Well, we "went" on an adventure. Chana's been asking me to see the baby, so we took her and Dovid to our nuchal translucency ultrasound yesterday. We were a bit nervous because we didn't know if they would behave or not, but they did pretty well on the whole. They were quite interested in the fact that we were in a hospital (and one they had never been to before). Dovid kept insisting that we were at the dentist, though I'm not sure why.
At my hospital they have big TV screens on the wall so the mom (and anyone else in the room) can watch the ultrasound in progress without craning their necks to look at the tech's screen. So we encouraged the kids to watch on the screen, and they loved it! We got to see the little one bouncing all around (and causing trouble for the technicians). Heartbeat was around 160, as usual, and baby was measuring a few days ahead at 12w5d. Nuchal fold came in at about 1.5mm. She measured it several times and that was the absolute largest measurement she got - average was probably 1.2mm. So, that was well within the normal range. Yay! They also took my blood for that portion of the screening.
All in all it was a good visit, and they want me to schedule my "big" ultrasound for 18 weeks. So there's less than 6 weeks to go until then!
I think this baby looks a lot like Dovid's 12 week ultrasound. Baby was also bouncing around a ton and is measuring ahead, which also leads me to think it might be a boy. I'll keep my fingers crossed on that one. ;-)
If you haven't already, don't forget to enter my baby pool!
As you might remember, I first hinted to being pregnant with the title "Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe". Well, now here is the reveal of "the secret" and everything that's been going on for the last month or so.
We started TTC #4 at the beginning of October. I randomly got my period that month even though I was on progesterone-only birth control pills, so I figured I would ask Shmuel if I should refill the birth control pills, and he said to chuck them...so I did. We didn't know if it would be one cycle or ten or even more, considering our history. With the twins it was two years and numerous infertility treatments before we got pregnant. With Tzipora we tried naturally and got pregnant in three months. I guess Shmuel wasn't convinced that Tzipora's conception wasn't just a fluke. And to be honest, there were times I thought it was a fluke myself. But honestly I had faith that it would work again this time...the "regular" way. And I was right. After three cycles (again!) I was staring at a BFP in disbelief. I had an inkling at 7 dpo when my temperature chart showed an obvious implantation dip, but I didn't want to get my hopes up at that point. But on 10 dpo I took a test, and I would have sworn I saw a very, very faint second line. At 11dpo I took more tests...and I figured that they were all defective. That I was imagining things. That since these tests were expired they were completely useless. I mean, it didn't matter every other cycle they were completely blank and now they had second lines... So I popped into CVS after Shabbos (12/22) and bought a slew of non-expired tests and a package of digital tests as well. And I took them...
Ok, fine. I couldn't really argue with that. So I figured it was time to tell Shmuel, and I brought in the digital test to show him. He was skeptical and asked if it could be wrong...so I brought him the one you see at the bottom. He was still skeptical, so I offered to show him the other ten tests all with second lines on them. He declined that... lol
Since I was planning to leave town on the 24th, the only way to get a beta drawn was Sunday the 23rd. And the person I spoke with on the phone also offered to give me a "prescription" for more blood work that I could take with me on my trip. I wasn't sure how that was going to work, but it was something. Either way, at 12dpo (12/23), my hCG was 80 mIU/ml, and my progesterone was 26 ng/ml. If you're keeping track, both levels are higher than Tzipora's at the same dpo. However, I believe I implanted a full day earlier than with her, which can definitely make the difference.
I left on my trip to Missouri on the 24th and then had a great first Christmas Eve and Christmas celebrating with Heavyn, Toby and the Curtis family. I think Sister Curtis had the best reaction to a pregnancy announcement that I've ever seen. I wish I had a video of it, because it was classic. She basically screamed , jumped up and down, and started dancing. She was then recruiting her daughters to dance with her all around the room. Toby and Kaleb were both trying to get me to name the baby after them. Good luck with that, gentlemen...
I was taking HPTs the whole time from Christmas Eve onward and was incredibly frustrated and nervous when they were going lighter then darker then lighter then darker. I couldn't get my next blood draw till the 26th because of the holiday, but luckily my doctor had written an order for it and the hospital near there took it with no problems. I went back and got my results in person the same day... 273 mIU/ml! Perfectly doubled, almost exactly - doubling time of 40 hours. If you remember, Tzipora's and the twins' levels doubled more quickly, so I was hopeful it might be a boy this time. (Some people say boys have lower hCG levels and that the numbers double slower than with girls.)
Two days later (17 dpo) I was back at the medical center for my next blood test. I actually waited there for the results, and they were done in an hour. Very fast work! We were now up to 620 mIU/ml! Still doubing in just about 40 hours. I was so relieved that all was going so well so far and that my numbers were doing exactly what I was hoping they would.
I had to wait the weekend for my last blood test (20 dpo). It was snowy, and the Curtises were out of town for the holiday, so I actually borrowed Heavyn's car and drove myself down to the medical center. The roads actually weren't that bad - they got much worse that evening. That result was 3245 mIU/ml! Nearly double what I was expecting and now doubling in 30 hours.
All went well for the end of my trip, except of course that I hate flying and was nervous and nauseous all that evening (the 3rd). Unfortunately for me it didn't end there. At that point I was only 5 1/2 weeks pregnant, but I was starting to be nauseous each evening, which each night getting progressively worse. Until the 8th (6 weeks) when I was just nauseous all day long...and the 9th it got worse. I'm honestly the worst person when it comes to nausea. I just can't take it. And I was super lucky with the twins and Tzipora. It was never all day and usually just struck at dinner time. And it really didn't peak until about 10 or 11 weeks and then quickly dissipated. But this is a whole new ballgame. I don't know if it's because I was dehydrated or what, but I gave up and went to the ER for fluids and IV nausea meds. I had been taking oral meds (the same stuff they give in IV), but it wasn't working...not even a little bit. I felt LOADS better after getting some fluids in, and of course the doctor insisted I go for an ultrasound...and who am I to argue, right?
They don't have neat ultrasound printers in the ER, so I snuck this pic in with my phone. You can see the gestational sac in the middle and a little baby blob at the bottom. Baby #4 is an overachiever, measuring in at 6w4/5d when I was just 6w1d (or really 6w2d since it was nearly midnight). And little baby had a heart rate of 118 bpm, which is perfect for how far along I was.
My morning sickness (well, it's never in the morning, though, just the rest of the day and especially evening) has been a nightmare this time around. When I started dry heaving one evening at around 7 1/2 weeks, I gave up and went back to the ER for more fluids. Unfortunately, while I felt better initially, I felt just as rotten going home as I did when I was on my way there. The fact that it was 2am probably had something to do with that, though, as I was beyond exhausted. The one good thing that came out of it was another ultrasound, which the tech let me tape a little part of. She was super sweet, too.
You can see the heartbeat going along at about 160bpm, and the baby was measuring about a day or so ahead. So, just perfect!
I've already had my first prenatal appointment with the midwives, and I'll see them again around 12 weeks. I'll also have my next ultrasound at that point for the nuchal translucency screening. Can't wait to see the little one then! In the mean time, if you've stuck around for the whole post, you can now go and join in the baby pool. Winner will get something cool, though I don't know what yet. Probably will get to hold the baby or change a diaper or something. :-D
One of my mom's good friends from grade school (yep, they go back that far) lives in my area and has become one of our good friends as well. She designs and sews quilts, and even made one for me when I was born. (I have it here somewhere and must find it...Mom, if you know where it is, I want to put it up on my wall.) Anyhoo, she made quilts for the twins when they were born which hung over their cribs in the nursery...until they got tall enough that they could pull them down. Now that the twins are in their own room upstairs, we wanted to move the quilts to their new room and put them up where there's no fear of someone pulling them down. Our friend (let's call her M for simplicity sake, since I'm not sure if she minds her full name being on my blog) came over last week to put up the quilts and also deliver a brand new one for the baby. She came up with a fantastic idea of hanging the twins' quilts from the slanted ceiling and successfully accomplished the task! It was rough going, but she's quite creative. Here's a picture of the final product:
Here you can see how she hung it on the wall.
And here is a picture of Tzipora's gorgeous new quilt (and how it's hung on her wall)!
In other news, I got my blood test back and I'm not particularly anemic! My hematocrit was 35.4%, and my hemoglobin was 11 g/dl. (Normal hematocrit for women is 36.1 - 44.3% and normal hemoglobin for women is 12-16 g/dl) So I'm juuuust below normal values, so as long as I eat foods high in iron I should be good to go. Yay!
The baby had her 1 month checkup earlier this week, and I had my 6 week checkup today. The baby weighed 8lbs 15oz and measured 20.75" at her checkup. She gained a little over 2 lbs in just under 4 weeks! That's perfect!!! The pediatrician said that she looks great and is developing right on target.
As for me, my favorite midwife was working tonight (you know, the one who delivered the baby). I was SOOOOO happy, because she doesn't work every Thursday evening, so it's the luck of the draw to come in on her night. Anyways, she told me that everything was healed and looking great. I'm in tip-top condition...except for the fact that I might be anemic. She took a CBC, so we'll find out tomorrow if that's the reason I'm super tired and dizzy. I should also start taking my placenta pills, but especially if I'm anemic.
I have my first test of the semester next Monday, and I'm feeling pretty good that I'll do well on it. I got 100% on my first lab quiz last week, and hopefully I'll do that again on tomorrow's quiz. I just have to study really hard for it. It's on the heart, so I need to make sure I keep my atria and ventricles straight...and all of the little valves and such.
And now, for something funny. I was at Costco the other day, and in one of their main displays they were selling bathing suits. I was like "Bathing suits in this weather? What are they thinking?? We're going to have snow on the ground until September!" LOL Silly Costco.
I know what you all really want... You really want to see pictures of Baby #3, right? Ok, well she finally gave us a decent profile shot at today's ultrasound, so here you go!
Now for the updates. The ultrasound went very well! Her heart rate is 150bpm, which is normal and the same as always. The baby is growing, but still measuring just about a week behind. The good thing is that she's actually picking up days, so she's really measuring less than a week behind now. Yay! My cervix is still awesome at around 3.25cm. This means that we'll have one more ultrasound in two weeks, and if my cervix and the baby both look good then, we don't get any more ultrasounds. (At least not unless they want to do one for another reason in the coming weeks.)
I had my 1 hour gestational diabetes test and passed with flying colors. Woo hoo!!! They like to see results under 140 mg/dl, but under 130 mg/dl is even better. My level? 115 mg/dl!!! Go me! And the orange drink really wasn't all that bad. They also tested me for anemia. My hemoglobin is 10.6 g/dL, and my hematocrit is 32.5%. Both levels are slightly lower than they were at the end of August, but still not so bad. I could probably make them better by actually remembering to take my prenatal vitamin... :-)
The twins are saying more words, so I really need to update their word pages. They're also climbing stairs now!!! (They can only go up so far, but that's awesome because it means we don't have to carry them up stairs.) Very exciting!!
I've been having this nagging cramping in my lower pelvic area since Wednesday, and it's driving me mad. I thought it might be a UTI, but they did a urine and blood test, and everything came back normal (including my white counts). What else was normal? Well, my platelets are at 159,000/cmm, my hemoglobin is 11.1 g/dL, and my hematocrit is 32.8%. Much lower than in June, but higher than it was at this point in my last pregnancy. The midwife says that iron isn't necessary (yet) and hopefully they'll keep an eye on the levels as we go forward. In any case, still no idea what's causing my pain...they say take Gas-X and Tylenol and we'll see you at your appointment later this week (Thursday). I also have an ultrasound scheduled for Monday, so that will be good as well.
As for the twins, their high fevers are now low fevers (around 99.0) and both are feeling MUCH better. They were acting like themselves both Friday and today, even with the low-grade temps, and they've been eating like normal. The only "abnormal" thing was the super long mid-afternoon nap (like 2.5 hours). Hubby and I took a nap at the same time, and we all were zonked out for about the same amount of time. heh oops! Gotta love those Shabbos naps!
Today is June 11th...what should have been my father's 82nd birthday. But sadly he is not here to celebrate with us...not his birthday, not the twins, not the baby-to-be. *sigh* Unfortunately he never had a chance to even meet my husband. In either case, at least he is watching down on us and can smile at his grandkids from up above. :-)
In other news, the twins had their 15 month checkups at the pediatrician. Dovid only weighs 19 lbs and is in like the 1st percentile for weight. He's 29.25 in tall, which is in a slightly higher percentile but not by much. Chana weighs 22 lb 10.5 oz, which is in the 50th percentile, and she's now 30.5 in tall (57th percentile). The dr says they are two healthy babies, but she wants to see them at 18 months to check up on Dovid's weight. She's also sending them to see an audiologist and someone to check their speech, since they're still not talking or understanding words. I'll make those appointments on Monday...
As for me, I got my hemoglobin and hematocrit levels from last Monday. My hemoglobin was 13.4 g/dL (the lowest normal for pregnant women is 11 to 12 g/dL!!!) and my hematocrit was 36.5% (and normal is 35-47% for women). YIPPEE!!! I'm not anemic, and both levels are even going up! :-D
I finally got the results from yesterday's blood tests (well I got some of them). In any case, I still have the antibodies and my K blood type is still negative (of course it is...that kinda thing is genetic and doesn't change, you know.) But the good news is...my hubby is also Kell negative!!!! That means that all of our babies (including Chana & Dovid) are and will be Kell negative, so I don't need to worry about killing their poor little helpless red blood cells. *whew*!!! So that's a relief. Now we just need to make sure that this fistula isn't going to be a problem (and that I don't have an incompetent cervix), and we'll be all set.
I had an appointment today with Dr. Glatstein, my reproductive endocrinologist. I wanted to have a checkup with him to see what our plan would be for future kids and to go over what happened in the cycle with the twins. And now I know what happened...
First of all, of my eight eggs, here is what happened to them. One of them did not fertilize, two of them divided before being fertilized (it's a meiosis thing), three of them fertilized and then became multinucleated (this means that there is more than one nucleus in a cell, and the doctor will not transfer or freeze these type of embryos because of the high rate of miscarriage and abnormality), the last two are the ones that continued to divide and are now The Twinners. The doctor suspects that I have an egg quality issue which has been causing our problems. Why a perfectly healthy 26 year old should have egg quality issues, I don't know. But it is what it is and the doctor would not change our protocol at all (except for a minor change in medication because of what my insurance covers). He does not recommend doing any other kinds of treatments first (like IUI or clomid), since IVF is what worked and we think that there may be this minor egg quality problem. Also, he doesn't recommend ICSI or PGD because the eggs didn't seem to have problems fertilizing...only one of the available eggs didn't fertilize (the two that divided early weren't available so they don't count). Also, we don't have any known genetic issues, so there's no reason to do PGD. Also, we both agreed that we're only transferring one embryo at a time since I'm not allowed to have twins again. In order to make me feel better, though, we're going to freeze anything that's still cleaving (growing) on day 3 and I'll get to help choose which embryo to transfer based on how all of them are growing. Of course then I asked him if it would be possible for us to get pregnant on our own, and the doctor reiterated that it would be possible. It's a statistical thing...if I have decreased egg quality, there's just less of a chance of me getting pregnant in any given month (say 5% instead of 20%), and there's a higher chance of miscarriage if I develop one of these multinucleated embryos. That may explain my miscarriage on my first IUI! Anyways, I like now having some type of diagnosis and knowing what my next steps are. I need to have all of my testing done again (blood tests, semen analysis, SHG), and then I can start a cycle whenever I want. It most likely won't be for a while since we want to put about 3 years in between the twins and another baby and I'll want to try to plan for a delivery when it won't interfere too badly with school, and we'll get a chance to try on our own for a while. Then, if the statistics just don't go in our favor, we can start in on an IVF cycle when we're ready.
In other news, in case you hadn't noticed, TODAY IS THE TWINS' BIRTHDAY!!!! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
When I was in high school, I was convinced that my belly button was "unfolding". Yes, I was a bizarre child, but I seriously thought it was just going to come apart. Now, I know it's not unfolding, but it's definitely getting shallower. :-)
I follow a lot of blogs, and today I read something that I really want to share. My blogger friend Nancy has one post today about childhood vaccinations and another about the flu shot. I think everyone should read them (especially those who are nervous about vaccinating their children or even themselves). Thank you Nancy!!
In other news, I'm 16 weeks today!! I'm just recharging the batteries for my digital camera and then I'll upload my newest belly pic. It's definitely getting bigger and sometimes I can feel it stretching, and BOY does it hurt! But I'll take it! I've also had some headaches for the last few days, so hopefully those will go away soon. I also voted today, and I hope everyone else has done the same!
I did go maternity shopping last Sunday and bought a winter jacket, a black blouse and 3 bras. Holy cow I'm so happy about those bras. I'd been wearing regular ones 24 hours a day and they were starting to get small. I don't actually think my boobs have gotten any bigger, but my ribcage/chest has. So I'm one size up for chest, but the same cup size. That makes a huge difference in comfort, though! I had actually given myself a sore under my boob and it hurt like mad! Now I have a bra that is specifically for sleeping and two other ones that I can wear during the day.
Today I had the second blood draw for my Sequential Screen, so I will hopefully find out the results of that next week at my OB appointment. And the Big Ultrasound is two weeks from today!!! My sister and brother-in-law are coming in for it, so I'm really psyched to see them too. Then, my mom and her boyfriend are probably coming to visit for Thanksgiving, so that will round out November nicely. I'm going to get spoiled seeing my family so much! But after November I probably won't see anyone again until the babies arrive, unless I get visitors while on bed rest.
Well, this has been a really dull week. It's already Saturday night and I haven't posted a thing since Tuesday. Whoops on me! So, here's the scoop.
One of my IRL (in real life) preggo friends is in the hospital--not pregnancy related, thank G-d. I won't go into any more detail than that because it's quite personal. She actually referred me to my current OB (who is AWESOME). I visited my friend on Wednesday evening and ran into my OB on my way out (she was on her way in to visit my friend). It was very funny. This friend also has a guinea pig who I am pig-sitting. I have 2 guinea pigs, so the humans in my household are currently outnumbered by guinea pigs...
I'm planning to go maternity clothes shopping tomorrow as I find that 4 outfits just don't work when there are 7 days in a week... I have a $100 gift card to Motherhood Maternity, so I'm psyched for a spree!! (Thank you mypoints.com)
I can't believe I'm going to be 16 weeks on Tuesday. I'm going in for the 2nd part of my sequential screen that day. The sequential screen is like the triple/quad screen except they test you twice...once at 12 weeks and once at 16 weeks. They then use those results combined with the neuchal translucency to give you the chances of your baby/babies having Down's Syndrome, Trisomy 13 or Trisomy 18. I'm not particularly worried seeing as the NT values for both babies were very low. (Both under 1mm) And my age works for me even though my husband's age is working against. And then I can go vote!! Man, Tuesday is going to be a big day.
So, I had my final beta drawn today. The hCG came back at 6653 mIU/ml and my progesterone came back at 49.5 ng/ml. The doc told me to lower my progesterone to once a day (WOOO) and we scheudled my first ultrasound for 9/2, when I'll be exactly 7 weeks! Levels are still way above average, and here's the chart:
Not much going on today--sorry I haven't posted since Friday. My mom was in this weekend, so I was pretty busy. We went to the Science Museum, on a duck tour, to dinner and then to the movies (WALL-E).
Today I made an appointment for my first *real* doctor's appointment (last Friday didn't really count). It will be on 9/9, when I'm exactly 8 weeks. Now I just have to wait until Wednesday when they do my (hopefully) last hCG blood test. At that point (5w 1d) the level should be about 5600 (yes, Nancy, I know...it has to be twins). ;-)
I will post on Wednesday to let everyone know how it went!
So, my doctors appointment wasn't particularly exciting--she said my spotting and cramping are nothing to worry about. I had to sit there for 4 hours waiting, which sucked, and I was terrified that something was wrong because the urine test I took was pretty light. Turns out everything is fine, beta is up to 994 mIU/ml and progesterone is up to 35 ng/ml! Here's my new chart (eep)!
So, I got my second beta done today! My hCG came back at 429 mIU/ml (which is more than double) and my progesterone went up to 27.5 ng/ml (which makes me VERY happy). And, as you can see by the chart, my levels are even above the high side for single pregnancies, so we may be looking at twins....eek!
The chart won't do any levels before 14dpo, so it looks a little off.
So, I got my first beta done today and the level was 175 mIU/ml (which is AMAZING for 13DPR/10DPT). I'll have a repeat on Wednesday just to make sure it doubles. My progesterone came back as 16 ng/ml, which is not *excellent*, but my doc doesn't think I need to up my dosage. I'm taking the suppositories, so the progesterone is getting absorbed right into the uterus and doesn't make it into my blood as well as it would if I were taking the shots--but the uterus is where we want it to be, so that's ok.
So, I actually had the same ultrasound tech today as on Friday, but I guess she was more on the ball this morning. Here are the results:
estradiol: 2579 pg/ml endometrium: 13.3mm left ovary: 19mm, 18.5mm, 17mm, 16.5mm, 16mm, 15mm, 12mm, 11.5mm (total of 8) right ovary: 16.5mm, 15.5mm, 14.5mm, 14mm, 13.5mm (total of 5)
Grand total: 13 follicles (which will all hopefully be mature by Tuesday!)
So the doc is having me trigger tonight at midnight and I'm having the retrieval on Tuesday at noon (eep!). I'm really nervous about the sedation for the retrieval, because I've never been put to sleep before...if anyone has any comforting words about it, please send them!!
The ultrasound tech today didn't seem to be the most competant, but she was very sweet. After seeing 23 prospective follies and an 8mm endometrium on my last check, I was shocked to find only 8 measurable follies and a 13mm endometrium (it's only been 3 days). In any case, my estradiol was at 840 pg/ml and I (supposedly) only have 3 follies on my left (14mm, 12.5mm, and 10.5mm) and 5 follies on my right (15mm, 13mm, 11mm, 11mm, and 10mm). I'm hoping it's just the tech having a bad day and not finding everything. We'll see what happens on Sunday (and hopefully I'll get someone else)!
So, I have 13 small follicles (under 10mm) on the left and 10 small ones (under 10mm) on the right side. Now what I'm wondering is if this is normal... I've been stimulating at 125IU of Follistim for 4 days and I don't have any larger follicles yet?!?! My endometrium is already at 8mm, so that's fine. My estradiol was around 200 pg/ml, LH around 3 mIU/ml and Progesterone around .3 ng/ml--so those are all normal. Has anyone else had this??? Am I going nuts? I go back on Friday for another follie check, so I hope that I have a bunch of big ones by then...but I'm kinda nervous... :-(
My doctor called with my hCG results. The level only went up to 197 mIU/ml, which means that they either just haven't gone up very far or they're on their way down. Either way, this pregnancy is over and we're on to our next cycle. :-(
