"Big Brother"

I thought that I would only be writing in this about every 3-4 weeks, but it is appearing that this is not the case. Anyway, I have another cute story about Ben. We were having ice cream at Baskin Robbins with some of our friends, and Jenny asked Ben about the babies in mommy's belly. With chocolate all over his face from his first ice cream cone, he says, "I am going to be a big brother." Josh and I have not taught him this, but he is learning this sibling thing pretty quick. My friend, Jill, and I both teared up.

The word is getting out!

So...between the two of us, MH and I have spent a lot of time talking with family and friends spreading the news. Well, it seems like Ben is getting into the swing of it too. MH has been trying since yesterday to get in touch with one of her friends here in Flagstaff. Unfortunately (sortof) Ben saw her first when she was helping out at his school today. Later in the day she called MH and let her know that Ben told her at school that mommy had 2 babies in her belly. Only 2 1/2 years old and already stealing his mommy's thunder! I guess we should be used to him stealing the spotlight by now though. I doubt he will have too much trouble continuing to attract attention even after the twins join the mix.

Lovekamps grow

For those of you that don't know, Josh and I did another embryo transfer on April 25th, where they transferred 3 embryos. Since then, we have been patiently awaiting the answers to 2 questions: Are we pregnant and if so, with how many? So, we got the answer that we were indeed pregnant on May 5th and then we were still waiting for the answer to how many. That patience turned to anxiety when the doctor did some bloodwork and left a message that my HCG Level was "tremendous." I was 5 weeks, 6 days and they expect to see the level over 1000 and my level was a whopping 29,131. It has been a long five days since then with thoughts of multiples, conversion vans, house additions, etc. So today, at 6 weeks and 3 days, we went in for the ultrasound. We were both practicing a little labor breathing of nervousness until the sonographer confirmed that we are having twins. WE ARE THRILLED!!! Baby A and Baby B look great. Baby A is measuring 6 weeks, 2 days, and Baby B is measuring 6 weeks and 1 day. Also, both of their heart rates are at 117.

From what the doctor says, it does not seem that a twin pregnancy will be much different than a singleton. They still want me to get to 37 weeks and activity remains the same. However, a few things are different.
1. More monitoring, which don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. They will do an ultrasound at almost every visit, because it is hard to tell the heartbeats apart with the Doppler. 2. My abdomen will measure full-term at around 6 months. So, I will continually have people asking me when I am going to deliver. Explains why my pants are too tight and my belly is poking out so early (see picture below).3. I can consume 500 more calories a day (explains the largeness) 4. The delivery will be a party. I will deliver in an operating room ("just in case") along with Josh, 2 obs, 2 pediatricians, 4 or more nurses, an anesthesiologist, and depending on how early, a neonatal doctor. Welcome to the family!!!


I told Ben today that we were going to have a baby. Well, let me preface this story with: This past weekend, we were going through pictures and found one of me at Christmas, pregnant with Ben, wearing a red shirt. Anyway, so I tell Ben today and ask him if he knows how many babies we are going to have. Ben typically answers "2" for everything. He wants 2 snacks, 2 pancakes, 2 toys, etc. So, I thought: This will be perfect, he will be so excited when he answers correctly. So, his eyes light up and he says, "Seven." Remember the stress I talked about earlier, I am so glad that we did not ask him early this week. He sits and thinks for a minute and says: "They're in your stomach?" "Yes." "You need to wear your red shirt." I didn't for the life of me know what he was talking about until I remembered the picture. Kids are so funny!! We have also asked him if he wants a brother or a sister. And Ben says, he wants a "Baby butter, peanut butter." But, I finally realized that he was mimicking the son of good friends of ours, who always talks about his baby "butter."

And people keep asking me how I am feeling and I feel pretty good. I have had some nausea, but not much and I am tired from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm. But, I am blessed for what appears to be pretty easy at this point. I will keep you updated.

Look for an update on June 9th or 10th after our next appointment. Hopefully that one will be a little more short and sweet.