Well, it’s not the SCH — the SCH has pretty much resolved itself and there is no trace of it via ultrasound scan.

The babies look good, hearts beating, and they are still bouncing around and moving like crazy.

1 baby is up high, by my belly button on the left side, and the other baby is low on the right. Like really low. I’m very lopsided, but you can’t really see it just yet.

I can feel the high up baby move a lot. It’s like little bubbles / flutters.

Anyway, the low down baby’s placenta is partially covering my cervix. Diagnosis = Partial Placenta Previa. Joy. It’s apparently common during pregnancies for twins/triplets etc, and also for those who have had a D&C (me).

I don’t like the risks of bleeding out or possible hysterectomy after birth/labor. That is freaking me out.I’ll try not to worry too much and hope that this resolves itself as the uterus starts moving up and hopefully brings the babies up higher too.

For now, I won’t be adding any exercise to my daily regime, as recommended by my doctors who also feel I’m at high risk for gestational diabetes, b/c I had insulin resistance before pregnancy. Double Joy.

Filed under: 2nd Trimester, Bleeding, Placenta Previa, SCH Subchorionic Hematoma Leave a Comment »

Hey ya’ll — I’m going to be posting on my regular public site over at Because Of Match … b/c since I’ve made it public that I’m pregnant, I feel comfortable posting over there now. Some private-ish stuff will still be posted here, so feel free to subscribe (upper right) and be notified when new posts are made to this IF Blog. Otherwise, visit me over at my home site. I’d love to have you!

<3 Juni

Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a Comment »

I can’t believe we’ve made it this far…

This is a stage I thought we’d never see. It feels like a dream. It’s still not REAL to me yet.

After my 8 day nightmare trying to just relieve myself, I was ecstatic to see that at my 2nd trimester appt yesterday, that the babes are doing great! I half expect there to be something wrong each and everytime I go in to get a scan. But there’s nothing wrong. Everything looks perfect. I can’t believe it. Seriously, I want to believe it, but I can’t. Not yet.

I guess it’s a defense mechanism I’ve built up over the past few years… It won’t be real until they’re  here. And we’re holding them, breathing, living beings. And even then, I’m sure I’ll be in even more disbelief.

To help myself go-to-the-bathroom, I’ve been taking Miralax daily — it’s a stool softener and a laxative in one. It’s helped make things a little easier. I spoke with the OB yesterday about my issues and the fact that I resorted to giving myself and enema (which is actually easier than I thought, but ultimately had no effect) — and she was like — NO ENEMA’S!!!! Whoops. I said it was either that or I go to the ER … but I wound up just resorting to good old patience and physical pain in the long run.

I’m trying to get my 8 cups of water in and find it’s becoming harder and harder to do. Especially now that I’m eating I’m getting full quicker. The nausea has subsided almost completely

I gained 1 pound, which puts me at 15 pounds down from my pre-pregnancy weight. Yet my stomach continues to GROW!

The OB yesterday felt my stomach and was like “OOoooh they’ve really grown fast!”. I don’t know why, but that made me sooo happy to hear. I can finally FEEL them. It’s hard/solid in my lower stomach now, and by 16 weeks, my uterus will be all he way up by my belly button. Bizarro.

Here are my 13 week Belly Pics:

Me at 13 weeks , oooh how i love baggy shirts!

13 weeks from the side. Had to pull my baggy shirt back to show.

Filed under: 2nd Trimester, Belly Pics, Pictures 3 Comments »

Disclaimer : If you don’t want to know about my bathroom habits, let this be your warning. Do not read this entry. LOL

I remember posting about this A LOT during my first pregnancy, b/c my bathroom habits were a pain in the butt – literally. But this pregnancy, things have been different. The general overall morning sickness issues and other pregnancy symptoms  have been a lot less intrusive in my day-to-day life.

Until yesterday.

During this pregnancy I have been drinking a lot of water. I go to the bathroom 10+ times a day b/c of all the water. I have no problem with going #1. It’s the going #2 that’s been an issue.

I have been going #2 once every 3-4 days. Usually it’s only slightly painful and I’m able to fully relieve myself in that one session. I attributed my lack of pooing to the fact that I wasn’t taking in much food, so there wasn’t much to be digested. Once I got enough in my body it would make it’s way out every few days.

Well a few days ago I started taking Zofran. 3x’s a day. I ate really good that day b/c I didn’t get sick after eating. That shiz works. However, the downside to taking this is that it can cause constipation. Which I already had …

I only took the Zofran for 1 day … and after reading the side effects, I decided to stop taking it. I felt that at 12weeks my morning sickness / nausea had subsided and I could eat on my own anyway.

So I’ve been eating Tacos from Taco.Bell and a Meatball Sub from Sub.way and I had some chicken salad sandwich from Pan.era. I was soooo proud of myself for getting substantial amounts of food and protein in. Regardless if it was good for me or not, I was just happy to be eating again without the sickness.

Alas, yesterday was my scheduled day to poo. I didn’t feel like I had to go yet, but on one of my regular episodes of drinking too much water, I stood up to go to the bathroom and I couldn’t straighten out. My lower abdomen starting pinching with sharp pains so bad, I almost doubled over. I thought it was the babes growing or maybe it was just round ligament pain.

I painfully made my way to the bathroom, with inquiring looks from my coworkers and me reassuring them that I was okay.

OMFG — I was in the office bathroom for at least an hour in horrific pain. I had to go #2, and well … my body wouldn’t let it go. It was sooo painful and non-satisfying. I thought I was going to pass out multiple times and I was scared. I had never been so freakin constipated in my life! I was getting cold-sweats and chills and feeling dizzy. Eventually I was able to get out of the bathroom, make my way back to the office and let the staff know that I had to leave.  I looked horrible, I was sweating and I still couldn’t stand up straight.

I couldn’t go home. I didn’t think I’d make it there safely since it’s about a 1.25hr drive there. I am lucky in that my mom lives about 15minutes away, so I called her up and told her to have the bathroom ready b/c I’m coming over.

I was happy I could be there while she was home and off from work this week, b/c I was truly terrified that I might pass out and I didn’t want to be alone … I wanted her to check on me every few minutes just in case…but forgot to ask.

That’s okay though, b/c after about another hour there, I was able to partially relieve myself. Enough so that I could stand up … but I still felt sooo ill and dizzy. I laid down and rest and let my 7 year old niece – who is on her spring break – take care of me and be my nurse. She is soo helpful and sweet.

Long story short, I made it home to my house later in the day, and I had to go again, but it was painful and scary again, and nothing happened. I decided to just let my body readjust and do my best to keep everything IN while I waited until the next morning –

I was thinking the following things could happen.
1. I researched stool softeners and suppositories and nothing could give immediate relief to what was already THERE. I’d have to wait a few days. YEAH RIGHT.
2. I could go to the hospital – I was seriously considering this b/c I thought if I couldn’t get it out maybe it would affect the babies… But then I thought, what could they do to help me besides an enema or something else painful … I started to question any issues regarding my dignity, b/c really — i just wanted this to be over with.
3. I could sit and try for a few more hours when Mike got home, b/c if I passed out, at least he could be there to call for help. All the while I’d be totally f’ing up my insides.
4. I could wait, until morning, for what was left to readjust itself — and try again then.

So I did #4 – I waited, and I was terrified this morning when I got up. I worried that what was there had probably just gotten more backed up and that things would be even more difficult to get out than yesterday… I also didn’t want to do anything that would hurt myself. It’s hard for me to purposely put myself through pain. Alas, my hyped up worries made me prepared for what was to come, and what happened wasn’t as bad as I had anticipated.

Everything worked it’s way out — well most of it did, and I felt a general calm feeling. My anxiety had gotten me so worked up and I started to get paranoid bc my heart would race … and I didn’t want anything to happen to the babes just b/c I had to poo.

Now, I’m in a bit of pain — down there, but I’ll take it!

Going forward I will be eating a fiber-filled diet and some prunes and possibly taking some kind of supplement or stool softener, b/c I don’t want to experience what I experienced yesterday and today ever again. Seriously a total of about 6 hours in the bathroom — not right.

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Medications, Side Effects, TMI, worries 1 Comment »

Today we’ve reached a big milestone for us — 12 weeks gestation. JOY!!!
We also had a Nuchal Translucency scan done to assess or risk for Down Syndrome and Trisomy 13/18. They measure an area of fluid behind the baby’s necks.

Here are our results- it shows the 1st trimester cutoff for the risks, what my risk before screening (based on age alone), and then the risk after screening (after bloodwork and scan results). I particularly like the charted results showing our risk before and our risk after. Ahhh the risk of a 20 year old. Sweet.

The babes were both very active, flipping around and upside down and stretching their arms and legs. It was really great to see and I was sooo happy Mike got to take part in the watching during this scan
I have to say, I don’t know for sure which twin is which, I trust the ultrasound tech since it’s a specialty clinic (Maternal Fetal Medicine) and they do this stuff all the time, but I just don’t TRUST that A is A and that B is B. It’s sooo confusing, b/c some of the pics are when they did a mirrored flip on the scan to get a different perspective. Ahhhh they confuse me!
This first one shows both twins.

And the rest are of each of the twins, not sure which is which, but I’m assuming the labels are accurate.

Hand by nose… so cute.

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Appointments, Pictures, Procedures, TWINS, Ultrasound 1 Comment »

Today marks ALMOST 12 weeks. Since I’ve been spending sooo much time in the bathroom (upped my water intake to 13cups a day) — I thought I’d take some pics to update.

Here is my frontal shot.

And here is my side shot.  I can’t believe how big it looks, b/c I don’t feel that big, and honestly can’t tell if I don’t push my shirt back at the top b/c my shirts are baggy on me now-a-days. Not maternity. Well, just the pants are

I’m down 16lbs total… and my doc prescribed me some Zofran to help reduce the nausea so I can eat more. I take it 3x’s a day, 30 minutes before eating. I tried the first one this morning and felt no different, then I took one at lunch and after eating 3 taco supremes, I felt NORMAL. It felt SOOO good to feel normal.

I usually eat 1 or 2 graham crackers IF THAT, for lunch … so eating more than that was quite an achievement! Not so sure I want to put on a lot of weight, so I will make sure next time I eat something a little bit healthier

I have my Nuchal scan tomorrow — more ultrasound pics to show then… wish us luck!

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Belly Pics, Pictures 1 Comment »

I had originally planned on letting everyone know about our pregnancy on April 1st (April Fool’s Day) hoping to get mixed reactions from our friends on facebook… thinking it was a prank. But my last scan was at 10 weeks and well I feel anything can happen week to week.

So then I thought maybe I’d wait until my next scan (the Nuchal) at 12 weeks or my official 13 week scan the following week.

But… yesterday I spoke with my OBs office and they asked me to come in today. They are concerned with my weightloss. I’ve lost 15lbs now. I take in about 500-800 calories a day. Anything more and I get very sick feeling, puke-like. So if I’m going to puke, what is the point in eating? Right?? And that’s why I limit my intake.

One of the Docs in the practice told me she wanted me to come in and see her. So I went in today. I met with Dr. Sheppard. She was wonderful and had a great bedside manner.

I told her I do not throw up. Only had the 1 big pukefest, and then when I brush my teeth or gag, or when I eat too much food. I AM able to get in my daily 8cups of water a day without puking too.

With that she was very happy. If I wasn’t getting in my fluids she’d be more concerned. She said since I’m getting my fluids in they aren’t concerned about my weight. She said if I lost 25-30 lbs then it will become a concern. Wow — if I lost that I’d be tiny. That would be SWEEEET so long as my babes were still okay in there

Dr. S also did a scan on me today, an external just to check in on them. The are sooooo cute now and sooo human like! I can’t believe it. No more food references (i.e. shrimp, teddy grahams, gummy bears).  One is laying horizontal, w/it’s back to the ground. S/he is sooo cute! It was moving it’s arms and legs around. I could see the elbows and knees and omg I started to tear up. Then I saw the 2nd baby, that is vertical, with it’s feet towards the ground. The baby started at the bottom of the sac and jumped up and floated to the top, then back down, and it would jump really fast every time it went to the bottom and then jump back up and down. It was soooo funny to see how active they were in there. And it truly was a relief to know that they were okay.

Which is why — we told Face.book today that we are expecting Twins.

We are not talking about due dates or how far along we are now — just that we are expecting. The rest will eventually come along — no ultrasound pics to be posted there either. That’s a little too personal for me ;-Þ

Filed under: 1st Trimester 4 Comments »

I have a severe vitamin D deficiency – my results a year ago were 14.7ng/ml — according to the Vitamin D council the optimal level should be at 50ng/ml.

Anyway, I was taking 8000IUs as a supplement and then stopped, worried it might affect this IVF stuff … I asked my RE to test for it, they said they would with my next blood draw at the time, then I asked and they said they forgot. I just let it slide.

Now that I am with a regular OB, at our first meeting they did a full workup, (not really sure what it included b/c they wouldn’t tell me — yet I still have to pay for it. riiiiiight) … I asked if she could add the Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy test, and my doc just looked at me as if I was crazy for asking for that. She said she wouldn’t even know what to do with the results. I told her I was deficient and the results would tell me if I still was or wasn’t. And she continued on basically pushing that it didn’t really matter what those levels were so I should just forget about it (in not so many words).

This left a bad taste in my mouth – I personally do not like this doctor b/c she is questioning MY concerns about MY body.

Here is some info about Vitamin D Deficiency and Pregnancy posted by the  Vitamin D Council

There are too many people and doctors out there not aware of the effects of this deficiency which could easily be treated with over the counter supplements.

Anyway, on to my main topic of blood draws. Since my OB was not willing to add a Vit D test onto my blood work, I called my local general practitioner and asked if they would do it. Even they were perturbed by my OBs unwillingness to do this test. They said it is very important. THANK YOU DOC!!

So I went today. And the phlebotimist took about 45 minutes with the patient that went in before me. I figured maybe the patient fainted or something and that is why it was taking so long. Alas, the phleb. told me that he was just having a rough day. Oooooh great, I think. Stick me with a needle while you are having a rough day.

I told him he has to use the butterfly small needle, and that I have 1 good vein. I know this b/c I’ve been stuck literally over 100 times in the past year. I know where the vein is. I know the process, and there are phlebs. out there that don’t believe me and purposely try to look elsewhere for a vein and stab me 6+ times only to have no success. A-holes!!

This dude said he’d use the small needle, found my vein with his finger and said he will have no problem getting this one.

Lies.

He used one needle and stuck it in me. Instead of taking it out and trying again after his first miss, he kind of started spinning it around in different directions while it was still in my arm and poking different areas. This went on for a good 5 minutes. NO JOKE… Finally I said… Try the other arm. I have the SAME vein available.

He then proceeded to remind me that he was having a really bad day. The guy before him had huge veins popping out and he couldn’t even draw his blood. What the FOOOOOCK. There was no freakin’ way this guy was going to have success with ME then.

He went to the next arm, and tied that rubber thingy on my arm. Except instead of using the one he had on my other arm, he used a new one. That had dried blood all over it. OMG HOLY UNSANITARY BIOHAZARD!!!! It was blantantly obvious that there was blood all over it and he put it on my bare skin?!?! This dude is F’d up!

I let it go hoping not to distract him, b/c by this time he found my vein with his finger again and proceeded to poke and prod — alas with no luck. Once again.

Soooo you know what this means. The arms are no good — he had to go in through my hand. My poor hands

You cannot see my veins in my hands, but eventually after being roped up by that dirty rubber thing and squeezing my fist like mad, a vein popped out. He once again told me that this will be easier for him. argggghhhh….

He stuck me again and it hurt like HELL — but luckily he was able to get the blood drawn on the first try there. What a freakin’ nightmare.

The blood drawing doesn’t stop there though — I have this Nuchal Screen coming up next week, and it’s an ultrasound. But there is blood work that goes along with it, to give me back some ratios about our risk for 3 different trisomies (i.e. 1 in 10,000 etc).

I got a package and it comes with a blood drawing kit. It’s not a needle you put in your arm, but little finger tip pinchers and things like that. I am to prick my finger and fill up these circles on these papers with my blood. Only — it’s not as easy as I thought it would be.

This is what is supposed to happen after you prick your finger and put ONE drop of blood in the middle circle.

See how it fills the entire circle up? Actually, they want it to fill at least 75% … so I thought that would be no problem. However, after following all the instructions, this was the BEST I could do, and I even pricked 2 fingers.

I squeezed my finger until there was  ALOT of blood , and put it on the first dot. Hmm, okay, well it only absorbed a tiny amount. Did the same for the second. WTH – where’s my blood??? So I cheated and put 3 dots on the 3rd and 2 dots on the 4th and 2 dots on the 5th. Even then I couldn’t fill up the freakin’ dot.

I suck. And now my fingers hurt like hell, my hand is bruising and so are my arms.

What a freakin’ day.

And to add to all of this, there is a big storm coming and we are supposed to get 5-10 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow.

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Appointments, Bloodwork, Pictures, Procedures 1 Comment »

Here I am at exactly 11weeks.

Wow, I honestly did not think I got THAT big, and it’s all still strange to me. As of this morning, I’m still down 11lbs. I think right now ppl just think I’m fat. I kind of feel fat b/c my waist has disappeared. And my boobs are now bigger and back to their usual size.

It’s hard for me to get up from sitting or laying down b/c I cramp a lot. I have to move slow. Even walking a short distance gets me cramping. I think the little ones are just growing so fast. Right now they are supposed to be the size of a large lime. 2 large limes in there, somewhere. I know they are low down, so the fact that my upper belly is showing like it is, is strange to me.

I can’t imagine that everything is moving around in there yet, but maybe it is? I’m sooo not familiar with this, and think that a singleton pregnancy would’ve been a lot easier for me to track. I don’t know anyone who has been pregnant with twins recently, to ask them. I know people who are older who have had twins but I think things in general were just different back then.

Upcoming Appts:

Ultrasound at 12weeks (April 6th) for the Nuchal Scan at Maternal Fetal Medicine.
Ultrasound at 13weeks with routine appt with OB. Every OB appt will include an ultrasound, or so I’m told b/c of the twins.

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Belly Pics, Pictures 3 Comments »

I am a big fan of Jodi Picoult’s writing. I love her books. They are fiction, and while I prefer to read about real situations and real lives, she doesn’t disappoint.

Reading her books, you learn so much about the topics mentioned. She researches and explains things so well. Her character portrayals are amazing and you can feel and understand each and every one of them.

Anyway, I knew she was coming out with a new book called Sing You Home. All I knew is that it had something to do with Music Therapy. I was excited about this since that was what I went to college for. To become a music therapist. Alas, that obviously did not happen… but still, I found it relateable.

I figured it would be a good idea to get the audio book since my commute to work is 1.5hours each way, It could help me pass the time and reduce stress for me while I sat in stop and go traffic.

I joined audible by going here to sign up for 2 free audio books. For those of you who buy these things, you know how expensive they are!! One book usually runs me about $30-35 , but I get 2 for free!! SHUT UP!!!

I downloaded Sing You Home to my cell phone and I plugged it into my MP3 hookup and listened to it on my ride home from work yesterday.

The similarities in the 1.5hours worth of the book that was read, were a bit unsettling. I felt it was a sign…

It starts off with Zoey, a Music Therapist, who works with many different people… then it turns out she is 28 weeks pregnant. Then we find out she went through IVF … she and her husband both have infertility issues. Her mom is trying to set up a surprise shower for her. Her mom just recently started a business to become a Life Coach — called Momma Knows Best. (This is interesting to me b/c a close friend of mine is pursuing the same path). Anyway, Zoey knows about the shower, and goes along with the surprise. While she’s at her shower, she starts cramping. She feels a gush, and thinks her water broke, but it was actually blood. She goes to the hospital and on the belly monitor and ultrasound, they are unable to find a heartbeat. She’s had a placental abruption. The baby is dead.

She has to deliver the baby. It was heart wrenching. This is where I stopped the book and the exact point at which I arrived at home.

I was in tears… Thinking this book is a sign for me, b/c of all the similarities I become anxious and scared. I know it’s hard to deal with a miscarriage, but a still birth?! I can even fathom… I don’t want to. I know people who have experienced this, and it is indescribable.

I wasn’t sure if I should continue the book on my drive in to work today b/c I was scared to hear what else would happen, but what if there was a happy ending?? I know Jodi’s books don’t all come with happy endings, but usually there is a twist at the end. I’m intrigued, and I hooked up my phone again to listen on the way in. Not much more climactic stuff has happened thus far. Phew…

I started cramping last night and it has continued to today. It’s not round ligament pain, but maybe it’s other growth pain? I don’t want to call my OB and complain b/c I called last week and went in, and if I call again today I worry they might think I’m calling weekly just to get a scan. I know the docs might not think so but the receptionists have Jersey attitude… I’m going to drink water until I almost explode and hope that that reduces the cramping… If not, tomorrow I will call in, at exactly 11weeks.

My spotting reduced over the past few days, but last night I was on my feet for about 20 minutes, cooking dinner and a few other light things… and I bled. I literally cannot do much or I will start to bleed. I put myself on light duty, no walking the dogs etc or walking around the office … I try to limit all my activities b/c it seems the slightest thing sets off the bleeding.

I don’t want to be on bedrest, b/c laying on the right hurts my belly with cramping, same with laying on my back, and laying on my left is comfy until my shoulder starts to cramp. I can only lay down so much.

Besides all that, I’m doing okay, the nausea is still there but it has lessened … I still have yet to gain any weight, but haven’t lost anymore in the past few days.

Filed under: 1st Trimester, Thoughts, worries Leave a Comment »