Holidays

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I know I'm a little late posting an update, but we've been visiting family in Boise for the past week and for some reason every time I am down here, it is like a time vacuum. I totally lose track of time.

Anywho, I am now 30 weeks. Still growing like crazy. The girls have been moving a ton and I love trying to imagine what the heck is going on in there.

To catch you up a little bit...My glucose test came back A-Ok, which means I do not have to do the much longer extended test. Yay! I had my Dr. appt last week (on the 23rd) and it was a pretty quick little meeting. Mostly just to check in. I was prescribed the splint for my right hand due to pregnancy carpal tunnel. Unfortunately the place I had to get it from was closed and would be for the holidays so I was unable to get it before we left for Boise. Boo to that. Otherwise my appointment went smoothly. I am doing really good. My weight gain is right on target, the girl's hear beats were strong (no ultrasound this time, just a Doppler), and all in all I am a textbook healthy pregnant person.

I did mention that I had a few braxton hicks contractions (or at least what I thought were bh contractions) but I wasn't sure because my whole belly didn't get hard. And also that I had a little pressure down in my pelvic area. This caused my Dr to make a face that I was certain does not indicate anything good was about to come out of her mouth. And I was right. "When are you leaving for the holidays?" she asked. "First thing in the morning." I replied, although it came out as more of a question than a statement.

She told me that she wanted me to run over to the hospital after I left her office for a non-stress test, just in case. Um...just in case what? She assured me it was no big deal but before she sent me off on a 6 hour drive, she wanted to be positively sure that I was not having pre-term labor. Well, that sounded reasonable, so off to the hospital I went for my first NST.

When I got there, I had to register. Which, I found out, is something I have to do every single time. This is going to be a pain in my ass because I have to start doing these twice a week. Can't they give me an "unlimited rides" wrist band or something? Ugh. I am impatient and the registering is annoying to me. But anyway, about my test. They hooked up a heart rate monitor to each baby (on my belly) and then another monitor to watch for contractions. Then they handed me this handheld button thingy and I was told to push the button every time I felt the babies move. I kind of felt like I was on a game show and it was fun at first, but the test took a full hour and it was about 75 degrees in the room, I was laying down and had a very long day. It took all I had to stay awake that last half hour. When I mentioned this to the nurse at the very end, she said, "oh, honey...you could have taken a little nap - lots of women do". Well, thanks for telling me now. I thought this button pushing thing was super important - had I known I could have napped, I would have fallen asleep in the first five minutes. Grrr.... The good news is I didn't have any contractions and the babies were fine. I was given the green light to proceed with my trip.

I am finding that the third trimester is a bit different than the second. I still feel really good, but I am getting tired really easily. And sleep is something I fear I will never have again. It is quite a task to roll over at night and frankly sometimes it hurts from all the weight and round ligament pain. Plus, when once everyone used to ask me "how are you feeling?", now I am constantly asked if I'm "ready to be done yet". I guess pregnant people get to a point where they just want to be done. I'm not saying that won't happen to me, but I'm really sad that this went by so fast and even the uncomfortableness I feel off and on still doesn't make me want to be done. Keep in mind, I am measuring at 35/36 weeks - so it is possible closer to the end I will be "ready to be done", but for now I'm still enjoying this wonderful journey.

Ok, that's about all from this last week. I have a NST this Friday (New Year's Day) and then the next week I'll have 2 more, an ultrasound and a Dr. appointment (the u/s and appt are on the 6th, so I will update after that).

Oh, and I almost forgot - Go Vandals! They are playing in the Humanitarian Bowl today and while I am cheering my heart out for them, I decided to do it from the comfort of my parent's house while Bobby, my sister, and my dad are braving the cold. 7 and 1/2 months pregnant, hard cold bleachers for hours....no thanks.

And finally I will leave you with this: a picture of myself with my sister-in-law Jodi. She is due exactly 1 month after me (with a girl!). Can anyone tell a difference in our belly size?

3rd Trimester!

Wow - 28 weeks...the start of the third trimester and I am still amazed that I am pregnant. The actuality that these little girls are going to be a part of our lives very soon, has started to hit me and I am getting excited to see what they look like, what their personalities are like and how they add to our family. I am also a little sad. The third trimester is sort of a "land of the unknown". Basically, anything can happen at anytime. I'm not guaranteed 3 more months of pregnancy bliss and the fact that this blessed journey is nearing it's end, is a little sad.


Anywho, I still have not heard back about my glucose test. I'm assuming no news is good news because if there was a problem wouldn't they have gotten back to me right away? On the off chance that I slipped through the cracks, I will be calling my Dr.'s office tomorrow just to double check. My RH shot went about the same as last time. It didn't really hurt and I feel good knowing my babies are protected from any of those bad antibodies.


This week hasn't been too eventful. I do have to say that I woke up the other day and all that wonderful energy I have been having was gone. wooooosh. Just.like.that. It was like someone let some of the air out of my tires. I still feel really good, I just seem to be a little more tired than I have been lately. I'm keeping up on my lunchtime naps/rests which do seem to help, but I think these babies are doing a lot of growing in a limited amount of space.


I must mention that I have the most fabulous husband ever! It snowed earlier this week and when I went to take my son to the neighbor lady that lives 3 doors down (she watches him and does preschool), I discovered, in our winter wonderland, that a nice path had been plowed from our driveway to her front step. There was simply no snow...nothing to tromp through, or slip on. Bobby had left early and cleared the way for me. So sweet.


I decided it was finally time to get items for the babies' room. So I ordered the bedding and a second crib that isn't an exact match to the one we used for Connor but is pretty darn close. It feels like a big relief every time I get something like that done. I can't wait for everything to get here so we can put their room together. It will be so nice to have a little organization because right now it looks like a big pink clothing and what-not bomb went off in their room.


I'm still experiencing carpal tunnel - yuck. But the round ligament pain is now only bad at nighttime when I do my nightly dance of trying to roll from one side to another, get all situated with pillows, only to discover I have to get up and go to the bathroom. Oh, yeah. I don't think I've mentioned that yet. I have to go to the bathroom about a gazillion times a day/night. It seems like every time I move even a little, I have to use the bathroom. I've actually had to stop on my way to work (my commute is 40 minutes) because I simply couldn't wait. And the most annoying part is...when I finally do go, it's like nothing. I mean a teeny tiny bit. And I'm all, "that's it? are you kidding me". And I'll walk back to my desk only to discover that I kind of have to go again.


So let's talk about: The belly. This thing is starting to have a life of it's own. I can't seem to get the hang of it...and by that I mean, I seriously underestimate how big it is. I've knocked a glass off the table just by walking past. I am constantly opening doors into it. And God bless Connor, because I can't even count how many times I have turned around suddenly only to discover he was standing right next to me, but in my sudden turn, the belly knocked him down. We all have a good laugh about it, but I can't imagine the destruction it will cause as it gets bigger (LOL).


And while we're on a belly topic, I did want to mention that my saucer belly button...the one that in the beginning of my pregnancy I was concerned would always be this huge saucer looking thing under my shirt, is now taking on a different form. The saucer disappeared quite awhile ago, and now we are starting to enter turkey-timer territory. I didn't think it would happen to me, and I'm still not fully convinced that my belly button will "pop" out, but it is getting sneakingly close to happening. The edges have started to turn out, and I joke you not...if I laugh or cough, it pokes out and then goes right back. This thoroughly grosses Bobby out and fascinates Connor.


Ok I'll touch on just one more thing before I utterly bore you all to death. I am happy to report that my weight gain is still holding steady. I am not opposed to gaining the required weight, in fact I think of it as my way of helping these babies grow and be born healthy. I just wish that the majority of the weight I gain would not be in my face. I mean seriously, I have so many chins right now, I can't even count them. And my face always looks a little bloated - even my eyelids look kind of chunky. I was talking with a friend who is pregnant and she said she has gained all her weight in her hips and thighs, so maybe everyone's body just distributes it differently...but I can positively say that I will not be sad to see these chins go away. For now, I guess I have to accept them as a part of this pregnancy...maybe not happily accept them, but accept them none-the-less.


Sorry I don't have any ultrasound pictures to post. I just couldn't get a good scan of the one picture I got of Baby B. But to appease those of you who were counting on a little visual fun, I have included 2 pictures of my 28 week belly; and yes one of them is a bare belly shot, because I got a lot of emails about the one I posted before. You people really love to see how much I can stretch out don'tcha?

Sneaky little stretch mark...

Well, I have one. A stretch mark, that is. It is tiny and isn't the bright red that I expected. Actually it looks more like a shadow and more than once when trying to find it, it's taken me a minute to see it, so it's not too bad. But it's there. I know it's there and surprisingly I am not too upset about it. I knew this was very likely to happen. I don't know anyone who had twins and walked away completely stretch mark free. But still....it would have been nice to have been that person :-)

I am 27 weeks and 2 days today. Woo hoo! I had my ultrasound this morning and then my regular Dr. appt this afternoon. The girls are looking great. I have one picture of Righty, and I will try to post that this weekend. Sadly I only have a picture of Lefty's foot. You see Lefty wasn't really cooperative and when it appeared she would be cooperative Righty stole the spotlight by planting her big ol noggin in the way. Quite frankly, the ultrasound at this point is a little of a let down. The girls are so big that it's not cute profile pictures that appear on the screen. Instead, there are arms and legs, half a nose, somebody's eye with a foot blocking the rest of the face, etc. It's kind of humorous, but not really the "great" view that I thought we would get.

OK, so let's do stats on these bambinos...Lefty is definitely Baby A. She will be the first to be delivered because she has moved down a little bit. I'm not sure if this is a good thing because her head appears quite a bit larger than Righty's. The ultrasound lady said it was good because delivering Righty will be a breeze. Anywho, Lefty measures at 28 weeks and weighs 2 lbs 8 oz. Awesome! Her heart rate was 147 and her heart, bladder, kidneys, etc all are exactly on target.

Righty is doing really well also. She measures in at 27 weeks 5 days and weighs 2 lbs 7 oz. Her heart rate was 153. She is a little smaller but both babies are measuring so great that it doesn't matter that she's a tiny bit smaller than her sister.

At my appt. I was able to ask a bunch of questions which (lucky for you) you will all get to know the answers to.
- My hands are tingly and fall asleep at night when I'm in bed. This apparently is carpal tunnel. Very common amongst us pregos and if it is bothersome, I can be prescribed a wrist splint to wear. I opted not to do that right now because it's not too bothersome, but reserve the right to change my mind.

- Heart Burn and what is now also reflux. Looks like Zantax (sp?) will be my new best friend. Safe to take and does a much better job than tums.

- Round Ligament pain. Too bad, so sad for me. This is a grin and bear it type of thing.

- How long can I work? As long as I feel up to it, or if I have complications, we will have to revisit this topic.

- There are no sidewalks and my office bldg is in the middle of campus. If the weather turns bad and the roads icy can I get a disability permit. You betcha! I can get one whenever I want.

Other things I learned at my appt: I was given the orangey sugar drink and will need to do my glucose test sometime next week. I will also need to get my 2nd RH shot next week. (this is because my first one was so early that I need another one). I will now start going to appts every 2 weeks, but because the babies and I are so awesome the ultrasounds will still be every month unless I encounter complications. The week after Christmas I will start my NST (non stress tests). These are twice a week for 20 - 40 minutes each time. This seems kind of excessive, but better safe than sorry I say.

Let's see, what else? Oh yes...I almost forgot this little nugget...my uterus is freakin huge! That's right people, huge! I am measuring at 34 to 35 weeks. Um, k. That's kind of a lot I think. My dr. assures me that is normal for pregos with twins, but it kind of caused me a little stress because if my body thinks that I am 34 weeks pregnant does that mean it will try to go in to labor early? Scary? Yes.

On a good note, I am on the low end of weight gain - in the range, but the low end none-the-less. It's the small things that make me happy :-)

All in all, still pretty uneventful. I am supposed to be on watch for any kind of contractions. I've had a few Braxton Hicks here and there, but now is the time where these things could be a serious problem. I feel like we're starting to get into the thick of things. I was also told that I can kiss my March 9th due date bye bye. They don't let twin pregos go to 40 weeks, so if it looks like I will make it, they will schedule me to be induced at 38 weeks. That's right around February 24th. So, I now consider that my due date goal. Gotta make it to Feb. 24th!

My next appt is on December 23rd. Then we are headed to Boise for Christmas - yay! I will update next week when I will officially be in my 3rd trimester - WOW! And I will also have the details from my glucose test - riveting, I know. Here's hoping this pregnancy continues to sail along and these babies grow, grow, grow.

Till next time.....

Baby Shower, Thanksgiving and 26 weeks!

Well, it has been a whirlwind these past couple weeks. We went to Boise for some family time before Thanksgiving, and while we were there I went to the Baby shower that was thrown for me by a very dear friend. It was a great time all around - I was able to catch up with old friends and the babies scored some mighty fine stuff :-) I will try to post pics soon, Blogger has not been cooperating with me lately.

After my wonderful baby shower, we headed up to our condo to spend the Holiday week. This was heaven. We played board games, cards and went swimming in the indoor pool. I loved the swimming - I forgot how light I could feel without this big 'ol belly. The sad part was when I had to get out of the pool...I felt like my feet were stuck in cement! If only pregos could feel weightless (as if in a pool) during the whole 9 months....ahhhhh, that would be great!

I am 26 weeks along and am so looking forward to my appointment next week. I have a bunch of things to mention to my Dr. It seems the further along I get, the more little things I am noticing. Like, for the past 2 days, I have hella-massive heartburn. Ouch! And I've noticed my hands swelling and falling asleep/getting tingly lately, which is pretty much no fun. And finally I am still getting the horrible round ligament pain. I know there is nothing that can be done for the round ligament stuff, but man it hurts like a mo-fo. The only good part about it is that it lets me know these girls are growing...this past week when I had the pain, I measured my belly and sure enough, I had grown about 1 in and 1/2 in a week! I did sign up for a prenatal swim class and was super excited to start today, but when I got there I learned it had been cancelled because I was the only one signed up for this session - boo to that. I am vastly disappointed. The instructor told me I could join a regular swim excersice class, and I might (I need to do something to help with lower back pain and round ligament pain) but the thought of being in a class with a bunch of old ladies isn't all that appealing to me. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

But for the minor complaints I have, there is also a lot of good stuff to report. I have been able to feel these little ones move a lot more, and now Bobby can feel them too - which is pretty much awesome! I still feel really good as far as energy and doing things...I haven't had any bouts of preterm labor (which the dr. said was common after 24 weeks with twins), and my weight gain is holding steady (yay!).

We were talking the other night and it occurred to us that if these babies decide to come around 36 weeks instead of 40, then we only have 10 weeks...that's 2 and a half months for those of you who are slow with math like mwah. That kind of freaks me out a little. There still seems like so much to do before they get here, and so very little time. We haven't even picked out names for crying out loud!

Anywho, I will continue with my little freak out...and will post again next week after my appointment on Thursday, December 10th.

Till then......

I think I might be the world's biggest hypocrite

Yep - I'm pretty sure you could call me a hypocrite and I couldn't argue with you. It comes to little things about this pregnancy really. I used to hate seeing pregnant women with their bellies taunting me, saying "I'm pregnant and most likely you never will be"....but somewhere along the way, I became one of those women. I don't taunt other infertiles; in fact I really do try to be conscious of what I say and how I act because I know that there are so many women out there who are having a hard time getting pregnant. But still...I find myself wearing snug shirts that show my belly in all it's wonderful glory...like "look at me world. Yes. I. am. pregnant!"

I've caught myself rubbing my belly in all kinds of places: the grocery store line, the waiting room of the doctors office, sitting at my desk at work, etc. I will gladly gush to whomever wants to ask me about my pregnancy, that I am pregnant with twin girls, that I feel great and everything is going wonderfully...that I love, love, love being pregnant. I have even agreed to having a baby shower (an event that I used to not participate in because frankly, it was too painful) and I'm actually getting super excited for it.

Hypocrite. Yep, that's me. At least I can admit and embrace it.

Anywho, I am currently at 24 weeks. This past week has had some belly growth, a little over an inch and the round ligament pain to accompany it. I registered for my prenatal swim class today. The actual class starts in December. Am I looking forward to getting into a bathing suit...um, that would be a "no". But I am looking forward to feeling weightless and getting a little exercise. I have heard this will help with all my little complaints, like backache, leg cramps at night, and round ligament pain. So bring on the stylish maternity swimwear.

Not too much to report this week, I'm sorry to say. I guess I'm just a boring pregnant person. Everyone is always asking how I am feeling. That must be the standard question for pregnant people. And when I reply that I am feeling great, I always get this look like "oh, really. You should be feeling horrible". Why is that? Is it really that surprising that I still feel good? I know it is getting close to the time that I should be feeling uncomfortable and I'm told this will most likely happen literally overnight...but so far, if anyone's asking, I'm feeling fabulous :-)

Here's my 24 week picture - I thought I would give you a real belly shot. I must be brave to show you all my bare belly, but it was kind of hard to see with the shirt I was wearing and what the heck...you've all heard my talk about my uterus so much that showing you my bare belly is nothing! You'll have to excuse how I look...I had just gotten out of a very warm and relaxing bath, but I didn't want another week to go by without taking a picture. As always, if you want to see if bigger, just click on it.

Oh, I'm supposed to give a shout out to Bobby and Connor and to tell you all that they are awesome. (I think they wanted to be in the blog - LOL).

Ok, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Because of the Holiday next week, I won't post until the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but I should have some fun pictures from my baby shower in Boise :-)

Till then....

Is there such a thing as pregnancy rage?

Ok, maybe the title sounds bad...but I am sweet as pie until it comes to 2 things. First, driving. I have never been a road rage person. But I swear since becoming pregnant, either I get irritated at other drivers more easily or every other person on the road is a complete idiot. Secondly, football. I've always enjoyed football, but recently I feel as if the outcome of the game greatly affected my life in some meaningful way. Bobby has actually made me leave the room because I was yelling inappropriate things at the TV and I believe he said something like "Jennifer...you are the mother of my children. I can't hear things like that coming out of your mouth". Yeah, OK. I might have used a few choice words. Sure. Alright. When I'm driving, MAYBE I get a little angry when someone cuts me off and I feel the need to speed up and cut them off. It's the hormones right?

Anywho, I had my monthly appointment and scan today. (I am 23 weeks and 3 days for those of you keeping track). The ultrasound went awesome. I got to see my girls and they look wonderful. It makes my day to see them. I mean, it literally has me smiling all day when I get to have a peek into their world. Today was a little difficult to see faces because they were wiggling everywhere. It looked like an octopus was in my uterus; all arms and legs, feet and hands. It was pretty funny. I didn't get any good pictures because they were moving so much. It was weird because the whole time they were moving, I only felt them once...and the ultrasound tech felt it too, it was a definite thud of some sort, but with all the arms and legs, we couldn't tell if it was a punch or a kick.

The girls are measuring wonderfully. Lefty is at 23 weeks and 1 day, heart rate at 154 and weighing in at 1 pound 5 oz. Righty is at 23 weeks 2 days, heart rate at 153 and weighing in at 1 pound 5 oz. The doctor said they are doing really great because not only are they measuring right on track, but they are measuring the same, which for twins is good because things can get dicey when one starts getting a lot bigger than the other.

The appointment was kind of blah. Nothing really new to report. I asked about the horrendous pain in my left rib and he said that because I am short waisted with twins, my ribs are doing some stretching/separating to make room for them. Pretty much, there is nothing I can do about it. I also asked about the fact that I just don't feel these babies move very much (although after a suggestion from my mom, I stayed up after I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night the other night, and sure enough they were moving like crazy...it seems I might have some night owls in there). He told me that the stronger they get, the more I will feel them and to just be patient. Let's see...other little tidbits...I was sent to the lab to get my blood drawn to make sure my iron levels are good - haven't heard back yet and my blood pressure is fabulous!

Oh and the good news is since the babies and I are doing so well I have one more month until I start my 2 week appointments. I mean, I guess that's good news...I should be happy that the pregnancy is going so smoothly and trust me, I am...it's just, well, I had it in my head that I would get to start going every 2 weeks. Which means I would see my girls every two weeks, and now I have to wait a whole month before I can see them again. Boo to that. But yay that every thing is going so well, so far. The Dr. did give me strict instructions to call if anything changes, specifically if I start to have contractions (and not just those nasty braxton hicks, but apparently the real deal could start any day now because that's a complication when you are having more than one - yikes). I told him I would call with any issues, but that I am truly not expecting anything eventful to happen :-)

I will update next Wednesday when I will be 24 weeks (woo hoo!) and hopefully I will have a belly pic to post. I can report that I have grown at least an inch every week - this belly is getting bigger every day :-)

Till next time.......

22 weeks

You would think I could come up with a better heading than "22 weeks", you know...something catchy and clever - yet seriously I cannot.

I am having this weird brain thing going on lately. Or rather...I have no brain lately. Bobby likes to joke that the babies are taking all my brain power and will be the smartest babies ever if this continues; and whenever I say something kind of stupid, or forget my cellphone for the millionth time or can't remember a conversation that I just had with somebody, he'll simply look at me, shake his head and say, "smartest babies ever". (and what's especially funny is that even as I am writing this, I am thinking, "have I already written this" and for the life of me I can't remember).

Yep, people...I have a serious case of baby brain. I don't know what is wrong with me. I actually told my sister that if flights were expensive to Hawaii we could just drive there...Um What!?! As I said it, I knew it was wrong, and yet the words came tumbling out of my mouth anyway. Ah well, I'll chalk this up to one of those quirky pregnancy things - at least I can laugh at myself.

Things are going good with me and the babes. I had some massive round ligament pain that is finally starting to subside. I figured it was because the babies were having a growth spurt and sure enough, I measured the belly this morning and I've grown an inch this past week. I could really feel this growth spurt not just in the round ligaments, but also in my lower back and my ribs. Yuck! My body is definitely trying to accommodate these little ones, I just wish I had a little more room in there for them...the next couple months might start to get a tad uncomfortable. I took a warm bath last night and felt a million times better (plus let's face it, with a 3 year old, even the bathroom isn't a private space anymore, so I milked the fact that I needed quiet time in the bath and Bobby and Connor happily left me alone). My biggest complaint is sitting at work. I have been taking breaks and moving positions, but I can see that my work schedule might be adjusted the further along I get.

I've been having a few Braxton Hicks contractions here and there. They don't hurt and sometimes I don't even notice them, but they have been coming around when I need to drink more water or if I hightail it up the 5 flights of stairs to my office.

I have felt a little more sporadic movement. Mostly from Lefty, or right in the middle of my belly, which makes me think they are duking it out in there. And yesterday while I was taking my lunchtime siesta, I felt a little thud in my lower left abdomen. Then I felt it again and again. Little lefty was either kicking me or punching me, depending on how she is situated in there. It was neat to feel it, very light, but very cool. Righty is my quiet girl, not a lot of noise on her side of the duplex...Or I guess it could be that she is further back and I just can't feel her as well - this is pretty common with twins I am told.

I am still getting over my nasty cold. I feel fine, but sound a bit congested and have the mother of all coughs. Oh, and nobody tells you this...but when you are pregnant and you have to cough a million times during the day, you pee a little every time you are hacking away. TMI? Maybe. True? Oh, yes.

Connor is so excited about being a big brother. He is so sweet when it comes to the babies...he talks to my belly, kisses them, puts a pillow on my belly when I am laying down because they are tired too. Honestly it is the most precious thing I've ever seen. I hope he loves them this much when they are here and he has to share mommy and daddy - that could be interesting. We had a fun Halloween. Connor was so cute trick or treating and my sister and niece came up which made it all the more fun. I am still learning my limits with this pregnancy because I did a little more walking than I should have (my town is on a hill so there are no flat streets here). I finally had to say I couldn't do it anymore and we got the car... but by then it was too late. My lower back hurt so bad that I honestly felt like I couldn't walk at all. Note to self...don't do that again dummy!

I am so ready for my appointment next week - a month is much too long to go without seeing the girls and making sure they are a-ok. My appt is a week from this Friday so instead of posting mid-week, I will be posting on Friday the 13th.

Till then.....

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.....

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......

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....

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.

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 :-)

17 weeks

I am 17 weeks pregnant. Wow! Time is flying by...since 20 weeks is the halfway mark for those pregnant with a singleton, the 18/19 week mark is halfway for people with twins (or so I am told). I can't believe I am almost halfway through this pregnancy. I sometimes wish time would slow down just a little bit because I am enjoying it so much and am pretty sure I won't be getting this experience again.

I am still growing, and growing. I will post another picture when I am at the 19 or 20 week mark. I can definitely tell a difference just in this past week, but I doubt it would come across as a dramatic growth in a picture. I am pretty much out of all my old clothes which is fine because the maternity clothes are much more comfy. I've been slathering my belly with lots of goodies in the hopes that I will avoid a bunch of stretch marks. I haven't gotten any yet, but I know it's still early.

Things are still going smoothly. I feel weird saying that because it is almost like I am tempting fate. But I can honestly say I feel really good. I did start to have a minor freak out about all of the things we need to buy and the fact that I really need to start going through Connor's old stuff to see what I still have. But Bobby calmed me down and told me that once we know the gender of the babies, then we can start freaking out :-) So for the next few weeks I am going to try to put any baby planning out of my mind and just enjoy being pregnant.

Oh, there is one new weird thing...I have been getting terribly achy legs when I sleep. Not really leg cramps, more just an achy feeling always about halfway through the night. I think this is probably from sleeping on my sides when I am so used to sleeping on my back. Oh, how I miss sleeping on my back. I know some people say back sleeping is ok but I was directed to stop when I hit 16 weeks because it can cut off the blood flow to the uterus (and in turn the babies) - yikes. So now I keep a pillow behind me when I sleep so if on the off chance I end up on back, I am not laying totally flat but at more of an incline. Oh, the things we do... Anyway, I'm not sure what to do about the achy legs. I heard putting pillows under my feet might help, but I gotta be honest...I think adding any more pillows to our bed might mean there will be no room left for Bobby and I'm not sure he's on board with that. Then I heard that I need to drink milk or eat a banana before bed. So, I guess I will try all of these things, but if anyone has any advice on this one, I am all ears.

* If you haven't voted in the poll, you only have 15 days left, so please feel free to tell us whatcha think! *

I'll update again at 18 weeks and I promise to have something interesting to say :-)

Boo on me (oh, and 16 weeks update)

So, I know, I know....boo on me for not posting my belly picture when I said I would. For some reason the fall is always so busy for us. And to be honest at the end of the day when I think about taking a picture, I think hmmmm....I'm not looking all that hot and I've already changed into my comfy clothes....do I really want the blogworld to see me looking a little haggard?

But finally tonight, I decided to suck it up and have Bobby take a picture. Good or bad, I said I would document this long journey so what you get is a blurry 16 week belly shot of me at the end of a long, long day. Enjoy.

Anyway, I have made it to 16 weeks. This is the magical week when I "could" start to feel the babies moving. No such luck yet...although I have had some gas that I was originally suspicious could be the babies, but turns out it was indeed just gas (TMI, I know...sorry).

I am so excited to feel them that every time I feel anything, I'm like "oooo, I wonder if that was the babies", but then I'm all "no I don't think that's what babies moving feels like". But then I'm like "hey, how the heck would you know what moving babies feels like?".

So, I have decided I will wait until I am absolutely sure that I am feeling these little ones before I make an announcement that I felt the babies. 'Cause that would kind of suck to announce that I felt them move, only to really feel them move a few days later, and realize what I announced was actually gas.

Oh, and Bobby and I are getting antsy to find out the gender of these little ones. Now that I know the date (Oct.16, btw) it feels like Christmas is coming. I wonder how they will tell us...will it be anatomy scan of first baby and at the end they'll tell us what that baby's gender is, but then we'll have to wait for another hour so she can scan the second baby and then tell us the gender of that one? Or will she (oh, the "she" I am referring to is the ultrasound tech) keep the info till the very end and announce it after 2 hours of looking at our little ones? OR will she put us out of our misery and just get right down to it as soon as we get there? These are seriously questions that keep my mind racing at night. I know...get a life Jennifer.

Well, we decided that while we wait we would do some of the old wives tales testing. First we did the Chinese birth chart. Which indicates I have a 50% chance of having a boy and a 50% chance of having a girl. So if we have one of each then this chart is exactly right. We decided the only other test we could do was the wedding ring on a string test...all the others were simply too hard to figure out with twins. So we didn't have string and instead tied my wedding ring to a strand of floss (unused of course). I figured, string...floss...close enough. I had looked up online what the results would mean but did not share the info with Bobby because I didn't want to "taint" the results. (This is all very scientific, as you can tell).

Bobby held the string ring over lefty (or where we think lefty is) and I gotta say we didn't agree on the movement of this one. It looked to me like it was going in a circle, but from Bobby's angle it looked to move from side to side. We tried again and it did look more side to side, so we agreed on that for lefty. For righty, it was definite side to side right away. According to what I read online, side to side means we are having a girl...or in this case 2 girls. This is funny because that is what Bobby thinks we are having and it totally validated his "intuition". I laughed because all day I have been feeling like we are having 2 boys. Wives tales are fun, but at the end of the day they really don't tell ya squat! It will be fun to see if they are accurate though.

All in all I am feeling really good. No complaints what-so-ever. I think I was expecting more issues, but besides being tired (I mean, c'mon...I am growing 2 people here) I don't really feel any different. I do have a little swelling in my hands and my ankles. They aren't quite cankles but they aren't really cute either. I attribute this to the heat and have decided I need to watch my salt intake. I love love love my growing belly and am finally happy to "look" pregnant and not just chunky. I'm thinking I like this second trimester thing :-)

15 weeks and appt.

Well, I had my appointment yesterday afternoon. Everything is looking really great. They took the heartbeats with the Doppler when we first arrived...156 and 148, so they both sound really good.

The appointment was more of an informational meeting at first. At this particular office they eventually like you to see all of the Dr.'s so you have a repore with each of them. I have seen all of them in the past, and I like all of them so basically I just decided to go to whoever is available on the day of my appointment. This is working out really well. They are really informed of our situation (they remember us from our all of our years of infertility hell) and they are all so great about taking the time to talk with us, answer all of our questions, etc. I feel lucky to have such a great team of people on our side.

Anyway, this time I saw one of the male Doctors (and Bobby's favorite). He was great. I pulled out my list of questions and he didn't even bat an eyelash at it's length. I told him my concern about my week of spotting and round ligament pain and mentioned that we wanted an ultrasound so I can see that everything was ok. He agreed and said that it would be a good idea to make sure that the placenta hadn't moved over the cervix (I guess that could be a problem). Then I asked him about some other stuff, like tests we will have to take in the future (glucose and some general blood work), is it ok to travel (yes it is), etc.

Then he took us in for our ultrasound (he stayed a half hour late to do this for us...again, I love these doctors!). First he did a pelvic exam to check my cervix. Everything looked a-ok there. Then we did a tummy ultrasound to see the babies. The looked so wonderful. Lefty had the hiccups...too cute! And Righty had moved positions, so the babies are now still side by side but are touching feet right near the middle of my belly. The were really active. The Dr. said earlier in the appointment that sometimes you can see gender at this point if the babies cooperate, but sadly during this ultrasound they did not. He then checked the placentas and they seemed to look to be in the right area, but he decided to do an internal ultrasound just to be sure.

So, on to the internal ultrasound. Placentas looked good. So he followed the cervix to see if there was anything that would cause concern and that's when we saw what was possible the cause of the spotting. The third sac (now completely empty) was being pushed down by the babies. So, while most of it was being pushed into the uterine wall like it should be, a tiny part of the end of it was being pushed over the opening of the cervix. This really isn't a problem, but more than likely explains the spotting. I don't know why but seeing the cause of the spotting in black and white just took this huge weight off my shoulders. I am a visual person, so to actually physically see something that made sense to me just made me feel a hundred times better.

Anyway, the ultrasound was the end of our appointment. So we went to the front desk and made our next monthly appointment AND our anatomy scan appointment (where we will find out the gender of these little ones).

An anatomy scan sounds pretty cool. It will take 1 hour for each baby - so a big 2 hour ultrasound, woo hoo! They basically check everything from head to toe on each baby, especially the heart chambers, making sure the blood is pumping the right way, the bladder, the lungs, etc. And the fun part is, we will get to know what we are having. This appointment is scheduled for Oct. 16th at 7am and then afterwards I have my regular monthly appointment. (I will be 19 weeks and 3 days). I am so excited for this ultrasound!

I'm know I said I would post a belly picture and I will....this weekend. Bobby and I went on a date after our appointment and frankly we've been so busy that we haven't had a chance to take one. But I promise one soon!

Upcoming appt. and other stuff

I have an appointment this Thursday. This appointment is just my monthly check-up and what I hope will also be an ultrasound. I am supposed to get one every month but there is some debate over whether or not the ultrasound I had for the down's testing will count as this month's exam. Due to my spotting (which has stopped btw), I am going to insist that they just do a quick one.

Oh, and we got the results back from the "markers" test that looks for certain disorders and everything looks normal and good...so that's a relief!

Things have been going pretty well. Like I said, the spotting has stopped and even the round ligament pain has seemed to ease up except of course at night when I roll from one side to another.

The belly is growing, and growing. I will post a 15 week pic when I post about my appointment on Thursday. We also decided to start measuring my tummy every week...I will Not be posting these numbers but I will be able to say "I grew 2 inches in a week", so that will be fun. I am pretty much out of my regular clothes. The Bel.la Band is still working pretty good for my jeans, but my shirts are pretty much all to short and my belly likes to hang out the bottom which is not the sexiest thing in the world. Luckily for me, I have the best mom in the world and she took me on a little maternity shopping spree over the weekend. I now have clothes that fit (some with plenty of room to grow). Who knew maternity pants could be so darn comfy?

The weird thing is what's happening with my belly button. No, it's not "popping out". Instead it looks like this giant saucer under my shirt. The stinkin thing is huge! I am told it's because I have a normally deep belly button and because I am carrying the babies high. Hopefully when the babies start moving around, they will go under my belly button and push some of the "dip" out, but for now I guess I will have to live with the saucer button - so lovely. Oh, and I am getting that faint little line down my tummy. I can't remember what this is called, but I always thought "oh, I hope I don't get that". Now that I see it though, it's not that bad, and just another visual sign that yes, I am actually pregnant! (you would think that would stop surprising me at some point!)

I'll update on Thursday with the details of my appointment, and hopefully new pics of the babes!

Pregnancy Scare

I know for most people, a pregnancy scare means that they freaked out because they thought they might be pregnant. Well, folks, since that situation will never happen for us, I have decided to re-purpose the phrase and use it to explain that "we are pregnant, and yes we have had a tiny scare".

So this weekend I started to feel some pain in my lower abdomen - mostly on the left hand side. It wasn't cramping, just this weird pain that came and went, mostly felt when I rolled over in bed or stood up from a sitting position. I didn't really think much of it....until.....

Until yesterday when I started bleeding. Ok, bleeding might be too strong of a term. Spotting is probably more accurate. But in my opinion, any kind of blood during pregnancy is scary. So anyway, here I am, now feeling some pain AND spotting. Of course, this was on Labor day so every place in Moscow and Pullman is closed.

I called the on call dr. (which as luck would have it is my ob) and she asked me a bunch of questions and said that we should watch it and if it continued to call the office first thing in the morning. If it got worse, I was to call her back immediately. Then she asked me my blood type. I told her that I was O negative, or at least I was pretty sure I was, and she ordered me to the hospital to have my blood drawn to confirm my blood type and to look for some sort of antigen in my blood. You see, if you have O negative blood, you have to have this fancy dancy shot called a Rhogahm shot. This is normally given at 28 weeks. The reason has something to do with your body's blood basically attacking the baby because of antigens you either do or don't have.

Frankly, I find it all very confusing. But I do know that it's unusual to have to have the shot so soon. In my case, I needed the shot just to be safe. Because I lost that third baby, and now I am spotting, I guess there is a chance that things could be getting dicey with this RH Factor thingy. I will have to have the shot again at the 28 week mark. It isn't a bad one - pretty big needle in the hip, but since I'm used to that because of IVF, I didn't even flinch. I was told to be on bed rest for the entire day, so I spent the holiday watching tv and playing dinosaurs with Connor in my bed.

Anyway, I woke up this morning and the spotting seemed to have subsided a little, but when I got to work it was back in full swing, so I called the Dr.'s office again. This time I had to wait for a call back. Finally someone called me back and asked what color the spotting was - me: brownish red. Asked me about the cramping - me: not cramping, more like a pulled muscle pain. She told me that because I was spotting brownish that it was old blood and not new bleeding, which is a good thing. If it increases in amount or turns bright red, then I need to be seen immediately. She told me that the pain I was feeling was round ligament pain. Apparently my ligaments are stretching and this is a pretty common pain in pregnant women, especially when you are carrying more than one baby. She told me to rest as much as possible until the spotting stops and to practice "pelvic rest" until my next appointment. Which basically means no sex until my next appointment...I go back to the Dr. on the 17th.

So until then, I will take it a little easy and hope that the spotting and round ligament pain go away. I feel relieved to know that it is nothing serious, but there is still a part of me that is paranoid it could be something worse, so I don't mind being overly cautious.

Till next time...

13 weeks

I am 13 weeks today, and I am feeling great! I had my ultrasound yesterday to check for abnormalities with the babies. When I got there, they told me that the results actually got sent to a lab and that I won't get the results for a week or so. Surprisingly, this was kind of nice because I was able to just enjoy this little peek at the babes and not worry about suddenly getting bad news.

The ultrasound tech at my dr.'s office is super nice and so willing to answer any weird question that I may decide to ask. She went searching for the babies and started low, below my belly button. Then she moved up, and up and up until finally she found them, side by side, right above my belly button. These babies are high. I actually felt a little relieved to see for myself where I was carrying them because I thought it was weird that I didn't get the "pooch" under my belly button that most women get and instead just all the sudden had a very round belly. It is hard at the top and still a little squishy at the bottom, but she said my whole belly will be hard soon enough.

She was hemming and hawing about which baby to call Baby A and which would be B. Normally it is easy to tell because one is on top of the other one and the one closest to the cervix is Baby A. At this visit it was important to get these labels right because they will no longer change. Baby A will now always be Baby A and same goes for Baby B. Anyway, she couldn't figure out who to name what because my little bambinos are side by side and they are in a dead heat...I mean there isn't one that is even a cm closer to my cervix. They looked so cozy right next to each other, but it was clearly frustrating the poor ultrasound tech. Finally she said she thought it looked like the baby on the left was Baby A, but just to be sure we keep it straight, she labeled all the pictures with not only Baby A or Baby B but with Baby on the Left and Baby on the right.

I just had to laugh because I thought it was cute these little ones liked being so close. (tell that to my ribs in a month or so because they are dangerously close to being able to kick them). Bobby and I decided we would call the babies "lefty" and "righty" because it has a nicer ring than "A" and "B" (I think there might be 2 of my friends smiling right about now!)



So anyway, Left and Righty are doing so great. Heartbeats are strong at 154 and 148. They were a little slower than last time, but mostly because they were resting this time...although Lefty did give me a little wave hello. The tech said the heartbeats need to fall between 100 and 180 during this period, so we are perfect. Also, they are both measuring exactly the same size...13 weeks and 1 day. Keep in mind this was yesterday so they were measuring 2 days ahead of where they should be. This is fantastic! Especially for twins. We are just praying they keep growing at such an amazing rate.

All in all things went really well. It lifted my spirits seeing the babies...I think there is still a part of me that can't believe I am actually pregnant and to see it live on a screen really reinforces it.

As for symptoms: Let's see, no nausea, but no cravings either. I'm a little tired, but depends on the day...sometimes I actually feel really energetic. I am starting to develop heartburn and it's no wonder since the babes are so high up. Still managing to fit into my regular jeans with the help of the Bel.la Ba.nd (thanks for that tip!). My shirts are getting a tad to short because of the growing belly and boobs I have going on. And that's about it. Oh, here is my 13 week belly picture :-)
*you can click on the ultrasound pictures to see a bigger version

Check out the Poll!

Hey all! I've added a little poll on the left sidebar. Take a guess on what gender(s) our babies will be, if you feel so inclined :-) *You don't have to be logged in to do this, so give it a try!

Ahhhh...

That is the sound I am making this week.

I'm breathing a sigh of relief for making it to my 12th week of pregnancy. Yay me! I'm also saying "ahhhh" because I have finally given in and am rubber banding the button on my pants. That's right people, that sound you hear is me being comfortable in my jeans with the button unbuttoned.

I'm not quite ready for maternity clothes, although I am getting close. It's so funny because I am definitely showing...not just a little baby bump either. In fact, I thought maybe I was too big so I googled to see other twin baby bumps at 12 weeks, and I look right on track. I guess I am so used to seeing my friends pregnant with one baby, that I didn't realize how different my belly would look from theirs at this stage.

Anywho, so things have been going rather smoothly (*knock on wood*). Any pregnancy symptoms have still seemed to disappear - obviously excluding the earlier mention of my growing belly. I have no nausea, and my energy level feels pretty good. I'm not really retaining water, and the boobs are feeling a-ok.

I can say that I have gained a couple pounds - directed by doctor and not as easy as it sounds. You would think that someone already overweight would be able to pack them on when needed, but eating has really been a problem. Don't get me wrong, I can eat pretty much anything - no aversions here...but I can only eat a little bit at a time or else I am incredibly uncomfortable. Maybe this is because I am really short waisted and there isn't much room in there, but I seriously have to split my meals into 2 (or sometimes 3) portions and eat them over the course of several hours.

Now that we are settling in to this pregnancy we did make 2 purchases for the babies. I told Bobby that I didn't want to jinx what we were having by buying pink or blue things yet, but we saw some really cute burp cloths, and although they are blue...they could work for girls. So we bought those.

*OK, let me just say that I know some of you are probably thinking "wow, how exciting...you bought burp cloths (sarcasm)" and I realize that this doesn't seem exciting. But we are realistic people...we have had a baby and we know the things that are needed. And frankly, burp cloths have gotten darn cute since Connor was a baby, so we couldn't resist.

Now, where was I....oh, yes. Purchasing items. So the other thing that we (or actually Bobby did this by himself) bought was a cute little PINK onesie. Yes. He did. If we end up with 2 boys I am going to blame him for jinxing us. I'm ok with having 2 boys (which would bring my total to 3) but I just wanted to wait to buy gender stuff till we know for sure what we are having. So anyway, now we have this super cute, pink, U of I Vandal, onesie. So, if we end up with twin boys, then one of my lucky friends having a girl this year will end up with said super cute, pink U of I Vandal, onesie :-)

Oh, and as most of you have seen...I have finally announced this pregnancy to the whole world. Ok, maybe not the whole world, but pretty much anyone that vaguely knows me at all, now knows that we are expecting.

I have my ultrasound on Tuesday to check for possible problems with the babies. Fingers crossed that the ultrasound goes smoothly. I will update on Tuesday to fill you all in and to give my little weekly update. Pictures soon, I promise!