better than those (now our kids) who were left on the streets without anyone to care for them. We have been blessed to be a blessing.