The First of Many to Come

We received our very first Twin gift today!

Maybe now it will start to sink in a little more?

I absolutely love little jumpers...and they're not matching!



2nd Ultrasound

I guess I need to be watching Grey's Anatomy or A Baby's Story more frequently since we've now been introduced to a side of the medical world that I could possibly live without. Since I'm already pretty far along in the pregnancy, my ultrasound doctor can not determine conclusively if the boys are going to be paternal twins or identical twins. It seemed simple at first because it truly doesn't matter to us which way they are, but unfortunately there are much more complicated reasons if they happen to be identical.

 

Okay, get ready for some medical jargon to begin. Identical twins run the risk of something called, twin-to-twin transfer. That basically means that one twin receives more blood and nutrients from the placenta then the other twin because some blood vessels have "transferred" or crossed over each other. Left untreated one twin would thrive and the other one would not. Treating it means going to see the big-time doctors in Houston for a high-tech surgery requiring them to separate the blood vessels in the placenta. This would be the worst case scenario.

 

The flip side of this huge situation is that they are paternal twins and don't share any blood vessels at all from the placenta. The only way we'll know what is happening in there is to monitor the fluid levels around the babies very closely. So far one baby currently has a little more fluid than the other one. This is normal for now, however if the one twins level drops that would be the first sign of twin-to-twin transfer.

 

I am scheduled to have another ultrasound in one week to see where we're at. I pray with all my heart that everything will be okay and that both boys are going to be just fine. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we embark on this new journey of having twins.

An Unexpected Delivery of News

Baby A

Here is our very first picture of our baby. Originally, we didn't want to know the sex of this baby because we wanted to be surprised at the birth. However, life always seems to have other plans when you're making your own plans. Notice anything extra in this picture....I'll give you a moment to search for it or maybe it jumps right out at you like it did us. Have you found it yet? It's just above Baby A's tummy...kind of looks like a foot doesn't it? If you look above the presumed foot you might be able to make out another foot. Well let the world know that all the joking we've done over the last four months has now come to become our new reality...Andrew and I are not expecting just Baby A but we're also expecting Baby B too! That's right folks, we are now expecting TWINS!!! In the below picture you can see Baby A's profile (cute) and Baby B's feet dangling above.

Baby B

Well, now that you're already in shock from the idea of me conceiving TWINS...I'll let that settle on you a little bit longer before I tell you the other surprising fact of today's new reality. Due to the fact that I now know that there are TWO babies inside me, we decided to divert from the original plan of not finding out the sex of the baby (cheers from most of you I know). Ready for this next shocker...we are expecting TWIN BOYS!! That's right 2 more boys to make a total Curtis-Wellings clan of 5! For now they are affectionately called Baby A and Baby B because we had NO boy names picked out yet. Here's to the unpredictability of life, the overwhelming excitement of the future, and the realization of our new reality! 

Can you tell that's it's all still sinking in? 



How to Ski...(from a 4 1/2 yr. olds perspective)

Getting Dressed:

1. Put your long-johns on.

2. Put your ski socks on (yes, the ones that go up to your knees).

3. Climb into your ski suit and zip it up.

4. Find your snow boots and put them on.

5. Put your beanie hat on and your gloves.

Now you're ready to head to the slopes...Taylor's least favorite part of the day was the walk from the car to the slopes...all uphill with lots of stairs! He would make it about halfway and then start crying, "I can't make it"!! As the pregnant lady in the group, I pretty much wanted to cry out the same thing!

Getting Ready to Ski:

1. Change out of your snow boots and put your ski boots on.

2. Put your skis in the snow.

3. Have Daddy snap your ski boots into the skis.

4. Have Daddy push you or pull you to the ski lift.

(Thank goodness that little ones don't have to worry about ski poles).

Skiing Down the Slope:

1. Point your skis down the hill.

2. Keep your feet together like perfect little "french fries".

3. Lean to the side (left or right) depending on where you want to turn.

4. Fall down or sit down when you want to stop.

(Slow plowing involves more strength and control than you think and

will have to be learned next time).

5. Go fast...

6. Have Daddy pick up your skis or gloves when they fall off while going down the slopes.

7. Collect a new lift ticket each day you ski (this was Taylor's favorite thing...he was so proud and excited that he had collected 4 different lift tickets, and wore them all proudly on his jacket).

And last but not least...

wait for Daddy to come and pluck you out of the snow

and set you upright so that you can continue to do it again and again!

The View and Skiing the Slopes

There's nothing like being in the mountains and taking in all the wonderful sights, sounds, and smells of the great outdoors. All 5 days brought sunshine with cold temperatures (what could be better than that). The nights were freezing (just ask the brave hot-tubers-Taylor included) and the wind could keep up even the deepest of sleepers-and I thought it was windy in Texas! Angel Fire, New Mexico lived up to it's name with our family...the Curtis-Wellings', the Johnson's, and the Macfarlane's all had a awesome time!!!

A beautiful sunrise from our master bedroom balcony.

Snow Angels were a must!

A quick picture with my little skier before he was back up on the mountain for more

Cousin Megan

Waiting in line for the lift. It definitely took some warming up to, but after the first time Taylor was hooked.

Our view from our master suite every morning. We were very spoiled with our bedroom on this family vacation.
We even had a gorgeous fire place in our room too!