Haute Mom to Twin boys!

no more blues~11/14/06 BLUE 04/17/06

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Location: H Town, Texas, United States

38 y/o married to my best friend since 9/12/1998; We met in 1992. Married in 1998; I'm a '91 graduate of the Univ. of Houston. Working on Masters degree in French Literature when I met the love of my life! He was in law school. I left my job in 1996 to work w/him when he opened his Law firm. Married in 1998. Working on our "family" diligently & actively since June 2004; 2 miscarriages, one Sept 2004 and another Dec 2004; Break from TTC per doctor's orders in Jan 2005; resumed family planning once all genetic testing was completed. March 2005 BFN; April 2005 BFN! May 2005 BFN! June 2005? Doc had "the" talk with us, if no bfp this cycle, it's on to IVF --test tube baby for us? maybe! Update: July 2005 underwent 1st IVF cycle, with SUCCESS! We conceived two beautiful little boys, born March 30, 2006 via emergency c-section. I am now wallowing in the joys of early motherhood. That is, lack of sleep, fatigue. My compensation? Smiles from the babies in the middle of the night... 11/14/2006: Babies are now 7 1/2 months old and I couldn't be more happy!

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Under construction!

Getting ready for baby! Our home has been under construction! It still needs lots of love but we've got the groundwork down for the babies to join us!

BEFORE:
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AFTER:
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WHAT a difference carpet makes! Still need an office chair and mat for the office. Also I'm expecting to file/organize the mess behind the closet door! Eventually I'll be sharing this office with the little ones, placing a table, chairs and bookshelves for them and their books! Oh and the pencil drawing in the back is Yours Truly in Paris circa March 1999....I personally don't feel it captures my essence but Hubby and the Artist feel that that's how they see me....I have NO cleft chin!

No before pics for the next few rooms. I am BEGGING Hubby to let me paint the 70's wood panelling walls! He's bucking it BUT I'm planning on getting someone to tell him that the walls are veneer and not REAL wood! He wouldn't mind painting veneer!

Future nursery! Needs everything...painting, curtains, furniture etc....and last but not least of all, the twins!
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Victoria's bedroom. Needs curtains and probably could use a new comforter set....still organizing this room but it's probably reached its final stage at least for a while!
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Formal living/Dining...ahh the formal living. Empty since we gave the formal furniture to my MIL....we expect to get formal living furniture & a baby Grand piano then the 2 art pieces will go up-La Pistolera and Pistola & Corazon...
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Master bedroom--missing many decorations & seating area....of course next to my side of the bed (left) I'll have a cradle and/or bassinet for the twins for use while they are still newborns...
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So there it is, new carpet & the beginnings of furniture rearranging etc. Finally got everything out of the DEN! Boxes were everywhere. They are now in the utility room waiting to be taken to the garage. Kitchen/Den still need missing pieces of furniture here & there. Major work still to be done are master bath & granite countertops for the kitchen......

More to come on our journey to ready the house for the little ones!

Monday, November 28, 2005

18 weeks 18 weak-s~

Boy, this pregnancy is tiring....not complaining, just observing. My feet handle about 3 hours worth of walking and/or moving around then boom boom boom boom, that's how they feel/sound afterwards.

Belly Belly ~looks so much better with clothes on! My white-ness is blinding!

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Babies this week:
Your baby measures about 5.2 to 6 inches (13-15cm) from crown to rump and weighs about 7 ounces (200g).

The buds for the permanent teeth are forming behind those that have already developed for the first teeth.

Your baby's nervous system and brain development continue at a spectacular pace. By this week, your baby's motor neurons, which connect muscle to the brain, have grown into place so that your baby can consciously direct her movements. Millions of neurons inside your baby's brain are growing and forming connections and the nerves in her body are being covered in a fatty substance called myelin.

Your baby's ears are now placed on the sides of her head and her limbs are now in proportion. Your baby's tiny foot is just one inch long, but is in perfect proportion to the rest of her leg.

Your baby can hear your voice and recognize it.

This weekend: Daddy & I went and bought two CD's to have the twins listen to while they bake! Baby Einstein's Mozart & Beethoven edition. I've been placing the headphones on my belly and playing Mozart all weekend. I'll switch Satursday, one week Mozart next week Beethoven...

Me, weighed in at 141 (yikes!) I haven't been over 140 since 2001 or even prior to that. I was a whopping 149 at my biggest...I'm expecting to easily surpass that!

Night time....

Monday, November 21, 2005

17 weeks 17 weeks!

What else can I say! 17 weeks pregnant......

Tomorrow we go in for our "big" ultrasound, I hope my two little beans cooperate.

Belly pic taken today.... I sent the family this pic and I got an email back from my brother in California that said "just in time for Thanksgiving" Grrrrrr! :)

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Update later, I'm still recovering from last weeks trial....

Sunday, November 20, 2005

What a week!

This just may have been the longest week of my life. A 2 day trial turned into a 3 day trial, which in and of itself doesn't sound bad. But when the trial is in a surrounding city and far far away, an extra trip is no fun. Add to that the stress, anxiety, worry, lack of sleep and appetite and you have the makings of a mini-storm.
As it was, I had to squeeze into my monkey suits for 3 days. I did that by taking the waist of my skirts and lifting them up over my belly, high high up. The good thing is that since they are suit skirts, they're normally below the knee. With my altered style, the skirt fit right around the knees. Perfect. What was not perfect was having to be on my feet for more than 12 hours each day, in heels. It's all I had to go with my suits. THEN, of course, regular panty hose don't fit, so it was thigh highs for me. YES, thigh highs. (mental picture.)

Our trial was nerve wracking. At stake were LIFETIME income benefits for our client. That is, weekly payments for the rest of his life, til death, he's 51 years old now.
He was injured a long time ago. Sept. 14, 1991 to be exact. Before that, he was a Champion Quarter Horse trainer. He has a room full of trophies, saddles, buckles, awards, you name it. He was also a cattle purchaser, travelling to Mexico with thousands of dollars all the time to buy large heads of cattle. He was internationally known on the rodeo circuit. Travelling extensively throughout the USA to Vegas, Oklahoma, Texas etc. as a calf roping champion. He was featured in many magazines, etc. for his talents, even patent-ing a calf roping device to use for training. He was a winner all around.
The ranch he lived & worked on eventually built an arena on the property where it held many calf-roping and other rodeo events. The arena was named, in part, after him. JMR Arena. He was the "M" in JMR.
His background, he was brought by the owner of "S" ranchm, Mr. J to the ranch when he was 16 years old to work as a ranch hand. He lived on the ranch, as many in this career do, and worked on the ranch for more than 24 years when his accident occurred. After Mr. J passed away, JS, his daughter, inherited the ranch. She is 15 years older than M and was his employer & friend for as long as M has been on the ranch. They considered M family....
It was September 14, 1991. M was directed with two others to travel 7 miles to round up calves for an event celebrating a friend of the family.
M was on horse when apparently the horse became spooked and reared up, hitting M in the face. This caused him to fall back (flip back) off of the horse, landing on the hard ground hitting his head, neck, back and the horse trampelled on his groin (testicles to be exact). M lost consciousness but awoke and was walked back to the horse trailer where two other ranch hands called JS to tell her what had happened. M was taken to the ER that evening, tests performed and sent home. That day would mark the end of M's career.

Fastforward 14 years & we find ourselves sitting in a Conroe courtroom, jury selection pending, opening arguments and an expected 2 days of trial.

M injured his neck and back. He's had testicular problems on & off as well. But the main reason we came to court was for the traumatic brain injury that M sustained during the accident. This injury would lead him to be labeled as "mentally deficient" or in the eyes of the law, to incurable imbecility. Such was the burden we had to prove to this jury of 12. Definitely not a jury of his peers, but we had Homecourt advantage. Lots of prospective jurors had heard of the S ranch or the JMR arena, so we definitely had people familiar with this industry and the perils that often accompany riding, roping and training horses.....

We won 11-1. In a civil court, we only need 10 out of 12 jurors. We did one better. M sat there after the verdict, of course not knowing what any of it meant. JS was there, I had to turn around and smile for her to realize what the judge had just read aloud in open court....

M will receive lifetime income benefits for his injuries. This will help ease the concern JS and he had about "what would happen to him" after JS passes on. She's 66 now.

Of course all of this said, the Insurance company has the right to appeal. My guess is that they will.....to be continued...

C

Monday, November 14, 2005

Wow! 16 weeks...4 months

It seems like so long ago that Hubby & I were sorting through our thoughts on IVF. Me, on the one side, wondering if it would work and if not, if we would do a round 2. Wondering if it failed, how I could even begin to ask him to fork over the 12k+ to try again. Him, quiet and reserved, my rock.

Although I had my doubts, I also was very optimistic. I had a new nutritionist I was working with, I had the faith I placed in my RE, and of course, Him, to whom I prayed everyday. I had "techniques" to work with, meditation, yoga & breathing. But above all, I had a wonderful husband by my side every day, willing to go in this direction, through the halls of modern medicine....it would be a journey that required both of our committment.

It all seems like a whirlwind now, birth control pills, baby aspirin, subcutaneous needles, injections, Gonal-F, microdose Ovidrel, ultrasounds and bloodwork. Genetics counseling. intramuscular injection, IVF, andrology visits, Egg retrieval, ICSI, fertilization report, PGD, Egg transfer, Estradiol patches and Progesterone suppositories. Intertwined in all this was alot of waiting, wondering, praying, meditating.....and more waiting.

I can rattle it all off now as if singing an old favorite song. Looking back now, I know that in the future when we decide to have another child, its straight to IVF for us. No dawdling with minor league fertility drugs.

So, today I am 16 weeks pregnant. Babies are, of couse, 14 weeks gestationally.

Babies:
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This seems to be the same pic as 15 weeks...harder and harder to find good weekly pics nowawadays!

Your baby is preparing himself/herself for a growth spurt over the next several weeks. Your baby’s head is more erect now than it has been in the previous weeks of pregnancy. His/her ears and eyes are situated in their final positions. These three things are giving your baby a more “normal” appearance than he/she has had up to this point.
Several of the more complicated body systems are also beginning to function including your child’s urinary and circulatory system. Your baby’s heart pumps around 25 quarts of blood per day. However, by week 40 this amount will increase to 1,900 quarts per day!
--American Pregnancy Association.

Mommy to be:

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Belly pic 16 weeks...

Went out this weekend, bought a pair of maternity slacks for trial, much needed. This weekend also marked another milestone. My 37th birthday. Thirty-seven. I type it and read it but it doesn't quite register. WOW.
Weight: 134 1/2 --steadily climbing!


Daddy to be:

DH was wonderful this weekend as usual. Took me to the Galleria & the Cheesecake Factory. Nordstroms for my Chanel No. 19 (I'd been wanting for a while) We went to get my Versace Woman but they didn't have it in stock! I so wanted that one as I ran out of my other one last week! Victoria's Secret netted me my Very Sexy perfume and lotsa note taking on the robe & slippers I'll wear while in the hospital etc. Light blue if its two boys, smurf blue. :) He also got me the newest Calvin Klein scent Euphoria. Had a small birthday bash at the office Friday. Breakfast, juices, cake. We let the staff go at noon, my birthday thank you to them. They all got together and bought me 2 beautiful gifts from Things Remembered. A Mommy to be journal & an engraved bookmark. As well as an engraved silver photoalbum. The engraving says "The Gaitan Twins" There it is, etched in writing. The Gaitan twins. WOW! I'll post a pic later!

I'm 8 days from knowing if I'll be having two sons or a son & a daughter. My gut says 2 boys. My heart says two healthy babies will do just fine.

Mommy in training...

Monday, November 07, 2005

The week in review

This week was a busy one for us, hence the neglect of my blog!

We're set for washer repair on Tuesday and carpet installation Wed or Thurs....

Trial on November 16th...how I wish Thanksgiving would get here!

Today, we've reached the 15 week mark... mommy n babies are doing just fine. Went out & bought some maternity jeans (tres chic!) and loungewear. Also got my cuddle pillow and some maternity panties-(not tres chic!)

Babies this week:
The Start Of Thumb Sucking
At this stage, your fetus weighs approximately 1.75 ounces (50 g) and measures just over 4 inches (10.2 cm). Hair is sprouting everywhere. The fetus gets fine hair all over to protect it from the constant exposure to the amniotic fluid. Skin formation is progressing, but is very thin (you can even see small blood vessels forming underneath). At this point, the baby might even be sucking its thumb! (PennHealth)

Mommy 2 be:
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Your uterus is increasing in size and so is the amount of amniotic fluid it contains- about seven and a half ounces right now. You should be able to feel your uterus in the lower part of your abdomen.
A small portion of pregnant women are able to feel the baby move this early. When your baby moves, you may feel it like a slight fluttering in your stomach. Don't worry though if you haven't felt this yet as it is still very early.
Your breasts are changing. The milk glands in your breasts may start production, which can cause swelling or tenderness in early pregnancy. The blood flow to your breasts also increases, making the veins more visible and the Montgomery's tubercles more pronounced. Montgomery tubercles are the tiny oil producing glands which appear as bumps scattered around the areolae. They are said to both lubricate the breast to keep the skin healthy and elastic and to prevent the growth of bacteria. They will remain enlarged throughout pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Daddy 2 be: Is busy with family issues right now, possible alzheimers (MIL) and daily issues coming up now, whereas before, they were scattered here and there. Daddy 2 be still very excited, took me to buy maternity clothes and nesting...

C

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Riding the magic carpet....

New carpet is in our immediate future!! Finally ventured to look at some today, and found one that we both like. It's a berber loop, has cream, beige and sage green in it. We have 1400+ square feet of bedrooms to recarpet. If all goes as planned, we'll be getting this in the next 4-7 days.

I brought a sample home with me --Waverly Rustic life, color: Cabana. It seems to go well with our master and the two bedrooms as well as the study.
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It is lighter than what we have, but with the specks of color, will give the room more depth....

Once we give the go ahead, I'll have to start packing all knick knacks and move things for the carpet guys this weekend. They move furniture etc., just not the small stuff....Can't wait now....

With this crossed off our list, it also crosses another project off the list, moving Victoria's bedroom to the empty guestroom (will ask the carpet guys to do that for us! That will free her old room up for the nursery and the decoration planning can begin!

Off to watch House, MD and My name is Earl (flipping back and fro)