Also we got to see my cousin's baby boy he is such a little cutie and I hope at least one of our kids have some adorable little curls like he does.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter
Yesterday was a big day. Not only was it Easter but... it was my wedding anniversary, my grandmother's birthday, my sister's half birthday, the day after my other sister got engaged and...my half-way point for this pregnancy! Yay I'm officially half-baked, which for me means I'm most likely more than 1/2 way there since twins don't go 40 weeks but I'm so excited for this milestone. Here I am at 20 weeks:
Also we got to see my cousin's baby boy he is such a little cutie and I hope at least one of our kids have some adorable little curls like he does.
Also we got to see my cousin's baby boy he is such a little cutie and I hope at least one of our kids have some adorable little curls like he does.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Max and Molly
Our babies are no longer its! We found out on Wednesday that we are having one girl and one boy and are over the moon excited about it!
Wednesday was our anatomy scan at the Stamford Hospital Maternal Fetal Medicine unit. My mom joined Shawn and I and it was by far the best ultrasound yet :)
The ultrasound tech started with Baby A taking all the measurements and it was cool because we got to see all the little baby parts as she measured them. When she was done she showed us that Baby A is a girl! I started to cry I was so excited. It was just such a strange and wonderful feeling finally knowing. Then the tech moved on to Baby B taking all the measurements and then when it came time to see if Baby B was a boy or a girl I saw what was on the screen and announced it before the tech even had a chance. It's a boy!
Besides the gender reveals everything looks great with both of them but we do have to go back in about 2 weeks because the Dr. wants to get another look at their hearts and spines since they were too small and not in the best positions to see what they needed. Fine by me - it just means I get to see my little lovies again soon!
So here they are - Baby A is Molly Grace Garan and she weighs about 8oz, Baby B is Max John Garan and he weighs about 9oz:
Wednesday was our anatomy scan at the Stamford Hospital Maternal Fetal Medicine unit. My mom joined Shawn and I and it was by far the best ultrasound yet :)
The ultrasound tech started with Baby A taking all the measurements and it was cool because we got to see all the little baby parts as she measured them. When she was done she showed us that Baby A is a girl! I started to cry I was so excited. It was just such a strange and wonderful feeling finally knowing. Then the tech moved on to Baby B taking all the measurements and then when it came time to see if Baby B was a boy or a girl I saw what was on the screen and announced it before the tech even had a chance. It's a boy!
Besides the gender reveals everything looks great with both of them but we do have to go back in about 2 weeks because the Dr. wants to get another look at their hearts and spines since they were too small and not in the best positions to see what they needed. Fine by me - it just means I get to see my little lovies again soon!
So here they are - Baby A is Molly Grace Garan and she weighs about 8oz, Baby B is Max John Garan and he weighs about 9oz:
Sunday, April 10, 2011
18 Weeks
So I broke down and took my first baby belly picture. I definitely had a belly to start with but I think the twins are definitely starting to show. I am 18 weeks today and this week should be extra fun since we have our anatomy scan coming up on Wednesday - I can't wait to see the twins again and finally know their genders!
Also, I heard from my OB that I passed my glucose test! Whoo!! Unfortunately, I think I will probably have to do the test again...we'll see what my OB says at the next visit on April 29th.
Also, I heard from my OB that I passed my glucose test! Whoo!! Unfortunately, I think I will probably have to do the test again...we'll see what my OB says at the next visit on April 29th.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Updates and what's to come!
So here are some updates about what’s been going on with us since the NT scan and my last blog post:
March 9th we had our second OB visit. Everything with the babies was good and they are growing just as they are supposed to. The results from my NT 1st trimester sequential screening came in as good. It is hard to be as accurate with a twin pregnancy because they have to take the results from me and try to split them between the two not really knowing the allocations but my OB did not seem concerned so I am not either. This time the babies switched it up and I think Baby B was sleepy and Baby A was jumping around. I love seeing them move in there
March 20th was my 28th birthday, I went for a much needed manicure and pedicure that morning and we celebrated with dinner (lasagna with homemade ricotta – yummmmm!!) and cake at home with mom, sisters and sister’s boyfriends. After waiting 2 years to get pregnant, to actually be pregnant this year was a really awesome gift in and of itself but my family spoiled me (and the babies) anyways. Shawn got me a diaper bag and I got a gift certificate to get a Bissell sweep and steam that I’ve wanted for a while and the babies got supersoft blankets and boppy covers and the cutest gingham trimmed hooded towels from pottery barn kids. Then they got me baby clothes... The first box I opened started a waterworks of tears that I just couldn’t stop. I just felt so happy and part of me couldn’t (and still can’t) really believe that this is all happening and in a few months I’ll have the babies I’ve wanted for so long. I was way over-emotional and I think I made my sister’s boyfriends uncomfortable with all the tears at the dining room table. Hopefully I’ll get over this a little bit before my baby shower or I’m in big trouble…
April 1st we had our third OB visit. We got there at 2:30 which was our appointment time but apparently the office had tried to call me to re-schedule because my Dr. had to be in surgery that afternoon. I never got the message and showed up at the scheduled appointment time. Luckily, the other Dr. in the office was still there and squeezed me in to check on the babies. Good thing is that they are doing great! Shawn was able to watch the ultrasound and even took a video of it on his iphone. He said that Baby B was back to its usual routine and was flipping and turning all around while Baby A was calm the whole time. I was super disappointed that I was not able to see my Dr. this time. I had a list of questions I wanted to ask her and things to talk about but I guess my questions and concerns will have to wait until the next visit hopefully with her on April 29th.
April 2nd I went to the Tully Center to get some bloodwork done. I went in to do the second part of my sequential screening, to test my thyroid and to do a 3 hour glucose test. Because of my insulin resistant PCOS they had me skip the 1 hour glucose test and go straight to the 3 hour one. This was torture. Normally you go in (fasting) and they take your blood, drink some nasty sugary drink and then you go back to the waiting area for an hour and after the hour have your blood drawn again, go back and wait another hour and have your blood drawn a third time, wait another hour and go back in for a fourth blood draw. Not a fun was to spend a Saturday morning but whatever. Unfortunately for me on a normal day my veins are deep and hard to find. Add in that this test is fasting and you can’t drink water and the result is that I was super dehydrated, making my tough veins almost impossible to find. Instead of getting pricked 4 times I was pricked a total of 12, and four of these pricks were in my hand which hurts oh so much worse! They had to have 3 different people try to get my blood and by the end of it I was bruised and bloody, covered in bandaids, had a massive headache, was shaky, dizzy and starving. I couldn’t drive and so my mom picked me up to go for lunch. I felt awful the rest of the day.
One thing I want to start to do is take pictures of my growing belly. I have only gained 3 pounds so far and I don’t think a person who doesn’t know me would automatically know I was pregnant right now but I can definitely tell a difference and I think it would be neat to have the pictures week by week to show how I grow. Some people start doing this much earlier so I guess I’m a little late in the game but whatever. Maybe I’ll take a picture when I get home…
Up next is our big ultrasound on April 13th at Stamford Hospital’s Maternal Fetal Medicine unit. I LOVED the ultrasound there last time for the NT scan because you get to see the whole thing on a TV mounted on the ceiling. Hopefully the babies will cooperate and we will leave that appointment knowing their genders! Lots to look forward to in the near future – hopefully soon I’ll start feeling them too
March 9th we had our second OB visit. Everything with the babies was good and they are growing just as they are supposed to. The results from my NT 1st trimester sequential screening came in as good. It is hard to be as accurate with a twin pregnancy because they have to take the results from me and try to split them between the two not really knowing the allocations but my OB did not seem concerned so I am not either. This time the babies switched it up and I think Baby B was sleepy and Baby A was jumping around. I love seeing them move in there
March 20th was my 28th birthday, I went for a much needed manicure and pedicure that morning and we celebrated with dinner (lasagna with homemade ricotta – yummmmm!!) and cake at home with mom, sisters and sister’s boyfriends. After waiting 2 years to get pregnant, to actually be pregnant this year was a really awesome gift in and of itself but my family spoiled me (and the babies) anyways. Shawn got me a diaper bag and I got a gift certificate to get a Bissell sweep and steam that I’ve wanted for a while and the babies got supersoft blankets and boppy covers and the cutest gingham trimmed hooded towels from pottery barn kids. Then they got me baby clothes... The first box I opened started a waterworks of tears that I just couldn’t stop. I just felt so happy and part of me couldn’t (and still can’t) really believe that this is all happening and in a few months I’ll have the babies I’ve wanted for so long. I was way over-emotional and I think I made my sister’s boyfriends uncomfortable with all the tears at the dining room table. Hopefully I’ll get over this a little bit before my baby shower or I’m in big trouble…
April 1st we had our third OB visit. We got there at 2:30 which was our appointment time but apparently the office had tried to call me to re-schedule because my Dr. had to be in surgery that afternoon. I never got the message and showed up at the scheduled appointment time. Luckily, the other Dr. in the office was still there and squeezed me in to check on the babies. Good thing is that they are doing great! Shawn was able to watch the ultrasound and even took a video of it on his iphone. He said that Baby B was back to its usual routine and was flipping and turning all around while Baby A was calm the whole time. I was super disappointed that I was not able to see my Dr. this time. I had a list of questions I wanted to ask her and things to talk about but I guess my questions and concerns will have to wait until the next visit hopefully with her on April 29th.
April 2nd I went to the Tully Center to get some bloodwork done. I went in to do the second part of my sequential screening, to test my thyroid and to do a 3 hour glucose test. Because of my insulin resistant PCOS they had me skip the 1 hour glucose test and go straight to the 3 hour one. This was torture. Normally you go in (fasting) and they take your blood, drink some nasty sugary drink and then you go back to the waiting area for an hour and after the hour have your blood drawn again, go back and wait another hour and have your blood drawn a third time, wait another hour and go back in for a fourth blood draw. Not a fun was to spend a Saturday morning but whatever. Unfortunately for me on a normal day my veins are deep and hard to find. Add in that this test is fasting and you can’t drink water and the result is that I was super dehydrated, making my tough veins almost impossible to find. Instead of getting pricked 4 times I was pricked a total of 12, and four of these pricks were in my hand which hurts oh so much worse! They had to have 3 different people try to get my blood and by the end of it I was bruised and bloody, covered in bandaids, had a massive headache, was shaky, dizzy and starving. I couldn’t drive and so my mom picked me up to go for lunch. I felt awful the rest of the day.
One thing I want to start to do is take pictures of my growing belly. I have only gained 3 pounds so far and I don’t think a person who doesn’t know me would automatically know I was pregnant right now but I can definitely tell a difference and I think it would be neat to have the pictures week by week to show how I grow. Some people start doing this much earlier so I guess I’m a little late in the game but whatever. Maybe I’ll take a picture when I get home…
Up next is our big ultrasound on April 13th at Stamford Hospital’s Maternal Fetal Medicine unit. I LOVED the ultrasound there last time for the NT scan because you get to see the whole thing on a TV mounted on the ceiling. Hopefully the babies will cooperate and we will leave that appointment knowing their genders! Lots to look forward to in the near future – hopefully soon I’ll start feeling them too
Thursday, March 3, 2011
NT Scan
Yesterday was my NT scan. This was also the longest period of time I have gone without an ultrasound since my last one was on February 11th. That may not sound like a long time for most people but I had gotten used to seeing the babies every week so 3 weeks seemed like torture. By the end, even with my swollen tummy I was questioning if I was even still pregnant at all!
First I went in and met with the genetic counselor for about an hour. She took family health histories from both my and Shawn's sides, asked about our backgrounds and let me know that from the histories and my age we seemed to be low risk. She then explained the test I was having and how they would take measurements of the babies and specifically of the amount of fluid behind the babies necks which would give an indication of certain genetic abnormalities, specifically downs syndrome. They wanted the measurement to be below 3. Then they would take my blood and I'd get my complete results in about a week.
This was by far the most amazing ultrasound I have had yet! They had a separate TV mounted on the ceiling for me to watch the entire thing and what was so neat was that I could see the babies moving around! Baby B is up on the top and he/she was moving around like crazy, wiggling, waving its arms and twisting and turning all around. Baby A is lower and looked a little more smushed and was definitely not as active as B. The ultrasound tech wanted to get Baby A to change position so she tapped on my stomach and Baby A would move in response. It was so amazing and I am even more in love with our two little babies!!
Twin A:
Twin B:
The measurements turned out fine also. Baby A measured at 1.4 and Baby B measured at 1.6 so all is well so far and we will have the rest of the results next week when I follow up with my OB on March 11th. I seriously can't wait to see the babies again!
First I went in and met with the genetic counselor for about an hour. She took family health histories from both my and Shawn's sides, asked about our backgrounds and let me know that from the histories and my age we seemed to be low risk. She then explained the test I was having and how they would take measurements of the babies and specifically of the amount of fluid behind the babies necks which would give an indication of certain genetic abnormalities, specifically downs syndrome. They wanted the measurement to be below 3. Then they would take my blood and I'd get my complete results in about a week.
This was by far the most amazing ultrasound I have had yet! They had a separate TV mounted on the ceiling for me to watch the entire thing and what was so neat was that I could see the babies moving around! Baby B is up on the top and he/she was moving around like crazy, wiggling, waving its arms and twisting and turning all around. Baby A is lower and looked a little more smushed and was definitely not as active as B. The ultrasound tech wanted to get Baby A to change position so she tapped on my stomach and Baby A would move in response. It was so amazing and I am even more in love with our two little babies!!
Twin A:
Twin B:
The measurements turned out fine also. Baby A measured at 1.4 and Baby B measured at 1.6 so all is well so far and we will have the rest of the results next week when I follow up with my OB on March 11th. I seriously can't wait to see the babies again!
Monday, February 14, 2011
First visit to my OB
Friday was my first visit with my OB after being released from my RE and there are definitely some major differences that will take some getting used to. I think what I might miss most is my favorite MA who can always find my hard to find deep veins on the first try - the blood draw people across the hall from the OB office sent me home after sticking me twice and told me to go the the blood draw station at the hospital because they couldn't find my veins...
I was so used to getting tons of information and seeing the whole exam on the screen but for the majority of the appointment my OB was looking at the screen and taking measurements and I was just laying there staring at the ceiling, hoping everything was ok with the twins.
When she was finally done taking all the measurements she needed she showed me the screen for a minute and then we talked about how things were. I think next time I am going to ask her if she doesn't mind just thinking aloud as she does the scan since it is what I am used to and it puts me more at ease.
Good news is that both twins are doing great and are measuring on track. The smaller one (which I thought was baby b but they are calling it baby a now) is 3 days behind but she said that she was not concerned about this and she also said that if I had not told her about the SCH (blood clot) and exactly where it was that she may not have even noticed it because it had gotten so small!!
She said that the babies were moving around like crazy and everything looked great - this was the best news I could have gotten and I am so very happy :)
Here are pictures of my little lovies! Baby A (the smaller one is on its side and looks like a tadpole all curled up and Baby B is facing the screen so if you look (very) hard you can see its little eyes, mouth and hands. I think this is my favorite picture so far, just a little bummed because they are just copies of the actual u/s pictures that my OB kept in the file (Boo! - I am so used to RMA giving me all the pics, I never even thought I would have to ask but I guess I know for next time...
Next up is my NT scan which will be at the high risk OB office at the hospital on March 2nd. This will be the longest I've gone without an ultrasound and I usually get antsy and nervous after about 5 days not seeing them so we will see how I hold up for more than 2 weeks :)
I was so used to getting tons of information and seeing the whole exam on the screen but for the majority of the appointment my OB was looking at the screen and taking measurements and I was just laying there staring at the ceiling, hoping everything was ok with the twins.
When she was finally done taking all the measurements she needed she showed me the screen for a minute and then we talked about how things were. I think next time I am going to ask her if she doesn't mind just thinking aloud as she does the scan since it is what I am used to and it puts me more at ease.
Good news is that both twins are doing great and are measuring on track. The smaller one (which I thought was baby b but they are calling it baby a now) is 3 days behind but she said that she was not concerned about this and she also said that if I had not told her about the SCH (blood clot) and exactly where it was that she may not have even noticed it because it had gotten so small!!
She said that the babies were moving around like crazy and everything looked great - this was the best news I could have gotten and I am so very happy :)
Here are pictures of my little lovies! Baby A (the smaller one is on its side and looks like a tadpole all curled up and Baby B is facing the screen so if you look (very) hard you can see its little eyes, mouth and hands. I think this is my favorite picture so far, just a little bummed because they are just copies of the actual u/s pictures that my OB kept in the file (Boo! - I am so used to RMA giving me all the pics, I never even thought I would have to ask but I guess I know for next time...
Next up is my NT scan which will be at the high risk OB office at the hospital on March 2nd. This will be the longest I've gone without an ultrasound and I usually get antsy and nervous after about 5 days not seeing them so we will see how I hold up for more than 2 weeks :)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Graduated :)
So this morning was bittersweet for me. After many ups and downs today was my last visit to my fertility clinic (RMA). My favorite medical assistant who is just about the only one who can draw my blood on the first try gave me a hug as I left.
At our last scan on Friday we got to see both babies and hear their heartbeats which are going strong. I was basically convinced at the prior appointment that we would lose baby b but it seems to be surprising everyone and is catching up! My SCH is getting a little better, though it is still pretty big and the spotting has not stopped (though it has not been scary and bright red like the first 2 times).
Here is a peek at our two little lovies:
I am now trying to get an appointment with my OB, hopefully soon because I have gotten used to seeing what's going on each week.
At our last scan on Friday we got to see both babies and hear their heartbeats which are going strong. I was basically convinced at the prior appointment that we would lose baby b but it seems to be surprising everyone and is catching up! My SCH is getting a little better, though it is still pretty big and the spotting has not stopped (though it has not been scary and bright red like the first 2 times).
Here is a peek at our two little lovies:
I am now trying to get an appointment with my OB, hopefully soon because I have gotten used to seeing what's going on each week.
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