Molly Piper

Yesterday was another ultrasound for the twins! They were so cute to see on the 4D ultrasound!

Here’s Twin A (our little girl): She is currently head-down and in first position to come out. If she stays this way (PLEASE pray that she does) then my chances of a normal delivery (meaning no C-section) are very good. It looks in the picture like her eyes are open, but they aren’t (trust me, I asked). The tech said that it was just the angle of the view that made it look like eyes were open.

And here is Twin B (our little boy): Yes, he is still a little boy. I was seriously just praying for no more surprises on gender. He was very cooperative about getting his picture taken the entire time, though he was moving around quite a bit. He is currently laying transverse right on top of his sister, and he’s breech. But they don’t think that’s a big deal, as long as Twin A stays head-down.

As for me: I feel pretty darn good, all things considered. I mean, I feel pregnant, but that’s to be expected at this point. I have to take a nap every afternoon or I won’t survive. I’m on a very aggressive iron supplement regimen, since my iron was low last week (and I’ve had iron issues before, especially after delivery). Hopefully getting more iron in my blood and marrow will help with the energy. Here’s a picture of me & Abraham taken last weekend:

[Photo via Jenny Rigney]

Please pray:

• that God would give us good, consistent helpers to be with us in the first few months.
• that both babies would be born healthy and whole.
• an excitement in our hearts that will grow and grow.
• a smooth transition to being a family of 6 (YIKES).

It’s not going to be long before I’m posting out-of-the womb pictures for everyone to see! I can’t believe it’s coming so soon! Thanks so much for praying and for sharing in this crazy journey with us.

A couple weeks ago, Abraham got the idea that he wanted to make a little brick pad underneath the hose on the side of the house. There were a few busted-up old bricks there from God-only-knows-when (there have been lots of owners since this house was built in 1900), and so he decided he would try to use them somehow.

Then the idea kinda blossomed. He decided he wanted to do the whole pad with “found brick.” Very artsy, huh?

But where were we going to find enough bricks? I’d like to tell you that this was a very well-thought-out process, but…it wasn’t. But here’s what we did:

1. Choose a fearless leader.

Ours was the unstoppable Abraham Piper, Urban Scavenger. Behind the wheel of a Swagger Wagon, he is a force to be reckoned with.

2. Assemble your crew.

3. Start scavenging.

This might mean that you drive (what will feel like) aimlessly through old industrial areas of town, through abandoned train yards, etc. We also drove along residential alleys to pick up any extra bricks people might have had from ripping out an existing patio, or any they had leftover from building a new one.

4. Don’t be afraid to ask.

After awhile, we started getting bolder. We pulled up into a couple landscaping businesses and just asked them, “Hey, do you have any old bricks left from a job that you’re not going to use?” We didn’t care if they matched, or if some were a little broken.

I was amazed at how generous those folks were! If they order too much brick for a bigger job that they can’t use for another one immediately, they probably don’t want it sitting around taking up space. So they gave some to us!

5. Celebrate success.

Make sure your crew feels like part of the process or they’re gonna start grumbling from the back seat.

6. Play Tetris.

Abraham did all the digging, sand pouring, etc. to prep the area for the bricks. It was a little trickier since many of them were different thicknesses, but since it was a patio area that wasn’t going to be walked on very much, it didn’t really matter if it was absolutely perfect. I think he did a great job keeping it level, though. And then you just have to fit them all together into the space you have.

7. Voila!

I really like the randomness of it. And the best part was, we only paid for some sand!

My next urban scavenging project is to find some old spools and do this with the hose:

[Photo via Design Sponge]

What do-it-yourself projects are you doing this summer?

A week or so ago, my husband posted this hilarious (and very cute) video of a baby gorilla practicing his chest thumping:

Ever since, Morrow’s been practicing his baby gorilla:

Last Wednesday morning, at 8am, our twin pregnancy took another dramatic turn. First, let’s recap:

• First, I wasn’t expecting to be pregnant in the first place.
• Second, I found out I was having twins at an 18 week ultrasound (which actually ended up being changed to 16 weeks when they measured the babies). Most people know they’re having twins before that point in their pregnancy.
• Third, I found out they were two girls.

Ready for the next plot twist?

Well, turns out one of our twins is a boy.

Here’s a little window into how it went down:

Ultrasound tech asked me, “What were you told for gender???”

“Two girls,” I confidently answered.

“Oh no,” she said gently. “Twin B is a boy.”

“Are you SURE????” I asked over and over and over.

Anyway, you get the idea.

I spent the rest of the day in a stupor of confusion and disbelief. Literally, the day before, I had gone to a girl’s house who was getting rid of her twin girl clothes and bought a ridiculous amount of stuff from her. A couple weeks before that, I’d had a baby shower for twin girls. How could this be happening to me????

I lamented through the rest of the week and the weekend, mostly because I’d let myself get attached to the babies (even disciplined myself to attach to them) and now they weren’t what they were “supposed” to be. One of the things that just killed me about the whole thing was that when I had my original ultrasound, and they told me it was twins, then told me that Twin A was a girl, I was almost certain she was going to say Twin B was a boy, and I was totally cool with that. But I’ve spent the last two and a half months making myself slowly embrace these two little girls who I was told were coming into my life.

I went yesterday for my first non-stress test (which will now be a weekly event because of our history with a full-term unexplained stillbirth) and listened to their heartbeats. Then I had a visit with my regular, yet oh-so-amazing doctor. She and I pored over the pictures from my original ultrasound and the ones taken last week.

Now, my doctor has a reputation as pretty much never getting gender wrong–never. She said she didn’t believe the people who told her about my updated ultrasound. And when we looked at the pictures from 16 weeks, she said, “If someone else came in today with that same presentation at 16 weeks, I’d still say girl.” It really was that clear to her then. She and I worked through some of the emotions I’ve been feeling, and she of course was so sensitive and empathetic. It really was a good visit.

For some reason, hearing it from her settled it for me. I don’t feel confused anymore. I don’t think I understand, but I don’t feel confused. I don’t feel cheated anymore. I don’t feel like the butt of some cosmic joke anymore.

Instead, I’m starting to embrace the reality that I am the mother to twins–sister/brother twins. There are some things I’m still digesting and emotions I’m still processing. That’s to be expected. I have a lot of work to do now to get rid of some of these girl clothes and get some things for my son. I have some revisions to make to the grand plan of my life, but I feel confident about one thing:

LOVE.

I feel confident that God, in his love for me, will take me through this change. I feel confident that our son will be embraced just as fully as his sister would have been by the people who love us. I feel confident that, in my love for my son, I won’t always look at him and see “the girl he was supposed to be.” I feel confident that his siblings, in their love for him, will enfold him as just who he’s supposed to be–their brother. I feel confident that we will be in love with him.

So, if you want to greet our son, feel free to leave a comment. I want him to know the most sincere, heartfelt welcome from me as his mother, and I’m trusting God to get me to that place in my heart over the next 8-9 weeks (we’re talking induction at 36 weeks due to my history).

Please pray that this is the end of the drama, pregnancy-wise. My doctor and I even had some energy to joke around yesterday. She said, “I really hope all this drama early in your life means that you’ll just sail through later years, like the teenage years.” And we both laughed, knowing how unlikely that is. But here’s hoping, anyway.

I guess we’re not getting the super-cheesy Hollywood ending to our story. But a story isn’t much of a story without a few plot twists, right?

A few weeks ago Orison and Morrow were playing so well together, I just had to get it on video. Morrow loves to copy the things Orison does (for better or for worse).

So if your weekend promises little entertainment, enjoy the Piper Family Circus! (I’m sure Orison would have come up with a much cleverer name, but you’ve got me on a Friday afternoon.)

This little guy is Morrow John. Morrow is 21 months old, and has no idea what’s coming at him in August. He is my major priority right now as I near the home stretch of this pregnancy.

In a way his cluelessness is a blessing, because he’ll never remember his life without his two little sisters. But I also want to do what I can to nurture and care for him in one-on-one ways that make him feel safe and secure as we head into this major change.

Morrow loves to play at the park. Most of the time I’m too tired to take him, so it’s a special treat right now.

Morrow loves his friend “La-la.”

Morrow loves watermelon in a major way.

I’ve mentioned before that Morrow loves babies, and I know he’ll love his sisters. But I also want to cherish these moments with him as my baby. Yesterday I watched his naked behind streak down the dock at our friends’ lake and I just want to hold that memory in my heart forever. It was so beautiful.

So for now, I’m trying to prepare for this major future event but still live in the present of being mom to little Morrow Johnner.