Growth

I'm getting harassed for pictures, so here we are... all 3 of us.

My students always ask me, "Mrs. Karly, how are your babies?" My response is always, "Well, I'm growing, so they're growing!" And it's true... I am certainly looking a little bit more pregnant these days, which is kind of fun because it makes it seem a little bit more real to Mike and me. I'm also starting to feel more consistent flutters and tiny punches/kicks that feel like a gentle flick.

One student asked me the other day, "If your babies are only this big [holding up two fingers about  4-5 inches apart], then how come you're so big?!" I had to explain to her that not only are there two, but liquid that they are swimming in, and my body is also storing up fat reserves too for when they squish me so much that it will be hard to eat. However, later, I had a Thai co-worker tell me, "You don't even look pregnant... you're not even showing!"

Well, showing or not, I'm definitely eating like crazy (I've completely ruined our food budget) and gaining weight like a champ. I'm starting to really feel the effects of that weight gain, as well as increased blood volume, which has definitely started slowing me down more and force me to sit a lot to alleviate the pressure from my feet. My students have been so gracious, helpful & sweet during this time of transition, which has made it all the more easier.

All is going well though; I really feel quite fantastic. We are still so in awe of God's goodness to us and how He has so lavishly blessed us!

Words

You know you're pregnant when these are the words that are coming out of your mouth...

K: "Mike, I'm eating this fruit."
M: "That's my fruit."
K: "Okay... I'm eating your fruit. Do you want any of your fruit? If not, I'm going to eat it all."

3 days later...

K: How many watermelon did you buy?
M: 4-- 3 for you and 1 for me.
K: (In the middle of eating watermelon #4) So this piece of watermelon that I'm currently eating and is half gone is yours? You want the half that's left?
M: [sigh] No. Go ahead. I can get more later.
K: Sorry!!! 


While I'm busy packing on the pounds to ensure healthy babies, my poor husband is quite possibly slowly losing weight because I snipe his food. Poor Mike.

Things not to say to a woman expecting (twins)…

1. What kind of water did you drink?
2. Better you than me!
3. You’re going to be huge!
4. I don’t know how you’re going to fit 2 babies in there!
5. Uh-oh! Double trouble!
6. Vaginal delivery or C-section?
7. Any terrible/scary pregnancy story that you know of.
8. Twins...that's so scary!

What I want to say in response…
1. Pretty sure drinking water doesn’t make you pregnant... just sayin'.
2. Yes, better me than you because I CANNOT WAIT to love on them.
3. Better huge with babies than huge because I’m obese?!
4. I’m sure it’ll work out somehow.
5. I prefer double the blessing.
6. Uhm… seriously?
7. Not helpful, people… not helpful.
8. Is it? Scary is being the octuplet mom, in my opinion.

A simple equation

10 more teaching days

+

4 days of finals

+

4.5 days of cleaning/packing up my classroom & getting things ready for the new Spanish teacher

+

5 wonderful weeks in Minnesota filled with family & friends

____________________________________________________________

1 happy Karly

This will be my life...

I'm excited to all take in all giggles that I'll hear from my own two kiddos. :)

Top 20

Q&A: Top questions I've/we've been getting:

1. How are you feeling?  Fantastic! Just really really tired and ravenously hungry. :)

2. Do you have really bad morning sickness since you have 2X the hormones? Nope... feeling super blessed as I only felt seriously nauseous for about 4-5 weeks. The most "annoying" symptom of pregnancy for me has been how stuffy my nose is!

3. Do twins run in your family? No twins in Mike's family Just found out that there are twins in Mike's family! And since I'm adopted, we don't know about mine.

4. Twins... are you happy about that? Ecstatic. You can't beat a built-in best friend & playmate!

5. Are you having weird cravings? Not particularly. Corn on the cob, Mexican food and bacon always sound good though (not together). I do admit to making quesadillas and blueberry pancakes in the wee hours of the morning, and drinking about a quart of milk a day though.

6. Are you still going to stay in Thailand? Yes. We'll be here for at least another 2 years. We don't know beyond that as of now though... wherever God wants us.

7. Will you continue teaching? Nope. This is my last year teaching for a while. Mike will continue to teach at ICS though. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to stay at hope with the wee ones and get to know some of the other moms in the community better! We have such a great and supportive community here with so many great friends!

8. Do you know if they are fraternal/identical? Nope. I thought they were fraternal since they are separated by a membrane, but identical ones can be separated by a membrane too. I guess we'll find out later!

9. Do you know their sexes? Nope. If they aren't crossing their legs, we'll hopefully find out in June. We'll keep you updated. :)

10. Have you picked out names? Yep. We're 100% decided on 2 boys and 2 girls names (and middle names)... but we're not sharing (yet). :)

11. When is your actual due date? Everything goes out the window with multiples (they generally come a few weeks earlier--37 weeks is considered full term with twins), so it doesn't really matter anyway, I suppose. They could be born anytime in late September or October. We're hoping that they're born in October... obviously the later they are born, the more time they've had to develop.

12. What can I do to help you? For now, pray for a healthy & uncomplicated pregnancy. When I get closer to beached-whale status, I'm sure I'll have some other suggestions. :)

13. Are you showing? Yep... especially since there are twinks in there.

14. Do your students know? How did they react? My high schoolers are super excited, but bummed that I won't be teaching next year (and jealous that I'm CONSTANTLY eating during class). Many of Mike's students didn't even know he was married. Haha!

15. Do you think it will be boys/girls/boy & girl?/What do you hope they will be? We've already placed our bets. Mike thinks it will be 2 boys (he grew up in a family of 4 boys, and has a nephew). I think it will be 1 boy and 1 girl. What we hope? Hmmm... I don't think we really care. It's fun to think about having 1 of each, but I think twins maybe have a closer relationship (but maybe more competitive too) if they are the same sex. Anyway, it's not like it's up to us anyway to decide. :)
16. What was your reaction when you found out it was twins?  100% delight, smiles & maybe a little bit of squealing & excited hand clapping. (Okay, the squealing and hand clapping was more me than Mike... he's not really the squealing and hand clapping type, you know?)
17. Are you going to miss teaching? Absolutely (just not the grading aspect of it). But the thought of staying home with two wee ones and watching them grow and learn is SO exciting to me!
18. Do you feel them kick yet? I think I maybe feel flutters now, but I'm a newbie at this, so who knows.
19. Do have room for them in your current apartment, or will you have to move? We have room, especially when they're little and immobile. We even have bunk beds... which we scoffed at thought were so charming when we first moved in... perhaps  it was foreshadowing things to come.
20. Will you still be visiting MN this summer? That's our hope. We've gotten the initial approval from our doctor, but will have to get a second approval from him the day before we are scheduled to leave. It obviously depends on the health/condition of the wee ones & me. But yes, it's technically still safe for me to fly with the twinks in June and early July.