I guess it is time for Dad to add to the blog!

Wow, I can't believe we are here! The eve of Courtney and I becoming parents! What an amazing journey this has been. It still hasn't set in fully that in less than 24 hrs I will be a dad of two precious little girls! If you told me the way things would develop three years ago I would have laughed. Courtney and I have been through a lot, but for all the bad times, the past 9 months has erased most of those memories. And seeing Courtney progress through this pregnancy has made me love her even more. sure there are a few moments where she gives me the "business" but she has been so incredible in carrying our babies, it makes me so proud to be her husband She is going to be an amazing mother.
I can't wait to meet my little angels! I keep imagining holding them, but I don't think it will hit me until I have them in my arms, just how precious they are. I already love them so much, I don't know what I am going to do when I actually meet them! But one thing is for certain, they are going to be two very loved little girls! (and nicely dressed thanks to Courtney's shopping habit). Well I would just like to end with a thank you to all our friends and family who have been there through the tough spots and who will rejoice with us tomorrow when we meet Sophia and Claire.
I can't wait.

24 Hours and Counting....

We have reached the 24 hour mark. It is hard to believe how fast this last week has gone by. Needless to say we are anxious and excited for Sophia and Claire's debut on Thursday, May 28th.

This has been an amazing journey and I feel it is appropriate to document our excitement, emotions, anticipation......well you get the point.

Matt and I knew we wanted to start a family fairly quickly after getting married. I am thankful we did not wait too long because as many of you know we found out it was not going to be an easy road for us. At this point in the pregnancy it is sometimes hard to recall the deep sadness, fear, worry, and anger that filled me during those years of trying to start our family. It is amazing how that seems to disipate when God's plan reveals itself in your life.

As crazy as it sounds I can honestly say how thankful I am for that journey now. I learned so much along the way.
1. I learned that through FAITH anything is possible and the limits to my faith are endless.
(the saying below became a constant presence in my mind; it was something my friend
Sarah told me early on in my struggle and one thing that got her through her own
struggle)
"Faith is not knowing he can; Faith is knowing he will
2. I learned that PATIENCE was something God knew I needed work on
3. I was reminded daily why I married my husband....he is so strong, comforting, supportive
and most of all positive. His faith never waivers. I can definitely say my love for him has
multipled beyond my wildest dreams.
4. I will never take for granted that fact that God has given me the blessing to have these two
little girls.
5. Through difficult times family and friends are so important....I have always valued those
relationships and by doing so I got so much more in return. I will forever be thankful!

I have thoroughly enjoyed my entire pregnancy. I think that stems from the journey we took. It definitely made me look at everything differently. I found the greatest joy in the smallest things. I loved knowing their were two little babies growing inside of me. I loved seeing them mature and change month by month. I even embraced the extreme belly size (and lack of clothes to fit over it) and stretch marks that came with it.

I never imagined I could love something so much which I have never physically seen. Tomorrow I get to experience that on a grander scale than even I can begin to imagine. I finally get to see what my Mom and Dad are talking about....the love of your own child. I can't wait to see Matt with the girls. That is one of the things I am looking forward to the most. He will be an amazing Dad.

I will miss the kicking in my belly, the near constant hiccups, the odd shapes my belly took on with two girls fighting for space and bath time in which the girls loved to make as many waves as possible. I will never forget all those amazing moments!!

We thank all of you for your love, support and prayers along the way. We can't even put into words what it means to us. We ask for your continued prayers for a safe delivery for the girls and I. We look forward to posting many pictures of their arrival and for you to meet our Sophia and Claire!

We love you!

36 Week Doctor's Appointment

Unless Sophia and Claire decide otherwise, they will be born on Thursday, May 28th. We have scheduled our c-section for that date. Dr Weber believes each baby is approximately 7.5 - 8.0 lbs. That is amazing to me.

It is a big relief for me to know that an end is in sight but it is also extremely emotional. I just can't believe this moment is here. We have been dreaming of this for three years now.

Matt and I are excited beyond words. We can't wait to welcome our two precious girls into this world. We thank everyone for their support and love along the way. We ask for your continued prayers for a safe and healthy arrival.

We look forward to introducing you to Sophia Marie and Claire Abigail.

35 Week Doctor's Appointment

We went to our weekly appointment yesterday. I am still having a lot of contractions but still nothing too painful. My doctor was very happy that I have surpassed the 35 week mark and is amazed at how well I am doing and the minimal amount of swelling I have. He doesn’t think I will make it to my 37 week appointment based on my contractions, symptoms, etc. That was welcome news to me since I am getting to the point that everything is difficult to do. It is even hard to fold a load of laundry or take a shower. Thank goodness I am still sleeping well most nights. The worst part is that my skin has become extremely painful. It is stretching so bad that I constantly feel like I have bugs crawling on me and the itching is something I have never felt before. The few sleepless nights I have had are due to that.

Anyways, if I do make it to my 37 week appointment Dr Weber will schedule a c-section for the following day. That date would be Friday, May 29th.Twins are considered full-term at 37 weeks. We asked about any difficulties that might arise since we are technically 2 weeks early right now. He said that with twins, lung development is not normally a fear after 35 weeks b/c the stress that both babies put on each other spur earlier lung development. The one thing that might be lacking is their sucking reflex which we can overcome. Hopefully that won’t be a problem though. The size of our babies is a blessing as well. Our girls are bigger than most twins.

I am so excited to know that the babies could arrive any day now. I am going to be walking my butt off to see if I can encourage the girls :) HA!! We ask for your prayers for Sophia and Claire. We want them to arrive at the perfect time and in great health.

We are so excited to bring 2 girls to the growing number of boys (grandchild #9 and #10) in the Anderson family, excited for Benny to become a first-time grandpa, Shannon and Chris to become a first-time aunt and uncle and to enjoy many play dates with all of my friends and their children.

Thanks for all of your support. We love you all!!!

35 Weeks

We have reached week 35. Many of you have asked for updated baby bump pictures. As you can see I am getting quite large but I find it to be wonderful :) It is worth it for my little girls. I have been lucky to not gain weight anywhere else but my belly.

We went to the doctor on May 7th. We had another non-stress test. The girls hearbeats were excellent but I was having contractions approximately 4 minutes apart. This concerned Dr Weber so he decided to check me to see if I had started to progress. Luckily I was less than 1cm dilated and I was not totally thinned out yet. Based on this he did not feel I was in pre-term labor. He sent me home with strict orders not to do anything but lay on the couch. The rest helped and the contractions slowed down later that evening.

I took it pretty easy all weekend. Matt took me to get some flowers on Saturday. He was very patient with me. On Sunday he potted them for me while I instructed him. I am sure he was annoyed with me by the end. I am bound and determined to have some flowers around before the girls arrival. My Mom will be delivering some additional flowers to me from Grandma Stella so Matt isn't done yet.

Nanna Penny decided to go with a "Pink" theme for all of her flowers in honor of the girls. For those of you who know my Mom, she always has tons of beautiful flowers...I can't wait to see all the pink!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first Mother's Day. Grandpa Benny brought me flowers which was a wonderful surprise. Matt pampered me all day. Not too many guys would pot flowers while their wife set in a loung chair drinking water beside him. My hope is that I can be a great Mom over the next year just like my Mom has done for me for 30 years. LOVE YOU MOM!!!

I head back to the doctor on Thursday. I will update you after the appointment!

Baby Shower with the Sorrells Friends

We had our last baby shower on Sunday. It was a beautiful day. This shower was thrown by the close friends of Benny and Janet (Matt's parents). The ladies went above and beyond. They thought of everything. The decorations, flowers, food and company were wonderful. We are really blessed to have such supportive and wonderful people around us.

We got a lot of great gifts for our girls....play center, clothes, high chairs, car seat, decor for the girls rooms, blankets....I could go on and on. We feel so blessed.

We really feel prepared for the girls arrival now. We have all the necessities to bring two babies home. Thank you to everyone for being so excited for us and providing such wonderful things for Sophia and Claire. I hope you enjoy the pictures from the shower!!

Week 33 Doctor's Appointment

This has been a big week for the Sorrells family. Sophia and Claire's big brother Georgie (our dog) had knee surgery on Wednesday. As most of you know he completely tore his ACL about 6 weeks ago.

The first part of the morning was rough. Georgie is supposed to wear a HUGE plastic cone to keep him from irritating his incision. Georgie did not take to the plastic cone so well. He cried and whined all morning so we gave in, took off the cone and are watching him every minute. We put the cone back on for him to sleep with...that lasted until about 1AM when he somehow tore it off. Yes, we gave in again and he is now cuddled up with Matt in bed, cone-free.


Needless to say he has a tough 8 weeks of healing ahead of him. We hope that you'll pray for our little guy so he can be healthy when his sisters come home.

After we got Georgie home and comfortable, I went to my week 33 doctor's appointment. I was so anxious to see how Sophia and Claire were doing. I had an ultrasound that revealed that the girls are both over 5 pounds each. Claire is the biggest as she continues to be in the 69th percentile. Her sister is in the 48th percentile. They are both very healthy. Sophia is still in the breech position. Fortunately she still has a large amount of fluid around her so we have a slim chance for her to move to the head-down position. We are praying hard for that!!! We will make a firm decision in approximately 2 weeks. We may have to schedule a c-section at that time.




We were able to get some really great pictures of the girls faces (the first two are Claire). I was amazed when the technician zoomed in on Sophia. It was like looking at my baby pictures. She has big cheeks just like I did. We found the same to be true for Claire. I think our girls are going to look a lot alike.

My doctor chose not to check me today based on good results from my ultrasound. So far it does not appear that I have progressed. Dr Weber mentioned getting another 5 weeks out of me...I gave him the "are you kidding me" look. I was thinking 3-4 weeks. He estimates that if I go another 5 weeks Claire and Sophia will both be over 7 pounds. WOW...never thought I would carry two 7 pound babies. I guess time will tell.

As of right now I am doing pretty good. It is more difficult to get around and I have found that my sleep has become somewhat disrupted (this would explain why I have been up since 3AM watching my DVR shows and updating this blog). I thought it would be a lot worse at this point so I feel extremely lucky. The girls at the doctors office decided I am the most low maintenance carrier of multiples they have ever had. I guess most of the women call at least twice a week. I have never called them, I just show up for my appointments. God has been good to me. I like to think its his way of rewarding me for my faith through the not-so-good moments leading up to my pregnancy. Regardless, I am so thankful!

The Dad-To-Be is doing wonderful. He continues to make me feel beautiful even though I am extremely enormous. He is proud of me for doing so well and can't wait to meet his girls. He thinks about the girls all day long which I find so precious. He is going to be one amazing Dad!!