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All Your Twin & Pregnancy Questions Answered! :)

  October 14

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First of all, I feel like I have to keep saying thanks to all of you. It’s probably the hormones, but I’m feeling extra grateful for my online community. I may or may not have cried reading all of your sweet comments last week. Thank you for taking the time to write them. Thanks for your questions. Thanks for your e-mails and your kind words and your sweet thoughts and prayers for our little growing family.

I’m still amazed that people read this little ol’ blog, and to feel all of your excitement for us and even to have many of you interested in seeing more bump photos — well, let’s just say you sure know how to make a preggo gal feel good. Thanks times a million. I love y’all!

And below are answers to all the questions I’ve received:

How far along are you?

12 weeks today! Yep, I announced a little early because I started showing at around 8 weeks, and we live in a very small community. Either someone would have known I was pregnant or started a rumor about how I’ve been eating one too many cheeseburgers at the Club. Both of which would have been true. πŸ˜‰

The picture below was taken at 11 weeks, so we can all pretty much guess how I’m going to look at 30+ haha. Bring on the pain!

By: Natalie B. King
By: Natalie B. King

How have you been feeling?

I’m much better than I was! Growing two humans is hard! My biggest symptom has been fatigue – just flat out exhausted, can’t cook/can’t blog/can’t think fatigue, which isn’t good when you run an online business in addition to working 40 hours a week. I’m feeling much better now, and I’m starting to get a lot of my energy back as I’m getting closer to the sweet victory of the second trimester. I’ve had mostly night sickness too, just throwing up right before bed a few times a week, which I guess is preferable to throwing up all day. I feel like it could have been a lot worse, and I think it’s almost over!

Are you excited? Nervous?

Good question! I’m all of those things, but the biggest emotion that has really seized me from the beginning is fear. I’m a realist, and I like to at least have some knowledge of what’s going to happen to me, my body, and my life. So, I’m not going to lie, reading about the first few weeks with twins has made me very nervous, but at the same time, seeing them wiggling around on ultrasound has made me very, very excited. It’s really a whole range of emotions that I feel, and I pretty much cry at least once a day about how happy I am or about how scared I am. It’s really a toss-up, haha. Ah, the joys of pregnancy.

Will you be in Grenada for the birth or NY?Β Does the timing work okay for when you two will be moving around and between school/jobs?

I will actually be in Louisiana, our home state, with both of our families when these bambinos decide to grace us with their presence. We’ve planned for the past two years to be in Louisiana from January – May 2014. This is when the hubs will be in between years 2 and 3 of medical school and has to take a really important board exam. So, it made sense to try to time our pregnancy to have a baby then because the hubs will be off after he takes his test in March, and we can be surrounded by the people we love. Luckily, we were able to time it perfectly, and the only thing now is to keep our fingers and toes crossed that these babies don’t come too early or even worse, on the actual day of his board exam (which actually happened to a friend of mine!)

Is there something in the water in Grenada? There’s another blogger who lives there who is also pregnant with twins…

Ha probably! That would explain a lot!

Will you be going home to the U.S. sooner than December?

Yes! My days in Grenada are numbered. I’m actually heading back to the States next week for good. It’s so completely bittersweet, but I know it’s the right thing for us. When I found out I was pregnant, I planned on staying here until December, but when we found out it was twins, we both felt that I should go home.

Are you planning to work while you’re pregnant?

Yes. I’m still finalizing some last minute details with my current job, but it’s possible I will still be able to do some aspects of my job remotely from the States until my contract is up in December. Nothing has been set in stone yet, though. Then, starting in January, I will give full time blogging a try, just as I always intended even before I planned on having these kids.

*Update: I now work from home while making an income blogging. I was able to turn my blogging into a business after taking a blogging course. You can read how I did it here.

So you’ll be living in the US while hubby is still in Grenada or will you go back after they’re born? Or will he be done?

We’ll be apart for about 6-7 weeks while he finishes his last semester on the island. Then, he’ll come back to the States, study for his board exam, we’ll have these kids, and then around mid-April, we find out where we’re supposed to move to next, and we’ll go there together in May. But, the Grenada part of our journey is over this year! Crazy, but true!

Is moving to NY out of the question now?

Ah, kind of. We are still weighing the options. Basically, for those who don’t know, my husband completes two years of medical school in Grenada and two in the U.S. where he will do hospital rotations. We do not get to pick where we want to go for those rotations; we can only list a preference. Our options are Michigan, New Jersey, and New York. All along, we’ve been stoked about moving to Brooklyn, but now we’re looking at the other two options from an affordability standpoint. We’ll definitely keep you updated on where we’ll end up!

You must be out of blog post ideas. Is that why you had twins? πŸ˜‰

Very funny! I always say it’s tough to come up with so many topics every week, so I just decided to do this crazy thing and have twins. You know how it goes. πŸ˜‰

Are you taking time off for maternity leave?

Well, since I will be a full-time blogger when they are born, I will likely do a self-imposed maternity leave. I’ve already talked to a few people about managing my blog, and I think it’s going to work out just fine. I’m going to write a lot of posts ahead of time, write my freelance posts ahead of time, and sweetly ask my blog friends if they feel like guest posting during that time. (Any takers?!) So, I’m hoping to have the blog run without too much intervention from me for about 2-3 months so we can get used to being parents and get ready for our move that will be happening in May.

Is the birth going to be expensive or do you have insurance?

We got new insurance this year, and it’s pretty decent. Our max out of pocket is $4,000, so we should be okay. I started a savings account for the delivery and initial upfront costs. I made it a $10,000 goal, but I feel like I even need more than that. As you can see from the image below, we are doing pretty well saving aggressively for it right now, and I think we’ll have enough by the time they come. We also have a $3,000 emergency fund that’s there if we need it, but hopefully, we won’t have to use it. You know I’ll keep you updated on how we’re going to save/afford these twins as we go!

Beans!!

How did you tell your husband and your family?

Well, the hubs was right there with me when I took a pregnancy test. πŸ™‚ It was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and I was feeling some symptoms but didn’t know if it was all in my head. He said to go ahead and take one, and we both agreed that we didn’t need to make a video or anything since it would probably be negative (it was quite early to be testing.) But, we were wrong, and we were sooooo excited. I will never forget the day as long as I live!!Β  Later we realized that we got a positive result so early because of the twins, which meant my HCG levels were higher because of it! I immediately called my mom and told her because I just couldn’t wait (and she told my dad), and then we told the hubs’ parents as soon as we got off the phone with them. We made them keep our secret for a very long time, and they did a good job! It wasn’t until a few weeks later that we told them we were having twins, and we got all that on video. I’ll have to make a montage and show it to you later.

Have you picked out names?

We definitely have names that we like. We have a ton of girl names that we like, but we’re having trouble finding boy names. So, if you have suggestions, please put them in the comments below! We’ll probably keep their names to ourselves and not on the blog (womp womp!) But, the hubs has been anonymous on here for 3.5 years, and I think it’s only fair that the beans are too until they can say how they feel about having their names splashed about the interwebs. I can say that we like classic, strong, Southern names, and I’ll leave it at that! πŸ™‚

So, I think that’s it! Once again, thanks for your interest in our growing family and all the love sent our way. We so appreciate it!! And, if I forgot anything, feel free to just ask! πŸ™‚

80 responses to “All Your Twin & Pregnancy Questions Answered! :)

  1. I love hearing about all the logistics! It seems like you were able to time the pregnancy quite well. Tough break about being apart for the fall, though. When you (both) move to Louisiana are you going to be living with family or get your own place?

    1. Haha girl, there seems to be a lot of logistics!! It’s a crazy life. My in laws have a little house that’s empty next door to them that used to be the hubs’ grandmother’s place before she passed away. They have been fixing it up for us, so it will be very nice to have our own space!! πŸ™‚

  2. Haha must be something in the water. πŸ™‚ I read the blog Windtravelers as well and she is having twins. I’m so happy for you!

  3. Great picture! Love that photographer! πŸ˜‰ I’m sad that Brooklyn may not be a front runner for you anymore. One positive thing about putting NY as your top preference is less stress when waiting for placement results. Though with newborn twins, you should be pretty high up on the list when they start assigning! I could write a post on how we’ve made Brooklyn an affordable home–maybe that will persuade you! It’s really not as bad as we were expecting! Wherever/whatever you decide, I hope it’s a pleasant goodbye to Grenada.

    1. Thanks so much! I’m quite fond of that photographer too. πŸ˜€ Love that idea of an affordable Brooklyn post. I know we could probably affordably eat etc. in Brooklyn but I’m really going to need a two bedroom place with these bambinos and that’s the biggest deterrent for me right now!

  4. Cat – the photo – so beautiful. One you will definitely treasure forever. Ah, hormones, Bless them. πŸ™‚ The strangest things will make you feel weepy. As sad as it must be to leave Grenada a bit earlier than you intended, I must admit that I’m happy your coming stateside so soon. I’m glad your timing worked out – we timed our babies too. Lauren around Thanksgiving and Taylor around Christmas. It’s generally slower for me around the holidays. πŸ™‚ This brings back so many great memories for me and I know you’re in for a wild, crazy and ultimately amazing ride!

    1. Haha no kidding about the hormones! I am sure hubs is loving it, lol!! So fun you had your girls around the holidays when things are slow. I had no idea ours would work out so perfectly, but I’m so very glad it did!

  5. =). Too awesome. Those tiny beings growing inside you are so lucky and they don’t even know it yet.

    As for boy names, I know a guy where they couldn’t think of any, so just made a list of all their favorite male movie characters and drew at random. And then they actually stuck to it. The baby’s actually adorable, but no one will forget his name when they meet him.

    1. Aw that’s such a nice thing to say!! And I love that idea about movie characters!! The hubs went through all the presidents yesterday. Nothing stuck, haha. I must be picky! πŸ˜€

  6. Cat, I love that you opened up and shared your answers to all our questions, and I can’t wait to see more baby bump photos — you look amazing! My sister was about your height/size when she got preggo with her twins, and she didn’t get too big. Although she did gain 60 lbs! πŸ™‚

    I would be happy to guest post on your blog during your self-imposed maternity leave (and if you don’t have one already, I highly recommend a VA to help during that time too)!

    1. My pleasure!! Nothing’s a secret around here, haha. Love that your sister didn’t get too big. Keep sending me that positivity!! I googled 3rd trimester twin bellies and had to X it out. Too scary, lol!!! Love the idea of a guest post from you. Thanks so much Carrie!! πŸ™‚

  7. Your little belly is so cute! I’m excited to see everything progress. Speaking of names – we just picked a baby name over the weekend for our little girl. She will be Mia Ryleigh πŸ™‚

  8. I was plagued by night sickness through both pregnancies. I kept a box of wheat thins on my night stand. When I mentioned it to the Ob/gyn he said I could actually take Unisom. Something in it calms the nausea. I would never tell you to try it, but maybe ask your doctor if that would work for you. Mine only went on during the first and third trimesters…same with the extreme exhaustion.

    It is AWESOME that you will have family close when they are born. LET THEM HELP! That doesn’t mean having people constantly grabbing your kids from you all the time. That means letting them cook, clean, do laundry and run errands for you so that you can spend time with your babies and rest. My mom and MIL were awesome at this. I had the hardest time when my second came along. She needed less attention than her 17 month old sister, but they never napped or ate at the same time. So “sleeping when the baby sleeps” was impossible the second time around! If you can get the kids on the same schedule get sleep whenever you can. Mine are 5 and 4 now, and we still get nighttime visits at least 3 nights a week!

    We still call my oldest Bean and her sister is Bug!

    1. Thanks so much for the tips!!! Your little girls sound so sweet, and it’s good to know I wasn’t the only one with night sickness. Hopefully it doesn’t come back during the 3rd trimester!!

  9. Thanks for answering all of our questions, Cat! I’m sorry you’re leaving Grenada so soon, as I’m sure that’s something you’re sad about… but all that matters is you’re happy and healthy. Will you be staying with your fam, when you get home and are waiting for your husband to come back?

    1. I’m definitely sad to leave, but I also knew this day was coming (just not so soon!!) Yes I’ll be hanging out at my parents house until hubs gets home, and at that point, we’ll move into his grandma’s old house. πŸ™‚

  10. Great to hear the updates Cat! Really happy for you, although I hope you get to live somewhere else besides Michigan…ha ha. As a former resident I can say this. But it is a lot more affordable than NY that’s for sure!

  11. This is awesome! It sounds like you two have such a great plan worked out and I’m excited to read how things go over the next few months and then after the beans are born!

    P.S. I’d be happy to write a guest post while you’re on maternity leave!

  12. I think being pregnant is awesome because everyone is super nice to pregnant ladies, and I bet it’s double nice with twins. People wanting to touch your belly is weird, but if you can get over that, you get lots of doors held open and free desserts and stuff like that. We had a girl, and had lots of girl names, but the only boy name we really liked was Landon.

  13. Thanks for sharing all that! I like hearing those sort of details…makes me less scared to have kids of our own someday (which, right now, kind of terrifies me).

    A name that my wife and I like is Deacon. Maybe it’ll work for you all.

  14. So happy for you both and that the timing really worked well in your favor! The gift of life is a miracle and it’s always amazing when it happens. πŸ™‚ Hope the transition back to the states goes well and all things work out well with the pregnancy and birth!

  15. Strong and Southern?? Oh,lord,here come Rhett and Scarlette!! So glad you’re feeling well!

  16. Lots of awesome news in this post! I’m partial to my name, but I just hope you don’t pick any names that are super popular. I can’t imagine being an Aiden and have 10 other kids in the same class with the same name. I’d die I think.

    1. That is so true!! I like your name too a lot! I keep looking at names that are outside the top 100. I keep saying I love names that are still accepted names (i.e. I didn’t completely make it up) but not super common. πŸ™‚

  17. Michigan would be an excellent choice! I’m biased because I live in Minnesota, but I’ve heard good things about Michigan. But maybe avoid Detroit?!? I suppose parts of Detroit are probably still pretty nice.

  18. I’m super excited for a whole series of twins posts. A friend of mine at work had twins last year and she was the cutest (really petite with a huge belly). We kept her busy and entertained asking all sorts of questions about the babies, how they were growing, how she felt, what she was craving etc. It was really neat and exciting for all of us to watch her progress and then to meet the little ones. I was hoping you’d still come to NYC so we could meet, but I totally understand the need to be somewhere less expensive (bf and I may move at some point to a place with a cheaper cost of living, esp. if we have kids).

  19. Good luck over the next 6 months! Twins sound like an adventure! I can’t wait to hear the silly stories. Good idea to just build a FAQ about your life. You can point all your friends here to figure out your whole life plan for the next few months.

  20. I love that you answered all those questions. Good to see you’ve thought about all the logistics of the babies. I’m amazed that you timed them so well. Everyone close to me that has had babies have definitely NOT timed them, or even planned them πŸ™‚

    Good luck on the move from Grenada. I’m sure it’s bittersweet to be leaving, but exciting to plan the next phase of your life.

    Oh and put my name down for a guest post while you’re on leave. I had great fun posting on your site last time!

    1. Girl I am amazed we timed it so well too because well, you never know if its going to take a month or a year, ya know? But, we’re so happy with the way things went! Would love to have you post again for sure!! πŸ™‚

  21. Wow, you two have really thought things through! For Southern boy names, I’ve always loved Beau. There aren’t many in SoCal, but there were a few when I lived in Texas and they were as charming as their names. πŸ™‚

  22. Your happiness is so contagious Cat, I love it! So glad the timing worked out in your favor. I’m sorry your stay in Grenada got cut a bit short, but it’s for a great reason, right? =) Sounds like everything will go smoothly once you’re back here with your family. NY is pretty expensive – I don’t even live in the boroughs and I can’t wait to get out of here, so I hear you on thinking twice about moving here.

    1. Aw, thanks E!!! I’m sad to be leaving Grenada too but I have had a nice, long time to enjoy it here. I will def. let you know what happens with the move bc. even if we get Jersey, I’d still love to meet you!

  23. Cat, I am so happy for you and your hubby, children are wonderful and your life will be turned upside down, but its all good!! Congrats!

  24. Wow, twins! So exciting. There will be many, many changes coming your way, but all will be good changes. You must be thrilled. Will you be finding out the genders of your babies? I really enjoy reading these types of posts.

  25. Congrats again! Such an exciting time. We only have one little one and our hands are full…can’t imagine twins! I hope coming to NYC is still a possibility…I remember your post comparing the costs of Brooklyn vs Grenada and it was not too far off. We still live in a one bedroom with a little baby…you want them to be in the same room as you in the beginning anyways. But I can see the need for more room and it would be nice to be near family also.

  26. First of all, beautiful picture! You really look great. Second, I remember that first 12-week ultrasound and it was crazy! I had never been to an ultrasound before and my mind was totally blown when I actually saw my son moving around. For some reason it had never occurred to me that we’d see movement. I think that was the moment I really realized that it was real. Also, glad to hear you’re feeling better. I remember my wife hitting that 2nd trimester and it was almost immediate relief. Months 4-6 was possibly the best she’s ever felt in her life.

  27. Congratulations again and so glad you’re doing well!

    I volunteer for a guest post! I post on some things financial and have a similar perspective (married, both working, blogging, traveler, city-dweller) that might jive with your audience!

  28. Congratulations! Hope everything goes as smoothly as possible.

    When we found out we were having our first child, my wife had a neat idea on how to tell our parents. It was almost Christmas so we waited until we exchanged presents and gave them each a bib that said Grandma or Grandpa. It took them a minute to figure it out but they were happy.

  29. Thanks for answering the questions Cat. It is great to hear what you plan on doing. I can certainly tell you that you will never understand how much your life changes with children. You will have it even more with twins. I wish you all the luck with everything and if you ever need anything, you know my email. I will always be willing to assist where I can!

  30. Read everything from start to end but all I can say is wow! It must be pretty overwhelming for you. Everything seems to be happening all at once, the babies, the moving, etc. But I’m truly amazed on the perfect timing. Congratulations again and the best of luck with everything.

  31. Wow, this online personal finance community is great. I see so many familiar names. I can only hope to be as successful at our debt repayment and new financial life as all of you. The news is amazing and you seem to be doing an amazing job with it. Beautiful picture.

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