The "Musketeers" are growing!!

On September 14th, Francesca turned 18 months old!!! It's hard to be believe we've already had a year and a half of milestones and memories with her. She is every parent's dream (most of the time). On Monday, we took her to the doctor for her 18-month check-up. She now weighs 23lbs and is 34 1/2 inches tall!! She is right on track where she should be both physically and developmentally.

Yesterday, we also had my 36-week appointment with the twins. Things are moving right along and the babies could literally be here any day. With our doctor's office attached to the hospital, our routine for the past month has been to start with radiology for an ultrasound (where we usually wait about 30-45 minutes - even with an appointment). We were checking for growth this week and oh boy (and girl) have they grown!! Baby A is measuring at 6lb 8oz and Baby B is measuring at 6lb 12oz - certainly big enough for me to deliver :)

Then, we proceed upstairs where the nurses in labor and delivery (L&D) strap three velcro belts around my growing belly - one to measure each babies' heart rate and the third to measure contractions. They also hand me a little button (Jeopardy style) that I have to push every time I feel one of them move. The process is called a non-stress test and ensures the babies are active and that their heartbeats fall within an acceptable range for a period of time. They have been behaving wonderfully!! Brian jokes that every L&D nurse stops by now just to see how big I've gotten since the previous week. They are all hoping that they'll be on the schedule when I do go into labor so they can help deliver the twins. We've gotten to know them well.

Finally, after those appearances were complete, we headed over to the doctor's office where typical afternoon traffic usually results in another wait- yesterday about 30 minutes with all sorts of characters in the waiting room. We met with Dr. Marziale (who delivered Francesca), and we walked through all of the results from the day's tests. Since things look good, it was decided we'll let the babies grow another week - unless they decide to come out earlier on their own.

Below are our ultrasound images of the "musketeers" (including Francesca's from the same time frame). They are all profile shots (forehead, nose, lips, chin). Can you tell who is who? (Answer will be posted sometime this weekend.) Stay tuned for more Baby Watch 2008 news!!