I’m Sorry I Went Missing

You guys….whoa. I’m sorry I just high-tailed it out of sight for a while. Ok, a super duper long time. Like almost a year. Yikes. I suck.

I’m alive, I have two adorable twin boys that are 6 MONTHS! Can you believe it? And we are already planning on when we will have Baby number 3!

I mean…LOOK at them! So different, and so loved! Best investment I ever made.

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So listen, I’ve started a new blog. I know…I could’ve just used this one but this was my secret, private one and this other one isn’t so much.

Please head over to my new blog and follow me along there. I miss you all and think about you all constantly!

Go here:

www.mommysdoublemartini.com

 

xoxoxoxo

20 Weeks – More Than Halfway There!

I went in for my 20 week ultrasound this morning. This was the first time that the husband got to join since that horrific ultrasound we had at 7 weeks where we thought we had a miscarriage but ended up being a massive blood clot. So, this was pretty fun for him. He may have even gotten a little teary eyed ๐Ÿ™‚

This is also the ultrasound where they check the whole anatomy. I was good throughout the check with Baby A and then somewhere between the check on Baby B I started to feel reallllllllly not good. Sweaty, feeling like I’m going to pass out, chills, etc. The husband looked at me and said, “Are you ok?” and I just quietly said…”not at all.” Apparently my blood circulation was being restricted from laying on my back so long. The nurse lifted me to my left side and got me some juice. Took me a bit to get the color back in my face but all was well! Never a dull moment!

I also met with my doctor and got a flu shot which I am so excited about having. After getting sick on our travels out of the country I do NOT want to deal with that again. The doctor did have some concern because as it seems with Baby A, his umbilical cord is connecting into the side of the placenta rather than straight in the middle of it…”to the meat,” she said. This could cause some bleeding problems when it comes time for labor so we will be assigned to a high risk doctor and a c-section will be scheduled. However, she wants to revisit this with an ultrasound again in a month just to make sure since they are so small right now and they can’t be 100% sure since babies were moving like crazy in there.

Baby B also needs a revisit as they couldn’t get a good picture of his heart to see that he has four chambers. Again, just enough information to make me crazy over the next month.

20 weeks

Tomorrow night we go for the hospital tour even though I almost feel its not necessary since I was there 3 times already but would be good for the husband to see.

It’s all coming up so quickly as people start planning for baby showers and diaper parties for us. I can’t wait to meet our little guys but I just feel like I’m not ready! Of course how can I not be ready after waiting over 8 years for them?! I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. This whole journey has been one crazy ride and I just relish in each moment, thanking my ever lucky stars that I was blessed.

And also, thank all of you for being apart of this journey. You’ve been pretty inspirational!!!

18 weeks Update

Well…it’s certainly been a minute since I last blogged. Sorry bout that! It’s been a bit crazy here the past few months.

The nausea has finally subsided but only after a few hospitalizations for IV fluids since my body did not have enough calories and started eating at my fat (Tell me again Dr. how that is a bad thing?!?!)

I just got back from a trip to Europe to visit my husband’s family for the last time before the boys arrive. Flying there as I was 16 weeks pregnant and flying home at 18 weeks. NOT RECOMMENDED. I was so damn uncomfortable for that 9 hour flight. By the time I got off the plane I was nauseous and it felt like my stomach was in a vice grip. It was horrible. Took about a day until the feeling subsided. Lesson learned, I will never travel pregnant again. Never, ever! But we got to announce to everyone what we were having. I had my in-laws open up two separate packages with these socks in them.

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I’ve gotten to see the boys a lot this pregnancy. With all the issues surrounding the blood clotย in the uterus I’ve been in and out of doctors appointments and hospital visits where each time they did an ultrasound. My most recent one at 18 weeks was great and the two boys definitely have their own personalities already. I’ve been feeling small flutters the last two weeks but no big kicks yet. I’m also the size of an 8 month pregnant mom with a singleton.

18 weeks

I, however, do not mind any of this. I wanted this so badly. This whole IVF journey still feels like a blur sometimes. I still have a sore back from the 3 months of Progesterone shots. I’m dreading having to do that again in a few years when we try our next FET. Maybe by then there will be another option!

Speaking of, I have tons of medicines leftover. I know its obviously illegal (I like to take my chances) to trade/sell medicines but these will all go to waste and I’d rather give them to someone who needs them for a much lower price then to just throw it all in the trash. Anyone know of anything or way to do this?

Hope you all are truckin along and thinking only positive thoughts!

I’m Still Here And Hanging On

I know I haven’t written in a while. I’ve been trying to keep myself together. With the nausea finally subsiding slightly (not completely) and after several trips to the hospital I can finally put my fingers to the keyboard.

So it appears I have that extreme form of nausea that Princess Kate had. Awesome. After three days of a migraine where I couldn’t eat or drink anything I finally went in to the hospital and got an IV which seriously put life back into my body. The doctors had confirmed at that point that my body was starving and dipping in to my calorie reserve…aka…eating my own fat. I didn’t realize it was that severe but again..with twins…I gotta eat more, which is so not easy. The great news about always going to the hospital is the weekly or every other day ultrasound. Get to see those sweet alien faces ๐Ÿ™‚

15 weeks

After that lovely visit I started gulping down Ensure shakes that most old people drink but are packed with calories and protein. I eat donuts, eggs, anything I can get my hands on to push calories in. I’m finally putting a little bit of weight on and trying to regulate myself a bit better. The only one who can help me, is me…right?!

On another note…that DAMN blood clot is still bothering me. After weeks of no spotting I started bleeding again. Terrifying enough. This pregnancy has not been easy. And why should it be? Over 7 years of TTC, $40k down the hatch, and a plethora of injections for this needle-phobia girl…why should anything be easy at this point? And people wonder why I’m not religious….

My belly has been growing quite a bit. Granted, I have two babies but man oh man! I look like I’m 5 months! (I’m only 4 now…or 16 weeks in the pregnancy world.)

16 weeks

In other news, my neighbor who has 2yr old twin girls gave us a bunch of her old stuff. Car seats, 4 car seat bases, swings, jumpers, stroller things…I mean she just saved us so much money by doing that. Incredible! I’ve been slowly going through everything and getting the baby room in order and read for furniture. It’s just all so expensive and when you have to buy two of everything…yikes!

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Anyways, life is going on and I’m traveling out of the country this weekend until the second week in October to visit my husband’s family. I hope I can survive a 9 hour plane ride! Here’s hoping!!

The War On Food

People…I can not handle this much more. I am at my wits end.

12 weeks and 4 days pregnant with twins. STILL can not eat without wanting to vomit. STILL all-day nausea and constant swallowing to keep from vomiting. I really…REALLY want this stage to be done and over with.

I get really angry because for sooooo many years I had dreamed of being pregnant. After a long journey I finally am with two precious little babes but I am hating my experience so far. Am I ridiculous for saying that? I honestly thought it would be great, I would feel like a million bucks, I’d be on this amazing eating schedule filled with veggies (omg..barf) and fruit (eh…no please), and loads of protein (meat?! HELL NO!) I am so frustrated and just really want to fast-forward to mid February and with the boys arrive.

Anyone else feel siappetite-loss-ex-cont-alt-articlemilar? I feel like a jerk sometimes for just not loving the process but I can’t seem to get past how horrible I feel ALL DAY, EVER DAY for MONTHS! I’m just going a little crazy here.

Hubs and I are taking two trips this month. One next weekend to the coast near Boston. Our favorite place on earth. And then we fly overseas to visit my husband’s family at the end of September for a couple weeks. I’m just REALLY hoping I can finally eat something.

I also noticed since I’ve been on the Progesterone injections my belly is not as big as it was and it didn’t make me feel better as I thought it would. But MAN am I glad to be done with that!

Sorry I’m so whiny…I just really need a break. Or at least to know I’m not alone in this!

It’s Facebook Official

Today we officially announced our pregnancy on Facebook and every other social media site. It was pretty surreal. As the comments and well wishes continue to stream in I am just overwhelmed with happiness. People are sending me messages about how they have known since High School how badly I wanted a family of my own and it just hit me. What a struggle it was…what a journey it has been.

I’m 12 weeks and 2 days and feeling a little better each day. However I refuse to get off of the Diclegis. I live for that stuff. It’s the only thing that can help me. I also found out that eating red-skinned apples cause insane migraines. So I’ll be staying away from that for a while.

I’m off all fertility medications now. No more massive shots or horrible meds I have to shove up all my crevices. Finally, a normal…boring…and happy pregnancy.

Thought I’d give you a little glimpse of our announcement today. Don’t mind how horrible I look. I was nursing a migraine and trying not to puke. lol

 

baby 2

Bloody Blod Clot Still Haunts Me

Had my 9 week ultrasound today to check on my baby boys. I’m not officially out of my fertility clinic (tears) and in my regular OBGYN office. This was my first ultrasound with them and I was not impressed. The tech was so quiet and she mentioned the blood clot was still there but wouldn’t tell me what the measurement was. She said I would have to wait to speak with my Dr. At my fertility clinic, they told me everything. And I like that WAY better.

Then they put me in a another room and I waited for the doctor. I waited 45 long minutes almost having a heart attack from the fact that the blood clot was still there. Dammit.

My sweet little doctor came in told me that the clot is now 2.7cm (It was 4cm two weeks ago). I need to be mindful of it, no sex, no marathons, nothing. So there we have it.

My little guys were SO cute when we did the ultrasound. Of course they are too small to really see anything fancy but they were wiggling around in there. Dancing away. Baby A has a heartbeat of 180 beats per minute and Baby B has a heartbeat of 178 beats per minute. Both are measuring right around 9 weeks.

Slowly beginning to eat things here and there. I still have pretty bad morning sickness but the Diclegis tablets seem to help me. Depends on the day mostly though. I was told not to stop taking it until I really start to feel better. Will be a few weeks more though.

Anywho….here’s the boys ๐Ÿ™‚

Capture

9 Weeks And Maternity Clothes

As of tomorrow I will officially be 9 weeks. And, officially insane from so many weeks of bed rest and all-day sickness. Wonderful.

I am happy though that the twins are no longer considered “embryos” but have officially graduated to “fetuses.” Big steps here on the home front. In a few days I will go in for another ultrasound to check on them and to see what the blood clot is doing. I’m worried that it will have not decreased in size and/or moved and is risking one or both babies even more than it already was. High hopes only. Positive thinking only. I need these boys to be my miracle.

Today my in-laws are in town and I didn’t feel sick for a few hours so we went to Target and I bought a few maternity clothes. FINALLY! They say with twins you notice you are bigger already at 8 weeks. I definitely agree with that considering NONE of my clothes fit properly. I got some jeans and a few shirts that are comfortable yet chic. Progress! I was, however, really worried about buying the clothes. I lot of “What ifs” crossed my mind. Then I quickly pushed those out of my head and went on my merry way.

A few more weeks of the Progesterone in Oil shots. I’ve been on them for over 3 months now and I’m running out of juice to handle them. Speaking of…gotta go take it!

Bedrest Sucks

I’ve been MIA for a while. I just haven’t had much to say. I’m 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant with the twin boys still. I also still have the large blood clot threatening them both.

In a week I’ll go in for a 9 week ultrasound to see how things are progressing. I’ve put myself on complete bed rest and I’m bored out of my skull! I’ve done a puzzle, got adult coloring books, and friends have sent me their pregnancy books to read. My brain is shutting down.

On top of the boredom, I started to take Diclegis for nausea and it worked for two days and I felt AMAZING. So amazing that I forgot I was on bed rest. Then, it stopped working. I’m back to HORRENDOUS nausea, worse than ever before, and trying to just make it through the day without throwing up. If I throw up, I can burst this blood clot and kill my babies. Thats how sensitive this thing is. It’s horrible. Really, really horrible.

Anyways, I’m not complaining but just not sure what to do with myself. So happy to be pregnant and that IVF worked the first time. Just not sure how many more weeks of this horrible nausea I can take. I’m losing it over here!

Waking Up Into A Nightmare

It was 1:30am this morning when I woke up from a dream thinking that I had wet the bed in my sleep. As I stood up with eyes stilled closed I made my way to the dark bathroom and as I sat down I realized I didn’t really need to go to the bathroom. Flicking on the light, my nightmare began.

I called to my husband and told him that I was bleeding…a lot. Suddenly (sorry for the TMI) I felt movement as if something was coming and out fell a blood clot the size of my palm. Horrified, I began to panic. What do I do? Do I fish out the clot? Do I call an ambulance? What happens when this happens? I’ve never been pregnant and I didn’t even know what was going on. My brain still half asleep.

I wearily called the answering service for my Dr. and as the lady on the other end gathered my information I barely was able to get out the words, “I need to speak with the Dr. I think I am having a miscarriage. It’s twins.” Shocked she said, “You know it’s twins already at 7 weeks?” I was confused. Why was she asking me this? You’re an answering service…not a doctor. Just do your job, lady.

As my Dr. came on the line I was barely able to get the words out between hiccups for air. Sobbing uncontrollably…she did as best as she could to comfort me and suggested I come in first thing to see what is going on. But I already knew. It was over. This dream we’ve had for 7 years is over. We got this far but it was too good to be true I guess.

Hubby and I barely slept and as we woke up I felt like I was in a fog but realized I haven’t been as nauseous as I was. Another confirmation that it’s over. We drove to burger king for a quick coffee and I got a tea. We sat there as we had time to spare and I tried to hold back the tears as best as I could. We were just completely distraught. It all happened so quickly without warning it just didn’t have time to sink in.

We arrived at the office and in we went to the ultrasound room. I immediately cried seeing the familiar face of my ultrasound tech and she just pulled me in for a hug. She told me to take a deep breath and she will look and see what she can find out.

As she inserted the wand almost instantly, I saw a baby. The first time seeing one. First thought was, oh man…we lost one and there is still one in there. Then we saw the second baby. Shock just takes over. What are they doing in there? What is going on here? Clearly, they both must be gone and the worst is yet to come. The tech checks Baby A’s heartbeat and we hear it for the first time. A strong 127 beats per minute. Baby B is hanging on too with 123 beats per minute. Both measuring at 7 weeks, where they should be.

I had imagined my appointment this week for my 7 week check-up which is in another two days to be a moment of joy and happiness. I planned to videotape their heart beats to send to family and take pictures of the two babies hanging out in their little sacs. This time, I was unprepared and in such shock I couldn’t even believe this was happening.

As she continued to look through she saw there was a lot of blood. A lot. Clotted above both babies. This is called a Subchorionic Hemmorrhage. Sounds as bad as it is I guess. The Dr. came in and pulled us in to a huge hug and said the good news is, both babies are still ok for now. Bad news is, we don’t know what will happen.ย 20130507-105645

What this means is that this blood needs to either absorb back into the body or come out. It may come out in one piece like I passed early this morning or it will come out in pieces. The problem is where it is placed. It literally is covering about 70% of Baby B. The risk is 50/50 that Baby B will survive. The only good thing is that the placenta is not near this blood clot giving the baby the blood supply it needs to grow and hopefully be strong enough to fight against and trauma this thing may cause. Baby A has an 80% chance of survival because it’s not really touching that much of the blood clot.

I’ve been ordered to be on bed rest. No movement. At all. Luckily today I feel good enough to eat so I’ve been eating my weight in calories since I lost about 6lbs from morning sickness. Trying my best to get these kids as much nutrition as possible to grow and be strong and beat the odds. A miscarriage is now more of a possibility due to the large size of the blood clot. That’s scary.

I don’t know what else to say other than this nightmare is not over yet. We are not out of the woods but so far, this pregnancy has given me several potential heart attacks. It’s been the scariest 16 hours I’ve ever experienced. A roller coaster I would rather not be on sometimes but for these two little babies with the sweetest round little heads (as seen today), I will do whatever I need to do.