Tuesday April 2, 2013, Kale William-Morrison Marriott was born a sleeping angel at 2:58pm weighing 14.8oz and measuring 11 inches long. His brother, Logan William-Morrison Marriott was born at 2:56pm weighing 2lbs 3oz and measuring 14 inches long. Logan is doing well and is stable in the NICU at McMaster Childrens Hospital. I am recovering well from surgery and both Dave and I are devistated by the loss of little Kale. We appreciate all of the positive thoughts and prayers being sent our way from friends and loved ones.
Sincerely, proud parents of our little fighters,
Erin and Dave
Showing posts with label TWINS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TWINS. Show all posts
Friday, April 5, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Better than TV
I keep meaning to write more about this amazing experience... but I'm just so tired and busy getting everything ready for their arrival. Also, part of me hasn't quite believed it's really happening - that something will go wrong and it will all be taken away. Now that I'm approaching 26 weeks, it's becoming more real.
I have been feeling movement for a while now. Little kicks and jabs. We even saw them hitting each other on the ultrasound! Then last week D finally felt it from the outside for the first time. He is still a little freaked out by the whole idea, but he has voluntarily touched my belly a few times since so I think he might be coming around.
This weekend I finally saw my belly moving! I haven't been able to stop staring at my belly since. I listen to TV, but watch my belly. Yesterday I was in first aid training all day and when they started moving I even had a co-worker watching my belly for movement. It was much more interesting than the instructions for treating wounds... Today they started moving during a meeting and when I said something, everyone stared at my belly for the rest of the meeting.
My two biggest pregnancy complaints right now are heartburn and carpal tunnel. The heartburn is really bad in the evenings and at night. My midwives said it was fine to take several Tums as needed throughout the day to help relieve the burning. I've got an extra large container by my bed, another in my office, and a small travel pack for my purse. I went to my naturopath today and she gave me some marshmallow root tea. I should make some now to see if it makes a difference.
About two weeks ago I noticed my fingers started to feel like they were asleep and numb. Also, my wrists kinda hurt. I suspected that I was developing carpal tunnel so I brought it up to my midwife at my last appointment - at that point it had only been going on for about 3 days - her response was "ya..." So apparently there isn't much I can do about it. It should go away after the boys are born, but until then, I kinda have to suffer through it. It's caused my fluid creating pressure in my wrists and compressing the nerve that runs across my palm, up my index, middle, and half of my ring finger ( that is a weird feeling... one half of my ring finger, the side closest to my middle finger, is asleep, but the half next to my pinkie finger is fine...). The naturopath gave me some homeopathic remedies to help with the water retention and told me to alternate hot and cold compresses. I've also bought wrist braces to wear at night, but so far, nothing seems to be helping :(
For now, I will hold my hands above my head trying to get the fluid down while watching my TV-tummy as my boys duke it out inside!
I have been feeling movement for a while now. Little kicks and jabs. We even saw them hitting each other on the ultrasound! Then last week D finally felt it from the outside for the first time. He is still a little freaked out by the whole idea, but he has voluntarily touched my belly a few times since so I think he might be coming around.
This weekend I finally saw my belly moving! I haven't been able to stop staring at my belly since. I listen to TV, but watch my belly. Yesterday I was in first aid training all day and when they started moving I even had a co-worker watching my belly for movement. It was much more interesting than the instructions for treating wounds... Today they started moving during a meeting and when I said something, everyone stared at my belly for the rest of the meeting.
My two biggest pregnancy complaints right now are heartburn and carpal tunnel. The heartburn is really bad in the evenings and at night. My midwives said it was fine to take several Tums as needed throughout the day to help relieve the burning. I've got an extra large container by my bed, another in my office, and a small travel pack for my purse. I went to my naturopath today and she gave me some marshmallow root tea. I should make some now to see if it makes a difference.
About two weeks ago I noticed my fingers started to feel like they were asleep and numb. Also, my wrists kinda hurt. I suspected that I was developing carpal tunnel so I brought it up to my midwife at my last appointment - at that point it had only been going on for about 3 days - her response was "ya..." So apparently there isn't much I can do about it. It should go away after the boys are born, but until then, I kinda have to suffer through it. It's caused my fluid creating pressure in my wrists and compressing the nerve that runs across my palm, up my index, middle, and half of my ring finger ( that is a weird feeling... one half of my ring finger, the side closest to my middle finger, is asleep, but the half next to my pinkie finger is fine...). The naturopath gave me some homeopathic remedies to help with the water retention and told me to alternate hot and cold compresses. I've also bought wrist braces to wear at night, but so far, nothing seems to be helping :(
For now, I will hold my hands above my head trying to get the fluid down while watching my TV-tummy as my boys duke it out inside!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Things that go bump in the night
19w3d
I had another midwife appointment today. Everything is looking good. All of the pains I feel, and I've been feeling a lot of them, are normal. Mostly the pains are on my right side, from my mid-back/kidney area wrapping around to my pelvis. It's just the stretching of the ligaments that are causing the pain. I was told when it gets bad, don't try to be a hero, just take some tylenol, it's perfectly safe. I have a lot of walking to do tomorrow so I might just take some preemptive tylenol in the morning.
I asked to be measured at today's appointment. Not because I am worried that I'm too big, or not big enough, but I just wanted to know how I compared with a regular single pregnancy. I'm measuring 26 weeks today! 7 weeks ahead... I think I'm going to ask to be measured each time just for fun. I wonder at the end how far along I will get to :)
Work has been really great. I've needed to scale back my site visits a little and my co-workers have volunteered to do some of it for me, or at least, they haven't complained when I ask them to do something. For example, I had a bunch of notices that needed to be delivered on Friday, but it was one of the really bad days for the ligament pain and I just couldn't do it. I called one of the buys and they did it for me. He did mention that it was really cold and that I owed him a hot chocolate, but he was just being facetious.
I bought him a hot chocolate today anyway, it was the least I could do.
A full nights sleep is almost non existent over here. I never did get an increased need to pee in the early days. It wasn't until about 2 or 3 weeks ago that I started to go more often. Now it's every few hours and every night between 2am and 3am. Sometimes I'm also waking at 5:30am but I usually try to hold off on that one because I have to get up at 6:30 for work anyway.
A couple of nights ago I had a few firsts.
1. I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction. It was a little scary, I wasn't sure what it was. I was on the computer and trying to ignore how uncomfortable I was but then D came in and asked me how I was feeling. My first instinct was to say "crampy" but then quickly realized that I shouldn't feel crampy. The feeling passed in a few minutes and didn't come back so I didn't worry about it and decided it was just a BH.
2. I was sitting on the couch with my hand resting on my belly and I felt a kick! I have been feeling a lot of movement, but never anything strong enough that would be noticeable from the outside, but this one was really strong and I could definitely feel it on my hand. I can't wait until that is happening more often so D can feel his babies too.
I had another midwife appointment today. Everything is looking good. All of the pains I feel, and I've been feeling a lot of them, are normal. Mostly the pains are on my right side, from my mid-back/kidney area wrapping around to my pelvis. It's just the stretching of the ligaments that are causing the pain. I was told when it gets bad, don't try to be a hero, just take some tylenol, it's perfectly safe. I have a lot of walking to do tomorrow so I might just take some preemptive tylenol in the morning.
I asked to be measured at today's appointment. Not because I am worried that I'm too big, or not big enough, but I just wanted to know how I compared with a regular single pregnancy. I'm measuring 26 weeks today! 7 weeks ahead... I think I'm going to ask to be measured each time just for fun. I wonder at the end how far along I will get to :)
Work has been really great. I've needed to scale back my site visits a little and my co-workers have volunteered to do some of it for me, or at least, they haven't complained when I ask them to do something. For example, I had a bunch of notices that needed to be delivered on Friday, but it was one of the really bad days for the ligament pain and I just couldn't do it. I called one of the buys and they did it for me. He did mention that it was really cold and that I owed him a hot chocolate, but he was just being facetious.
I bought him a hot chocolate today anyway, it was the least I could do.
A full nights sleep is almost non existent over here. I never did get an increased need to pee in the early days. It wasn't until about 2 or 3 weeks ago that I started to go more often. Now it's every few hours and every night between 2am and 3am. Sometimes I'm also waking at 5:30am but I usually try to hold off on that one because I have to get up at 6:30 for work anyway.
A couple of nights ago I had a few firsts.
1. I had my first Braxton Hicks contraction. It was a little scary, I wasn't sure what it was. I was on the computer and trying to ignore how uncomfortable I was but then D came in and asked me how I was feeling. My first instinct was to say "crampy" but then quickly realized that I shouldn't feel crampy. The feeling passed in a few minutes and didn't come back so I didn't worry about it and decided it was just a BH.
2. I was sitting on the couch with my hand resting on my belly and I felt a kick! I have been feeling a lot of movement, but never anything strong enough that would be noticeable from the outside, but this one was really strong and I could definitely feel it on my hand. I can't wait until that is happening more often so D can feel his babies too.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Dreams
18w1d
I had my first gender dream the other day, but it only had to do with Baby B.
You know how as you get further along in pregnancy, sometimes you can see the baby moving inside? And sometimes you can see the outline of a foot, or you just know what body part it is that's poking out? Well this was that to the extreme. I could see the entire baby. Like it was sitting on my belly rather than in it, but it was till covered with my skin and inside me. REALLY FREAKY. Anyway, you could see clearly that he was definitely all boy!
Later in the same dream, I was at my cottage and I gave birth to Baby B - only Baby B, not Baby A... Baby A was still safely inside me. This was particularly worrisome because in my dream I was only around 24 weeks along and I actually gave birth in the cottage, not at a hospital... Good news is that baby seemed fine and was sleeping upstairs when everyone woke up the next morning and they all got to see him.
I've had a feeling ever since the very first ultrasound that Baby A is a girl. I don't know whether it's because she was smaller or what, but I have always referred to Baby A as "her". And now with a dream that Baby B is a boy, I can't wait to find out if my instincts are correct!
Only 17 more sleeps! (but who's counting...)
I had my first gender dream the other day, but it only had to do with Baby B.
You know how as you get further along in pregnancy, sometimes you can see the baby moving inside? And sometimes you can see the outline of a foot, or you just know what body part it is that's poking out? Well this was that to the extreme. I could see the entire baby. Like it was sitting on my belly rather than in it, but it was till covered with my skin and inside me. REALLY FREAKY. Anyway, you could see clearly that he was definitely all boy!
Later in the same dream, I was at my cottage and I gave birth to Baby B - only Baby B, not Baby A... Baby A was still safely inside me. This was particularly worrisome because in my dream I was only around 24 weeks along and I actually gave birth in the cottage, not at a hospital... Good news is that baby seemed fine and was sleeping upstairs when everyone woke up the next morning and they all got to see him.
I've had a feeling ever since the very first ultrasound that Baby A is a girl. I don't know whether it's because she was smaller or what, but I have always referred to Baby A as "her". And now with a dream that Baby B is a boy, I can't wait to find out if my instincts are correct!
Only 17 more sleeps! (but who's counting...)
Friday, January 11, 2013
Symptom Check
16w 0d
How the hell did I get to 4 months already???
So far I've had it pretty good symptom wise **knocks on wood**.
In the first trimester, my main complaints were of heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and nausea. My "morning sickness" always happened in the evening around dinner time, but it never got too terrible. A lot of twin moms describe having exaggerated morning sickness but I've been pretty lucky in that department and have only thrown up once. I keep catching my self thinking that I was made to be pregnant, but then have to remind myself if that was the case, I would have been able to get there on my own. But I digress...
My nausea has finally subsided only to be replaced with heartburn (Tums are my new best friend). Some nights I still feel a little off. I seems that I either have heartburn or nausea, but not both or nothing. I'll take it since it means I will have two little miracles in my arms by the summer.
Other symptoms have included:
round ligament pain (ouch!)
fatigue
spotting - which has stopped, thankfully, for now...
back pain
headaches
less frizzy hair - yes, I hardly have to straighten it anymore!
So far I haven't had any real food aversions or cravings.
I think I may have felt baby B a couple of times, but nothing with any consistency, and I may just have gas...
How the hell did I get to 4 months already???
So far I've had it pretty good symptom wise **knocks on wood**.
In the first trimester, my main complaints were of heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and nausea. My "morning sickness" always happened in the evening around dinner time, but it never got too terrible. A lot of twin moms describe having exaggerated morning sickness but I've been pretty lucky in that department and have only thrown up once. I keep catching my self thinking that I was made to be pregnant, but then have to remind myself if that was the case, I would have been able to get there on my own. But I digress...
My nausea has finally subsided only to be replaced with heartburn (Tums are my new best friend). Some nights I still feel a little off. I seems that I either have heartburn or nausea, but not both or nothing. I'll take it since it means I will have two little miracles in my arms by the summer.
Other symptoms have included:
round ligament pain (ouch!)
fatigue
spotting - which has stopped, thankfully, for now...
back pain
headaches
less frizzy hair - yes, I hardly have to straighten it anymore!
So far I haven't had any real food aversions or cravings.
I think I may have felt baby B a couple of times, but nothing with any consistency, and I may just have gas...
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Reveals
Over the last month I have gradually come out of the pregnancy closet. The first one started with my extended family.
At the beginning of December we always get together for a Christmas cookie exchange and I usually bake the sugar cookies and everyone decorates their own at the exchange. So this year I also made and decorated some for everyone to enjoy while they decorate. I cut out some cookies in the shape of little onesies and decorated them as Dr. Suses's Thing 1 & Thing 2. I forgot to take pictures of them so I don't have any to show you :( but they were cute!
I was a little late getting tot he exchange so it wasn't quite how I planned it. I wanted to put the two Things on top of everyone individual pile of sugars so when they came in and had a look around, they would see them. But by the time I got there, there was already a few people there and they were all hanging out in the kitchen. My mom and sister tried several times to get them to leave the kitchen so I could set up, but it was no use, someone always stayed behind! So instead, I put two cookies each on several small plates that my mom had set out for appetizers, then covered them with a napkin and brought them over to the table 2 or three plates at a time so no one would notice. I thought I was being weird so someone would notice, but no one did.
Once we were all seated, I waited a few minutes, but no one even looked at the small covered plates so my mom finally had to tell everyone that there were a couple of cookies already decorated to enjoy now under the napkin. Once everyone saw the cookies, it took a few minutes for it to sink in and even then, people were a little nervous to say something in case it didn't mean what they thought. They were kinda looking between me and the cookies so I smiles and did some jazz hands before my Aunt tentatively asked "are you trying to tell us something?"
There was many congratulations and then when my mom said something about twins, it finally clicked what the cookies meant and there was a whole other round of congrats. Everyone knew our journey, so there were a few tears from everyone and they were so happy for us. My cousin started slowly growing red trying not to cry before finally breaking down. I swear you could see the line of red rising from her chest, up her neck and over her face.
There was one Aunt missing from the cookie exchange so we called her on speaker right away and told her about the cookies. She just kept saying "awe that's cute" and then I said "oh ya, and they are in the shape of little onseies." again, "Too cute!". Then there was a long silence while I waited for her to get it before I just jumped in and said "This is taking forever, I'm pregnant with twins!" Again there was silence before she said congratulations in a shaky cracking voice (she was obviously crying). It was bitter sweet telling her because she herself was infertile and adopted both of my cousins.
Eventually we all got settled into decorating sugar cookies.
For D's extended family, he really had no interest in doing a grand reveal to his extended family so instead I just signed all of our Christmas cards "Love Erin, Dave, Babies M & M, and Jak". Thankfully the cards were delivered before his big family Christmas on the 22nd. Some of them got it, but others were confused and wondered if Jak had puppies. We were the first to arrive that day and I was a little surprised that his Aunt started talking to him about work before saying anything. Apparently she wanted to wait until she could confirm with his mom before sticking her foot in her mouth if she misunderstood. Once D's mom arrived and set everyone straight there was many congratulations.
I didn't realize I had made my reveals so complicated that it took so much thought, but apparently so. I decided to take a different approach at work. For a few weeks I conducted a social experiment where I stopped hiding my bump and waited to see if anyone would say anything. Only one person asked my coworker M who lied and then promptly told me of the inquiry. No one else dared ask. Eventually, just before New Years, I told a few people at work and then instructed them to spread the word so I wouldn't have to tell anyone. I really don't know how some of them can still not know, it's really pretty obvious now...
The picture in the bottom right corner is from this past weekend compared to the top left corner from October.
At the beginning of December we always get together for a Christmas cookie exchange and I usually bake the sugar cookies and everyone decorates their own at the exchange. So this year I also made and decorated some for everyone to enjoy while they decorate. I cut out some cookies in the shape of little onesies and decorated them as Dr. Suses's Thing 1 & Thing 2. I forgot to take pictures of them so I don't have any to show you :( but they were cute!
I was a little late getting tot he exchange so it wasn't quite how I planned it. I wanted to put the two Things on top of everyone individual pile of sugars so when they came in and had a look around, they would see them. But by the time I got there, there was already a few people there and they were all hanging out in the kitchen. My mom and sister tried several times to get them to leave the kitchen so I could set up, but it was no use, someone always stayed behind! So instead, I put two cookies each on several small plates that my mom had set out for appetizers, then covered them with a napkin and brought them over to the table 2 or three plates at a time so no one would notice. I thought I was being weird so someone would notice, but no one did.
Once we were all seated, I waited a few minutes, but no one even looked at the small covered plates so my mom finally had to tell everyone that there were a couple of cookies already decorated to enjoy now under the napkin. Once everyone saw the cookies, it took a few minutes for it to sink in and even then, people were a little nervous to say something in case it didn't mean what they thought. They were kinda looking between me and the cookies so I smiles and did some jazz hands before my Aunt tentatively asked "are you trying to tell us something?"
There was many congratulations and then when my mom said something about twins, it finally clicked what the cookies meant and there was a whole other round of congrats. Everyone knew our journey, so there were a few tears from everyone and they were so happy for us. My cousin started slowly growing red trying not to cry before finally breaking down. I swear you could see the line of red rising from her chest, up her neck and over her face.
There was one Aunt missing from the cookie exchange so we called her on speaker right away and told her about the cookies. She just kept saying "awe that's cute" and then I said "oh ya, and they are in the shape of little onseies." again, "Too cute!". Then there was a long silence while I waited for her to get it before I just jumped in and said "This is taking forever, I'm pregnant with twins!" Again there was silence before she said congratulations in a shaky cracking voice (she was obviously crying). It was bitter sweet telling her because she herself was infertile and adopted both of my cousins.
Eventually we all got settled into decorating sugar cookies.
For D's extended family, he really had no interest in doing a grand reveal to his extended family so instead I just signed all of our Christmas cards "Love Erin, Dave, Babies M & M, and Jak". Thankfully the cards were delivered before his big family Christmas on the 22nd. Some of them got it, but others were confused and wondered if Jak had puppies. We were the first to arrive that day and I was a little surprised that his Aunt started talking to him about work before saying anything. Apparently she wanted to wait until she could confirm with his mom before sticking her foot in her mouth if she misunderstood. Once D's mom arrived and set everyone straight there was many congratulations.
I didn't realize I had made my reveals so complicated that it took so much thought, but apparently so. I decided to take a different approach at work. For a few weeks I conducted a social experiment where I stopped hiding my bump and waited to see if anyone would say anything. Only one person asked my coworker M who lied and then promptly told me of the inquiry. No one else dared ask. Eventually, just before New Years, I told a few people at work and then instructed them to spread the word so I wouldn't have to tell anyone. I really don't know how some of them can still not know, it's really pretty obvious now...
The picture in the bottom right corner is from this past weekend compared to the top left corner from October.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
a little scared
13w 2d
Last Tuesday I had my last appointment with the FC and we got to see this:
Then on Thursday at 5 pm I started seeing red, blood that is. It was very scary. I got up from my chair at work and felt wet so when I checked (I was alone in the office, everyone else had gone home by that time) my finger came back bloody. I immediately called the midwives emergency line. They told me that if the bleeding got worse or I started cramping, to go to emergency at the hospital. Otherwise they would set up an ultrasound for me on Friday. I was told to relax for the weekend and not do any housework; curl up on the couch, watch Christmas movies and just rest. By the time I got home the bleeding had stopped and was just spotting. So I called in sick on Friday and went to the ultrasound and got to see the babies again:
Everyone was doing fine, wiggling around, and waving and turning over with strong heartbeats! The official ultrasound report didn't get to the midwives until Monday, but everything was "absolutely perfect" and they couldn't find any reason for the bleeding.
Fast forward to yesterday morning, just after I got out of the shower, I started bleeding again. This time was the exactly the same as last time, it only lasted about 20 min then stopped and turned to spotting. Again I called the midwives, but they didn't send me for another ultrasound this time. I'm still spotting a little today, but I'm taking it easy and trying to rest as much as I can.
The possible reasons that the midwife gave me that I could be spotting/bleeding in a simple increase in the amount of blood in my body. Also I'm just extra vascular at this point and a simple bump to my cervix, even inadvertently, could result in spotting. If it continues to be an issue they will consult with an OB and possible send me for another scan. I'm not going to bother calling them if it happens the same way again. My next appointment is Jan 7th, if there are any more episodes, I'll let them know then.
Last Tuesday I had my last appointment with the FC and we got to see this:
Twins
Twins
Baby A
Baby B
Then on Thursday at 5 pm I started seeing red, blood that is. It was very scary. I got up from my chair at work and felt wet so when I checked (I was alone in the office, everyone else had gone home by that time) my finger came back bloody. I immediately called the midwives emergency line. They told me that if the bleeding got worse or I started cramping, to go to emergency at the hospital. Otherwise they would set up an ultrasound for me on Friday. I was told to relax for the weekend and not do any housework; curl up on the couch, watch Christmas movies and just rest. By the time I got home the bleeding had stopped and was just spotting. So I called in sick on Friday and went to the ultrasound and got to see the babies again:
Twins
Baby B
Baby A
Everyone was doing fine, wiggling around, and waving and turning over with strong heartbeats! The official ultrasound report didn't get to the midwives until Monday, but everything was "absolutely perfect" and they couldn't find any reason for the bleeding.
Fast forward to yesterday morning, just after I got out of the shower, I started bleeding again. This time was the exactly the same as last time, it only lasted about 20 min then stopped and turned to spotting. Again I called the midwives, but they didn't send me for another ultrasound this time. I'm still spotting a little today, but I'm taking it easy and trying to rest as much as I can.
The possible reasons that the midwife gave me that I could be spotting/bleeding in a simple increase in the amount of blood in my body. Also I'm just extra vascular at this point and a simple bump to my cervix, even inadvertently, could result in spotting. If it continues to be an issue they will consult with an OB and possible send me for another scan. I'm not going to bother calling them if it happens the same way again. My next appointment is Jan 7th, if there are any more episodes, I'll let them know then.
Friday, December 7, 2012
11 Weeks
11 weeks
Sometimes I still can't believe I am 11 weeks pregnant. I've seen the babies twice now and my belly is growing, but it still seems so unreal!
Last week I got a new job, I start on Dec. 17. My replacement starts on Monday and I have a week with him to train. So today I moved all of the files to his new cubicle. I may have over done it a little even though I was using a cart to move everything, it was still a lot of bending over and repetitive motions. By the time I was done, my lower back was pinching every time I bent over. Then after lunch we decorated the office for Christmas. It's the most I've done since becoming pregnant and now I'm exhausted and I have a headache. I had to run out to pick up butter to make cookies tomorrow and for the first time ever I parked in the expectant mothers parking space and didn't even feel guilty about it!
I realized today that I didn't come back with pictures from the last ultrasound! Without further ado, here is the first family photo (9w4d):
Aren't they cute!
So far I haven't had too many symptoms. I've had some nausea in the evenings, mostly around dinner time, and my boobs have been really sore in the middle of the night - it hurts like hell to roll over! I've already had quite a few aches and strains. At one point I thought I was having a gallbladder attack; I even had an ultrasound and everything; but that wasn't it, I just hurt. My chiropractor thinks it was a rib and when he adjusted me, there was a loud crack in the area of the pain and I haven't had any pain there since.
Last weekend I woke up at 7am on Saturday morning because my back hurt so bad that I made D go mattress shopping that morning. Our new mattress gets delivered on Sunday - I can't wait!! Last week I started seeing a massage therapist to help with these pains and the headaches I've been getting.
My mom said all her headaches went away while she was pregnant, but that hasn't been my experience. I've been getting more than normal, it sucks and D is getting tired of giving me neck rubs - too bad, I gave tons to him while he was sick, now it's time to return the favour.
I had a midwife appointment yesterday. It was pretty uneventful, except that I got to hear one of the heartbeats! It's still pretty early to pick up a heartbeat on a Doppler, but since there are two, one of the babies was up out of the pelvis enough to be heard. The other one would not stay still long enough and was very low and behind the uterine artery, so while she could hear it in the background, she couldn't pin it down on the Doppler. Other than that, this was my physical appointment so she checked my liver and kidneys and listened to my lungs and heart. Every thing is a-okay! Since I'd already had a PAP this year, we skipped that and the FC had ordered blood work so they didn't have to do that either. It was a pretty easy appointment.
I get to have one last ultrasound with the FC on Tuesday and it can't come soon enough. After that I don't know when I will have one next, but it will be too far away whenever it is!
Sometimes I still can't believe I am 11 weeks pregnant. I've seen the babies twice now and my belly is growing, but it still seems so unreal!
Last week I got a new job, I start on Dec. 17. My replacement starts on Monday and I have a week with him to train. So today I moved all of the files to his new cubicle. I may have over done it a little even though I was using a cart to move everything, it was still a lot of bending over and repetitive motions. By the time I was done, my lower back was pinching every time I bent over. Then after lunch we decorated the office for Christmas. It's the most I've done since becoming pregnant and now I'm exhausted and I have a headache. I had to run out to pick up butter to make cookies tomorrow and for the first time ever I parked in the expectant mothers parking space and didn't even feel guilty about it!
I realized today that I didn't come back with pictures from the last ultrasound! Without further ado, here is the first family photo (9w4d):
Aren't they cute!
So far I haven't had too many symptoms. I've had some nausea in the evenings, mostly around dinner time, and my boobs have been really sore in the middle of the night - it hurts like hell to roll over! I've already had quite a few aches and strains. At one point I thought I was having a gallbladder attack; I even had an ultrasound and everything; but that wasn't it, I just hurt. My chiropractor thinks it was a rib and when he adjusted me, there was a loud crack in the area of the pain and I haven't had any pain there since.
Last weekend I woke up at 7am on Saturday morning because my back hurt so bad that I made D go mattress shopping that morning. Our new mattress gets delivered on Sunday - I can't wait!! Last week I started seeing a massage therapist to help with these pains and the headaches I've been getting.
My mom said all her headaches went away while she was pregnant, but that hasn't been my experience. I've been getting more than normal, it sucks and D is getting tired of giving me neck rubs - too bad, I gave tons to him while he was sick, now it's time to return the favour.
I had a midwife appointment yesterday. It was pretty uneventful, except that I got to hear one of the heartbeats! It's still pretty early to pick up a heartbeat on a Doppler, but since there are two, one of the babies was up out of the pelvis enough to be heard. The other one would not stay still long enough and was very low and behind the uterine artery, so while she could hear it in the background, she couldn't pin it down on the Doppler. Other than that, this was my physical appointment so she checked my liver and kidneys and listened to my lungs and heart. Every thing is a-okay! Since I'd already had a PAP this year, we skipped that and the FC had ordered blood work so they didn't have to do that either. It was a pretty easy appointment.
I get to have one last ultrasound with the FC on Tuesday and it can't come soon enough. After that I don't know when I will have one next, but it will be too far away whenever it is!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
No Words
7w4d
I had my ultrasound this morning.
Amazing
No Words
Well, maybe a little. D couldn't come with me today so I brought my mom. She didn't know about the twins so it was a big surprise for her.
The ultrasound consists of two parts, an abdominal ultrasound and an internal ultrasound. During the first portion mom kept trying catch a glimpse of the screen. I told her she couldn't peek bcause there may or may not be a suprise for her at the end. The Tech told her that once she was finished her measurements she would bring mom over to have a look at the screen and show her what's going on.
After she brought her over, she turned the screen in our direction and pointing at the screen she said "This is the first baby.... and this is the second baby..." We both waited for mom reaction. The tech said she could tell by my surprise comment that mom didn't know it was twins. Of course, she started crying :) She is so excited!
And now for what you've all been waiting for... Pictures!!
Twins:
Baby A:
Baby B:
As you can see, Baby A is measuring slightly behind Baby B at 6 weeks 5 days while Baby B is 7 weeks 2 days. The DR.s don't seem concerned about it though, they said that the difference in their sizes was within their margin of error. I don't know why, but ever since the ultrasound, I've been referring to Baby A as "she". I don't have a gut feeling about Baby B yet.
I go back in 1-2 weeks for another one! I can't wait!!
I had my ultrasound this morning.
Amazing
No Words
Well, maybe a little. D couldn't come with me today so I brought my mom. She didn't know about the twins so it was a big surprise for her.
The ultrasound consists of two parts, an abdominal ultrasound and an internal ultrasound. During the first portion mom kept trying catch a glimpse of the screen. I told her she couldn't peek bcause there may or may not be a suprise for her at the end. The Tech told her that once she was finished her measurements she would bring mom over to have a look at the screen and show her what's going on.
After she brought her over, she turned the screen in our direction and pointing at the screen she said "This is the first baby.... and this is the second baby..." We both waited for mom reaction. The tech said she could tell by my surprise comment that mom didn't know it was twins. Of course, she started crying :) She is so excited!
And now for what you've all been waiting for... Pictures!!
Twins:
Baby B:
As you can see, Baby A is measuring slightly behind Baby B at 6 weeks 5 days while Baby B is 7 weeks 2 days. The DR.s don't seem concerned about it though, they said that the difference in their sizes was within their margin of error. I don't know why, but ever since the ultrasound, I've been referring to Baby A as "she". I don't have a gut feeling about Baby B yet.
I go back in 1-2 weeks for another one! I can't wait!!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Double tired
6w5d
The last two weeks has been pretty busy and add to that my exhaustion, I haven't had any time to update. I've been hitting the hay between 8:30 and 9:00 every night instead of my usual 10 or 11.
I left off two weeks ago requesting luck for my 3rd beta after my 2nd came back with a low number. The 3rd beta was 2166!! Which is more than double the 2nd beta (899) and more than quadruple the first beta of 489. I was so relieved. It was a very tense week waiting for those results.
We told D's parents last 2 weekends ago because they were going away and my parents last weekend because they were too busy the weekend before. We told both sets of parents the same way.
The last two weeks has been pretty busy and add to that my exhaustion, I haven't had any time to update. I've been hitting the hay between 8:30 and 9:00 every night instead of my usual 10 or 11.
I left off two weeks ago requesting luck for my 3rd beta after my 2nd came back with a low number. The 3rd beta was 2166!! Which is more than double the 2nd beta (899) and more than quadruple the first beta of 489. I was so relieved. It was a very tense week waiting for those results.
We told D's parents last 2 weekends ago because they were going away and my parents last weekend because they were too busy the weekend before. We told both sets of parents the same way.
I made a couple of thank you cards because they had both significantly contributed financially to our IVF cycle. Inside the card I wrote a little not expressing our thanks and asked that they accept this gift as a token of our thanks. I gave them a picture frame that I had picked up a while ago on sale at Walmart. On the frame it said "Grand kids complete the circle of life" and inside I printed a sign, kinda like yellow diamond construction sign that said:
Baby Under Construction
Est. Completion: June 28, 2013
Pretty much everyone had the same reaction "Really???"
My Uncle G, who is staying at my parents house, was the first to get "Congratulations" out. My mom came over and gave me a hug and cried. For the rest of the night she said she couldn't concentrate on the conversation, all she could hear was "baby baby baby? Baby baby-baby baby. Baby." She tried to get my dad to get down the cradle that she has above the garage but I told her I didn't want anything until after Christmas. She is not allowed to do anything until after Christmas - including tell anyone! That is going to be hard for her.
H wasn't there when we told my parents but when she got there, my mom showed her the frame (with my permission) and H jumped on couch were D and I were sitting, in between us, and gave us each a big hug. Her dog was going a little crazy because he couldn't figure out why she was so excited and he kept trying to get to her by climbing over me.
It was almost the same with D's parents, his mom cried a little when she opened the frame. His sister kept asking "is this what I think it means? I dont' want to make any assumptions here." I told her to make assumptions and yes it means what you think it means. She went all red in the face and started crying too. They were having company over for dinner and they were expected any minute so I had to tell L "Ok, now get over it, they can't know!"
In other news, last Friday (6w0d), I woke up feeling short of breath. I couldn't walk up my stairs without feeling winded and I couldn't speak a full sentence without taking a deep breath. I called the FC first thing in the morning to let them know what I was feeling so they could reassure me that it was normal and not a sign of OHSS. I had also been very bloated so I was concerned that my abdomen and lungs were full of fluid as a result of OHSS. If this happens it has to be monitored very closely to make sure it does not need intervention.
D came with me to the clinic that afternoon and they did an ultrasound on my abdomen including up around my rib cage to check my lungs. They didn't let us see anything but we met with one of the RE's right away. She told me that I do not have OHSS and in fact, I am out of the woods at this point for developing it. That would have been a good thing to know before we down there, it would have saved us a trip! She said that the symptoms I was experiencing - the bloating and the shortness of breath - is a result of the progesterone in my system. Also, that those symptoms were probably exaggerated because the ultrasound tech could see two yolk sacks in there.
IT'S TWINS!!!!
It's still pretty early, so anything can still happen, but I feel like crap most days so I'm counting that as a good sign!
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