Christmas with the Benners

Blair opened a box of golf balls. That seemed to be a popular gift as Rich and Rob also received a box.
Rob modeling his new bathrobe. Very JCPenney catalogish.

After all of the generous gifts were opened, the family gathered for a picture. Me, Katie, Rich, Rob, Blair, and Irma.

Week 36

Nancy at 36 weeks and 171 lbs

Christmas night at the Benners
We were fortunate to have some friends offer to bring Christmas dinner to us. We just had to supply the veggies and tableware. They even brought firewood. (Thank you to the Pinters and Burkes!) Around the table is me, Steph, Neal, Don, Jim, and Erin. Moose was the photographer.

Non-Stress Test

On Christmas Eve, we spent the part of the afternoon at a bi-weekly non-stress test. This was Moose's first time with me. We played cards for about a half hour until the doctor said everything looked good and sent us on our way.

Place your bets

We are establishing a friendly wager on the twins. Email Nancy at nlbenner@yahoo.com your bets for the following:

1. Date and Time (30pts)
2. Sex of baby A (25pts)
3. Sex of baby B (25pts)
4. Weight of baby A (10pts)
5. Weight of baby B (10pts)

Each category is weighted differently. The winner will be determined based on whoever gets closest to each category and scores the most points.

Here are some hints:

1. Most twins do not go full term. Nancy's full term date (40 weeks) is January 24th.
2. Baby A weighed 5lbs 5 oz and Baby B weighed 5lbs, on 12/13
3. Rich's bets are: 1/4/08 1pm, both girls, 6.8 and 6.3
4. Nancy's bets are: 1/7/08 9pm, baby A girl, baby B boy, 7.1 and 6.8

You must submit a wager for each category to be eligible.

Christmas with the Lutzes

This weekend we celebrated Christmas with Linda, Kathrine, and their dogs, Franklin and Buddy. After they arrived on Saturday afternoon and we had some dinner and opened presents. No action from the babies this weekend as far as contractions go. However, they are still on the move.Moose modeling his new jacket.

He did a great job of taking care of the women this weekend. Tropical Muscatine was more like the Muscatine Tundra this weekend. Saturday morning we woke up to blowing snow and cold, cold temperatures. Buddy, Kathrine and Robb's lab, and Magellan facing off on the stairs was a common sight this weekend.

Ultrasound update

Today was the day for doctor appointments. First, was the final ultrasound at University Hospital in Iowa City. Baby A has returned to its original position of being head down and is weighing in at 5 pounds, 5 ounces. Baby B is still transverse across the top portion of the belly. Its head is on the left side with its feet on the right. It was nice to find out what exactly the bulges of the belly were:) Baby B is weighing in at 5 pounds even. I am respectively weighing in at 169 pounds.

The second appointment was the weekly check-up. Everything is still intact with no contractions. So the babies may cook a little longer than expected. There has been no talk of moving the due date up.

The final appointment of the day was the non-stress test. They were able to get me in today instead of tomorrow saving a trip to Iowa City:) The non-stress test was uneventful, which is a good thing. The heartbeats were all over the place again but did seem to be closer together than previous tests. I am sticking with my original hunch of one boy and one girl.

Week 34

Nancy at 34 weeks

Starting last week, Nancy has been going to "non-stress tests" twice a week. She is hooked up to monitors to measure for contractions and the heart rates of the babies. So far so good. We have the final ultrasound on Thursday. Our doctor told us the goal is to get to 34 weeks, so here we are. Now we are just waiting. There have not been any signs that it will be any time real soon, but you never know.

Nancy is still teaching every day... except for today due to some ice storms that came through the Midwest.

Shopping for the babes

On Saturday, we went to Babies 'R' Us for more baby stuff. Two of the items purchased were baby carriers. Moose test drove the model purchased.

Thanksgiving 2007

This year for Thanksgiving we headed up to MN for the feast. Grandma Linda hosted the meal for the Lutzes and the Benners. Traditionally (okay, for the past 3 years), we have hosted Thanksgiving in Muscatine and then traveled to MN for Christmas. However, due to the babies pending arrival, we decided that it would be easier travels if we flopped our holiday routines. The food and company were wonderful as always. We enjoyed lots of relaxing and TV watching:)Me, Katie (Rob's girlfriend), Rich, Linda, Irma, Blair, and Rob. Kathrine Lutz (Robb's wife) also attended the big meal but was not there for the picture.

Week 31

Nancy's belly progression through week 31

Here's a comparison:My mom, pregnant with the first set of Benner Twins (Rob & Rich) shortly before we arrived.

Week 30

Muscatine Baby Shower at Casey Lopez's.

Thank you to all for your generous gifts!

We stayed at the Burke's bed & breakfast the night before our birthing class in Iowa City. Erin and Jim were fantastic hosts and even fed us fruit cobbler and pancakes. We needed the energy for the weekend-long class. We graduated and are ready to go when the time comes!

Our current diaper stock room.

Week 29

Comparing Bellies

Much needed relaxation

Babies Shower-Oct. 26

Grandma Linda, Me, Sister-in-law Kathrine

Gift opening

Nursery

October 13th

Aunt Kathy, Grandma Linda, Nancy, and Franklin

7 year anniversary

Week 28

Yesterday we had our third ultrasound at the University of Iowa hospital. The babies are weighing in around the 59th percentile. Baby A is 2lbs. 13oz. and Baby B is 2bls. 12oz. Baby A has turned and is now sitting on the cervix. Baby A was head down at the previous ultrasounds. Baby B is still laying across the upper portion of the belly. There is still time and hope for the babies to turn. We go back in 6 weeks (Dec. 13) for a final ultrasound. No expected arrival date was given.

This past weekend we had our first babies shower in Minnesota. As always, Kara was a gracious host. It was wonderful to see many faces and receive such generous gifts. Moose has already practiced installing the car seats in both vehicles.

Week 27

According to some books and websites, this week marks the beginning of the third trimester. I am still feeling great and the weight seems to be staying in the belly region. However, I did read that this trimester the weight gain distribution can change. Hopefully, for me, it doesn't. My hands are a bit swollen. I had to remove my rings this weekend.

Moose worked for over seven hours on Sunday and two hours on Monday sanding and painting a dresser/changing table we bought this past weekend. The glider was also purchased last weekend and it arrived today. Now we just need the babies. But we can wait at least eight more weeks for them to arrive.

This weekend, Moose and I are parting ways. He is heading up to Michigan to watch the Gopher/Wolverine game and catch up with some college friends. I am heading to Minnesota this weekend for a baby shower thrown by a very good friend, Kara.

Week 24

Nancy at 24 weeks and 21 pounds

We had our second ultra sound on October 3rd. The twins are each 1 pound 8 oz and are developing well with no major concerns. "Twin B" does have clubbing of both feet, which does run on the Foster side of the family. This is where the feet want to grow inwards instead of straight out. The little guy or girl will be needing some extra care starting from the first few days he or she is born to help correct this. Fortunately, the world leader in non-surgical correction of clubfeet, Dr. Ponseti, is in Iowa City (actually, the same hospital we had the ultra sound in). So, it was a matter of fate that we moved to Iowa! The following is a website by Dr. Ponseti about the Ponseti method for clubfeet correction. http://www.uihealthcare.com/topics/medicaldepartments/orthopaedics/clubfeet/parents.html We were given printouts of some ultra sound pictures and did not receive any electronic copies this time to put on the blog.

Nancy's mom and dog, Franklin, graced us with their presence this past weekend. After some volunteer work Saturday morning spent landscaping and waterblasting, we went to Davenport to stock up on more baby supplies. Franklin and our cat, Magellen, actually got along okay this time with only minor altercations.

Mini cribs

The Emily mini cribs arrived this past weekend! When I came home from school on Friday, I saw one box sitting downstairs and I immediately knew Rich came home during his lunch and put one of them together. I rushed upstairs and saw the cutest cribs ever. They seemed smaller than I expected at first. But now that both of them are put together, the minis are going to work for us. They are lightweight and fit through the doorway. We'll have one in our room when the babies come home and eventually both cribs will be upstairs in the nursery.

Week 21

Nancy at 21 Weeks and 18 lbs

Today we went to see Dr. Patrick to check in with her in regards to the twins. She checked my weight and my size again and said that I wasn't measuring big. She listened to both babies' heartbeats and they were both good. On October 3rd we will be going to the University Hospital in Iowa City to have a Level 2 ultrasound done on the twins. A Level 2 ultrasound will give us more details on the twins' health and development. She also said I was okay to work until they are born unless she puts me on bed rest. I really hope that does not happen. I have the best first grade class I will ever have. I want to spend as much time with them as possible.

Moose was very busy this past weekend. He painted the nursery, some furniture, and other odds and ends for the nursery. We also ordered cribs; two Emily mini cribs. We realized that we need to start getting things ready sooner rather than later with the reality that the babies could be here around Christmas time.

Weeks 19 & 20

TWINS!!


We had the ultrasound on September 4th, and guess what... TWO BABIES! We were both immediately shocked and ecstatic. As soon as the first image came into view you could definitely see two babies movin' and groovin'. The radiologist even had some trouble getting steady pictures because the babies kept bouncing around.

Twin 'A' (right) & Twin 'B' (left)

Profile of Twin 'B'

Head of Twin 'B'

Head of Twin 'A'

Legs of Twin 'A'

We knew things were going to change with one baby, now with two there seems to be so much more to do (including changing the title of this site to "Benner Babies Blog"). We need to think of everything in terms of doubles now, but the good news is twice the babies, means twice the fun!

We were told they are most likely fraternal and not identical twins since they are in their own membranes. In case you're also wondering, we did not (and do not plan to) find out the sex of either baby.

Besides that surprise, things are going great here. Rich celebrated his 27th birthday on September 3rd. We had a great Labor Day and had a group of our friends come down from Minnesota for the weekend. The weather blessed us all weekend for golf, grilling, field-goal kicking and lawn games.

Seth Nelson and his fiance Nikki blessed us with a fantastic "layered baby cake" decorated with diapers, blankets, bottles and stuffed animals.

Nancy's classroom is going very well. She has a group of 16 first-graders who she loves. Nothing but good reports so far.

That's it for now. We will continue to post updates on what is now tracking the adventures of two little ones.

Weeks 16 - 18

Here she is at 17.5 weeks.

I feel this picture is a bit deceiving. When I look in the mirror, I feel like I am a lot bigger:) The past few weeks have been full of friends, driving, and getting ready for school and Labor Day visitors. Moose has been an excellent teacher's assistant helping me laminate, cut, and hang things in my very first classroom.

Wrigley Field at the Parrot/Veith Wedding

Left to Right: Gary, Sam, Ann, Seth, Nikki, Me, Moose, Dave, and Kelly Sherman's sister

The reception was at Rutger's Sugar Lake Lodge in Grand Rapids, MN. Katie and Josh arrived via float plane piloted by a family friend. It was by far the best entrance to a wedding reception ever. And we have been to enough weddings to make that judgement.


Left to Right: Jim, Michelle, Kristin, Eli, Tony, Dona, Moose, and Me.

To the right is our table at Benton and Cortney's wedding in Houghton, MI. We were seated at the Ambassador table. The Ambassador is a bar/restaurant in Houghton that is known for its Tostada pizza and fish bowl drinks. We were frequent patrons of this establishment during Moose's time in the U.P.

It was a long night of dancing for our table. Moose and Eli had their share of dance offs and Tony graced us with the Worm on more than one occasion.

Weeks 14 & 15

Here's Nancy at 15 weeks highlighting her growing belly.

Now that she is through the first trimester she has been feeling good (more energy, less nauseous). She has been spending time in her new 1st grade classroom getting ready to start teaching full time on August 22nd. We spent some time searching for daycare providers and were fortunate to meet with a wonderful couple who takes care of other little ones that we know. The baby will be in good hands when Nancy goes back to work next Spring.


Rich was one of 15,000 people who ran in the Bix 7 mile race in Davenport on July 28th. He lost to the winner, from Kenya, by slightly over 1/2 hour.

Weeks 12 & 13

Nancy getting some quality practice time in with Teagan.

Nancy had her second doctor's appointment on July 5th. She was able to hear the heartbeat again, which was clocked at 150-160 beats/min.

Now that we (Rich) finished the kitchen floors.....


It's time to start focusing on the nursery.

Before pictures.