December 23, 2008

We met with the nurse today for our 22-week appointment. We got to hear the babies' heartbeats again, which is always fun and reassuring. One baby was cooperative, but the other one kept moving around while the nurse tried to locate his heartbeat. She finally got the "whoosh-whoosh-whoosh" of his heart to come through clearly, and she said both babies had strong heartbeats.

My belly is measuring at 25 weeks. It's hard to imagine that I will get a lot bigger, but I'm taking it one day at a time. The past few months have passed by so quickly. Before we know it, we'll be bringing our baby boys home.

I couldn't ask for a better partner on this journey. Christian has been an amazing source of love, support, and laughter. He's going to make a wonderful father.

You receive good fortune, yes?

Ancient Chinese proverb: Two cookies, always better than one.

Next appointment

Our next appointment is Tuesday, Dec. 23rd. It should be a simple and no-frills checkup. The babies are getting bigger and bigger. As a photographer, I need to make the right image to document this process for us both. Maybe I'll share here... it all depends. This really is amazing to be expecting two when we planned for 'a' baby. We are thrilled and are working on names, though the funny thing is to decide on names for two people we have not yet met. Coming up with a name is such an awesome responsibility. I am feeling a bit unhinged by the requirement that we give the hospital names for our children before we leave the hospital. Some states require you to give your baby a name before leaving a hospital, and others mandate that you apply for birth certificates (which of course requires a name) within a month of birth. I'm beginning to read about Naming Ceremonies. This article may be a bit 'crunchy' but I completely get it:
"We don't follow anything specific, but we follow the idea of everything being connected to nature, it's just a very caring way of life." -Rowen Saunders, mother

Thumbs up!

Two...

Boys! We took a survey of family members as to the sexes of the twins. As it turned out all the women voted boy-girl and all of the men voted girl-girl! Two new Cutlers are on the way...and they're both boys!

November 4, 2008

This was a very brief visit to the doctor, and all was well. The doctor used a doppler to listen to the heartbeats. We thought we heard both heartbeats, but it's kinda hard to tell if your hearing the same heartbeat or two separate ones. The auditory experience was definitely different from the recent video views. It made our expectations rise for our next visit when we would find out the sex(es) of our little sprouts.

October 7, 2008

This was our second ultrasound to make sure everything was still going well. By this time our shock and anxiety from the news of twins had worn off (for the most part), and we had a lot of fun seeing how much they had grown in the past 4 weeks. They definitely had taken on a more baby-like appearance, and two strong heartbeats meant they were doing fine.

First Ultrasound

Sarah and I went to the doctor's office for our first ultrasound on September 9, 2008. Everything seemed normal and routine, and then the ultrasound technician said "Well Miss Sarah (short pause)...you're having twins." I gave out a "Ha!" and asked if she was joking. Sarah seemed stunned, to say the least. Gasps and "are you sure" were exclaimed. This was no ultrasound technician humor... we were expecting twins!

Holy Smokes!

August 22, 2008... a Friday. The home test has two lines! Holy smokes! We did it!