More Ultrasound Pictures

More frequent monitoring and growth scans means...more pictures :)

Max (at yesterday's scan he was measuring 3lb 3 oz):



and his foot



Molly (at yesterday's scan she was measuring 2lb 12 oz):




and her hand



Because they are growing as they should and are even a little on the bigger side for their gestational age the perinatologist is not worried about them a bit, he says they look like they are doing great! My OB on the other hand is, due to my high blood pressure. Since I was at the OB for monitoring on Monday they said that I needed to be back on Thursday but I have yet to get a call to schedule that appointment. Crossing my fingers that news from the perinatologist will mean I don't have to do twice a week monitorings. I will have growth scans starting from now on at the hospital every two weeks instead of every four but that is just fine with me because I LOVE seeing the little ones.

29 Weeks, 3rd Trimester & My First Trip to L&D

It has been an eventful week or two. I started my 3rd trimester at 28 weeks. Crazy to think I am already that far along after all it took to get us here! I am very thankful and a little in shock.

On Friday, at a routine OB visit the Dr. found that my blood pressure was elevated. Very elevated. 180/90. They sent me right over to the hospital. When I showed up at the Labor and Delivery unit I was taken into one of the rooms and they started some tests. Nothing like being sent to L&D at 29 weeks to really get your blood pressure going... So my pressures were high, they did an ultrasound, put in an IV and took some blood. What I thought was going to be a couple of hours thing very quickly turned into an overnight thing, which turned into a weekend thing. They had me do a 24 hour urine test to see the level of protein, they did multiple monitoring sessions to track the babies heartrates, ultrasounds to check fluid levels and growth of the babies, lots of blood pressure readings and while I was there I also did my 3 hour glucose test.

Good news is that all my tests came back negative for pre-eclampsia and I even passed my 3-hour glucose test. The babies are doing great and measuring about 2 pounds 12 ounces each which is great for 29 weeks.

Bad news is that even though my blood pressures lowered and stabilized at about 130/80 that is still high and this means that I am not out of the woods and will be monitored much more closely for the remainder of the pregnancy. It also means that these babies may end up coming much earlier than we expected.

So far the plan is to see my OB twice a week for monitoring (which took 2 hours on Monday) where they hook up doplers to each of the babies heartrates and track their heart rates, accelerations and decelerations when they move and contractions (which apparently I'm having but not feeling yet). I will also see the Perinatologist (high risk ob) at the MFM unit at the hospital more often but I'm not quite sure of that frequency but should know more after tomorrow's appointment there. From what I was told by my OB I am going to discuss with the MFM the possibility of steroid injections to help the babies lung development, a more detailed overview of what is going on with me in terms of pre-eclampsia and testing and more detail about what is going on with the babies and what it all means in terms of how long they expect me to be able to carry these little ones. The estimate from my OB as of yesterday was that they are hoping I can make it to 34 weeks. In my mind I am really hoping to make it to 36 weeks or even later but we will have to see and I may have to adjust my expectations. Babies will come when they need to and I will trust in the doctors to do their job and keep all of us safe.

Fail

On Saturday I went to take my one hour glucose test, it is not a fun test but also was not a big deal this time. I got a call this morning that I failed.

I'm annoyed this morning for a few reasons:

1. I took a 3 hour glucose test in April when they took me off of Metformin for my insulin resistant PCOS.

2. When I got the Rx for the test I asked my Dr. why they were having me do a 1 hour this time when they had me do a 3 hour before. It kinda seemed like going backwards and even though the 3 hour test was awful I'd much rather do it once than have to go back for a third glucose test. They said just to do the 1 hour.

3. The 3 hour test was awful last time, the people at the blood draw lab couldn't find my veins and I ended up being stuck 12 times total (when it should have been 4) and by the end was starving, shaky and had to be picked up because there was no way I could drive, I was miserable and sick the rest of the day. Needless to say I am not looking forward to doing it again.

4. I hardly have any free time as it is and now I have to carve out at least 4 hours one morning after fasting for 12 hours prior. I think the only time I am even able to do this is next Saturday morning before my best friend's baby shower which now I will probably have to get a ride to and from if this time is anything like last time.

I'm not having a very good day...

How did I get here?

I'm not sure exactly how to explain how I've been feeling lately...maybe a mix between total shock and complete gratitude.

On Sunday I will be 28 weeks pregnant, in my third trimester...with twins no less.

At this time last year I had been trying to get pregnant for a year and a half, had been seeing a specialist for a few months, had gone through a battery of invasive tests and was gearing up for surgery to remove a fallopian tube, wondering if I would ever be able to carry a child of my own. Surgery (apparently for nothing since it turned out that they didn't have to remove it after all) followed by months of treatments getting my hopes up and then crushed over and over. I know how lucky I am to be in the position I am at the moment. There are friends of mine I met at the fertility clinic who are still in treatment and my heart breaks for them because I know what it was like for the 11 months I was there and though it truly is a wonderful place with wonderful people it is not a place anyone wants to be, especially for any real length of time.

And so now here I am. How in the world did I get here? Things I had only dreamed about for years are now realities for me and sometimes I don't know how to handle that. I have a nursery, complete with tiny clothes hanging in the closet, I get to feel my babies move inside me all day long and yesterday a carseat was delivered to the house. For some reason that was a big one for me. A carseat. Realizing that in a short time I'll have a baby to put in that carseat and not only one but two. I really feel totally blessed and a bit overwhelmed. After two years of infertility now I am expecting two babies.

I feel thankful and happy every single day. Quite a difference from the rollercoaster of emotions during the time spent trying to conceive or in treatment. Sometimes I wonder if I would feel this sincere daily gratitude if it had not been for the difficult journey we had to take. I realize that I would be happy still and would have the same attachment to the babies growing inside me but there is something else I feel that comes from all that time doubting and wondering if I would ever have children of my own, praying for a child and not knowing if God would answer that prayer and now, knowing that He did, I also realize that these babies truly are my greatest blessing. I know it sounds a little crazy but I am even thankful for the time of infertility and I wouldn't change a thing. All the pain, doubt and struggle brought me to where I am today and where I am today is better than I ever imagined.

Hiccups

Molly had the hiccups for the first time (or at least for the first time I could feel and/or recognize) today. At first I was like hey, what the heck is going on and once I realized what it was I thought it was kind of cute :)

3D Babies

At our latest appointment at the MFM we had an ultrasound and they were able to get some 3D pictures of the babies. This time Molly was tougher to find and when they did find her she was pushed up against my uterus or being partially hidden by Max. I love these new pictures and it makes me even more eager to see their cute little faces in person!






We also ordered fabric for the crib skirts and a changing pad cover in the same fabric and they should be here at the end of the week. I had previoulsy ordered a fabric swatch and this is the pattern:



I can't wait to get more done in the nursery :)

26 Weeks

Nursery

This weekend we finally were able to get some work done on the nursery. My sister, her fiance and her lovely friend came over and helped us to paint and put together furniture. We have had the furniture for months but I had never seen it in person since we ordered it online. I love it!

Here are a couple of before pictures:




Blue walls for the babies: Benjamin Moore Mystical Blue



2 teams to put together 2 cribs




So far so good :)