Pregnancy pictures

Some people have been wondering what I look like preggo....so here it is! Enjoy!

And here is one from Christmas. Almost 30 weeks pregnant with twins in this picture.

Twins: 30 weeks pregnant

How far along: 30 weeks (less than 8 weeks to go!!--they won't let us go longer than 38 weeks) We are hoping to make it to at least 35 weeks!

Size of the babies: We don't know for sure, but hopefully around 3 lbs each this week!

Total weight gain/loss: 39 pounds!!! AHHH! That is a lot!!!

Cravings: Nope

Morning sickness: Nope

Sleep: A little better lately since I am SOOOO tired these days. I usually have to lay down for a little bit during the day too.

Other pregnancy symptoms: I have developed this lovely hive-like rash all over my belly this week called PUPPS. It is extremely itchy and nothing can cure it....except childbirth. Apparently it happens more in women carrying multiples and boys (double whammy for me I guess!). So for now I just have to deal with it by taking antihistamines and topical anti-inch creams.

Baby Movement: They are wild boys lately! Last week I felt twin A completely flip over in my body. Sure enough...this week at the doctor...he was no longer head down L The doctor said to prepare myself for having a C-section since space is getting kinda tight in my belly and he may not flip head down again.

Favorite maternity clothes: Nothing. Everything is too small now and makes me itch!

Weird dreams: Hmmm..nothing lately

How is pregnancy different than expected? I am a planner....and sometimes you can't always plan how things are going to go when you are pregnant.

Highlight this week: Well....I wouldn't call it a highlight, but today I am going into "temporary-retirement". This is my last day of doing in-home daycare until after the boys arrive and maternity leave is over L We have had a few pregnancy complications over the past three weeks that have led to this decision.

About three weeks ago the doctors found that Twin A had low amniotic fluid and I was almost put on bed rest, but luckily his fluid has stabilized over the past few weeks and hasn’t dropped any lower. Then, two weeks ago the doctors found a ‘prominent lateral ventricle’ on Twin B’s brain. Basically, he has a spot on his brain filled with fluid and they don’t know what causes it or what the outcome could be. They have referred us to Dr. Drake—a high risk doctor here in Des Moines so we are going to get it checked out next week. Please pray for good news!

With all these new changes and stressful circumstances it was getting very difficult for me to balance doing daycare and taking care of my pregnancy (we NEED to make it to 35 weeks so these boys don't have to stay in the NICU long!) I go to the doctor 2-3 times per week and Andrew was having to come home from work to watch my daycare kids for me....when I really needed him to be at the doctor with me. My body just hasn't bounced back from having the flu a few weeks ago and therefore I think it is time for me to take it easy until the babies arrive. I am to the point where I can no longer pick up kids, lift them onto the potty or sit on the floor with them. It wasn't fair to the kids and it was getting too difficult for me to manage.

I thought I would be able to keep working until the babies arrived and therefore I am having a difficult time accepting that I need to take a break. I feel guilty for "leaving my daycare families hanging" (although they have all found other daycare for the time I need off) and I feel guilty that I don't have any income for the next few months (although my husband says it's okay). BUT...I keep telling myself that the longer these babies stay inside my tummy....the faster I will be able to go back to work (less NICU time, less maternity leave, etc.)

So...for now, I guess I will try to enjoy being "temporarily retired". Stop on over to visit us because I might go crazy spending this much time at home alone! Thanks again for all the support and prayers!

Twins: 28 weeks pregnant

I realize I never finished my "To be continued..." from my last post, but I have had a busy month so you will have to wait longer. Andrew and I STILL haven't watched our wedding video yet. Maybe I will get it all done by our next anniversary :)

How far along: A little over 28 weeks, but I am measuring @ 35 weeks (compared to a singleton pregnancy). Since my last appointment four weeks ago, I have done 8 weeks worth of growing! Yikes! That is big! No wonder why my body hurts!

Size of the babies: Had a doc appointment Thursday and Ferb (Baby A) weighs 2 pounds 3 oz. and Phineas (Baby B) weighs 2 pounds 8 oz. (P.S. those are not their real names. We are keeping those a secret!) That is FIVE POUNDS of baby in there already and they still need to get bigger!

Total weight gain/loss: 32 pounds! WOWSERS!

Cravings: Nothing. It is getting too difficult to eat. Not enough room for food and babies!

Morning sickness: Nope, but I did have the flu this week. That was pretty awful! And I am having a difficult time bouncing back from being sick.

Sleep: TERRIBLE! I hurt everywhere! It takes me a while to fall asleep and I usually wake up 4-5 times/night either to rotate or to pee. No more sleeping in either because the babies get hungry. I guess they are just preparing me now for those "all-nighters"

Other pregnancy symptoms: My whole body hurts and it is getting difficult to breathe.

Baby Movement: Yep! They are movers! They are really active right before bedtime.

Favorite maternity clothes: Nothing. Everything is getting too small :(

Exercise: I am still doing a prenatal swim class twice a week and I get a good workout during the day watching 3 two-year olds.

Weird dreams: I have a reoccurring dream about their arms or feet poking out of my stomach and I keep trying to push them back in. Creepy!

How is pregnancy different than expected? Never knew how difficult it would be to do simple things like put on my socks, shave my legs, put on shoes, wash my hands (my stomach is so big I can barely reach the sink), drive a car, etc.

Highlight this week: Didn't have a very good week because I was sick, but we DID have our 28 week doctor appointment today and got to see the boys. Andrew was able to join me this time (he usually has to stay home to watch the daycare kids) so that was even better! We didn't get the best news though..... we found out that Ferb has low amniotic fluid compared to Phineas. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to increase the amniotic fluid so bedrest may be just around the corner for me. We go back on Wednesday to have another ultrasound done to determine what the next step should be. Please pray for little Ferb (and Phineas too) because they still need to "cook" a little longer! We are hoping they can wait until Febrauary to make their debut, but they may decide to arrive sometime in January.

On a happier note.....look at all these super cute clothes!!!

Can't wait for our little soccer players to be here! Andrew bought them their first teeny tiny soccer ball. So cute!

Super cute little monkey outfits! Who doesn't love little monkeys on babies butts?

My sister made onesies that say "Twin A" and "Twin 1". We call them that instead of Twin A and Twin B :)
Here is a picture of us (from four weeks ago) before we went out for dinner on our anniversary. Note: I have done 8 weeks worth of growing since this picture! Yikes!


I will post another update on Wednesday after our ultrasound and doctor appointment!

Our wedding disaster story...five years later

Disclaimer: I am not posting this story for you to feel bad for us. I just figured it has been five years since we got married and it is about time we tell our story. We rarely talk about our wedding and this is the first time we have ever written our story down. Here is the beginning of our ‘happily-ever-after”….

Your wedding day is supposed to be one of the greatest moments of your life. Special. Magical. A once-in-a-lifetime event! A time for you to commit to each other….for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health. But who knew our sickness would happen so quickly??

Andrew and I got engaged in April of 2006 and quickly started planning for a November 18^th wedding. If you know me…I love warm weather so it may seem strange that we chose November for a wedding date, but Andrew’s mom was battling breast cancer at the time so we knew we couldn’t wait too long to get married. I wanted her to be at our wedding more than anything in the world so I really didn’t care when our wedding had to be! I wanted to see her dance with her son and to enjoy our special day.

Fast-forward to November 17^th (the night before our wedding): Andrew and I welcomed our family and friends into town on Friday for our ceremony rehearsal at the church and then Cynthia and Lyle (Andrew’s parents) had planned a lovely rehearsal dinner at an upscale restaurant in town. The evening was perfect…the company was wonderful…and the food was great (or so we thought).

November 18^th (our wedding day!): On Saturday we finished last minute wedding details and spent the rest of the day getting ready for the evening activities. Since we were having a late wedding (6:30pm), Andrew and I decided to take our wedding pictures before the ceremony so people wouldn’t have to wait for us at the reception. Around 5:00 we finished taking pictures and had time to relax before the ceremony began. Right around 5:00 Andrew started feeling sick to his stomach (unbeknownst to me) and had to take several trips to the restroom.

I was with my bridesmaids (Angie and Molly) in another room waiting for the ceremony to begin. I remember them saying that their stomachs hurt and I remember telling them “come on guys….you aren’t the ones who should be nervous and sick to your stomach….it should be me!” I just chalked this all up to nerves.

Somehow, everyone (including Andrew) made it through the wonderful wedding ceremony and we dismissed everyone from the church one-by-one to go to the wedding reception. Little did we know….this would be the last time that Andrew would talk to most of his wedding guests. The night just went downhill from there!

Almost immediately after dismissing everyone from the church Andrew runs to the bathroom and gets sick. Then, the new “Mr. and Mrs. Slagle” get into our getaway car and head to the reception….or so I thought. Nope…we need to swing by Andrew’s parent’s house because Andrew needs to get sick….again! I remember sitting on his parents couch in my beautiful wedding dress thinking to myself “this is not happening….we should’ve been cutting the cake 10 minutes ago!” as my NEW husband continues to get sick.

We FINALLY arrive at the reception hall and Andrew immediately runs to the bathroom to get sick again, along with my bridesmaid, Molly and one of our ushers, Rick. The bridal party hasn’t even been introduced yet and 3 out of 12 of them are getting sick! Our poor DJ did a great job stalling time until I could pull the group together. (Note: we still thought it was “nerves” at this point.) We finally get introduced to our guests as husband and wife and we immediately cut the cake and then everyone is dismissed for dinner. Andrew heads to the bathroom one more time….and that was about the last time anyone saw Andrew for the rest of the evening.

I remember sitting at the head table…alone….without my new husband. I remember thinking “what is happening”?!? I remember everyone clanging their glasses for the newlyweds to kiss…but Andrew wasn’t there. I remember people beginning to stare at me because they haven’t seen Andrew for a while. I remember people clanging their glasses again….and again….and again for us to kiss….but every time….he wasn’t there. I remember looking out at all of our guests and thinking “I can’t do this alone! I NEED you Andrew!” I remember feeling helpless…scared…mad…angry…hurt. Alone.

At this point my brother-in-law, Jason, tells me that I should go into the men’s restroom to talk to Andrew. Jason clears everyone out of the restroom so I can go in there to chat with him. Then Andrew proceeds to tell me he thinks he needs to go home. I started crying and told him that he is not going home and that he needs to “suck it up” (OOPS…my bad. Sorry hun! I just didn’t want to be left there alone. This is OUR wedding day!!). I don’t think my pep talk helped because he still didn’t come out of the bathroom.

By this time our wedding guests were beginning to wonder what was going on. People from the event center were coming to me to ask when we wanted our champagne (well…it’s a little difficult to do speeches without the groom), when we wanted to start the music, when we wanted to do our first dance. My head was spinning…I planned EVERY detail of our wedding….but I didn’t plan for a disaster!

Then, it got worse.

People started dropping like flies. My father soon joined Andrew in the restroom (WOW talk about father/son-in-law bonding). And then I knew it was really bad when my 80 year old grandfather with Parkinson’s disease couldn’t make it to the restroom in time and threw up all over the table at the reception. (Note: we still had NO IDEA what was going on or what was causing so many people to get sick).

Here is a picture of my brother trying to comfort me.

Now everyone knew something was wrong. I tried going around to every table at the reception to inform people of the circumstances. I honestly don’t even know what I told people. I was in shock. Heartbroken. Scared. I tried to be strong. I tried not to cry. I tried to make the party go on. The DJ started the music and people tried to make the reception as “normal” as possible. When the music first started, little Eric (age 4) ran up to me and grabbed my hand and said “Come on Sara. Dance with me!” Who knew my first dance on my wedding day would be with a 4 year old? He was a great little dance partner though and even suggested “let’s get down on the floor and spin” Hmm..no thanks…not in this dress J

Around 11:00 (maybe?) I got news that we were going to have to take my father and Andrew to the emergency room and that an ambulance was on the way. At this point I was crying and hyperventilating and needed to get out of my dress. Luckily my sister-in-law was able to run out to our car and grab some extra clothes for me so I didn’t have to go to the hospital in my dress. Then, my sister, my dad, Andrew and I piled into the ambulance (classy limo service, eh?) and headed to Methodist Hospital. I don’t remember much from the trip, but I am sure I was in shock. When we arrived at the hospital they took my father in one direction and my new husband another direction to get them hooked up to IV’s.

I remember walking into the room that Andrew was in and he just looked terrible. He could barely talk so the nurses were asking me questions about him. His address….his weight….his height…his SS#....I don’t know….we have been married for less than 4 hours!! I remember having to sign some form and I just stared at it thinking to myself “Really? This is the FIRST time I get to sign my married name and it is so I can admit my new husband to the hospital?!?”

Then I went to check on my father. I literally walked in his room and thought he was dead. He was laying on an exam table with a bright white light shining on him and a white blanket covering his body. Scared the hell out of me! Luckily he opened his eyes a little and was able to talk to me.

I remember being torn in so many directions…..do I stay with my new husband?…do I stay with my sick father?...where is my grandfather?...who is taking care of the reception and getting things cleaned up and gifts taken somewhere?...what about our wedding night hotel reservations at the Embassy Suites (luckily my sister called and explained our situation and they didn’t charge us anything!)…who else is getting sick?...WHAT IS GOING ON????

We still had no idea what was going on or what was causing everyone to get sick. We had figured out though that it was everyone from our wedding party that was getting sick. I was extremely nervous for Andrew’s mom, who was undergoing chemotherapy treatment for her cancer at the time. What would happen to her if she got sick too? She is frail and weak…her body can’t handle the violent sickness that everyone else is getting! Luckily, Lyle (Andrew’s dad) decided to take her home so she wouldn’t be exposed to everyone else.

Soon….more people were getting sick. By 11:30 my pregnant sister-in-law started throwing up in the waiting room bathroom and around midnight my sister joined her. At this point we had 5 people admitted into the hospital and 5 more throwing up in the waiting room. We were quite the sight!! All of us were dressed up in tuxedos and dresses…the hospital staff wondered what was going on!! I thought I could fight off the sickness…but soon I joined in with the others, but I refused to get admitted to the hospital (bad decision!).

Eventually everyone else was discharged from the hospital….except for Andrew. Obviously I wasn’t going to leave my husband on our wedding night so we spent our first night together as husband and wife in our lovely “not-so-spacious…not-so-romantic” hospital room. I remember telling my mom good-bye as the nurses wheeled us through the double doors to our “honeymoon suite”—Andrew on a gurney bed and me next to him in a wheelchair. Once we arrived at our “suite” the nurses gave us matching scrubs to change into for the evening (cute huh?)

I remember lying on the pull-out couch staring across the room at Andrew while he slept on his hospital bed. This is not how I planned things. This is not how our marriage is supposed to start. This is not fair. I just sat there and cried as I pulled 100 bobby-pins out of my wedding-day hair-do. I just cried because I planned every detail of my wedding…but I didn’t plan for this. I was alone…again.

The next day we were kept at the hospital until Andrew could keep food down and then we were finally released around 1:30 in the afternoon. I can’t even tell you how we got home because we didn’t have a car or even a cell phone with us at the hospital. Someone picked us up and took us to my sister’s house where we met up with others from our wedding party. Over the next 24 hours we learned that 24 out of the 34 people who attended our rehearsal dinner got sick with the norovirus.

Andrew and I rested on Sunday, packed that night and then headed off to Mexico at 5:00AM on Monday morning The plane trip to Mexico was rough for me (oops…I should’ve been admitted to the hospital to get fluids because I was extremely dehydrated and held a barf bag the entire flight). But once we arrived at our resort in Puerto Vallarta I felt a little better, although we never did get our moneys worth of food and beverages that week because we never quite felt 100%.

We didn’t have any communication with people back home for the whole week so once we arrived home the following Sunday we found out the source of all the sickness. Apparently the person who fixed all the salads at the restaurant we ate at for our rehearsal dinner had the norovirus and failed to properly wash his hands after going to the restroom (yes…norovirus is transmitted through fecal matter and it was in our salads) and therefore gave 71 patrons at the restaurant norovirus…including our wedding party.

Tomorrow will be five years since our disastrous wedding. For several years I had a lot of anger about our wedding nightmare. I would cry and dread going to other people’s weddings and ask “Why us God? Why did OUR wedding have to be ruined?” Andrew and I wouldn’t talk about our wedding day. We still haven’t watched our wedding video (but we plan to this year!) or filled out our wedding book (maybe I will start that now). People wouldn’t bring up wedding topics around us because we were “those people”. I also felt guilty....a lot of guilt! It was my fault that so many people got sick (I picked that day for our wedding). It was my fault that my 80 year old grandfather got so sick and hasn't been the same since. It was my fault that Andrew never got to dance with his mother. It was my fault that our wedding day wasn't perfect.

I hope you don’t think I am selfish. Don’t get me wrong…yes…marrying Andrew and saying our vows was the most important part of that day and we are sooooo lucky that we got through that without sickness BUT a wedding is more than the vows. It was supposed to be a chance for us to celebrate with our friends and family, but instead we were left with empty memories that can never be re-done or replaced, no matter how hard we try. There was no first dance, there were no speeches, there was no father/daughter dance or mother/son dance, no garter toss or bouquet toss.

After five years I have finally realized that everything happens for a reason. I have let go of my anger and have come to terms with our “story”. That is exactly what it is…an infamous story that we will tell our kids and grandkids someday. Other events in the past five years (Andrew’s mom passing away, our infertility struggle, etc.) have put our wedding disaster into perspective for us. Life may not always be easy, but we will get through it together….. for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.

Stay tuned for PART 2 of our wedding story.....

Note: If you attended our wedding and want to submit your side of the story...we would LOVE to hear from you. We may even add it to our wedding book :)

Twins: 22 weeks pregnant

How far along: Almost 22 weeks

Size of the babies: 11 inches long and almost 1 pound

Total weight gain/loss: 22 pounds!! Yikes!!

Cravings: No cravings yet, but I've noticed I can't eat as much anymore...those babies are taking up too much room!

Morning sickness: Nope...done with that! Thank goodness!

Sleep: Uncomfortable. My big ol' belly is pulling my muscles in ways they have never been pulled before.

Other pregnancy symptoms: Extremely sore back and for the past three weeks my ribs have started hurting and popping. I can barely drive my car longer than 20 minutes without being in excruciating pain. Finally went to the doc this week to get checked out cause the ribs on my right side started bruising. They sent me to a radiologist to make sure my gall bladder, appendix, and liver are okay. Still waiting to hear results. They think it might just be my uterus rubbing against my rib bone cartilage. There is nothing they can do about it...I just have to deal with the pain for a few more months! Ouch!

Baby Movement: All the time! It is amazing to feel them move and they definitely interact with each other. When one wakes up....the other does too! When one gets kicked in the head...the other one reacts! Andrew has started feeling them more lately too!

Favorite maternity clothes: Sweatshirt and sweatpants. Who knew you could out-grow maternity clothes? I started off wearing size small maternity clothes and now I can't fit in them anymore :(

Weird dreams: Hmmm..nothing lately

Good advice received: Try wearing a maternity support belt to help with back pain. I wear it sometimes, but Ferb (P.S. that is not his real name) gets mad when I wear it cause he gets squished.

How is pregnancy different than expected? I never thought I would be this sore! My body apparently isn't cut out for having twins.

Highlight this week: Had two ultrasounds this week so I got a sneak-peek at the boys. They are looking pretty cute! Also, my sis and I went shopping last weekend and found some great deals at the outlet mall for the three baby boys! And look what came in the mail today from my nephews, Carter and Austin.....

How cute are these outfits??? They even have little capes on the back! I can't wait for our little "super-babies" to wear these!!!

Here is a cute pic of my nephews (Austin and Carter) and my niece (Addie) all dressed up for Halloween.

They are sooooo stinkin' cute! I miss them so much!

And then there were THREE.....

Nope...we aren't having triplets! BUT I am soooooooooooooo excited to announce that my sister and brother-in-law are having a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting very impatiently to find out what they're having!

Guess what else??? We have the EXACT same due date!! Angie told me her due date was March 11th and I thought mine was the 9th...but then my doctor corrected me and said the 11th! Crazy!! We are excited to finally go shopping for the new babies and buy them gender appropriate things (remember when I thought my boys were girls?? Oops! Good thing Angie doesn't need to return all the boy clothes she has bought already:)

I am so excited to go through this experience with my big sister and for our babies to be the same age. Big cousin (and sister) Lauren may be overwhelmed with three new little ones around, but I am sure she will keep them all in check :) The Van Horn family get-togethers are going to get CRAZY soon (as if they weren't crazy already!) as Grandpa Brad and Grandma Tammy leap from four grandkids (two girls and two boys) to seven grandkids!! Yikes!!

First quilting project=success!!

I completed my first big sewing project--two quilts for the boys!! I am pretty proud of myself because I taught myself how to sew with a machine...and I think the quilts turned out pretty good :) The whole process was very bittersweet because it reminded me of two very important ladies who are no longer in my life.

Andrew's mom passed away almost 4 years ago (this December) after a courageous battle with breast cancer. I wanted her to see her first grandchild (and all of her grandchildren!) so badly, but after 3.5 years of infertility...we are finally bringing her first grandsons into the world. I just wish she was able to see and hold these babies in her arms! I know she is looking down on us with a huge smile and is so proud of the daddy that Andrew has become! These boys are so lucky to have Andrew as a daddy and we can give credit to Cynthia...because she was a great mom and raised Andrew to be such an incredible man! I want the boys to know that their Grandma was an amazing woman...with many, many talents!!!

After Cynthia passed away I inherited her big sewing machine with the intention of learning how to sew. My Aunt Jan was an amazing quilter so I asked her if she would teach me how to sew on Cynthia's machine. Unfortunately, time passed by and I never made it up to Wisconsin to get my sewing lesson and Aunt Jan passed away this past March from her battle with pancreatic cancer. I felt extremely guilty after she passed away because I never took the time to learn from her.....I should've made time....and now it's too late! Also, my Aunt Jan made quilts for each "first-born" child in each of her nieces and nephews families....and since I wasn't pregnant yet...we didn't have one :( I was the only niece or nephew without a quilt from her so I made it a mission to teach myself how to sew the quilts she made. I looked up directions online and made two "rag quilts" for the boys' crib bedding. I think Cynthia and Jan would be proud and I know that whenever I hold the babies in their blankets...I will be thinking of them!

I started the quilts a while ago and I am glad that I did because my bulging belly is making it harder and harder to do things. There were many days that I would cry (blame the hormones) because I couldn't figure out how to thread the machine (Andrew would save the day!) or I would be overtaken with emotion thinking about how much I wish Cynthia and Jan were here to help me. Eventually though....they were complete! And each quilt only took me about a week to do so it wasn't too bad at all.

I couldn't find any fabric that I liked so I ended up using 3 different packages of receiving blankets. Each quilt uses 7 different patterns of fabrics. Here are the final products! What do you think???

Quilt #1

Quilt #1 close-up view
Quilt #2
Quilt #2 close-up view

Both quilts in one of the cribs. I just randomly found these "breathable bumpers" at TJ-Maxx for $13 and they match the babies quilts perfectly!

I hope the boys like them and will cherish them for many years to come!

Ohhh...we're half way there!!!

Ohhh We're half way there

Woah Livin' on a prayer

Take my hand and we'll make it - I swear

Woah Livin' on a prayer

That is our theme song this week because we are half way there!!! We are 18 weeks along in the pregnancy today and 36 weeks is considered "full-term" for twins. Each week I am counting down to a new milestone...

20 weeks (Oct. 20th)--our next ultrasound and anatomy scan (just to make sure it's really two boys :)

24 weeks (Nov. 17th)--the babies are viable and "could" survive outside of the womb (with majors health concerns and a LONG NICU stay)

30 weeks (News Years)--I feel like if we make it to New Years everything will be "okay"!

36 weeks (Feb. 9th)--Perfect! Full-term babies!

-We graduated from our Twins class at the hospital. Bring on the babies! Okay...we might not be quite ready yet....but we are getting there! We've had classes every Wednesday from 6-8 for the past four weeks. The classes have been okay...haven't learned too much and they have actually raised my anxiety more than help! For instance, is it REALLY necessary for you to show me every instrument you are going to use on me while I am in the hospital? I could do without seeing the device you are going to break my water with...just do it! Or watch a video with step-by-step instructions on how the epidural works and what vertebrae the HUGE needle is going to go between...just give me the drugs! Is it REALLY necessary to watch a video of a C-section being done and to tell me that "we are just going to pull your stomach muscles to the side...like this" Hmm..nope! Didn't need to see that! And I really didn't need to know that there would be 12-14 people in the room during my labor...really??? Anyways....we are finally Twin Class Graduates! We celebrated our graduation with pie at Village Inn (Andrew's idea--I think he is having more cravings than me :)

-There is a Mothers of Multiples club here in Des Moines and about five moms came to our class last night to talk about their experiences and to answer our questions. It was great to hear their stories...but it didn't comfort me at all! None of the five women made it past 30 weeks gestation (yikes!). All of them had a C-section (most of them had an emergency C-section). All of their babies had to stay in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). Most of them couldn't breastfeed their tiny babies, but most of them pumped. Most of them were on bed rest before having their babies. A few of their babies are developmentally behind or have health problems. WOW. GREAT. Thanks for making me feel better! But it was good to hear the "reality" of twin pregnancies and of course I had a handful of questions (no one else in the class did!)

Andrew is now calling our sons...Phineas and Ferb (named after the kids TV show). He even ran the names past our four year old nephew to get his approval. Andrew is convinced that the babies are plotting some awesome adventures in my womb (I HAVE been feeling them kick lately). Now we just need a pet platypus named Perry! Some of his other ideas are...William and Harry (so prestigious!), Harry and Lloyd (he even wants to find them matching mini tuxedos in powder blue and orange), Wayne and Garth, Keith and Keith (so we can have a pair-of-Keiths, get it??) He is so creative! I just hope he doesn't get to the birth certificates before I do.

-The nursery is coming together! We have the furniture put together and we just ordered our chair yesterday. The babies will be here before we know it! There are only 7 weeks until Thanksgiving and 11 weeks until Christmas! Yikes! My goal is to have everything done before 30 weeks because that is when people say you start to get really uncomfortable and who knows if I will have to go on bedrest or when I'll go into labor? That is not much time to squeeze in baby showers, family get-togethers, appointments, etc. but somehow we'll make it work!

Stay posted for nursery pictures, quilt pictures, and more updates! Take care!

And the twins are..........

We're trading in our dolls, bows, make-up and pearls

for Legos, cars and superheroes!!!

That's right....two Slagle boys are on the way!!

We are incredibly shocked!! I cannot even imagine waiting 4 more months to find out this news because I thought FOR SURE it was two girls (or at least a boy and a girl). I even bought some girl outfits last weekend, but I guess my mother intuition was WAY off!

We had a very detailed ultrasound (took about 20 minutes) on Wednesday because the doctors weren't sure if the twins were each in their own sac or if they were sharing one. There are more complications when twins share a sac or placenta so they wanted to make sure that our twins were in fact diamniotic dichorionic twins. Di-Di twins each have seperate blood supplies from the mother and there is no risk of the babies sharing blood between them and therefore fewer complications.

During the ultrasound the tech found the first baby and said "It's a boy!" (it was obviously a boy!) and I thought...oh...the second one HAS to be a girl. Nope...another boy!! I was shocked, but very excited at the same time! Tears were in my eyes because it was so amazing to see these two tiny babies (weighing only 6 oz.) moving and waving...incredible! I am just happy that we have two healthy baby BOYS! Of course Andrew said "Now I don't have to worry about paying for two weddings" Haha...he would say that!! And he is excited because he can still call them Duncan A and Duncan 1!

I haven't even THOUGHT about boy names! Andrew and I even agreed on one girl name...but I guess we will have to wait to use it now :) I really like family names and older names...but boy names seem really difficult to "bring back in style". Older girl names are cute...like Claire, Ella, and Grace, but some boy names just shouldn't come back....like Lloyd (my grandpa), Lyle (Andrew's dad...sorry Lyle) and Russell (my grandpa). Now we have to come up with TWO boy names!! WOW! I guess you will have to wait and see what we come up with :)

Gender poll--what will our twins be??

It is almost that time....time for us to find out what we are having (besides two babies of course!) HOPEFULLY we can find out at our doctor appointment on Thursday. If not, it will be another four weeks! BOO!

What do you think?

Two girls??

Two boys?
Or one of each?
You can cast your vote on the right side of the blog page. Also, feel free to leave us a comment too....tell us what you picked, maybe some name suggestions, advice, etc. We haven't discussed names at all yet, but right now Andrew is calling them Duncan A and Duncan 1 (he doesn't like calling them A and B haha) He is REALLY pushing for one (or both) to be named Duncan. HELP!

We will make the big announcement as soon as we find out!

Twins: 15 weeks pregnant

How far along: 15 weeks

Size of the babies: 4 inches long…the size of an apple! TWO apples inside me…hard to believe!

Total weight gain/loss: Starting weight was 128 pounds…now I weigh about 138. I gained 10 pounds pretty quickly and haven’t gained much weight over the past three weeks although my stomach is definitely bigger and I am definitely showing!

Cravings: Not really any cravings yet.

Morning sickness: Not so much anymore. I used to be nauseous all day long, but the past few weeks have been really good!

Sleep: Uncomfortable already! I am a tummy sleeper so it has been a rough adjustment. I HATE sleeping on my side and I wake up about 4-5 times/night. Oh yeah...and I usually have to go pee twice a night already.

Other pregnancy symptoms: Sore back, some cramping and headaches.

Baby Movement: Not yet

Favorite maternity clothes: Sweatpants. I had to buy new sweatpants because my old ones are too tight already...didn't know you could outgrow sweatpants :)

Weird dreams: I dreamed the other night that it was triplets instead of twins. Yikes!

Good advice received: Splurge on a comfortable chair for the nursery because you will spend a lot of time in it.

How is pregnancy different than expected? I thought I wouldn't have morning sickness or that I could easily "deal with it".....WRONG! It has been worse than I expected.

Highlight this week: I bought a Doppler (a little handheld device with headphones) from someone for $10 last week…I didn’t know if it would actually work BUT we found BOTH the babies heartbeats this week! It is amazing to hear two different heartbeats and now we can tell exactly where they are in my belly. Pretty amazing!

Other news: We bought our nursery furniture over Labor Day weekend because JCPenneys was having a great sale and I also had a 15% off coupon! The furniture took less than a week to arrive (WOW...that was fast!) so we had to quickly clear out the "nursery" and make room for two cribs, a tall dresser, a long dresser/changing table and a chair. Thanks to my parents for helping us clear out the room and move everything to the basement! Andrew assembled all the furniture and it looks great! I will take some pictures once we get crib mattresses and crib sheets. I am not buying baby bedding because it is sooo expensive (especially x2 babies) and they can't really use half the stuff that comes in those crib sets (the quilt and bumper) so I have opted to make my own bedding. I have one quilt done....one more to go! Good thing I started early....hopefully I will get it all done before the babies arrive! Wish me luck!

Drug free pregnancy!!

After 136+ shots in my butt, arm, thighs, and stomach.....we are officially done with shots!!!! Friday was a big night for us because after 6 months of fertility drugs....we are finally done and PREGNANT!!!

I looked at our calendar and over the past few months here are all the drugs I have taken to get us to this point....

-42 birth control pills to help regulate my cycle
-116 baby aspirin to thin my blood and prevent blood clots
-46 Lupron shots in my thigh to quiet my ovaries to prevent early release of eggs
-28 doxycycline pills to prevent infection
-7 Flagyl pills to prevent bacterial vaginosis which can cause early miscarriage
-6 methylprednisolone pills to decrease my natural immune reaction system to help with implantation of the embryo
-9 Repronex shots in the thigh to help produce lots of eggs!
-9 Follistim shots in my arm to help produce more mature eggs
-2 Ovidrel (hCG) shots to release the eggs from the follicles before egg retrieval
-24 Vivelle patches to balance my estrogen and progesterone levels
-1 Prometrium suppository to relax my uterus prior to embryo transfer
-1 Valium pill for anxiety
-16 Zofran pills for nausea
-? hydrocodine pills for pain after egg retrieval
-180 Prenatal vitamins (I am still taking these)
-70 progesterone oil shots in my butt to maintain the endometrium to prevent miscarriage

PLUS

-20+ blood draws
-10+ internal ultrasounds
-1 painful egg retrieval
-AND 1 perfect embryo transfer!!!

Andrew has been an amazing nurse for me and is a pro at giving shots now. There were a few nights that I told him he was the "worst shot-giver ever", but it was usually because I was bleeding a lot and was fighting back tears...he knows I didn't really mean it :) In his defense, the progesterone oil shots were getting really difficult to give the past month because my upper butt area is so calloused and bruised from repeated shots. The progesterone oil shot was one where I had to ice before the shot, then it took about a minute to inject because it is an oil, and then I had to heat the area after to break up the oil. We are so thankful to be done with that shot and have our evenings back! No more 9:30 curfew to do shots!!

Speaking of...we have had to do shots in some interesting places. Since we had to do shots at a certain time each night (9:30)...we had to get creative when we were out on the town. One time we were on a party bus and had to shoot up in the back of someones car. Another time I was at the bar and had to shoot up in the bathroom. We shot up a lot a friend's houses. AND we even took our drugs to the fair...but decided we didn't really want to shoot up in the corner of the midway...so we went home early :)


Here is a picture of me at the bar with my spider man and Barbie ice packs since the drugs have to be kept cold. I had to get creative :)

I will admit, I am a little nervous to be drug-free. My body has been dependent on them for 6 months....I hope my body knows what to do to sustain and maintain a healthy pregnancy. We had our 12 week ultrasound on Thursday and everything looks great so far!

Let us know if you want to get together...we would love to hang out (and we don't have a curfew anymore :)

Infertility survivors guilt

Infertility survivor’s guilt. Sounds crazy…I know…but I think I am experiencing it. I almost don’t want to write about this because I feel like I am going to jinx my pregnancy…but I have to get this off my chest. I am so grateful to be pregnant with our two precious babies, but that doesn’t mean that a part of me doesn’t feel guilty.

-I feel guilty that my blog will inevitably shift from an infertility blog….to our baby blog. I know I have blog followers out there who are “still in the trenches” of infertility and I feel bad. Does it offend them that I talk about my pregnancy?

- Morning sickness has been in full force for a few weeks now. Nausea ALL DAY long…which is never easy to deal with when you have three almost two year olds running circles around me. I feel guilty because Dora the Explorer has come to my rescue a few times lately.

-Andrew has been a trooper! He has done everything for me the past few weeks. When he gets home at 5:00….I crash! He prepares all of our evening meals and has been doing the grocery shopping too (makes me sick to go to the store right now!). He has been an amazing husband and I am so lucky to have such a sensitive, caring guy!

-I feel guilty that Andrew doesn’t have a social life anymore. Seems like the weekends are spent at home (with me lying on the couch). Apparently people stop calling you to hang out when they find out you are expecting. I can be a fun preggo lady…I promise!!

-I feel guilty because I struggle to trust my body. It “didn’t work right” for 4 years, with no explanation as to why….so why should I believe that it knows how to nourish and support TWO babies?

-I feel guilty for getting pregnant with twins the “unnatural way” …like somehow I have undermined or stolen something from those women who have gotten pregnant with twins naturally. Why do I deserve twins?

-I was in the “infertility club” for so many years and now I feel guilty being out of it and leaving others who are still suffering behind. It’s not fair. Why does the “infertility club” have to exist?? It is a club that no one wants to be in….yet so many couples are in.

-Why me? I am having a difficult time accepting the fact that this is our time. We have spent sooo many years waiting to get pregnant….and I now I feel guilty for being pregnant?!? Why me….and not my friend who is going through IVF too? Why me…and not my other friend who has had 5+ miscarriages? Why me…and not my other friend who has tried to have a baby for 7 years? Why me??

-I feel guilty because I can’t even talk to my friends who are still battling infertility. The most difficult thing is for them to see a pregnant lady (I understand)…so why would they want to see me? I just want to shout out to them “I haven’t joined the ‘other side’. I STILL know what you are going through. I STILL understand!”

-I feel guilty about complaining. In fact…I feel like I have no right to complain about anything during this pregnancy and beyond. I asked, I begged, I prayed, I paid (in my heart and with my checkbook), I hired intervention, I defied nature to have these babies…..I brought this upon myself. I have no right to complain about anything. But sometimes I just want to curl up in a ball and cry. Is that so wrong?? But I don’t and I won’t…I feel too guilty.

Even though I am pregnant…I am not cured…I am still infertile. My feelings of infertility will ever go away. Infertility has scarred my heart and I will never forget…
• What reading a negative pregnancy test month after month feels like
• Feeling hopeful and then having it all taken away
• Sitting across from doctors and them not having an answer for you
• Climbing into stirrups over and over again
• Waiting, waiting, waiting
• Seeing someone else’s growing family and yearning for my own
• Feeling like I can’t do it anymore
• Doing all the right things—seeing a specialist, following their directions, ingesting and injecting every medication prescribed—and still failing at becoming pregnant cycle after cycle.
• Seeing the helplessness in Andrew’s eyes—he wanted to cure every problem…but there was nothing that could be done to help me
• Crying in my husbands arms
• Feeling like I will never reach the end goal
• The pain and agony of losing a child to miscarriage...he/she was a tiny soul inside me, but will always have a big place in my heart


I am sooooo thrilled to be pregnant BUT I feel like I am not enjoying my pregnancy to the fullest (or at all!) because guilt is holding me back. My heart is constantly tormented by the pull between the two…happiness and guilt. I want to move on and be happy and celebrate my pregnancy, but at the same time….my wounds are still fresh, my heart still hurts, and what about those who I have “left behind”? I want to start blogging about every joy, blessing and happy moment, but I don’t want to hurt any feelings. As my blog posts turn from infertility to “baby news”…please remember that I understand…I’ve been there…and I will NEVER forget.

Boy...Girl....Twins....Triplets????

Well sorta....they are not identical twins though! Just had to post one for my computer savvy husband :)

I think they are ganging up on me already!! Morning sickness...constant nausea...cramping...peeing all the time...trouble sleeping...but I wouldn't change a thing!!!

We had our first ultrasound today and everything looks great. I cried when I heard their heartbeats for the first time (Baby A-128BPM & Baby B-116BPM). Now the pregnancy actually feels real!! Hopefully I will be less stressed now that I know both of them have made it this far :)

I forgot to ask my doctor when my due date is, but I am 6 weeks and 5 days along so here is a rough estimate:

Singleton Due Date: March 09, 2012
Twins By Ave Gestation: February 16, 2012

So basically anywhere between January and March.


Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers! We are excited for this new journey in our life and we are extremely blessed to have so many supportive friends and family!

Here is the first picture of our little babies.....

Happy, sad, scared...oh my (emotions!)

Pregnancy is making me C-R-A-Z-Y!!! WOW…talk about a RoLLerCOastER of emotions!

-A week and a half ago we were ecstatic because we found out I am finally pregnant!! We can’t believe the moment has finally arrived for us to be blessed with a baby or babies!!

-On Tuesday we were sooo excited because my HCG blood level was 1010 and on Thursday it was 2282…really high numbers which could mean twins (or more…yikes!)

-I feel guilty that I am pregnant. Weird…I know…especially since we have been trying for soooo long. We know other couples who are struggling with infertility and from experience...it is never easy to find out someone else is pregnant so I feel bad telling them our news. Will they still want to be friends with us?? I think I am having a difficult time accepting that this is finally our time!

-Anxious for my first ultrasound on July 21st…will there be one baby or two? Or any?

-Exhausted all the time! Yesterday I took a 3 hour nap (I didn’t even wake up to my alarm) and then still went to bed 4 hours later! I never thought I would be this tired!

-Happy because Andrew is excited and optimistic about this pregnancy! He already has names picked out….Duncan, Cameron, Ferris and Sloan. I have vetoed every name so far!

-Nervous because I am 6 weeks pregnant today and last time I had a miscarriage around this time.

-I am concerned that I am not having more symptoms of morning sickness, etc. IF I am having twins…shouldn’t the symptoms be more severe?

-But…at the same time…I am thankful that I have felt pretty good so far!

-Sad because on Tuesday I started getting really bad cramps and I told Andrew that I felt like we lost one of the babies. Last week I was so confident that we had twins…and now I feel like there is only one. I sure hope I am wrong!

-THEN, yesterday (Friday) around 10:00AM I started bleeding which was eerily similar to my first miscarriage. I went through all the stages of grief….at first I was in denial saying “This is not happening! This can’t be happening again!!” Then I got angry and said some inappropriate angry things “Are you ¬_ _ _ _ _ _ _ kidding me?” Then I started bargaining with God “please God…don’t do this to me again….I will do ANYTHING!” Then I got depressed and sobbed and sobbed and sobbed because I thought I was losing my babies. And then I finally accepted that there wasn’t anything I could do to stop it and crying wasn’t going to make it any better.

-Relieved because the bleeding stopped after a few hours! The nurse said it could be from “twins trying to make room in your uterus”, losing one of the babies, or Andrew thinks that the babies got in their first fight with each other :)

-Hopeful that we have two healthy babies on Thursday, but cautiously optimistic because I don’t want to get my hopes up too high!

-Grateful that we have such amazing friends and family supporting us and praying for us and our little embies.

Pregnant or not pregnant?? That is the question!

I went in for my blood test this morning bright and early at 7:30 AM and waited nervously ALL DAY for my results and I finally received a phone call at 4:15 this afternoon to tell me that after exactly three and a half years of trying to have a baby....................















We are FINALLY....

Or maybe earlier!

We are sooo excited and can't believe it has actually happened! We have been looking forward to this day for a really long time!

I am officially 4 weeks and 3 days pregnant even though I did my embyro transfer less than two weeks ago....crazy huh? I go back to the doctor on Thursday for another blood test to make sure that my HCG levels are increasing. We should have a good idea on Thursday if it is twins or a singleton, but won't find out for sure for a couple more weeks.

I have a confession...I cheated and tested early. I actually had a postive pregnancy test on Friday, but only told Andrew (sorry to all of you that I saw over the weekend :). I just couldn't wait and I was having some symptoms so I wanted to know if I was just going crazy or if I was correct.

Thank you so much for all of your support and prayers! We are so blessed and thankful to have such amazing friends and family. Please continue to pray for our baby/babies so that they may grow, grow, grow! Since I am only four weeks along I am still at risk of having another miscarriage so please pray that this pregnancy remains viable for full-term!

One thing I always looked forward to was being able to surprise Andrew and our families with the news, but doing IVF, that just really isn't in the cards because everything is so scheduled.

I wish I could've surprised Andrew with this t-shirt since he is a computer IT guy.....

I thought these onesies were really funny too.....


This one says...."My first babysitter was an embryologist"

Get it??? Since our babies were frozen???

Thanks again for all of your support! I will keep you updated!