Electric Carts, Wheel Chairs & Contractions... OH MY!

 

Well, I have embarked into the third trimester and the latest level of frustration.  Don't get me wrong- I am so proud to be carrying two tiny miracles but I have been so independent and active for years and staying in bed so much and staying inactive is hard.  Mostly mentally but also physically.  I easily pull muscles in my neck just due to sleeping or laying wrong.  I do see a chiropractor a few times a week but this far along, I am being lazy and going less.  I don't wanna get ready to go.  Ugh.  I am whining.  I know.

I am now 34 1/2 weeks along and the twins are doing great.  They are beautiful as ever.  It is amazing that a year ago we tripped into fertility treatments and went down the following road:

• trying to conceive 8, 9, 10 years
• attempting to adopt outside of using an expensive agency to only come out of it with horror stories
• being told we could not have children together due to my husband shooting blanks (azoospermia)
• finding out he had sperm after all, just needed a biopsy to get them out
• planning our IVF and succeeding after 1 vigorous round
• finding out we were expecting, not only expecting but having Boy/Girl Twins!

So, here we are.  Ready for our family to grow by 4 beautiful, cute, little feetsies!  We have gotten the nursery ready, had our unisex baby shower and had a few uneventful visits to the Labor & Delivery department at Methodist Women's Hospital.  We have decided to have the twins together in one room for the time being to help them feel most comfortable since they have been 'womb-mates' for their fist 9 months in-utero. 

I have been experiencing those fun Braxton Hicks contractions for a few months now.  They have gotten stronger this week.  Well, so strong on Monday night that they became consistent for the first time and I actually thought I was going in labor.  I had a perinatal and OB appointment earlier that day finding out that my cervix was soft, 38" so measuring 38 weeks for a singleton mama, no dilation, Sebastian way head down and Mila is booty down.  When I went to Labor and Delivery that evening I had contractions consistently for 2 hours (ended up being a total of 3 hours), going from 8 min 55 sec down to 5 min 56 seconds apart.  I get hooked up to the monitor and they were just done.  Ugh. Seriously.  Am I losing my mind.  So, I have come to the conclusion they are just more of the Braxton Hicks contractions beings they stopped and were pain free- just very hard and tight.  It was just frustrating.  I thought I might actually have a little excitement but ended up feeling a little silly.  The pain between my legs is insanely painful at times - my pelvis.  Sometimes I cannot walk much till there is a little change in the babies position or a little time passes.  I have graduated into the situation of riding in wheel chairs (thanks for pushing me around Hobby Lobby, Mom!) and electric carts at grocery stores.

(scar from open DS weight loss surgery)

So, here I am two days later chilling out in bed with Kanye West filling my bedroom with tunes and Young & the Restless playing quietly in the background.  My two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels watching my every move.  Yep, this is my life right now.  I am so fortunate to be home and carrying two precious miracles that I truly never believed I would ever be lucky enough to carry myself.  I already love my babies so much that I am a little impatient to meet them.

So that leads us to our birth plan.  On November 27th, 2012 at 1:30pm we will go ahead and do a quick amniocentesis (wish me luck) to see if the lungs are mature enough to do a cesarean section the next day at noon.  Yep, we are on the books ladies and gentlemen. I am told that we will only do one poke and in Sebastian's sac to see if he is ready since boys lungs normally mature slower.  I am excited yet scared.  I have made the decision with my perinatal specialist to do a c-section.  Not only because I am a high risk mama with these twins but also because of my previous surgery- Duodenal Switch weight loss surgery done 9/4/09.  We don't know if there is extensive scar tissue or bowels adhered to my scars so... Dr. Robertson will take his time as he is the one assisting my ob Dr. Berryman.

Our back up plan if their lungs are not ready at week 36 will be to do a cs the week of 12-10-12.  We originally had 12-12-12 scheduled but since we are gonna attempt week 36 with the amniocentesis, the surgery scheduler had to remove my 2nd date since it's 'illegal' in the office to be scheduled twice.  BOO!  I really would love the date of 12-12-12- it's just sweet.  LOL- don't judge :)

Now, these plans only will take place if I do not go into labor on my own.  Which I really may not.  It sure doesn't seem as if I will ever really know what a real contraction pain is- which is probably a great thing.  Pregnancy is just crazy.  It has been hard as a heck for me, however, it's not uncommon to find me rubbing my belly (massaging a baby one at a time) while smiling.  The sensations of each baby are so unique with their movements.  Mila is very gentile and docile.  Sometimes hardly moving or just lightly tickling me with her toes.  Where Sebastian (baby a) is my little break dancer, lol.  He lets me rub his knees and feet as he slowly slides them across the palm of my hand.  He moves a ton and he is very strong.  He is certainly a mover and a shaker.  When on monitor at the dr and l&d, we often have to turn down his monitor cause his movement makes so much loud noise as if he is saying "look at me, look at me!"  It's really cute.  (smiling mommy right here).  Every time that I try to video record what I call an alien movement, they stop.  Oh well, I have locked the memories in my brain.

Now, back to waiting for the calendar to progress forward.

We have the Christmas trees up and ready for them and their first Christmas! :)

Transfer: Such a Beautiful Experience

Time for the Transfer 

April 5, 2012 Thursday

So, we received calls each morning letting us know how great our beautiful embryos are doing.  As previously  mentioned, we retrieved 11 eggs and 10 fertilized on their own.  We remained at ten beautiful healthy embryos.  Dr. Doherty called us the morning of the procedure to do the transfer to uterus.  She said the embryos were just beautiful and did we went to transfer one or two.  We decided we wanted two.  

Just before our 9am arrival at the Methodist Women's Hospital (Reproductive Health Specialties) I was prescribed Valium for the procedure so I took one.  I was told to have a large breakfast and a very full bladder.  At the office I did my normal blood draw and my husband and I were walked over to the hospital where we given our stylish gowns to put on.  We couldn't help but giggle when getting eye contact with each other since we thought he looked a little silly.

We were brought into the same IVF room that I was in on Monday for the retrieval.  They wheel you on a cart/bed to the outside of the doors, they open, you walk in and present your name and birth date to the man behind the glass door which reminded me of the fine Oz from Wizard of Oz.  Well, he happened to be a little late this morning so it was comical to hear him get scolded for not answering his phone or answering the glass doors right away.  It lightened the mood for sure.  

Dr. Doherty and her wonderful staff helped me up on the infamous stir up table as my name band was verified and the room then darkened.  I could see the ultrasound machine to my right and my DH sat in a chair just at my left shoulder.  Dr. Doherty mentioned how we will be able to see the embryos on that screen before they are transferred.  That is when Nate pointed out to me the larger screen to his upper left side.  It gave off a coral color light in the dimmed room as we waited to be able to 'see something'.  Then a moment later I see the petri dish and my name and info on it before they take the labeled top off revealing the treasure.  There are what appear to be translucent globs in a liquid a few spots- nothing that would appear familiar to me.  Then they point out that two black spots were the embryos.  We observed as they sucked them into the catheter that would be the portal of transportation to my uterus. :) Ahh.  This is so moving.  I feel tears go down the sides of my face and directly in my ears.  Yup- wet ears.  LOL But I didn't care.  I was moved.

*we have 10 embryos, transferred 2 and froze 8

After the catheter did its part it was flushed back into the petri dish to confirm the embryos were not stuck in it. "All Clear." I hear.  I wipe my tears.

I was on bed rest for 24 hours meaning NO sitting up at all. Eat laying down- no jokes. It's boring but you gotta do it! :)

So- we have five days before I do my beta pregnancy test to see if our little embryos have attached.

If one attaches, we would have a singleton given a healthy pregnancy.  If either split, that creates identical twins and if both do not split but both do implant/attach then they would be fraternal twins- etc.  We would be due just before Christmas with a singleton.

We have 10 healthy embryos- we implanted 1 and 2 shown previously in this blog. The other 8 are being frozen.

Right now I am still doing PIO (Progesterone in Oil) injections in my upper buttocks and it sucks.  Let's not play.  It doesn't hurt to do it but the after effect gives me headaches and bruises for days.  Not so sure the first one has gone away yet.  I need the progesterone for a healthy environment for the embryo to attach and imbed into.  The oil is so thick that Nate has to push the plunger down after I put the needle in.  I am switching sides but that makes little difference after this long.  All4Baby... All4Baby