Frozen Future Babies

I forgot to mention the outcome of the egg retrieval...oops! I was carried away with our good outcome!!  After watching the embryos develop over the course of the five days they were outside the body, 6 fertilized embryos made it to the FINAL STAGE! We transferred two embryos (our twins) and we still have four embryos to use in the future if and when we choose to have more children. It is so nice to know we can try for more children in the future. Right now we definitely have our hands full, but having the option of trying for more cycles to give our twins more siblings, brings me so much joy! Right now we are not talking about more children, but the option is there and that makes this just more amazing!

1st OB Appointment

Today Pat and I had our first appointment with my OB in Naperville. This has all just been so amazing. We loved walking into that office instead of an infertility clinic! It is such a nice change (even though I miss my IRH staff!) As always, I am nervous, but more excited! Being we had our appointment at 9:30am we were one of the first patients of the day so we did not have to wait too long. I did the usual pee in the cup on arrival, weight, blood pressure...(feeling pretty normal at this point!) All checked out well. Even my weight has not changed even though I feel like I am eating more. I think those babies are already sucking up everything I eat. We went over my medical history with the nurse and signed some consent forms and got our Congratualtions on your pregnancy packet. All pretty cool...I had the chills for the entire appointment.

My first question was, since I am carrying multiples, we heard from a friend in Ohio that a periontologist is worth mentioning to monitor me more closely so we can always know the babies and I are healthy throughout the pregnancy. Periontologists are specialists. One of the subtopics of their specialty is pregnancy of multiples. This means more ultrasound checks!! I don't think I can go a whole month without seeing my two peanuts, so this is something I really wanted to happen! My doc said, we always send our mothers-to-be of multiples to periontologists and we work as a team through your whole pregnancy. My OB will deliver the babies, but my periontologist will act as more of a consultant to my OB. Pretty cool, huh? I will be seeing both docs throughout my pregnancy! I truly feel the babies and I are going to be monitored so well this way, and best of all, I get to see them more! :)

Next, Pat and I went into the exam room with the u/s machine. Now time for the good part...seeing the babies! Our doctor came in to do the scan. She tried to do an abdominal u/s, but the babies weren't going to give us a good picture that way, so we went for the vaginal scan. We aren't there yet! Right away I saw the now larger bodies or our two peanuts....they are looking more human! The picture is not very clear, but when we were there, it was very clear! I saw the heartbeats right away! Their hearts are now bigger and much easier to see. Our doc even said lets try to get some sound to these hearts. Baby A was first! What a beautiful sounding heartbeat. I looked at Pat and we were in AWE! We then moved to Baby B and the heartbeat was nice and strong...the sound filled the room. Baby A is measuring at 8w6d and Baby B is 8w1d! Right on schedule! Apparently, you want your twins to differ a tad bit in size.  Poor Baby B...Baby A seems to have such a a large sac. It is definitely claiming a territory in my uterus...They could not be any more perfect! :)

Wow...our twins are proof miracles do happen! They remind us everyday! We are DYING to know the genders...how are we going to wait!!??!?  We are going to find them out as soon as it is detectable. :)

After taking about a dozen pictures and measuring the babies, I got dressed and our doc gave us the info for a periontologist! woo hoo! Pat and I left the office on cloud 9...I think we drifted back to the car..It was a truly amazing day...we are so thankful for our two blessings...

I have been weaned off my PIO shots!!!  yay!! Now I am just on oral estrace and prometrium suppositories! yahoo!!!!

8w,1d...1st trimester fun!

Here I am...still very pregnant with things progressing forward! I am 8 weeks and 1 day pregnant today! This whole pregnancy experience is something nobody could prepare you for. I never thought I could get so tired and so nauseous all at once! Your body changes in every way possible. Right now, it is just a battle to get to the end of the week. I am loving every second of it. I still feel so blessed I get to experience pregnancy! I have never felt more comfortable in my own skin and proud to be who I am. I can already feel a bond. It is just amazing and words can't describe it.

On my way home from work, I was driving home, and I had a flashback to when I was a child and was informed of my news by my pediatric surgeon. If I could thank her now for saving my uterus and allowing me to feel what I feel today, I would. Each day is a gift, and it keeps getting better. I love seeing miracles happen. My life is just so great right now. I love watching Pat be so excited every day. I can already tell he is going to be the best dad and talking about these two peanuts on the way. It brings me so much joy! I want to just hug these two bugs right now!

As I get closer to our gender determination, I am going to make predictions on what I feel I am having based on my symptoms and gut feeling. As of today, I am feeling a boy and a girl. Again, this may change, but today I feel we are going to have one of each. :)  It will be interesting to see if this changes. Pat has the same feeling as of today. It is interesting. I did have a baby dream this week and we had a baby boy in the dream. So does this mean we are having at least one boy? hmmm... :)

We do have names picked out for every combination these two peanuts could be. The plan is to share the names when we find out the genders. Pat did not want to share the names until their birth, but I think I talked him into sharing a little bit sooner. It is amazing how much you go back and forth and make changes to the names. We finally agreed on names for each gender and we love the final selections! We can't wait to share them with everybody! :)

Our next ultrasound and bloodwork is this Friday! I CAN'T WAIT to see the babies again! This time they are going to look more human and are going to be bigger. Again, making this feel so much more real.  Dr. Scheiber is gradually taking away my meds slowly but surely. Of course this scares me because my meds are like my security blanket, but if he got us to this point, I trust him with our babies lives.

I got my first "You are starting to show." at work today. YIKES!! I am only at 8 weeks! I read online it is just bloat, but I am not sure if that is for one baby or two. I am guessing one.  Anyways, I am definitely bloated for sure and it is pretty obvious, well at least to me.  My pants are getting a little more snug in my waist area, which is exciting!

I will keep you all posted on Friday's appointment and scan! Also, I may put up belly pictures in the near future.  I have a feeling I will be showing very very soon.

1st Ultrasound - 6.5 weeks

Our first ultrasound was scheduled for 10am in Cincinnati with Dr. Scheiber doing our 6-week ultrasound.  Pat and I arrived Thursday afternoon to my in-laws home.  It has worked out so well this way. As the ultrasound got closer I was becoming more and more nervous...I would have thoughts, "What is something is wrong?" What if the baby isn't healthy?"  Every worry ran through my mind...I guess it is typical for a mother to worry...I am learning this quickly! 

The next morning was now here. We got up with our alarms and started to shower and get ready for the big day! Pat said he was not nervous...I don't know if I believed him... My mother-in-law joined us for this ultrasound to grab a quick glimpse at what was to be seen.  We waited in the waiting room and waited for my name to be called. Within minutes..Kathleen Davis? Are you ready? I leaped up and Pat and I walked in to have my blood drawn first. I was a nervous wreck talking to the nurse how I was..she eased my nerves and said this will be great...nothing to worry about. She said she even gave us the cool room where I get my own ultrasound screen!

I undressed and waited for Dr. Scheiber to do my ultrasound. He entered the room with a HUGE smile on his face! He is always very cheery. You can tell he has such a passion for what he does.  He logged into the machine and said, "Let's see what we made!" lol my nerves were relieved when he said that statement. He always says the right things to ease my nerves.

The twins!

He started the ultrasound and right away I saw 2 big black sacs...Pat and I knew immediately, or at least a good idea. We just waited to confirm the heartbeats in both sacs. Dr. Scheiber said he wanted to finish measuring and checking to make sure everything looked healthy before explaining the picture to us.  Then he preceded to tell us, "Not only did we do better than Chicago, but we did TWICE better." You are having twins! He showed us the heartbeats of both babies and we couldn't believe this was happening to us...we never get good news!  He said "here is your first little peanut" and pointed to the heartbeat, and then said "here is your second little peanut" and pointed to the heartbeat. What a great change!!!

Pat went to get his mom from the waiting room to get a glimpse at her grandchildren on the way. When Pat came back in the room, Dr. Scheiber introduced her to her TWO grandchildren. She joined the group emotion of pure shock! Our hearts were all flying high in the ultrasound room.

Dr. Scheiber went over some basic pregnancy info with us. It was hard to pay attention because we were just so excited to hear we have TWO healthy little peanuts! Dr. Scheiber then hugged me and shook Pat's hand and said congrats! He said you will need another check at 8-weeks and slowly will be weaned off my medications. I will be able to do my next ob scan in Chicago making this our last Cincy doctor visit.  He left the room and I changed. When I was finished changing the entire nursing staff was waiting outside the room and wanted to hug and congratulate us and see pictures!  IRH gave us such the greatest experience! They truly are an amazing staff and I am so glad Pat and I were able to work with them for this miracle.  You just feel like family there! 

I will still be in close contact with Dr. Scheiber for a few more weeks and then I move onto my OB/GYN. We will find out the genders in March.

For something we thought was impossible, is now our reality. I am going to be a mother and Pat is going to be a father.  Our family will officially double in August.  We are getting our family that we worked so hard for in 7.5 months!  I still wake up smiling and rubbing my tummy. Everyday I am living a dream and it will only get better. We will have two peanuts soon and we could not be any more happier than we are right now...well maybe in 7.5 months. :)

Please continue prayers for me and the babies...we are hoping for a healthy and long pregnancy so these babies come out nice and plump!