15w2d

How Far Along: 15w2d

Milestones: The average fetus at 15 weeks weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 4 inches.  His proportions are becoming even more normal since his legs are longer than his arms.  You probably can't feel it yet, but he's squirming a ton!  He might even be hiccuping in there.  He's making lots of progress.  His joints and limbs can all move now.

Total Weight Gain:  I am up a total of 4.2lbs as of my official weekly weigh-in.  So not a whole lot of weight gain this week.  But I have definitely grown some in the belly this week.

Maternity Clothes:  Nope.  However, I can no longer button my jeans and I have resorted to using a hair tie to keep them closed.  It is so much more comfortable.

Here is the belly shot for this week ...

See ... I have definitely expanded in the belly region.

Sleep:  Urghh!  Not the best sleep this week.  I can no longer sleep on my belly.  And I have had to add a few extra pillows in bed.  I sleep with a pillow under my belly and a pillow between my legs.  This seems to help a bit.  I just wake-up a lot during the night.  I am also getting really hot when I sleep so I think I wake-up because I am sweating.  And then I will throw the comforter off and wake-up 30 minutes later because I am cold.

Best Moment of the Week:  We found out we are having two little boys!!

Sex: Boys!!

Food Cravings:  I am addicted to veggie subs from Subway!  I could seriously eat one at every meal.

Food Aversions:  Nope.

Symptoms:  I guess all it took was mentioning the headaches at my OB appointment and getting a prescription for some medication in order for my headaches to go away.  I have been headache free for a few days!  Please stay away.  It is nice to have the medication on hand though should the headaches appear again.

I am officially feeling pulling and tugging these days.  I also have occasional cramping.  I think the cramping comes if I am dehydrated.  I am really trying my best to drink as much water as I can during the day.  I am drinking a minimum of 67 ounces a day.  This does not include the glass of juice I have with breakfast in the morning.  Most days I manage to get about 84 ounces though.  The pulling is the worst when I go from a sitting position to a standing position.  I seriously do a double take of the ground because I feel like my bladder is going to fall out.  I have been reassured that all of this is normal because of all the growing the little ones are doing.  It is weird because I can now clearly feel the outline of my uterus.  It goes up to my belly button at the moment.  Crazy.

Upcoming Events:  We have an OB appointment on January 10th and we have a MFM appointment on January 24th.  We will also probably schedule an elective u/s in between those dates too.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

"stop kicking your brother"

I feel like I have so much to write about!

We had an OB appointment on December 28th.  Can I mention again how much I absolutely love this office?  I really did not think we would be able to find an OBs office that would compare to the REs office but I feel like we have hit the jackpot.  I will definitely be continuing my care with this OBs office after these babies are born. Our appointment was at 2:30pm and Kara and I were back in the car by 3:10pm!  Amazing!  The first part of the appointment was an u/s to check the length of my cervix.  This is really important in a multiple pregnancy because the chance of preterm labor is so much greater than in a singleton pregnancy.  Of course this u/s required me to take my pants off ... I've missed the wand! (not really)  My cervix looked great!  The u/s tech even pushed on my belly a number of times to see if my cervix would shorten with the added pressure and thankfully it did not shorten in the least bit.  Our wonderful u/s tech ended the u/s with the words, "Well I know you aren't scheduled for an abdominal u/s today but I really want to get a look at your babies so we will do one anyway." ... Love!!!  So we moved onto an abdominal u/s to get another peak at Baby A and Baby B.  Both babies were moving all around!  Baby A had a heartbeat of 158 bpm and Baby B had a heartbeat of 152 bpm.  And the best news ... we found out the sex of each baby!!  So without further ado I present to you ...

Baby A (our little boy)

Baby B (our little boy)

Baby B was doing a "Jersey Shore Fist Pump" in this picture!

Can you believe it?  Two boys!!!  We are beyond thrilled!  Of course there is some room for error but we got some fairly decent "money" shots.  We should be able to get final confirmation of the sexes over the next few weeks.  It is wonderful to finally be able to refer to each baby by name.  But don't get too excited as the names will remain a secret until the babies are born.  So to everyone else in the world Baby A is Apple and Baby B is Orange (Thanks Matt!).  At one point in the u/s you could see Baby A kicking Baby B and the u/s tech replied, "Hey! Stop kicking your brother!"  The u/s tech asked me if I was feeling any movement.  I have not.  She then mentioned that each baby had an anterior placenta.  That means the placenta has formed facing closest to my belly.  So it will probably be some time before I feel any movement because the placenta is acting as an extra cushion.  The u/s tech indicated that she had an anterior placenta too and she first felt movement about 22 weeks.  This is a bit of a bummer but as long as the kiddos are healthy I will learn to deal with it!

We met with the OB after our u/s to do my annual exam (we will leave the details of this out).  Fun!  This meant I got dressed after the u/s.  Then moved to another exam room and got undressed once again.  Did I mention it was 500 degrees in the office?  I was sweating!  I have gained about four lbs since my last OB appointment four weeks ago.  The OB seemed pleased with the weight gain.  My blood pressure was a bit high at 130/70 but considering the stress of the moment and the fact I was moving around so much I'm not too concerned.  I did mention the headaches to my OB and she was a bit concerned about the fact that the headaches did not seem to ever completely disappear.  She gave me a prescription for some pain medicine (simply an increased dosage of Tylenol) and told me to take it if the headaches got unmanageable.  The good news is the headaches have somewhat decreased over the last few days.  This goes for the nausea too.  However, I'm glad to just have something on hand should the headache get unbearable.  Otherwise the OB was pleased with how things were progressing.

We then moved to the OBs office for the remainder of the appointment.  I appreciated the fact that I did not have to sit and discuss our future plan of action while sitting naked in a paper gown!  It is much easier to talk to the OB with clothes on!  I asked for more details on the results of our 1st Trimester genetic screening.  The risks for each baby in terms of Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and Trisomy 18 is less than 1 in greater than 10,000.  So super low!  So we will have another OB appointment on January 10th to complete our 2nd Trimester genetic screening.  This is only comprised of b/w that will test multiple markers to indicate any risk for certain genetic conditions or birth defects.  The OB also mentioned we would do the normal blood pressure check / urinalysis / weight check as well as get a listen to the heartbeats.  I'm not sure if that will be done via u/s or via fetal doppler.  Either way ... as long as I get to hear the heartbeats!  We will then schedule an appointment for about two weeks later with MFM to get our level 2 u/s completed.  This is the big u/s that usually takes place around 20 weeks.

So that is all for the moment!

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

14w1d

How Far Along: 14w1d

Milestones: Your baby's the size of a lemon. Your baby is 3.4 inches and 1.5 ounces.  He has almost doubled in weight since last week and keeps on growing.  He is probably sucking his thumb and wiggling his toes.  His kidneys are making urine and his liver and spleens are doing their jobs too.  He is growing lanugo, a thin peach-fuzz-like hair all over his body.  It will help keep him warm!

Total Weight Gain:  I think the weigh-in last week was a fluke!  I am up a total of 4lbs.  The belly definitely grew this week so this weight gain does not surprise me.  A good moment this week came when Kara was taking my weekly belly shot yesterday.  I lifted up my sweatshirt and she said, "Holy S*%#!  You really are pregnant!"  I'm starting to feel more and more like my belly includes some baby instead of just lunch and dinner.  But I'm stuck in the in-between stage at the moment where I could easily just pass for a fat lady!

Maternity Clothes:  I am still in my regular clothes but I might be moving to the bella band soon.  It will at least help smooth out my belly to make me look more pregnant and less fat.  I do have a good start on maternity clothes though for the morning I wake-up and nothing fits me!

Here is the belly shot for this week ...

Sleep:  I am sleeping just fine.  I still sleep a lot.  I am definitely sleeping on my back most of the time.  I read some pregnancy books that tell me this is a no-no but there is nothing I can do about it.  I fall asleep on my side and then I always wake-up on my back.  I'm not worried about it.  Eventually my back will be uncomfortable and I will probably wake-up still on my side.

Best Moment of the Week:  We got the results of our 1st trimester screening and "the numbers for both babies are in normal range".  Yippee!!  That is a relief.  Go Babies!!  I will ask my OB for more details at my next appointment because the report was faxed to the OBs office.  I am a numbers person (duh!) so I would actually like to know the numbers.  The nurse from the MFM office would not give them to me though.  I was told to direct questions to my OB.

I am officially in the 2nd trimester!! (insert dance moves here)   This is a huge milestone!

Movement:  I cannot wait to feel them move!  Nothing yet.  It will probably be a few more weeks.

Sex:  It is getting closer!  I think we will ask the u/s tech at our appointment this week for a guess.  But we will keep the guess quiet because it is still a bit early.  However, I think Kara and I have decided to get an elective u/s done at around 16 weeks or 17 weeks to determine the sex.  It will cost a bit but would get an actual video of the u/s which we would not get through our OBs office.  And of course more u/s pictures.  Plus we can invite other people to this u/s appointment so we were thinking of asking my mom to tag along.  This way she would be able to see the babies on u/s at least once during this pregnancy.  And she would be there for the big sex reveal!!  We would love for Kara's mom to be able to come too but logistically we know that is not a reality.  So we will see what our OB appointment brings this week but I definitely think we will be scheduling an elective u/s in the near future.  Plus you know I like getting sneak peeks at the babies!!  (Oh!  And if you are reading this mom ... surprise!  Will you come with us?)

Food Cravings:  No real cravings.  I just eat.  And eat.  And eat.  My mom made us a bunch of yummy food this week ... beef stew and chicken noodles ... which I have enjoyed devouring each night.  My friend mentioned fried chicken and mashed potatoes at work the other day and I almost tackled her in mid-sentence.  That was a bit embarrassing.  I think I have done a better job this week eating healthy.  But  I do allow myself sweet treats during the day.  I am sure I will be horrible this weekend because it is the holiday!

Food Aversions:  Nope

Symptoms:  HEADACHES!!  Yep.  These are starting to get on my nerves.  It is essentially a continuous headache at the moment.  The severity of it ebbs and flows during the day but it is always hanging around.  I am going to mention it to my OB at my appointment this week.  I have been taking Tylenol but I still take it very sparingly so it is probably not doing much of anything to actually help my headaches.  I am also still burping non-stop and I still get nausea at night.  I actually get it at 7pm on the dot!  So weird.  It might have something to do with slower digestion.  Who knows?

Upcoming Events:  We have our OB appointment on December 28th.  I hope we get an u/s!!

And Kara and I are excited to celebrate Christmas this weekend.  It will be memorable one for sure.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

13w2d

How Far Along: 13w2d

Milestones: Fingerprints have formed on your baby's tiny fingers, her veins and organs are clearly visible through her still-thin skin, and her body is starting to catch up with her head - which makes up just a third of her body size now.  If you're having a girl, she now has more than 2 million eggs in her ovaries.  Your baby is almost 3 inches long (the size of a medium shrimp) and weighs nearly an ounce.

Total Weight Gain:  I am officially up a total of 0.8 lbs this morning.  Huh?  So that means I have lost a bit of weight this week.  These little ones are taking everything I am putting in my body because I am eating a ton!  Let's review yesterday's "healthy" eating ...

2 pieces of cinnamon raisin bread with butter
2 glasses of orange juice
an orange
a glazed doughnut (I was forced to eat the doughnut. I swear.)
a hot pocket (I never even liked hot pockets before I got pregnant now I am eating them all the time.  Huh?)
potato chips
a few sips of Pepsi (I know.  I am horrible mother.)
5 hershey kisses
a half a burrito bowl from Chipotle (with sour cream I might add)
a half a bag of tortilla chips from Chipotle with guacamole

That is a sorry excuse for healthy eating if I ever saw one!  Please don't show that list to my OB.  Yet the scale says I have only gained a total of 0.8 lbs since I got pregnant.  I promise I do eat healthier most other days.  Yesterday was a bad day.  

Maternity Clothes: I am still in my regular clothes with no indication that I am outgrowing them at the at the moment.

Here is the new belly picture for this week ...

Sleep:  I am still sleeping a lot.  But I have noticed a significant decrease in the number of times I wake-up in the middle of the night to pee.  I have read this decreases in the 2nd trimester.  I am now officially a back sleeper.  I still fall asleep on my side / belly but I always wake-up on my back.  It is definitely getting a bit uncomfortable to sleep on my belly.  What happens when I can't sleep on my back?  How am I going to wake-up?  I guess I will be too big to roll over anyhow so I imagine I would just stay on my side.

Best Moment of the Week:  We had a lot of wonderful moments this week.

Obviously the greatest moment this week was seeing our little ones at the MFM appointment.

We also announced our pregnancy to the world this week.  Yikes!  I made the announcement at work on Thursday (December 15th).   I actually had my really good friend spill the beans because I absolutely did not want to do it.  So this is how it went down ...

My really good friend (let's call her A) recently gave birth to twin girls and also recently found out that another mutual acquaintance of ours (let's call her X) is pregnant with twins.  So A went to spill the beans about X to her boss (let's call the boss M).  I could hear this conversation from my cubicle.

A: Guess What?  X is pregnant with twins!
M: (squeal) Seriously?  That is so exciting.  
A: I know.  It's been a twin explosion.  I just had twins.  Mary is pregnant with twins.  And now X is pregnant with twins.
M:  What?  Mary is pregnant with twins?
A: Yes.
M: (squeal)

It then took about five seconds for me to be tackled at my desk.  And of course the commotion caused everyone else to come running.  I survived!  The painful part only lasted about 20 minutes and most of the responses were extremely positive.  There were a few people who completely ignored me the remainder of the day but for they most part those people did not surprise me.  I am curious though as to how these coworkers expect to not ever make eye contact with me for the next six months.  Haha!

 I did get a really funny e-mail from a co-worker later in the day.  I copied a part of the e-mail below ...

"I had to share this conversation with you.  I was just talking to a co-worker (who will remain unnamed to minimize any further embarrassment) and I mentioned that I was amazed at how well you had been handling the stress at work without giving any indication to us that you were trying to get pregnant or that you were pregnant.  Our co-worker responded with, "How do you know she was even trying to get pregnant?"  ... insert awkward silence.  I just had to share that with you."  

Kara and I then made our official announcement on Facebook that evening.  These were the posts we made to our Facebook pages ...

Mary: "There is big news in the Daniel / Heitzman household.  And we think it is time to announce it to the world.  (deep breath)  Kara and I are thrilled to announce that we are expecting twins in early June 2012.  (We know it can all be a bit confusing but I will be the one with the growing belly.)"

Kara: "Congratulations to the most wonderful person I know for completing her second degree.  All while pregnant with twins! You're awesome Mary!"

The responses we received on Facebook were nothing but positive and I know that we definitely surprised quite a few people!

So as you can see it has been quite the busy week!

Movement:  Nope

Sex:  It is getting closer to when we can find out the sex of these little ones!  I am so excited!!

Food Cravings:  If it falls in the unhealthy food category, then I am craving it!  I just eat all the time.  It is as simple as that.

Food Aversions:  Not really.

Symptoms:  These are definitely changing a bit.  I still get some nausea at night but I really think it is correlated to being super tired in the evenings.  I also burp and have the hiccups ALL the time.  It gets a bit embarrassing when I am in the middle of a conversation at work.  I still have occasional cramping and pulling in my uterus.  That is to be expected.  There is a lot of growing going on!  The headaches have been non-stop.  I think the headaches are the equivalent of another pregnant woman's morning sickness.  The headaches don't always last all day but on occasion they can drag on the entire day.  Not cool.  I have only taken one Tylenol the entire pregnancy though.  So not too bad.  I still felt like a horrible mother when I took that Tylenol though.  Fail.

Upcoming Events:  My big brother is coming home this week!!  And I have never been more excited to see him.  Yippee.

Kara and I are also excited to spend our first Christmas together as parent's.

We have our next OB appointment on December 28th.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

NT Scan

We had an appointment with the MFM today and it included our 1st Trimester genetic screening.  The MFM office is actually located at the hospital where I will eventually deliver these little ones so it was nice to get our first feel for the atmosphere of the place.  We arrived to the appointment a bit early because I was a bit worried about parking.  But we did not have any problems which was awesome.  We found the office in the hospital and I got all signed in for the appointment.  We were given a "pager" (like the one you receive when you are waiting for your seat at a restaurant) and told that we could wait anywhere on the first floor and the pager would go off when it was time for our u/s.  This was great!  I was a bit grossed out by the waiting room (imagine a bunch of germ infested kids running around) so Kara and I went out and waited in the hallway.  We only had to wait about 15 minutes before our pager went off.  Nice!  The u/s tech was waiting for us when we got called back.  I really had to pee before the appointment but I was hesitant to do so because I figured as soon as I did they would ask for a urine sample and I would be up a creek without a paddle.  So as soon as the u/s tech started the u/s I heard, "Oh my!  Your bladder is full." ... Yep.  I know.  And you are pushing on it with an u/s probe!  Well ... Baby A and Baby B were being super cooperative (shocker) so the u/s tech wanted to try and get the NT measurements while they were cooperating.  The u/s tech was wonderful and explained everything as she went along.  It took about 15 minutes to get the NT measurements on both of the babies.  She took the measurement multiple times.  I was looking at a monitor across the room so I had to squint a bit but I believe the NT measurement for Baby A was 1.3mm and the measurement for Baby B was 1.4mm.  I think this is good.  Dr. Google tells me the ideal measurement is anything below 2.5mm.  So once the u/s tech got the NT measurements I got to go empty my bladder.  Awesome!  And of course give my usual urine sample.  That was not a problem this time around.  I then went back to the u/s room for the anatomy portion of the u/s.  The u/s tech spent about 30 additional minutes looking at each part of the body.  So cool ... we got to see the bladder, stomach, brain, spine, ribs, diaphragm, arms, hands, legs, and feet of each baby.  And she pointed out everything to us.  I think all looked great.  Each baby was measuring 13w6d (an entire week ahead of schedule) and each baby had a heartbeat of 159 bpm.  Perhaps they are both the same sex??  We also got to see each baby in 3-D.  It was super awesome!  So without further ado I present to you Baby A and Baby B at 12w6d ...

Baby A

Baby B

Both Baby A and Baby B (a 3-D image)

Once the u/s was complete I met with a nurse for some b/w (also for the 1st Trimester genetic screening), to get my blood pressure measured and to get my official weigh-in.  I am still fluctuating between a 1 lb and 2 lb weight gain.  The u/s tech went to discuss the results of the u/s with the MFM while I finished up with the nurse.  The u/s tech came back and said that the MFM said everything looked great at this point in time and we were free to go home.  The results of the u/s and the b/w will be sent to a lab for further processing.  I should receive a call from the MFM in about a week with the official results of the 1st Trimester genetic screening but at first glance all looks great.  And it is a huge weight off of my shoulders.  I just wish I could put into words the magnitude of today's appointment.  It was amazing.  I actually have two little ones growing in my belly.  Huh?  I cannot stop wondering about each one.  Who will they be?  What will they look like?  What will they grow up to do?  Will they continue to be healthy?  So many questions running through my head.  Overall, Kara and I had a great experience today and everyone we met at the MFM office was super nice.  We will definitely not have any hesitation returning to that office for any additional appointments we might need during this pregnancy.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

12w2d

How Far Along: 12w2d

Milestones: The average fetus at 12 weeks is about 2.1 inches long and .49 ounces.  Now that she's got pretty much all her parts, her main job is to keep on growing.  She's about to enter the growth and maturation stage, in which her organs and tissues will grow and develop rapidly.  She's now developing her reflexes.  If you poke her body she will likely move.  She's opening and closing her fingers and curling her toes too.  Her brain is developing fast.


Total Weight Gain: Um?  Okay.  So I put on the pounds this week.  I am officially up a total of 2 lbs as of this morning.

Maternity Clothes:  Nope. I did buy a few more maternity clothes this week.  I bought a pair of jeans and a shirt from Target.  I also bought some shirts from Old Navy.  I hope that I have some time before I am actually wearing maternity clothes but I am trying to get a feel for what clothes I like.  Plus I want to be prepared when my pants don't fit one morning.  No worries ... I have not cut the tags off of anything yet.  I can all be returned.

Here is the new belly picture for this week ...

I think I just look fat!  I think the babies are pushing my stomach up and all my fatness up and it gives me a pseudo belly.

Sleep:  Yep.  I do this.  A lot.  I have been exhausted this week.  I am usually in bed by 7:30pm.  But I also wake-up at least four times a night (Yes. No need to go back and read that again.  I actually typed 7:30pm).  I pee all the time at night.  It is crazy.  It wakes me up out of a dead sleep.  The good news.  I usually fall back to sleep really fast.  I have also noticed that it is getting more difficult to sleep on my stomach.  I have always been a stomach sleeper but I find when I am waking up in the middle of the night I am on my back.  That never happens.  So subconsciously it must not be that comfortable for me to be on my stomach.

Best Moment of the Week:  It was weird to be buying maternity clothes.  I was waiting for someone to tell me to leave the maternity department.  It is especially weird because I don't look pregnant to the normal person.  But because I am pregnant with twins I know this stomach is going to show-up unexpectedly one morning.

Kara and I have a nighttime tradition.  We follow three rules each and every night.  I like to believe these rules help sustain our relationship.  Rule #1: Never go to bed angry.  Rule #2:  Always say "I love you" before you fall asleep. Rule #3:  Always kiss each other good night.  So you might ask how these rules apply to the best moment of the week?  Well ... I now get three kisses each night before I go to bed.  I get one kiss for me and I get one kiss for each baby.  Kara just randomly started doing this each night and it means the world to me.  It is a good moment.

It is also exciting to know that I am getting very close the the 2nd trimester.  This seems like a big deal to me.

Movement:  Nope

Sex:  Still don't know the answer to this question.  I am starting to have a feeling that it is two boys.  But I also would not be surprised if it was one boy and one girl.  The good news.  I think Kara and I have decided on some names.  We will be okay if we have a boy and a girl or two boys.  But we only have one girls name at the moment.  But I would be absolutely shocked if we found out we were having two girls.  The names will remain a secret from everyone until the babies arrive.  It will be our one surprise.  Plus we don't want feedback from everyone!

Food Cravings:  I just eat all the time.  It is really sad.  I don't really have any new cravings this week.  But once I decide what I want to eat you cannot under any circumstance change my mind.  I am still loving apple juice and I was also craving cinnamon bread this week.  Oh.  And I am craving Pepsi like no other.  This is a surprise because I have not had caffeine for such a long time.  I cut out caffeine (besides chocolate) long before I got pregnant.  This week though all I can think about is fountain pop.  I have allowed myself a few sips of Pepsi a day and it seems to help ease the craving.  I know a few sips is not going to kill me.  

Food Aversions:  Not really. These seem to have gone away.

Symptoms:  I am definitely feeling some periods of cramping and random sharp pains.  Of course I panic but the rational side of me knows that my uterus is doing some serious growing and stretching and these pains are going to come and go.  I am also still dealing with headaches.  I tend to always have a headache by the end of the day.  I know I am in trouble if I wake-up with a headache.  It will not go away until the next day.  I refuse to pop any pills though and so far I have been successful.  The nausea has also come back a bit.  This surprises me.  It tends to be worse in the evening.  In fact the other night I woke-up about 2am and experienced my worst bout of nausea to date.  All I wanted to do was hurl and I could not manage to do it.  Thankfully I fell back to sleep in about 30 minutes and it subsided by the morning.  

What I Miss:  Nothing.

Upcoming Events:  We have our appointment with the MFM on December 14th.  I am so so nervous.  Shocker.  If we have a good appointment, then Kara and I will begin to announce this pregnancy to the world.  That is also very frightening.  But it is also exciting.  I will be so relieved to be out of hiding at work.  It is getting difficult to keep my mouth shut and soon it will be difficult to hide my growing belly.  Please send all the prayers you have this week as we approach a very important u/s appointment.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

11w2d

Baby A and Baby B are officially grounded until they go off to college.  They gave us quite a scare yesterday.  But the good news is both babies seem to be just fine.  So what happened ... I was at work yesterday morning and when I went to the bathroom about 6:30am (I go to work very early) I noticed that I had some very minor spotting.  I did not panic and immediately thought the spotting was probably some withdrawal from stopping the progesterone about 48 hours prior.  I went back to my desk and tried to remain calm.  However, around 7:00am I felt a sudden gush ... um?  Now it was time to panic.  I immediately went to the bathroom and realized that I was bleeding.  It was enough to cover my liner.  I decided to hang out in the bathroom for a few minutes and I realized that I didn't appear to be bleeding anymore.  So I went back to my desk and immediately called Kara who managed to talk me off the ledge a bit.  We just decided that I would call the OBs office as soon as they opened for the day.  I only had some minor spotting after the bleeding incident.  I was trying to remain calm by thinking back to when I had my miscarriage.  I was not have any intense cramping and that was giving me some reassurance.  I called the OBs office at 9:15am and the nurse immediately told me to come in to see the u/s tech.  I was walking in the front door of the OBs office by 9:30am.  The waiting room was full.  I went up to the front desk and let them know that I did not have an appointment but I had called this morning and was told to come in as soon as possible.  The front desk girl immediately said "come on back".  Really?  So by 9:35am I was watching both of my babies on the u/s screen.  I could not bring myself to look at the u/s screen when the tech started but eventually I heard, "Mary.  It is okay to look."  I have never felt so much relief.  The u/s tech took some measurements and both babies appeared to be doing great.  She also searched around for the source of the bleeding but could not find one.  Once the u/s tech was finished she told me to stay put while she went to review the results with the OB.  I know that my OB does not work on Fridays so I assumed she was meeting with the other OB in the office.  About five minutes later there is a knock on the door and in walks my OB.  Relief!!!  She had stopped in the office that morning to do some paper work and was the one that told the nurse when I called this morning to have me come right in.  She reassured me that both babies were doing just fine and sometimes there is not explanation for 1st trimester bleeding.  But because it has seemed to stop for the moment there was no need for me to worry.  I just need to take it easy and follow-up if I have any additional bleeding.  I apologized to the OB for panicking and she quickly reassured me that I need to call the moment I have any sort of concern.  So ... have I mentioned how much I officially love this OBs office!  They rock in my book.  I was walking back into the office by 10:25am only a bit over an hour after I first called the OBs office.  Impressive.  So please keep sending all the positive thoughts and vibes that you can spare that these babies keep growing.

How Far Along: 11w2d

Milestones: Your fetus, about the size of a large lime, measures about 1.75 to 2.4 inches from crown to rump and weighs about three-tenths of an ounce.  You can now hear the heartbeat through a doppler.  Fingernails and external genitalia are showing distinguishing characteristics, and the baby is swallowing and kicking, even though you don't feel it. You uterus is almost big enough to fill your pelvis and may be felt in your lower abdomen.

Total Weight Gain:  I was up 0.8 lbs at my official weigh-in this morning.

Maternity Clothes:  Nope.  But I did buy my first pair of maternity pants!  I know that one morning I am going to wake up and need them.  I actually bought them at the thrift store (a pair of GAP boot cut cords for only $7.99).  I also got a bunch of hand me downs from my really good friend who just had twins.  She is a bit taller than me (that might be a understatement) but I think some of the maternity shirts might fit me towards the end of my pregnancy because they no longer fit her at the end of her pregnancy.  They are just nice to have on hand.

Sleep:  I am actually sleeping great.  I still go to bed early and tend to wake-up around 2:30am.  This is only bad on the days that I have to work and my alarm clock goes off at 4:00am.  Yuck.

Best Moment of the Week:  Our u/s at our first OB appointment.  It never gets old.

We also finished telling most of our immediate family members about the pregnancy.  I even told my twin brother.  I wrote him a letter.  Of course I have not heard a peep from him.  Not a shocker.  But it still stings a bit. (I don't think this should be under the best moment of the week.)

Movement: Nope

Sex:  Welp.  The u/s tech gave us a guess of boy for Baby B at our u/s this past week.  Perhaps?  Kara and I are really starting to believe that Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy just based on  personality alone.  We cannot wait to find out!!

Food Cravings: I have not really had any food cravings this weeks.  The foods I have been craving the past few weeks have disappeared.  This does not mean that I'm not stuffing my face.  Because I am.  I am still digging chocolate.  So not a good craving.  Why can't I crave apples?  Though I have been drinking a lot of apple juice.

Food Aversions:  These seem to have disappeared this week.  Though I was craving milk like crazy a few weeks ago and at the moment I can't really stand the thought of it.  Weird.

Symptoms:  I have felt really good this week (outside of our bleeding scare).  I feel really lucky to have survived most of the 1st trimester with minimal symptoms.  I am still exhausted at the end of the day but that is to be expected I think.  I mentioned to the OB at my first appointment on Wednesday that the lack of symptoms makes me really nervous.  I guess it just varies person to person.  And I need to be grateful.  I would be grateful if the bleeding stays away forever.

What I Miss: Nothing

Upcoming Events:  We have our appointment with the MFM on December 14th.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary

some pictures

Here are some pictures ...

Baby A (measuring 11w0d)

Baby B (measuring 11w2d)

And our first belly shot at 11w0d. Do I look pregnant?  I actually really do.  I probably should have taken a picture at 4 weeks when we found out we were pregnant.  Oh well.  

Mary

a real pregnant lady

Kara and I had our first OB appointment yesterday.  Of course I was a bundle of nerves.

The appointment did not start off all that great.  We were told to arrive to the appointment 15 minutes early to complete new patient paperwork.  Not a problem.  Of course when Kara and I arrive at 9:15am we hear the words, "We don't have you on the schedule for today."  Huh?  You called to confirm the appointment two days ago.  Of course I immediately start to panic inside.  All I wanted was to know whether or not I still had two babies growing in my belly!  Turns out ... The front desk girl was looking at the schedule from November 29th and it was November 30th.  We were safe!

Of course I immediately started comparing the OBs office to the REs office.  You could immediately tell the OBs office relies heavily on income from insurance companies while the REs office gets a lot of income from self-pay patients.  How could I tell?  The REs office is super duper fancy.  The OBs office ... not so much!  And the exam rooms?  An even bigger difference!  Let me tell you though ... it was so GREAT to be in that OBs office.  There were pregnant women all around me and it didn't bug me in the least bit.  That's a change from a few months ago.

Kara and I only waited about 20 minutes before we were called back by the nurse.  I did the standard get weighed, pee in a cup, and take my blood pressure (120/62) for those keeping track at home.  I was surprised my blood pressure was decent considering I wanted to puke all over the exam room floor.  Kara and I then waited to meet the OB.  I was starting to get worried that my records did not get transferred over from the REs office because of comments that had been made by the front desk girl.  Plus my file looked really small when the nurse brought us back to the room.  All my fears immediately melted away when the OB entered the room with the words ... "Congratulations!  And it's twins!"   Sweet.  They had gotten my records because I had never even mentioned the twin pregnancy to the office.  The OB was amazing from the minute she walked into the room.  She briefly went over our trying to get pregnant history.  And listened to my concerns about miscarriage.  And even better ... she did not minimize my concerns and stated, "When you go through any sort of fertility treatments and then add a miscarriage on top of that of course you are going to be concerned.  We will do an u/s today."  .... I could have HUGGED her!  I felt immediate relief.  The OB spent a bunch of time going over the plan of action for the pregnancy.  It looks like I will be working with both the OB and a high risk doctor (maternal fetal medicine doctor or a MFM).  Both doctors then collaborate with one another about my care.  My OB has delivered many sets of twins and also a few set of triplets so I feel very comfortable with her overseeing my pregnancy.  She also listened to all my concerns that I had regarding a vaginal birth versus a c-section.  We will leave my beliefs on both of those for a later date.  My thoughts might surprise some people.  And even better she was immediately on bored with how I wanted to give birth to these babies.  She also expressed the concerns she has with twin pregnancies and I appreciated the fact that she considers a twin pregnancy to be a much higher risk than a singleton pregnancy.  We finally discussed my weight gain (or lack thereof) and she indicated that because of my size she is okay with me only gaining between 30 - 35 lbs this pregnancy.  If I gain more it is not a problem.  It appears that my OB believes most of my weight gain will be all baby.  So after all the talk it was u/s time ...

I got to keep my pants on!!!  Not once did I have to take my pants off for this appointment.  That is a milestone.  I had a big girl ultrasound.  Kara and I both really liked the u/s tech too.  She spread the gel on my belly and immediately both babies popped up on the screen.  Her words, "We don't even have to check for a heartbeat on Baby B.  He is moving around like crazy."  And of course I followed it up with, "What about Baby A?  Heartbeat?" and the u/s tech immediately moved over to check on my precious Baby A who was resting comfortably next to his or her sibling.  Relief!!  It was amazing.  Both babies actually looked like babies.  They have grown so much over the past two weeks.  Baby A is measuring 11w0d and had a heartbeat of 171 bpm and Baby B (our wiggle worm) is measuring 11w2d and had a heartbeat of 176 bpm.  The u/s tech also asked us if we plan to find out the sex of the babies.  Of course we do!  I then noticed she was spending a lot of time looking at our wiggle worm Baby B.  She then says, "I wouldn't go painting the nursery blue but if I had to bet I would say Baby B is a boy."  Haha!  We shall see.  Perhaps that means that Baby A who is always super calm is a girl!  We should be able to find out in just a few weeks.  We got some awesome pictures of the babies.  I haven't had time to scan them into the computer but when I do I will be sure to post them.

When we left the u/s portion of the appointment it was time to leave for the day.  When I walked out to the front desk to schedule my next appointment my OB was on the phone.  She immediately made eye contact with me to see if the u/s went okay.  I just nodded my head "Yes" and I got a big thumbs up from the OB.  And then much to my amazement ... when the OB got off the phone she immediately came over and gave Kara and me a big hug.  It was so sweet of her!  I think she could sense my relief.

So our next steps ... We will have an appointment with the MFM in the next couple of weeks.  It will give us an opportunity to meet the MFM and also complete our 1st trimester genetic screening.  The 1st trimester genetic screening will include an NT scan (basically an u/s that measure the thickness of the back of the babies necks) and some b/w.  The genetic screening will give us some percentages in terms of the likelihood of either baby having one of the most common chromosomal abnormalities such as Down Syndrome.  Not everyone opts for this test but Kara and I both believe strongly in being presented with as much information as possible.  So we have opted to complete this screening.  We then have our next OB appointment in four weeks (YIKES).  I will have my annual done at this time (not cool because that means the pants have to come off again) and I believe I will have another u/s.  I at least know I will have my first cervical length u/s at this appointment (Yep.  That means it is back to my pants being off and a date with ole wandy.) so I am assuming we will also get to see the babies at this appointment.  Plus my OB mentioned that I will probably get an u/s at every appointment.  So that is were we stand.

Please keep growing little ones.

Mary