Well.....

NT Scan Perfection, A Gender, A Name and A Belly Pic

We had our NT scan on Thursday and at 13w4d, I was on the cusp of being too far along to perform the ultrasound and get accurate measurements.  I was excited to get to see the babes again and even more excited to get an abdominal ultrasound as opposed to a wanding.

The tech who performed the ultrasound took her time with measuring everything and DH and I were just so excited to see the babies looking so much like babies!  They were moving much more fluidly than last time and one was even rubbing their little face with their hands.  Eeek, I can't wait to be the one rubbing those little cheeks and kissing them!  As a tech, she wouldn't say anything about gender, which was disappointing and I made a mental note to ask the doctor if he would. I caught a glimpse of each NT measurement and both were well under the 3mm mark (1.8 and 2.1, I believe.)  We waited a bit for the doctor to come in and he went about going over all the tech's measurements albeit a little more quickly than the tech.  He explained the risks of a multiple pregnancy, told me I had my age and physical fitness on my side for carrying these babies to term, my cervix was 4.72 cm, which was great and overall just made me feel very capable of this pregnancy, which was appreciated.  I asked him if he could tell what sex the babies were and he said he wouldn't guess unless he got a good look. Baby A wasn't cooperating at all, but Baby B wasn't shy and looks like a ___!  Overall, it was a great appointment and I am thankful that the babes are growing on track and looking good with no markers for any issues thus far.  Here's some pics of the babes from the scan:

Baby A (the shy one):

 Baby B (not the shy one):

We have already decided on a name for Baby B and we will be sharing its sex and name as soon as we find out what sex Baby A is.  Our gender ultrasound is on January 5!  Stay tuned!

And last, but not least, a belly pic, me and the littles at 13w6d:

Safe Holidays to all - we are leaving for WV tomorrow and will return on 1/2.  I may try to do a post  from home, but it's going to be crazy busy, so no promises. :)

Thoughts On a Great Photographer (And the Snag of Lifetime)

I have been looking for a photographer since we moved to Oklahoma.  I just think it's important to have someone in your back pocket to call when you realize "it's time" to get some family pictures taken.  You know, when you look at your last family photo and realize that your 6-year-old is wearing a diaper and you lived in the town you lived in  ~gulps~ two states ago????????????????  Yeah, I'm not a real "regular" on the whole family photo thing, but I do reach a point of "I HAVE HAD IT - LET'S DO THIS!!!!!!!!!!!"  So, when we moved to Oklahoma, I started using goo.gle to find me a photographer.  ------record comes to a screeching halt------

Is this it?!  Is this all there is to choose from?  Why does everyone look like they are "posed"? Why doesn't that picture say Ol.an Mi.lls in the corner? 'Cause that's where it looks like it's from.  *cue sad face*

Then, I got it. The reference. You know, the I'm Gonna Complain to Everyone I Know Until Someone Comes Up With a Person of a Friend of a Friend Who Takes Awesome Pictures Plan. Or the IGCEIKUSCUWPFFWTAPP.  Whichever you like to call it.  It came this weekend. My neighbor, MB, after hearing me go on and on about needing maternity pics and newborn, three, six, nine, and twelve month pics of the twins as well as a great family photo when the babies are about six or nine months old suggested I look up Beth Jansen.  Of Beth Jansen Photography.  *cue choir singing*

Isn't her work fabulous? I actually used the word fabulous and I HATE that word.  But isn't it divine? (Another word I hate!)

I contacted her and we are set. Maternity pictures are slated for the end of February.  I can almost see them now...

Graduation and Eye Wandings

My RE's office called on Monday and asked to move this morning's u/s to tomorrow because he had to do three retrievals this morning (apparently the infertility business in BOOMING).  I couldn't do tomorrow because my FIL is coming to visit, so they ended up rescheduling my appt for yesterday afternoon.  My symptoms had taken a dramatic turn for the better, which had me freaking out, so I was actually happy to see the littles sooner even though DH couldn't make it because of meetings all afternoon.

The wanding began and I made my RE aware of my fears over my symptoms before we started. He said that symptoms are not a hard and fast rule of pregnancy. Regardless, I looked away from the screen as I was in no mood to see shrunken sacs and babies with no heartbeats with my own eyes. (How effed up am I from my m/c still?)  Anyway, he immediately told me to look at the screen as he saw Baby A had a heartbeat and went about his measurements.  She measured 8w2d (right on track) and had a good strong heartbeat of 161 bpm.  We listend to the heartbeat and then he held the wand on her for just a moment longer and told me to lay real still and watch closely.  After about three or four seconds, she did a little wiggle!!  It was so sweet, I got very teary-eyed.

Onto Baby B who is just a little bit further away from the wand and a titch harder to get a good view of.  Measuring also at 8w2d, this one had a heartbeat of 170 bpm.  A few more moments of looking around and a handful of pictures later, my wanding was over. :(  I won't see the babes for another 2 weeks, but when I do.......

It will be my first OB appt!!!!! I am a graduation girl!! How cool is that?!

Onto the eye wanding portion of the visit (and let me just say that this mortifies me, but at the same time, it is just too funny and if you can't laugh at yourself, well, you need to cause life is too short to take yourself seriously).

I spoke with Dr. Awesome RE's nurse for a few minutes after he left the room and when she left, I jumped off the table to go into this little closet area they have to change back into my clothes. I dropped my paper skirt on the ground when I jumped off the table and when I bent over to pick it up, wouldn't you know that I lined my fricking eye up to the u/s wand that was back on its holder and wanded my EYE?! Beside the initial "Ouch! Oh my god, my eye!!" reaction, I also had the "Are you freaking kidding me?! That thing has been inside every infertile in the Oklahoma City area!! Gross!!!" thought.  I was completely alone, but was so embarrassed.  I guess it was a good thing that DH couldn't make the appt.  I still haven't told him. I have no plans to do so, either.

Lesson learned: Never a dull moment at the RE's, people.

MIA

Apologies for my late update on u/s #3.  DH has been out of town all week and my m/s has amped up big time. The last two days have been particularly bad as I have been sick all day and my eating small meals often hasn't helped as much as it did in the past. I am by no means complaining, just sharing. The gags are the worst part of it all. I really feel that if I can get a good hurl in, I would be a new person, but alas! I cannot spew.

My u/s on Wednesday was great. Baby A - Larry, measured right on track at 7w3d and had a heartrate of 137 bpm.  For your viewing pleasure:

Baby B - Balki, measured at 7w3d also and had a heartrate of 140bpm:

And the shot I had to life my ass up off the table for my RE to get (thanks to my introverted uterus!):

                                          My Babies!!

Next u/s is this coming Wednesday where I will be 8w3d.  If all looks good, I will graduate to my OB. :)

Cheaters Never Win, Eh?

So, that's how the saying goes, but I disagree.

I went in for another ultrasound today.

Baby A, who we'll call "Larry" measured 6w3d and had a heart rate of 124 beats per minute.


Baby B, or "Balki" measured 6w2d and also had a heart rate of 124 beats per minute.


EDD is June 17.

So, I cheated to see my babies. Again.

Winning!!

I Cheated

In a moment of fear and weakness, I called my doctor's office yesterday and begged for an early ultrasound.  Turned out, given my previous IVF pregnancy and what a disaster it was, I didn't have to beg at all.  I was warned that I wouldn't see a heartbeat (which I knew), but that he would take a look, take a count and tell me if everything is as it should be at this stage in the game.

See them little eyes looking at you?? Kind of looks like an owl, doesn't it?  I'm having twins and they are looking great!! Next ultrasound on the 31st!!

2nd Beta Results

Monday at 14DPO - 156
Wednesday at 16DPO - 350

Doubling time - 41.17 hours

First ultrasound scheduled for 10/31!!

Beta Results Confirm...

...a big fat freaking positive.


At 14DPO and 9DP5DT:

156!!!!!!

More Things I've Peed On

Here's a progression pic:

Beta is in the morning!!

I've Been Peeing On Things

6DP5DT/11DPO

Day Two Embryo Update

I'm so excited! I'm just going to jump right in!

We have:

One 8-cell.
One 7-cell
One 6-cell
Seven 4-cell

At this point, they want to see them around 4 cells. She explained to me that an embryo only has so much energy and if it uses up a lot of it in the beginning, it will, unfortunately, "peter out" when it comes time to turn into a blast.  She said that, at this point, the 4-celled ones are our front runners, showing very little fragmentation.   Also, one of the 4-celled ones is "just beautiful" (in her words)!! Yay!!

The best part is that she commented that everything looks so much better compared to last cycle. Be it the diet changes, the exercise, the wheatgrass shots, or whatever, something is definitely different this time.  In a good way, too!

Before we hung up, I asked her to go sing the babies a lullaby and that I couldn't wait to hear from her tomorrow. Will update here when I get that call.

<3

The Retrieval

So, I was negligent in updating my blog after Friday's ultrasound and E2.  We were pretty sure we were going to go for retrieval yesterday (Sunday). It all hinged on my progesterone level.  If it was elevated above 1.5, he was going to retrieve on Sunday. If not, he wanted to stim me one more day in hopes of getting better quality eggs at retrieval. My progesterone was only 1.23.  So, we stimmed Friday, triggered Saturday and did retrieval today.

My retrieval went well. I am a little sorer than I was last time, but as far as nerves are concerned, there were none. DH and I both felt more at ease this time around. No surprises. As the record comes to a screeching halt....

We got 14 eggs!! After being told all week that I had only nine, we got FOURTEEN!! Woo hoo, right?? Wrong! Read on...

I called my fertility clinic this afternoon to get my final E2 from Saturday's bloodwork.  The nurse I spoke to said that as of Saturday, before trigger, my E2 was 3125. That is 1000 more than what my estrogen was at the same time last cycle.  I got so excited telling her that with one less egg, my estrogen was so much higher.  She then informed me that we actually had 15!!  They "found" one more after we left.  How is that even possible?!

I don't know! But we have babies down the road and I can't wait to get the report tomorrow on how they are doing!! <3

Miscalculated LMP and the Discovery of "The Source"

If you are uber observant, then perhaps you noticed that my pregnancy ticker has been adjusted. (Just so you know, I don't really expect any of you to have noticed that, but it has been adjusted so I thought I'd share why.)  I went in for my U/S this morning and noticed that they have my LMP (last menstrual period) as 3/3/11.  I thought it was 2/28/11 since my babies were conceived on 3/14/11. Silly me just assumed that the kiddos were created on the "Day 14" of my cycle and apparently, they were fertilized on "Day 11".  No worries, I'm just not 7 weeks pregnant today, I am 6 weeks, 4 days. Due date is 12/8/11. (That seems really far away, doesn't it?)

Baby is measuring one day behind and I was told not to worry about that discrepancy.  One day does not matter, but three or four days would, so I am choosing not to worry about this.  Heart rate was 103 and I was told that for a 6 week, 4 day old fetus, that is perfectly within normal range. At about 8 weeks, the heart rate will jump up to the 120-160 range.  I am also okay with this.  Baby is measuring .60 cm. Last Tuesday, baby was .20 cm and when converted to mm, baby grew from 2 mm to 6 mm which is also good.  Dr. Awesome RE also found what he believes to be the cause of the bleeding - a hematoma near the baby that is very small (hopefully all bled out!).  I am really pleased to have found a cause. All this unexplained bleeding was not sitting right with me.  There has to be a reason, right?! 

I am to come back in one week for another U/S. I am hoping that I can be released to an OB at that point.  I just need one week of no drama!!  RE recommended continued limited activity including lots of rest, no sex, no hot baths, no hot tubs or saunas, etc.

All in all, a great report! :)

Anticipation

I never thought I'd say this, but I am super sick of blogging about TTC and obsessing over the ever looming threat of a miscarriage.  So, I will keep today's thoughts on these matters short and to the point:

My bleeding has stopped. I am not as naive as I was before. It may come back. I anticipate that it will just because I've become more cynical over the past two and a half weeks. I dare you to blame me. For now, it is gone and I will enjoy every moment of its absence.

Now, in other news, I got my hair did today. I feel like a new person! If I must sit around in my pajamas, I will do so with good hair, darnit. And in more hair news, I ordered my extensions today!! Next Friday, I will have 6 more inches of hair! I cannot wait as I am really impatient and this whole waiting for my hair to grow out isn't really working for me. Can you imagine? Five whole months of gorgeous, long, thick, Kate Middleton-ish or a bit longer, hair. And when I take them out my real hair will have grown that much longer. Winning!

See - I'm not all mopey and grumpy and forlorn all the time. There are lots of things to be happy about. Today, my hair makes me happy. :) Lots of other less shallow things make me happy, too.  I am looking forward to seeing baby bean on Monday. I hope she's okay in there and still enjoying her stay. I am thankful for my church family who are taking care of DH and the boys and I in our time of need. Someone is coordinating meals and a lady is coming over next week to clean my house. How blessed am I to have such wonderful people who want to be here for us and give us the best chance of staying pregnant? God isn't good. He is wonderful!

Here's a pic of me and the bean today (and my rockin' hair!)

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

The Dreaded Red and True Love

Today has been "interesting".  What started as any other Tuesday got very scary and then turned out happy.  I find myself feeling tired from this roller coaster and wondering what is in store.

At around 12:30, I was sitting at the computer and my low back was aching. It's been hurting since yesterday, but it was giving me some pretty strong tweaks.  I also noticed that I was feeling crampy. I went to the bathroom to pee and there it was - blood in my underwear. I peed, wiped (more blood), and when I went to flush, the water was bright pink. I thought this was over. Apparently, I was wrong. I couldn't help it. I started to cry. I started to shake. I started to panic.

I tried reaching DH a few times and didn't have any luck.  I called Dr. Awesome RE's office and was instructed to come in for an ultrasound. I then called an older lady from my church who knows about our situation and she came over and drove me. I thank God for putting people in my life that I can call for help when I need it.  I finally reached DH and he agreed to meet me at the office. He asked that I wait for him to do the ultrasound.  I asked him to please hurry as I didn't want to sit waiting there for any longer than absolutely necessary.

DH arrived 15 minutes after I got there with a sprained ankle. Apparently, he was working out at lunch and that's why I couldn't reach him. When he finally got back to me and got the news, he took off running to his car and twisted his ankle. Dr. Awesome RE's nurse was nice enough to get him a bag of ice. We were ready for Captain Condom Wand.  I took a deep breath, grabbed DH's hand in a death grip and looked away. I was too afraid to naively look wide-eyed at the screen.  A few seconds later, Dr. Awesome RE told me to look at the screen.

One gestational sac, measuring right on track. One yolk sac. One perfect little baby with a fluttering heart.  Every single up and down and sleepless night and bad dream and breakdown melted away in that instant.

We are in love.

And I am on bedrest. For at least until my next ultrasound.

Last Beta Before U/S

My beta today was 6138.  Had it gone to 5800, it would have doubled. I am feeling very pregnant, too. Nausea, heartburn and so sleepy.

All good things, though. Feeling over the moon and excited.

Looking forward to next week's ultrasound.

<3

Sweet Morning Texts and Beating the Control

Me: Morning :) I am still pregnant.

DH: Morning. Good. Go eat bfast good for baby.

This is how DH and I said good morning to each other.  He'll be back tomorrow night and I can't wait to see him.

My bleeding has stopped. ADIOS! Don't come back now, ya hear?

And I thought I would just show you all that I beat the control line's butt this morning.  I'm feeling happy and optimistic for a change.

And here is me! At 5 weeks 2 days and dressed, ready to go out the door and looking like a human being for the first time in ten days.

GO ME!!!

More Good News

I decided to go in yesterday for another beta instead of waiting until today.  DH was scheduled to leave for work in Louisiana this morning and he encouraged me to get tested yesterday so that if the results were not good, he would just cancel his trip.  Well, I am happy to report that he left this morning. :)

My beta yesterday was 481.  Had it gone to 420, it would have technically met the requirement of "doubling".  It went 61 above that!  I don't think anyone can say that this baby isn't a fighter.  The nurses are optimistic, my progress is good.  They gave me the "go ahead" to schedule my first u/s, which I did - April 18th!! I was also told that if I wanted to come in for one more beta for peace of mind, I could. I plan on doing that next Monday. Until then, I have my pee sticks and symptoms to monitor and obsess over. My bleeding is now spotting and for that, I am so grateful. Now, if it would just GO AWAY...

In this moment, I am pregnant and I plan on enjoying every moment that I am.  I still have fears and some doubts (I just want to see my baby!!) but DH and I decided that if yesterday's beta was good, we were going to graduate to somewhere between optimistic and excited. We are currently opticited.

Here are some pee sticks showing progression. Top and second are both 15DP5DT, third is 16DP5DT, and bottom is this morning's 17DP5DT:

And a digi for good measure:

As Promised......Pee Sticks! :)

Here is a little gallery of things I've peed on in the last week. For your ultimate viewing pleasure!

Answer Friday (3/25) Out of the case:

Answer Saturday (3/26):

 Answer Sunday (3/27):

Equate on Friday (3/25) Out of the case:

Equate Saturday (3/26):

Equate Sunday (3/27):

Blue Wondfo Friday (3/25):

Blue Wondfo Saturday (3/26):

Blue Wondfo Sunday (3/27):

What do you all think? Beta results tomorrow!!