8 Weeks & A Bitter-Sweet Goodbye

I am 8 weeks today. Woohoo! We had our last ultrasound with Dr. H today. He said that both babies are looking great. Baby A is measuring 16 mm with a heart rate of 150 bpm and Baby B is measuring 16.3 mm with a heart rate of 156 bpm. I just can't get enough of seeing and hearing our babies! Chris and I said our goodbyes to Dr. H and our nurse this morning. It was really bitter-sweet. It's exciting to be graduating to our OB, but at the same time it's sad to be moving on. I just LOVE Dr. H and our nurse. They have been incredible to work with and I was really sad to say goodbye this morning. Our nurse came up and gave us both a big hug and told us to please keep them updated. I can't wait to email her pictures of the twins once they're born!

My bump outed me at work today. Apparently I can't hide it anymore! Our office manager came up to me this afternoon and pointed at my stomach and kinda smiled. I told her yes, I'm pregnant and it's twins! She was very excited for us. She said that she had noticed some changes in me over the last week and thought that maybe the medications I was on were causing the changes, but today she was convinced that it was a baby bump and she was right. :-) At least it's looking more like a baby bump and not just extra bloat!

We'll be seeing our OB for the first time next week. I'm excited to see our babies again and we'll hopefully be viewing them on a more high-tech ultrasound machine. I can't wait! I'm SO ready for this three day weekend. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Food...A Love Hate Relationship

These little ones have been making themselves known lately. The extra hormones being dumped into my body and the IBS that I've had for years are NOT a good combination. I haven't had any nausea yet, but these hormones have definitely been making my tummy feel very unsettled. I've had a few episodes here and there over the last couple of weeks. However, Friday morning at about 3:00 it hit with a vengeance. From 3:00 AM Friday until about 7:30 last night the only thing that my tummy would allow me to eat were bananas and saltine crackers. These were the only foods that wouldn't run right through me. Today has been much better, though. I've had breakfast, lunch, some snacks and dinner and they have all been fine on my tummy. Yay! Oh food, I missed you the last few days! I am NOT complaining, though. I'm just so grateful to be able to eat again...at least for today. :-)

I've had one pair of jeans that I've been able to wear with a Bella.Band over the last two weeks, but this weekend those jeans became pretty snug. I had them completely unbuttoned and completely unzipped yesterday and today and they were still pretty tight. Looks like we'll be making our first trip to a maternity store this weekend! I'm excited! Bring on the bump!

Our next and probably last ultrasound with our RE is on Wednesday. I'm so ready to see our babies and hear their heartbeats again! I'm really going to miss these weekly ultrasounds. I'm hoping that since I'll be 8 weeks on Wednesday that the babies will look a little bit more like babies on the ultrasound. I can't wait to see all their little parts!

I'm SO glad that it's a four day work week. I hope everyone has a great week!

7 Weeks

We had another ultrasound this afternoon. Thankfully the babies are still growing and the nurse said that everything looked great! Both babies had more than doubled in size from last week. They were both measuring at 8.6mm today. We also got to hear the heartbeats again, which I LOVE!! Babay was at 117 bpm and Baby B was at 121 bpm. Both heartbeats were so strong today. I didn't even have to hold my breath for us to hear them! It's amazing how much changes in just one week.

We get to go in for another ultrasound next Wednesday and we'll either be released that day or the following week. Our u/s next week is with our doctor, Dr. H. I'm so glad that he'll be doing our last u/s. We saw our nurse today on the way out and she came up and gave both of us a big hug and told us how excited she is for us. I just love her! Dr. H also walked up while we were talking to our nurse and I really just wanted to run up, tackle him and give him a great big hug! Ha! We hadn't seen him since we found out we were pregnant. He told us congratulations and shook our hands. He was so excited for us too. It's going to be bittersweet to leave their clinic. My first appt with the OB/GYN is on April 8th. I'm switching to a new OB/GYN so I really hope I like her! I've heard good things about her, though, so hopefully it will be fine. Her nurse does sound really nice and that is a definite plus in my book. :-)

I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! The weekend is almost here!!

I feel like a traitor

This is how I feel lately. I feel like such a traitor. We are finally on the other side of this journey, but so many of you are still struggling. I feel like I've jumped ship and left all of you behind. I want you all to be in my new ship. I wish I could just snap my fingers and make that a reality for each of you. I've seen a few other girls post about this pregnancy guilt too. Please know that I continue to pray for all of you daily and I promise to never take this amazing blessing for granted. I hope each of you get to experience your own miracle very soon.

So far I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm still super tired and I have now begun to have some lower and mid back pain during the day. My nurse said this is due to my ligaments stretching. I haven't experienced any nausea yet (thank goodness) but I do go back and forth with not having an appetite for a few days and then for a few days I'm incredibly hungry all the time. My trips to the bathroom have begun to increase too. These little ones are definitely making their presence known! Our next ultrasound is scheduled for 1:00 on Wednesday afternoon. I can't wait to see our babies again and get to hear their heartbeats! That's all for now. I hope you all have a great week!

First Ultrasound - TWINS!!!!!

Wow, what an amazing day this has been! Two weeks ago today we received the awesome news that we're expecting. Today we found out that we're having TWINS!!!! We were able to see both sacs and all the parts that are visible at 6 weeks. Baby is measuring right at 6 weeks and had a heart rate of 91 bpm. Baby B is measuring at 5 weeks 6 days and had a heart rate of 95 bpm. It was so amazing see our teeny, tiny babies and seeing their little hearts flicker on the screen. Even more amazing was hearing both of their heartbeats. Most amazing sound EVER!! Right now I'm making a prediction that Baby A is a boy and Baby B is a girl. We'll find out in May! The ultrasound tech said that everything looked perfect. Yay! She said they didn't need to see me again for two weeks but I could come in next week again if I wanted to. Yes, please! I most definitely took her up on that offer!

I'm still in shock and so amazed. It amazes me how something as tiny as a grain of rice can have a heartbeat. Thank you God for these two amazing blessings! This pregnancy definitely became more real for me today. Chris and I are both just beyond excited! Thank you all so much for the prayers and support. I was sooo nervous for the ultrasound today but once again God showed me that He is in control and He just keeps blessing us more than we deserve. :-)

I'll leave you with pictures of our precious little ones!

100th Post!

Yay for my 100th blog post! I can't believe that almost a year ago I started this blog and now I'm already typing my 100th post! I am also super thrilled at the number of blog followers I have! You girls rock! Another exciting tidbit is that I am 5 weeks today! Yay! Another week under my belt and now we only have 6 more days until our first ulstrasound. I can't wait!!

So far I really don't have many symptoms. I'm still tired. My new bedtime is now 9:00 instead of 10:00. I have also noticed that certain parts have hit a bit of a growth spurt and I'm not talking about the wonderful bloat that is now my stomach! :-) Bring on the symptoms! Any little reminder that there IS something growing inside of me is fine by me.

I want to say a huge CONGRATS to my friends Katie and Rathi!!! Katie delivered her twins (boy & girl) yesterday at 38 weeks. She's a rockstar for making it that far! Rathi delivered her little girl on Friday via emergency c-section. Unfortunately, her little one had twisted bowels and that put Rathi into early labor at 34 weeks. Her baby had surgery on Saturday to fix the problem and now it's just a waiting game to see how she is able to handle her formula feeds. Please keep Katie, Rathi and their precious little miracles in your prayers. These two girls have been with me since day one. I went through my first IVF cycle at the same time as these girls were going through their first cycles last summer. I have two more girls that have walked this journey with me since the beginning and they are both due to have their little girls very soon!

Thank you so much to everyone for all the sweet comments on my last post about the constant worrying. I am just really trying to take this one day at a time. I wake up every morning and thank God for this amazing blessing. I am so grateful to be on this new journey and I am just so excited to celebrate all the milestones of this pregnancy with Chris. Only two more days until the weekend! Woohoo!

So far so good!

I went in for another blood test this morning. They were only going to check my estrogen level, but my nurse said that I could have another beta this morning if I wanted one. Yes, please! My beta today was at 833! I am so relieved that this pregnancy is still moving in the right direction. My estrogen was really good as well so I was able to take off the last Viv.elle estrogen patch today. Woohoo! Now all I have to take is my prenatal vitamins, baby aspirin and the progesterone shots.

I still wake up every morning and think to myself, wow I'm really pregnant. This isn't a dream! I feel so incredibly blessed that God has created this miracle or these miracles inside me! I can't wait until our first ultrasound on the 17th. I just want to know that everything is ok and to find out how many buns are in the oven. :-) Right now my estimated due date is November 10th. My birthday is on November 4th. What an amazing 30th birthday present this will be!!!

So far I'm feeling really good. I've just been really tired. I feel like all I did this weekend was sleep. As my sister told me this morning, "You'll never not be tired again"! I just wish that I could let go of all these fears and worries. I am enjoying this pregnancy and just soaking up every minute, but I can't help but worry that the rug is going to be pulled out from under us. I really hate that infertility does this to couples. When will the worry and fears go away? Every night I pray that God will just hold our baby(ies) in His hands and protect them. I pray that He will take away these worries and fears. I need to remember that He is in control and that He only wants the best for us and our family. Why is it that these lessons are always so hard to learn???

Second Beta

I went in this morning for my second beta test and the magic number today was 315!!! Woohoo!! That's a 116% increase since Wednesday! I was on the edge of my seat all morning waiting for our nurse to call me with the number. She also told me that my progesterone level is really good and she can tell that my body is absorbing the progesterone well. Yay! My estrogen level is also really good so they have started to wean me off of the Viv.elle estrogen patches. I was told to take one patch off today and then go back in on Monday for another estrogen level check. Our nurse said that as long as the second beta shows a good rise then they don't run any further beta checks, but she did say that she could have it checked Monday morning if I wanted to. I think I might ask her to add that to my lab slip just for my own peace of mind. :-) Here is a chart that shows the increase in my beta numbers.

Thank you all so much for the outpouring of love and sweet comments about our fantastic news!! Chris and I are both so overwhelmed at the number of people we have pulling for us and wanting this for us! Y'all are all so amazing!!! I still feel like I'm in a little bit of shock. It definitely hasn't sunk in yet. I am taking it one day at a time and enjoying every minute of it, though!

For those of you who are still waiting on your miracles, please know that I pray for each of you daily. I know what it's like to walk in your shoes and I know how hard it can be to read about other people's good news. Please know that I completely understand if any of you choose to stop following our blog or if you just need a break for awhile. I truly hope that each of you are celebrating your own good news soon!

Praise God!!!

Wow, what a day this has been so far! I can't believe that I actually get to type these next few words...I'M PREGNANT!!!!!! My beta today was 146! Woohoo! To say that we are thrilled would be the understatement of the year. :-) I think we're both still in shock and trying to grasp the fact that this is really happening. Praise God for this amazing blessing that He has given us!

I'm going to keep this short for now. THANK YOU again to ALL of you for the prayers, well wishes, emails, texts and phone calls. We have felt so covered in prayers and well wishes these last few days and we are just so grateful for the support from all of you. Please continue to keep us and little bean(s)in your prayers. We have some critical weeks ahead, but we are just going to take it one day at a time and enjoy every minute!

Now, for those of you that know us in real life, please don't spill the beans! We've told family and a few close friends, but we're waiting awhile before we announce this to the world. Thanks for understanding and helping us keep this little secret for now. :-)

A UTI, migraines and hot flashes...Oh My!

What a rollercoaster this last week has been! I've gone from doubtful to hopeful to doubtful to hopeful and it keeps going on and on. I want off of this rollercoaster already! I started the Viv.elle estradiol patches on Friday night. My migraine I've had since Saturday is courtesy of the Viv.elle patches I'm sure. I also started having hot flashes this weekend. My progesterone has either reached a level that is starting to produce these heat waves or the combination of these two hormone supplements have caused my body to go into a frenzy. :-) You would have thought that I was going through the change at my desk today. I just kept sitting there fanning myself. I was so HOT!

Wednesday morning is our beta test and I am just so ready to know so that we can move on. We are NOT testing early. We did that once and vowed that we would never do that again. I HATE those stupid pee-pee tests and they don't like me either! :-)

I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for the outpouring of love and support during this cycle. All the comments, well-wishes, prayers, emails and phone calls have meant so much to me. I absolutely would not be able to get through this journey without all of you! Keep praying, please. Wednesday is almost here. :-)