Out With the Old...In With the New

I've done trade-ins before...old car for new car, wedding present for Bed Bath and Beyond gift card, old girlfriend for new girlfriend turned wife. I felt that I've always won. But, this is one trade-in that I have lost...severely.

My DVD collection went from losing Doug in Vegas, Frank the Tank running through the Quad to the gymnasium, Stage 5 clingers, and Turtle to....

Elmo, Baby Noah, and Baby Mozart.

The problem is I love to quote movies...so if you see me roaming around and I'm making Elmo sounds, Coo-ing, or singing heads shoulders knees and toes. Don't call the psych ward. Just invite me over to watch Stu sing about what tigers dream of.

Nursery Final(hopefully)

I think the nursery is complete. It's very calming in there, I'm assuming it won't be that calm come February/March. Every time we go in there, we sit and admire, but it only takes me about 10 seconds to mimic a big WAAAAHHHHHH...Then Caroline chimes with her duelingWAHHHHHH. Not. So. Peaceful.

*As Caroline is reading over my shoulder, she wanted a disclaimer. My iPhone camera did not properly display the wall color. She says they "look kind of yellow". I am supposed to tell you they are "not kind of yellow, but they are khaki".

We had a friend paint the dog canvas.

We wrote the letters behind the paintings, and she painted them in.

I brought home the Glider and Banana Pudding in the same trip. She won't let me tell you what she was more excited about.

T & A (not that kind)

Picking names can be funny and hard. We had lists, check boxes, rankings, we took votes, etc. We vetoed some names because they reminded us of strange people we knew, others were scratched because they turned the child into some version of a mobile bird. We were close to Landon Eagle until someone pointed out it sounds too much like Landing Eagle. Some were scratched because my Dad failed the pronunciation test. We liked Cooper, he said it Cupper...not gonna work.

We decided on names, we like them, and we hope the kiddos do too.

The boy will be Tyler Thomas Eagle. Tyler is my brothers name and my middle name(don't ask me how my parents came up with that idea...no clue) Thomas is Caroline's brothers name, and has been in her family for years.

The Girl will be Addison Rebecca Eagle. We have always loved the name Addison, and Rebecca was my mother's name, and it just felt right to honor her in some way.

No News=Good News

Not much to report on the home front. Things are going great. Mom and babies are feeling good. Mom looks like she ate a watermelon...whole. Babies appear as if they are trying to punch/kick/karate chop their way out of mom's stomach. Mom says her clothes don't fit. I say duh.

Seriously, we are 80 days away from the "goal date"of Feb 18, and the babies weigh 2 lbs each, which is very good for Caroline's size, and how far along we are. We found this video, and found it hilarious and close to home, and is appropriately named, "Moms of Multiples are Freaks of Nature" Enjoy!

Doggy Suicide

I have two Daschunds. I love them both dearly. I know them all to well.

Saidy is sweet, rarely does anything but sleep, is well behaved, and hates the outdoors, basically she's like Caroline.

Daisy is sweet in a bitchy, I run the house type of way. She growls when anyone invades her personal space, runs around outside chasing squirrels all day, kind of has my traits(I rarely chase squirrels though)We always kid that Daisy thinks the ranking in the house goes: Wylie, Daisy, Caroline, and then Saidy.

Anyway, Saidy is going to love the kiddos and it will affect her very little, except she may go from 20 hours of sleep per day to 18 hours.

Daisy on the other hand is going to lose it. I have already found her hiding under the cribs as if she's trying to make them go away or make herself go away. Also, Daisy has already taken ownership of the Frog Toy/Rug thing. How am I going to break the news to my sweet pup that she is no longer #2 in command?

Two Beds, One Bedroom

I know this picture appears as a Sponge Bob Family crime scene, but is really only me assesing the space, or lack there of, in the nursery(still weird every time I say nursery, it means I've having kids, kids, as in more than one, as in two).

Two cribs in one room really limits the spacing you have. So we found a dresser and a chair...or a square and a rectangle...either way you look at it, real estate is at a premium in that room.

I'll add pictures as we continue to update the nursery, but these are the cribs and bedding...Still can't believe I'm blogging about cribs and bedding(remember my last blog, complete 180)

Buy Buy What?

I can think of a better name for this place...like byebye money. But that's neither here nor there, we found bedding and apparently that's a big step. And that crap is expensive, especially when you have to buy two of them. And by bedding I don't mean a bed...I mean 4 pieces of some soft fabric that lines the crib, and I think they throw in a sheet.

Here's what the babies will be peeing and pooping on for the first year.

Girl Bedding

Boy Bedding

So to all my male friends who read this(assuming anyone is reading). Yeah, I'm blogging about baby bedding...so deal with it.

I can still party.

Sexes, yes please.

It's gender day at the Eagle house. It's also Caroline's 30th birthday...We planned to find out the sexes on her b-day to make it super special.

I was sure I was destined for two girls, most of our friends thought two girls, my brother thought two girls, at one point Caroline had dreams about two girls, and my dad thought two boys, wishful thinking I'm sure.

My biggest fear was 2 girls for a number of reasons...the whole "and twins" Coors Light campaign didn't help.

Anyway, we wanted to find out the sex, but wanted to make it special. We(Caroline) made 2 pink and 2 blue cards and an envelope to place the cards in.

We were going to the doctor and told them not to tell us. After the nurse came in and did her tests and then sneakily discovered the sexes. Next, the Dr. walked in, jellied up Caroline's stomach, and said, "I already know what you guys are having!" As he moves the wand across her stomach, then he confusingly he says, "But I really disagree with what the nurse found"

Unfortunately, the nurse had already sealed the results in the envelope. (Note:When I say sealed, I'm talking Ft. Knox sealed, we found some good stuff so neither of us could cheat until it was time to open this bad boy.) We had to stop the Dr. from opening the envelope, "Don't open it, it's color coded, we'll see it" Dr. jokingly: "Are you guys kidding me...color coded? I'll just step outside and fix this thing" Dr. steps out, pops his head in "I misunderstood what she said...the envelope is right" I don't know if he was kidding with us or not, but disaster averted!

Dr Appointment end time 2:00

Estimated envelope open time 7:00

Amount of time envelope stared me in the face:

5 hours, or, 300 minutes, or 18,000 seconds...it felt like forever.

We had a dinner planned at a friends house, every one was there at 7:00, except my brother who WAS STUCK IN TRAFFIC. On a 1-10 scale I would rank my overall patience tolerance is about a 1. Overall patience with this envelope in hand staring me in the face, negative 3...tops.

Envelope open, Caroline pulls the first card...BLUE.(Sweet, the Coors Light twins song has life again). I pull second card...PINK. Wow...Could not have been better.

Boy and a girl it is. I can handle pink, as long is there is a little blue involved!

Hangin in there..

Thing's I've become really good at since Caroline has started housing two parasites:

Sleeping on the couch, or realizing my space in the bed is super limited (Here's the breakdown--Caroline 60%, body pillow 10%, baby wedge thing 10%, Saidy dog 5%, Daisy dog 5%, Wylie 10%...that's right I rank above the dogs, barely, and below the pregnancy wedge...I wouldn't have believed that 10 years ago

Late night runs to CVS...but before I go to CVS, I have to reference the pregnancy book to see what meds she can take...all that while I'm being asked why I'm still at the house and not at the drug store yet.

Fixing dinner and then immediately throwing it away and going to get something else...I've been avoiding cooking all together...Her meals have these constants, bread, cheese, pasta, and potato salad. I HATE POTATO SALAD NOW.

Agreeing...It's just easier to say yes or do as told...I'm still battling this one.



Things I suck at since Caroline has started housing two parasites:

Using the word nipple and not laughing when referring to bottle nipples

Not farting-heightened sense of smell makes the weak ones bad and the bad ones usually end with her slapping me or throwing the remote at my face

Trying to quit cussing...That shit is impossible.






All in all, I think I'm hanging in there...but I freaking hate potato salad now.

Enough about me, Caroline, she's doing good too.

Announcement

It's always fun to tell people that you're expecting. You get to tell your family and friends. And most importantly, you get to put it on Facebook. I swore I wouldn't whore myself out to FB when this was happening, but I was wrong. Facebook rules!

It finally starts making sense to your friends, they finally understand why you've been "shady" the past month and a half. They now understand why you haven't met them out for dinner, why you've declined their pool invite when it's 117 degrees outside, why you've basically fallen of the face of the Earth.

But when you tell people, you get to see the initial reaction after the word "pregnant", but when it's followed by "with twins" you immediately become a liar.

Cliff's notes version:

"Hey, we're pregnant with twins"

Response A: "You're lying"
Response B: "No you're not"
Respinse C: "BS"
Response D: "Are you kidding me?"
Response E: "I'm calling Caroline to ask her, I don't believe you"

I can go on...It's like the word "twins" automatically ruins your lifetime of credibility...

But in all honesty, we're pregnant with twins.

Fake Drinking(Take 25)

When you become our age and have been married for a few years...you always get the, "When are you guys going to start trying?" questions. So the instant your wife is spotted sans alcoholic beverage, the rumors will fly and speculation mounts.

Caroline and I have perfected the "Art Of the Fake Drink"(AOFD). We've had a bit more practice than others, since we decided to stay alcohol free during the fertility treatments, but I would like to think we've mastered it, and tricked many of you along the process.

How to perform the AOFD:

To fully satisfy the AOFD, you need one key ingredient- A team mate. A team mate should typically come in the form of a husband, but can often be replaced with a close friend that knows your situation and has never been involved in any form verbal throw-up. I mean, what good is a team mate if they can't keep the secret.

If you're going to a restaurant, you need to be the first one there. If you're the first one there you can let the bartender in on your little secret, and when you order a "vodka and soda" you really mean a "soda and lime". Mexican food joints are the best, order the largest fake margarita possible. Own the situation too, I've seen Caroline send back a Fake-rita because it looked too fake. Salt the rim, ask for umbrellas, do it all. They will typically last the whole dinner too, and you don't get any of the questions.

Know your audience-If you're going to a wedding, have your "team mate" do some recon. Find out if the reception is beer and wine only, or liquor too. Why? This is a huge part of the AOFD. If it's beer and wine, you can't fake a vodka soda all night. So here's what we did at a recent wedding: Bought some alcohol free wine and bought some cranberry juice drinks at the gas station. Empty the juice, put the fake wine in the juice bottles. Put the juice bottles into your purse. As the reception starts and wine is being passed grab yourself a glass, and then you need to have the sudden urge to go to the bathroom. Dump wine in toilet, put juice in wine glass...Presto Change-o. You're drinking "wine".

The last part of completing the AOFD is what I call the "Survivor Method". You must "outlast" the competition. If you are going toe to toe with some drinking heavyweights, you will slowly notice they may be getting louder or repeating the same stories. This is when you have achieved victory. They're drunk! Once they are drunk, they quit paying attention to what you are drinking, and more attention to what they are drinking.

So, some have you have been duped by us in the past weeks, and some of you will sure be doing the duping in the near future...so Cheers, or fake cheers.

What do you want for Dinner?

If you have ever lived with a pregnant woman, you know that food cravings, food likes and food dislikes come and go. Lately picking dinner that we both want has been a battle, so I usually succumb to her wants...but I had to draw the line the other night.

Caroline suggested that we have baked potatoes, with chicken, broccoli, cheese, and sour cream all piled on top.
Three Problems...

A) that sounds awful

B) You would have to find the world's largest potato to fit all of those toppings on to one potato

C)Yeah, I run marathons, but I don't ever burn enough calories to eat triple stuffed cheesey baked potatoes...ever.

Heartbeat(s) ??

Heartbeat. That is always what you want to see is the heartbeat. We had yet to see one, and had always heard once you see a heartbeat, the chance of miscarriage goes down to 5%.

The night before our appointment we tossed and turned, sleep was at a premium and our minds were racing at warp speed. I was confident, Caroline was anxious, neither of us knowing what we would do if we didn't get the news we wanted to hear. Caroline was 6w4d pregnant on the day of the sonogram. Dr. Lee was as calm as ever when she said, "Well there's a sac it looks good, and there's the heartbeat" I was relieved. Then as she keeps talking..."and here's another sac, and there's the heartbeat"

Yeah...so we're rolling with twins, as in two babies, as in two babies in one small belly, as in crap, our house is already too small!

All We Want is a High Number

After doing one more IUI, the one we swore would be our last, the one that was going to make or break our fertility experience. Caroline "felt" pregnant, but she had "felt" it before, and nothing ever materialized.

If you're not aware, when you become pregnant your body produce the pregnancy hormone, HCG. HCG is measured in all at home pregnancy tests, as well as in your blood by the doctors. We knew too much about HCG, the highest Caroline's ever got was a 60, the doctors consider you to be "pregnant" at a 20, but want it to be at 100 the first day after a missed period, and then it is supposed to double every two days. We never sniffed a 100, we also never saw anything double.

She had all the symptoms of a pregnant person, her boobs were sore, she was tired, and all of the sudden food was smelling and looking weird. So we took a test...positive, but we had been there done that before, so our emotions were tempered.

Caroline, being the numbers whiz she is, was going to outsmart the system. She Googled every pregnancy test and wanted to find the ones that only showed a positive with the highest HCG level...needless to say 6 positive test later and $123 poorer, she had them all lined up on the counter. We had digital smiley faces, faint pink lines, dark purple lines, plus signs...we had seen it all. But, we still weren't believers.

So off to the doctor we go, blood drawn...and then the agony of waiting to hear back from the nurse. We had to wait for 6 hours for the phone call, it seemed like a month. Phone call comes and Caroline shattered her record...277 was the new number to beat. Then three days later when the number should have doubled...she shattered it again...1,592.

Then we were like oh crap...that's really high...oh well twins would be awesome, triplets would be manageable...and any more than that was never mentioned.

Background

Fertility issues...not everyone has them, but we did. We started this whole journey in hopes of starting our new family right away. Timing would be perfect, Caroline would almost be done with school, we both had jobs even though the economy was in the tank, and quite frankly...life was pretty good.

After a several months of "trying" Caroline was told she would need to go to a specialist. We chose a doctor we had heard of in Dallas, one who had a good reputation, and one Caroline and I would eventually feel completely and 100% confident in. The doctor was Dr. Karen Lee at DFW Fertility Specialists, although the results each month weren't what we wanted or expected, Dr. Lee always kept our spirits up and our confidence high, even at it's very low moments, and OUR best interests at heart.

We went through six months of fertility shots, 3-4 doctors visits a week, and basically turned Caroline into a human pin cushion, as she was having blood drawn almost every visit. We would sit in the doctor's office, staring at the screen looking for follicles...or any other good news we could see. We did everything from IUI, to regular "date" nights, and sometimes we even did both. We had a real miscarriage, a chemical miscarriage, no pregnancies at all, and loads of frustration...it seemed that everything that could go wrong, was going wrong...As we became more and more frustrated, we decided that we would give it one more chance.

DISCLAIMER
Things this blog will be:

Real
Informative
Funny
Awesome

I am not a doctor and non of my statements have been reviewed, viewed, or even looked at by the FDA...They've actually probably never been seen by anyone with the initials FDA...Actually, this blog has probably never been seen by anyone.

PS- Each time you read this blog you will be forced to send my large sums of diapers.