What's it gonna be???

Eric and I had our 17 week appointment with Dr. Collins yesterday. This was also the day they would do my anatomy scan on each baby and we should find out the gender. I was so anxious going in. I stopped at Chick-fil-a on my way to get a LARGE lemonade to make these two dance around so we could get a good shot at their "no no spots" (as the kids I interview like to call it). That was NOT a good idea.....details later about that one.....

Eric and I had decided a long time ago that we didn't want to find out the sexes of the babies in the doctors office. We wanted to make it special and have a little "gender reveal party." I got the idea from another photographer's blog that I follow before I was even pregnant. My friend, Kelly, makes cakes so I asked her a long time ago if she would make us 2 small cakes and make the inside pink or blue so we could invite our families over to cut them and find out with everyone else what the babies were. She happily agreed!

So , Amy, our ultrasound tech calls us back first and we told her what we wanted to do. I even took my own envelope with a cute note card for her to write it down for us! She kept telling us both not to be disappointed if we couldn't find out today because sometimes it was harder to tell earlier with twins. I was trying not to get my hopes up all the while praying that they would cooperate. She started with Baby A....measuring his head and then his belly, kidneys, heart, etc and then she said "OK, I am going between the legs...close your eyes." So Eric and I both closed our eyes. Within 5 seconds she said "OK...I am on the feet now. You can open your eyes." I said "Could you tell?" and she replied "YES!" All the while she was measuring Baby A, Baby B kept moving over into the picture trying to steal the limelight from A. Amy said "I think B is going to be your photogenic one." Well, of course.....look who his mommy is! :)

So we moved on to Baby B....same scenario as with Baby A. When she got to the between the legs part we closed our eyes again. She worked and worked, moved the ultrasound probe all over and then started bouncing it up and down my stomach. I was so worried that B would not cooperate! Finally, after what seemed an eternity she said "OK, down to the feet." She said she was able to tell!

After we finished she made us close our eyes again just to double check and she said she was 100% sure in the gender of both babies! Baby A is measuring 6 oz and Baby B is coming in a 7 oz. She said that was right on the mark for twins at this stage! Hard to believe these babies are almost 1 pound a piece!

She wrote down the genders on my card and put the ultrasound pictures in there as well and sealed it up! She even said she wanted to come to our party to see our reactions. We had to wait to see Dr. Collins after that and Eric had to go back to work. I was all alone with the sealed envelope in that room. Talk about hard! I kept thinking "I could just rip it open and no one would know." But I really do love surprises so I wanted to hold out and find out when we cut the cakes!

Dr. Collins came in and said she heard about my party and loved the idea. She told me to call her and let her know what they are because she didn't find out either since I didn't want to know! Love that about her! We talked about the babies and how they were doing and then it was time to deliver the envelope. So I am all alone in the car this time with the sealed envelope taking it to Michael, Kelly's husband. I think I sped the whole way just to get it out of my possession!

So the envelope has been delivered, the cakes have been made and frosted and now we wait until 7:30 tonight to cut them! The only person missing will be Sara, who I wish could be here so badly for many reasons! However I have been instructed to call her as soon as the last person leaves!

Eric thinks it's a boy and a girl and I am in the same boat with him! Can't wait to find out!!!

Details on the lemonade incident in an upcoming post!

A Babymoon...so soon???

Eric and I decided that we needed one last vacation before the babies come! We are travelers and love to travel and see new places. That is one thing we said we wanted to do after we got married, before we had kids. And we have done our fair share....Poconos, Las Vegas, Denver, Bahamas, Cancun....just to name a few. Since Eric has to have all of his vacation taken by the middle of October we decided August would be a good time to go to the beach. Now, last fall we went to Sun Palace, an all inclusive resort in Cancun, Mexico for our 5 year wedding anniversary. It was by far the BEST trip we have ever taken! Totally relaxing, beautiful, romantic, etc, etc. On a side note Eric was watching a commercial the other day for Beaches Resorts and their slogan was "a vacation you will talk about for years to come." THAT WAS OUR SUN PALACE!! We talk about Sun Palace at least once a week and tell everyone else that they HAVE to go there! Here are a few pictures from our "vacation we will talk about for years to come."

So....when it came time to plan a babymoon I kept telling Eric I wanted to go back to Sun Palace. Eric said he felt like it wasn't a good idea to leave the country with me being pregnant with twins....especially to Mexico. So I begrudgingly agreed and we settled on Destin, Florida. Not exactly Sun Palace but it was the beach after all.

I looked for condos for several weeks. Most people know that I am a beach snob....what this means to me is if I am going to the beach then I want my room to be a beachfront room. I want to sit on my balcony in the mornings and drink my coffee and hear the waves. So it takes me a while to find the perfect place! We got there on Saturday and our room did not really look too much like the pictures! It was VERY small and the bedroom was in the kitchen which was in the living room. Not a big deal....we were only going to be in there to sleep, right?

Sunday was our first day out on the beach. The condo furnished beach chairs and an umbrella. So we, I mean Eric, gathers up all our beach gear and head down to the beach. First off we couldn't get the umbrella to stay in the sand. It kept blowing over. I said to Eric "Remember how at Sun Palace we had our umbrella already up for us in the mornings and all we had to do was lay down on our nice comfy lounge chair?" So, we finally got the umbrella situated. Eric gets his chair ready and sits down. The chairs were a little low and not too terribly comfy. As soon as Eric gets settled he says "these are definitely not Sun Palace chairs."

Sunday night about midnight I woke up because Eric had turned all the lights on and was not in the bed. I asked if he was ok and he replied "No, we have water coming through the closet." The closet in the hallway held the washer and dryer. When I got up there was water literally pouring through the ceiling into our room. It looked like a waterfall. Eric called the emergency maintenance number and they sent someone immediately. The people above us were doing laundry and a hose had broken on the washing machine and that was the cause of the water. We were on the 6th floor and we learned later that it leaked all the way to the 1st floor. They told us they were going to move us to another condo for the night....so we pack up all our stuff and go down to the 5th floor. In the midst of all this Eric looks at me and says "this would have never happened at Sun Palace....I should have listened to you and we should have gone there." I just nodded and smiled!

We got back to our room on Monday morning and everything was fixed. Monday night bedtime comes and about 3 AM I sat straight up in the bed because the loudest noise started coming from the refrigerator. It sounded like a jackhammer. Eric got it fixed. There were a few other nights that it sounded like popcorn was popping in the ceiling! All we could do was laugh!

All in all it was a great vacation......and our last one alone for a while. Maybe we will see Sun Palace again in 2015 for our ten year anniversary. Any volunteers to keep the babies????

Here are a few pictures!

At Baytowne Wharf

At the Crab Trap

Our condo in Sandestin

The view from our room

16 weeks....

Baby A and Baby B!

We are now in terms of calling the twins Baby A and Baby B! Baby A is on my left side and will come into this world first. Baby B is on my right and will come into this world second. Baby A likes to move around a lot....he or she kind of jumps up and down in his/her sac. We could have a future Olympic skiier on our hands. Baby B lays there with his or her hands behind his head like he is just relaxing. I already have a feeling that we are going to have 2 polar opposite babies on our hands.....

August 2nd was my 13 week appointment with Dr. Collins. It was a long one......we did lots and lots of talking about the rest of the pregnancy. Dr. Collins made sure that I was aware that I was a DOCTOR patient....if I need to call the on call number after hours I am to speak to a doctor, not a nurse or a mid-wife. She said that she would be happy if I made it to 34 weeks (that is 2 days after Christmas). I asked her if I could go longer and she told me that she would let me go to 38 weeks but no further. I was relieved to hear her say that when it comes down to delivery time if both babies are head down she will let me try to have them vaginally. The only problem lies within the fact that Baby A will come out and then that frees up so much room that Baby B wasn't use to so he or she flips and turns feet down resulting in a C-section at that point. Dr. Collins said that this happens about 30% of the time.  So, if I try to deliver vaginally I will deliver in an operating room instead of a regular delivery room.

We also talked about where I would deliver. She said that if I delivered at Women's East and the babies ended up needing to go to the NICU then they would take them to Erlanger downtown. I told her that it was not an option for my babies to leave me and that I really didn't want to deliver downtown. We talked about Parkridge East Hospital (old East Ridge Hospital) and Dr. Collins said that they were fully equipped to handle the twins. So we settled on delivering there. I am comfortable with that. I have had several friends deliver at that hospital and were completely happy with it.

I feel good that she has a plan for us and trust her completely to take care of me and these babies!

Growing......

Here are the babies at 9 weeks (July 5th)....this was the last week we were able to get a "group shot" of them. They are growing so much already!!! At 9 weeks they were moving like crazy flapping their arms and legs. 

Here I am at 10 weeks.... (July 12)

And here is one of the twins at 10 weeks....the other one would not cooperate! 

                                                                    And 12 weeks..... (July 26)

Here is Baby A at 13 weeks..Baby A is on my left side and will make his or her appearance into the world first!

And Baby B at 13 weeks....Baby B is on my right side and will made his or her entrance second.

                                                                     And 14 weeks (August 9)

Lots of pictures but lots of changes in the last few weeks!!! I can't believe I am already in my 2nd trimester!

Dad.

My dad passed away 4 years ago today after a long and very courageous battle with colon cancer. It's hard to believe that it has been 4 years, today, since I last saw my dad. Some days it feels like it was just yesterday and other days it feels like 20 years. People always say "Oh, it gets easier." I disagree. It gets more bearable but not easier. Every milestone and moment that has been big in my life since then I have always thought "I wish my dad was here to see this." I think he would be so excited about the twins.....he wouldn't have said it out loud but he would have been. I made a photo album of pictures from his birth up until his death after he died for the simple reason that is how my children would know him. The twins WILL know him through pictures and through stories that Eric, myself, and my mom will share with them. They would have loved their Poppa. Love and miss you dad!

                                                                          Early on...

Here we are at our father/daughter dance at my wedding....... Steve St. Clair with Highlights Photography captured this image and it is absolutely one of my favorites!

Each year on Memorial Day and Veteran's Day downtown Ringgold puts up flags to honor all of those past military who are no longer with us. The next 2 pictures are from those 2 days. 

 Every year on Memorial Day the Boy Scouts put flags out at the National Cemetery on ALL of the graves.

And guess what????

On June 14, when I was exactly 6 weeks, I went in for my first ultrasound. I had already had 3 appointments for blood work. At the first one on May 31 my hcg level was at 207. Anything over 9 means you have a positive blood pregnancy test. I went back on June 2 for another. They told me at the doctor's office that my hcg level needed to double about every 30 hours or so to be able to sustain a pregnancy. My hcg level on that day was 430. The lady who draws my blood said "hmmm.....that's really high. There might be more than one baby in there." I immediately came home and e-mailed a friend who had twins and asked her what her first hcg was and she said it was over 1,200. I wasn't too worried. I went back for my last hcg on June 9th and it was 4,745.

Our first ultrasound was scheduled that next Tuesday. I was so anxious and nervous. Were there really 2 babies? Was everything OK? I didn't really feel any differently at that point. Our doctor came in and put the ultrasound in and it was very clear that there were 2 babies in there!! Eric and I just started laughing. We were able to hear the heartbeat on one and see the flutter on the second one, even though it was still to early to pick it up.

Eric and I went to Panera for breakfast afterwards laughing the whole time. I called my mom and said "well, there's 2 babies." She replied "Are you serious?" Eric tried to get me to tell her there were 3 but I didn't want her to pass out.

Here is a picture that Eric took of me at Panera right after we found out that we were HAVING TWINS!!!

And here is a picture of our first ultrasound! They are tiny little guys....kind of looks like a cross between a ghost and an owl....

And a picture of me at 6.5 weeks! 

We are pregnant!

Here are 2 pictures from the day we found out that we were pregnant....May 31, 2011! We went to eat at Olive Garden to celebrate. Not too fancy but it sounded good! 

A Kittle blog....It was bound to happen......

Here we are....The Kittles...Eric and Holly, and the ever so human-like 4 legged beagle, O'malley, that also lives in our house. O'malley is pretty advanced for a dog (or so Eric and I like to think). I can't tell you how many times I have said to Eric "I really think he understands what I say." But I will dedicate a whole other blog to our first child.

It seems like the rest of the world has joined the blog-o-sphere so why not the Kittles? I toyed with the idea of starting a blog a while back to keep up with our life so that it doesn't pass by too quickly and then in the end we can't remember what we did. But I guess the main reason for starting the blog is we are pregnant with our first child....umm, I mean our first two children! WE ARE EXPECTING TWINS in early 2012! Like all the other moms (it still sounds so weird to call myself a mom)  I am sure I will need a place to update all the cute things that they are going to do so I can look back and remember them!

So, who are we?

I'm Holly....I love all things University of Tennessee football and orange,  pedicures, flip flops, coffee (not all things coffee...just coffee...with 1 sweet n low and lots of creamer...so maybe I love creamer), forensics (the serial killer, C.S.I forensics, not drama class forensics...and no I am not a weird-o....forensics is my career), Mexican food, my Lord and Savior, my church, and photography (check me out at Holly Kittle Photography).

He's Eric....He loves all things University of Georgia football and red and black (makes for a fun 2nd Saturday in October at our house), football, golf, grilling out (he really just likes making the grill marks on his meat of choice), His Lord and Savior, painting (a good Bob Ross is his fave), and a good movie from the Red box on a Friday night...that we usually forget to take back and have to pay an extra $1 for!

So...that's us in nutshell! We know NOTHING and I mean NOTHING about being parents, especially to twins, so I am sure this is going to be a hysterical, crazy,wonderful ride full of other parents telling us what we are doing wrong!!! I can't wait! Keep up with us!