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.