A little scare

Thursday evening, after resting most of the afternoon because Brenda was here, I got up to sit in the kitchen with my mom and Lonnie when they got home.  I was up for maybe 10 minutes and I all of the sudden just didn't feel right.  I was nauseated and felt like I was having a contraction.  I have Braxton Hicks contractions quite a bit in the evening (did with Blakely too) so I just grabbed my water and went to lay back down on the couch.  

For 20 minutes I could not get comfortable and I kept having contractions.  They felt different.  BH are usually on one side or the other and these were all over.  And they kinda hurt and were coming pretty quick.  I mean they didn't hurt hurt but I could definitely feel them.  I got in a different position and got my phone to start timing them.  Sure enough for the next 20 minutes I was having them every 3 minutes.  So I told Lonnie about it and I went downstairs to get in my bed where I knew I could get comfortable propped up with pillows.  I downed a glass of water, my second since this started.  

After being downstairs for a little over 20 minutes, so a total of 45 minutes of timing the contractions and an hour since they abruptly started, I told Lonnie we had to call.  I had about 13 in 45 minutes, averaging 3 minutes apart.  I texted my doctor to see if he was busy and if he could call me.  He called right back and I told him everything.  He said that was too many and to head up to labor and delivery.  He called them to tell them I was coming.  

So we did.  I was really hoping that just making the call would make the contractions stop.  But no such luck.  I had about 4 on the way there.  

When we got there they hooked me up to the monitor and then started trying to monitor the babies heart rates.  Well the babies WOULD NOT cooperate and stay still so they spent a good hour trying to do that.  They would get them both on there and then one of them would move and then the other would move and we had to start over.  I noticed that the contraction monitor wasn't picking up the contractions when I would feel them.  I asked the nurse this to make sure.  She said it wasn't.  Well the next one I had I made her feel my super tight belly and she said oh yes you are having a contraction.  So we moved the contraction monitor lower and it started picking them up.....every 3 minutes.  Ugh.  

They checked my cervix and it was hard and closed.  YAY.  They did a fetal fibronectin test which came back negative.  Read about that here...  They also checked my urine and apparently I have a UTI.  I had no idea.  I did know that they can cause contractions to start.  So the UTI was the culprit of this mess.  My doctor was in another town about an hour away (he wasn't on call) but came up there to see me when he got back into town.  Yes, he is awesome and I love him.  They gave me a shot of antibiotics and the contractions began to get less intense.  They were never intense for me but less intense on the monitor.  But since I was still having them every 3 minutes I had to get a shot of terbutaline.  They almost immediately stopped.  Man I was happy.  They checked my cervix again to make sure there had been no change since I had been contracting for about 3-4 hours at this point and it was still hard and closed.  YAY....I got to go home.  

So all of that to say it was a little scary but everything is fine now.  I am on an antibiotic to get rid of the UTI and I go back for my regular check up on Monday.  I was pretty calm through the whole thing.  I knew something was up but I never thought the babies were coming.  I just felt like everything was going to be okay.  I had been a little nauseated all day Thursday and I was not hungry which was pretty weird since I feel like I could eat 24/7.  I am hoping to not have to go back to L&D until these babes are full term.  This was just a little bump in the road.  I have been resting all weekend since Lonnie is off to take care of me and Blakely.  

Friday night she woke up about midnight and yelled out for me right before vomiting ALL over her entire bed.  I mean her pillows, her sheets, her peeps, her blankets and the wall were completely covered.  As was she.  All over her face and in her hair.  It was so incredibly nasty.  Lonnie came down to help me and I gathered up all the puke soaked things and he bathed her.  I covered her bed in towels and she went right back to sleep.  She then woke up about every hour to throw up a little and dry heave a lot.  Poor baby.  She feels pretty rough today but thankfully no more puking.  She is just laying around and watching movies.  She even fell asleep on the couch which has only happened one other time ever.  When she had a stomach bug back in October.  So I am hoping this is a quick 24 hour thing and she didn't share it with any of us.  

So that is our weekend!  I hope yours was much better!!!  

18 weeks

Well obviously I am not going to be able to keep up with the weekly updates! 

Today I am 18 weeks pregnant with the twinks!  I feel like I have a lot to update on because a lot has been going on the last 6 weeks.

How Far Along: 18 weeks  I can not believe I am 18 weeks.  The first 10 weeks went by soooo slowly but since then things are flying.  

12 weeks 4 days  (this dress accentuated the belly!)

14 weeks

15 weeks 2 days

17 weeks

I seriously love doing the comparisons.  I always loved seeing everyone else's bump comparisons too!

Maternity Clothes:   Yes to the pants and some shirts.  Most of my larger sweaters will fit for a while.  Thank goodness for the sweater and leggings trend!  My mom got me four long sleeve maternity shirts and they are perfect.  I think they will last until the OMG huge stage.  I really need to get some more pants.  I literally have one pair that fits.  I got a couple of gift cards for Christmas so this weekend I am going to do some online shopping.  Any recs for maternity jeans that are LONG?  I am almost five ten!  

Sleep:  Sleep is good.  I sleep really hard and wake up about 2 times a night to pee but go right back to sleep.  I have started taking a bath every night and it really gets me ready for sleep.  Baths are awesome!  

Best Moment of the Week:  There have been a lot of great moments the past few weeks.  I had my friend at the hospital scan me the other day and she looked really good at the babies.  Until now we have just done quick checks but nothing thorough.  She checked all of their organs and everything looked good.  We were able to tell that baby boy is on the bottom and baby girl is on the top...so he will be the first one to come out.  

baby girl skelton face :)

baby boy profile.  

My tummy is popping out now and I definitely look pregnant.  Blakely likes to rub my belly...basically waited my whole life for that.  She talks about the babies a lot and how she will hold them when they cry and pat their backs so they will go to sleep.  She also talks about the babies coming when the weather gets warmer in May.  If you ask her what their names are she says one of two things.  Mickey and Minnie or Mickey and Clarabelle.  Oy.  I have mentioned a few of our top names to her and she gives a disgusted look.  Ha!  One night after I put her to bed she called me back down there a few minutes later crying saying that she forgot to give the babies a goodnight kiss.  holy sweet.  

Movement:  Yes!  I felt the very first flutters at 14 weeks but then nothing for a few days.  Around 16 and a half weeks I started feeling more actual kicks.  I can sometimes tell which baby it is but only because I know that baby girl is up high and baby boy is low.  I love feeling them and it gets stronger every single day.   

Symptoms:    Well...I feel quite pregnant.  At this same time with Blakely I don't think I felt pregnant at all.  By the end of each day I am completely worn out and I go to bed right after Blakely does...about 830.  During the day I have to rest multiple times and I am moving a little slower than normal.  All of this is fine I just wasn't expecting it this early.  As long as I take it easy when I feel like I need to I am fine.  

And now for something that is WAY too much info for you all!  Ha!  At about 15 weeks I started having quite the pain in my lady parts.  Pain/heaviness/fullness?  Difficult to explain.  Mainly when I've been standing for a little while. It doesn't feel like "pressure" but I can't stand for very long without being very uncomfortable "down there".  :)   I remember feeling that with Blakely but much much later...like 32 weeks.  But with her it felt like her head was hanging out...this just feels all external.  It really freaked me out.  I was really worried that I wasn't holding these babies in there.  At my 16 week appointment I mentioned it to him.  He checked me and said my cervix was super hard and completely closed...perfect.  He said my "lower uterine segment" wasn't hanging down or anything which would worry him if it was.  Everything was fine.  When my friend scanned me my cervix looked great.  So I guess I am just going to have this discomfort which is totally fine as long as everything is okay.  I just want to keep these babies in there as long as possible. All this to say I can't stand for very long before needing to sit or lay down.  He told me to just listen to my body and when I felt that way I need to rest.  I can't compare pregnancies because every one is different.  Plus there are 2 in there!  But seriously...I can't imagine working my job like I did with when pregnant with Blakely..on my feet all day?  No way.  

Food Cravings/Aversions:  yes please to all things sour.  No aversions really.  I have finally been able to start cooking again.  My family is happy about that!  I don't cook as often as I used to but at least I can cook without puking.  Soups are my go to because I can cook them in the morning when I have energy and well, it is soup weather!  


What I Miss:  nothing really at the moment although a bloody mary on New Year's sounded awesome.  ;)

What I'm Looking Forward to:  my official ultrasound in 2 weeks and reaching viability at 24 weeks!  I can't wait for Blakely to feel the babies move and for us to give them some names.  The name situation is basically going no where.  Coming up with 4 names is hard!  I am also looking forward to getting started on the nursery.  We have oh so much to do. 

Milestones:  At 15 weeks I graduated from the Denver clinic.  I was able to stop all meds and my nurse told me I was just a normal pregnant girl.  I bawled like a baby on the phone and told her how much I appreciated her.  Seriously sometimes I can't even believe that we are here right now.  One year ago is when I made our first consult with Dr. S and now I am almost halfway through a twin pregnancy.  It is really a miracle and I am so so grateful.  I am not sure how we got so lucky but I thank my lucky stars every single day.  

I'm still here...

...but barely!  After a whirlwind couple of weeks I am hoping to catch up on life now.  

Things have just been cray.  Blakely was sick for a good 2 weeks.  Then Lonnie was out of town.  And then...

The pregnancy sickness hit me.  And wow.  I was not sick with Blakely so this is a whole new world for me.  I do okay for a few hours in the morning but then the nausea sets in for the rest of the day.  I am also STARVING OMG GET ME SOME FOOD NOW so that is cool.  Yesterday was a good day but I've already thrown up twice today.  Really hoping this passes quickly.

We took a quick peek at the babes the other day and they are both growing right along.  I think at that ultrasound I started feeling like okay this is actually happening.  I have another official ultrasound tomorrow with labs and if all looks good I can start weaning off my medications.  Which I am very happy about because my ass is one giant and painful bruise from the daily progesterone shots.  

We went to a Halloween party at a friends house for all the kids on Saturday.  It was really fun and the kids were all so cute.  I love watching Blakely want to play with the big girls.  She just follows them around trying to do everything that they do.  She even went into the "spooky room" with them which surprised me.  I struggled through the entire thing.  I had scoped out a distant bathroom early on just in case I needed to make a run for it.  I almost did because of all the food smells.  But it was fun anyway.  :)

Then on Sunday we FINALLY had Blakely's birthday party.  She loved it and keeps saying she wants to do it again.  Ha!  Honestly, I am so glad the thing is over.  It just felt like the longest lead up to a party ever.  Since we had to postpone it for 2 weeks I had all the decor already set up so I was ready to get the show on the road.  We had a good turnout and it is always great having my family and friends together.  Lonnie hates having parties but then once we have them he says he is so glad that we did.  So yeah...we will continue.  

Blakely is having a Halloween party at school today and then another one at dance tonight.  Let me tell you, once Halloween is over she is not getting any more candy for a long time.  I had a piñata at the party so we have had a few bags full of candy in this house for 2 weeks and she knew it.  She snuck some, Lonnie snuck her some and I have bribed her with some. So we are all guilty but I am putting a stop to it!  The good thing is that she wants to brush her teeth about 4 times a day!  (Maybe Lonnie and I need to stop eating candy too!)

Speaking of brushing teeth...  She has always been really good at letting me do it but the last few weeks she has been putting up a major fight.  Ugh.  Well the other day we were waiting at the doctor's office for her flu shot when she asked me for a sucker.  I said no.  She begged and finally I got frustrated and told her that if she eats candy and doesn't brush her teeth then her teeth will turn brown and then fall out.  Her head jerked up and she looked at me with huge eyes.  Then they started filling with tears.  The child started hard core crying and pulling on me to leave saying through her sobs, "Let's go home right now and brush my teeth!  I don't want to have brown teeth!".  I couldn't believe it.  I felt terrible but it did get through to her.  So now she brushed them multiple times a day! 

That's all I've got for today.  Hoping to get the birthday party post and her three year post up this week but we will see.  No pressure ;) 

Unofficial Ultrasound

There's a baby in there!!!!


I finally did my ultrasound yesterday.  There was no way I was waiting until next Friday.  Me and my husband decided yesterday was the day because I was 5 weeks 2 days.  You should definitely see at least a gestational sac and a yolk sac at this time.  I knew it was unlikely to see a embryonic pole and a heartbeat this early but I just needed to make sure the beeb was in the right spot and growing like he/she should.  So here is the first ultrasound pic!!!  I'm sure there will be a million more to come!

(For those of you that don't know....The black circle is the gestational sac and the smaller "white-rimmed" circle within the gestational sac is the yolk sac.  The embryo develops very close to the yolk sac but is not visible this early....but very soon!)


I absolutely cannot believe this is a picture of MY uterus.  


Honestly, I am still just in shock. 


I do ultrasounds on women in early pregnancy every day that I am at work so I see this image all the time.  It is just surreal that this is mine....my baby....my uterus...my pregnancy.....


I had convinced myself that my beta must have gone down so the pregnancy was over because I didn't feel pregnant anymore.  So, I peed on another stick and the line showed up instantly and basically stole all the ink from the control line.  I felt better.  This was actually stupid for me to feel this way because I am for sure having a few pregnancy symptoms.  More on those later...


Then I had totally convinced myself that I had an ectopic (rare....but still possible with IVF).  I was (and still am) having left lower quadrant pain.  Since we scanned yesterday I feel better...no ectopic just a cyst on my ovary...I can deal with that!


I also thought maybe I had just made it all up.  That I had literally lost my mind and created this all in my head.  That my husband was going to sit me down any minute and tell me that I needed to come back to reality.  
***sidenote:  This feeling probably comes from the fact that I have had to ultrasound multiple different women who HAVE made it up.  They come to the emergency room and tell the doctors they are pregnant.  The doctors then order an ultrasound and a pregnancy test.  I do the ultrasound before the results of the pregnancy test and BAM they aren't even pregnant.  I even one time had to go in the middle of the night because they couldn't find a heartbeat on a 34 week baby.  This is the worst possible ultrasound to have to do by the way.  The woman was extremely large so you wouldn't have been able to tell if she was pregnant anyway.  Basically I put the transducer down and she had a totally empty uterus.***


So see, I was driving myself crazy.  I feel much better after the ultrasound.  I know the beeb is in the right spot and is right on track and that I didn't make it up!  I can now focus on enjoying this as much as possible...and that is what I intend to do :)


I want to document everything since this is my journal/diary so these are the symptoms I am having as of right now.

• peeing all the time.  I have to get up at least twice in the middle of the night.  Is it dumb that I thought this was only a symptom of late pregnancy?  Apparently not....
• thirsty all the time and not really for water which is weird because pre-pregnancy I was a major water drinker.  Now I just want orange juice or apple juice.  A fellow blogger said something about Simply Lemonade and I am dying to try it but it wasn't at the store that I went to yesterday!  Ugh....
• I haven't been nauseous or anything but I did throw up the other night.  I was eating cauliflower and my husband asked me if I washed it off really good.  I started thinking about all the chemicals and that just made me totally sick really quick!
• fatigue.  I have been napping every day that I can.
• starting to want to eat weird stuff.  Last night I made myself a peanut butter sandwich that I dipped in syrup.  I really wanted peanut butter pancakes and this was the closest thing to it.  Hubs was eating a turkey sandwich and had pickle spears on the side.  I started dipping the pickles in my syrup.  Like it wasn't weird at all.....

I have also started walking daily although I did miss yesterday.  I walked 1.5 miles this morning.  


I purchased some really good lotion to rub on my belly to hopefully help with stretch marks.  I already have some stretch marks on my hips from when I had a major growth spurt in 9th grade so I know that I am susceptible to them.  I used it for the first time last night and I am not sure about it.  When I read about it online it said "delicately scented".  I'm not sure if I would call that scent delicate but I am going to keep trying it and we will see how it turns out.  I might try a few other just to see which I like best.  It is the belly butter from Bellamama.  Here is a pic...

I can't wait until we can tell people.  I am already trying to think of cute ways to do it.  I am most  anxious to tell my dad, my grandmother (this will be her first great grandchild), my brother-in-law and his wife and their two kids (they are almost 6 year old twins).  We will be waiting a while to tell them but a girl can plan can't she???  If you have any ideas I would love to hear them!