It was an interesting weekend.

Melissa had an appointment for another non-stress test on Friday and I actually got to go this time. Melissa hadn't had very much to eat and so she ate a bag of grapes right before she got there. Apparently, Lily is a fan of grapes because she was doing all kinds of gymnastics. I think she was doing some form of fetal Tae Bo. Master Blanks would've been proud. Unfortunately, that much activity makes the NST pretty difficult. The heart monitor had to be adjusted quite a bit to keep it where it could read her heartbeat consistently. The thing about that is that Lily has a problem with people jamming stuff into her personal space. So, the nurse kept shoving the monitor into Melissa's stomach and Lily kept getting more and more ticked off. This went on for about an hour and a half. No luck. It appears as if Lily is somewhat obstinate. (I have no idea where she gets that from - must be her mom.) Fortunately, it wasn't too big of a big deal. The nurse said that she would have to consider that part of the test inconclusive, but that she could see that everything was fine. Dr. Terry also looked at the results and said the same thing. The other things that they are looking for with the NST looked very good, according to the nurse and Dr. T, so the test was considered a success.

In other news, Dr. Terry offered to induce labor a bit early for Melissa. September 6 is the new due date. Unless we get to the hospital on the 6th and it doesn't look at all like Melissa is ready for labor, that will be the day that Melissa will begin (and hopefully end) labor. For those of you scoring at home, that is only 3 weeks and 2 days. That seems pretty soon from where I'm sitting. In fact, the decrease in the span of time that remains before Lily's arrival seems to correlate quite closely to the increasing anxiety that I feel. Of course, my excitement is increasing exponentially at the same time, superseding my anxiety. So I've got that going for me... which is nice.

Two appointments later, everything is still on track. We went in for an appointment with Dr. Terry on Thursday of last week (the 27th). The assistant who took Melissa' blood pressure initially came up with about 135/80. The 80 was a minor point of concern, but Melissa has never had blood pressure quite that high. So, when the assistant noticed our surprise she said that she might have done it wrong and would look again. Two minutes after the initial try, Melissa's blood pressure had dropped to 125/70. Better. Unfortunately, all of the numbers go into her chart and so are seen by Dr. Terry. He told us that he wasn't worried, but wanted to be on the safe side and told us to schedule a "non-stress test" for Melissa. The test is basically to check on the health of Melissa and the baby. Particularly, they are looking for a strong heart rate from the baby and to make sure that there is enough amniotic fluid.

Melissa went in yesterday (the 31st) and had the test. Her blood pressure was 116/63. Lily's heart beat was strong and the amniotic fluid was right where it should be. Apparently the assistant who took Melissa's blood pressure needs a little practice. We are going to go back in next Friday for another test, but it's pretty much just to double check.

The time is getting shorter and we're looking forward to our first family addition. The nursery is painted and we're working on decor. I've also painted part of the fence. Home Depot is about to break ground on a new nursery wing, which will be named after Lily and Griffin and the contribution that their birth is making to Home Depot's bottom line.

Finally, Melissa had the first of several showers this last week. Lily and Griffin made out like bandits. We're very appreciative of all of the support that we have received from our family and friends. It has truly been overwhelming.

Melissa had another successful appointment with Dr. Terry yesterday. The baby is measuring right on schedule. We are now at 31 weeks and it looks as if this might actually work. We are making preparations for Lily's and Griffin's arrival on a daily basis. I believe that Melissa is planning to attend 5 baby showers. With those, the family reunions and the birthing class, I think that every Saturday for the rest of 2006 is blocked out. One may think that with all of those baby showers I might be on my way to golf/play station heaven. On the contrary, Melissa is working frantically to create a master list/schedule of all of my chores. I don't know how many of you have read "The Jungle", by Upton Sinclair, but it's kind of like that. She actually has purchased a white board to write down all of the things that she has for me to do, and a cattle prod to keep me on task. I have talked her into giving me Sundays off, but she is not budging on bathroom breaks. I am trying to unionize, but management is strong and the progress is slow.

At this time, we'd like to introduce our little surprise. His name is Griffin.


About a month after Melissa and I had found out about Lily we were approached by a co-worker of Melissa's. Her daughter had gotten pregnant and wanted to place the baby with us. Of course, they didn't know that we were pregnant. We told her about our situation, but that we would consider it and we needed some time to think about it. After careful consideration we decided that we would take the baby. We really felt good about it and that this was what was supposed to happen.

(Comments about his "boyhood" shall be considered inappropriate at this time.)

His expected arrival date is 12 October, just a little less than a full month from Lily's date of 14 September. Griffin's mom has also had one child before him - a little girl who is just over 2 years old. She is being raised by Griffin's birth mother's mother. She will be his half sister, as they don't share the same father.

Melissa and I have both met Griffin's birth parents. We couldn't help but to be impressed with their love for him and their maturity in the face of such a difficult decision. They are truly making this decision based on their love for him and what they believe to be the best situation for him. We love them and hope that you will pray for them along with us.

We are all very excited for the boy half of our assembled twins. Everyone is getting what they want - Grandma Connie has a real-life dress-up doll in Lily, and Grandpa Sam has another boy to help him in his all-sports TV programming domination. I'm sure he's also looking forward to tricking Griff into shagging golf balls for him in the backyard, etc. On the other side of the family, Mike will finally have a boy cousin to kick around.

Another day, another appointment gone by...

Everything looked just right today. Dr. Terry said that Melissa was measuring a little bit ahead, but it's not a big deal and doesn't really mean anything. Melissa also had the gestational diabetes test done today. We haven't heard anything yet, but they are not going to call unless there is a possibility that she has it. We're not too worried about it.

Dr. T then checked to see what position the baby was in. He does some sort of poking and prodding on Melissa's stomach and then has her put her hands where his were. "Do you feel that bump? That's her head." So, that was kind of cool... and strange. Apparently Lily is head-down at the moment. Melissa wished that I could have felt her head. I didn't think that was a too good of an idea. Comparable with letting Lenny pet the field mouse. It could end poorly.

Otherwise, things are good. We're working on the kids' room. A very pale yellow, with white trim. I'm not sure if we'll go solid yellow in the entire room or not. We've been doing some shopping for crib skirts and sheets and those sort of items. The experience of shopping for such things with me gave Melissa the idea to register for her baby showers with her mom and my mom and to leave me home. Win - win. Anyway, I'll post a picture of the room when we have it done.

Oh, finally, Melissa had a cavity filled at the dentist's office the other day. According to Melissa, Lily was going crazy during the appointment. Apparently Lily and I have the same type of feelings towards the dental population.

At this time I would like to extend a special 'Thank You' to Lilly Huffmire for graciously acquiescing to our request for permission to use her name. I've attached a picture of Original Lilly, which includes her parents, Casey and Hillary.

This is a picture of Lily at 20 weeks (5 weeks ago). Apparently she enjoys keeping her hands up to her face. She is shy.

Melissa had an appointment with Dr. Terry today. The appointment went well and everything is measuring more or less on schedule. Melissa may be a day or two ahead, but maybe Lily will just come a few days early. We heard her heartbeat again and everything sounded great. The entire doctor's office really seems to be pulling for us, along with our family and friends. The support has been great! Her next appointment is in four weeks, when they will check for gestational diabetes - girls have all the fun.

This is the maiden post for our blog. We're creating this blog in an attempt to keep everyone posted on our family's progress.