6 WEEKS | UPDATE {12.31.2015}

How far along:  6 weeks.

 

Size of babies: Sweet Peas.

 

Must have items: 

• Water! I am thirsty all the time! I probably drink about 8 to 10 water bottles a day. I swear, I drink water like it's going out of style.

Sleep: 

Sleeping comes naturally right now. I cannot get enough of it. Every night around 7-8pm, I get so exhausted that I have to go to bed. Just recently, I started having to sleep with my body pillow since the only position comfortable is one leg up.

 

Cravings: 

Not sure if this counts since I adored pickles before I got pregnant, but I can't stop eating them. I was watching a show on YouTube and they started eating pickles, as part of a challenge, and I literally had to stop watching it until I could get pickles of my own.

 

Babies movement: 

None yet, but I can't wait until I can feel both of them. I also look forward to E being able to feel them move and kick.

Genders: 

We won't know for a few weeks, but if I had to guess, I'd say one girl and one boy. Although, we could care less. Two boys, two girls, one boy/one girl, in the end, we just want them to be healthy.
 

Challenges this week: 

Being dependent. I am such an independent person, I hate asking others to lend a helping hand, but these past few weeks have taught me that I can't do it all, otherwise I run out of breath and energy very quickly. I have to learn to rely on others to do the heavy lifting so I can focus on doing  whatever to ensure that these two little miracles grow healthy and strong.

 

Best moment this week: 

Being pregnant. We are over the moon that we are expecting! It's such a blessing to be able to carry two babies and I'm so thankful to God for giving us these beautiful miracles. I have so much faith that these little ones will grow healthy and will be full-term. I look forward to every single moment of this pregnancy. After four years of trying, and to be blessed naturally with twins, it's just an absolute dream come true.

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*I plan on doing bump photos, but this week, I just didn't have time and since I am exactly six weeks today, I wanted to go ahead and just share this with you, but do plan on seeing my bump soon!*

Have a very Happy New Year!

BABIES BUYS {12.30.2015}

We are slowly buying stuff for these two miracle rainbows. After our first appointment, I told E that I wanted to buy one blanket for each of the babies. So, naturally, we headed to Babies R Us and I snagged two blankets that were on sale. Well actually, they weren't, but we still got the "sale" price because they were put in the wrong place and the manager offered to let us take the "sale" price since they were all placed incorrectly. So we managed to save $20, $10 per blanket. The day after Christmas, I wanted to run out and buy a few more things. I knew there would be some sales, so we ventured to Target and grabbed two more blankets as well as two Sophie the Giraffe's. E asked if it was necessary to have multiple blankets and I couldn't help but laugh and tell him that, with babies, you can't have too much of anything. He, of course, was thrilled when he saw that they were on clearance. Both Sophie's however, were not on sale.

 

 

In addition to their blankets and Sophie the Giraffe's we also have one pair of girl shoes, one pair of boy shoes, a sound machine lamb for their nursery, about five onesies, and two pacifiers. All of these items are sitting in a little wicker basket which will be used in their nursery for plush toys. Thankfully, we have plenty of time to stock up. I figure, after our next appointment, we will probably go out to get more. It never hurts to start early, right?

 

NAME CHANGE {12.29.2015}

I decided a long time ago, that once we were pregnant, I would change the name of the blog. I figured once pregnant, my blog would be more focused on pregnancy and life after. When we found out we were having twins, my mind started racing and I knew the first thing I wanted to do, with the blog, was change the name to something that would flow with our new life. I thought long and hard about what we would change the name to. Nothing seemed to fit, until someone mentioned that these miracle babies are my double rainbow after a four year storm. What a wonderful truth and thus, our new blog name has been formed.

 

 

 

This blog will follow our lives with our miracles, our little Double Rainbow! Everything from pregnancy, birth, and all throughout their lives. I figured now would be the best time to make the change since we will be doing more posts, updates, ect. about these two little miracles.

 

Hope you enjoy the new look as much as we do!

 

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FIRST ULTRASOUND {12.29.2015}

Thursday, Christmas Eve, was the "big day!" It was the weirdest thing because it felt like forever waiting for the appointment date to get here, but at the same time, the days flew by leading up to it. I wanted to write this the day after Christmas, but I didn't have a chance, so here it is!

 

My appointment was amazing! I don't think I could have pictured a more perfect first appointment. Christmas Eve morning, I woke up around 6am, and took my time getting ready. I wanted to enjoy this day not just because it was Christmas Eve, or my first ultrasound, but because I wanted to take a moment to relish in the blessings that God has so graciously provided us. After taking about an hour to get ready, E told me it was best to start making our way. E's parents met us at our apartment and we drove together to the appointment. I was thankful they wanted to come for support. My appointment was for 9:45am so I tried to get there a few minutes early to have time to just relax and calm my nerves. Surprisingly, I didn't have to wait long to see my doctor. He managed to call me back about thirty minutes early. Once I got into the room, the nurse asked a few questions, and we started the appointment. 

 

He asked me about my last period, and calculated how far along I would be. Then, we began the ultrasound. It took him a few minutes to find the baby. E and I were starting to worry. But, next thing we knew, there were TWO gestational sacs! My doctor measured both little babies just sitting so comfortably in my belly, and said that they were measuring about 5 weeks which is right for me having such a long cycle. We weren't able to see the heartbeats yet, but just seeing those two little sacs brought my heart so much joy! Afterwards, I was handed two ultrasound photos and then my doctor sent me down to the lab to get blood work done. All in all, it was a very quick appointment but it also allowed me to relax. My HCG levels came back at 3,588 which my doctor said looked great for having twins. Right now, things are progressing wonderfully. We have our next appointment on January 6. I am so ready to see my little beanie babies. By that point, we should be able to see both of the babies heartbeats. We weren't able to get video of this appointment, but we will be getting video of the next one with the two healthy heartbeats.
 

We feel so blessed and so thankful that God has given these miracles to us. Life is good and I am eagerly looking forward to 2016!

 

God Bless and Happy New Year!

Our twin beanie babies

 

 

 

MIRACLES AFTER 1382 DAYS | THE STORY {12.28.2015}

Well, I guess it's time to sit down and write this blog about our little miracles. To get the full story on this whole four year journey, visit my History of TTC page.

Let me just say, these twin babies are absolute miracles! If ever there was a couple who could praise and rave about the goodness and promises of God, it's us. Back in September, I took my last round of Clomid that resulted in no pregnancy. We were upset and saddened because after seven rounds of Clomid only two were successful but both ended in miscarriage in the first trimester. We decided to call it quits on Clomid and just move on. I still wanted to keep track of my cycles and see if I was ovulating on my own, so I continued to use Fertility Friend and OPKs. To my surprise, October and November were on time, for me, at just thirty-two days apart. Ovulation was detected for both cycles even with the absence of Clomid. We were shocked! For years, four to be exact, we were told we would never ovulate on our own...but God had a different plan. Between November 23 through 25, I managed to get three positive OPKs, while visiting in Florida with my grandparents. We didn't plan on it, but on the November 24 and 25, we baby danced. There was no legs in the air for ten minutes, no planning, no prepping, nothing! It was literally just as easy as it should be.

December 14 rolled around and according to previous cycles, my period was due to show on December 15. However, about a week prior to my period's due date, my breasts were very, very sore, to the point that E couldn't even hug me. I started telling him that I thought there was a chance we might be pregnant, but we would just laugh at the idea. On my way home on December 14, I told E that I was going to stop by CVS and grab a few pregnancy tests, fully with the mindset that I wouldn't take them until Wednesday morning. Though, when I got home, instinct told me to just take it, so I did. Low and behold, a line showed up, within a few seconds. It was faint, but it was there. I didn't know what to do with myself so I ran it over to E to look at it and asked him if he saw the line to confirm that I wasn't crazy. He looked at it, and nodded his head with complete shock.

That whole night, we were speechless. We didn't know what to think. All I could do was thank God for these miracle twins. The only thing we were able to agree on that night, was that we wanted to tell family and co-workers early. We were able to tell E's parents a week before our doctor's appointment, just in case they wanted to come, but we decided that Christmas Eve would be the perfect time to tell everyone else! Every year, on Christmas Eve, we go to E's parents house and everyone gets to open their matching pajamas, so I figured it would be fun to make an announcement when we had an ultrasound in hand. Ironically, Christmas Eve was also my first ultrasound (more on that later). That night, we headed over to E's parents house and let everyone open their pajamas first. Then we simply said "oh, we have something for Chrysta." She looked at us with a puzzled face and we told her it wasn't anything big then handed her two boxes. The first with just one onesie and then the second box which contained a second onesie with a note that read "We'll see you in August 2016 Aunt Chrysta. Love, the Twin Beanie Babies". Everyone was excited and, of course, amazed after we told them the story of how this was all God's work.

Christmas Day, was just as exciting! This time, we got to announce it to the rest of the family. It was such a wonderful opportunity to spread the news with everyone that loves us. For Christmas Day, we tried so hard to keep it a secret. The hope was that we would take a group photo and say something like "on the count of three say "Megan's Pregnant with Twins," but half way through the afternoon, E's mom requested that we tell everyone because she couldn't hold it in any longer. See the video at the end of the blogpost. Everyone was so excited and started smiling and laughing. We passed around the ultrasounds, it was absolutely wonderful. I couldn't have thought of a more perfect way to announce it!

 

Needless to say, this has been the best Christmas gift ever! We are eagerly looking forward to watching both of our little miracles grow. Estimated due date for our twins is August 2016. I will be doing weekly bump-dates, so stay tuned for that. Here is how we announced it to our social media sites:

Our Facebook cover photo

 Our "official" announcement

 The onesies and note to Aunt Chrysta

Our Twin Beanie Babies First Picture (Ultrasound at 5 weeks)

 

  

 

WEEKEND RECAP {12.21.2015}

MICROBLOG MONDAY!

 

 

Once again, I'm keeping Monday's short and sweet for now. Friday was so great! I got home and we decided to try out this new restaurant down the street called Slim Chickens. It's basically like a Raising Cane's. E got chicken and waffles and I got a chicken basket. We invited E's parents to join us since they too had been wanting to try out the food. We had a great time catching up with them. Seems like we hardly ever see them anymore due to work and just being busy all the time. Thankfully over the next few days we will be seeing them a lot more. Saturday was great! We woke up early and went to check out a two bedroom apartment in our complex. We've been praying for a bigger place, but we aren't quite ready to buy a house. Afterwards, we headed to the grocery store to grab a few things and then we went off to one of E's co-workers houses for a delicious dinner. They were so sweet and kind, and they even cooked my steak just how I like it...well done. We ended up getting home later than usual on Saturday, so we ended up watching a movie and going to bed. Sunday, was church day. We woke up early and managed to get to church just in time to grab a few kolaches and relax before service. As usual, our church service was fantastic! Every time we go, we leave feeling so enlightened. Our church is just amazing! They have this beautiful, and huge, Christmas Tree and I just fell in love, talk about "getting into the spirit." I hope you all have a truly wonderful Monday!

 

iPhone Photo Dump

E's Chicken & Waffles from Slim Chickens

 Church Sunday - Community of Faith

 Loving the new Worship Center at our church, absolutely beautiful

 Sleepy Bear Brooks on Sunday *notice Chief in the background photo-bombing*

 

WEEKEND RECAP {12.07.2015}

MICROBLOG MONDAY!

 

I decided to keep this recap short and sweet! This weekend, we traveled to my home state, Louisiana. My company had a Christmas Party at our Co-President's house and E and I were invited to attend. The original plan was to drive to Louisiana Friday night, but we decided we were too tired to drive and stayed home to pack and rest. Saturday morning was amazing! We got up around 8am, made breakfast together, and then headed out for our four hour drive. Thankfully, this drive was no where near as long as the Thanksgiving drive to Florida. We got into town around 1:30pm and first stop, was my all time favorite place, The Best Stop. I have been going there since I was little bitty. My dad and I would always stop there on the way to Texas anytime we would visit family in Louisiana. It's a sweet memory and I'm so glad that I get to share it with my husband now. We only had to wait in line for about ten minutes to get our pound of cracklins and ten boudin balls. We didn't even make it home with leftovers, that's how delicious it is! Saturday afternoon, we enjoyed a nice lunch with my co-worker and her husband at Texas Roadhouse. We thought it was pretty funny that we were in Louisiana but eating at a place with Texas in the title. I can't help it, Texas Roadhouse is delicious! Saturday night was the party. First off, let me just say that the co-president of the company was sick, but he did come out to apologize and to pray with us. His wife was an amazing host and she is probably the sweetest person I have ever met. We had wine, delicious food, dancing, and fun. We stayed for about four hours and then headed back to the hotel around 10:30pm. Sunday morning we got up around 7:30am, had breakfast in the lobby of the hotel with my co-worker and her husband, and then headed home. E wanted to watch the Texans, so I took a nap and it was amazing! After my ridiculously long, three hour nap, I got up and started working on the house. Did the dishes, laundry, and managed to get the house ready for this week. So overall, my weekend was busy but I love these times because it's more time with my husband.

iPhone Photo Dump

 The Best Stop in Scott, LA - best place in the world to get meat, boudin, and cracklins

 Lofton Christmas Party 2015

My sweet little furbaby (oldest furbaby) Chief sleeping in his pillow fort on the sofa will I watch TV with E

 

THANKSGIVING & WEEKEND RECAP {11.30.2015}

It's officially the last day of November! Time seems to be more of a thief the older I get, so it's nice when I get to spend time with my family. Over the Thanksgiving break, E and I made the long thirteen hour drive from Texas to Florida. Considering the fact that the only living relative I have is my grandmother and my step-grandfather, it's an emotional time when we visit. Aside from spending Thanksgiving day together, E and I were able to pick lots of oranges, grapefruits, and lemons fresh from their backyard. We mostly relaxed and enjoyed the beautiful view from my grandparents lake house, but we also managed to visit Gainesville, Fl. It's such a small town, but the University of Florida is there so we walked around the city and the campus. To our surprise, it was not cold in Florida. Last year, we were freezing and this year we were dying of heat, especially since we only packed winter clothes. No worries though, when we returned home to Texas, we were greeted with very cold weather.

 

After arriving home around 4am on Saturday, we spent most of the day sleeping. Trying to catch up on it before work. Needless to say, Saturday was a lazy day in our house. Sunday, we watched the Texans get a big win, though I couldn't be too happy because they beat my home team, the New Orleans Saints. When the game ended, we stopped by E's parents house to drop off the grapefruits we had picked for his dad, and spent some time with them before heading to the grocery store. We managed to snag a few more Christmas decorations before the shelves were bare. Once we got home, we started working on the Christmas tree and decorations around the house. It didn't start out great. We literally had the entire tree wrapped and then all the sudden, the lights just blew. We're assuming that the wires were damaged, but it was frustrating to have to completely unstring the lights, find new ones to put up, and then re-string the tree up. Thankfully, after that little mishap, the rest of the decorating process went flawlessly. We usually put the tree in the living room, but this year, we got new sofas and there was no room left for the tree. We decided to shuffle the table from the dining room out to the patio and made the dining room home to the tree.

 

Aside from all that, I was able to get the laundry done. I still have a few things left to deal with, but I'm trying not to get to "unpacked" as we are going to be heading to Louisiana on Saturday (more on that later). All in all, it was a truly wonderful Thanksgiving, and although we missed E's family, we are thankful to have my wonderful grandparents.

 

iPhone Photo Dump 

Delicious Thanksgiving Feast 

E and I with the gorgeous lake in the background 

Picking oranges (ignore the fact that I have no makeup on) 

Our views all weekend 

E picking oranges and grapefruits 

Huge alligator on the wall at Blue Water Bay in Melrose, Fl 

Best shrimp I've had in a while at Blue Water Bay in Melrose, Fl  

University and Main St. in Gainesville, Fl 

Sights around Gainesville, Fl 

E was so impressed that they spelled his name right

Stopped to grab a Starbucks and just loved all the production posters on the walls in Gainesville, Fl

My sweet grandparents 

They love E so much and that makes my heart truly happy 

The resemblance between us is amazing 

Two of my favorite men 

Love doesn't have to be by blood 

They kept asking how to take a selfie, so we took one with them 

Back home, our tree and decorations; I absolutely adore my Nutcracker that my grandmother gave me during our trip, ironically, the Nutcracker is my all time favorite holiday play

 

Thank you for reading, we hope you had a happy Thanksgiving!

 

P.S. - Happy Cyber Monday!!!

 

 

WEEKEND RECAP {11.23.2015}

Wow, we have already made it to Thanksgiving week! I'm just amazed at how quickly the year seems to fly by. We have a lot of fun-filled weekends coming up, but first, let me take a minute to celebrate this past weekend. Here's another weekend recap.

 

Friday night was relaxing, Erik and I got to spend some quality time with his parents. They came over and played with our furbabies and we just talked and talked. Sadly, we had to cut it short as Erik had to go to bed for work in the morning. Saturday, I was running around like crazy. I woke up, got my nails done, met an old friend to catch up and chat about makeup, then I took my car to get an oil change and finally got back home and started picking up. I was hoping to get the laundry and some cleaning done, but neither of those took place. Once Erik got home, we got dressed and had multiple plans, but everything we planned just didn't work out so we ended up having a fun evening at home. He did however, finally, manage to get my desk out of the back of my car and into the house. I was able to put it together and I really like the way it turned out. It's my littler corner for working so our dining room table can be free of clutter and open for us to eat dinners together. Erik really wanted Bullritos, so we stopped and picked that up and just ate it for dinner. He also wanted to stop by Spec's. Right now, he is really addicted to Not Your Father's Root Beer, so we grabbed a case for him. Don't think we didn't get me anything. I really wanted a daiquiri so I just grabbed one of the frozen daiquiri makers, some Malibu rum and went on my way. We ended up going home, drinking and eating and then passing out. We are definitely not the party types! Finally, Sunday came and it was crazy! Sunday morning we got to enjoy lunch at Gringos. Our friends, who are more like family, invited us to go for an early Thanksgiving with their family. We got to see our Goddaughter Madison and of course, we got to spend some quality time with Josh and Alexa. After lunch, we headed to a good friend from High School's house for her first daughter, Sasha's first birthday. She is expecting her second daughter, Aria, around January. It was "My Little Caterpillar" theme. Shanice did a great job with the decorations. I adore DIY projects so it was fun to see her ideas. After the party, it was time to head home. We stopped by the grocery store for a few things and then went home so I could start on the laundry. Before our weekend ended, we caught up on Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Walking Dead.

 

Over all, it was a wonderful weekend. Around this time, we tend to get more and more busy, but it's always amazing getting to enjoy the holidays with friends and family.

 

iPhone Photo Dump

 My desk area, all set up and ready to go. I start school in just 21days so having an area to myself where I can work and study will be so nice

 Our Goddaughter Madison!

 I just absolutely adore her! Erik does too (see photo below)

 I swear there has to be a special bond between a Goddaughter and her Godfather because she absolutely loves Erik! He always manages to make her smile or laugh

She's getting entirely too big 

I mean really? Too much cuteness!!!

 Sweet Sasha and her mama, Shanice

 Little Caterpillar photos from Newborn to One 

 DIY gift ideas; Hershey bar covers, name tents; goodie bags with photos of Sasha

 Food galore; baked beans, potato salad, fruit, chips, veggies, deviled eggs, hamburgers

Shanice, Sasha, and I - Happy 1st Birthday Sasha! 

 

Sasha's caterpillar birthday cake 

You know I had to, he's back and we totally called it

For those wondering what the beer looks like; you can find it in cans at HEB or just head to Spec's and grab a six pack

 

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