By Two They Came

Ok maybe not everything, but Allyson has had most of her baby showers, and by twos clothes, pumpkin seats, highchairs and whatever else started to come into the house. We really were blessed with all the gifts we got, and we appreciated every gift we got, but I have to admit that with babies, i think especially baby girls (and in our case twins), people cannot help but buy clothes.

You should see our closet, it is packed with more clothes than Allyson and I have combined...but wait there is more, check out the dresser and its hanging bar is full and its drawers are full. The other thing people I think like with girls over boys in monogram everything. We have monogrammed bibs, blankets, burp clothes, and I think clothes. Allyson and I joked that we should have told everyone we decided not to go with Hannah and Leah...but thought better than to taunt the people getting us such nice gifts.

The other crazy part is finding space for all of this. When we bought our new home, I never thought those words would come out of my mouth, but alas. It is just a lot at one time, and when you slowly consume stuff you find better ways to stuff things into nooks and crannies.

So after all the stuff was put away we still had to put some it together. Well, that was fun...me and Allyson had a "Rachel Green" moment (And if you don't watch Friends you will not get this). We were putting together the bouncy seats and the Pack N Play and it just was not happening in the easy manner the instructions laid out, so we started to wonder : if we cannot put together their stuff...how screwed up are our kids going to be...ok maybe a little extreme and we were more laughing about it, but it was just funny.

All and all, we were really blessed by all our friends and family.

28 week appointment

Nothing too exciting to report after this appointment, which is good. So far everything looks great and he has no huge concerns. I did not gain very much since my 26 week appointment, but he is just going to look at that in another 2 weeks. Dr. Ross also said I could keep working (just keep an eye on my pressure and contractions) and then referred to me as the "energizer bunny". Truthfully I feel normal most days before my cases; its after the case when I feel a little more tired than I should.

The funny part was when he measured my fundal height. At 26 weeks I was measuring the same as someone pregnant with one at 32 weeks. I guess they hit a growth spurt (even if I didnt) because I am now measuring 36 weeks! Thats 8 weeks ahead! You Grow Girls! But, that does explain a lot!

Unfortunately I think I have a little sinus infection right now, so he gave me a zpak and hopefully that will clear things up quickly. One of my best friends is staying with me this weekend and I have my moms baby shower this saturday so I had best snap out of this!

Speaking of baby showers, I have had two thus far. One from work last thursday and my mother-in-laws shower on Sunday. I tell you what, putting everything away makes it that much more real! We are in the home stretch which is hard to believe. And I definitely have enough burp cloths to last a while!

Thats all for now. I go back 2 weeks from today. He said anything could change between now and then, but he is still hoping for me to deliver at 36 weeks. 8 weeks to go. wow. Does that mean, i will be measuring... 56 weeks at this rate? I can't possibly get much bigger!

Literally Nesting

Well there is a new form of nesting going on at the McCay house. It is not cleaning or organizing (even though some of that is going on), but literally nesting. Let me paint you a picture. Allyson and I sleep on a king size bed. There was a day where snuggling was ok, then there was Kody the big dog that thinks he sleeps between us...ok remedy that, train him to sleep on the floor. Then we (I say we lightly because I do not want to get tons of comments from the ladies) got pregnant, so she is hot all the time, so no snuggling again. So here we are in a nice king size bed, with plenty of room to not snuggle.

Then week 23 or 24 roles on in, and sleepless nights start to become the norm. I really do feel sorry for her, but you have to picture a 6 foot 6 inch wide bed, on one side is a 245 pound man on his side hugging the edge of the bed (freezing I might add because the house now has to be at 65 degrees), on the other side of him is a wall of pillows (all the new/good ones), my loving wife and then on the other side of her another wall of pillows. So, it occurred to me, this is her natural instict to create a nest :).

The funny part is she takes this nesting strategy to the big couch downstairs as well where she has cosumed all but a couple of the throw pillows and purchased a new body pillow (that matches the couch of course) just for her couch sitting.

I give her a hard time, but I got to laugh about some of these things. I love her to death and I am sure I would be crying like a baby if I had to do what she is having to do, but I had to share the new nesting phase.

Money Well Spent

Allyson has already posted that we had our 4D ultrasound (my friend Ben hates that it is called this, he says by this thinking then the regular ultrasound should be called 3D since it is in real time as well...oh well), so I will not say much about it, but it was totally awesome and well worth the money. The only downside I think is it makes you want them to be here, so you can see and hold them.

I am posting two videos, one is Hannah and one is Leah. Since you pay for the ultrasound you actually get a lot of video...we got right at an hour, so I did my best to shave it down, but hey we are first time parents and it is hard to take out video. So, please fast-forward if you want, else the Leah video is 11 minutes and the Hannah video is 20. Of note, no we are not showing favoritism already, Hannah was not cooperating so we had to try the most with her to get a good image, which produced some pretty good video, but we never really got her 100% focused. I am also posting a few extra images, you can check them all out at our flickr account.

VIDEO



Hannah Marie 4D Ultrasound from matthewmccay and Vimeo.



Leah Nicole 4D Ultrasound from matthewmccay and Vimeo.

PHOTOS



(Hannah on left -- Leah on right)

Our 26 week appointment

Today was a very exciting day because we had another very long sonogram done of the girls which included our 4D. I know my husband will be putting up the pictures soon since he is good at all that, but all I can say is seeing those images just made me that much more excited for them to be here. Granted, I don't want them born tomorrow - I of course want them to come when they are really ready, but time seems to be slowing down. The images are just so much more than the skeletal pictures you get with the normal ultrasound and it made me want to hold them!

The appointment started with my dreaded sugar test. I am completely retarded when it comes to drinking things that in my opinion should never be consumed. Ex: Liquid medicine, any type of barium or anything to do with an upper GI, and that also includes orange flavored sugar water. I took every bit of those 5 minutes I had to swallow the nasty stuff, making a little bit of an ordeal out of it. But once it was finished, we were sent to the ultrasound room.

I must say that the girl that runs the machine is amazing. She can just go directly to any part of their little bodies and do her measurements, heart rates, or (because we made her) check if we still have girls! Leah was very cooperative in her photoshoot today, though her cord kept getting in the way. Hannah was stretched way down behind my pelvic bone and hid most of the time. So Leah basically stole the show. We got some good pictures of both in the end though. The lady was very patient. She tried for about an hour to get Hannah to come out of her hole, and then suggested I get up to get my sugar read and come back. Maybe that would help.

(My blood sugar was 132 - it has to be under 140) So I barely passed but at least I dont have to do the 3 hour test! When we returned to the ultrasound room Hannah was still comfy behind the pelvic bone but eventually came out a little bit so we could see her face.

Hannah weighs 2lbs and Leah weighs 2lbs 1oz. They are growing evenly which is very good. Also, Hannah is head down now so maybe I won't have to have a C section. Leah is still breach so they both kick each other in the head (which we witnessed).

After the pictures were taken we then had to wait for the regular appointment which basically consisted of "Hey! How are yall? Any bleeding? Good. Let me measure your belly. You are measuring 32 weeks! Well everything looks great, see you in about 2 and a half weeks!" Nice. Easy enough, this whole pregnancy thing! Just old hat. :)

So all in all a very good appointment. The next one will be shorter and then we will have another sonogram done in a month. Now that the 4D is over, I have the baby showers to look forward to!

Joined the Van Crew

As a whole Allyson and I were both not big on the idea of a van, and thought the Pilot would be plenty good for having kids...that was before we found out we were having twins and before I saw my brothers van packed to the top when they came to the beach with us. Plus in the future it will be easier for the kids to get in and out and the are really safe vehicles.

So Allyson and I started looking, just to see what was out there in the form of used vans, we wanted to stay in our comfort zone of Toyota or Honda.

We ended up getting a pretty good deal, but had to drive out to Ensley to get it. But we ended up getting a Toyota Sienna XLE Limited 05. The nice part is it was a little high on the milage for a 05, so we got to get one with some extra features like nav, DVD, power doors and back hatch, so we are pretty happy.

The funny part of the story is we told the guy the price we wanted based on what we were talking to honda about, and he gave us the "I think we can work with that." So we sat and he came in saying great news we got it down because we want to get rid of the car because it has been on the lot 45 days. HA...it was no where even near to what we asked. At that point I let him deal with the pregnant woman :). After a little back and forth and you meet me half way talk we got our van for 25 dollars a month more than what we wanted to spend and that included a bumper to bumper warranty..so hey sometimes it helps to have a pregnant lady with you :).

My Beautiful Wife (Hannah and Leah's Beautiful Mother)

I know she most likely does not feel it, and a lot of people will say I have to say it...but there is something totally beautiful about Allyson carrying our children. It is really hard to explain, but I am sure it is a mixture of my wife is beautiful, the awe of her ability to carry and care for our children, and there is just something cute about that belly sticking out...especially since her belly button pokes through her shirts. I know I am biased, but she really is beautiful, and I am sure I will find her even more attractive when I see her caring for our children once they are born. I thank God for her, we have our ups and downs, but I feel blessed for her to be my wife and the mother of my children.

Ok so where did that come from, me and Allyson decided instead of spending a lot of money on maternity photos we would take some ourselves...here are just a couple.



It was raining that day, so we are going to try to take some outdoor ones soon, so if you like check back and I will post those.