March 28, 2010

Our Babies...

Our Babies have arrived...

Born on March 26, 2010; baby girl weighed 6 lbs 3 oz and 19" long, and baby boy weighed 5 lbs 12 oz and 19" long.

More to follow soon...

March 25, 2010

C-Section Tomorrow!

I am 37 weeks today! ...And still home, so I am assuming/hoping tomorrow (Friday, March 26th, 2010) is going to be the big day (as scheduled)! We visited the hospital and wrapped up admitting and pre-admission testing (b/w) this morning. The c-section is scheduled for 03:30 pm... we are supposed to get a call this evening to confirm the "exact" time (just in case if we can get an earlier slot).

On a personal level, I am feeling extremely calm! I have been counting down hours... but besides that I am not panicking. I can usually get pretty worked up... but I guess I have been waiting for this for a very long time and mentally I am ready to hold our babies in my arms. However, at the same time, I have not once felt rushed to have the babies out till now. I guess preterm labor scare at 24w (with all the medication, monitoring and bedrest... besides IF, bleeding and GD) can make you want to hold on for as long as you possibly can! I am just hoping that there are no crazy complications and the babies are healthy. I am really looking forward to BF'ing and hoping that my body cooperates.


I want to thank you gals for all the support and the best wishes! Oh... and also, tomorrow I complete 1 year of blogging!!

March 23, 2010

Pioneer Reflects on Future of Reproductive Medicine

Scientist at Work: Pioneer Reflects on Future of Reproductive Medicine
-NYTimes

"Dr. Howard W. Jones Jr., the surgeon who, along with his wife, Dr. Georgeanna Seegar Jones, helped to create the first test tube baby born in the United States, turned 99 in December. He is still opinionated, humble and charming, and he has a lot to say about the past and future of the baby-making business...."

March 19, 2010

36 Weeks... and 7 days...!

We completed 36 weeks yesterday!!! Looking back 12w when the bedrest started... 36w seemed so distant. I counted down hours of every day at one point of time! I started calming down a little bit after crossing 30w! Every week seemed like a bonus after that. Emotional and the physical aspect of the long bedrest is beyond words. Yet, here I am at 36w1d today... just 7 days away from our scheduled c-section!

Yes, we rescheduled (from March 31, 2010) to Friday, March 26, 2010 at 37w1d! My husband and I were of the opinion that since technically 37w is full term, we would rather schedule the c-section around that time than have an emergency situation later on. Yes, things can still change anytime, but at least we will be trying our best to get to 37w! Our OB agreed with us, and after a long anxious wait today he finally called at around 0800 pm and informed that we are all set! I am technically off of bedrest as of 36w, but I am so not in a shape to move around... so I am just generally going to take it easy for the next 1 week!

NST and BPP have been going well. Though, they are starting to see some increase in fluid for the babies. It seems that in this stage of the pregnancy it is possible to see increase in fluid if the mom is diabetic. Even though I am not on any medication, I am borderline and have been monitoring my blood sugar (4 times a day) and watching my diet since week 14. So, we will be seeing how things look during Tuesday's NST and might go early if there is any drastic change!

I am just hoping and praying that everything goes well, and we have two healthy babies with us next Friday!

March 17, 2010

Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project

There was an article on Yahoo titled...

Would you volunteer to eat school lunch every day to prove a point? This teacher did.

"...A teacher in Illinois is illustrating her concerns candidly on her own anonymous blog. I like to think of her as an undercover activist for the cause of feeding our children well -- or at least better. She is spending 2010 eating school lunch every day, documenting photos of the (let's be honest, sad-looking) food on her tray, providing some nutritional information, commenting on the taste, and detailing the not-so-pretty bellyaches she's had since beginning the project. It's all chronicled on her blog "Fed Up With Lunch: The School Lunch Project" and through Tweets...."

The ultimate goal of this IF blogosphere being attaining Motherhood... and with so many of the gals involved in the education system, I thought this article was worth posting!

March 11, 2010

35/35 & more...

It is 35/35 today... that is 35w preggers and 35d to go! I always found it exciting to read it on other blogs. Not that it technically counts for twin PG, but it always fascinated me! :)


Anyhow, through the last 35 weeks, 5 of my friends have had *news* to share - gotten pregnant!

The closest of them all is technically just a week behind me as per the real EDD (in April). She told me about her status when she had just figured out (between week 4-5) and I was still in the closet... she knew about the IVF, but I had requested her to not ask about the IVF outcome till I came up with it! I was in shock for a few weeks (as usual, they weren't even ttc their first one)! I finally opened up to her, though our relationship has not been as open as it used to be (we have been good friends since high school and we are the only two who are exclusively in touch with each other for over a decade)... though it is getting better with time.

Then came the news of another friend whose EDD is 4 weeks before mine... so she is ready to pop anytime now! That felt more like a surprised shock - it didn't hit me as hard! May be I had started believing in myself a little more since I was in the second trimester.

This followed by a friend who got PG with her 2nd IVF... I was thrilled! I was so excited and happy for her... she recently delivered a cute and chubby baby boy!

Then, in the last 2 weeks, 2 other friends revealed that they are expecting their 2nd child (they both are 2 weeks apart - due in Sept). How did I feel this time? Numb! I am happy for them, but I am numb.

The genuine excitement I used to have for (non-IF) friends who used to get PG back in the days seems to have disappeared. My reaction has changed from shock & pain to numbness... will it change further? I don't know! When I know there are several of my dear blog buddies still trying and several people in real life still struggling, the IF in me will always stay on the guard!

March 9, 2010

Free Huggies Diapers from Costco

Free Huggies Diapers (2 boxes - Size 2 to 6) from Costco!

March 5, 2010

34 Weeks!!

34w1d today! And there is a lot to report!

I had an OB appointment on 03/03. We did the
GBS test. I haven't heard back from the doc (I need to follow up), but I guess since he didn't call back it is probably negative. Cervix was still closed! I have gained close to 50 lbs (including ~5 lbs of IVF wt)!!! It is gonna be fun to go back to the pre-pregnancy weight - but I guess anything for healthy and chunky babies! My OB does not measure fundal height (for twin PG) - but we did measure this time and I was measuring 42w! We discussed about HUAM and Procardia (see below).

I stopped monitoring on the HUAM (Wednesday, 03/03 was the last day). I used it for close to 9 weeks... it probably is one of the reasons that I could stay sane through the last 2 months! It was reassuring to see that I was not contracting-away beyond the threshold, and at the same time it alerted us enough to take action when required! Though we had now reached a point were the contractions were obviously increasing (I couldn't feel most of them)... it's but natural to be contracting significantly at 34w with twins (especially since it has been going on from end of 2nd trimester). Also, after 34w typically the docs will not stop labor, so it did not make sense to continue monitoring.

I reduced the medication (Procardia) as well... from 80 mg (20 mg every 6 hrs) to 60 mg (20 mg every 8 hrs)... and I will be dropping it further (gradually), and I will be completely off of it by 36w (assuming I reach that far)!

We had a growth scan today (03/05)... everything looked good. Our little boy weighed 5 lbs 1 oz (around 56% ...up from 35th% previously) and our little girl weighed 5 lbs 8 oz (around 66%). I feel so much more relieved after reaching 34 weeks and with these weight measurements!

NST and BPP continue every week for now. We are scheduled for a c-section on Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 37w6d! Though, my OB is thinking it is probably going to be earlier than that.

We installed the car seats today, and we will be getting them inspected tomorrow! The pediatrician that I had mentioned in my previous post... one of my friend (who gave birth recently) is going to the same ped, and she really liked the group... so that's a good thing! This weekend is going to be a major get things done weekend (of course by my parents and DH - while I lay around and give orders :P)!