The Chunk-A-Monks.... PART DEUX

Well, one week later and we're at 27 weeks now. Had another appointment today with my regular OB and got to see the twins on ultrasound again! Lucky us!

One week later and both babies have gained a good amount of weight!

Tyler went from 1 lb 14 oz a week ago to 2 lbs 2oz (gaining 4 oz)
Mason went from 2 lbs a week ago to 2 lbs 5oz (gaining 5 oz)

If they gain about the same amount for the next 11 weeks (which they will most definately gain more in the last few months than they are gaining now) than we're looking at very healthy little boys at birth. At least 5.5 lbs and probably closer to 6 lbs. That is great for twins!

But... both boys have "anterior" placentas, which means that their placentas are on the front side, so this makes getting pictures rather difficult. We got to see them today, but unfortunately no good pictures to post... :(

My Little Chunk-A-Monks...

So it's official... I am baking some Grade-A chunkers in my belly. We had a 26 week appointment last week at MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) for a Level II ultrasound and we found out that Tyler is clocking in at 1 lb 14 oz and Mason is a full 2 lbs. This is about a week ahead in development for both boys. All their measurements are just perfect and the doctors are extremely satisfied with where they are positioned and how their growth is progressing.

In addition to the ultrasound, I also had the Glucose Tolerance Test (it was lovely. Don't eat anything and then drink 16oz of what tastes like orange drink with 100 tablespoons of sugar in it and sit for an hour before we take your blood. All while trying not to puke.) and passed with flying colors. Hence, no gestational diabetes! Yippee for that!

So now, we've got no more tests until about 30 weeks when I'll be tested for Group Strep B, but other than that, I'm done with the testing!

New Diaper Bag!

Well people, he did it. He actually did it. He broke down and bought me the EXACT diaper bag that I have been wanting for years.

We're talking...YEARS. I have wanted a Kate Spade diaper bag since I knew they existed. I think I was in high school when I bought my first Kate Spade handbag and at that time I found out that they made diaper bags as well. I made a promise to myself right then and there (and anyone who knew me back then can attest to this) that when I had a baby, I would carry a Kate Spade diaper bag.

Well, for Christmas, Scott said that he would buy it for me. He didn't even pitch a fit about the price, God love him. :)

We stopped off at the Kate Spade store after an OB appointment two weeks ago and he just said "pick one"...

He really is a great husband when he wants to be... xoxo to Scott.

This is a picture of the one that I got, except that mine is chocolate brown, not black.

All Mine.

I bought myself a pound of See's yesterday. I'm not sharing with

anyone, either. After I bought it, I opened it and took out a

milk pattie (see below) and while enjoying this delicious treat,

promptly proceeded to chomp down on my lower lip and draw blood. I don't know whether this was a sign that I should avoid the See's going forward or what, but I think I'm willing to take the risk again, despite my bulging, swollen lower lip.

Besides, I had two pieces last night (a cocoanut buttercream & a Scotchmallow, if you care) and managed to avoid eating any part of my mouth. Thoroughly worth it. :)

Diaper Bag Purchase #1 - COMPLETE! :)

Well, I bought my first diaper bag. I say "my first" because anyone who knows me well, knows that I have an affinity for nice handbags. Anyone who tells me that I shouldn't spend good money on a diaper bag, doesn't know me very well. :)

I admit that it MAY not be very practical, but I know me, and I will NOT be happy unless I have the bag I want.

Anyhow, I'm very excited about my first diaper bag purchase!

This bag is by Petunia Pickle Bottom and is a well known baby bag designer. It's designed to fit nicely around the handles of your stroller and comes with a changing pad and a matching wipes holder. :)

21 Weeks 5 days!

I had my 22 Week appointment today (even though I'm actually only 21 weeks 5 days) and everything went amazingly well!

Unfortunately, Scott was still unable to get away from work, so we missed him, but luckily we got some good pictures for him.

Both babies are measuring about a week ahead and this is super encouraging!

Tyler - 22 w 2 days and 1 lb 1 oz. Tyler's heartbeat was 157 BPM
Mason - 22 w 5 days and 1 lb 2 oz. Mason's heartbeat was 147 BPM

Houston, We Have Confirmed Kicking!

TODAY - 20 WEEKS 4 DAYS...
Well, it's confirmed! On Sunday afternoon as we were sitting watching the Chargers game, I felt my guys kicking me for the first time.

I had thought a few times before that I MIGHT have felt something (other than gas...) but there was NO mistaking it this time. I tried to get Scott to feel it, but they kept moving everytime I put his hand were I thought they were... :(

Then, this morning at about 6:30am, I starting feeling them again on both sides, so I grabbed Scott's hand again and placed it on my left side and sure enough, he got two big kicks right into his palm!

Ever since then, I'm feeling them like crazy! They're all over the place now! I could never have anticipated how awesome this feeling could be. I'm over the moon. :)

Full Integrated Screening Results Are In!!!

Our test results are finally in and everything looks absolutely perfect!

The chances of our boys having Down Syndrome are less than 1 in 100,000 and all other chromosomal abnormalities are not present either!

This is great news and a HUGE weight lifted!

The standard tests are done now, as well! AMEN!

19 weeks 4 days - HALFWAY THERE!!!

Here is a new picture of my belly with the babies at 19 weeks and 4 days. There is no question now that I am definately pregnant. This is actually nice since I went through a little phase where I thought I just looked "husky" instead of pregnant. When people ask me how far along I am though, and I tell them they just look at me and say "wow, you're going to be HUGE."

I'm not really sure what to say after that, so I just smile :)

I have another OB appt on Wednesday and will get new pictures of the boys. I promise to post them soon after. Please keep your fingers crossed that Scott can go to this appointment with me, too! He hasn't seen the babies since week 6!

Mason & Tyler!!!

Well, I had my 18 week ultrasound last week and it turns out that our little Madeline actually has a little something extra between her legs... which means....

IT'S A BOY, TOO!

So, we're having twin boys! The ultrasound was done at the Maternal Fetal Medicine department at Loma Linda Children's Hospital and in addition to the gender discovery, the doctor and tech spent about an hour and a half measuring both baby's limb lengths, skull circumference, counting fingers and toes, etc. In essence, ALL LOOKS ABSOUTELY PERFECT! They said that both babies measure right where they should be and are almost exactly the same size at this point!

My appointments have been bumped up now to every two weeks going forward. I'll have one appointment a month at my regular OB and one appointment a month with MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) which is essentially the "high risk" department. Eventhough we're not considered "high risk" they like to scan twin pregnancies every 4 weeks just to be safe. So the appointments will be two weeks apart each month.

My next appt. is November 11th with my regular OB and I'll get the results of the final round of standard testing that was done last week. I'll be happy when all those tests are behind us.

I've been feeling great lately! I have an appetite like no other but I've been desperately trying to eat as healthy as possible. (With the occasional mini Halloween candy here and there!)

Here is a picture of Mason from our last ultrasound!

Madeline & Mason!

Well, I had my 16 week appointment last Thursday and my OB was able to take a very educated guess at the genders of our twins!

In her expert opinion, Baby A is a girl and Baby B is a boy!

This makes sense since Baby A has always been about 4 days smaller in growth than Baby B. This is not significant at all except that it only says that our little girl is just a wee bit smaller than our baby boy!

Also, it tells us that Madeline will be the "big" sister since she'll be born first. At this point they won't change positions as far as who comes first. They will always be moving around in the womb, but Madeline will always be lower than Mason.

In addition to finding out the sexes, the OB said that everything looks just perfect still and to keep doing what I'm doing!

My next appointment is next Thursday 10/29 at 8am with Maternal Fetal Medicine for our second trimester routine screening. Basically they'll test for all the things they tested for in the first tri, and just ensure that things still look good.

I confirmed that after this series of tests, we'll be done with all the chromosomal tests and all I'll have left are the gestational diabetes, etc. tests.

The upside is that I'll get to see the babies on the big screen again next week!
Hopefully Scott will be able to get away from the office for this appointment. It's been about two months since he's seen them!

14 Week Belly

Yikes. That's all I can say. Oh, and also that the picture is an optical illusion. My belly button has not popped out...yet. :)

First Shopping Trip!

Well, this weekend I had my first two shopping trips for the babies with my mom and sister! We first went to Babies R Us to check out strollers, carseats and furniture. We saw lots of adorable nursery ideas but left completely underwhelmed with the double stroller selection. They had about 40 regular strollers and only about 5 double strollers.

I think I want a tandem double stroller, not a side by side because of the ease of fitting through doorways and elevators, but the selection at Babies R Us was depressing. The carseats snap in the strollers but not securely at all! They just kind of sit there and are all wobbley. No bueno. The search continues. We've pretty much ruled out the Graco brand of strollers at this point for the infant stage.

On Sunday my mom and I headed to the mall and visited Nordstroms, The Children's Place, Janie & Jack and Pottery Barn Kids! We found some really good deals on adorable pj's at Nordstorms and The Children's Place but I think I'll have to start saving now for the adorable-ness that is Janie & Jack. :)

At Pottery Barn Kids I fell in love with the "Lambie" bedding collection and if we're having a boy AND a girl, I think this is going to be the nursery!

First Trimester Screening Results

Well, all looks perfect with the Greene babies! I had the scan last Tuesday and the bloodwork the same day. On the scan, as I mentioned in a previous post, they like to see the nuchal fold measurement at below 2.5mm. Baby A came in at .91mm and Baby B came in at 1.57mm. Yippee!

Then, on Wednesday, I got my bloodwork results back. Here are the test detection rates:

90 out of 100 Down Syndrome
81 out of 100 Trisomy 18
97 out of 100 anencephaly (brain does not develop)
80 out of 100 open spina bifida
85 out of 100 abdominal wall defects
60 out of 100 SLOS (physical birth defects and mental retardation)

We recieved "Screen Negative" results for all the above defects. This means that the chances of our babies having any of these birth defects is so low that we don't require any further testing other than the standard tests.

Great news!

NT Scan Tomorrow

We have our "NT Scan" tomorrow to test for Down Syndrome. I'm slightly nervous, but trying to stay positive. I know my odds go up with each year but as far as I know, chromosomal abnormalities don't run on either side of the family. I'm sure everything will be fine.
Here is an overview of the procedure:

Nuchal scan is performed between the 11th and 13th week of gestation, because the accuracy is best in this period. The scan is obtained with the fetus in sagittal section and a neutral position of the fetal head (neither hyperflexed nor extended, either of which can influence the nuchal translucency thickness). The fetal image is enlarged to fill 75% of the screen, and the maximum thickness is measured, from leading edge to leading edge. It is important to distinguish the nuchal lucency from the underlying amnionic membrane.
Normal thickness depends on the crown-rump length (CRL) of the fetus. Among those fetuses whose nuchal translucency exceeds the normal values, there is a relatively high risk of significant abnormality.

From what I've read, we want to see a nuchal thickness of less than 2.5mm.

Here is a link to a good definition of the test. Wish us luck tomorrow. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuchal_scan

Babies at 12 Weeks!

Well, I had another ultrasound yesterday since it was my first appointment with my new Loma Linda doctor! Oh and she is WONDERFUL. Totally worth the travel to get to her. I think she was almost more excited than I was to see the babies!

Both babies looked great! Both heartbeats measured at 165 BPM, which is perfect!
Baby A measured at 12 weeks 1 day and Baby B measured at 12 weeks 5 days, but she said this was fine. It just means that Baby A needs to catch up a bit, but she's not worried at all. Alot can happen in the next 6 months.

I also communicated my desire to avoid a C-Section and she warned me that the odds were not in my favor for a vaginal delivery but she said as long as I could carry the babies until 37 weeks and as long as Baby B was smaller than Baby A and that Baby A wasn't breech, than I could try for a natural delivery.

Oh and just for reference, Baby A is the baby to arrive first and Baby B will come second.

I also had to have a flu shot. No fun. But... the flu is no fun either. :)

Here are two seperate pics of the babies. They now have all their limbs and facial features including eyes, ears and nose. They also have all their internal organs as well!

11 Weeks!

Two more weeks! That's all I have until I'm safely in my second trimester! Well, everyone knows that it's not like I'm waiting to tell people that we're pregnant anymore, but there is just something about hitting that milestone that is quite comforting. Luckily for me though, we've been able to see our babies heartbeats every two weeks since we found out we were expecting. That is extremely rare. Most women only get two ultrasounds in their pregnancy. I get at least one a month and then more if my doctor feels it necessary. Next doctor's appt is Thursday the 17th!

Oh and we switched OB practices. We initially had decided to see a doctor here in Palm Springs, but after that first visit didn't feel comfortable with the level of care for our "super precious" ones. We decided to truck it back up to Loma Linda for our Prenatal care and also to deliver at Loma Linda University Hospital. It's AMAZING.

http://http://lomalindahealth.org/childrens-hospital/our-services/total-care-birth-center/labor-and-delivery.html

First Maternity Purchases!

So I broke down this weekend and bought a Bella Band. Let me tell you, this thing is AWESOME! All my shorts just were not wanting to stay snapped and I was getting really worried about wearing any jeans in the near future. This thing is the greatest invention ever!

I just put on my regular pants and don't have to button them. I just slide this band around my waist and it hides the fact that I my pants are totally undone! Awesomely brilliant!



Then, today I got an email about 60% off Paige Premium Denim Maternity Jeans & I called Scott to see if I could get a pair for this fall. Want to know what his response was? "How many pairs do you want?"

I only bought one. Promise!

Second Ultrasound!!

Well folks! We had our second ultrasound yesterday and our LAST visit with the specialist. The visit was bittersweet. While I was so happy to finally stop driving an hour each way to Loma Linda I was so sad to leave that office that helped us achieve the miracles that we did.

That being said, I didn't let the door hit me on the way out :)

Lucky for us, we had our last specialist appt. yesterday with an ultrasound and our first OB appointment is tomorrow and we'll get another ultrasound at that one, too!

Two ultrasounds in one week is ultra-spoiled if you ask me, but hey, I'm not complaining.

Here's the picture from yesterday's scan. I'll be 10 weeks tomorrow and the babies both measured right at about 9 weeks 5 days and about 1 inch long from "crown to rump". Their heartbeats were both at about 135 BPM which is absolutely perfect. They were both VERY active and doing somersalts and baby B (on the bottom) had the hiccups. It was so awesome!

It's TWINS!

We had our 7 week ultrasound today and I was almost sick with anxiety! I just wanted everything to be okay with the baby. I wanted it to measure correctly and to see a heartbeat. Scott was pretty confident, but unfortunately for me, that didn't help much. :)

As soon as the ultrasound started, there was the baby right there on screen! We saw the heartbeat flickering and the doctor said that everything looked perfect. He said "Well, it looks like you're having a baby, and there it is!" I of course started crying like crazy but out of the corner of my eye on the screen I noticed something else and asked "wait, what's that over there"? He quickly moved the ultrasound scope over and said "well, there's another baby!" Both babies were measuring perfectly and their little hearts were fluttering like crazy! The look on Scott's face was priceless. The doctor printed out the ultrasound with both babies on it and handed it to Scott and he couldn't stop looking at it. I don't think he said much the rest of the appointment. :)

I keep trying to post a picture of the ultrasound but can't figure out how to resize it. I'll keep working on it!

Well, family of four, here we come!

5 Week Belly Shot

I'm not sure if I look fat or slightly pregnant, but I definately have a pooch that I didn't have a few weeks ago!

Oh and those pants just happen to have a stretchy waist already. I swear I have not bought one maternity item yet!

Luckily for me, all my jeans are so low rise, I think I may be able to get away with my regular clothes for a while!

Holy HCG!

Well, we got the call yesterday with our Beta HCG quantity. The doctor measures the strength of the pregnancy on this number. They said anything over 150 is good.

Mine was 1952!

Yikes! I asked if this means it's twins and she told me that it's very possible. I have a feeling it is twins, but if not, I'll be quite happy with just one really strong little baby in there.


All I can do now is speculate. We'll know for sure on Aug. 11th!

Oh, and my symptoms so far have been cramping and a little morning sickness (that usually hits in the afternoon).

xoxo

Success

Well after 4 years of struggling to concieve, we finally got our positive! We're PREGNANT!

The IVF process was unbelievealby intense and I'm so glad it's over. That's a story for another day, because right now, I'm HAPPY!

We got the news on July 28th at the doctors office. It was 14 days past our transfer day but technically, 19 days past conception. So, in layman's terms, I was approx. 5 days past my expected period.

The dr's office said we could take a home pregnancy test ourselves if we were dying to know, but Scott wouldn't let me. He was so adament that we wait and the the most accurate results.

The 4 days prior to the test were the absolute worst. I read all four Twilight series books in 4 days. For all of you who know that series, their each about 700 pages! It was all I could do to control my emotions!

As we arrived at the doctor's office for the blood test, I walked in to sit to get my blood drawn and immediately started crying! The phlebotomist asked me if I got a negative result at home and I said that I hadn't even taken a test yet! She just laughed and said that it would be ready for us in about 30 minutes.

Anyhow, when we finally got the positive, we were both over the moon with happiness! We thought we'd wait to tell everyone, but couldn't hold it in. We told just about everyone that day.

They gave me the test that they used and told us they'd call the next day with the strength of the pregnancy after they ran the Beta HCG quantities. They said they'd like it over 150.

My next appt. is our first ULTRASOUND on Aug. 11th!

Our History

For everyone who will read this blog, you all know our history on this subject already so I'll spare you the repeated details... :)

We've gone through 3 failed IUI's, 3 failed Clomid cycles, an endometrial biopsy, 2 Hysteroscopies, 2 Hysterosalpingograms, 7 Semen Analyses, countless bloodwork, acupuncture, urologist visits, 5 different reproductive endocrinologists and about a thousand dollars worth of pregnancy tests. There have been reasons and diagnoses that have lead to new plans of actions but later turn out to have been mis-diagnoses.

We have ultimate faith that we will be parents. Our children will know everyday how much they were wanted and how our lives just would not be complete until they were here. When they're old enough, I hope to show them this documentation so they can comprehend how much courage and strength we had and how much we fought for them before they were even born.

We know this now already and they're not even here yet. We can't wait to show them.

Our next appointment is on May 19th. Stay tuned.