Countdown

Yes, we still have a couple of months left before we meet our babies.  But the countdown is on, and it feels like we may not get everything done before they arrive.

Things left to do:

1. Paint the nursery (we bought paint this weekend, and finally got the couch moved, but still need to clean a bit more before painting).
2. Make curtains, blankets, wall decorations, etc. to accessorize the nursery.
3. Put together the crib and other furniture.
4. Find and purchase a dresser/changing table (we want a combo, to save space).
5. Organize and put away all of these gifts from friends and family (right now they are piled in our living room and breakfast nook).
6. Prepare for our BBQ Party (our last hurrah before adding babies to the mix).
7. Host our BBQ Party.
8. Video Race (this is scheduled for Memorial day weekend.  It's an annual event that we've never missed.  Hopefully we get to participate this year).
9. Pack for the delivery (we'll need to have stuff ready if we happen to get a call saying "Come now!").
10. Thoroughly clean/scrub/vacuum our house (we live like pigs.  Seriously.)
11. Collapse from exhaustion, since it's the last time we'll get to collapse.  Ever.

Looking at our task list (which I'm sure I left lots of stuff off, but it's already intimidating enough) and the number of days we have that we won't be at work is making our heads spin.  Will we get it done?  Especially since Nathan has set the goal of having the babies' room done by our BBQ party, which is only two weeks away!  YIKES!!!

Turtle time

The last 14 weeks seem to have flown by.  I'm sure this second trimester is going to feel much slower, since we won't have all of the appointments we had in the beginning.  Then it will speed up again in the third trimester when the appointments will pick up again.  

The time between appointments this go-round is taking FOREVER!  I still have 2 more weeks to wait to see my babies (and my LD) again. :-(  They're going to be HUGE (all three of them!).  And we might even be able to find out the genders.  I have to say, I'm dying to know!

I'm starting to get interested in shopping for the babies.  Up to this point, I didn't feel a pull to it (though I admit I did look on the internet a little when I was bored).  But now I am getting excited about outfitting the nursery.  Of course, I still plan to go simple (no need to go crazy), but I can't help pondering crib choices, stroller options, and various other quandaries.  Funnily, I'm not interested in clothing just yet...  Perhaps once I know the genders?  Though I'm sure I still won't be all that gung-ho on clothing, since I'm not much on clothing shopping for me! ;-)

Nathan and I figure we'll get started on the nursery in February/March.  That should give us plenty of wiggle room, in case the babies decide to come early (Please, God, not any earlier than 36 weeks!).  My sister wants to throw a baby shower for us in April, but LD may not be able to travel then, so we are thinking about March instead.  And the annual Multiples Sale is in April, so I imagine we should be all set come May.

One of the twins books that I read suggests not having the "traditional" baby shower and instead throwing a huge party with everyone you know and ask that they bring a case of diapers instead of a gift.  The author said she and her husband did this and ended up not needing to buy diapers for two years!  Of course, how you control the sizes people bring, I don't know.  Nathan and I are considering this option, but I'll have to talk to my sister first.  It would be nice to not have to go poor on diapers. ;-)

Okay, so I'm just rambling now...  Felt the need to update, even though there's not much to update.  LD says she's only feeling nauseous in the mornings now, but she's still not gaining much weight because food doesn't sound good or she feels full after only a few bites.  I hope the eating thing gets easier!  I don't want her to waste away!

Rescheduled

Due to bad weather (and other interruptions) LD has rescheduled the OB appointment for Monday, Dec. 22nd.  We will have to see if either of us can attend.  Nathan is scheduled to work that day and I might have doctor appointments or procedures scheduled.  Fingers crossed!

Say a prayer for LD tonight.  She's apparently caught a cold and even threw up tonight. :-(  Feel better!!! (((LD)))

Building the factory

I just took my first dose of domperidone...  The drug that will be helping me make milk for my babies.  Today marks exactly 6 months until 37 weeks (considered 'full term' for twins).  I pray this works for me!

Thanksgiving Visit

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Nathan's family on Wednesday, then on Thursday I went up to OK to visit with LD and her family (Nathan was working).  I got to meet pretty much the WHOLE family (uncles... aunts... cousins... the works!).  It was cool.  I stayed Thursday and Friday nights, then came home on Saturday.

Thursday night was cute.  LD's kids and I had a "slumber party" in the living room.  We were snuggled in to watch Wall-E and I think I fell asleep about 10 minutes in. ;-)  I woke up and saw we were back on the main menu and asked "Why are you starting it over?"  To which K answered "It's over."  And then David comes out and tells the kids "Stop talking in there!  As soon as the movie is over, you need to go to sleep!"  I told him "It's my fault.  I asked a question."  He laughed and said "Well, you go to sleep too!" ;-)

Friday the kids left for their dad's and LD and I had the afternoon to ourselves.  We went maternity clothes shopping! LOL.  I've never done that before.  She looked so cute!  I know she's annoyed that she already has a belly, but I have to say it's absolutely adorable. :-)  We also went to a movie with her best friend, then came home and hung out with David.  It was a good day. :-)

I was sad to go, and apparently so was my car.  It decided to flash a warning light at us as we were heading to lunch (I was planning to leave after lunch).  We read in the owner's manual that it meant I needed antifreeze.  So we headed to Auto Zone (after we went in LD's mom's car to lunch).  Unfortunately, the guy helping us didn't know what kind of antifreeze to recommend and asked for the manual.  So we went back to the house and picked up my car and took it back to Auto Zone (and the light did not turn on this time).  The guy looked through the manual and after much head scratching decided to call someone.  He came back from the phone and said that my car apparently requires a type of antifreeze that is only sold by VW service centers.  Great!  So he looked in the phone book and the only one was on the north side of OKC (about 30 minutes in the opposite direction of where I needed to go).  LD and I went back to the house and looked online to see if there was anything in the other direction.  There wasn't.  So we made the road trip up to the VW dealership in OKC.  No lights came on once again, but I didn't want to risk driving 3 hours and possibly overheating.  We arrived at the dealership at 2:15.  Apparently on Saturdays they close at 2:00!  I was about ready to cry.  One of the sales people said I could put water in "for now" and it would be fine.  I prayed she was right...

We went back to LD's house (still no warning light) and waited for the engine to cool off so we could add water.  Around 3:30 I was able to add water and head home.  I had no problems whatsoever along the way.  I have NO idea what the deal was.  Guess I'll be taking my car by the VW dealership tomorrow after my doctor's appointment.

So tomorrow it's back to the grind.  :-P  I don't wanna go!  Especially since I've got Book Fair this week and I'm going to be exhausted!

Dr. Appointment 11/25

The whole gang (Nathan, his mom, sister, brother, and I) all headed up to OK yesterday around 10:30ish.  We stopped around 1:00 to grab a quick bite at McDonald's and then we drove the remaining 15 minutes (I was going nuts being so close!).  We arrived just in time.  I hopped out of the car and delivered the goodies (Ben & Jerry's ice cream) before we got back in the car and went to Dr. K's office.  We got to the office right on time (whew!).

We thought this was going to be a general OB work up, with the added bonus of an u/s, but we were apparently mistaken.  All we got was the u/s (there's no way we would have left without one! ;-) ).  But that was enough to put smiles on all our faces.

We were all crammed into the little (and warm!) u/s room waiting for Dr. K to come in.  When he opened the door I think he was a little surprised at the number of people in the room...  Kinda like a clown car!  We introduced ourselves (how cool that we got to say we were Mom, Dad, Grandmother, Aunt, and uncle!!!) and then he got started.

Up popped our little gummy bears!  Two perfect little babies. :-)  One was wiggling its little head while the other was taking a nap.  I told LD "I knew they'd be on different sleep schedules!"  She said she'd try and work on that before she evicts them. ;-)

I haven't scanned the u/s pics into the computer yet (but LD has them on her computer).  If she doesn't do it first, I'll try to get it done later today.  They're starting to be recognizable as little people! :-D

Tomorrow I get to go back up to see LD and her family!  I can't wait.  :-D  I miss them already!

Would you like some whine with that?

I woke up spotting again on Saturday. Luckily, it was gone by that evening. I know it's common and all, but it sure startles me. I'm feeling more pregnant than ever and I whine all the time (David will confirm this...lol); yet I can't help but worry if everything is OK in there. I can't wait until I can pick the babies' heartbeats up with my doppler and feel the babies move, so I have that extra reassurance. Luckily, we have an OB appointment tomorrow and we'll take a peek at these little ones. I can't wait to see them and I'm very excited to see Niki, Nathan, and his family too!

I get to stop injections on December 4th. Eleven more shots, but who's counting? :)

I'm thinking/hoping/praying that the second trimester will be much more enjoyable. Second trimester starts Christmas Day! Merry Christmas to me?! :)

Making Milk

Yesterday I went to my GP to see if he could do something for this stinkin' cold I've got.  Sadly, there's not much he can do, since it appears to be viral.

But while I was there I talked to him about my desire to induce lactation for the twins.  He didn't know anything about it (other than it was possible), which I'd anticipated, so I showed him the book I have on the subject.  Well, the whole book is just about nursing in general, but there's a section on inducing lactation.  He glanced through the pages, then said he would make copies and have his "research assistant" (his wife, who is also a doctor) look into it.  He went ahead and gave me a prescription for the BCP, though, since I need to be on them anyway and he figured there was no point in starting me on one thing and then switching me next month when I start the protocol.

So I'm on my way to making my body ready to nourish those babies!  I'm excited that I may be able to provide for them in this way, even though I couldn't provide the shelter and nourishment they need for this first 9 months.  But this will be the next best thing!

Getting bigger by the day

So I'm standing in the kitchen today, helping Kyrsten with her science fair project. She looks at me and says, "Mom, no offense, but you're tummy has gotten a LOT bigger in the past couple days." She then proceeds to pat my tummy and ask if I can feel the babies move yet. Kids!

However, she's not the only one. At clinicals last week, a patient was saying he wanted a pizza and a beer. Then he said he knew he couldn't have a beer and he'd give it to me, but I apparently can't have it either. He then pats his own belly and said he's as big as me, but there's no baby in his. Humph. Probably all that beer.

Don't get me wrong...I *love* having a baby belly. It would just be nice if I was far enough along to be showing...lol. My jeans no longer fit and my yoga pants are on their way out too.

Only a few more days until I see Niki, Nathan, and their babies again!!!! And I, too, am looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with Niki!!!! :)

7 weeks and causing trouble already...

Well there was a slight startle Wednesday night. I started spotting. Yesterday, it had faded to brown, but I went to the dr anyway after clinicals and all is well. Both babies were doing great with healthy heartbeats. He reminded me that spotting is very common with IVF pregnancies and even more common with twins. While I knew that, it's still scary to see. The spotting was completely gone by last night *knock on wood*, so I'm a bit more relaxed now. Ugh. I hope it doesn't come back! Anyway, Dr. K said he'll be seeing us every 2 weeks until we're 12 weeks at least. He also said we can have an u/s anytime we ask, so that's very comforting.

Here are the most recent pics of the babies. They don't look much different than last week, but they have gotten bigger!

Poor LD. :-(

I can sympathize a little with LD.  Yesterday I threw up 3 times and I've been continuously nauseous since surgery.  I finally got some food to stay down for breakfast this morning, but I still don't feel great. :-(

I am feeling better than yesterday, but I think I'm due for a nap.  I've been up since 6:00, when they took me down for an x-ray, and I'm feeling groggy.  Hopefully when I wake up I'll feel better.

Yesterday I got to share the news of our impending parenthood with tons of people here at the hospital.  Nearly everyone in the OR working on me had met me in September, so I felt the need to share.  They were all super excited for us.  And when I told Dr. D that we were having twins he called us overachievers. ;-)  At least I have something positive to think about while I feel like crud.

LD, I hope today is better for you!  Love you, girl!

Seeing double!

Friday was a very wonderful experience. Despite waiting in the waiting room for so long with my stomach growling, the ultrasound ended up being worth it. I was laying on the table, staring at the screen, when the dr began. I heard Niki "gasp" when she saw the first flicker of a heartbeat. Soon, we saw the flicker of the second heartbeat. I could hear Niki and Nathan react, but I was afraid to look at them. I had a feeling I'd be in tears if I did. Once the ultrasound was complete, I sat up and sure enough, they both had happy tears in their eyes. What a great feeling that was! I was able to hide the tears until Nathan called his mom. I could hear the excitement and her happy tears in her voice. It was then I could no longer control mine. I feel so blessed to be carrying the children and grandchildren of such wonderful people. There's not one doubt in my mind that these babies are going to be loved and oh so spoiled!


Here's Thing 2 (top) and Thing 1 (bottom).


And here they are again with their heartrates underneath. Thing 1 is on top and Thing 2 is on bottom. Although Thing 2's heart rate faded, it was just because of the position he/she is in and the dr had a hard time getting it. Heartrates were 110 and 111.

Finally!

After the slowest week ever, the day is FINALLY here!  Today Nathan and I will get to see our little ones on an ultrasound for the very first time.  I have so many emotions swirling around inside me right now.  I'm excited and nervous at the same time.  Nervous because I'm hoping we will see two heart beats today.  Not zero, not one, and not three (or more).  Two.  Two heart beats will be a perfect blessing today.  

Twice as much fun!

I haven't personally updated in a while. Guess I'm still trying to let the fact it's twins sink in. Twins? Where? Who? Me? Wow.

Things seem to be progressing well so far though. I'm tired all the time. I have strong cravings, indigestion, and constipation. And don't expect me to remember anything you told me 5 minutes ago. I have a major case of "preggo brain". So things seem to be going well, wouldn't you say?

I'm very anxious for the ultrasound Friday, not only because we get to see the babies, but because I'll get to see Niki and Nathan! Only 3 more days!

OK, time to go...we need a nap now...

Are you kidding me?!

Okay, some of you people are just plain mean.  Six people have voted for triplets?!  Seriously?!  You can't honestly think we have a splitter, can you?  You're just trying to freak us out.  Yes, that's all it is.  Because God does not give us more than we can handle, and quite frankly I could not handle triplets.  EEK!  While it might be cool to have a set of identicals, I do not think that it would be a good idea to have a heart patient, who has to have surgery every 2-5 years, to be the mother of triplets!  Can' you imagine?!  Twins is scary enough!  I'm sorry, but I just don't think Nathan and I want to be outnumbered by our kids quite so quickly.  Two is more than enough.

And think of poor LD!  There's no way that carrying triplets would be in her favor.  She's in school.  How could she make it to the end of the semester if there are three?  As it is, we're praying that two won't have her end up on bedrest (I doubt it will, but the chances to get higher with multiples).

So all you mean people who said triplets, please go back and change your vote.  :-P  Either that, or be proven wrong on Nov. 7th.

Third and final beta

The results are in and they are......... 1334!!! :-)  There is no doubt in my mind that we've got two little beans growing in there. :-)

Now we have to wait until 11/7 (11 days, but who's counting? ;-) ) to find out how many there are and (hopefully) see a heart beat.  It's going to be TORTURE to wait!  I talked to the nurse at our RE's office and she said that if we're doing an u/s at LD's OB office then we don't need to do one down here (unless we want to).  LD and I kind of want to, but I'm going to discuss it with Nathan.  I'm not sure what he'll think.  On the one hand, we'd save money on getting LD a plane ticket to come down.  On the other hand, we'd get to see our baby(ies) again. :-)  I guess we'll see what he says and go from there.

Beta #2 (the "official" one)

Today was the day we were supposed to get our first beta.  LD went in this morning  and was able to get the results from her friend at the OB's office before they had even sent it to the RE.  So I got a text around 12:40 from LD with just the #: 254!  At the same time I also got a text from Nathan saying "Friggin' overachievers!"  I read the wrong one first. ;-)  

I texted to Nathan "Holy cow!" and he wrote back "Yeah.  We're either having twins, or Andre the Giant."  I told him LD would probably prefer twins. ;-)

Later I got a phone call from the nurse at the RE's office.  She said she had heard we cheated and already knew we were pregnant from the HPT (apparently LD spilled that much, but not that she snuck a beta too ;-) ).  She told me the beta number and then said that the next beta will be on Monday.  She said "If the next beta doubles as it should, LaDonna will need to come down for an ultrasound around Nov. 14th or so."  I didn't bother telling her we already knew they were doubling (and are confident it will continue to do so) and have an u/s set up for Nov. 7th. :-D  LD and I talked about it and I think we're going to try to have the u/s down here on the 21st instead so that there will be two weeks between the first and second.  Of course, I'll be talking to Nathan tonight to get his opinion before I set anything up.

HPTs and Betas

Well, I could be torturous and drag this out... I seriously considered it... But I couldn't figure out the best way... So I guess I'll just tell you.

When I got home from work (I left a little early so I would be home quicker) I told Nathan "I'm going to go change my pants." He said "Really? I figured you'd be calling LD as you walked in the door." After I changed I came in and we got online and texted LD to call us on our home phone, since it has speaker phone. She called, then set the phone down to go pee in a cup. When she got back on the phone we tried to get our video chat working and it kept messing up. We were freaking out. LD put the HPTs (she dipped 3 of them!) face down so that we could all see at the same time. It kept cutting in and out, and it was pretty blurry, but on one of the tests we were very clearly able to see the results.

Once we saw the results we figured we might as well find out the results of the beta she had drawn yesterday... Only she had to leave a message. Then I reminded her that she has a friend who works in the OB office, so she called her friend and got her to look up the beta number.

Are you ready?

Are you sure??

WE'RE PREGNANT!!!! The HPTs all showed clear positives and the beta was 123!!! Nathan and LD are freaking that one split. But I don't think so. It's two. That's all. And that's scary enough. ;-)

Torturing LD

LD is currently on the phone with Nathan, trying to convince him to let her POAS tonight.  He's being stubborn and won't budge.  While I'd love to know now, I kind of think it's funny to see how crazy Nathan is making her.  It's nice to know he's not selective in his torture! ;-)

Just for the record

Jadine, LD is NOT allowed to test without us, so don't you go trying to convince her otherwise. :-P  Our plan is to test when we can all be "present" to find out the results together.  You are not allowed to know the results before I do, so you can just hold your horses. ;-)

With that said, I'm just as obsessed as LD.  I'm ready to know the results, but also don't want to test early because I don't know how I'd handle a BFN, even if there was still a possibility of a pos later.  We're all keeping ourselves busy until Wednesday night.  We will not all be "together" (I say this, because we will be testing over the phone/video chat) until then.  I'm just ready for Wednesday to get here!!!!

My sister and mom came up this weekend with my 16 month old nephew.  At least I have a good distraction for now!  And with LD heading to Branson, she'll have to be good as well.  We WILL conquer the lure of the pee sticks! ;-)