Ultrasounds and visits

Ahhh.. what a great week. After lost luggage and many, way too many, hours of no sleep, Guy and Dror arrived in Minnesota last Monday. We arranged to meet up Tuesday for breakfast. I have only met them once in person and that visit was a very quick 3ish hours long. I have to say it feels like we have known each other much longer than 9 months and have hung out many more times than just once. It felt very natural being with them.

Wednesday we walked around the mall. The mall one week before Christmas... yep we're brave like that. Actually it was fine and we didn't encounter any annoying, crazy shoppers. I was hoping to get a picture with Santa but it must have been his lunch time because he was no where to be found. Wednesday evening the guys came over to our house for dinner. My kids were so excited to finally meet them. The two younger kids had already met them but my two older ones had not. The guys are so good with kids and my kids easily fell in love with them. It was fun to watch them together. I'm guessing Guy and Dror are their nieces and nephews favorite uncles. It was even more proof of how wonderful they will be as dads. They even brought gifts for everyone... it was so thoughtful of them. Guy and Dror's parents sent me a lotion, body wash and candle set along with a beautifully written card. The kind gesture was very much appreciated.

Photobombed by the dog

Picture with my boys (my daughter had retreated to her room)

Thursday was the anatomy ultrasound. Big, big day!

Pit stop for coffee

The appointment was full of excitement. As I said before we knew the genders at transferred but I wasn't going to share until Guy and Dror were ready. You are in luck! They are ready to let the world know they will be having one boy and one girl!They are both measuring 20 weeks and 5 days. Baby boy weighs 12oz and Baby girl weighs 13oz. We have two head down babies. I have fingers and toes crossed they stay that way. I know they have plenty of time to move around in all kinds of different positions but in the end let's hope for two head down babies. A funny note... both babies are trying to reach the cervix first. Right now, it could go either way. I didn't even know this was possible. I assumed one baby was always positioned closest to the cervix. The tech named boy as baby A and girl as baby B. She said to not be surprised if that changes. I'm not posting any pictures from this ultrasound because they won't even compare to what I'm about to show you.

During my journey with Roy and Avner, I surprised them with a 4D ultrasound. I knew for sure I would do this for Guy and Dror during this visit. 20 weeks is a little early for 4D ultrasounds just because the babies generally are not quite "looking like babies". The tech said they would probably look like something that resembled half sea monkey half alien ???... lol, alrighty then. No matter to us, we were still way excited to get this awesome look into the womb. I chose the imaging place I used with Ella and Ely. The bonus... they upgraded their equipment. The images before were excellent but the images now are mind blowing! Seriously... so cool. I recommend any pregnant woman get this done.

The appointment was loads of fun. The babies are still fighting for first position. The tech called baby girl A and baby boy B. When I say they are fighting, I mean that literally. At one point, baby girl was hitting her brother in the face while he tried to protect himself with his hands. Another moment captured them telling "secrets". Baby girl had her hands up by her mouth while baby boy looked to be putting his ear to her hands. Such a sweet sweet view. We captured so many sweet and amazing moments. Another showed them cuddling together head to head. Here are a few images from the screening:

Baby girl giving us a smile

Baby girl

Baby boy

Baby boy. Can you see him holding his hand up?

Guy and Dror are madly in love with these babies. They were so happy with their visit and the peeks at their babies. The joy just seeps out of them. We joked they would spend the next few days just starring at the pictures. Only it's not really a joke because I'm sure they really will, I know I would. Later I received this picture:

Maybe it's the hormones, but this absolutely melts my heart and makes my eyes get teary.

After the 4D ultrasound we stood in the parking lot and said our goodbyes. Their visit had come to an end. I feel a little emptiness since we parted ways. I know I'll see them again very soon but the puzzle feels complete when they are around. It's very similar to how I felt when Roy and Avner left after our transfer in 2011. It's all part of this process. After dinner on Wednesday night, Guy said how happy they were to be here this week. They really struggled with not being able to attend the transfer and I was bummed by that too. But given the choice between attending transfer or the 20 week ultrasound, we all agreed how fantastic this week was and how happy we are that it could happen.