Yay!

I got my medication weaning schedule!!

I have a week and a half of progesterone left (nightly injection) and about 3 weeks of Delestrogen (every 3rd night) and Estrace (2x day). I'm so excited! Soon I will be able to just go to bed when I'm tired instead of having to sleepily load up a syringe and stick it in my behind! Plus this also means that Shady Grove is confident that my body will carry these babies on its own without the help from the meds. I'm so happy! I will celebrate the day I take my last injection! :)

9 weeks pregnant!

No belly picture today. I am going to wait until next week. I think we'll see more change every 2 weeks or so. :)

Here is the 9 week update: Baby is officially a fetus and no longer an embryo!

• Baby has begun movement - While still too small for you to feel, your little one is wriggling, shifting, and dancing already! Makes you almost wish for a window to peek in whenever you want!
• Most joints are formed now - and trust that your little one is practicing bending and flexing.
• Fetus will curve its fingers around an object placed in the palm of its hand - This is amazing to see! At only nine weeks, if you happen to have an ultrasound, you may observe your infant fascinated by everything he or she can lay their fingers on (mainly other fingers, toes, ears and nose!
• Fingerprints are already evident in the skin
• Average size this week -- length 0.9 inch (2.3cm), weight 0.07 ounce (2gm)
  

I'm doing ok...dont want to bore you with any complaining so I will just say I am still having difficulties eating. I almost asked for an anti-nausea medication at the doctor's office today, but I would rather wait it out and see if it passes soon rather than have to take a medication. It's perfectly safe for pregnancy, and MANY girls I know have to take it, but they are also actually vomiting and I am not. So I will hold out and see if it gets better. Ginger Ale helps sometimes...other times the carbonation makes it worse. I'll live. ;)

Now here's the best part of this post: ULTRASOUND PHOTOS! :)

Baby A's body and Baby B's head:

Baby A (the little circle in with the baby is his/her yolk sac) and Baby B. If you look really hard you can see little arms on Baby B.

Here is a 3D photo of the babies. She isnt sure which is which since she had to rotate the screen so much to get a good shot of both of the babies. The baby in the front looks bigger just because its closer to the ultrasound wand. You can see the umbilical cord connecting with the yolk sac with the baby in the back.

Ultrasound

Today's ultrasound went great! Both babies are growing well and measuring right where they should be. They were both in sync with heart rate...176bpm. I got some good pictures and even a 3D photo as well.

I will post a better update in a few minutes...I am going to scan in the ultrasound photos. :)

Answer for Janice

I will answer your question in a blog entry because I dont know how to contact you otherwise!

We used one of the MD locations of Shady Grove. Our transfer was in Rockville. We transferred 2 5-day embies on 6/18. So you wanna know how I made it through the 2ww? Well the first week I tried to keep my mind off of it. I went about my life like normal and didn't allow myself to sit there and overanalyze every little twinge or emotion. I took a HPT on 5dp5dt and it was negative, which really put me in a bad mood. The next night I took another one and it was positive. Getting the positive test was what helped me make it through to the beta. I took another (digital) test on 10dp5dt and it came up positive immediately, so thats when I really believed that I was good and pregnant.

You didnt mention in your comment if you have cheated and tested yet, so I am assuming you are just holding out for the beta. The 22nd isnt too far away now! Good luck and I hope your FET was successful! Please update me! :)

8 weeks pregnant!

8 weeks 8 weeks 8 weeks! I'm 2/3 of the way through the first trimester! haha

Well I have actually been feeling better the last few days. I still have some nausea, but I have a little more energy and I've been able to eat a bit better too. It really helps that Chris has been absolutely wonderful and has been helping me out some. He has made dinner a few times, he has let me sleep in more in the last few weeks then he has in the last few years...LOL...and he isnt nagging me about the house being a disaster. I do need to finally do some laundry today before Chris runs out of clothes to wear to work!

Here is what's going on in my belly this week: (but x's 2!)

• Cartilage and bones begin to form - At the end of this week baby will have already completed 1/5th of the journey 'til his birthday!
• The basic structure of the eye is well underway - The position is more "newborn" like already!
• The tongue begins to develop
• Intestines move out of the umbilical cord into the abdomen.
• Body grows and makes room - Two months along and this little one is growing inside and out by leaps and bounds!
• The fingers and toes have appeared but are webbed and short
• Baby's length (crown to rump) is 0.61 inch (1.6cm) and weight is 0.04 ounce (1gm)

I have finally put on a couple pounds now that I am able to eat better. I am definitely bigger than I was in my 6 week belly picture! Here's my new belly pic:

Its time to start buying bigger clothes. I'm able to mostly live in my jammies right now since I dont really go anywhere, but soon I will need something for going to church, grocery shopping, dr appointments, etc. I think the people at the gym are probably thinking "Wow, even though she exercises 3 times a week she's getting bigger!" HAHA if they only knew! At some point I may have to stop exercising. I dont do anything high intensity...just some walking on the treadmill and some elliptical machine. But carrying twins is a totally different ballgame from carrying one baby, so I know I will have to make some lifestyle modifications. Which is perfectly fine. Anything I can do to keep the babies healthy and strong, I will do it!

I am excited for my next ultrasound on the 26th. Any opportunity to check on the babies and make sure everything is ok is fine by me! Plus I will get some more pictures to send to M&B. I bet they've been showing their pictures to everyone ever since they got back home!

I will be putting up a gender poll once I reach the second trimester. I know M&B are curious to see what you all think we've got in there. Since 80% of you were correct about me carrying twins, I cant wait to see what the majority votes for with the genders! October 18th is the day I will set up that poll. So watch for it! :)

Time to prepare

Well I went to the library this morning and checked out a couple books about being pregnant with multiples. One is called "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets, or Quads" by Dr. Barbara Luke and the other is called "Expecting Twins, Triplets, and More" by Dr. Rachel Franklin.

I want to know the best way to keep myself and the babies healthy. The first book has a nutritional guideline in it that is purely for making sure the babies have high, healthy birthweights. So I have lots of reading to do!

Speaking of eating...I am really having a hard time with my eating. Thinking about food makes me feel more nauseous. Thinking about cooking anything makes me feel yuck. Nothing sounds good, nothing tastes particularly good, but when I do eat something my stomach feels a bit better. I can eat things that are made for me or given to me. I know that sounds weird...but preparing it myself really makes me sick. If Chris makes me something to eat, I can eat it just fine. If we go out to eat, no problem. Its making it very difficult for me to eat well. I need some kind of prepackaged meals that are healthy but not 'diet food' since I am obviously not looking to lose weight!!! I dont know if that even exists. I hope this feeling goes away soon so I can eat normally again. I love to eat and I cant wait for my body to love to eat too! haha

Other than that I am good...still exhausted...still have to take a nap everyday. But the nap never feels like enough!

I try not to complain because no matter how awful I feel it is totally worth it. But I know M&B appreciate the honesty so I will continue to tell you all how I really feel. I know it will get better eventually...and honestly it could be SO much worse. I'm just thankful to have these two little twinkies growing strong in my belly no matter how yuck I may feel at times. :)

Can you believe it!? TWINS! I'm still just amazed and soooo stinking happy for M&B. It's so amazing. Absolutely amazing.

The moment we've all been waiting for!

Well, we had our ultrasound this morning. M&B got to be in the room with me, which was awesome. The room was small so the monitor was turned towards the tech and they were standing behind her. I couldn't see anything! I laid there patiently, waiting for the tech to say something...ANYTHING. Eventually I just said "Well is there one or two!?!?" And the tech said, "It looks like there are two sacs here." I said "I KNEW IT!". I just knew it! She had to check and make sure both sacs had babies with heartbeats and they did.

Baby A's heart rate was 138 and Baby B's heart rate was 156. Nice and strong! They gave me an estimated due date of May 3rd, but since its twins they will be born in April. M&B were absolutely thrilled. It seriously made my day...no, my whole YEAR...to see the looks on their faces when they saw their BABIES on the screen for the first time. Now they get to do all the fun planning and shopping, and choosing names. The names part wont be easy but I'm sure they will choose SOMETHING before the babies are born. ;)

So today was an awesome day. M&B got to meet my doctor and she answered all of our questions and let us know what to expect with monitoring and such with a twin pregnancy. I need to gain 35-45 pounds (yikes!) and M wants me to start NOW. haha

We need nicknames for the babies so they dont have to be known as Baby A and Baby B for the rest of the pregnancy! Anyone have any suggestions? :)

7 weeks pregnant!

Sorry for the lack of updates...I have been absolutely exhausted. I nap while Quinn is napping during the day and I go to bed fairly early but I just never feel like I've gotten enough sleep. I cant wait for the energy boost that the 2nd trimester provides!

Here is a baby update:

• Elbows form - Again, taking a peek inside you could see your baby's fascination with bending and flexing. Later you will swear you can enlist your child as the star of the next "Karate Kid" movie!
• Fingers start to develop - These digits often become your baby's first toy!
• Feet start to appear with tiny notches for the toes - It is fascinating that at less than a half inch, your little guy (or gal) already is leaving "footprints" on your heart!
• Ears eyes and nose start to appear - Although they may resemble an alien life form, these all "shift" soon enough into a more normal appearance.
• Intestines start to form in the umbilical cord - Did you know that initially the intestines are not formed inside your baby's body?
• Teeth begin to develop under the gums - Thankfully, right now you won't be dealing with teething pain!

The ultrasound is Monday! We are looking forward to seeing M&B even though they wont be here very long. Please be thinking about us on Monday morning...we're hoping for a nice strong heartbeat!

I hate to cut it short but its Quinn's naptime and I am looking forward to my nap as well. :)

6 weeks pregnant!

Today I am officially 6 weeks pregnant so its time for a pregnancy update.

I am still exhausted and now a touch of morning sickness has crept up on me. For a good hour last night I was so nauseated I couldn't do anything but lay down on the couch. And this morning I have a bit of queasiness, though nothing like it was last night. Hopefully this little trend goes away quickly. I've got kids to play with, meals to cook, and a house to clean! LOL

Here is the baby's development at 6 weeks:

• The arms and legs continue to develop - These limbs are stretching out more and more. Later on you will be feeling those feet and elbows up close and personal right in your bladder!
• Brain is growing well - Did you know that over the course of the remaining months that your baby's brain will develop over 100 billion neurons? This is just the beginning!
• Lenses of the eyes appear - If you could catch a glimpse inside, you would notice your baby's appearance becoming increasing like a newborn's.
• Nostrils are formed - The position of the nose seems to shift into its proper place as well. Soon, the nerves running from the nose to the brain appear.
• Intestines grow - Initially these are actually located outside the baby's body within the umbilical cord.
• Pancreas - Your baby is now equipped to deal with digestive enzymes and take on processing the insulin and glucagons the body needs to function.
  

Since I am 6 weeks pregnant today, that means only another 4-6 weeks of injections! It will be nice when all of that is over. I know my bottom will sure appreciate it! And I will start the second trimester on October 18th. Right smack in the middle of fall....my favorite time of the year. I cant wait to go to an apple orchard and buy big bags of Honeycrisp apples. I am craving them so bad but they aren't in season yet. They are seriously the best apples ever...and they were developed here at the University of Minnesota! And of course we will have to pick a pumpkin from the patch to decorate and put out on the front porch. I cant wait to see how many kids go Trick or Treating in this neighborhood. I think I will have Chris take the boys out while I stay in and give out candy. Oh I love fall so much.

And now I leave you with my first belly picture.
Right now it's mostly bloat, but hey I've gotta start somewhere.

Um

So whoever voted that I am carrying triplets needs to make themself known! LOL

Beta #3!

My third and final beta (thank goodness!) was 12,166! Exactly where it needs to be!

Now we all have to sit here in anticipation for the next 2 weeks until the ultrasound on the 15th. Hopefully the time will go by quickly!