Thursday, October 29, 2009

21 weeks

I was so good...I went and got my flu shot...I went and got my H1N1 shot...I diligently wash my hands, don't touch handrails or other really germy type things...and yet....I. still. got. sick.
No, not sick with the flu (thank goodness), but I do have a terrible, nasty cold. I went to the dr. for some relief and discovered I also had an ear infection (which they gave me some ammoxicillan), and... oh by the way, "since you're pregnant, there is nothing we can give you for your horrendous cold". Boo to that!

So I've been sort of under the weather all week, which makes enjoying pregnancy a little difficult. It makes even paying attention to the fact that I am pregnant a little difficult. I've been more or less sleeping and laying around, drinking oj, eating chicken noodle soup, taking Tylenol (the only safe thing for pregos) and hoping this cold runs it course quickly. I feel a little better today and decided to update for the week.

I haven't grown this past week...at all. No new inches around the belly, no weight gain. Could be because I am sick, but I suspect it has more to do with these babies finding that they can stretch out a little bit. According to my book, my uterus has expanded up which means the babies have more room. I've felt them a few times here and there, but still nothing prominent. This could be because these babies are just very quiet little girls (ha!) or that they are moving a lot at night when I am sleeping. I am suspecting the latter. It's still pretty cool when I do get to feel them, and am looking forward to the upcoming weeks when I should be feeling them a lot more and Bobby could possibly feel a kick or two here and there.

We have been playing the baby-name game and surprisingly have come up with several that we both agree on. I think we have one first name picked out...but still have to come up with a middle name and another first and middle name. I think we are kind of apprehensive to choose a name so early because knowing us, we will change our minds at the last minute. Connor has been contributing to the naming and would like us to consider Curly and Tooty-Fruity. We told him we would put them on the list :-)

I have been having the strangest dreams...mostly about the babies. Last night I had a really vivid dream about being in labor for 16 hours, only to discover the babies had to be delivered via c-section. (some underlying anxiety about a c-section perhaps?) When they were born, they each weighed over 7 lbs and one had black hair and the other had strawberry blond hair - both suspiciously had been cut into buzz cuts...hmmmmm. This is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to my dreams about these babies. I was told that when you are pregnant, you have crazy dreams...and that has definitely held true. Bobby is probably getting tired of hearing me say, "Omigosh, my dream last night was so weird....".

That's about it for this week. Till next time.....

Friday, October 23, 2009

20 Weeks

Sorry I didn't post earlier in the week - Blogger wouldn't let me upload pictures and I've been getting pestered from my family for some ultrasound pictures and I didn't dare post again without attaching those pics for fear of the anger I would undoubtedly hear from Southern Idaho :-)

Now let me be clear...I am not the kind of person who takes these pictures to work to show them around, nor do I even post them on my fridge so I can see Lefty and Righty on a regular basis, but this is a blog about IVF and pregnancy, so I feel this is an appropriate place to share pictures of the most beautiful little bambinos to ever grace an ultrasound picture (clearly, I may be a little biased). Oh, and I apologize for the quality of the pics, my scanner would not cooperate. Also, as always, you can click on the pic to make it bigger.
So here are the pics: (The first is a profile of Lefty sucking her thumb and the second is Lefty looking right at the camera)

The next ones are: Righty's profile - this one is kind of hard to see. Righty's head is on the left...See the line above her? Well that is the membrane sac line that separates the babies. If you look right above the line on the left, you will see Lefty's feet...they were kicking Righty in the head the whole time.

The next picture is Righty looking at the camera (look at the round little tummy - cute!), and the last one is both baby's heads and one of their bodies in between.



Ok, now that you have all seen "the girls" (as we've been calling them around our house), I will move on to other things.

Things are going really well. I am feeling great and haven't really had any problems to speak of. I am finding I have to eat a lot smaller meals...space is becoming more limited, but that hasn't stopped the weight gain so I know the girls are getting what they need. Sleeping is a lot better, but I now have to get up at least 2 times a night to use the bathroom. I never realized how little sleep you seem to get when you are pregnant. I always thought pregos were tired just from growing their little babies, but now I see that it has a lot more to do with the disrupted sleep at night than anything else.
We have been measuring my belly every week...I had been growing at a rate of about an inch and half per week, but last week I actually went down an inch. I think the babies must be moving around...I mean that inch is there somewhere but instead of showing "straight out" I think the girls are starting to explore the sides and possibly my ribs a little more.
My next appointment is on November 13th - it will be a scan and a Dr. visit. After that I think I will be going every 2 weeks. I did get my regular flu shot and my H1N1 shot. I have to say I was very apprehensive about the H1N1 shot, but I weighed all the options and decided to go ahead with it...I hope that was the right choice.

I am so relieved to finally be able to start purchasing stuff for these little ones. We've been talked into registering (something I really didn't think I would do) but it's actually kind of nice because if anything, it serves as a list of things we still need to buy. We're pretty practical people so everything we registered for is also pretty practical. We decided to go with Ba.bies R.Us and Tar.ge.t because they seem to have pretty much anything and everything for babies. My plan is to print my registry the next time I'm in Boise and do some serious shopping...I'm a woman on a mission :-)

We also decided on bedding for the girls - which is a huge help because now we can start decorating their room - Yay! Here's what we decided on:
These are from PB and super cute. I love that they can have the same bedding, but each one is a different color. I am so excited to see their room when it is all done...after all of the dinosaurs, sports, and trucks we've had in our house the last few years, I think we are all going to be a little shocked at the girlyness of the room (lol).
Well, that's about it for this week. Don't you love how exciting my life is (hee hee). I will update next week, and if my belly is looking bigger, I will post a picture.
Till then......



Friday, October 16, 2009

We're having......

Yep...you're seeing it correctly....we are having 2 girls!!! Holy Moly! I think I'll say it again - Holy Moly!

So the final results on the poll were: 3 people thought boy/boy, 6 people thought girl/girl (and might I say you 6 must be geniuses!), and 20 people thought we were having boy/girl.

When we went in for our scan the ultrasound tech asked if we were going to want to know the sex of the babies and we were both like "yes, please!". So she started with the scan of Lefty, and then she just kind of non-chalantly said "looks like Baby A is a girl". Just. like. that. - plain as day. I mean, I wasn't expecting a drum roll or anything but hello this is one of the biggest moments in our lives, would you mind putting a little more excitement in your voice? I asked if she was sure, and she told me "oh yeah, this little one is not shy". Then she pointed out Lefty's rear end and how her legs were spread wide open. Ummm yep, definitely a girl....maybe not a lady, but definitely a girl. Wow! We're having a daughter. We were both all smiles.

She continued with the scan of Lefty (this took another 40 minutes or so) and then she moved on to Righty, aka Baby B. "Ok, are you ready to hear what Baby B is? (now, that's a little more like it...build the suspense a little - good job ultrasound tech). Then she told us that we were having another little princess...both babies were girls. I simply did not believe her and made her show me 3 different angles that showed that Righty was in fact a girl. I relayed a story about a friend who thought she was having a girl, but instead had a boy. She told me that I don't have to worry about that happening...we are positively having 2 girls. Holy Moly.

I looked over at Bobby...we were both speechless. I think this was a bigger shock than hearing we were having twins! I mean, not to seem stupid or anything, but I never considered that we were having 2 girls. Every scenario I envisioned was with 2 boys or a boy and a girl. I just always felt like at least one of them was a boy - shows what I know. We both just sat there and smiled. Connor is our big boy and now he'll have 2 sisters. What a perfect little family for us.

Both babies look awesome. There was nothing that indicated a problem on the anatomy scan. Lefty measures at 19 weeks 4 days (I am currently 19 weeks, 3 days) and she weighs 11 oz. Righty measures at 19 weeks 6 days and she weighs 12 oz. This is such great news because they are growing really well - I'm hoping they keep it up. We were given about a million pictures, but they are mostly of a foot here, a femur there...I do have one or two profiles, so I will pick the best ones and post next week sometime.

It was funny because Lefty was definitely the feisty one. She kept kicking Righty in the head, poor thing. Righty seems like she's a lot more subdued. They are still exactly side by side - looks like it will be a race to see who wants to come out first. And it's funny because that pigment line I have running down my tummy is basically on top of the membrane line that separates their sacs. That helps me to know where they are at. Lefty is head down right now and Righty is butt down. Lovely.

Bobby and I went to breakfast and were just kind of in awe at the news. We talked a little - didn't really discuss names, just talked more about how these little girls will fit into our lives. It made things a little more real, I think...but in a good way.

I went back for my monthly appointment. My dr. told me everything was looking really good. I didn't have a lot of questions, I basically just told her that every now and then my heart will race like crazy and she thinks it is just the extra blood supply going to the babies, but I need to take my heart rate next time and if it is more than 100 beats per minute, I'll have to wear a heart monitor for a little while to make sure everything is ok. No big deal, I guess this is really common. Then she told me that she thinks we can go one more month before I'll have to start being seen every two weeks, and that I will have an ultrasound every time I go in. I asked what I can expect in this next month and she told me that I will most likely start having braxton hicks contractions. She told me what to watch for and if I experience more than 4 or 5 in an hour, I will need to go to the hospital to be monitored. That doesn't sound like much fun, but she made is seem like it is something that happens regularly.

This afternoon, I went shopping for little girl things. I think I must have gotten overwhelmed, because I didn't go crazy shopping like I expected. Maybe I'm not used to all that pink. I did buy some onesies, socks, and a couple of outfits but decided I needed to take stock of what we have at home and then make a list before I go back out.

To be honest I think this day just wore me out. I am excited, exhausted, and overall just really happy - a full day indeed.

I'm so happy to share my news with all of you and will be back to my regular weekly posts this week, when I will be a whopping 20 weeks! WOW!

Till then....

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

19 weeks!

I am now 19 weeks pregnant and cannot believe how fast time is going by. I am just really loving being pregnant - sometimes when I make comments about how fast my belly is growing (very fast, btw), or I talk about different twinges I feel, how it is getting harder to breathe, etc. I know it may sound like minor complaints...but the reality is I am just in awe of what is happening to my body. I love every part so far, even the stuff that doesn't sound that great....yep, I love those moments too. I always knew that if I ever got this opportunity I would really appreciate every moment. And knowing that this is the only time I will be pregnant makes me appreciate it even more.

Not too much has changed in this past week besides some belly growing. I forgot to measure this morning, but if I had to bet, I would say I am at least another inch bigger. I will measure before I post on Friday so I can give a little update on that.

Which brings me to my favorite topic....Friday! Woo hoo...the day is almost here. We are about to find out what gender these little ones are and I am dying to know. I realize I must seem a little overexcited about this event. I mean, I know people get excited to find out, but I seriously can't concentrate on anything else...the waiting is torture. And I think the reason for this is for the past 6 and a half (nearly 7) years we have had A LOT of medical intervention trying to get pregnant. Finding out the gender feels like the first time we have let nature take it's course. It's the first time on this long journey to pregnancy that we haven't (or rather, the dr.'s haven't) had a hand in the outcome. It just is what it is....and for some reason, to me, that's phenomenal. Something so simple, that other people may just take for granted feels like this huge milestone that we have achieved. So maybe that's why I am feeling this immense amount of anticipation for Friday's ultrasound.

Regardless of the reason, I am stoked! And since I've been building up to this moment for several weeks now, I am sure some of you are starting to get curious as well. So here's the plan for Friday. I have to drink my 32 ounces of water at 6am. My anatomy scan ultrasound starts at 7am and is scheduled to last until 9 or 9:30, depending on the cooperation of the little bambinos. Then Bobby and I are going to go to breakfast and talk endlessly about how awesome said little bambinos are and will most likely start the great debate of 2009, otherwise known as the beginning of baby naming.

I have my regular monthly appointment at 10:30. This is most likely just a mtg for me to ask questions and let my doc know how I am feeling since I will have just had a 2 hour ultrasound, I am going to say that they won't be doing an ultrasound at this appt. (lol!) This appt. will also help to determine if I will start being seen every 2 weeks or if I am just doing so great that they can wait another month to see me (I'm thinking the latter, because frankly I feel pretty awesome).

After my appointment, I am going to meet my mother in law for some lunch and baby shopping (finally!!!). So looking forward to that! However, let's keep in mind that if these little babies are shy, we might not get to find out what the genders are or maybe will only find out for one of them, in which case I will spend the whole day completely annoyed at their utter lack of cooperation and will blame Bobby's genes for the stubbornness that they are showing.

Anywho, I will post on my blog Friday night (I know, my life is so exciting that posting on my blog is actually the big plans I have for Friday night). So anyone that is interested in knowing, can check on Friday night or sometime over the weekend :-)

Till next time.....

*If you haven't voted in the "What are we having" poll, you only have one more day and then the polls are closed. I will post the final votes on my Friday night blog.

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Where did my feet go?

Yep, you heard me right...I can no longer see my feet when looking straight down. I was able to glimpse my toes off and on this past week, but alas it seems that the "toe peek" has gone to the wayside since my ever growing belly now fully blocks my view.

It makes me laugh to watch this thing just grow and grow. I seriously am amazed at how quickly it is getting bigger. 2 weeks ago it grew 2 inches, and this past week it grew 1 inch. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but we're talking about 1 inch in 7 days people! Holy Moly!

I do believe I felt baby movement last week. I was sitting in the car waiting on someone and suddenly I felt a little "blip blip" on Lefty's side. I sat really still and thought "ok, I know that was the baby"....and then, a little bit higher and a little bit lighter, I felt it again. It was really cool but sadly Righty did not join in on the action and I haven't felt anything since. (I also haven't really sat down for a spare minute since then either). I was assured by a good friend that when she was pregnant, she felt something and then it was about a week later before she felt something again, so maybe this is normal.

I have been having really vivid dreams about what gender the babies will be. Before you get all excited about "mother's intuition", I should tell you that every night it is a different combination of boy/girl, girl/girl boy/boy, so I really have no clue. Although, weird thing, twice in these dreams it has ended with me falling asleep during the ultrasound so Bobby knew what the babies were and I didn't and for some reason he refused to tell me. What do you think that means?

I have been getting lots of good advice from friends that are pregnant (or have been pregnant) and I have 2 people that are giving me great twin advice. The twin advice is much appreciated because carrying two babies is a lot different than carrying one, I am learning. And every now and then I catch myself comparing my pregnancy to someone that has had one baby and how different certain things are and then I have to remind myself that of course things will be different, I am growing 2 people. There are bound to be some major differences.

Oh, and I am losing my mind. Yep, I thought I would save this little tidbit for last. I have to admit...before becoming pregnant I laughed at the thought of "baby brain". I really thought this was something that pregnant women used as an excuse to be flighty and forgetful, all the while being like "oh, silly me...where has my head gone? Must be that baby brain...ha ha ha ha".

Well, my mocking was completely unwarranted, because somewhere along the way I have developed this so called baby brain and it has made me completely stupid. Not just a little forgetful....no, I'm like, "drive 20 minutes to the grocery store for something that we have to have only to realize that not only have I forgotten my list (meant to keep my brain on track) but I have also forgotten why I am at the store, and oh yeah, I forgot my purse too" kind of stupid.

What the heck is happening to me? A while back, I was looking at books on A.ma.zon and liked a few twin books, but at the time didn't buy anything. Well, last week I received one book in the mail from A.ma.zon and thought, "oh, I must have ordered this. That's weird, I don't remember, but oh well".

No big deal, right? Except the next day I received 3 more books in the mail from A.ma.zon. What is going on!?! Did I order these. I don't remember ordering these. Maybe I did. How could I order 4 books and not remember it? Etc, Etc. This went on for about a half an hour and I seriously thought I had lost my damn mind. I went to throw the box away that the books came in and happened to glance at the receipt. Um, yeah. I didn't order these books...my mom did. Whew! "What a relief...I wasn't losing my mind after all...Wait a minute - did she tell me she ordered these books for me and I forgot....think back Jennifer....."

Seriously. Losing. My. Mind.

The countdown is on to my big ultrasound (10 days). I can't hardly stand it! I don't know how I ever thought I would be able to wait the whole pregnancy to find out. People keep asking me if we have names picked out and I'm going to be honest...no. We actually talked more about names when we were going through IVF than we do now. It just seems like so much effort to come up with boys and girls names before we know what we are having. What if we spend all this time coming up with girl's names only to find out we are having two boys or visa versa. Nope, I think we are waiting to do the whole name thing until after our big ultrasound. But don't you worry, I am sure that I will have something interactive on this site for people to offer their name suggestions :-) Oh, and week 18 officially marks the "could be" halfway point.

Ok, for old times sake here is are some "symptoms" and other stuff:

- Growing belly (um, duh)

- No stretch marks yet! I know they are probably on their way, but for now I am going to live in
this little world I call denial and think that all my baby-oil and belly butter lotion rubbing, plus
my water drinking is keeping them at bay.

- Food. Do I have cravings? No. But I do feel like a camel. Some days I am really hungry and
everything sounds good and then the next day I am not hungry at all and nothing sounds good.
On these days I have to force myself to eat meals, because I feel like just having a bowl of
cereal and a banana will be enough for the whole day. Is that normal?

- Swollen hands and feet. The feet aren't so bad, although I do believe they are bigger all the
time because my shoes are feeling tight. I've heard feet can grow during pregnancy, but I'm
not sure if this is a wives's tale or not. I can say, I am going shoe shopping today because the
next size up is looking pretty good :-) My hands swell if I do a lot of walking or moving around.
If I sit for a minute and lift them up, the swelling appears to go away. I can no longer wear my
engagement ring, and now my wedding band is getting tight so I am sure that too will be
relinquished to the jewelry box until these babies make their debut.

- Ok, this one isn't really a symptom...or maybe it is, depending on how you look at it. I am
starting to give in to the mini van idea. They are surprisingly safe and are the most convenient
to get to the third row seat. Who thinks Bobby is sending me subliminal messages in my sleep?

- Sleeping. I still have achy legs, but they aren't as bad as they were. I do have lower back pain
at the end of the day now, but that was something I actually expected to happen and my yoga
DVD and a warm shower at the end of the day are helping with this.

Ok, folks. I will update next week with my 19 week update and then...that's right....you'll get another fun update on October 16th after my big ultrasound. It's a two-fer :-)