27 Weeks Tomorrow

Tomorrow, I will be 27 weeks along! I went to my ultrasound at Maine Med today. The first thing the sonographer said to me, is "I see your little boy... and I see your little girl" I thought she was joking, but she was serious! She really thought one of them was a girl. I told her that I had been told I was having two boys and she just said "oh" and kept on with the ultrasound, she never went back and checked the gender again.

The babies both look really great. Baby A weighed in at 1 lb, 14 oz. Baby B weighed in at 2 lb, 2 oz.

I'm feeling at the end of the line! My belly is 54 inches around and I'm exhausted all the time. I feel so much pressure at the bottom of my tummy, but I know I have to keep these little guys in for at least 9 more weeks.

This past weekend, we had my baby shower! We got a bunch of boxes of diapers, a few clothes, 2 car seats, a jumper, a little seat. We are getting a bunch of hand-me-downs from Mandy too. Our list of things we still need has gotten much shorter, so that is absolutely wonderful!

26 weeks and counting

Here are my ultrasound pictures from today. The boys are amazing. There heartbeats are still almost completely in sync with each other. In the womb, they are belly to belly (but they are looking off in different directions as if they are already fighting!)

I'm on a heart monitor right now as my heart is having a bit of trouble keeping up with all of this extra inside of me!

Baby B is much easier to get pictures of as he is right in my ribs. Baby A, on the other hand, actually hides when we have the ability to take a picture of him! They are incredibly beautiful though.

My *massive* Twin Tummy

I'm not a huge fan of having my picture taken, but I feel like it is important to get pictures of my belly (since I don't have any of me while I was pregnant with E.)

I'm 24 weeks, 4 days today. I've gained 16 pounds and my belly is 52 inches around!! My doctor would like me to only gain 40 lbs, so I have 24 lbs to spread out over the next 12 weeks.

Here is my belly to the front and a side shot of my belly (you'll notice that unfortunately, the stretch marks have arrived).

23 Weeks

It has been far too long since I have updated this blog!

We are having two little di-di boys!! Yes, boys! They are both doing very well right now. Baby A is 1 lb, 3 oz. Baby B is 1 lb, 4 oz. They are both head down right now and their little feet are planted (quite firmly) in my ribcage.

During ultrasounds, they are extremely active little babies. They do not hold still for any of the measurements or the testing.

I am holding up pretty well as well. I have gained 9 lbs and my gestational diabetes is well in control. I have lots of lower backpain, sternum pain, heartburn, muscle aches, Braxton Hicks, and I just pulled my groin muscle - but just imagine the payoff that will enter our family in three months!

I don't have my scanner set up right now as we are frantically trying to rearrange our living space to accommodate two little extras. Here are some of my ultrasound pics that I took w/my camera.

Baby A likes to be difficult. He also likes to show his buns and spine to the camera.

Here is a pic of Baby B's profile.

Here are the babies' four feet right in my sternum.

Second Ultrasound

Our second ultrasound consisted of us finding out that we definitely have fraternal twins! They are called di/di twins. Di/Di twins are considered the best to have because they have the lowest mortality rate. They both have all of their own "building blocks" to becoming little people. Their own placenta, sacs, etc. They have a nice gap between the two of them too, so that is just great! This time around, we got to see each one of the babies heartbeats. They looked like tiny grains of rice.

I already have gestational diabetes and I'm on insulin. I'm sick all, ALL of the time. Really severe morning sickness. My doctor actually prescribed anti-nausea medication that is used for chemo patients, but I just don't feel comfortable using it. Instead, I go to my acupuncturist and he puts his needles in 6 points on my body (2 on my wrists, 2 below my knees, and 2 in my calves) and leaves them in for extended periods of time! LOL, I never thought I'd see the day that I was big and pregnant sitting around with needles hanging out of my body! I also bought some Sea-Bands to wear. They have a 'button' that presses into my wrist acupuncture point and that really does seem to help with the nausea.

Ezekiel still isn't sure about being a big brother. Although, he has been spending time kissing my belly and asking how the babies are doing, so I consider this a HUGE step.

First Ultrasound Picture

I know this is a little date convoluted, but this was our first ultrasound. When Ezekiel saw this picture come up on the screen, he started hollering about the kitty cat (he thought this was kitty cat eyes). You can tell how tired I was - I scanned it in upside down and wrote the words backwards!

Welcome

Welcome to our latest blog. This should certainly be an adventure that we are about to follow. Twins are busy percolating and we have absolutely no idea of what to expect. Before we get to all of that, let's step back and discuss how we got here - to week 7 of our pregnancy.

We are the Matthews Family. We are three strong (with a fabulously confident two year old) that decided that we would like to add to our family. After trying unsuccessfully for quite some time, my OB/GYN sent me in to have a sonohystogram to see if there were any as-yet undiscovered problems. We found out that both of my tubes were completely blocked with scar tissue and the chance of us getting pregnant was pretty much impossible. My OB/GYN decided to send me to a fertility doctor to see what route she would like to take. She had high hopes for us and started us on Clomid and HCG shots right away. The plan was that as soon as I started ovulating, I would go in for IUI (inuterine insemination). I also started acupuncture to address my infertility issues.

After one cycle of the Comid (and not succeeding), I already felt overwhelmed and unsupported by extended family on my side. I wondered if I was going the right route and if mentally I could handle the ups and downs of the whole thing. My acupuncturist (who also did Moxibustion techniques on me) was really pushing for me to make a decision - either choose fertility treatments through the clinic or choose holistic methods through him. I felt strongly about sticking with both though and decided to give the whole process another try.

Our second try, I was very late into my cycle and I just was not getting a positive ovulation test. I started to panic on Day 17 of my cycle. On Day 18, I took my ovulation test and I just didn't feel that it was positive but I was so nervous about missing my ovulation (and it was a Friday of a holiday weekend) that I decided to hold my breath, and call the office and tell them I was ovulating. I have to say, I do own the Taking Charge of Your Fertility book and according to the book, all the signs were there saying that I was in fact ovulating.

The fertility clinic opened the clinic special for us that Saturday and we went in for our IUI. As soon as the doctor was done with the procedure, and I was lying on the table, I just felt this calm peace come over me. I thought "if there is a time when this is going to work, it has just worked". I prayed over my tummy and settled my mind to wait the two weeks to find out if we were successful.

When you are waiting for the two week wait to finish so you can take a pregnancy test, it feels more like a two month wait! I would lay in bed every night and go over my body inch by inch ("do my breasts feel tender?" "do I feel more tired than usual?" "do I look like my veins are more prominent?") It is certainly its own version of self torture.

Twelve days into my two-week-wait, I couldn't stand the wait anymore. I went and bought three pregnancy tests. I took one of the tests and was devastated to see that it was negative. I threw the test into the trash in anger and misery. It didn't work, yet again. After about 20 minutes (well after the time limit of when the results are supposed to be accurate), I calmed down and pulled the test out of the trash. I just had to see the negative results again because it just didn't feel right. I pulled them out and held them up to the light. If I angled the test just so I thought I could see another line. A POSITIVE line. My husband calmed me down and told me to take another test. Again, there was the faintest second line. I started to second guess the line and wonder if maybe there was residual HCG left in my system from the shot. I decided to try the next morning.

The next morning, I took a new test and for sure, there were two lines. You can see the progression of tests (starting on May 4th, 2009) and getting progressively darker. I contacted my nurse and gave her the rundown. She sent me to have some blood work and to find out my HCG levels. Within an hour, she was calling me with my positive test results. "It's really high right now. It is 112" she said. She had me start having HCG levels done every 48 hours. Every 48 hours, it was doubling and tripling. I even had one doctor on call, call me late Sunday night to give me the results. "Your HCG levels are really, really high. When will you be in for an ultrasound?" he asked.

Our first ultrasound was June 15, 2009. Marty, Ezekiel and I all went. The first thing I saw when I looked at the ultrasound screen was TWO round circles. We had been through enough previous ultrasounds with Ezekiel for me to know that I was looking at two separate yolk sacs - soon to be babies! It was still to early for heartbeats or anything, but we now knew that there were two babies inside me.

I had another ultrasound today. The babies have been officially named "Baby A" and "Baby B". Baby A had a heartbeat of 104 bpm and Baby B had a heartbeat of 110 bpm. They both look great and they measure in about 4 mm a piece - that's the size of one of your eyelashes :)

These babies are already loved and wanted and hoped for. This is just the start of our journey to growing these little ones.

Ultrasound picture coming soon :)