Kickin' It

It's something every pregnant women goes through (I think).  Kelly and I have been really entertained the past few weeks with the babies kicking, punching or just moving around in Kelly. 

I've just recently been able to experience this otherworldly movement and it's really, really cool.  It's another reality check that yes, we are really pregnant, and there is a living thing(s) inside Kelly.  It could really be something out of a science fiction novel, but it's the way God made us to have children.  Wild stuff.  

Kelly says the boys are the most active, and her little girl is properly calm, of course.  The next 12 weeks should hold a lot of entertainment in this manner, getting to know our littles ones by feel.  

Kelly and I have talked a lot about feeding and sleeping philosophies, going back and forth among the various books we've collected.  The books are helpful as long as each one is really scrutinized and taken with a grain of salt.  I think we've arrived where we began before we read the books; we're going to be as consistent as we can and do whatever we think will work the best to get the kids to sleep and get them fed.  What else can you do? 

Kelly's friends from Grimes Elementary threw a great shower this week, and the generosity was overwhelming.  Clothes, toys, useful gadgets, gift cards and so much else - including a delicious cake were given to us to help start our journey as a family.  THANK YOU!  It really feels like we have a big family around us, and it makes us feel secure as we expect our family to arrive. 

If you can imagine a reclining lawn chair in a kitchen, you could imagine our kitchen right now.  Our breakfast routine involves getting the paper, turning on the morning news and pouring our cereal.  Our counter serves double-duty as a breakfast bar and we sit on stools.  However, due to Kelly's condition, a reclining lawn chair is her new breakfast stool.  It's a mix of comfort and redneck, but it works and it makes Kelly comfortable and right now that's priceless. 

Belly Shot: 21 wks

What else have we been up to?  We have finished the basement nearly, and are pretty satisfied with the results. Check it out: 

Before shot, including washer and dryer which were relegated to the alley.  

This is the after shot, including fridge, freezer and 'the twins'

Sticky tile to the rescue! 

Our next appointment is the first week of August, which will be about 24 weeks along.  After that, another eight weeks and we will be ready to rock.  The time goes fast, the time goes slow and either way the time goes (Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana. What?) .  We are looking ahead and ready to do it together. 

And the winner is...

Kelly and I went in for our 20-week appointment today, which involved a lengthy ultrasound.  As you know we anticipated we would find out what the sexes of the babies were, as well as how they were progressing.  

When we found out it was actually anti-climatic.  The ultrasound tech just didn't build up the suspense much, which I had hoped for.  But I suppose we had built the suspense enough ourselves before the appointment.  So, we found out....

We're having two boys and a girl!  (Guess you could have looked at the picture, eh?)

Kelly and I had thought we would have two boys and a girl, this was our gut feeling, but we had the babies mixed up how we thought they would come out.  Baby C, the upper most baby as it is in Kelly is a boy and the comeback kid - we thought that one might be a girl (check the May 16 blog).  But it turns out the embryo that started a little slow has now caught up! 

All the little ones were cooperative during the ultrasound and we got some great profile shots. We saw their little hearts beating, their kidneys, brains, spine, diaphragm and stomach.  They have all their limbs, and all in all, everything is cool.  

Now, we are not out of the woods yet.  We need to get to 28 weeks before any labor happens to give the kids the best chances of survival.  Two more months is our new focus; after that it's keeping the buns in the oven.  They say 33 weeks is about average, so we would really like to get 34, but it's a delicate balance between getting the kids' weight up and how much Kelly's body can handle.  If we get to 34, she will be the belly will be the size of a woman who is conceptually 45 weeks pregnant.  

So we'll be cookin' some buns, finishing our basement project and generally laying low for awhile.  For those of you who voted thanks for building up some excitement for today.  And if there was any pool action going on, we want a piece of it!  

Thanks for all the kind words and prayers we've received, it's made a world of difference for us. Please keep them coming! 

July 4

Kelly's bro Tim called the other day and it was the first time we talked to him in a couple months. Tim is on his third combat tour in Iraq with the Marine Corps.  He's near Al-Asad with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. 

Here are some pictures of Tim and his buddies, hope everyone thinks of them and anyone else they know, or don't know, serving in the military.  Kelly and I are looking forward to seeing Tim in the fall, hopefully he's back in  time to help us greet the peeps. 

Tim's the blond guy four from the left. 

And now the lighter side...

Tim and best friend Kurt with .50 cal mohawks

Kelly is feeling fine and pitching in on the basement.  Her belly keeps me spellbound and in a constant state of amazement of what is going on inside.  

It'd be great to do an interview with the peeps right now and get the straight scoop of what it's like in there.  Is it bumpy?  How warm?  Comfortable?  Can you tell what your momma's eating?  Can you hear our voices?  What's it like when mom farts?  Maybe we'll save that interview for after our appointment on the 8th when we get a better look at what is going on. 

 We'll spend the fourth working on the house - and Saturday...hold your breath...I'll be going to Eddyville, IA to the Eddyville Raceway with Dad and other brother-in-law Dave to the "Night of Fire" drag races.   Kelly, to my amazement, turned down my invitation to said night of fire. Huh.  

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