The Beginning

As I sit here, holding my blue eyed Princess, I am reminded of where it all started. I sometimes think about how life was before I had not one, but TWO babies. Cory and I could ALWAYS get our full 8 hours of sleep and more if we wanted. We could take our naps and lay around in our PJs all day on Sundays. We could come home, cook dinner, and watch TV until bedtime. We could spend our money freely. We actually HAD money. We lived for us! Life was simple. Our marriage was one that most would love to have. I'm not exactly sure how or when we decided that our lives were missing something. We had always talked about having children and we imagined how they would look and act. Cory had even made the comment "Wouldn't it be great to have twins?" Little did he know, right?

On May 9th, 2008, the Staffing Coordinator at work was in a bind. She was down a nurse to work 11-7 on the two units upstairs. If you know anything about where I work, you know working D and E is NOT fun. You know that finding a nurse to work those units on short notice is nearly impossible. So, being the nice person I am (HAHA), I agreed to work them. Besides, Mama had picked up an extra shift and if I got in a bind, I'd just call her. The night went smoothly, although I felt very nauseated the whole time. I just blamed it on working night shift, since I'm not at all used it. Those who know me know I LOVE to go to bed early! I went home, still feeling a little nauseated. When I got home, I had to unwind. I couldn't just hop into bed. It had been about 2 weeks since ovulation, so I decided to take a pregnancy test. Pregnancy tests had become a weekly item on the grocery store list, so I had plenty. Cory wasn't home, and I knew it was unfair to test without him at home, but I knew I wasn't pregnant so it didn't really matter. I took the test, layed it on the bathroom counter, and walked to the back door to let the dogs outside. I walked back in the bathroom and looked at the test. It showed a faint positive. I remember thinking "That can't be right!" So, being the OCD person I am, I took another one. This one was digital. I walked around the bathroom, waiting for the results. I looked down and it said 'Pregnant.' I was in total disbelief. I called Mama, who was sleeping, and said "Mama, I think I just got a positive pregancy test." She woke right up and said "WHAT?!?!?!?! you think?!?!?!" I then called Cory and told him. He didn't believe me. He then said he would believe it if I got a blood test. We both didn't want to get our hopes up, only to be let down by a negative test. It being Saturday, I knew I couldn't get one over the weekend. the weekend rocked on and finally MONDAY morning arrived. I called over to the hospital, where I knew my doctor was making rounds and asked her to write an order for a serum HCG. She did, I got my blood drawn, and after what seemed like 20 years, my results were up! My friend Melissa came down to my office and said "LOOK AT THEM!" I told her I was scared, but she made me look at them. My HCG was 90 7 days past ovulation! I WAS PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mama screamed, Cory screamed. It was a miracle!

I went for my first prenatal appointment that Friday. I was originally scheduled for a pap smear. They checked my HCG again and it was 600! Whoa. I was only 4 1/2 weeks pregnant. I recall a friend of mine saying "Dang, Ashley: I think you have twins!" I was like "HA HA, whatever!"

The next few weeks went on and I was nauseated, but never had morning sickness. There was nothing major to really report. On June 10th, I went to my OB for my very first ultrasound. He made the comment to Cory and I "Wouldn't it be great if you had twins?" He told us the chances of having twins and other info on twins. I was like "Umm, is there something you know that I don't?!" He put the ultrasound toy on my stomach and I saw what looked to be TWO sacks. I didn't say anything, because I didn't want to look like a total idiot. He said "Oh, Ashley." and then Mama says "Are you serious?!" I was freaking at this point, saying "MAMA, WHAT IS IT?! My OB had his hands behind is back, motioning 2 with his fingers. He then revealed we would be the pround parents of TWO babies on January 21, 2009. We were beyond words. This was the happiest moment in our lives, thus far. God had blessed us with this pregnancy and two babies to share our love with.

The next weeks were great. I had no real pregnancy symptoms. I didn't care if I did. My belly got bigger, along with my hips and butt. We took pictures of my belly every week at work; I hardly even recognized myself. I didn't care how big I got, though, because that meant my precious babies were growing. We had the big ultrasound and found out God had blessed us with a baby boy AND a baby girl. We had ultrasounds every 2 weeks, but this one was the one we had looked forward to. I was in love with them already. I wanted nothing but the best for them. I took my vitamins, drank my milk, read to them, and sang to them. I got to know them so well. I got to know the foods they hated me to eat, I got to feel the strong kicks (although I rarely knew which one was kicking), I got to feel them hiccup. I remember the first time Cory felt a strong kick. I remember Brennan being in weird positions at night, which would make my stomach look like something from a horror movie.

I had no complications throughout my pregnancy. My blood pressure was good, I didn't gain too much weight, I passed my Glucose Tolerance Test. Everything was GREAT!

The first picture was taken in June 2008. The second on my birthday, August 13th. The third in September. Notice my pants are cut on the sides in September. :)