Appointment Day!

I had an appointment with my OB today. She is such a fantastic lady. She walked in the room with a huge smile on her face, congratulated me and Nate up and down, and then gave me a hug. We solidified some plans for how this pregnancy will be monitored, so that helped to put my mind at ease. Our ultimate goal will be to deliver these monkeys at 38 weeks, which takes us to October 18th. But our first goal will be to make it to 34 weeks (which is September 20th) because our hospital is not equipped to take babies any younger than that. So if they would happen to make an early entrance, they would be flown out to another facility. Obviously, not what we want. So everyone keep your fingers crossed we make it to at least September 20th!!

As for the plan from here...I'll be seeing Dr. L again in 5 weeks. Shortly thereafter, I may get bumped up to biweekly appointments, depending on how things are going. At each appointment, she will do a quick ultrasound in the office just to check on the heartbeats. The picture isn't that great, but it's great seeing how fast they grow!!

In 6 weeks, we are scheduled to have our big "fetal anatomy" ultrasound. From that point forward, we'll be going in every 4 weeks until they're born for an ultrasound to check on their growth. We want both of them to be growing at relatively the same rate. They will tell us at each ultrasound how much the babies are estimated to weigh, though this can be off by several ounces. But it'll be fun to see them on the really high-tech scanner every few weeks!!

So between all of the appointments and all of the scheduled ultrasounds, we will get to see these babies a lot! I was simply AMAZED at how much they've changed in just 4 weeks. At my last appointment, they were still little blobs. It was really heard to decipher what we were exactly looking at (head, belly, butt, etc.). Today, there was no denying what we were seeing! They look exactly like miniature human beings now!! The baby on the right side of my uterus -- the one who was bouncing around like a maniac last time, was sound asleep! Of course the baby residing on the left side -- the one who was completely mellow last time, was folding his/her arms across the chest and then flailing them out. He/she was also crossing and uncrossing the legs furiously!! Again, both heartbeats were nice and strong at about 160bpm. And the amniotic fluid levels look great. All in all, Dr. L said she "has no complaints" and wants all of our appointments to be this smooth.

As for mommy. The morning sickness has again lightened. Though I'm afraid to say that because the last time I blogged about that, it came back with a vengeance. I have gained a whopping 1 pound thus far. No one is concerned quite yet, but we'll now be shooting for a weight gain of about 1 1/2 pounds (or maybe a tad bit more) per week for the rest of the pregnancy! Something tells me I might have to put away the fruits and veggies and start packing in some more calorically dense foods!!

13 weeks

So the babies are really growing. At this stage, they are each 3 inches long. And that is just from crown to rump/butt. If they extended their little legs, that would give them even more length! Three inches is quite a bit longer than I had imagined. Nate and I were in the store yesterday, and we happened to walk past the tape measures. So I had to pull one out to take a look...holy cow!

In addition to that, we now have 2 full ounces of baby. Each little one is measuring at a whopping 1 ounce. Plus, they are surrounded by about 2 tablespoons of amniotic fluid. AND, if you want to know about the placentas, each of those (considering there are two) is also weighing in at an ounce a piece.

You would think I would be a little bigger at this point considering everything that is going on in there. We're talking 6 inches and 2 ounces of baby, 2 ounces of placenta, and 2 ounces of amniotic fluid. I'm sure it won't be long now until I have myself a little pregnant belly!

Comments

So I completely forgot to write about the most amusing comment I've heard so far during this pregnancy. A little over a week ago now, I was at work at the hospital. Everyone knows that I'm pregnant and that we're expecting twins. There is one lady there who I really do like; however, she can be so brash at times. Anyway, I went to get some water out of the kitchen and as we were walking out, she said to me..."well, your ass has sure gotten bigger!" Ummm, thanks? At that point I had gained about 1 pound during the entire pregnancy. Could she really tell that it had gone to my ass?

Now let me tell you. This pregnant lady is not afraid to fire back. Fortunately, I didn't this time. But it was oh so tempting. I have a few quips of my own, but I kept them to myself. I easily could have said "yup, and your mouth is expanding at the same rate as my ass." And there are a few that are not quite so nice, but I didn't say those either. I do try to control myself...because I don't know, it's polite?

So here's what I know. I know that I'm pregnant and therefore, have to gain weight. I also know that I'm pregnant with twins and therefore, have to gain more weight than the average pregnant woman. I'm a smart chicky. I have that all figured out. What I don't need is for people telling me where every pound I gain has decided to make its residence. If my ass happens to grow at a faster rate than my belly, so be it. If my face takes the brutal end of the weight gain, then that is how it will be. I need to gain weight, and that is the bottom line. I don't need to be made aware of where it has gone...because I'm pretty sure by looking in the mirror, I can figure it out myself (again, I'm a pretty smart chicky!).

Rant done.

Morning Sickness

Sorry about the lack of an update. I've been knocked down by morning sickness again. I've been meaning to write in the past few days, but I've felt so miserable. I'm just wondering who exactly coined the term "morning sickness." I figure it had to have been a man (no offense to the men out there!). But it had to have been named by someone who had never experienced it. Because for me, it has been morning, noon, night and middle of the night. Thank goodness I've had my good days. However, those days I feel sick, I feel sick pretty much all day. Though I shouldn't complain because I know some women who have had it MUCH worse...hospitalization, IV's, ports in their arms, etc. Of course, I also know those women who have not had a hint of morning sickness -- and I'm severely jealous!! I'm just hoping the 2nd trimester brings some relief.

Other than that, not much has been going on. It's amazing to think that we've known for 4 weeks that we're expecting twins. But I still don't think it has fully sunken in yet. Maybe it's because I'm still not showing. I thought for sure I would've created myself a little belly by now. But it's not there. However, I have definitely gotten thicker around the middle!! I've certainly expanded sideways a bit. I'm waiting and waiting for the belly, wishing it would make its arrival. Though I'm sure I will be loathing my belly once I am big, miserable, and unable to walk without looking like a penguin! But penguins are cute, right?

The day we found out

So I'm backtracking a little bit to the day we found out we were expecting. Actually, I found out a couple days before I made the announcement to Nate...

On February 20th, a Wednesday morning, I decided that I was going to take a test just for the heck of it. It was still pretty early, so I didn't have my hopes up too high. So I took the test, left it in the bathroom and returned after the allotted time. I thought that *maybe* there was a faint line there. I stared at it and stared at it. Finally I concluded that I was just seeing things. When you want something so badly, it's pretty easy to hallucinate!! It's like being stranded in a desert and seeing a watering hole (not that I've ever been stranded in a desert...but you get my drift).

The next morning, I tested again. I took the test and left it in the bathroom. When I returned, I thought that I was seeing a faint line again! But it still wasn't a dark line like I had hoped. So I was kind of disappointed. I decided that I probably waited too long and that the line was just an evaporation line. So another test, and another "iffy" result.

The next day, Friday, February 22nd, I tested yet again. And again, there was a faint line (or so I thought). I decided I had had enough of trying to read lines and drove to the store to get a test that would spell it out for me -- "pregnant" versus "not pregnant". I got home, immediately took the test and decided to watch as it processed the info. Within 30 seconds, it said PREGNANT!! I just smiled and began devising a plan as to how I was going to tell Nate. I had the day off, so I had some time...

Nate called me and asked if I wanted to meet him for lunch during his break. It was soooo hard keeping the secret from him! But I already knew what I was going to do to tell him. So after lunch, I drove to the store to get a cake and some frosting. I brought the cake home and spelled out "Congrats Daddy" on the cake with the frosting. When he called telling me that he was on his way home, I told him that when he got home, he was not allowed to go into the fridge because I was busy in the kitchen all day making him a surprise. He agreed.
When he got home, he went to take a shower. I got the cake out and put it on the counter and put the pregnancy test in front of the cake. When he was done showering I made him close his eyes and I lead him out to the kitchen and sat him down on the stool. I then backed up with the camera, counted to 3 and told him to open his eyes. The first thing he did was LAUGH!! Later I found out this was because his first thought was "she didn't make this cake!" Haha (and yes, he was right). And then he finally read what was ON the cake, took a second to process it, and then yelled "are you serious!? Oh my God!" It was priceless. Needless to say, I didn't catch that moment on the camera because I snapped the picture right when he opened his eyes, thinking that would be the best reaction.

The giggle.

The shock.

Of course we had to do a re-enactment of his best reaction. Oh...my...God!

2:30am feedings stink

So the babies aren't even here yet, and I'm already not fond of the 2:30am feedings. The past few days, I've been waking up ravenous. I try to ignore it and go back to bed -- because after all, it's 2:30am. However, after laying awake for another 30-45 minutes, I figure I might as well go eat something if I'm ever going to fall back to sleep. It's been frustrating, but I guess it's also preparing us for what's to come! I've been trying to eat something right before I go to bed hoping that it will stave off my hunger till the morning, but it hasn't been working. Does it work with babies?? Maybe that will be my strategy with them. Feed them right before bed and pray they can make it till morning. Wishful thinking, I know. ;) People can dream, right?

Other than that, things have been going well. The "morning sickness" has lightened up quite a bit (knock on wood) and I'm beginning to get some energy back. Nate has been wonderful these past 4-5 weeks. He has allowed me to rest as much as I need to and has been taking care of the household duties that I've been neglecting. And of course, he continues to cook for me, though it's been hard for him to find too many things I'm actually hungry for. I've been living on Wendy's baked potatoes as of late, specifically their broccoli and cheese baked potato. Yummy!!

So that's about it. Will write again within a week I'm sure. There isn't much to report at this stage of the game. I'm sure as we get further along, there will be more to write about. So bare with us till that point!

1st OB appt, all is well

I had my first prenatal appointment yesterday, and everyone is doing just fine. My biggest fear was alleviated...the fear of Vanishing Twin Syndrome. Go ahead and google "twin pregnancy" or even just "twins" and you are bound to read something about Vanishing Twins. It's where one of the twins is absorbed by the body and there is no sign that a second baby even existed (except for the early ultrasound that proved there were two). The mother may or may not experience signs of miscarriage. Experts believe that it occurs in approximately 20-30% of all twin pregnancies diagnosed by early ultrasound. Some even believe the rate to be as high as 70%!! As much as I hate math, I've always been a statistics person. So of course those stats scared me. Plus, the fact that this twin pregnancy WAS diagnosed early -- just shy of 8 weeks -- really had me worried that at my next appointment, they would only be able to find one.

BUT, both babies are doing well. The nurse practitioner decided against trying to listen for the heartbeats via doppler since I'm not quite over 10 weeks yet. It's really hard to find the heartbeat till the pregnancy is 10-12 weeks along. Couple that with the fact that she would be trying to track down two heartbeats, she just decided to do a quick ultrasound in the office. It was a pretty grainy picture, but both heartbeats were visible. And one of the babies was doing somersault after somersault after somersault. He/she was just bouncing around like a little ball in a pinball machine!! The NP also reassured me that the chance of Vanishing Twin Syndrome at this point is now very minute. Yay!

My next visit will be in 4 weeks when I meet with the doctor. I can't wait!