I am 20 weeks and 3 days into the pregnancy, which means I have passed the halfway point. Presumably I won't carry Poppy and Pepe longer than 40 weeks (at least not without setting a new record).
Fortunately the morning sickness is gone! Unfortunately the back and rib pain is here and I suspect it's here to stay.
I'm not really slowing down yet, which is a positive. I did a lot of travel last week and I'm doing it this week too, but after that I don't have a lot on the calendar.
We had a fantastic vacation to Fort Morgan (Gulf Shores) Alabama. We spent a lot of time laying on the beach and being lazy. Oh, and I ate WAY too much fried shrimp. I need to start watching my diet before I blow up!
Showing posts with label Twins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Twins. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Sunday, May 8, 2011
End of First Trimester
Boy am I glad to see the first trimester end. Happy trails to you first trimester - I will not miss you. The subchorionic hematoma (the technical term for the blood clot) went away right at my 12 week ultrasound, so I graduated from my IVF doctor and was sent on my happy way to my OB. Also, with the death of the blood clot, I am free to resume life and enjoy this pregnancy (hardy har har) so I am back at work and I even travelled last week.
Speaking of enjoying the pregnancy (heehee), I sure don't like it. I know that I have wanted this for so long (no I haven't forgotten) and I should be eternally grateful for the opportunity to become a mother (and I am), but I can't say that pregnancy agrees with me.
My list of complaints starts and ends with morning sickness. I've had a couple of other pregnancy inconveniences, but they aren't worth complaining about, and without the morning sickness I think I could have had a complaint free first trimester. However, the morning sickness ruined my every day and I am desperate for it to be behind me for good. For the last week or two I have had some temporary respites from the sickness, but it always comes back. Today is a "comeback" day, a reminder that I am not out of the woods yet. For most (those who actually suffered from morning sickness, most women I know were miraculously spared from it), the nausea goes away by week 14, which means I'm just 1 week and 3 days away from spontaneous and total healing. Since I've noticed it easing up on some days, I am optimistic that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter with every day that passes. I refuse to believe that I could be one of those cursed women who experience the morning sickness throughout the full 40 weeks.
I mentioned to one of my friends that pregnancy is similar to pledgeship. Morning sickness is just another act of hazing. When asked how I was feeling I replied with "Just beat me with an ax handle and get it over with."
To devote two whole paragraphs to complaining about the morning sickness might sound extreme, but I've devoted two whole months to complaining to my husband about it, so maybe you can count yourself lucky to be a reader and not a listener. You can skim down past this part, after all.
Today my pregnancy is aged 13 weeks and 3 days, which means I'm officially into the 2nd trimester and it's time to start getting things done to prepare for these bundles of joy. Our first task to prepare is to plan our last vacation together, pre-babies. We did some internet research on Friday but haven't made any decisions yet. We'll probably do a cruise or all-inclusive vacation somewhere. I anticipate I'll need access to food on a 24-hour basis so both those vacations will cater to me nicely. We're not sure how late into the pregnancy I'll be given the all clear for travel, so I'm hoping we can get in a vacation in June. Plus, Forrest deserves a vacation for putting up with me. He has been nothing short of an angel and I don't deserve him. He even got me flowers for Mother's Day. He deserves the Medal of Honor (and possibly even a purple heart - yikes!) for his efforts in keeping me happy.
Our second pregnancy task was registering, which I have started today. I put in about 6 hours of online registering and I'm pretty proud of the list I have so far. Of course, once Forrest and Liah get their hands on it I'm sure it'll get sliced and diced and will become unrecognizable from its original form. However, it's a start and it's a lot easier for them to edit an existing list than start from scratch, so my efforts today won't be in vain. I decided to forego the Babies R Us registries since that store is expensive. In lieu of the monopolistic retailer, I chose Amazon.com. They have everything that I will need and they seem to ask a little less for each item than BRUs, so hopefully I won't get any complaints that there's no actual brick and mortar store to shop at.
Speaking of enjoying the pregnancy (heehee), I sure don't like it. I know that I have wanted this for so long (no I haven't forgotten) and I should be eternally grateful for the opportunity to become a mother (and I am), but I can't say that pregnancy agrees with me.
My list of complaints starts and ends with morning sickness. I've had a couple of other pregnancy inconveniences, but they aren't worth complaining about, and without the morning sickness I think I could have had a complaint free first trimester. However, the morning sickness ruined my every day and I am desperate for it to be behind me for good. For the last week or two I have had some temporary respites from the sickness, but it always comes back. Today is a "comeback" day, a reminder that I am not out of the woods yet. For most (those who actually suffered from morning sickness, most women I know were miraculously spared from it), the nausea goes away by week 14, which means I'm just 1 week and 3 days away from spontaneous and total healing. Since I've noticed it easing up on some days, I am optimistic that the light at the end of the tunnel is getting bigger and brighter with every day that passes. I refuse to believe that I could be one of those cursed women who experience the morning sickness throughout the full 40 weeks.
I mentioned to one of my friends that pregnancy is similar to pledgeship. Morning sickness is just another act of hazing. When asked how I was feeling I replied with "Just beat me with an ax handle and get it over with."
To devote two whole paragraphs to complaining about the morning sickness might sound extreme, but I've devoted two whole months to complaining to my husband about it, so maybe you can count yourself lucky to be a reader and not a listener. You can skim down past this part, after all.
Today my pregnancy is aged 13 weeks and 3 days, which means I'm officially into the 2nd trimester and it's time to start getting things done to prepare for these bundles of joy. Our first task to prepare is to plan our last vacation together, pre-babies. We did some internet research on Friday but haven't made any decisions yet. We'll probably do a cruise or all-inclusive vacation somewhere. I anticipate I'll need access to food on a 24-hour basis so both those vacations will cater to me nicely. We're not sure how late into the pregnancy I'll be given the all clear for travel, so I'm hoping we can get in a vacation in June. Plus, Forrest deserves a vacation for putting up with me. He has been nothing short of an angel and I don't deserve him. He even got me flowers for Mother's Day. He deserves the Medal of Honor (and possibly even a purple heart - yikes!) for his efforts in keeping me happy.
Our second pregnancy task was registering, which I have started today. I put in about 6 hours of online registering and I'm pretty proud of the list I have so far. Of course, once Forrest and Liah get their hands on it I'm sure it'll get sliced and diced and will become unrecognizable from its original form. However, it's a start and it's a lot easier for them to edit an existing list than start from scratch, so my efforts today won't be in vain. I decided to forego the Babies R Us registries since that store is expensive. In lieu of the monopolistic retailer, I chose Amazon.com. They have everything that I will need and they seem to ask a little less for each item than BRUs, so hopefully I won't get any complaints that there's no actual brick and mortar store to shop at.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Scare
On Thursday I was in Andalulsia Alabama visiting with some customers. Right as our meeting was about to end, I felt a gush of warm liquid coming out of me (from down there). I got up and ran to the bathroom and I was soaked with blood. There was a woman in the bathroom and I told her the situation and she told me I should go to the ER. She also went out and got rid of my customers who were probably very concerned and confused at that point (I had blood running down my legs and it was all over the chair I had been sitting in).
I drove to the regional hospital and was quickly admitted to the ER. How lucky am I that no one was waiting? I called my doctor on the way and described what had happened. My doctor wasn't available but my nurse confirmed that I should go to the ER. Once I got settled in to the exam room, a nurse came in to tell me that a woman from Powersouth (the company I was visiting) was there to see me. She came in and it was the lady from the bathroom. Her name was Carol and she ended up staying with me for the whole time. She was a total angel.
The first thing they did was give me an ultrasound to check for a heartbeat. This was so incredibly scary because I knew that it was a pretty bad sign that I had bled as much as I did. The ultra sound tech took forever before she finally said anything, and I couldn't see the screen so I was incredibly nervous. Then I heard a heartbeat and I was so relieved. Then she moved to the other baby and I heard a heartbeat there too. The heartbeats were at 151 and 169 bpm, faster than last week which is a good sign because they are supposed to increase in speed. I was so stinking relieved!
Then I had to go back to the exam room to get a pelvic exam to make sure my cervix hadn't opened. I had to wait 2 hours before they did that, but fortunately they finally did the exam and everything was ok. My doctor called them and the ER attending physician wanted to speak to him before they released me. They spoke and determined everything was fine. Then I spoke to my doctor on the phone and he told me that the ER doctor was an idiot - knew nothing about obstetrics (which I had already concluded by this point). However, the ultra sound was great and that made him feel good.
He said that this is more common in twin pregnancies. He suspects what happens is that one of the embryos partially detached from the uterine wall which caused a lot of blood to be shed all at once. Since there were still heartbeats then likely everything is perfectly ok. However, he didn't want me flying home. So, Forrest flew out to Montgomery that night and he and I drove my rental car home (12 hours - OMG!!).
So that's my scary story. The angel who stayed at the hospital with me told my customers about what had happened the next day (I gave her permission). Of course they called me first thing to check on me and to tell me that they wished they had known at the time, but appreciated that it was highly awkward. Unfortunately I think they'll have to get rid of the chair I was sitting in. Isn't that every 12 year old girl's worst nightmare? That she's going to get her period and it's going to show? Well, this was more than a period....it was like someone poured 2-3 cups of blood out of me all at once. When we got home Forrest asked to see my pants, and of course the blood stain was all the way up the back of the butt almost to the waist band. He held me and said how sorry he was that I had to experience that.
It was one of the worst experiences of my life because I was so afraid that I had lost the babies. Poor Forrest and my family were all terribly upset also. It was good that Forrest could hop on a plane and get out there because I know he wouldn't have been able to just sit at home.
I have another sonogram scheduled for Tuesday with my IVF doctor and I'm crossing my fingers that everything is still ok.
I drove to the regional hospital and was quickly admitted to the ER. How lucky am I that no one was waiting? I called my doctor on the way and described what had happened. My doctor wasn't available but my nurse confirmed that I should go to the ER. Once I got settled in to the exam room, a nurse came in to tell me that a woman from Powersouth (the company I was visiting) was there to see me. She came in and it was the lady from the bathroom. Her name was Carol and she ended up staying with me for the whole time. She was a total angel.
The first thing they did was give me an ultrasound to check for a heartbeat. This was so incredibly scary because I knew that it was a pretty bad sign that I had bled as much as I did. The ultra sound tech took forever before she finally said anything, and I couldn't see the screen so I was incredibly nervous. Then I heard a heartbeat and I was so relieved. Then she moved to the other baby and I heard a heartbeat there too. The heartbeats were at 151 and 169 bpm, faster than last week which is a good sign because they are supposed to increase in speed. I was so stinking relieved!
Then I had to go back to the exam room to get a pelvic exam to make sure my cervix hadn't opened. I had to wait 2 hours before they did that, but fortunately they finally did the exam and everything was ok. My doctor called them and the ER attending physician wanted to speak to him before they released me. They spoke and determined everything was fine. Then I spoke to my doctor on the phone and he told me that the ER doctor was an idiot - knew nothing about obstetrics (which I had already concluded by this point). However, the ultra sound was great and that made him feel good.
He said that this is more common in twin pregnancies. He suspects what happens is that one of the embryos partially detached from the uterine wall which caused a lot of blood to be shed all at once. Since there were still heartbeats then likely everything is perfectly ok. However, he didn't want me flying home. So, Forrest flew out to Montgomery that night and he and I drove my rental car home (12 hours - OMG!!).
So that's my scary story. The angel who stayed at the hospital with me told my customers about what had happened the next day (I gave her permission). Of course they called me first thing to check on me and to tell me that they wished they had known at the time, but appreciated that it was highly awkward. Unfortunately I think they'll have to get rid of the chair I was sitting in. Isn't that every 12 year old girl's worst nightmare? That she's going to get her period and it's going to show? Well, this was more than a period....it was like someone poured 2-3 cups of blood out of me all at once. When we got home Forrest asked to see my pants, and of course the blood stain was all the way up the back of the butt almost to the waist band. He held me and said how sorry he was that I had to experience that.
It was one of the worst experiences of my life because I was so afraid that I had lost the babies. Poor Forrest and my family were all terribly upset also. It was good that Forrest could hop on a plane and get out there because I know he wouldn't have been able to just sit at home.
I have another sonogram scheduled for Tuesday with my IVF doctor and I'm crossing my fingers that everything is still ok.
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