Today was the big day! And both babies fully cooperated!!
We are having 2 baby boys!!! Daddy is extremely excited...Mommy can't believe she is going to be outnumbered (at least I have Dakota!) I'm extremely happy too!! Both are growing well and are healthy, so I couldn't ask for anything else!!
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
19 weeks...and time is starting to fly by!
What's interesting about being pregnant is that while it seems time is flying by, it also seems to be going REALLY slow. We are at 19 weeks already, which is now more than halfway! Wednesday should be "the big" ultrasound. That assumes that both babies are cooperating, and that my OB's office can actually read anything on their antique model ultrasound machine! Sleep hasn't really gotten any better. The best sleep I've had so far was the 2 hour nap on the couch yesterday. After waking up my third time this morning (and getting back to bed only to the sound of Brian snoring) I was pretty much doomed! One of us might be leaving the bed soon!
Saturday we went to IKEA to buy something for all my stuff that I get to keep (the rest of it got donated on Saturday). While we were there, I also wanted to see if we could find a bookshelf for the nursery. We did! It's white, so it totally won't match their beds...but it's never too early to introduce your kids to living the college style! When Nikki comes to help sort the nursery, we'll have her do it up all fun and stuff so it doesn't look so out of place!
That's really about it. I think I might be feeling flutters, only because I'm feeling things I haven't felt before, yet I can't really identify it. So who knows...most people still can't tell I'm pregnant! I can, so that's all that matters. We still need to take my 19 week picture...laziness for the win! (Actually Saturday, our normal picture day, was a very busy day for us!)
Saturday we went to IKEA to buy something for all my stuff that I get to keep (the rest of it got donated on Saturday). While we were there, I also wanted to see if we could find a bookshelf for the nursery. We did! It's white, so it totally won't match their beds...but it's never too early to introduce your kids to living the college style! When Nikki comes to help sort the nursery, we'll have her do it up all fun and stuff so it doesn't look so out of place!
That's really about it. I think I might be feeling flutters, only because I'm feeling things I haven't felt before, yet I can't really identify it. So who knows...most people still can't tell I'm pregnant! I can, so that's all that matters. We still need to take my 19 week picture...laziness for the win! (Actually Saturday, our normal picture day, was a very busy day for us!)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Sleep
Who knew the beginning of my sleeping woes would come in my 2nd trimester?! Aren't I supposed to have those issues in my 3rd??? It might be time to increase the pillow to human ratio up even more (right now I think it's at 3 to 1!) Maybe kick Brian out of bed? That just seems wrong to me! Side sleeping definitely isn't all it's cracked up to be. I wake up with sore shoulders, sore legs, neck cramps, and a general feeling that sleep didn't really happen. And work thought I'd stay up all night to finish something they couldn't get done in time...HA!!
Saturday, May 15, 2010
18 weeks!
We are officially at our half way point!!
Babies are doing good...I can feel the growth (ok, so I can see the growth too)! I have mixed emotions over whether or not we had bought a dopler I would feel any calmer. It is really nerve wracking having to wait a month in between appointments! Ok I know...most women only get to see their doctors like 2 times in the first 2 trimesters...I've already seen them 4 times! But still, it's nerve wracking!! 5th time will be the 26th, when two little babies better cooperate by showing their genders off!
I feel great. I don't even feel all that pregnant most of the time. I can definitely tell (just look at my face and it's like I'm 16 all over again!) And I already am having issues sleeping at night. I get a max of 4 hours uninterupted sleep...the next 3-4 hours I toss and turn, and Brian tries to settle me down (although he doesn't know he's doing it!)
Picture will come later on, once I get Brian to take it!!
Babies are doing good...I can feel the growth (ok, so I can see the growth too)! I have mixed emotions over whether or not we had bought a dopler I would feel any calmer. It is really nerve wracking having to wait a month in between appointments! Ok I know...most women only get to see their doctors like 2 times in the first 2 trimesters...I've already seen them 4 times! But still, it's nerve wracking!! 5th time will be the 26th, when two little babies better cooperate by showing their genders off!
I feel great. I don't even feel all that pregnant most of the time. I can definitely tell (just look at my face and it's like I'm 16 all over again!) And I already am having issues sleeping at night. I get a max of 4 hours uninterupted sleep...the next 3-4 hours I toss and turn, and Brian tries to settle me down (although he doesn't know he's doing it!)
Picture will come later on, once I get Brian to take it!!
Friday, May 14, 2010
Almost half way!
I'll still post tomorrow on our official 18 weeks...I'm just so excited to be at this point!! Exactly 36 weeks would put the birth at September 18. Brian and I desperately need to get back in the nursery and finish up our clean up! It was going so well...and then we had a visitor, and had to cram junk in there to get it out of the way. Maybe I'm too anxious? I just want a clean house...and it's really hard to do.
I've had a nasty cold all week. I thought it was allergies, but when they coughing started, I couldn't deny it was something more. So I took a day to just relax and see if I could get better...and I did! At least I can breathe again.
As far as I know, the babies are just chilling. I can't feel them yet, though I've had some weird sensation that I really can't explain.
More tomorrow, along with my week 18 photo. I swear I'm pregnant. I think I just wear clothes that are too loose for the photos!
I've had a nasty cold all week. I thought it was allergies, but when they coughing started, I couldn't deny it was something more. So I took a day to just relax and see if I could get better...and I did! At least I can breathe again.
As far as I know, the babies are just chilling. I can't feel them yet, though I've had some weird sensation that I really can't explain.
More tomorrow, along with my week 18 photo. I swear I'm pregnant. I think I just wear clothes that are too loose for the photos!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
really...allergies????
Well here I am at 17 weeks and 3 days, and for the first time in years, (and when I say years, I can't even tell you when the last time this happened was) allergies are kicking my butt! Like literally keeping me down right now. I should have suspected last week with the 3 days straight sore throats. The thought didn't even cross my mind. By Sunday though, I couldn't deny it anymore. Yesterday it was so bad, the couch was my office (even though I had intentions of at least going in for half a day!)
The good news is I can take Zyrtec. The bad news, I took it yesterday and I didn't get any relief until bedtime (although that might have been a blessing!) I am savoring the few moments I can breathe...but really, ALLERGIES SUCK!!
The good news is I can take Zyrtec. The bad news, I took it yesterday and I didn't get any relief until bedtime (although that might have been a blessing!) I am savoring the few moments I can breathe...but really, ALLERGIES SUCK!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Week 17
I've reached my 17th week of pregnancy! At this point we are just about half way through (we'd really like to get to 36 weeks, so next week is really the halfway point!)
Sleeping has already become a chore. We have so many pilliows on the bed, yet I can't find a sleep position I can stick with. I end up from side to side all night, and by the morning my back is in agony. it might be time to force Brian to let me by one of those egg carton things you put on the mattress.
I think I've felt flutters, but I'm not really sure. It's kinda like there is this feeling there one second, and gone the next, but I can't tell what it is, so maybe it is fluttering? It's really hard to describe what it feels like too.
I'm really excited to be this far along. All the fears of something going wrong have mainly disappeared. We can't forget that I'm still carrying two babies afterall! These little bears are being really good though, and I can't complain about them invading my uterus!
Two and a half weeks left until we better find out the genders! I'll be 2 days shy of 20 weeks, so there is no reason we can't see at that point (other than the crappy ultrasound machine at my OB's office!) At that point if we can't tell, I might have to march myself to a 3D/4D ultrasound...I have a nursery to pull together before my impending date with bedrest! Can't pull together a nursery without knowing genders!
More later, Brian just got back with Dakota...I should really get dressed now!
Sleeping has already become a chore. We have so many pilliows on the bed, yet I can't find a sleep position I can stick with. I end up from side to side all night, and by the morning my back is in agony. it might be time to force Brian to let me by one of those egg carton things you put on the mattress.
I think I've felt flutters, but I'm not really sure. It's kinda like there is this feeling there one second, and gone the next, but I can't tell what it is, so maybe it is fluttering? It's really hard to describe what it feels like too.
I'm really excited to be this far along. All the fears of something going wrong have mainly disappeared. We can't forget that I'm still carrying two babies afterall! These little bears are being really good though, and I can't complain about them invading my uterus!
Two and a half weeks left until we better find out the genders! I'll be 2 days shy of 20 weeks, so there is no reason we can't see at that point (other than the crappy ultrasound machine at my OB's office!) At that point if we can't tell, I might have to march myself to a 3D/4D ultrasound...I have a nursery to pull together before my impending date with bedrest! Can't pull together a nursery without knowing genders!
More later, Brian just got back with Dakota...I should really get dressed now!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
The First Trimester
On March 4 we officially graduated from the Fertility Clinic. March 6 was our 8 week mark, and by then I was so ready to tell. Of course the day we found out we told our parents and our siblings. They knew of the tough time we had getting to that point, so there was no point holding back that we were pregnant. What was fun was holding to ourselves that we were having twins (we figured it would be a good birthday surprise for my mom, so we waited a whole 4 days to let that news out!) By week 9 our dearest friends knew...and at week 12 we let the world know. At week 17, if you don't know I'm pregnant, you are living under a rock (or I dislike you enough to not have told you!)
My first 3 months weren't all that bad. So remember your first trimester starts the first day of your last monthly visitor...so the first 4 weeks you usually don't even know you are pregnant. With IVF, you get the benefit of "suspecting" it earlier (although that may not be a benefit), and you get your blood results sooner than most women suspect they might have missed their monthly visitor. So if you don't know you are pregnant until like 6 weeks, you probably don't even realize the symptoms you are experiencing are pregnancy related.
The symptoms I enjoyed were Fatigue and Queasiness. I would get home after working 8 hours, and zonk out. I would wake up, pretend to eat something, go back down to the couch and fall back asleep again. At this point, nothing appealed to me. Milk was the worst, yet as a pregnant woman, I needed the milk. I turned to an old friend...chocolate milk. Most days I just felt so yucky I just wasn't in the mood to eat, and please, if you even said chicken around me, I could have thrown up. Chicken seems to be a very common food aversion for us pregnant type. I've slowly been able to eat some here and there...but I'm not about to order it as a first choice! I was lucky to eat some corn for dinner! And the good news, in the first trimester the doctors don't really seem to mind!
My only trip to the bathroom came after a weekend road trip to my cousin's baby shower in Norfolk. I wouldn't change going for the world...maybe I wouldn't have gone by car though. I got extreme motion sickness, and was being nice to my other cousin who was driving by not demanding any stops along the way! I should have, but I didn't want to slow us down, or distrub her baby too much with constant stops! When I finally got my feet back on the ground that Monday, I got sick...and Dakota took advantage of me by diving into the meat I had bought for dinner that night (silly puppy!) But that was it...and to top thinkgs off, I was finally getting back into the mood to actually cook.
We also opted to do the first trimester screening. At my age, the risk of Downs Syndrome is 1 in 400. Of course it wasn't like we were going to terminate the pregnancy if they found anything, but it gave us a chance to see the babies on ultrasound, so there was no reason not to do it! It's an ultrasound and blood prick, so there is no risk to the babies. We have turned down all other genetic screening tests. At this point, we are blessed with our two babies, and nothing will change that for us. Our results came back and our odds improved dramatically. The other thing is, we get monthly ultrasounds, so the doctors will constantly see how they are developing, and will know if anything is wrong.
Oh the joys of pregnancy...next up, 2nd trimester. Since I'm currently in my second trimester, I will do my best to update at least weekly. I'm almost 17 weeks, so I'll spare trying to catch up on the earlier weeks...we'll jump straight to the now (nothing exciting really happened in week 15 to now anyway!)
My first 3 months weren't all that bad. So remember your first trimester starts the first day of your last monthly visitor...so the first 4 weeks you usually don't even know you are pregnant. With IVF, you get the benefit of "suspecting" it earlier (although that may not be a benefit), and you get your blood results sooner than most women suspect they might have missed their monthly visitor. So if you don't know you are pregnant until like 6 weeks, you probably don't even realize the symptoms you are experiencing are pregnancy related.
The symptoms I enjoyed were Fatigue and Queasiness. I would get home after working 8 hours, and zonk out. I would wake up, pretend to eat something, go back down to the couch and fall back asleep again. At this point, nothing appealed to me. Milk was the worst, yet as a pregnant woman, I needed the milk. I turned to an old friend...chocolate milk. Most days I just felt so yucky I just wasn't in the mood to eat, and please, if you even said chicken around me, I could have thrown up. Chicken seems to be a very common food aversion for us pregnant type. I've slowly been able to eat some here and there...but I'm not about to order it as a first choice! I was lucky to eat some corn for dinner! And the good news, in the first trimester the doctors don't really seem to mind!
My only trip to the bathroom came after a weekend road trip to my cousin's baby shower in Norfolk. I wouldn't change going for the world...maybe I wouldn't have gone by car though. I got extreme motion sickness, and was being nice to my other cousin who was driving by not demanding any stops along the way! I should have, but I didn't want to slow us down, or distrub her baby too much with constant stops! When I finally got my feet back on the ground that Monday, I got sick...and Dakota took advantage of me by diving into the meat I had bought for dinner that night (silly puppy!) But that was it...and to top thinkgs off, I was finally getting back into the mood to actually cook.
We also opted to do the first trimester screening. At my age, the risk of Downs Syndrome is 1 in 400. Of course it wasn't like we were going to terminate the pregnancy if they found anything, but it gave us a chance to see the babies on ultrasound, so there was no reason not to do it! It's an ultrasound and blood prick, so there is no risk to the babies. We have turned down all other genetic screening tests. At this point, we are blessed with our two babies, and nothing will change that for us. Our results came back and our odds improved dramatically. The other thing is, we get monthly ultrasounds, so the doctors will constantly see how they are developing, and will know if anything is wrong.
Oh the joys of pregnancy...next up, 2nd trimester. Since I'm currently in my second trimester, I will do my best to update at least weekly. I'm almost 17 weeks, so I'll spare trying to catch up on the earlier weeks...we'll jump straight to the now (nothing exciting really happened in week 15 to now anyway!)
Getting Pregnant
So here I am 2 days from being 17 weeks pregnant with twins. And so far (and we all knew this would happen) my slacker ways have followed me into pregnancy. I bought a journal the day I found out I was pregnant in the hopes of filling it out and chronicalling my pregnancy. That journal is buried on my desk that is in DESPERATE need of organization. Brian really needs to buy me that cabinet we talked about for all my "stuff" that I get to keep.
Here's a summary of my pregnancy so far. My Egg Retrieval was on January 23, 2010. This is what most people would call conception day. For people who like to do things the old fashioned way, this would be the day that the sperm finally meets his destiny with the egg and fertilizes it. For those who enjoy high tech medical procedures, this is the day where they suck all the eggs a woman's been producing for about 10 days from the ovaries, and they are united in the lab with your dear husband's sperm. On January 25 I got the call from my nurse that our Embryo Transfer would be on January 26. I was devistated. I didn't want a 3 day transfer...I wanted a 5 day transfer. This started my crappy two week wait in just the right fashion!! So January 26 we went in (I might add Brian was late in leaving the office to pick me up and I got angry) and the doctor put back an 8 cell and a 7 cell embryo. Our chances 50/50 that we'd end up pregnant. No one even considered twins with Day 3 embryos!
Fast forward to January 30...the day of the car accident. Here is Sarah, already in a fragile place, not knowing what was happening inside...and bam, woman rear-ends us. She didn't even get a ticket...the officer sited the snow fall as the reason for the crash. Her car, barely a scratch (of course she was in a huge Dodge Ram or something), my car, let's just say the rear end will never be the same. Of course my first thoughts had nothing to do with the car...instead the 2 embryos that may or may not be implanting right at that very moment! I was ready to go for BLOOD! So we get all the car stuff straightened out, and brace ourselves for the second and third Blizzards of the year.
(this would be a good time for a stretch break...there is a lot more to go...sorry!)
I was scheduled for my first blood test on February 10. Well on February 9, I had this really strange craving for nachos...you know meat, beans, cheese, sour cream, all on top of tasty tortilla chips. I had left work a little early that day to brace for the 3rd of our Blizzards, went to Giant, and because I had this strange feeling, went down the aisle where they keep the pee sticks. First rule of IVF...don't pee on a stick...Second rule of IVF...refer to rule number 1. Well, I bought one anyway. There happened to be 1 test that wasn't locked away in an annoying plastic case, so I was able to hop in the self check out line, without having to get that stupid case unlocked before leaving. I put it in my purse so Brian wouldn't know. I raced home, dumped the groceries down stairs, and ran to the bathroom. But here's the thing...I already kinda suspected it. I was peeing in the middle of the night, and I was getting queasy, not to mention the cramping that felt like normal cramping, but not really (hard to explain really!) I broke open that stick, and peed...and instantly there was a plus sign. I didn't know what to think about it...so even though I didn't want Brian to know I had broken down, I brought it immediately to him to ask if he saw what I saw, and he did!
There was no way to get to the clinic on the 10th, and the clinic actually had called us the day before and asked us to reschedule. The 11th was the new day...I tried hard to get there, but after getting stuck in the snow, I felt it was an omen to stay home. Finally, the 12th came, and I went in for the blood draw. I expected a phone call after noon...when the call came in at 10 I was amazed. The nurse wasn't like you're pregnant, no, I believe her exact statement was "You blew it out of the water!" I screamed yes...but considering the positive pee stick, I already knew (and I admitted to her I already knew, and she knew based on my reasction I already knew!) She didn't want to say anything that day about the possibility of twins...but trust me, the thought was in both of our minds. I had repeat blood tests on the 15th and 17th, both returning with doubling numbers (hcg is supposed to double early in pregnancy.) We scheduled our ultrasound for February 22 (which put me at 6 weeks 2 days pregnant.)
As soon as they got the wand in place we all immediately saw two sacs. There was no hiding. They both jumped out on screen announcing themselves to mommy, daddy, the RE, and the lovely ultrasound tech Margaret, whom I had wanted to kill most of my first IVF cycle. All of the sudden even she wasn't that bad! A week and a half later, this time with my RE and nurse, we saw our two little embryos again, and were sent along our merry little way to a happy and healthy pregnancy.
And that is the story of the art of getting pregnant...look for more posts shortly on the fun of my first trimester!!
Here's a summary of my pregnancy so far. My Egg Retrieval was on January 23, 2010. This is what most people would call conception day. For people who like to do things the old fashioned way, this would be the day that the sperm finally meets his destiny with the egg and fertilizes it. For those who enjoy high tech medical procedures, this is the day where they suck all the eggs a woman's been producing for about 10 days from the ovaries, and they are united in the lab with your dear husband's sperm. On January 25 I got the call from my nurse that our Embryo Transfer would be on January 26. I was devistated. I didn't want a 3 day transfer...I wanted a 5 day transfer. This started my crappy two week wait in just the right fashion!! So January 26 we went in (I might add Brian was late in leaving the office to pick me up and I got angry) and the doctor put back an 8 cell and a 7 cell embryo. Our chances 50/50 that we'd end up pregnant. No one even considered twins with Day 3 embryos!
Fast forward to January 30...the day of the car accident. Here is Sarah, already in a fragile place, not knowing what was happening inside...and bam, woman rear-ends us. She didn't even get a ticket...the officer sited the snow fall as the reason for the crash. Her car, barely a scratch (of course she was in a huge Dodge Ram or something), my car, let's just say the rear end will never be the same. Of course my first thoughts had nothing to do with the car...instead the 2 embryos that may or may not be implanting right at that very moment! I was ready to go for BLOOD! So we get all the car stuff straightened out, and brace ourselves for the second and third Blizzards of the year.
(this would be a good time for a stretch break...there is a lot more to go...sorry!)
I was scheduled for my first blood test on February 10. Well on February 9, I had this really strange craving for nachos...you know meat, beans, cheese, sour cream, all on top of tasty tortilla chips. I had left work a little early that day to brace for the 3rd of our Blizzards, went to Giant, and because I had this strange feeling, went down the aisle where they keep the pee sticks. First rule of IVF...don't pee on a stick...Second rule of IVF...refer to rule number 1. Well, I bought one anyway. There happened to be 1 test that wasn't locked away in an annoying plastic case, so I was able to hop in the self check out line, without having to get that stupid case unlocked before leaving. I put it in my purse so Brian wouldn't know. I raced home, dumped the groceries down stairs, and ran to the bathroom. But here's the thing...I already kinda suspected it. I was peeing in the middle of the night, and I was getting queasy, not to mention the cramping that felt like normal cramping, but not really (hard to explain really!) I broke open that stick, and peed...and instantly there was a plus sign. I didn't know what to think about it...so even though I didn't want Brian to know I had broken down, I brought it immediately to him to ask if he saw what I saw, and he did!
There was no way to get to the clinic on the 10th, and the clinic actually had called us the day before and asked us to reschedule. The 11th was the new day...I tried hard to get there, but after getting stuck in the snow, I felt it was an omen to stay home. Finally, the 12th came, and I went in for the blood draw. I expected a phone call after noon...when the call came in at 10 I was amazed. The nurse wasn't like you're pregnant, no, I believe her exact statement was "You blew it out of the water!" I screamed yes...but considering the positive pee stick, I already knew (and I admitted to her I already knew, and she knew based on my reasction I already knew!) She didn't want to say anything that day about the possibility of twins...but trust me, the thought was in both of our minds. I had repeat blood tests on the 15th and 17th, both returning with doubling numbers (hcg is supposed to double early in pregnancy.) We scheduled our ultrasound for February 22 (which put me at 6 weeks 2 days pregnant.)
As soon as they got the wand in place we all immediately saw two sacs. There was no hiding. They both jumped out on screen announcing themselves to mommy, daddy, the RE, and the lovely ultrasound tech Margaret, whom I had wanted to kill most of my first IVF cycle. All of the sudden even she wasn't that bad! A week and a half later, this time with my RE and nurse, we saw our two little embryos again, and were sent along our merry little way to a happy and healthy pregnancy.
And that is the story of the art of getting pregnant...look for more posts shortly on the fun of my first trimester!!
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