We're Having...

That's right, Katie and I found out the wonderful news--the gender of our twins--on Christmas Eve morning as we moseyed into the ultrasound clinic without any of our parents, family, or friends knowing about it. The tech took a little over an hour to find out how the babies were doing. Everything appeared to be great and on track.

When it came time to find out the genders, Katie and I told the tech that we didn't want to know just yet. So she warned us to turn away at the right time, and after it was all done, Katie told the tech what our plan was.

Katie had read somewhere (or heard from a friend) how they surprised their family, and she wanted to do it the same way. What we did was we told the tech to write down what we were having on a post-it note. She did so and placed the post-it in an envelope. Katie and I then headed to the store to pick out a pair of girls clothes (pink) and a pair of boys clothes (blue). We headed to the cash register, and we told the lady that we were having twins and we didn’t know what the genders were. Inside the envelope would be the answer to the mystery. So the lady at the cash register read the note on the post-it while Katie and I had our backs turned. Then she proceeded to wrap up the clothes according to what the post-it said, and then hid the other clothes. The lady enjoyed this secret as did a passerby. Katie said, “You are the first one to know what we’re having!” :) The lady loved it and told us “Congratulations.”

Katie went home and wrapped up the clothes. She did not see anything since they were covered with tissue paper. She placed them in a box, covered it with a ribbon and bow, and we headed to Katie’s relatives to celebrate Christmas Eve.

At the end of the night, we were playing the White Elephant game. Katie cheated and purposely got #1. So she got to pick first. She grabbed the two boxes, and the tag on them said something like, “Katie and Joe to open together.” The faces on the family members were that of confusion. Nobody knew what was happening. And then, Katie and I pulled out the clothes. Katie’s was BLUE…as was mine!! That’s right…we’re having twin BOYS! :)

Do you remember that old Geico commercial where the guy wants to save money on his collect call, so he says his name is “Bob Wehadababyitsaboy”? Anyway, that’s what I’m reminded of. Here’s the commercial for those who don’t recall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JxhTnWrKYs

Anyway, yeah…we’re having twin boys. Katie’s family was super excited. We did the same thing for Katie’s grandma and great aunt the next morning. And we did the same thing for my family on Christmas evening. My mom’s reaction was priceless, and I have the video to prove it [soon to come].

Below are some of the pics from the ultrasound. Baby A’s profile, Baby B’s profile, Baby B giving Baby A the thumbs up, and the post-it note which revealed the genders.

I Know...It's Fruity!

Katie is currently at 15+ weeks. She already feels and appears better than she did in the first trimester, so it's starting to look good. According to some websites and books, a baby that's at 15+ weeks is roughly the size of an orange. Granted we are having two babies, so it might be smaller, we took the liberty of showing you the size of our babies inside of Katie today.

The Hanchinamani Babies

Well, it's been forever since I've posted anything, but I think with the news of having twins, it's about time I posted something. Many of you know the story, but just to have it written on my blog as a sort of diary, I will spell it all out again.

In June 2010, I had a very vivid dream. The only thing in my dream was the date "September 28." It was so strong to me that when I woke up, I still had flashes of that date in my mind. Believing it was from the Lord, I prayed about it and quickly put a reminder on my iPhone calendar.

Many months later, in mid-September, I was looking ahead on my calendar. The date September 28 had a note which said, "Dream Day." Not recalling what this was, I clicked on the reminder note which said, "I had a dream in the first week of June regarding this day. It was a vivid date for some reason." Thinking something significant was going to happen in a few weeks, I told Katie and Sid about it. And sure enough, on September 28 as the Lord would have it, Katie woke up before I went to work, took a pregnancy test, and found out we were having a baby.

A week later we told all our family and close friends. However, on October 5th, we woke up to something we were NOT expecting. Katie was bleeding, and I took her to the emergency room at Swedish/Edmonds Hospital (formerly Stevens Hospital) at 4 in the morning. After 3 hours of waiting and running tests, the doctor told us heartbreaking news--we were miscarrying. We were devastated, not only at the news, but what came a few seconds later. My mom grabbed the paper from the doctor and said, "Twins? It was twins?" The doctor, who didn't have the heart to break the news to us, simply nodded and said, "Yes. I'm so sorry."

Katie and I went home that day feeling defeated. Yet, we stood together to praise God for His faithfulness. That evening, the entire family from both sides came over to shower us with prayer. It was so overwhelming and amazing to see the body of Christ gather together like that. And you know what...God heard our cry!

The following morning as I was out doing errands, Katie told me that she called our doctor's office to see if she could take a certain medication to help her with her cramping. As she spoke to the nurse, Katie was told that they believe that she was NOT miscarrying. What?! So we went to the doctor's office, and Dr. Bourne assisted us. He told us simply that he believes it looks like a normal pregnancy. After doing another ultrasound, we saw what we saw the day before, but this time it was explained to us. There were two gestational sacs in Katie's womb. The babies were too small to see, but he believed they were still in there. In fact, all the signs of a miscarriage that Katie was showing the day before were no longer there. It was a true miracle in the making. I remember leaving the office, and Kris was waiting in the lobby for us, and she saw the spark in my eye, and she knew right then everything would be okay.

Although we weren't out of the woods yet, our hope was restored. We believed! And a few days later when Katie's hormone levels in her blood had doubled, that was a great indication everything was well. A few weeks after that, we saw, for the very first time, our babies!! We also saw and heard their tiny, rapid heartbeats that brought tears to my eyes. Below is a picture of them.


Praise God for the miracle story of our two babies--from the dream, to the joy, to the sorry, back to the joy, and for the amazing miracle of life. More posts of the pregnancy to follow.