The Chosen Names

We have decided the names of the two new arrivals. Josh and I decided before Ben was born that the boys would be named after my side of the family, because they will always carry the Lovekamp name. Therefore the girls would be named after his side of the family. Ben's middle name is Autry, which is my mother's maiden name. Our new son will be named John William Lovekamp, aka."Will". My dad's first name is John (who he is truly named after), so is his father, so is my great grandfather on my mom's side, and my dad's mother's maiden name was Johnson. John is pretty prevalent in my family. For our daughter, we have chosen Katherine Klein Lovekamp, aka. "Kate." We chose Klein b/c Josh's mom's maiden name is Kleinschmidt, so we shortened it to Klein, because, well, Kleinschmidt Lovekamp is just a little too much. Also, Josh's grandmother, June Kleinschmidt passed away earlier this year and it is a way to honor her.

So, Will and Kate - we can't wait to put faces with the names.

It's a ...

Well, we went to the doctor today and everybody looks great!! I gained another 1 1/2 lbs., but the doctor says again to eat, eat, eat. I feel I am eating a lot, but I guess not enough to satisfy these 2 parasites. And they are getting so big, just taking everything they need from me. I am currently 17 weeks, but my belly is measuring the same as a 23 week pregnancy with a single baby. So, I look 6 weeks further along than I am. And the doctor says that spread is only going to get bigger as the babies now start putting on weight. I can't wait!!

So, we went in for an ultrasound to find out the gender and they were in the perfect position to see everything. And, as Josh put it to a friend of his, "There was one penis and one vagina." Yep, that is right - a boy and a girl. See pictures below. We've also included a video of the ultrasound for your viewing pleasure.

The girl is lower and the boy is higher. She will be the one to determine if I can deliver naturally or have to have a C-section. Right now she is breach which means automatic C-section. But, she still has some time to flip around before she runs out of space to move. As the doctor says, "her brother needs to head-butt her and tell her to flip around." And the battles begin.

And, we got to hear their heartbeats with the Doppler for the first time. The girl's sounded like a train and rang in at around 152. And the boy's sounded like a horse and was about 138. The doctor says that those are the 2 ways that you hear the heartbeat and it just depends on what valve you are listening to, so it was really neat to hear both ways.

And, the next question asked is always about names. We do have some names in mind, but haven't nailed down anything yet. We will let you know when we decide. Last night, we asked Ben what we should name the babies and he said, "Carolina." Thought that was cute that he came up with that all on his own. Also, when I told him today that we were having a boy and a girl, he screamed, "Oh My Goodness!!!"

Josh and I could not be more thrilled and believe that we are getting the best of both worlds. We wanted another boy for sure and of course, everyone needs a little girl in their life. Especially now, since we had to put Basil (our dog) to sleep last week, the amount of testosterone is taking over my house.

We are going to have our 20 week ultrasound on Friday, Aug. 29th, so we will have more updates then. That is when they look over both babies with a fine tooth comb and measure everything, so that should be fun to see. Thanks to everyone for all of the thoughts and prayers. Continue to think of us on this journey. We are truly blessed!