Since J was instructed to take it easy for a few days given the scare, I went over yesterday to play with the kids while R was at work. I have done VERY little "babysitting" in my life, and haven't changed diapers since I was about 14 (with the exception of 1 diaper while J was on bedrest in April). Well, I'm happy to report I changed 3 diapers yesterday, including a "stinky" one! J was there and was laughing because I had no idea what to do when I first saw the "situation". But, she talked me through it and all was well. :) I had fun playing the kids all day. They are really, really sweet. J says they were especially well behaved but I was amazed at how well they listen to everything. She tells them to pick something up and they actually pick up! Incredible for a 2 and 3 year old.
I had to get back to work today so B went over for the morning to do the same. I can't wait to hear how it goes. There was a look of terror in his eyes at the thought of changing a diaper this morning. :)
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Our first perinatologist appointment - AND genders(?)
If you have been reading for a while, you may remember my posts about all the confusion with whether we would get to see a "peri" (high risk pregnancy doctor) or just a regular OB for the duration of the pregnancy. We wanted to see a peri just because it's twins and it would be great to know we are in the most knowledgable hands (not that an OB isn't great also). There was a bunch of back and forth with Kaiser over whether or not that would be possible because twins alone doesn't make you high risk anymore (lots of people with twins!). The last we heard, we were getting the referral but they never called. Ironically, just after our scare, J got the call that there was a cancellation and we got in today at 1! Yes - the third apppointment and ultrasound in a week! (I never get tired of seeing those little babies on the screen, so it's fine by me...I just feel bad for it taking so much of J's time.)
The peri said everything looked great and that we don't need to worry about the spotting (unless something changes). J hasn't had any more bleeding at all so that is great. The Dr said it is pretty common to have some bleeding, especially with twins. She said there are too many twins for the two peris in our area to see them for every appointment, but that we will alternate appointments between the peri and the OB. Sounds great to me! Best of both worlds. We got some great views of the babies and this doctor was more willing to hazard a guess on the genders. In fact, she really looked unlike the other doctor...she said she is 60-70% sure that it is a boy and a girl!!! Of course I'm ecstatic at the possibility but I know things could change. J and I both thought she was more sure than she let on because she sounded very confident and we saw exactly what she was looking at on the screen...seemed pretty clear in both cases. The BIG ultrasound where they check everything over and tell you definitively (well as much as possible) will be August 4. In the meantime, we found out that we now have appointments every other week! Holy cow we have a lot coming up.
Here are pics from today!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Now I remember what the problem was called...
It's a separation of the amnion and chorion. Apparently they fuse between 14 and 16 weeks and we are just at the beginning of that. Of course I've been doing all kinds of research online now and am WAY more freaked out. Waaayyyy more freaked out. Please pray for our babies. :(
We had a scare this morning...
Ironically, after finally announcing the news to everyone via email last night, we had our first scare this morning. J woke up and found some bright red blood when she went to the bathroom. It wasn't a ton, but enough to be of concern. Thank God for our home doppler...she and R immediately used it to confirm the babies were still alive and the hearts were beating as normal. Luckily, we had a doctor's appointment scheduled this morning first thing anyway. This was the first time with the doctor we will probably see regularly going forward. She was really nice, which was great to find. She did all kinds of exams on J and everything looks fine. Apparently there are two parts to a placenta and they don't fuse until 16 weeks. Sometimes the gap between the two parts can cause a little bleeding? I didn't quite understand but she did see a little separation there, where the parts hadn't fused and she thought that was the cause of the bleed. She asked J to lie around for a few days and not lift the kids until the end of the pregnancy! Yikes. (That was regardless of the bleed - just her policy I guess.) She said she would probably bleed for the next couple of days and to expect that. B and I will go over the next two days to help J with the kids so she can take it easy.
Amazingly, I'm not overly freaked out about this. I know from reading message boards for so long that a lot of people have little bleeding incidents like this and that this far along it's usually not serious. Of course, it's still stressful and I was far more stressed before we saw the doctor, but I do feel it will be OK. We got to have another ultrasound this morning because of the whole scare and the babies were moving like crazy! For some reason the ultrasound was really, really clear and we could see the spines on both of them and their features more than ever before. It kind of helped me forget the scare this morning because I was so fascinated by what they were doing on screen! The one usually elusive baby was still more calm, but the other one moved everywhere and we all commented that "he" has REALLY long legs! LOL So, after realizing the doctor wasn't concerned about the bleeding, I had to ask the question: can you tell us the genders this time? The elusive baby wasn't in a good position, but little long legs sure looks to be a boy. Now the question is, did we see a boy the other day and again a boy today for the same baby, or did we see a boy for both babies at this point?! It was pretty clear today that one is a boy, complete with B's legs. :)
Even though the scare looks to be OK, prayers would really be appreciated! We have another appointment in 2 weeks.
Amazingly, I'm not overly freaked out about this. I know from reading message boards for so long that a lot of people have little bleeding incidents like this and that this far along it's usually not serious. Of course, it's still stressful and I was far more stressed before we saw the doctor, but I do feel it will be OK. We got to have another ultrasound this morning because of the whole scare and the babies were moving like crazy! For some reason the ultrasound was really, really clear and we could see the spines on both of them and their features more than ever before. It kind of helped me forget the scare this morning because I was so fascinated by what they were doing on screen! The one usually elusive baby was still more calm, but the other one moved everywhere and we all commented that "he" has REALLY long legs! LOL So, after realizing the doctor wasn't concerned about the bleeding, I had to ask the question: can you tell us the genders this time? The elusive baby wasn't in a good position, but little long legs sure looks to be a boy. Now the question is, did we see a boy the other day and again a boy today for the same baby, or did we see a boy for both babies at this point?! It was pretty clear today that one is a boy, complete with B's legs. :)
Even though the scare looks to be OK, prayers would really be appreciated! We have another appointment in 2 weeks.
Monday, July 7, 2008
14 Week Ultrasound
We're back from vacation! It was a great time, but we were also ready to be home. We got home at 1 am last night and had an ultrasound scheduled for first thing this morning. Fortunately we slept a lot on the plane. :)
One of the coolest things about being gone was that we left when we were about 12 1/2 weeks along and got back right when we turned 14 weeks - we're now officially in the second trimester! That's so exciting because I do finally feel that we can relax. In fact, I just got done writing a very long email announcement that will go to all of our friends to break the big news. It was amazing to write that email; I never thought I would see the day. I really believe the babies are coming now and couldn't be more thrilled. While on vacation I spent a lot of time reading the entire "what to expect in the first year" book. It was so much fun to learn about all the poop and bottles. Did I just say that? Seriously, I'm getting so excited.
We had the ultrasound this morning and everything looked great. The babies are measuring ahead now by a few days. They looked like little babies for the first time too rather than tiny little beans! We all "ooed" and "ahhed" a couple of times when one baby waved his/her hand and then another time moved the leg to a perfect position for the picture. When they move all around you don't necessarily see distinct body parts but in those two instances they were clear as day. It was soooo neat. I always feel like I'm going to start crying at ultrasounds. :) The only disappointment was that I was hoping we would find out genders early. Usually it is at 18 weeks, but sometimes they can tell at 14 weeks. We think she had an idea but didn't want to say. J looked up at the screen and said "I think that one is a boy" and the technician immediately said, "it could be, look at that" and pointed to a little something on the screen. It could have been something ELSE but it definitely seemed like she was thinking it was a boy with her immediate reaction to J's comment. Then she was referring a couple of times to the other baby with "she" so we don't know if that was a guess or if she was using it generically.
I have to say, my heart flipped (in a good way) when she pointed and said it could be a boy. I don't know how anyone could NOT find out early and just wait for delivery. That moment was amazing to me, to even think we MAY know. I can't even imagine what it will be like to finally put more of an identity to Baby A and Baby B. To give them names, to talk about them as real little people who will enter our lives for Christmas this year. It sounds odd since we didn't even find out the genders for sure, but even getting that guess made me realize what a magical moment it is going to be when we know.
I will have to post the pics later - I'm exhausted due to all the time changes, but I promise to put them up soon!
One of the coolest things about being gone was that we left when we were about 12 1/2 weeks along and got back right when we turned 14 weeks - we're now officially in the second trimester! That's so exciting because I do finally feel that we can relax. In fact, I just got done writing a very long email announcement that will go to all of our friends to break the big news. It was amazing to write that email; I never thought I would see the day. I really believe the babies are coming now and couldn't be more thrilled. While on vacation I spent a lot of time reading the entire "what to expect in the first year" book. It was so much fun to learn about all the poop and bottles. Did I just say that? Seriously, I'm getting so excited.
We had the ultrasound this morning and everything looked great. The babies are measuring ahead now by a few days. They looked like little babies for the first time too rather than tiny little beans! We all "ooed" and "ahhed" a couple of times when one baby waved his/her hand and then another time moved the leg to a perfect position for the picture. When they move all around you don't necessarily see distinct body parts but in those two instances they were clear as day. It was soooo neat. I always feel like I'm going to start crying at ultrasounds. :) The only disappointment was that I was hoping we would find out genders early. Usually it is at 18 weeks, but sometimes they can tell at 14 weeks. We think she had an idea but didn't want to say. J looked up at the screen and said "I think that one is a boy" and the technician immediately said, "it could be, look at that" and pointed to a little something on the screen. It could have been something ELSE but it definitely seemed like she was thinking it was a boy with her immediate reaction to J's comment. Then she was referring a couple of times to the other baby with "she" so we don't know if that was a guess or if she was using it generically.
I have to say, my heart flipped (in a good way) when she pointed and said it could be a boy. I don't know how anyone could NOT find out early and just wait for delivery. That moment was amazing to me, to even think we MAY know. I can't even imagine what it will be like to finally put more of an identity to Baby A and Baby B. To give them names, to talk about them as real little people who will enter our lives for Christmas this year. It sounds odd since we didn't even find out the genders for sure, but even getting that guess made me realize what a magical moment it is going to be when we know.
I will have to post the pics later - I'm exhausted due to all the time changes, but I promise to put them up soon!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
J's last shot, dopplers and vacation!
I just have to post a huge HIP, HIP, HOORAY that J did her last shot yesterday!! This is very, very exciting. She has been giving herself a 1" shot in the butt every night at 10 pm for about 10 weeks now. As you can imagine that is tiring, and a pain in the butt (both meanings intended). :) She was such a pro through the whole thing. Whereas most people can't even look at a needle like that, she did it no problem from the very first day. J actually put it in as a "test run" before she had to! LOL So, we have now hit the big 12 weeks AND J is done with shots AND we are seeing a "regular" doctor now. It feels like we are really moving along now!
J and R invited us over last night to hear the heartbeats on the home doppler. They were so funny - they have a total process down to find them within literally a couple of minutes. J promptly laid down, R got the requisite tools (paper towls, ultrasound lotion, machine), they applied the gel to her stomach, then R moved the wand around and almost immediately found the first baby. (I have to admit that I still can't figure out which baby is which - I think we heard Baby B first though because Baby A has moved positions some.) R then found Baby A soon after (they are in distinct locations now, so it's clear they are different babies). We counted the beats and they are still going at 170-180 bpm, which is great! I'm so grateful for the doppler!
B and I are going on vacation Thursday until July 6 so I'll be silent during that time. We're taking sort of a "babymoon", though that term is so obnoxious. In reality, we have a timeshare that we need to use every year or else we lose money. We had to schedule it before we even found out J was pregnant. Over the last 3 years, we've certainly stopped planning things according to whether or not we thought a cycle would work! This time, of course, it actually did. I hate to leave out of fear that something will happen while we are gone, but I guess it does me no good to sit around wondering if something will happen here either. So we are going on and when we get back we'll be 14 weeks!
J and R invited us over last night to hear the heartbeats on the home doppler. They were so funny - they have a total process down to find them within literally a couple of minutes. J promptly laid down, R got the requisite tools (paper towls, ultrasound lotion, machine), they applied the gel to her stomach, then R moved the wand around and almost immediately found the first baby. (I have to admit that I still can't figure out which baby is which - I think we heard Baby B first though because Baby A has moved positions some.) R then found Baby A soon after (they are in distinct locations now, so it's clear they are different babies). We counted the beats and they are still going at 170-180 bpm, which is great! I'm so grateful for the doppler!
B and I are going on vacation Thursday until July 6 so I'll be silent during that time. We're taking sort of a "babymoon", though that term is so obnoxious. In reality, we have a timeshare that we need to use every year or else we lose money. We had to schedule it before we even found out J was pregnant. Over the last 3 years, we've certainly stopped planning things according to whether or not we thought a cycle would work! This time, of course, it actually did. I hate to leave out of fear that something will happen while we are gone, but I guess it does me no good to sit around wondering if something will happen here either. So we are going on and when we get back we'll be 14 weeks!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Our first "OB" appointment
We had our first "OB" appointment on Tuesday. By OB I mean that we saw a regular doctor for the first time instead of a fertility doctor since we have officially been released by the fertility clinic. But, we didn't actually see an OB, it was a midwife. The insurance requires that everyone sees a midwife first, even though with twins you always get referred from there to a doctor, or even perinatologist (high risk pregnancy doctor). We requested a referral to the perinatologist since it is twins but their standard practice it seemed was that a regular doctor was enough if the only risk factor was twins. Since the midwife wasn't sure if the peri would see us, she scheduled our next appointment with a regular OB and put in a referral for the peri at the same time. That way, if we get turned down for the peri, we just show up for the OB appointment. If we don't get turned down, we cancel that appointment and go to the peri. The assumption is that whomever we see at the next appointment will be the doctor we'll see for the rest of the pregnancy, which is exciting! I'm looking forward to seeing someone consistently. (Though I guess there is a possibility that we'll see the peri and then we'll get referred back to an OB.)
Either way, we have the official ultrasound to confirm the twins for insurance purposes on July 7. They did an ultrasound this week on a really low grade machine that was really fuzzy. We got pictures but they weren't very good. The next ultrasound will be with a technician (I don't think we even see a doctor that day) and will be on a better, high quality machine so the insurance has documentation for their files of the twins directly (they don't want our fertility clinic files). We'll be 14 weeks at that point and I have seen a few people find out genders that early...I'm very much hoping we get lucky like that because we're dying to know!
We did see the babies moving all around on this ultrasound. Both of them were very active and moving all over the place, more than ever! Plus, we saw the little heartbeats pounding. (Our other doctor never showed us the heartbeats, we just heard them.)
One last thing - we found out that I will be classified as "advanced maternal age"! I'm 32!! Normally you get that label (which equates with "high risk" treatment and attention) if you are 35 or older and pregnant. But, if it is twins, they lower the age to 32 and I just turned 32 last week. It doesn't increase your chance of a baby being chromosomally abnormal if he/she is one of two, but with two babies, there is of course a higher likelihood that one could have a problem - about the same likelihood as a 35+ year old with one baby, hence the label (The chances are all still very low.) We turned down the genetic counseling appointment since we wouldn't terminate no matter what. But even after J explained this to them, they have called her multiple times because they feel so strongly given the circumstances (32 and twins) that we "understand the risks"!!! It's really strange to me that they would press so much after we said we're not interested. I'm guessing they just don't see a lot of twins come through. Oh well, I'll look on the bright side: with them classifying us as higher risk, we'll get more prenatal attention. And on the brightest side, I'm just so grateful that J's insurance covers this, that I'll do just about anything they want. :)
Next ultrasound: July 7
Next doctor appointment: July 9 (unless we get the peri referral)
Either way, we have the official ultrasound to confirm the twins for insurance purposes on July 7. They did an ultrasound this week on a really low grade machine that was really fuzzy. We got pictures but they weren't very good. The next ultrasound will be with a technician (I don't think we even see a doctor that day) and will be on a better, high quality machine so the insurance has documentation for their files of the twins directly (they don't want our fertility clinic files). We'll be 14 weeks at that point and I have seen a few people find out genders that early...I'm very much hoping we get lucky like that because we're dying to know!
We did see the babies moving all around on this ultrasound. Both of them were very active and moving all over the place, more than ever! Plus, we saw the little heartbeats pounding. (Our other doctor never showed us the heartbeats, we just heard them.)
One last thing - we found out that I will be classified as "advanced maternal age"! I'm 32!! Normally you get that label (which equates with "high risk" treatment and attention) if you are 35 or older and pregnant. But, if it is twins, they lower the age to 32 and I just turned 32 last week. It doesn't increase your chance of a baby being chromosomally abnormal if he/she is one of two, but with two babies, there is of course a higher likelihood that one could have a problem - about the same likelihood as a 35+ year old with one baby, hence the label (The chances are all still very low.) We turned down the genetic counseling appointment since we wouldn't terminate no matter what. But even after J explained this to them, they have called her multiple times because they feel so strongly given the circumstances (32 and twins) that we "understand the risks"!!! It's really strange to me that they would press so much after we said we're not interested. I'm guessing they just don't see a lot of twins come through. Oh well, I'll look on the bright side: with them classifying us as higher risk, we'll get more prenatal attention. And on the brightest side, I'm just so grateful that J's insurance covers this, that I'll do just about anything they want. :)
Next ultrasound: July 7
Next doctor appointment: July 9 (unless we get the peri referral)
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