The Mystery Continues

I had an appointment with my specialist yesterday. All went well. One baby weighs 2 lbs. 7 oz. and the other weighs 2 lbs. 14 oz. As Sean put it "all systems are go."

We've been telling everyone they are fraternal because my OB said that with two placentas, which I have, it's about 20 to 1 odds they are. Yesterday, our specialist said that even with two placentas they could still be identical. If they are identical, it would mean the egg split very early in the process. At birth, they'll check their blood types. If they are different, they are fraternal. If not, they still won't be able to say for sure. There is an enzyme test they can do at birth that may tell us. But, if that comes out the same on both, then the only way to know for sure is to do a chromosome test. That test is very expensive and not really necessary unless one of the babies were to need something like a transplant. So, it's unlikely that we would ever take it that far unless we need it for a medical reason.

So, the mystery continues. I can't wait to see if they look the same or completely different. I wonder if anyone does baby tatoos? If they look the same I'll have to do something to tell them apart!

I've posted some new pictures that my friend Abbey took of Sean, me and my big belly.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Christmas season.

Ashley

10 Weeks and Counting

There isn't much to report this week. All is well with the babies and my health. I'm 27 weeks but measure 34. I feel all of 34. We have just 10 weeks to go, so the count down has begun!

We spent Thanksgiving with the Antles at the home of Sean's aunt. We had a good time and ate some fantastic fried turkey. I couldn't help but think about how different next Thanksgiving will be with two babies crawling around. Gone are the days of fixing my plate and sitting down for an uninterupted turkey dinner.

I'm working on decorating the house for Christmas now. I love Christmas! Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Ashley

What's in a Name?

We've finally chosen names! They will be Nathan Phillip and Caden Michael. Sean and I wanted their names to reflect the legacy we hope to build in them and pray their lives reflect.

Nathan means He gave, or God has given. The Bible verse we've chosen for Nathan is John 3:16, which says: "For God so love the world that HE GAVE his only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." We hope Nathan's life is a testimony to God's gift of salvation and the life that is found in Jesus Christ.

Caden means Fighter. His verse is Judges 6:12 and comes from the story of Gideon who God used to deliver the Isrealites from the Midianites. The verse says: "When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The LORD is with you, MIGHTY WARRIOR.'" Our hope is that Caden would have a defiant faith and, like a warrior pursing the call and commands of his commander, obediently follow Christ throughout his life.

Both of our boys are such a gift to us, and our prayer for them is that they come to know Jesus at an early age and grow up following their Creator.

We'll decide which one is Nathan and which one is Caden when we see their little faces!

Baby Showers!

What a fun weekend. I had two wonderful showers in Fort Worth.

My sweet friends Laura Van Hoosier and Whitney Jodry hosted a lunch shower for me at The Vault in downtown Fort Worth. All of my friends from Harris were there. One of my college professors, Dr. Maggie Thomas, also joined us, which was a special treat. It was so much fun to catch up with these ladies. I miss them!

My family gave me a brunch shower on Saturday at my cousin Caitlyn's house. The decorations were beautiful and the food was so yummy. A special thanks to Paige, Laura, Caitlyn, Cindy, Jaclyn, Linda and Sandra for all of their hard work and the special touches they put into the shower. It was so special.

The boys and I received some wonderful gifts. In fact, both showers and all of the gifts that came with them were more than I could ever hope for, and I am so grateful. I am so blessed with loving and giving family and friends. Thank you, everyone!

To top off the weekend, we went to Pittsburg for the 150th anniversary of the church I grew up in. It was great to see old friends and to give Sean a glimpse into my childhood. Fun memories!

Check out all of the pictures from the weekend on the right.

Baby Beds!

The baby cribs are up! I came home one night this week to find Sean working on them and you would have thought it was Christmas morning for me. They were actually easy to assemble, and I love how they turned out.

All of the big stuff is done. Now, it's just about decorating and putting the final touches on the room. I've posted a picture of the proud daddy with his masterpieces.

Happy Birthday to my dad, or as he is now known, Big Daddy!

Nursery Progress!

Thanks to my handy father-in-law and his trusty assistant, Sean, the chair rail is up and the ceiling fan is in! It's beginning to look a lot like babies around here.

Good Eats!

I saw my 3-year-old nephew, Josh, ealier this week and he had some insight I wanted to share.

This was the conversation. We were talking babies, of course.

Tamara (Josh's mom): Josh, how did those babies get in her tummy?
Josh: She ate 'em.

Cute, cute, cute!

Movers and Shakers

Hello, everyone. Since my last post I had my visit with a maternal/fetal specialist. Everything went well. The babies, which we confirmed are two boys, look great. The are side by side right now. We've labeled the one on my left side twin A and the one on my right twin B.

Twin A is very active. In fact, the ultrasound tech said he was hard to keep up with because he moves so much. Twin B is a little less active and always seems to lay in the perfect position. It looks like I have one mover and shaker and another who is calm, cool and collected. I can't wait to see if they stay true to these traits once they are born.

I can now feel their little kicks, and it is so cool. Sean felt a kick too over the weekend.

I continue to grow by leaps and bounds. I'll post new pictures this week.

Hello, Jaclyn!

Just a shout out to my cousin Jaclyn who I know is reading tonight. I'm starting to feel the babies kick and move!

Painting Weekend

Mom and Paige came to town to help me paint the nursery this weekend. We had a great time, and I love the way the colors turned out. Now, it took us about six color samples, five trips to Lowes and one trip to Sherwin Williams to get the exact cream color I wanted but, in the end, it turned out just as I had hoped. Thank goodness for a patient mother and sister. I'll unveil it with photos when it is closer to finished. We still have to add the chair rail and beds, of course.

I've got pictures of all of us painting, but no woman wants to be pictured on the Internet for all the world to see when she has bed hair, no makeup and is wearing ugly paint clothes, so I'll keep those to myself.

I have posted new belly shots of me at 18/19 weeks. You'll notice I have a new haircut. I wanted something that could easily be managed in a very short amount of time when the babies arrive.

Our last ultrasound was Monday and all is well. The babies look great. Just watching and waiting!

By the way, would someone out there please invent a twin stroller that holds both infant seats at the same time and doesn't weigh 40 pounds?! Yes, I know Graco does, but you need to be Superwoman to lift that thing into your car. I guess I'll finally get those Madonna arms I've always wanted next year!

Cool Moms Club!

To all of my mom friends out there who blog, I read an article the other day that said blogging is the hip mom's scrapbooking. I just thought blogging was the non-artsy person's scrapbooking, and for those who are better with the written word than they are with scissors and glue. Apparently, we're hip!

To all of my friends who scrapbook, no disrespect intented and more power to you. Like I said, I'm better with words than with scissors and glue.

Are They Twins?

I've been reading a book that Sean bought me called "Ready or Not...Here We Come!" by Elizabeth Lyons. It's all about what you need to know to survive the first year with twins. It's hilarious. So far, my favorite chapter is the one about the weird, intrusive and just plain dumb questions you get from curious people (aka perfect strangers) when you are out and about with the babies.

I thought I'd share a few with you as I think it will give us all a good laugh. The funny thing is, some of my friends with twins have already warned me about some of these very questions. If you'd like, comment on what you think the answers to each should be (keep it clean as I have young readers).

1. Are they twins?
Hmmm, they look alike, are dressed alike and are about the same size. Wouldn't they have to be at least nine months apart to not be twins, and don't you think a baby at nine months looks a little different than a baby at three months?

2. What kind of fertility drugs did you take?
I'd love to share with you Sean's answer to this one but it isn't appropriate for all audiences. It's about as good as his little "pow, pow" comment at this year's Antle family reunion when we announced we were having twins. If your curiosity gets the best of you, email or call me and I'll share it privately (if you aren't young and innocent). I happen to LOVE the book's answer to this: "Excuse me. Did I ask you if you douche?" (If you are one of my young readers and don't know what that is, don't ask me, ask your mother.)

3. Did you know you were having twins?
My answer to this one: First, this is 2008 and there is this little thing called technology. Second, the fact that I was in maternity pants by my twelth week was a little tip that I either had one enormous baby or that I was blessed with two. But, if anyone really asks me this question, I'll smile politely and say "yes."

4. Wow, I'm sure glad it's you and not me!
Thanks for the encouragement. The book's suggested answer "Me too!" I think I'll stick with that one.

5. You aren't going to have any more, are you? Variation (and I've already gotten this one) Well, at least you get it over with all at one time.
I love how people think they have this insight into your life and you can't possibly know better than they do. Who said we weren't having any more? Let's get past this one and we'll go from there as it really could go either way. I'm the type that likes to have options.

6. Which one is smarter?
Really? I won't even dignify that with an answer.

7. Which side of your family do twins run?
I actually don't mind this question and I get it all the time. If I knew nothing about twins (which I didn't about five months ago), I would ask it too. So, here's a little science lesson for everyone just to explain. First, fraternal twins (which is what we are about 95% sure we have) come from two different fertilized eggs. I now know that as a woman ages, she is more likely to drop more than one ege during her cycle. This would have been nice to know years ago, but I still wouldn't change a thing. Identical twins come from one egg that splits and have nothing to do with genetics. According to the book I'm reading, an egg splitting is still considered a purely random act (I like to call it God as I don't believe in anything random when it comes to creation.) So, twins actually only "run" on the mother's side because only the mother passes the tendency to release more than one egg to her daughter. I will be sharing this little known secret with my daughter if I ever have one.

I plan to keep track of all of the amusing questions I get over the next year or two. I'll let you know what makes the list!

Fall in Oklahoma

It's 70 degrees and sunny in Tulsa today...a perfect fall day. I love fall in Oklahoma!

The Joeys

Our good friends here in Tulsa have a 3-year-old girl named Glory. She is about the most articulate 3-year-old I've ever met and is a little social butterfly. She loves lips (lip gloss), purses, shopping, shoes (what woman doesn't) and chicken and wanch from Chic-a-la (those aren't typos, that is Glory speak).

Glory is so excited about the twins. In the beggining, she was sure one was a boy and one was a girl, and she named the boy Joey and the girl Schluby (don't ask because I don't know). She would say Sean gets the boy and we (Glory and Ashley) get the girl. We recently had to break the news to her that they are two boys. She didn't believe us at first, but now she's all for it.

In fact, no more Joey and Schluby. Now, she calls them the Joeys. At dinner the other night, she even prayed for the Joeys. What a cherised prayer! Out of the mouth of a babe!

Can't wait to meet the Joeys!

It's a boy, it's a girl...

Nope, it's two boys! How sure are we? Well, in the doctor's words "unless something falls off." So, we are now in complete decorating mode. I've ordered two cribs and I'm almost sure on what I want to do in terms of bedding. I've just got to pull the trigger and get it ordered. I've also started shopping for all of the cute boy clothes I can get my hands on. I found the cutest onsie that said "If you think I'm cute, you should see my twin." Of course, I bought two.

In other news, our good friends the Coveys came to visit us over Labor Day weekend, along with their 5-month-old twin boys who are absolutely adorable. We had a wonderful time. Stephanie game me lots of great tips, and we got a glimpse at what our lives will be in six short months. If they are as happy and content as the Covey boys, we'll be fine...very busy, but fine. Is there anything more precious than babies after they've had a bath and are in their little footie PJs for the night? I think not. I've posted some pictures for your enjoyment. My favorite is the one of Sean playing daddy!

I've also posted a shot of me and my baby bump at 15 weeks. Although I'm only 15 weeks, I actually measure 20 to 22 weeks. By the time I'm 28 weeks, I will measure what a mother of one baby typically measures at full term, according to my doctor.

The babies are growing well. Both have strong heartbeats. It looks more and more like they are fraternal twins as the doctor was able to see two placentas at my last visit. No, we don't have names picked out yet, but we're working on it.

That's it for now. I'll update again soon.

Looking For My Mojo

I know it's been a week since I've posted. Not much has changed. Our last ultrasound was Aug. 22. I was hoping we would find out what they are but those little squirts had their legs crossed and wouldn't show us a thing. I've given them a good talking to, and told them they better show us something at the next appointment on Sept. 5. I'm sure they listened very intently. Is it too early to start teaching them about obedience?

One interesting note from my last visit with the doctor...I measured 18.5 weeks. That's not all that interesting unless you consider the fact that I'm only 14 weeks. Any wagers on how big I'll get? I'll start posting pregnant pictures soon so you guys can see how I'm growing.

I recently read an article in a pregnancy magazine about how not to lose your "mojo" when you are expecting. Wasn't it my mojo (and Sean's) that got me here in the first place?! One of the tips was to not think and talk about baby 24/7. Yeah, right! It seems that my growing stomach and the fact that my life is about to change in ways I don't yet understand is all I can think about right now. Looks like I've lost my mojo.

Maybe a new haircut will do the trick. I'm thinking about going short to cut down on my drying time. I love Katie Holmes' new short do. Now I've got something new to think about. My mojo is back!

The Last Hoorah!

Sean and I just returned from our vacation in Florida with my family, which we lovingly called our last hoorah. Family vacations will be very different for us from now on. We'll be lugging a lot more to the beach next year!

We had a great time. On the drive down, Sean came up with a list of four baby names for us to choose from, depending on whether it's two girls, two boys or a girl and a boy. Here's his list for your reading enjoyment.

Kashi Granola Antle
Kiwi Kumquat Antle
Chicory Beignet Antle
Bananas Foster Antle

Hi, Mom!

We had another ultrasound today. It is amazing how much the twins have grown in two weeks. It actually looked like one was waving at us, as if to say "Hi, Mom and Dad!"

We are all clear to head to Florida for a little R & R on Sunday. Sean and I are calling this trip The Last Hoorah, as we know it will be our last time in Florida to do exactly what we want, when we want. And, we are going to enjoy every second of it.

So, I'll think of you all fondly as I sit on the beach sipping my caffiene-free, diet cherry Sprite. Actually, I think I'll make it a real Sprite. I've lost two pounds (been a little sick the last few weeks) and my doctor told me to go on a hot fudge sundae diet. Really, those were his words. I was actually reprimanded for loosing weight. I'm cool with that and feel I'll be able to manage this new diet.

What's for dinner at the Antle house? Hot fudge sundaes with a side of macarroni and cheese! MMM!!!

Twins? Oh my!

I've decided to start blogging about my journey with twins so that all of our family and friends living out of town can be a part of what is going on in our lives over the next seven months. By now you all know that Sean and I are having not one baby...but two! We have lovingly named them Shock and Awe for now. I think it best describes how we felt when we heard the news. While I still have moments of total disbelief that we're having twins, most of the shock has turned to joy and excitement. Sean and I are thrilled.

We've already started preparing the house by moving the double bed in the larger guest room to the smaller guest room. Obviously, we are going to need the bigger room for two baby beds. I'm now in total decorating mode. My goal is to have it all finished by the end of the year so that I can follow doctor's orders and, in his words, "become a couch potato."

I'm not sure how the couch potato thing will work for me. While I love a good lazy day every once in a while, I can only take so much before I have to get up and go. Maybe I'll read a book or, better yet, finish writing the one I've started.

I've already received lots of wonderful cards and gifts. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged us with those. One of my mother's good friends sent me a beautiful custom painting of four sheep in a field--a mom, dad and two baby sheep. It is so precious and references the scripture John 10:27. It says, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can sntach them out of my hand." That is our prayer--that our babies would know their Creator and have eternal life.

Thanks for reading, and I'll keep updating.

Ashley