23 more days...

Well we didn't find out the sex yesterday. I got there and my doctor said it would be on July 22nd instead. We were so bummed. I guess I misunderstood the doctor when I scheduled my appointments. Oh well...we all just have to wait...

Other news...Ray did not get the job in NJ so we will remain in NEW ENGLAND! It was bitter sweet when it happened. We were sad that Ray didn't get his promotion, but very happy we didn't have to leave our beautiful home to move into god knows what in Jersey. We were very sad that we didn't get to move closer to our family (which would be wonderful since we are having babies), but happy that we have developed such great friendships with people in CT and know that they are always here to lend a helping hand. We were both bummed out because this Jersey job would have allowed me to be home with our children, but so grateful that we both have two wonderful mothers who have committed to help us out no matter what. So now even with me going back to work my mom and my Ray's mom (my mom too) have made plans to help us for as long as we need. THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM's. We LOVE y'all. Regardless of what we wanted we always know God has a plan for us. We have learned through experiences like this that we need to stay faithful and keep positive because something good is coming our way (it always does when doors close on us).

As for me I am doing well. I started feeling better after month 3, but that didn't last for very long. Last Tuesday I had an emergency visit to the ER. I had a horrible migraine that worsened throughout the day and by 9:30pm it was so bad Ray and I decided to call the on call doctor to see what we need to do. To both of our surprise we were told to head straight to the ER because I could be hyperstimulating and migraines are a sign of this condition. We had no idea what the meaning was for hyperstimulation so for others that don't know here is a definition:Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a complication from some forms of fertility medication. Most cases are mild, but a small proportion is severe. Since severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of assisted reproduction, the focus of attention in such cases is placed firmly upon the health of the patient, with the endeavour to achieve a pregnancy being considered of secondary importance. Now keep in mind this is the WORSE case scenario and my doctor just wanted to play it safe and make sure it was not OHSS and it was just a migraine (A really bad migraine). My doctor checked me and the babies out to make sure everything was OK. Ray and I did get a chance to see them in another ultrasound and it was so awesome. We saw their ribs and spine. They were moving around and one was kicking the other one in the head (well that is what it looked like to us and the doc). I was given a med called Phenergan for headache and nausea. I really started feeling so much better when I took that med. Around 3am we were sent home. It was a long and crazy night and poor Ray worked the entire day. As for me my doctor put me on bed rest for 48 hours.

Now my headaches continued and thank God I had my Phenergan to help reduce them before they got so severe like on Tuesday. Both the ER doc and my OBGYN said that migraines are common in pregnancy if you have had them in the past. As the days went on and I kept getting these headaches I started to notice one of my upper crowns were killing me. So I went to the dentist and sure enough there was something wrong with it. YAY...I think I figured out why I was getting all my headaches! There was a gap behind one of my crowns and well...this could be too much info, but here it goes...and food was getting stuck in it. YUCK! So my dentist (well my dentist is in GREECE for two weeks and this was her wonderful dad! Nicki I love your dad. You too. ha.) cleaned it up and fixed it. So ask me if I'm having headaches....NO SIR. :) So I'm started to feel better and sure enough I think I have an ear infection. hahahahaha. Honestly does it ever stop? I'm just staying positive and hoping that this ear thing will pass too.

Ray and I leave on Sunday to go to TEXAS! We are so excited to see our southern family and friends. I am however a little bummed because my doctor told me once I'm there to limit my travel. With everything that I have been going through and with being high-risk pregnancy she would prefer me to rest more than travel to be on the safe side. So due to that I can't travel the Lone Star State to see all my family. Hopefully they will all be able to come to me. I mean I did travel from New England so that is more than half way. hahaha. My sister, mom and a few of my best friends who I love so much are throwing us a baby shower on July 11th! We just want to say THANK YOU to all of y'all! We love you so much. Another thing we are looking forward to is my mom's gorgeous back yard with pool. That is where Ray and I will chill for most of our vacation. We will come back to New England with beautiful tans (hopefully no burns) and relaxed ready to start the game plans to prepare our home and lives for the two newest members of our family! OMG...I'm so excited!

Well that is the Mykolaitis/Twin update for now. I will post again on July 22nd with the exciting news! Until then we wish you all a wonderful 4th of July! God Bless America!

Listen to JMykolaitiss Playlist

Our Babies are Growing!!

This is the last week (week 12) of my first trimester. Next Tuesday marks the beginning of my second trimester (13 weeks)!!!!!!! Time is flying by and the twins are growing so much. Most of my early pregnancy symptoms such as morning sickness and fatigue have subsided.

As for our babies their fingerprints have formed on their tiny fingertips, their veins and organs are clearly visible through their still-thin skin, and their bodies are starting to catch up with their heads — which makes up just a third of their body size now. If we are having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries. Both babies are almost 3 inches long and the size of a peach weighing nearly an ounce each. Their intestines, which have been growing inside the umbilical cord, are now starting their trek to their permanent position in their abdomen. Also, their vocal cords are developing. We are so amazed every week how much growing and developing they do and it is all inside my growing tummy. Speaking of my tummy all I will say is POT BELLY. hahahahahahaha.

Last Tuesday was our 12 week ultra sound. Check out the photos. On the top is both twins. Twin B is to the left and Twin A is on the bottom right. The next photo is twin A. It might be hard to see, but if you look close you can see her/him look right at you. Below this photo is Twin B. Now look close...the head is on the right pointing down and again he/she is looking at us. Also to the left are his/her feet they are crossed. HOW COOL IS THAT?!!! hahahahaha. We just love it! Oh yeah, one more thing... it looked like Twin B tried to punch Twin A through the membrane wall that separates them while we were watching! Our doctor laughed and said, "Looks like they're fighting already!!!". Freaking awesome.

This appointment was so special. Ray's mom and dad drove up from New Jersey to see the ultrasound. It was dad's first time ever to see an ultra sound and mom said she has only seen a few of them. Both of them were so excited to be there. Mom cried and dad...well dad did not have much of a reaction. hahaha. I think he was a bit confused on what was going on. No matter what they both were so happy and now they are even more excited and thrilled to be GRANDPARENTS! Now I need to get my mom and Jeff up here to join us for an ultrasound!!!!

Our next appointment is on June 29th and we think this might be the ONE were we can find out what sex they are!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know...I know...God only gives us so many suprises and some family and friends say, "why find out?". Well here is what we think...FIRST we are suprised. TWINS...let's say we are super suprised. SECOND we feel like what is the difference in finding out in four weeks or 6 more months. Boy? Girl? We really don't care as long as they are healthy. With everything going on in our lives...moving to NJ again (maybe? we will know hopefully in a few days.), our jobs, our busy schedules, we just need to be as prepared as we can be and have everything done for these wonderful babies so when they get here we can focus on them. With that being said hopefully the next time we blog we will be able to introduce you to our twins by their names!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One more thing...we would like to send a few blessing out to a few close friends. Jason & Jennifer we are so EXCITED for your new addition to "our" family...JORDAN!!! We can't wait for you to have her and we can't wait to hold her. Only three more weeks! Joe & Carisa we are on pins and needles waiting for Oliva to join "our" family too. The end of July seems so far away, but it will be here sooner than we think. One request...PLEASE don't have her while we are in TEXAS. We love both of y'all so much and we can't wait to see our two beautiful little girls.

Hugs,

R&J

The greatest little sounds...

This is from babycenter.com...How your baby's growing:Though your babies are barely the size of a kumquat- a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your babies have now completed the most critical portion of their development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. They are swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. Their hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over Their heart, and their feet may be long enough to meet in front of their body. The outline of their spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Their forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of their body. From crown to rump, there are about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your babies will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.
_______________________________________________________________________
We are just in such amazement every day reading and learning about the development of our babies. Yesterday was such a thrill going seeing them again in our 2nd ultra sound. We heard their hearts beating so fast. It was the greatest sound we have ever heard. I instantly started crying and Ray jumped out of his chair as if he was bit by something. We both were hit with such excitement and it did not matter what type of day we were having after that our day was perfect. These little blessing have already improved our lives. We just could not stop smiling for the rest of the day.

Monday is our first appointment with our OBGYN. We are not sure if we will get an ultra sound, but if not I'm sure we will have many more in our future. :)

Love you all so much and thanks for all your prayers. We are doing GREAT!

Ray & Jules

Initials OUT...

OK...so I started our blog using the initials of everyone involved to keep them all private from people who we don't know that are reading our story. Well for some of my family members the blog had been a bit confusing. Sorry Y'ALL. So now I have decided to just be as open as I ever was, but with real names. hahahahaha. Hopefully those who had a hard time following my blog will now have an easier read. I hope they will start enjoying all the updates like the rest of you. :)

I will be 9 weeks on Tuesday! Time is flying by. I am so ready to start looking like a pregnant women instead of a "fat" woman. :) I am in that weird stage where my clothes are super tight, but my maternity clothes are a little big. My entire body is changing and some of it is not in a good way. I don't care because I am with child/children and could not be any happier. Matter of fact I cry every so often because I am so happy. I have everything I ever wanted, my health, my husband (who by the way is the most wonderful man in the world), I'm pregnant and the list just keeps going on and on. I hate that I'm about to say this, but I keep getting this horrible feeling that something is going to go wrong because I am so happy. My life is complete and it never has been before. I guess I am so used to dreaming of having this life and now that I have it I'm so scared it will go away. I told this to one of my closest girlfriends and she said it is normal to have these feelings especially when you are pregnant. She said she had the weirdest feelings during her pregnancy and also had very vivid weird dreams. I hope she is right.

As for our appointments we have one on Tuesday the 11th with our IVF doctor. I think it is another ultra sound and more blood work. Then the following week on 5.17 we have our first appointment with my OBGYN! Ray (DH) is making sure to be at every single appointment. He has been by my side the entire way. We will post our new photos from our ultra sound for you all to see.

ONE MORE THING...I would like to say HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms & moms-to-be! I pray that God will bless you all and your beautiful families. I love you and I am so blessed to have such wonderful, strong and loving woman to look up too as I start my journey as a mom.

Jules

Please meet Twin A & Twin B...

Meet out two little bundles of joy! The first photo at the top right is both Twin A & Twin B. As you can see they are Fraternal Twins. (What Does Fraternal Mean?
You'll find just about everything you need to know about fraternal twins here. We've also gathered together some facts and stats to help you understand this part of the twin world.
Fraternal twins make up approximately 75% of the twin population and can be boy/boy, girl/girl, or boy/girl sets. Fraternal, or "dizygotic", twins happen when Mom releases two eggs (either at the same or different times during her cycle), and different sperm fertilize each egg. Fraternal twins share up to 50% of their genes, and are no more alike or different than any two siblings would be. The similarity between fraternal twins can be close to identical - there are many fraternal twins that look identical - even more identical than some identical twins!
The difference between fraternal and identical twins is that fraternal twins are two separate eggs fertilized by two separate sperm to form two separate embryos and then make two separate babies. Identical twins are formed when one fertilized egg divides into two separate embryos to make two babies.) Directly below that photo is Twin A and to the right of that is Twin B. Dr. B said Twin A has a heartbeat of 140 and Twin B has a heartbeat of 131 which is perfect! Everything seems to look perfect!

DH and I are super excited and still on cloud 9. However we both agree that our parents in TX and NJ are showing a little more excitement then we are. hahahaha.

Our next appointment for our second Ultra Sound is on May 11th with our IVF doctor. We think this will be our last IVF appointment and then we will head off to my OBGYN. We don't know the sex of our twins, but hope to find out in the next four to six weeks. We promise to blog right away when we do find out.

Thank you again for all your support and prayers. We are so blessed so have you all in our lives. WE LOVE Y'ALL!

DH & Jules

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU, baby Jesus!

POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

First of all DH and I are so sorry for the delay in our posting. Since Tuesday life has been a dream for us. Most of you all ready know that our blood work came back POSITIVE, but for all of you who have not heard please forgive us for our late update.

We want to think you all for all your prayers, support and positive energy that you all have sent our way. DH and I always knew how lucky we were to have such great family and friends, but we have been completely overwhelmed with the love and support most of you have shown. God is GOOD and he has been GOOD to us. AMEN!

I had another blood test today and everything came back looking perfect as my nurse would say! I will go back again next Thursday for more blood work and in 4 1/2 weeks I have my first ultra sound.

We promise to keep the blog updated at all times! Love y'all so much!

J