On 22w5d & Baby Names

We decided on the names for the babies a few days after our Gender Reveal party. I have loved Ryder throughout my pregnancy, and if it were 2 boys - it would've been Ryder and Reid. I was so thoroughly convinced it was 2 boys, I hadn't really thought of girl names. I always loved Bryn (Ava was my #1 girls name, but there are too many Ava's these days), but I wanted something different than just Bryn - so Brynley it is. I love both names because there won't be 30 of them in their classes at school. Thomas is for my dad, and Marjorie is for DH's grandmother who recently passed away.

We visited DH's dad in California around my 20th week of pregnancy. Honestly, flying that pregnant with twins wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I bought 2 bottles of water to keep hydrated, plus the drink service on the flight, and lots of snack options. I also brought along a couple of my breastfeeding books to keep me occupied, since I can't read on planes. We got Exit Row seats right near a bathroom, which was great because my bladder was definitely giving me a workout. I did have some back tightness after the flights, but my back has always been tight, so that's not a shock. I did also have some ankle swelling, but it went down only a few days after each flight. My biggest suggestion for flying with pregnant is to hydrate!!!

We had a great time in California, visiting with our best man, his wife, and their daughter (who is almost 2)... we had never met their daughter, so that was the best part. DH's dad was also always loving on my belly. When we were leaving to go home, he kissed my belly and talked to the babies. <3

Here's my 20 week belly in California. Also, here is DH & I in Cali.

I had an appointment with my OB last week. He is super happy with everything in the pregnancy, minus my hypertension when I come to his office. I swear that I just have white coat syndrome because my pressure is great at home. He told me to just continue logging my blood pressure at home because we need to keep an eye on it. I will be doing another 24 hour urine collection to check my protein in the urine, and in a few weeks, I will be doing another 1 hour glucose test. We also discussed birth control after the babies are born - I'm insistent that I'm done having babies after this pregnancy, but don't want to do anything permanent yet... so I'm thinking of the Paraguard IUD. The OB told me that in his professional opinion, I'm "not done having babies yet". LOL. I also discussed exclusively breastfeeding the twins with him, and he said that it'll be difficult, but that with what he knows of me, he knows I will do it.

As of this morning, I was up 24lbs, which puts me right on track with my twins book recommendation. I'm definitely feeling the weight gain more now. I'm seeing my chiropractor every 2 weeks or so to help with right hip pain, and I'm so hot at night that we had to turn our thermostat down to 66 (lol) and I'm sleeping in a sports bra and boy shorts - and still sleeping without covers most of the night. It's such an odd sensation, like only my belly feels hot. I'm still applying my cocoa butter every morning, and not a single stretch mark yet, which honestly shocks me. I know they are coming but I certainly thought they would be here already.

Our gender scan went really well, and it was amazing to see the babies in such detail. They have changed who is lower, and now Ryder (on my right) is technically Baby A. They were both super active, and were currently both breech position. I think Ryder may have flipped though, because he has been giving strong kicks in the top of my stomach. DH finally got to feel the babies kicking this past weekend. I felt so awful that he hadn't felt them yet.

Also, I got a surprise this weekend when 2 of my sisters flew in as a surprise, since they couldn't make the gender reveal party... it was great!

I plan on ordering our nursery bedding this week and we are working on estimates from painters to paint the nursery (and the rest of the house). It blows my mind that the babies could be here in 3 months!

Here's me at 21 weeks and 22 weeks (I'm finally starting to figure out how to take self pictures with an iPhone, lmao!)

Here is big brother Mojo loving on my belly.

And here are some baby feet. :)

On Gender Reveal

On 19w & No More Ambulance

I'm 19 weeks today, which puts me at officially half way through my pregnancy (since it's twins and they won't let me go past 38 weeks). When I did the scale hop this morning, I was officially up 16lbs. I'm still looking like it's mostly all belly gain, but my shape has definitely changed a bit (no waistline) and I'm feeling a bit flabby in my normally toned areas. I feel like my belly button is just weeks away from being popped out, lol. It amazes me how much my belly skin has stretched and how much further it still has to go. I still always find myself staring at my belly as I get in the shower and I just giggle. This is really happening. It blows my mind every single day.

I had an emergency appointment with my OB about a week and a half ago because I was having abdominal pain and bladder spasms that I thought were related to another kidney stone. After running some tests and a follow-up appointment, he doesn't think it was a kidney stone, but rather thinks it was round ligament pain. He told me it would be more severe for me considering I'm stretching to accomodate 2 little ones, but that it's pretty normal.

The biggest takeaway from it? He wanted me off the ambulance. He told me I need to take it easy and remember it's a twin pregnancy - which is totally different than a singleton pregnancy. I'll be the first to admit that I've felt so great the past few weeks that I thought I would be able to continue just leading life normally... but I need to realize I have an even greater job and responsibility to these 2 babies... so I need to slow my ass down. So, I relented and am officially done working EMS until after the babies arrive. It was definitely emotional for me packing away all my uniforms, but it's for a good reason.

With that, I have enjoyed the time off and definitely feel a huge difference in my body. There's no more daily aches, pains, and difficulty finding a good position to sleep in. I've been trying to get more stuff done around the house that has been neglected because I was working so much and I've also been in bed every night by 8pm. Honestly, by the end of the day, I'm usually fast asleep by 8pm, too.
Since I have been feeling better and the weather has been nicer, I've been trying to do some walks with Mojo around our development. I've also been trying to do some stretching. It's the first real exercise I've gotten since I found out I was pregnant, so it's welcome.

Not sure if I've mentioned it, but I have a huge diaper/wipes/paper towels/toilet paper/other household essentials stash going. I have close to 5000 diapers (in varying sizes) and over 6000 wipes, lol. DH thinks I'm nuts, but I think I'm being smart! LOL. My basement looks like a cross between Extreme Couponers and Hoarders. I've been really good with couponing to buy everything, too.

Two more weeks until our anatomy scan, and then 2 days later (Mother's Day), we have our Gender Reveal Party. I'm growing more and more anxious to know what these 2 babies are. I still swear Baby A is a boy, and I'm convinced they are either 2 boys or boy/girl... although at this point, if they were 2 girls, I wouldn't be surprised, lol.

Also, over the past few days, I've felt some, what I think are, distinct kicks from Baby A. It was very often a few days ago, but when I would put my hand to my belly, the baby would stop (of course!) I cannot wait until DH can feel them kicking and moving. <3

On 16w6d & lots of doctor's appointments

I feel like I've been neglecting my little blog.

I'm 16w6d today. I jumped on the scale this morning, and I'm up about 13lbs. I'm definitely almost all belly, but am also more flabby because I haven't been able to workout. The morning sickness is almost totally gone (except for when I smell certain things or brush my teeth, lol) and I feel like a new woman! The only thing I've noticed is that I get tired really quickly.

I met with my new ob last week and immediately loved him. The only issue is that he doesn't want me to work on the ambulance anymore. I made a compromise and I will be finishing out April on the truck and then that's it. To be honest, I'm having mixed feelings about it. I love doing EMS but understand it's best for me and the babies to not be running right now. I cried a little bit when I took the recurring shifts out of my Google calendar from May on.

I had my echocardiogram done at the cardiologist on Monday. The tech said he could see my heart murmur but that it's not very large. I go back next Friday for my follow-up.

I had an appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine the other day, too. Nothing crazy came out of the appointment, but I did receive confirmation that they won't let me go past 38 weeks... so, that means these babies will more than likely be here in August! Mentally, that messed with me a bit. This whole time I've been telling people "I'm due in September but will probably deliver in August", but now that it's for real for real that I'll probably deliver in August, I'm like "omg". It went from "I have all summer" to "they are coming at the end of the summer", lol.

I bought a doppler on eBay, and before bed most nights, I just listen to the babies. They have been so active, but it's still reassuring. Sometimes I have a hard time finding their heartbeats, but instead hear a lot of them "wooshing" around in there, and that's just as comforting to me. I've also been trying to read to them.

I've been preparing for our Mother's Day gender reveal party. At first, I honestly wasn't super anxious to find out what we are having, but now I find myself wanting to know. I think it's moreso because everyone else wants to know and because I want to pick out the nursery theme, lol.

I'm currently bidding on my dream stroller on eBay and crossing my fingers that I get it! I've also been selling some of my old clothes on eBay. I went through my closet and had a ton of stuff that still had tags on it! LOL. I've also been using my coupons to stockpile diapers, wipes, and lots of household stuff. DH thinks I'm nuts, but he'll be happy once the babies are here, lol.

Here are some belly pictures, at around 14 weeks, 15+ weeks, and 16+ weeks. :)

On 13w3d & making the announcement!

After a great visit at Maternal Fetal Medicine on 03/08 (officially 12 weeks), and an awesome NT scan, we decided to make the "official" Facebook announcement. Here's Mojo in his big brother shirt!

I was honestly surprised by the amount of people who responded to the post. My BFF says that this is a "celebrity" thing, lol. But, we really had hundreds of people "like" and comment the post. It feels nice that so many people are already being so great about the pregnancy. The day after our FB announcement, I posted a bit about our infertility struggles and our journey to the twins, and that was really well-received as well. I've gotten tons of messages, text messages, and hugs from people who have said it helped them to know others are dealing/have dealt with it. I will never understand why IF is treated as some dirty little secret.

Anyways, the NT scan was great. We got to see both babies, see their brains, the blood flow through the cords, their legs, arms, hands, everything. I loved the detail and to see them moving. We did Baby B (right upper) first, as that baby is sooo much more calm than Baby A, and always cooperates nicely. Baby B had a heartrate of 150bpm.

Baby A is definitely my wild child. This baby never wants to cooperate for ultrasounds, and is constantly flipping around and waving like a crazy person, lol. We would be doing pictures and measurements of Baby B, and you could see Baby A off in the background waving and moving. It was hysterical. Baby A had a heartrate of 145bpm.

Here are both of them in their fake bunk beds. ;) Baby A is on the bottom, Baby B is on the top.

I feel pretty confident that Baby A is a boy. I'm not exactly sure why, but I just feel that way. I've felt "boy" from the beginning, like I've felt "twins" from the beginning, so I'll be beyond shocked if they are both girls. DH's dad thinks Baby A is just a girl who doesn't like her picture taken, lol. My sisters all think it's 2 boys, whereas most other people think I'm having one of each. I'll be honest - I'll be happy with anything.

We find out genders on 05/10, and plan on doing a gender reveal party on 05/12 (Mother's Day). I need to start planning for that, but I plan on just having some family and friends over for some snacks and to see what the babies are.

Here's a picture of me with my bump on Saturday at the Irish Parade. I HATE the picture of me (I swear my face looks so round and fat!) but it's neat to see my bump. I definitely look much bigger than 13 weeks, but I was told to expect to measure about 6-8 weeks ahead throughout the pregnancy, so it makes sense. I've gained about 7-8lbs so far, and while I'm definitely more "flabby" since I haven't been able to work out, almost all of my weight gain is definitely in my belly area.

Overall, I've felt pretty good. I'm still nauseous most mornings, but the vomiting has definitely decreased. I have to eat small meals versus normal sized meals, my stomach just can't take that much in at once. I've definitely felt some "stretching" in my belly area, yesterday I swore my belly button was stretching, lol.

I've been weaning off of the progesterone injections, and in fact, my last injection is tomorrow! I'm so excited. I've also been weaning off of the Endometrin and should be done that soon, as well. :)

I feel so lucky about everything and I'll take every single symptom and every extra medication if it means a healthy pregnancy.

On 10w5d

Here are pictures of the twins from the visit at Maternal Fetal Medicine on 02/11/13.

It took me until just now to realize that the RE's office and MFM refer to the babies differently. Those labels are from MFM, but my RE refers to them in reverse.

Anyways, here is a picture of the twins from the visit with my RE last Friday, when I was exactly 10 weeks.

The baby laying sideways was asleep until the ultrasound tech jostled it with the ultrasound wand, and then it woke up and went crazy. The other baby was moving around like crazy the whole time. Both had strong heartbeats (163 & 164) and were really active. I always cry at the ultrasounds, but this one was special because they actually look like babies now. 

The RE released me from their care. They gave me my weaning schedule for the progesterone injections and the Endometrin, and it basically has me on some sort of supplemental progesterone through Week 16. :( I'm not happy about that (I cannot stand the friggin Endometrin anymore), but I am feeling a bit better since starting to wean from the injections.

I saw my OB yesterday, and she said everything looks great. We got to hear both babies' heartbeats on the doppler, which was pretty much amazing. It really does make things more "real". She was surprised at how easy it was to pick them both up, and it's funny to be able to tell where each one is in my body.

I've gained 3 lbs in 4 weeks, according to the OB's scale. She is really happy with that, especially given how much I've been vomiting recently, even with the Zuplenz and the Zofran, and said I could stand to gain a bit more weight. My next appt with her is in 4 weeks.

Next Friday, we go to Maternal Fetal Medicine for my NT scan, and then we plan on announcing the pregnancy (as long as everything looks good). I want to try to find out when they plan on doing my gender scan, because we are thinking of doing a gender reveal party. :)

On 9w5d

I feel like I've been neglecting my blog. :(

In general, right now, my life revolves around doctor's appointments.

On 02/08, I went for a follow-up with my urologist about my kidney stone. He said everything looked good, the stone probably passed (thank you, lemon water!) and that he wants me to come back after I have the babies so they can do x-rays to make sure there are no issues and so that I can finally do metabolic testing to figure out why I always get stones.

On 02/11, I had my first appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine. First, a tech did my ultrasound, and we got to see both babies. They were really in-depth with measuring everything and checking in on them. I loved it because they have a large TV screen so DH & I could both watch everything that was going on. Baby A (on my right) had a heartbeat of 167bpm. Baby B (on my left) had a heartbeat of 163bpm. Overall, both babies were measuring right on target and were much closer together in size.

After the ultrasound, I met one of the perinatologists. I loved this guy! He was hilarious and wanted to do his own ultrasound to check on everything. You know how with most doctors you feel like they are just waiting to move onto the next patient? I felt the exact opposite with this doctor, I felt like he would've stayed with me all day to answer questions if I had them. He was really happy with how everything looked and said that he's about 85% certain they are fraternal twins, due to 2 sacs/2 placentas/a thick membrane between them. He answered any questions I had and told me I should be prepared to deliver about a month ahead of time. He said I could always carry longer, but just to be ready for it. He also went over my list of other specialists and he seemed so pleased with the doctors I have - he spoke so highly of all of them, which put me at ease.

The next day, on 02/12, I had an appointment at my RE's office. I got to see the babies again, and she gave me a script for Zuplenz. Basically, it's the new version of Zofran, and instead of being a dissolvable pill, it's a little dissolvable strip (remember those breath strips things, it's just like that), and it works in 10 minutes, plus it's double the dosage of Zofran. I love it, and it works so well.

On 02/14, I met with my endocrinologist. My thyroid has been perfect with the Synthroid and he hasn't even needed to bump up my dosage yet.

DH & I had a great Valentine's Day dinner with friends and he got me new earrings that I love. For his gift, I bought us plane tickets to California in May to see all his friends and his dad "back home". He loved it!

I did my first 1 hour glucose test on Monday, and also handed in my 24-hour urine. My OB wants to be proactive about the family history of diabetes and heart disease/hypertension, so they wanted good baselines before I have any issues (hopefully I don't have any issues, but who the heck knows!)

My next appointment is Friday with my RE. I'll get to have an ultrasound and they are going to try to start weaning me off of the progesterone injections. I'm so excited, lol. I also started gathering up all of my unused fertility medications and syringes and stuff - I'm hoping they will accept them as a donation for other patients.

I ordered the first set of baby furniture, and that came in yesterday. My plan is to keep the babies in a bassient in our room for the first few months, and then move them into the same crib in the nursery. After a few months, I'll separate them into 2 cribs, and then maybe once they move into toddler beds, put them into 2 separate bedrooms.

Overall, I have felt pretty good. I've had some intense nausea and vomiting the past week or so, but the Zuplenz really helps, as does drinking juice first thing in the morning. Crackers and ginger ale don't seem to help me at all. :( I'm super bloated, have been in maternity pants or using the belly band since the Superbowl, and I've gained about 7lbs so far. I know alot of it is water weight from all the progesterone, but I'll take the 7lbs regardless. I already have a baby bump, which I love. It cracks me up to look at it in the mirror.

On Telling Our Families

Now that we've told our families, I feel more comfortable "coming out" on this blog with the pregnancy.

What makes things difficult for us with telling our families is that my mom lives a state away (but comes "home" on the weekends), his mom lives about an hour & a half away, his sister lives another state away, 2 of my sisters live in the South, one lives on the West Coast, and his dad lives on the West Coast. So, the only local person is my dad, and my mom on the weekends.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I got these frames for my sisters.

After we found out we were having twins, and that so far everything looked good, I got these frames for our parents.

The plan was to mail the frames to our far-away immediate family, and to have my parents over for dinner at our house. I sent all of the packages on Wednesday, the day after we found out it was twins, via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate - which side note, I LOVE. I marked the packages up saying "do not open until you call us!" and even contacted everyone to tell them.

My 2 sisters in Atlanta got their package first. My sister, Noelle, was immediately crying. I said "notice anything weird about the picture?" And I could hear Gab & Noey both going "is that two? Is it twins?" Their reaction was awesome.

About 2 hours later, DH's mom called. She was so excited and hysterical crying and sobbing that we could barely understand her.

About 4 hours later, DH's sister called, again another excited one.

My youngest sister got hers the next morning and was happy, as well.

On Sunday, we had my parents over for lunch. And before dessert, I put little gift bags on their place settings. They opened them at the same time - my Mom took a second to "get" it, and my Dad was speechless. Then we said, "notice anything weird?" And they both were in shock about twins. I know my dad was shocked because he was uncharacteristically speechless, lol.

DH's dad got his package last night, so DH will tell him today. I'm so excited for his reaction.

Right now, our immediate families know, some of my online friends know, my BFF, and a couple of my other close friends know. My plan is to keep it secret from everyone else until I'm out of the first trimester. I think it'll be hard though because I'm already showing with a little bump.

Overall, I've felt pretty good. I have almost constant nausea, but peppermint Lifesavers really seem to help me. I'm exhausted all the time and starving all the time, too. Really, nothing is as bad as I thought it would be (so far, knock on wood). I'm trying to take every symptom or discomfort as a blessing.

I've only put on a couple of pounds, but according to my twin book, I need to step it up in the weight gain department. I honestly have been eating like crap, but am now making a more conscious effort to eat better.

On TWINS!

Originally written: Tuesday, January 29th, 7:40pm

I went for my 2nd ultrasound today at 6w4d. I was very nervous going into the ultrasound, because I worried that with my recent kidney stone, there would be an issue and the baby wouldn't have a heartbeat.

So, the ultrasound tech got underway and found the baby and the heartbeat. She showed us the heartbeat and then said she had to take a bunch of pictures but would explain things to us. We were just sitting there chatting, telling her she should try to find my kidney stone, lol. We are just bsing, and suddenly she says "what would you say if I told you there were 2?" I said "2 what?" (thinking she was talking about kidney stones, lol.) She said "2 babies!"

I immediately started bawling. DH just stared at the screen and stared at me. The first thing he said was "she was right!"

I've known since 2 days before my IUI, when we did the follicle scan and there were 2 follicles, that if it worked, it would be twins. At my IUI, when they said they couldn't really tell if the 2nd follicle released, I knew it had and had been texting my friends with "TWINS?" After I took my first test, I said to my BFF, I bet it's twins. And as my beta kept increasing, I just knew it. I was a little taken aback at my last ultrasound when there only showed 1, but she said it was too early to tell... and she was right!

Baby A had a heartbeat of 128bpm, and Baby B had a heartbeat of 120bpm. The nurse said everything looks perfect but did warn me of Vanishing Twin syndrome.

Right now, I'm just trying to be positive and trying to really enjoy all of the happiness I feel right now. I'm not sure I've ever smiled so much in my life. <3