18 Weeks and Gender Reveal

How Far Along - 18 Weeks 4 Days 
Babies' Size - 5.6 inches, 6.7 ounces, about the size of a sweet potato. Their actual estimated sizes at today's ultrasound are 8 ounces for Baby A and 9 ounces for Baby B
Total Weight Gain - 3 pounds last week and already another pound so far in the 4 days of this week. Total gain is at 17 pounds. All my weight gain is gauged by our at home scale. At my doctor's appointment I was up 9 pounds from my appointment 4 weeks ago, so I think my home estimates are pretty accurate. It's pretty safe to say I'm going to make it to 20 pounds by 20 weeks no problem. 
Maternity Clothes - Maternity clothes and yoga pants are my friends. I can still do a lot on non maternity shirts, and if I really want to pants with my Bella Band, but I'm more comfy in things with extra stretch.
Sleep - Lots of tossing and turning at night, but overall good sleep. I wake up on average 4 times per night to pee, switch positions, or because the babies are kicking me. 
Cravings - Anything that's easy, which could get me in trouble. While frozen burritos are super easy, there's not much nutrition there other than 20 grams of protein. I have quite a few easy dinners planned to make this week, so that should keep things on a healthier track. I posted on Instagram (@jennpargeon) earlier this week that I found Pumkin Noosa at Kroger. I have been eating some every day, and will probably continue to do so until they take it off the shelves. So amazingly good, and at 14 grams of protein, it's a perfect pregnancy snack.
Symptoms - Hip pain and general uncomfortableness sets in right about dinner time most evenings. While I'm still feeling pretty good and the weather is nice, I make sure the kids and I get out to do something most every morning. I pay for it in the evening, but it keeps us all sane, so it's worth it. 
Miss Anything - I'm going to say sleep. Even with almost daily naps, it feels like I'm not getting enough. Harrison waking up and coming into our room almost every night this weeks hasn't helped either.
Looking Forward to - Shopping and going through baby clothes. Now that we know what sex these babies are, I can go through all of Brooke and Harrison's clothes and see what we'll be able to use and what we won't. Since we're in opposite seasons, I know we'll need to supplement with a few warmer pieces in the beginning.
Best Moment this Week - Seeing the babes during the anatomy scan today. Both babies are measuring slightly ahead, and everything looks to be developing properly. Baby A's heartbeat was 143 and Baby B's was 133. It will be another 8 weeks before we see them again, so I'll staring at their sweet ultrasound pictures for the next 8 weeks. 

And now the news everyone has been waiting for. Robbie and Harrison have been firmly in the boy/boy camp for the last couple weeks. Robbie thought it was going to be two boys because when I was pregnant with H and B, I had a dream about boy twins. Harrison had previously thought it was boy/girl twins by switched teams. Brooke originally said she wanted two girls, but switched to one of each about 3 weeks ago. I have been in the boy/girl camp since the beginning, and decided Baby A was a girl and Baby B was a boy at our 10 week ultrasound. Baby A was very active, and Baby B barely moved, just like Brooke and Harrison, although they were B and A respectively.

Sure enough, I've been right this whole time. We are having another boy, Baby B, and another girl, Baby A. We are all very excited, even Harrison. Within 2 minutes of starting our ultrasound, we know Baby B was a boy. While the ultrasound tech was measuring Baby A's head we had a very obvious penis pop into frame. Little man was not shy about letting us know he was there right from the get go. It's a good thing we wanted to know, because he gave us no choice. Baby A waited her turn, but was more than willing to cooperate when it came time for leg measurements and gender determination. 

I can already see lots of Brooke's features in our little baby girl. Baby girl's profile looks very similar to Brooke's. Baby B wasn't to quick to give us a good profile shot because he was too busy sucking his thumb. I didn't even notice it, but the ultrasound tech pointed it out, and sure enough as she moved the wand you could see his fingers with his thumb in his mouth and the small movements of his lips. So adorable. Neither H or B were thumb suckers, or pacifier lovers for that matter, so it will be interesting to see if this little man is. We did finally get a profile pic in the end, and I'm not sure who he looks like. He looks like a baby, I know that.

Our balloon photo shoot yesterday was kind of a cluster, but we got decent shots so I guess that's all that matters. The wind was fighting us, balloons kept getting tangled, and we had a few balloons pop in the process. Since I was feeling boy/girl babies, I had H and B take a few extra b/g pics with all the balloons we had left at the end. I'm glad I did because this is my favorite shot of the day. :)

Cheers to keeping a balanced home!!!!!