Week 23 stats!

While awaiting the big move into our new place (which we hope to have happen next week) I am trying to find some spare time to keep up with my good 'ol blog here. Darn, it has been hard the last few weeks! BUT! We have officially moved out of and SOLD our old house. Now we are staying with my in-laws (yes, my in-laws) for about 11 days until we close on the new place.

Sheesh! I can't wait to start sharing photos of the new nursery!!!

Week 23 stats! The babies are as big as Papayas!!!

Weight Gain: Since the FET, I have gained approx 20 lbs. Good grief. I hope I only gain about another 10 by the end of the pregnancy since it should be slowing down beginning next week!

Cravings: Still love Coke with ice and I also cannot get enough fruit! Pretty much all kinds but I have been devouring peaches in the mornings and love watermelon.

Nauseous: When I need to eat or when I need to roll over at night and find myself in a strange position.

Belly touches: DH, and now I've told my MIL she can one a day at night while we are staying with her. I know she'll like that, even though I feel strange as Hell. :)

Feeling: Pretty good but still dragging by the end of the day. I decided to have a "Spa Day" today to help me relax. Things are so much cheaper near my in-laws, away from the big city. I had a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure. The woman who did my massage and nail appointments was also pregnant, although about two months behind me with a singleton. It was nice to talk with her about a few pregnancy topics and get pampered at the same time. I feel much better now. :D

Emotional state: We are awaiting completion of each of the items from our home inspection. As you might imagine, things will be up in the air and tinged with the stench of stress until we have signed the papers and moved in. I also feel less able to accept things and be tolerant.

Movement: Moving throughout the day quite a bit. But there is no consistent schedule I've noticed, but they seem to move most at the beginning and end of the day.

Maternity clothes: I can't wear much of anything outside of maternity clothes these days. There are some stretchy T-shirts and tanks I can still wear, but I only like to wear them if they are long. I have also recently purchased a few Fall sweaters for when the weather turns and some organic/bamboo pads "Bamboobies" for any "nip-leakage". I can't wait for that day. . . .

Nesting: As soon as we move in to the new place (fingers crossed) next week the massive nesting begins!

Baby purchases: Tons of clothes, shoes, a few books and soon we will purchase the bedroom set(s).

Baby gifts: None this week, but we are anxiously awaiting the shower in September/ October.

Half baked for a twin Momma!

Week 19 stats! My mango babies!!!

Weight Gain: About 10 pounds now since FET. (Lost about 8 during the first few and have since gained it back and then 10 more!) I've been gaining about 1-3 pound per week.

Cravings: Decaf Iced tea, Colas, Cheeto puffs (still haven't eaten any!), any melon.

Nauseous: Pretty darn rare.

Belly touches: No one new recently. I enjoy DH's tummy touches the most anyways. :)

Feeling: Worn out easily. I hate stairs. These extra pounds and belly pulling forward are hard on my body.

Boy or girl: We know they are boys! Two little boys. It's been way too tempting to shop!

Emotional state: Excited put a bit stressed. We have accepted an offer (A low-ass, cheap offer) on our house. Can't believe it actually. But we are still waiting for the inspector to come next week Tuesday to be able to finalize everything. So in the meantime we have been frantically looking for homes we like since we have a "move-out" date of August 1st!

We also have the four most adorable 4-5 week old kittens in our house right now. I know some people may think I am crazy, but I can never turn any animal away. Just can't. So we have been taking care of four feral and VERY well behaved kittens for almost a week now. Problem is DH and I see this differently. He is VERY worried/upset that I will end up with toxoplasmosis. I am not as worried based on the fact that we have fostered feral and domestic cats since 2006. So I figure, if I hadn't gotten it by then, what are the odds of getting it for the first time now??? Either way, I understand his concerns to be on the safe side. So for the last couple days DH has been in with them exclusively and I still make the food, etc. before we tale them to the Humane Society tomorrow to go out for fostering. But I tell you, it's very hard. They are so dang precious! See photo of 'Moostache' below :D

"Who's a big mess after they eat?!?!?!"(By the way, that is DH's hairy arm, not mine).

Movement: I'm pretty sure I can feel them moving around a bit and doing some light punching exercises. But nothing DH has been able to feel yet. I can't wait for him to feel them!

Maternity clothes: Haven't bought any this week-- but I will need some bigger underwear and bras very soon!

Nesting: We are looking for the new house-- pretty much buying it for the kids. I'd say that one Hell of a nesting project :)

Baby purchases: I swear I am tempted to buy things every day. I just bought more cute boy things today on Zulily. I LOVE that place! I believe I bought several onesies, two pairs of shoes, a few cute little boy hats (fedora style :) and a maternity shirt for my ever-expanding belly.

8 weeks, peeps!

8 weeks today-- wowza!

I am heading out with DH today to the maternity store. Not 'cause I'm fat, but because I'm uncomfortable. I need a sleeping pillow already. Whenever I try to sleep on my sides, I get pain on my hips and belly. I'm not sure if the pillow will help, but I know it can't hurt! And hey! I get to go to the maternity store--'cause I'm preggo!

Spring vacation is almost here for me as well. Thursday at 2:23pm I will be on Spring Break! I will begin with a manicure and pedicure and then the next day I leave with DH and my MIL to go to North Carolina. We are flying at 8am Friday morning and returning Sunday evening. I really hope I can handle the trip with the nausea. There is also the tricky part of hiding my PIO with all the needles from my MIL at the security check-in. ::Hmmm::

This week will be long and exhausting with many, many after school meetings. Hopefully I can make it. . . . Sandy beach???? Is that you???

Current stats:

Weight Gain: Still down about 5 pounds.

Cravings: Gatorade, Jello (green), late night ice cream (vanilla).

Nauseous: Oh my lord, yes.

Belly touches: Just DH.

Feeling: I think the new meds for the UTI are finally kicking in. I feel really nauseous most of the day and night. I am hoping this will end soon. I also get a few sharp pains in the lower belly area. Not sure if they are still RLP or something else.

Boy or girl: DH seems to think they are both boys. I'm not decided yet.

Emotional state: Exhausted and therefore on edge many times. DH is a great helper though. He's already running around and getting just about everything for me. I also told him last night how I felt 'homesick' every now and then-- even while sitting in our house! I think it's my body adjusting to the two new invaders.

OBGYN: Going to make two appointments this week.

Update:

Bought the "Dreamgenii" pregnancy pillow today at 'Pea in the pod'.

I will be taking it out of the package tonight and giving it a test run. I'll send my reviews later :)

First Ultrasound ::faint::

Our first u/s felt like it would take FOREVER to get here. . . .and the massive nausea and other sickliness I felt (and feel) wasn't helping. I seriously spend every day just waiting to go back to bed and try to sleep it off. UGH. It's bad, people. . . real bad.

Finally having something to look forward to was very exciting!

We took off of work on this Friday and drove down to the RE one more time, with garbage can, water and crackers in hand.

Once we arrived, we waited for about 10-15 minutes before seeing the RE. I just wanted the news: the good, the bad, or the ugly.

Finally he came in and it was another "dildo cam" operation. I thought by 6w 5d we could skip to the regular "tummy" u/s. Apparently not.

As the screen appeared and fuzz began to move across the screen-- I SAW IT! I knew it!

I saw a black blob! But was there something in it? Sure as Hell was! I fetal pole and yolk sack!!! Holy Cow!

And then. . . .it moved around some more. . . ANOTHER BLACK BLOB . . . with the fetal pole and yolk sack.

TWINS.

DH and I were (and are) in shock. Both snowbabies are now growing into REAL babies!

As he moved around the 'cam' I could see them both. RE asked me if I had been eating a lot of bananas lately since both their sacks were shaped like one. DH and I have now begun to call the little ones "Banana Babies" or "'Naners".

Baby "A" is closest to the outside (on the bottom) and is a tiny bit larger. Measuring exactly on track t 6w5d.

Baby "B" (on top with the smaller banana blob) is right behind measuring about 6w2d.

Once we identified which letter goes with which baby, we saw the most incredible thing.

Each baby's little fluttering heartbeat showed up on the screen. I'm not sure what to compare it to. . . it is its own experience. I could see DH was completely blown away when their hearts began to flutter on the screen.

The RE then decided to make some joke about how it was too bad we didn't put three frosties in. Haha. . .(Insert straight face) that could have been too much.

He also said we could come back to his office for another u/s if we'd like. Or we could make an appointment with my OB-- which I haven't chosen yet. I do not like my old OB (as very early posts suggested). I'm trying to find a new one I can trust and that is okay with the possibility of having 'midwife' along for the ride. I'm still in the hunt.

After we left the office, stunned and starry-eyed, we went to "The Point" pancake house on the way home. I LOVE that place and even with my enduring nausea, I wanted to stop, have some OJ, and talk about what just happened with DH before the long drive home.

We talked about everything from job situations to daycare to money to the insanity of the way our lives just got flipped upside down. And how we wouldn't trade it for anything.

Yes, we are pregnant; with twins. But we are also not out of the woods yet.

The RE reminded us that there is still a 10-20% chance that we could lose one or both of the twins. Fully aware that we still don't plan to tell anyone until about 12 weeks. Apparently most of the baby is developed by 13 weeks it just needs to grow larger, making the chance for miscarriage drop significantly at the 13 week mark. So until that time, we are still living on eggshells and going to be extremely tight-lipped and cautious.

We probably won't buy anything until that time either--but that hasn't stopped me from looking at registries. :)

What's next? Try to survive nausea, get some food into my body (I've lost 6 pounds already), find a good OBGYN, and somehow keep my mouth shut until the middle/end of MAY!

Tomorrow: Bring on 7 weeks!

5 weeks, 4 days.

KNOCK ON WOOD.

Today is exactly the day I lost the last pregnancy; the farthest we ever made it.

But-- KA-POW! We are bustin' down that door, thank you very much! Tomorrow begins a whole new frontier for us. It also marks the one-week point until the first Ultrasound. I think I might explode! How am I going to make it??!?!

Every day I am second guessing symptoms and pains. Currently, I am feeling some pains and cramping. The lovely ladies on the chat room told me I have what's called Round Ligament Pains (RLP). Sheesh! It is sharp sudden pains that stop me in my tracks quite often. I usually get them on my right side which worries (worried?) me that I am having another ectopic. Sometimes it can also seem like minor beginning menstrual cramps.

Oh well. . . hopefully just part of the normal progression.

Current stats:

Weight Gain: Less than 5 pounds. Maybe 1-2? I can't wait to get back on the elliptical.

Cravings: In love with "Delmonte" fresh fruit cups with pineapple and papaya. YUM! They are cold and I could eat them all day.

Nauseous: Nope.

Belly touches: Just DH.

Feeling: TIRED. Feeling crampy and the good 'ol RLP.

Boy or girl: DH had a dream last night that it was one boy.

Single or twins: I think maybe two right now. . . I'm too fat for one :)

Emotional state: An emotional mess. I cry at all shows on TV. I am moody. I am also trying to stay positive. Very anxious to get to the u/s.


In other news. . .

I still need to set-up the appointment with a new OBGYN. I didn't and don't trust my old doctor. So I've found a few names and will start calling when I decide on one or two this weekend.

5 weeks, 5 days here we come!

BETA #2 IN!

So take a BETA guess. . . "500," you say? . . . Higher.

"700?" . . . Higher.

"1000?" . . . HIGHER.

1346!!!

Yeah, I can't believe it either! I was hoping for 500!!! Wowza! Both progesterone and estrogen are looking great, too!

So now what? . . . we wait. Another 2ww until the first Ultrasound on April 8th. We will be a little over 6 1/2 weeks. O.M.G. Is this for real???

Until then we will be on pins and needles, trying to be healthy and not gain a bunch of unnecessary weight eating crapola. So tonight, to celebrate, DH and I are going to Red Robin :) LOL. No seriously, we are! Red Robin is the only place I can order a Salmon salad and eat it without gaging. Sounds crazy, I know. They have the BEST blackened salmon salad EVA!

After dinner, DH and I are going to Barnes and Noble to buy a new "baby journal".

Ah yes, the life I've dreamed of. I am waiting until about 6 weeks to make a ticker. (I don't want to jinx it). We are also waiting until Mid-May (11-12 weeks) before we tell people.

*Sigh*

I'll have to begin my registry in secret! :) 4 weeks and 2 days pregnant. . . and counting. . .

BETA #2 tomorrow.

Getting up at the butt-crack of dawn tomorrow morning so I can have BETA #2 drawn before work. DH and I will go in and have the blood drawn and then go our separate ways to work.

I have yet to decide if I will check my messages right away and call him at lunch OR if I will wait until he gets home. Tricky thing is I'd have to call them back and tell them to leave a message with the results because DH won't be home by the time they close tomorrow. Hmmm. . . what to do???

Either way I won't be able to update until after work. AND I'm going to have to find of the results at work or wait all day starring at my phone.

Hoping for at least a 500 BETA. Wish me luck!!! Double vibes and Sticky babies!!!

BETA #1 IN!!! :)

BETA #1. . . . 9dp5dt. . . .

272 !!!

Holy crap! That is our highest first BETA ever!!! Higher than any other BETA we ever had within the first 5 weeks!

I am at a loss! Now we wait and hope to see it double (or more) on Wednesday! :)

OMG!!!

. . . and to be compleetly honest, I POAS yesterday afternoon and it was positive :)

See photo below :) Look how DARK that sucker is at 8dp5dt!

Here's what's weird. This morning, I got up and was so dang excited to POAS to see it get even darker! But look! It's lighter! WHAT THE???
Oh well, maybe it was a shorter length of time without peeing or the stick was bad. . .or who knows! I am sitting here with 272 beta reading from this morning, after the light pee stick! I say, "Screw you, second pee stick!"

Beta #1 DRAWN!

Beta was drawn this morning at around 8:45am.

Now we wait-- and wait. . . hopefully, I will have results around noon.

Please, please, please-- HUGE BETA!!!!

Hump day.

Well, not for DH and I.

More like half-way to BETA on Sunday.

I am very antsy and anxious to POAS! But I won't. This time I;m going to do this different. Mostly because DH and I are having a combined birthday party the night before BETA. The last thing I want to do is have bad news before the party. . .UGH. I don't know.

Of course it would be great to party knowing I had the BFP-- but I am just so nervous-- so used to disappointment. Not that I've gotten bad news at the BETA necessarily, but more the aftermath of the BFP has turned sour--each time. *Sigh*

4 days. . . dear Lord. Please give me strength to get through the week: Job, politics, home, IF and the stresses of life in general.

Yesterday, I screwed up the estrogen pills. Monday night I feel asleep without taking it. Tuesday morning, I took it ASAP. Then Tuesday night, I took one exactly 12 hours later, thinking that would help. But then I took ANOTHER one for night-time from my pill box with the other 9 pills I take each day. WHOOPS!!! I hope that is okay. I called the RE's office and they said it was fine :/

Now time for another PIO shot!!!

And for fun--

The snowbabies! Remember I said I picture them in winter hats and mittens???

Frosties on board!!!

SNOWBABIES! FROSTIES! SNOWFLAKES!!!

These are our two blastocysts currently residing in the ute. DH is typing this for me right now (Hi everybody!) since I am currently on day two and a half of self-ordered bed rest.

The FET was on 3-11-11 at 11:45 -- suppose to be at 11:45. To make a long story short the time the actual FET took place was 12:35 PM. When the RE finally came in he said that we had two embryos ready to go. I asked if these were the two highest quality blasts that were suppose to be thawed as discussed with the nurses several times before the FET. So, I questioned, since things often go wrong, "Is our 6AA one of the two?" Our smart ass RE quickly replied, "You don't have a 6AA embryo." I said, "Uh, yes we do. The nurses told me about the 6AA several times and I've seen the paper work. They were also suppose to unthaw the highest quality embryos first." He then, in an attempt to prove that he was right, because he never thinks he is wrong, told the embryo techs to give him the papers back and, lo and behold, I was right. As I knew I was because I had seen the papers a bazillion times before.

What happened next is something I question to this very moment. Instead of admitting that they made a mistake it seemed like he was doing nothing other than covering his own ass. He babbled on about something to do with the 6AA not being the best embryo, blah, blah, blah. This of course to me is ironic since he had no knowledge that we even had a 6AA embryo a few seconds ago. Also, ironic that they have a grading system that means nothing.

So, what's inside the ute currently? A 5BB and a 4BB... I think.

I felt like from that point he was more agitated than anything and he felt like having a conversation about the crappy governor and bad excuse for a repair bill that is screwing Wisconsin since my husband and I are both teachers. A 15% pay cut is not exactly the best stress reliever during and FET procedure. Especially when the RE lives in a different state and has no idea what he's talking about... again.

To add to this awesomeness, the two nurses running the ultrasound machines couldn't even find the freaking uterus on the screen. They actually had to switch jobs at one point.

So, the moral of my story, the RE office was clearly not on its "A" game. I was the only FET that day and the last appointment. I was the only one in the back office and I could tell I was not their top priority. This PISSES ME OFF. But, I'm suppose to be calm, right?

So, right now I'm trying to ignore the stupidity of nurses on cell phones and people that can't do their jobs, when I'm doing way more than my part.

So, how do I make myself feel better about this whole situation? I ask for FET success stories on the chat. I look at my clinics success rates, which are clearly good for IVF, but not as hot for FET, and make DH prepare mac and cheese for this afternoon.

In other news, one of my blasts had hatched before FET. Kinda cool, huh? If you see the top picture, part of its goo is spilling out of its shell. Statistics say, this Wednesday, 3-16, would be the last day for implantation to occur. I am really going to try hard to do absolutely nothing until Thursday morning despite the fact that I have to go to work everyday this week. How am I going to do this? I have no clue. I'll let you know how it goes.

Tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

...Well, the BETA, I guess, is also the "big day"-- but TOMORROW is the FET!!!

I am so excited to get the snowbabies out of the deep-freeze!

I was telling the ladies on the chat today, how I picture them with tiny mittens, scarves and beanie hats on.

So what does one do the night before FET?

Write a poem, of course!

'Twas the night before FET. By: Christine Vaughn.

'Twas the night before FET

and all through the crib

I was all by myself--

no really, no fib!

DH was at work,

teaching kids not to fail.

I was at home,

watching Oprah and Gail!

The house it was still,

but my tummy was not.

It demanded I feed it,

tasty treats on the spot!

To Outpost,

the local co-op I did run;

For almonds and sushi

and more tasty fun!

The sushi was perfect,

like heaven on my teeth!

The nori encircling the rice,

like a wreath.

I ate till stuffed,

not a rice grain in sight.

'Till tomorrow, snowbabies!

Sleep well and Goodnight!

I hate PIO

I had the WORST dang headache all day today. I think it's the PIO.

Life has been a mess to say the least.

With the craziness in Wisconsin politics, my ever changing job security, IF, losing my lesson plans for an entire class because my jump-drive died. . . UGH. The list seriously goes on.

I am going to try VERY hard to de-stress tomorrow. . . after all-- the FET is FRIDAY!!!

I can't hardly believe it! It has been soooo long since we have been able to try-- 5 months!

Tomorrow, I will receive the phone call with the final details for Friday.

Details and embie pics to come! :)

Last test before FET.

Friday, DH and I went to the RE for the last u/s and blood tests before this Friday's FET.

My goal was 8 for the lining check-- actually it ended up being a bit under. (See above 7.94?) I hope that's okay.

Yesterday, I also began the dreaded Progesterone and HcG shots. It was a bit tricky. . . .we were at a birthday party with family. At 9:45 we had to run-off to the bathroom. DH went in first and I "tried to sneak in". We had very time sensitive shots-- and had to do this one way or another. There was seriously no where else to do this. It probably took us 5-10 minutes.

I decided to walk out first and turn off the lights like no one else was in there with me. . . . but when I opened the door, the entire party was staring at me and "Oooh", "AHHHH-ing" me. DH stayed in there for a few extra minutes to avoid most of the comments. I took the brunt of it and tried to play it off. Right now just about all of my family members think we were in there for a quickie. . . .great.

But they shots were done. Now my ass is sore and my family thinks I'm a skank. I can't wait until I can tell them what was actually happening-- nothing erotic--at all.

On to the progesterone, tetracycline and medrol.

Sheesh.

It has been many moons since I have had anything to write about!

Yesterday, DH and I traveled down to the RE's office for the blood work and u/s needed for our FET.

The FET is two weeks away!!! HORRAYYYY!!!!

I feel like it has been FOR-EV-ER! After all, the last time I was able to cycle was Sept/October! Our last ectopic was the 4th of November 2010! After the IVF and lap I am ready to get this going.

DH and I had a conversation yesterday about how after all this time we feel almost--well. . . nothing???

It seems strange to say, but after going through the motions for so long, we forget that we could actually have a baby from all of this. The disappointment has become expected. However, since I had the lap in December, it should give us more hope and a much better chance at success. After all, I do have the REALLY GOOD 6AA embryo waiting for us!

So for now I am going to drink my pom juice and swallow all of my pills! I need my lining to be at 8 next week Friday (3/4). Yesterday it was at 7 1/2. Just a bit more to go!

CD 3 tests today.

Today was baseline and another snow storm in Milwaukee. . . and all the way to the RE.

At the RE, I had my blood drawn, blood pressure tested (109/71) and had the "good 'ol" vaginal u/s during AF-- I hate that.

We also paid the remaining $2,500 bucks for the FET cycle. This gives us a grand total of $2,900 for the cycle and another $300-500 for the meds. (FET= $3,100-3,300...not including lost pay for missing work).

This is why I argued for transferring three embryos if one of the first two doesn't survive the thaw.

Here's the scenario in a nutshell:

• We plan to thaw two of our four remaining embryos. (6AA, (5BB?, 4BB?), 3BC)
• We would like to thaw the two highest embryos first; 6AA and 5??
• If both survive the thaw, we will but both in and there ends the story.

Where this gets tricky. . . .So if we thaw the best two and ONE doesn't survive the thaw, we will need to thaw another of our remaining two embryos to have TWO thawed to deposit during the FET. Sounds fine, right?

• Not if I think about my one low-quality embryo left just sitting in the deep freeze.
• If one doesn't survive the thaw in the beginning-- I prefer to just automatically thaw the other two at the same time and put whatever survives in. (A possibility of three).

My reasoning is NOT to create triplets. Triplets are a higher risk for both Mom and babies--not to mention financially afterwards. My reasoning is that one low-quality embryo has a very small chance of making it either way. Why leave it in the freeze--keep paying for it-- and then either never use it or pay the almost $3500 for another FET cycle for just one "not-so-good" embryo? To me, I rather use it, giving the best chance now. The chance of all three surviving is ridiculously slim--not impossible--but slim.

My hope it to give us the best chance possible with what we have.

Saying that, what DH and I really want is TWO PERFECTLY thawed, thriving embryos right away-- leaving two more in the bank--just in case. After all, we could use them after the little one(s) arrives from FET#1!

MED CHANGE:

• Lupron moved from 10 units to 5 units daily.
• Aspirin and vitamins still going strong.
• Add estrogen patches: One patch today through 2/9. Then two patches through 2/12. Then FOUR every 72 hours until 10-15 weeks of pregnancy--CRAZY THINGS!!!

Next Appointment is a blood work and ultrasound check-up on 2.23.11.

In other news: GO PACK GO!!!!