Here are some stats on my progress:
Weight gain/loss: Amazingly none so far, I go between a 2 pound loss and maintain since my BFP. Food is starting to stay down better though, so I'm sure it will become an issue soon
Maternity clothes? Sometimes. I have a few pairs of mat jeans that I wear sometimes, but my regular jeans still fit. I don't think I have any mat. tops.
Stretch marks? Aside from the ones I already had?? I think I see one starting across my belly.
Sleep? OK. I have been battling reflux for several weeks now and that has kept me up, but I started taking Zantac 2 days ago and it seems so much better now!
Best moment this week? We have a little doppler so we can listen to the babies at home. I had the probe on and Tim came over and tapped on my tummy, a second later, Scooby tapped back. It was pretty awesome :)
Food cravings: Carbs, mainly bagels. Frozen coffee drinks, which I can't have nearly as often as I would like.
Sex: The u/s tech made a guess at 16 weeks, but I'm reserving an 'official' announcement until our 20 week scan.
Belly button in or out? In, but OMG it's getting shallower! So weird!
Movement? Maybe? I think I can feel Scooby sometimes, but not Scrappy. Scrappy is smaller with an anterior placenta so I bet it will be awhile.
What I miss? Unlimited caffeine. Not puking. LOL
What I'm looking forward to: Anatomy scan in 2 weeks. I can't wait to see them again!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Highlights of First Trimester
I have been a horrible blogger and I promise to be better in the coming weeks/months. First, let me fill you in on the highlights of the past few months. I am 18 weeks 2 days pregnant today, so we have some ground to cover.
My pregnancy started out like any other IVF pregnancy, with Beta Hell. Beta Hell consists of multiple blood draws over the course of several weeks. The RE likes to look at HCG levels to ensure that the numbers are rising properly. It is expected that the beta HCG level will double every 48 to 72 hours. My betas did OK, but weren't stellar. They typically doubled every 50-70 hours. On one hand, it was really nice to see the numbers go up and know that SOMETHING was happening, but waiting for the phone call with the latest numbers was BRUTAL! I did betas about every 72 hours from week 4 to week 6. Once my levels were over 1000, my RE scheduled my first ultrasound which happened at 7 weeks exactly.
Tim came with me to the first u/s and we were both so nervous and excited. Dr. Cof came in and explained what we should expect. He said that there were 2 things that he wanted to confirm at this time. First, he expected that the baby would have a heartbeat, second, he needed to confirm that the baby was in the uterus. If both of these things were confirmed, the risk of miscarriage dropped from about 30% to about 5%. I braced myself for the u/s, so scared of what we might find, but so hopeful for our little one.
Dr. Cof inserted the u/s probe and I quickly identified my uterus. Almost just as quickly, I saw a little blob with a quick flicker that I knew was our baby. I immediately burst into tears. Dr. Cof said 'I see a baby with a heartbeat' and I said, through gasping sobs, 'I know! I see it too!!!' Tim did not know what to do. He doesn't have experience looking at ultrasound images, so he had no idea what was going on and when he heard me sobbing, he immediately thought the worst. Once Dr. Cof pointed out our LO, he was in love. I continued to cry through most of the scan. Dr. Cof scanned around before measuring our little 'Shortround' and after a moment he said 'I see a second sac and I think there might be something in there'. My heart stopped - Oh my God, twins!? I didn't know what to think. I was so happy and so scared all at once. I couldn't believe that both embryos took, but I could see that this little one was smaller and didn't look quite the same as the first.
After a few moments of watching this little sac/blob we were all convinced that there was a little flicker in there too. We had 2 babies, with 2 heart beats! Dr. Cof did his measurements and showed that Baby A (who we have since dubbed 'Scooby') was measuring exactly on track and Baby B ('Scrappy' of course) was measuring several days behind. The doctor informed us that it was a 50/50 chance that Scrappy would not be there at our next scan.
I spent the following weeks on a cloud. All I could think was 'I am pregnant, OMG, I am ACTUALLY pregnant!' I started telling people our good news pretty quickly after that u/s, but I kept the news of twins mostly to myself and our immediate family. Knowing that it was a 50/50 chance that Scrappy was going to make it, I didn't want to have to un-tell a lot of people if the worst happened.
Fast forward to week 9. I have graduated and I am going in for my first OB appointment. The doctor came in and went straight to the ultrasound (again internal). I don't think that Tim or I took a breath in the first moments, we were so scared about what we might find. After taking a quick peek at Scooby, the doctor turned her attention to where Scrappy should be. In a moment we knew, Scrappy was a fighter! There was little Scrappy on the screen, still smaller, but definitely growing with an obvious heartbeat at the same pace as his/her sibling. I couldn't believe it!
As the weeks have gone on, we have had a lot of ultrasounds. Initially we were going in almost every week to make sure that little Scrappy was growing. Every week, we have been amazed at both babies' progress. About a week after we first saw Scooby move, we saw Scrappy move. Now they both seem to be doing great and we are getting scans every 4 weeks now (along with cervical ultrasounds every 2 weeks). We came out with the news about our double blessing around 13 weeks. Here I am 18 weeks and I still can't believe it. I am pregnant. I am going to have 2 babies. I am so happy (and scared, I'm not gonna lie!). I am doing my best to enjoy every minute because I know that it is going to go by so fast.
Without further ado, here's a picture of little Scooby and Scrappy from around 10 weeks. Scrappy is longways on the left and the top of Scooby's head and little hands are on the right. I am so in love!
My pregnancy started out like any other IVF pregnancy, with Beta Hell. Beta Hell consists of multiple blood draws over the course of several weeks. The RE likes to look at HCG levels to ensure that the numbers are rising properly. It is expected that the beta HCG level will double every 48 to 72 hours. My betas did OK, but weren't stellar. They typically doubled every 50-70 hours. On one hand, it was really nice to see the numbers go up and know that SOMETHING was happening, but waiting for the phone call with the latest numbers was BRUTAL! I did betas about every 72 hours from week 4 to week 6. Once my levels were over 1000, my RE scheduled my first ultrasound which happened at 7 weeks exactly.
Tim came with me to the first u/s and we were both so nervous and excited. Dr. Cof came in and explained what we should expect. He said that there were 2 things that he wanted to confirm at this time. First, he expected that the baby would have a heartbeat, second, he needed to confirm that the baby was in the uterus. If both of these things were confirmed, the risk of miscarriage dropped from about 30% to about 5%. I braced myself for the u/s, so scared of what we might find, but so hopeful for our little one.
Dr. Cof inserted the u/s probe and I quickly identified my uterus. Almost just as quickly, I saw a little blob with a quick flicker that I knew was our baby. I immediately burst into tears. Dr. Cof said 'I see a baby with a heartbeat' and I said, through gasping sobs, 'I know! I see it too!!!' Tim did not know what to do. He doesn't have experience looking at ultrasound images, so he had no idea what was going on and when he heard me sobbing, he immediately thought the worst. Once Dr. Cof pointed out our LO, he was in love. I continued to cry through most of the scan. Dr. Cof scanned around before measuring our little 'Shortround' and after a moment he said 'I see a second sac and I think there might be something in there'. My heart stopped - Oh my God, twins!? I didn't know what to think. I was so happy and so scared all at once. I couldn't believe that both embryos took, but I could see that this little one was smaller and didn't look quite the same as the first.
After a few moments of watching this little sac/blob we were all convinced that there was a little flicker in there too. We had 2 babies, with 2 heart beats! Dr. Cof did his measurements and showed that Baby A (who we have since dubbed 'Scooby') was measuring exactly on track and Baby B ('Scrappy' of course) was measuring several days behind. The doctor informed us that it was a 50/50 chance that Scrappy would not be there at our next scan.
I spent the following weeks on a cloud. All I could think was 'I am pregnant, OMG, I am ACTUALLY pregnant!' I started telling people our good news pretty quickly after that u/s, but I kept the news of twins mostly to myself and our immediate family. Knowing that it was a 50/50 chance that Scrappy was going to make it, I didn't want to have to un-tell a lot of people if the worst happened.
Fast forward to week 9. I have graduated and I am going in for my first OB appointment. The doctor came in and went straight to the ultrasound (again internal). I don't think that Tim or I took a breath in the first moments, we were so scared about what we might find. After taking a quick peek at Scooby, the doctor turned her attention to where Scrappy should be. In a moment we knew, Scrappy was a fighter! There was little Scrappy on the screen, still smaller, but definitely growing with an obvious heartbeat at the same pace as his/her sibling. I couldn't believe it!
As the weeks have gone on, we have had a lot of ultrasounds. Initially we were going in almost every week to make sure that little Scrappy was growing. Every week, we have been amazed at both babies' progress. About a week after we first saw Scooby move, we saw Scrappy move. Now they both seem to be doing great and we are getting scans every 4 weeks now (along with cervical ultrasounds every 2 weeks). We came out with the news about our double blessing around 13 weeks. Here I am 18 weeks and I still can't believe it. I am pregnant. I am going to have 2 babies. I am so happy (and scared, I'm not gonna lie!). I am doing my best to enjoy every minute because I know that it is going to go by so fast.
Without further ado, here's a picture of little Scooby and Scrappy from around 10 weeks. Scrappy is longways on the left and the top of Scooby's head and little hands are on the right. I am so in love!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Preparing for Parenthood
So I think the dogs are trying to prepare us for parenthood. I should start by saying that all of the dogs are in our bedroom, but they each have their own kennel 'room' that they are expected to be in at nigh and whenever we aren't home.
Last night at 3 am, Flash started whimpering. Just a quiet little whimper, but it almost seemed like a scared noise so both Tim and I wondered if he was having a bad dream or something. We said soothing stuff to him and he quieted down for a minute, but then he started up again. Tim got up and took him outside and he peed and went back into his room, but then started crying again. So I turned the light on and low and behold, he had thrown up in his room. Tim cleaned it (thank God!) and tried to put Flash back, but he wouldn't lay down. So Tim let Flash into the bed (I was not happy about this, but what can I do?). So after about 5 minutes Flash finally lays down, but I can feel him moving and so I turn a light on and sure enough, he's eating the blanket (and that was why I didn't want him out of his room!). So we put him away and he settles in and goes to sleep.
Meanwhile, Brew is snoring away so we have no worries there, but Cricket is licking incessantly on her feet and bed. We both tried telling her to stop, but she won't. The late night disturbance has upset her and I know it isn't over. About an hour later, I hear the horrible sound of Cricket making herself throw up. She does this occasionally. I don't know what her deal is. She rarely actually produces anything, but she will make that horrible retching noise and it sounds like she just puked up a gallon of something. So of course we get up and Tim lets her come into bed with us (again, I'm not happy). But she did let us sleep for the next couple of hours which was good.
Last night at 3 am, Flash started whimpering. Just a quiet little whimper, but it almost seemed like a scared noise so both Tim and I wondered if he was having a bad dream or something. We said soothing stuff to him and he quieted down for a minute, but then he started up again. Tim got up and took him outside and he peed and went back into his room, but then started crying again. So I turned the light on and low and behold, he had thrown up in his room. Tim cleaned it (thank God!) and tried to put Flash back, but he wouldn't lay down. So Tim let Flash into the bed (I was not happy about this, but what can I do?). So after about 5 minutes Flash finally lays down, but I can feel him moving and so I turn a light on and sure enough, he's eating the blanket (and that was why I didn't want him out of his room!). So we put him away and he settles in and goes to sleep.
Meanwhile, Brew is snoring away so we have no worries there, but Cricket is licking incessantly on her feet and bed. We both tried telling her to stop, but she won't. The late night disturbance has upset her and I know it isn't over. About an hour later, I hear the horrible sound of Cricket making herself throw up. She does this occasionally. I don't know what her deal is. She rarely actually produces anything, but she will make that horrible retching noise and it sounds like she just puked up a gallon of something. So of course we get up and Tim lets her come into bed with us (again, I'm not happy). But she did let us sleep for the next couple of hours which was good.
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