Week 15

It's a boy and a girl!!  We went yesterday to Wee See Imaging in Columbia to have our gender ultrasound.  Right from the beginning Baby "A", which we can now call Evan, was very cooperative.  It didn't take the lady long at all to figure out what he was.  I don't think he is going to be shy at all!!  Baby "B", which we can now call Emma, was a completely different story.  She refused to uncross her legs for us to see!  The ultrasound lady tried everything she could to get Emma to move.  Evan even tried to help by kicking her in the head.  Finally she must have gotten aggrevated enough because she flipped over.  The whole experience was absolutley amazing to see.  It is so hard to believe all that is going on inside of me and I don't feel a thing! Evan's heart beat was 143 beats per minute and Emma's was 150 beats per minute.  As you can tell we are pretty sure their names will be Emma and Evan, but we are still working on middle names.  I am still sticking with Emma Caroline Turner and Evan Morris Turner...but Justin isn't fully on board.  He hasn't come up with any suggestions on his own though...so my names will probably stick!! :)  Our reveal party didn't happen like we had hoped it would.  We got really discouraging news about my grandpa this week and I didn't feel that it would be appropraite for us to be having a party while he was in the hospital so sick.  Katie did make us some boy and girl cupcakes and just my family met at the hospital for us to tell them so that we could include Papa.  I had refused to talk to any of them all day because I didn't want to somehow give it away as to what the babies were...but I couldn't help smiling when we walked into Papa's room.  Me & Justin even practiced my serious face before we went in...but it didn't work.  Katie already knew one of them was a boy because Justin slipped up on the phone with her and said "him".  He tried to correct himself...but Katie had already heard him.  I got everyone to make their predictions as to what they thought the babies were.  Daddy, Alison, Katie, and Papa all said boy and girl.  Matt said two boys and momma said two girls.  So, I went first and took a blue cupcake...since Katie knew one of them was a boy and Justin was supposed to take the second cupcake.  He tried to trick them by going for a blue one too...but he picked up a pink cupcake.  They were all so excited for us.  While I showed them the pictures and video...Justin called all his family and some of our friends to fill them in.  Before we left Columbia, I made my first baby purchases.  We stopped at Belk to see if I could find some more dresses because they are just easy to wear right now, and we bought each baby a cute little onesie!  Since I now know what they are, I can start buying clothes!!  So, I had to take those to the hospital too and show everyone.  I think we are going to order our furniture this week because we have got to get on the ball!  I hope to have their nursery ready soon, just in case I do end up on bed rest or something.  Justin has been great with everything but I don't know how well he will be at decorating the nursery!  Wednesday starts week 16, and I am still having morning sickness.  I still haven't gained all my weight back yet, but I am getting close.  I know I am eating for 3 now...but good Lord I feel like I am starving all the time!!  That is about all for this week.  We are so excited that we are having a boy and a girl.  We definitely feel that God had blessed us beyond measure.  We couldn't ask for anything more!!

Me & Justin after finding out it was a boy and a girl! 



The boy & girl cupcakes Katie made!



Me holding the girl cupcake and Justin the boy cupcake!







Matt, Katie, and Daddy wearing their pink and blue!



Me & Justin with Papa!



The rest of the family at the reveal party!!



My first baby purchases!!



Me at 15 weeks!



Week 14

Here we are at 14 weeks.  My new week actually starts on Wednesday but I thought Sunday's would be easier for posting.  We just got back from the beach with "The Babb's and Goff's".  Baby "A" and Baby "B" have already spent several days at the beach and didn't even know it.  We can only imagine what next year's vacation will be like!  Today is also Father's Day.  I bought Justin two "Clemson" onesie's...that he loves.  I told him that took a lot for me to spend my money on Clemson outfits for my babies!  Althought I am pretty sure he will influence them to be Clemson fans like their Daddy!  We spent most of the day celebrating with my dad and then at the hospital with my grandpa.  I am so lucky to have 3 wonderful men in my life!! We go Saturday to Wee See Imaging in Columbia to find out if Baby "A" & "B" are she's, he's, or one of each.  We can't wait to find out.  It is a little early.  Normally they do ultrasounds at 16 weeks and I will only be 15 weeks 4 days, but they seem to think they will be able to tell.  We have decided to do a reveal party to let our family and friends all find out at the same time what the babies will be.  Katie is helping me plan.  We are still working on it but next week's post will be sure to have all the details.  Morning sickness (or rather just sickness because it isn't just in the morning) is still around.  I do feel that it is getting better but I was hoping the day I turned 14 weeks that it would be gone.  No such luck.  At my last doctor's appointment I still hadn't gained any weight.  I actually lost about 6 lbs in the beginning and still haven't gained that back yet.  My stomach is measuring 16 cm at 14 weeks but I was told that is normal for twins.  I am going to try to post pictures but since I am still new to this...they may not ever show up!  We have a couple names picked out but only if the twins are a boy and a girl.  It will either be Olivia and Owen or Emma and Evan.  Justin really likes Emma and Evan so that will probably be the ones we pick, if they happen to be a boy and girl.    Emma is a family name on my mom's side and I just think Evan goes good with Emma.  My dad's middle name is Morris, so we are thinking Evan Morris Turner.  Still no definite middle name for Emma.  I kind of like Emma Caroline Turner but that isn't set in stone.  My goal this week is to pick out two girl names and two boy names.  I would like to be able to tell their names at the reveal party.  May not happen but I am going to try.  Justin isn't much help.  The only name he will say he likes is Justin Curtis Turner, Jr. and that isn't an option!  He really hasn't been too picky about the names I come up with.  I have picked out the baby furniture that I want but we still haven't ordered it.  We are working on moving all our guest room furniture back to the small bedroom.  With two babies and two of everything...we needed the larger room.  I will also try to post pictures later on of the nursery's progress! That is pretty much it for now.


Justin's Father's Day present from the twins!

                               


Me at 14 weeks.  Starting to show some.  It still looks like fat instead of babies...but I am sure that will change soon!!



Our last beach trip as a family of two!!



Our story...

Justin and I decided in November of 2009 that we were ready to start the exciting adventure of parenthood.  Justin was ready LONG before I was but he was patient!  Things didn't go exactly how we planned they would.  We thought that by September of 2010 we would be proud new parents but God had different plans for our lives.  Over the past year and a half we have dealt with lots of excitement that soon turned to heartache and we were left with many questions as to whether we would ever get to be parents or not.  It seemed that every time I turned around someone else was pregnant and here we were still waiting! We were praying constantly and trusting God to do what was best for our lives or at least that I what I was claiming to do.  I think Justin did pretty well.  He was definitely a constant reminder to me that we couldn't control our situation and that things would eventually work out for us.  On the other hand, I couldn't understand why God would let this happen to us.  Looking back now, I realize that my plans weren't the best for our lives and God was listening to my prayers.  He was just waiting for his time to answer and boy did he answer!  On April 8th, I found out that I was pregnant!  We didn't want to tell anyone until after I had been to the doctor and they confirmed the pregnancy.  But, since I was supposed to go to Charleston that weekend for Lindsey Jackson's bachelorette party...I had to tell Katie!  So, I told her and swore her to secrecy!!  I went for my first appointment on April 22nd and I was defintiely pregnant!  We were so excited.  We told our families the following Sunday...which happend to be Easter!  We still weren't ready for others to know just yet...so again we made our families promise to keep quiet!  My first ultrasound was scheduled for May 10th.  I don't think I have ever been that nervous!  A million things were doing through my head as we waited in that waiting room for what seemed like HOURS!  It was really only about 30 minutes but it seemed like a lifetime.  Then it was finally time to see our baby.  We never imagined that the next 30 minutes would change our lives forever!  I was telling Joan, the ultrasound lady, about me being a twin and the fact that she had been the one to tell my parents they were expecting twins.  We were just chit chatting and all of a sudden, Joan told Justin that he didn't need to look at the screen.  My heart immediately started pounding because I just knew something was wrong.  I asked her is she saw something and she said I see "five" babies.  I said "What" and she said no but I do see two babies.  I looked at her and said "Are you kidding"?  She said no and I started crying!  A couldn't imagine what in the world we were going to do with TWO babies.  Justin was grinning from ear to ear and here I was crying my eyes out.  We continued through the rest of the ultrasound.  Baby "A's" heartbeat was 178 beats per minute and Baby "B's" was 170 beats per minute. I can't remember what they were measuring because I was still in shock at that point.  I am surprised I remember anything.  Well, the ultrasound ended and Joan insisted that I see the doctor before I left.  So, they put us in a room and I told Justin then that something was wrong.  Dr. Russell came in and told us that the fluid around Baby "B" was not at the level it should be and that I would have to come back in two weeks to check and see what happened.  I left that day telling Justin, something is going to happen to Baby "B".  I don't really know how to describe the feelings I was having.  I thought I just wanted to go in there and them tell me that my baby was fine and us walk out like normal people do.  Here we were again in a situation where I was questioning God.  There were several possible outcomes to this situation: 1) both babies would be fine 2) Something would happen to Baby B and my body would just absorb it (this is what is known as the Disappearing Baby Syndrome) or 3) I would miscarry both babies.  You can only imagine what the next two weeks were like for me.  I felt like God was going to take my second baby because of the way I acted when we found out it was two.  It was like He gave us a double blessing and I was mad about it.  Justin told me constantly that day, "Marcie...God answered our prayers with 2 babies!  We are lucky!"  Those two weeks CREEPED by and we went back for our 2nd ultrasound on May 27th.  I think even my grandma in Heaven must have been praying for these babies because the fluid on Baby "B" was back to normal and we were told that everything was going fine now.  Both of their heartbeats were 166 beats per minute and they were both measuring right where they should be.  Once again, I left the doctor's office crying but this time it was tears of joy.  We gave our parents the OK to start telling it and I think within a couple hours all of 96 and most of Greenwood knew.  My phone rang and beeped with text messages all afternoon.  It was such a blessing to see so many people excited for us even though many of them didn't know the long difficult road we had faced.  So, now we are super excited about the idea of two babies and we know that in God's Perfect Timing he answered our prayers.  I hope you will continue to follow us and the story of "Our Faithful Journey"!!

Our first picture as a family of FOUR!!!