Thursday, February 21, 2008

Week 8: Holy moly!

When we went in for our 8 week ultrasound we were given some unexpected news! The purpose of the visit was to confirm a heartbeat, so imagine our surprise when the technician said "Oh, there's the heartbeat and oh, there's the second heartbeat!" Our first reaction was to start laughing- it was not at all what we ever expected!


TWINS!

Because the twins were in the same gestational sac, they are identical. Identical twins are a random event that occurs 1 out of every 250 pregnancies. It has nothing to do with heredity either- only fraternal twins run in families. Our twins share a placenta but are in their own amnion, making them what is called mono-di twins (for their one placenta and 2 amniotic sacs). It's the most common type of identical twin. The world of twins is foreign to me, so I'm excited to be a part of it now!

Sunday, February 17, 2008

2008 Great Backyard Bird Count

Katie and I just completed our count for the 2008 GBBC. Here are the results:

SpeciesCount
Mourning Dove4
Red-bellied Woodpecker1
Downy Woodpecker1
American Crow2
Carolina Chickadee2
Tufted Titmouse2
Red-breasted Nuthatch1
White-breasted Nuthatch1
Brown-headed Nuthatch2
Carolina Wren2
Eastern Bluebird2
American Robin13
Northern Mockingbird1
Yellow-rumped Warbler1
Eastern Towhee1
Dark-eyed Junco1
Northern Cardinal2
House Finch3
American Goldfinch13

If you want to participate, you still have all day today and tomorrow! Visit http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

Here's a recent shot of one of our friends. She made another appearance today so that she could be counted (along with her hubby).

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

A New Beginning...

Last year, Katie and I began thinking about starting a family. With Katie's school and licensing finally finished, we felt that we were ready to enter into this next phase of our life together. Recently, Katie and I received the news that we had been wanting to hear by way of a positive pregnancy test (ok, -several- positive pregnancy tests - we're skeptical by nature!) - we were on our way to starting our family!

A trip to the doctor soon confirmed...


Yep, there sure was a little peanut in there already on its journey! And there it is, our baby's very first picture! (Yes, it's QUITE abstract!)

How exciting and wonderful! We are both so thrilled about being pregnant. For many years we have talked and imagined and hoped and dreamed about what it would be like to one day have our family and all of the fun times we will have and amazing experiences we will share, but now to know that we are actually on our way, it feels so much more real.

Of course we are also apprehensive and nervous about the weeks and months ahead and all of the challenges they may bring. We have the best medical care we could ask for here at UAB, and definitely feel that we are in great hands. We are looking forward to sharing this pregnancy process with our family and friends in the coming months through words and pictures and will also happily receive all thoughts and notes of encouragement! We know this pregnancy will be an adventure (or more accurately, the adventure before the REAL adventure! :-) and definitely want to share it with everyone.