Mommy Makeover Time

For those of you that know my story, you know that I am probably panicking about excess weight.  My history involves battling weight off and on since high school.  On 9/4/2009 I underwent Duodenal Switch weight loss surgery.  After losing a hundred pounds, I reluctantly started P90X.  I was deathly afraid.  I was so out of shape and just scared.  I loved it.  I also started drinking Shakeology daily and ended up losing another 45 pounds.  See my story here: Rita78.com

Well now, I am on a quest to lose 50 pounds.  I started February 4, 2013 with the Beachbody Ultimate Reset which was an amazing way to start! I dropped 9 pounds with those 21 days of clean eating.  Then my husband and I started P90X (again lol) and of course we have the Shakeology in our diet.  We would have it no other way.  I am currently down approximately 12 pounds. 

You can watch me or join me!!  I help others!  I need to be able to chase these twins around!

Twitter but the best place is Facebook!

Amniocentesis: Lung Maturity at 36 Weeks

36 weeks? Wow!  Tomorrow is our amniocentesis to check for lung maturity.  If it's positive the scheduled c-section will be the next day at 1:30.  I am very excited for tomorrow. More excited than scared. I did think they would test both the twins but my perinatal doc said we will choose just pick one sac to test.

If the dipstick test shows my protein level is a 1 or 2 they may just do an emergency cesarean section due to preeclampsia.  Up until now I have only had traces of protein spilling over along with several symptoms including high blood pressure, floaters, headaches, anxiety, etc.  My blood pressure is normally low since knocking off 145 pounds but the last few weeks it stiffly teeters on 140/90.

When arriving at my appointment tomorrow they will first be doing the urine test and an ultrasound to find the area where there is easy access to the amniotic sac of either twin.  If the dipstick test is acceptable then it is time to do the amniocentesis.  An amniocentesis is a fast procedure that scares many. Its when a hollow needle is used to drain a small amount of amniotic fluid from the mothers uterus.  The fluid is then tested for cells that can determine the maturity of the unborn child's lungs within an hour.  They will monitor me for about thirty minutes to ensure there are no complications such as water leaking from the amniotic sac or start going into labor.

I'm thinking that by 3/CST we will know if Wednesday, November 28th will be our twins birthday. :-)

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! :)

Insurance: Covered or... Not

It's How Much for IVF?! O_o

When it comes to IVF (in vitro fertilization), there doesn't appear to be any cheap routes whatsoever.  Some find themselves against a brick wall much like we felt when wanting to use an agency to adopt.  Some $20,000 price tag attached and that was one of the smaller fees.  I don't know how I managed but two years ago I was able to get our health insurance to cover my $50,000 Duodenal Switch weight loss surgery and we thought I would get pregnant after getting that weight off.  It didn't happen and now we know whatever I do it won't get me pregnant, as I was not the one with the complications.

So, here we are with Aetna health insurance through Nate's employer, Kraft Foods Global.  We have always had great insurance with them.  I have been calling into Aetna a lot, asking around and asking my fertility clinic about the financial burden that IVF can be.  We were provided with good news in two instances:

• Aetna covers $30,000 lifetime maximum medical coverage for fertility with the plan we have
• Ironically, effective January 1 2012, if the fertility drugs are billed through a pharmacy instead of with an office visit (medical claim) then the fertility drugs will be covered up to a lifetime maximum of $15,000 (if billed with an office visit they count towards the $30,000 medical)

Now, let me tell you how amazing this is.  My fertility drugs they are putting me on for the February procedure are going to be $5,000 and I thought for sure they were going to be out of pocket.  God just blessed us again.  We are so blessed that they are covered.  We were smart though to make sure to take flexible spending money on both our employers to cover any medical costs outside the realm of insurance like the sounding I am doing in February which is $350 out of pocket.  That, my friend, is so being paid with my Flexible Spending Account card. And this is just the beginning.  I am about ready!

Our shot education class is January 10th and I go on my first trip the 11th.  The IVF will be in mid-February and we are so excited.  This is a rare instance where an insurance company is truly doing what they should- cover fertility treatments.