24 Weeks - *Viability* & the CERVIX

It is 24 weeks! We had a growth and cervix scan today.

The babies are doing great and are weighing in at 1lbs 7oz (baby girl) and 1lbs 5oz (baby boy). They were moving around a lot and looked like they were having a good time in there. 24 weeks is viability and I am very glad we made it to this big milestone... every week from here on is going to be a greater milestone in this journey to have two healthy and chunky babies!

Now for my cervix :(... Up until now, I have been measuring at around 3.4 cm (since 16w)... today it was 2.4 cm. That is 1 cm less than what it was 2 weeks ago! Till now I have been going in every two weeks for the cervix check, however this time I have been asked to come in (at the hospital) for my next check with in a week! I am worried and I know I still have quite a bit of cervix there, but that is a big difference in 2 weeks. It is always reassuring for us to get the checks done towards the end of the week, but this time with it being Christmas weekend, I can't really talk directly to my OB till around Monday/Tuesday (unless I call him on his emergency line) and that is not making me happy.

We were planning for a baby shower in January and I wanted to start gearing up towards all that... but right now I don't want to think of where I will be 4 weeks from now!

I have never really mentioned this before, but I was laid off earlier this year and we decided it was better for me to stay back home during this whole crazy ride... which essentially means that I have been resting a hell lot more than I would have had I been working full time. Which means that even if I get on to a pretty strict bed rest, it still wouldn't be very much different than what I have been up to thus far.

I guess right now I am just panicking and I just need to wait and watch. The babies are doing a great job in there... it is the Mommy who needs to keep her stuff together!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody! Please say a little prayer for me! Thank you for all your support!

22 Weeks

Well, 22w4d!

Quite a few things to update, so I am going for the bullet points...

• I had my H1N1 vaccination last Tuesday (12/08/09)... I was ready to take what was available, but fortunately they had the Thimerosal free one available, so I got that. Haven't had any side effects till now... hope it stays that way!
  
  
• Had an OB appointment last Wednesday (12/09/09 - 21W6d)... we discussed c-section again. We tentatively scheduled a c-section date for April 2 (38w1d). My OB does not like to go beyond 38w... and he seems to be highly optimistic :). As much as I want the babies to stay in there for that long, I very well know that that is an absolute best case scenario and things can change like crazy before that! I am trying to stay cautiously optimistic and positive, yet realistic!
  
  
• After the 20w scan, I will be continuing with my cervix check every 2 weeks along with growth scan every 4 weeks (at least as of now)... so the next growth scan will be on 12/24/09 (24w). OB appointments continue to be every 4 weeks as of now (next one will be 01/05/10).
  
  
• Cervix check on last Friday (12/11/09 - 22w1d) went well, I am still measuring around the same... I hope I can hold up the same way for the next several scans!
  
  
• The babies are dancing in there and I can sometimes see the whole tummy move! I might have felt the baby girl hiccup yesterday - it was a continuous rhythmic nudge on the top right side - a little too rhythmic to be kicks... though I am not very confident it was hiccups either... since I have never felt it before!
  
  
• Starting (around) 2 weeks ago, I can hear my left side groin/pelvic area "pop"... it normally happens when I have laid in one position for long. At night when I change positions or get up to pee, it is the most common. It doesn't hurt much, but it definitely makes me want to make any movements slowly. I guess it is Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD)... I didn't really mention it to my OB, but I will be bringing it up the next time I speak with him. Has anyone experienced this... what did you do to reduce it?
  
  
• I signed up for Marvelous Multiples and the Breastfeeding classes (for January) at the hospital I will be going to. I would like to take the Baby Care class as well, but that seems to be conflicting with the other classes and the next one I can go to is in late February... and I am not sure if I am really going to be super mobile at that time. I would imagine that class is going to be pretty general and the other class contents would overlap with this one to some extent... also, my mom will be with us starting Jan mid, so hopefully even if we can't make it to that class we should be okay.
  

Pink & Blue!

Yes, it is a boy and a girl! :)

We had the anatomy scan today (Nov 25 @ 19w6d)... and so far everything looks good! I am so very thankful for how far we have reached and this experience that we have been blessed with. Still a long road ahead, but it is reassuring to see them hale and hearty, kicking and punching their Mommy!

The u/s tech we had was not very verbose, so it was hard to follow most of the stuff she was doing. We were in there for around 1.5 hours... the last 15 minutes were with the MFM, who checked the hearts and some other organs. I would say those 15 minutes were the toughest... since I have always heard that you see an MFM if there is a problem; though I guess for an anatomy scan it is a norm (at our hospital) for the MFM to come in and take a peak at the babies!

The heart rates were at 159 and 163 bpm, and they weighed 11 and 13 ounces (boy and girl respectively). At this stage, they do not measure the length since the babies are curled up. My cervix is still holding up at 3.3, which is a relief. I will be back for my next cervical check in approximately 2 weeks (Dec 11).

I feel like I am getting bigger day by day and it is getting tougher to move around, roll around...! The movement in the belly area is pretty distinct. We might have felt it from the outside on occasions, but it is still not super obvious.

My BFF is coming over for Thanksgiving and we are hoping to do some baby shopping on Friday-Saturday! :)

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

18 Weeks

Well, actually 18w4d!!!

Had an OB appointment last week... we did the AFP testing, which came out normal. We also tested for my TSH (it has been 4 weeks since I stopped my TSH medication)... and fortunately it seems to be stable. It just went up from 0.9 to 1.3 (and not the 3+ that it was at my RE's office).

My 2nd cervix check was Friday and things seem to be stable (so far)... my cervix was measuring 3.4 (like last time)... hopefully it stays the same for weeks to come!

And then... we are barely a week away from our 20w u/s!!! I am nervous, excited and anxious at the same time! It will be one of the big u/s, and if the babies cooperate we will know the genders too! It is scheduled for Nov 25 (a day before Thanksgiving)!

14 Weeks Today!

Yesterday was my second OB appointment at 13W6D. Each passing day makes me a little bit more comfortable with the idea that I am PG... I guess I am just a worrier! Not much has happened in the last 2 weeks, though time sure is flying by!

A summary of the OB visit: NT scan results came back as 1 in 4,200… so the chances of having a baby with DS are pretty low and we won’t be testing any more. My TSH levels have dropped to 0.9 (from 3.6) and the OB decided to redo the b/w to see what is going on. If the levels are still low, I will be stopping my TSH medication (Levothyroxine) and we will be monitoring the levels. I was tested for Gestational Diabetes and am awaiting the results. I hope I don’t have to deal with GD! If the results are negative, I will be tested directly at 28 weeks.

Ultrasounds: I scheduled for the cervical check u/s! The first one will be at 16W1D and will continue thereafter through the pregnancy (every 2 weeks). I am glad that I will get to see the babies so frequently… hopefully that will reduce my anxiety! I also scheduled for our anatomy scan. We will know the sexes a day before Thanksgiving (November 25th at 19W6D)! Besides figuring out a day before the holidays, I am also hoping that I can get some good Thanksgiving deals. I am not very big on sticking to pinks and/or blue, but I would definitely like to have a tinge of it in the decor and clothing. Our spare bedroom is colored blue (by the previous owners)… we might not do anything if it is 2 boys… but it if is 2 girls or a girl/boy combination, we probably will repaint and make it neutral.

I can’t get myself to start shopping yet, but we definitely have been trying to narrow down on the items we need to get. We are planning on test driving a SUV this weekend (I am reluctant to become a minivan driving soccer mom… let’s see how far I can hold up on that! :)), so we can at least make up our mind as to what we want to get. We currently share a 2 door car and that is definitely not going to work (space + safety)… so we have to buy a car before the babies arrive. I have looked at all cars (of course online) of all shapes and sizes and prices over the last 2 years (and have probably mentally owned each one of them), but have kept on delaying on buying one… it was that one thing we wanted to wait till we figured out that we were PG.

We told a few more friends yesterday! And we also told my Grandma! She was on cloud nine after hearing the news… she told my Mom that she felt like dancing (She is almost 80 and has trouble walking!) :) I hope she gets to see her first great grand kids and can spend some memorable time with them as they grow.

The Moment of Truth - TWINS!!

Today was the first u/s at 5w1d and it is TWINS!! There are two miracles in there with yolk sacs (My little babies, keep growing strong)! We will be going in next Friday, August 21, 2009 for the next u/s to see the heartbeats! I will post the u/s scanned pictures shortly! I am super excited!!! :)

Fertility Diagnostic

The extra money that was going towards the insurance finally came to good (?) use. In October 2008, we started going to the RE. We have been fortunate enough to be living in a big city, where finding good doctors and other resources are not as difficult as it would have been had we been living in a remote hamlet!

During the initial blood work (b/w), my husband’s b/w result was great! My cholesterol and sugar was on the higher end of normal limit, which is commonly found in case of PCOS; my insulin was higher than the average that women my age have (but with in limit); there was an imbalance between my testosterone-estrogen-progesterone, fortunately my thyroid was normal; rest all looked okay. Initial ultrasound (u/s) showed several follicles (20+) in each ovary (no cysts). I had hoped that the 20 lbs that I had lost in past 1 yr would help me with all these PCOS related issues; however things didn’t quite change much (from my previous annual b/w)! FertilityPlus.org is a good reference for hormone and fertility bloodwork levels: http://www.fertilityplus.org/faq/hormonelevels.html.

My RE wanted me to start with Metformin which would help with the insulin and sugar levels, and testosterone, as well (PCOS & Metformin http://www.ovarian-cysts-pcos.com/glucophage-metformin-pcos.html).

In the mean while (during my diagnostic phase), my husband underwent semen analysis (SA), which revealed that he had a good sperm count, motility, volume; but a lower than average morphology. This, from what I have read, is very common since there are very strict requirements for the morphology if someone is undergoing fertility treatment. Had my condition been normal, the morphology would not have been as significant an issue as it is turning out to be with my PCOS. To me, since his sperm count was good, lower morphology was not as bad an issue as it would have been, had he had a bad sperm count with a bad morphology (example: 1 good in 100 versus 10,000 good in 1,000,000).