13 weeks, 1 day

So I'm headed out of the first trimester and on to the second. Technically, the 2nd trimester doesn't start until 13 weeks, 3 days but close enough, right? I'm hoping that the 2nd tri is all that I've heard it to be.... no more morning sickness, a burst of energy, etc... we'll see!

Dave went with me to the doctor this morning. My blood pressure was normal and I've gained a total of 8 pounds. The recommended weight gain for twins is 25 pounds by 20 weeks (only 7 weeks to go) and 45-56 pounds total. I'm thinking 8 pounds in the first tri isn't too bad! Finally, we were able to hear both heartbeats and I can breathe a sigh of relief. Although the doctors told me it's not uncommon for one twin to hide behind the other, I was a little nervous that we could only get one heartbeat! Baby A's heartbeat was in the 150's (beats per minute) and Baby B's heartbeat was right around 160 bpm. Both strong and healthy! This was Dave's first time hearing heartbeats and I think he enjoyed it. It really is pretty neat! Although, I think he enjoyed talking to the doctor more!

The doctor we saw today was Dr. Karyn Markley. Sitting in the exam room we noticed that all her certificates were from the Pennsylvania Hospital, as which point Dave remembered that some Markley's lived next door to him when he was a kid in Norristown, PA. Turns out that Markley is her married name and she didn't recognize any of the names Dave threw at her but she said she would ask her husband. She also said that they do have a couple of relatives that still live in Norristown, PA and they know Woody's.... the golf facility that Dave's grandfather started and his family still runs! Small world......

My next appointment is on January 10, 2008. My mom will go with me to that appointment so she can hear the heartbeats. I will also have blood drawn for some sort of "triple screen" test. It's an easy test to possibly detect birth defects. Then the appointment in February is when we find out the genders!!!

FINALLY!!

This post is not baby related at all..... but it is about a major life event that occurred on "the road to twins".

This weekend was amazing. I have just graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a B.A. in Political Science after 8 LONG years of courses in the evening and online. Friday night I was so nervous. It just seemed like it was too good to be true. I've dreamt about graduation day for years and it's finally here! Bright and early I arrived at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center wearing my cap and gown, ready to walk and leave papers and tests behind me. The ceremony was very nice and, as I sat there amongst my other classmates (309 in attendance) all I could think was "Please, God, don't let me trip as I walk across that stage!" Well, the announcer got my first name wrong but my last name right (which is completely opposite of what is normal), I walked across the stage, shook the President's hand and went back to my seat..... all while grinning like an idiot at my incredible family up in the stands (including my oldest brother and sister-in-law who drove 8 hours from GA to be there)!

After the ceremony we went to Carolina Road House for lunch and then home for a nap.... I was exhausted! After our nap we set up for the party that evening at the Conway Train Station, which was an absolutely amazing space. I walked in and it was like stepping back in time. There were so many antiques in there it looked like they hadn't touched the place in several decades! Dave and Kent took care of setting up the bar in the Club Car, which Jason (the owner) so kindly pulled up to the station. The caterer arrived right on time with delicious food and everybody had a great time.

One thing I wasn't expecting were the gifts and cards. I was completely overwhelmed at the amazing group of family and friends that I have. The support I've received from my loved ones throughout my collegiate career are what made it possible for me to complete my degree while working full time.

10 weeks, 3 days

I had another appointment yesterday and met Dr. Nelson. She was the only doctor in the practice that I hadn't met. She was very nice and I like her just as much as the others. It was a fairly simple visit. She asked me a few questions and then listened for the heartbeats again (she, too, warned me that it's still early). We found one of them. it was 160-170 beats per minute. Dr. Nelson said that one twin will often hid behind the other when it's this early and didn't seem to think too much of it. Hopefully we'll get to hear both heartbeats on December 18, which is my next appointment. I'll be 13 weeks and 1 day by then!

I love my doctor's office!

I just had an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner at Magnolia OB/GYN and what I thought was going to be very boring turned out to be so productive!

I told her about my miserable Sunday (I threw up 6 times on Sunday... it was horrible) so she gave me a prescription for Zofran with the promise that it will change my life. I can't wait to get this one filled!

After we took care of that she said "Now you're very early but do you want to see if we can maybe hear a heartbeat or two?" From all of the reading I've been doing I know that doctor's don't normally even try this until about 12 weeks or so (and I'm only 9 weeks now) so I told her I understood that I was early, I promised I would not get upset if we couldn't hear heartbeats and said let's do it!

She pulled out her little thing that listens to that sort of thing and, it took her a minute, but we did get to hear one of the little hearts beating! It was about 180 beats per minute, which she said was good. The other little peanut was hiding behind my pelvic bone and she couldn't get to it but it was so incredible to hear that one! It is so much cooler to hear the heartbeat than to just see it on the ultrasound!

I have another appointment on November 29 so maybe the other one will come out of hiding by then!

My First Panic Attack

I woke up bleeding this morning at 2:00 AM. I woke Dave up and asked him to get me my phone so I could call my on-call doctor. While he was getting my phone, I experienced a wave of heat followed by a wave of cold. I took my temperature and it was normal. I seriously thought I was going to pass out! I can only guess it was a panic attack at seeing so much blood where there should be none!

So I called my doctor, they told me to go to the emergency room. I needed to lay down a minute before going so Dave started the car and helped me get dressed and off to Conway Medical Center we went at 2:00 in the morning. When we got there the bleeding had stopped. They put us in a room and the doctor came in. He ordered a urinalysis and some blood work. The nurse appeared to take my blood and had trouble finding my vein in my left arm so she proceeded to "dig around in there" (her words, not mine) until I got all hot and flushed again. Blood doesn't normally make me nauseous and getting blood drawn doesn't normally bother me but when you have someone "digging around" in your arm with a needle, you tend to want to pass out! Finally she realized that it wasn't working and tried the other arm. Thankfully she found the vein with the first stick and got the 3 vials of blood that she needed (this is in addition to the 6 larger vials I gave my doctor's office on Thursday).

A LOT later, after the lab results came back (about an hour and a half or so) the doctor reappeared with a portable ultrasound machine and, THANK GOD, was able to find both heartbeats. Then he did a pelvic exam and sent me home with instructions to stay on bed rest until I could follow up with my regular doctor. He was even nice enough to print out my lab results so my doctor wouldn't have to hunt them down.

Dave was a huge help during this ordeal taking care of insurance forms, etc while the nurses asked me tons of questions. We got home at 5:00 AM, had a bowl of cereal and went back to bed.

This morning I called the doctor's office at 8:30 when they opened and told them of our little excursion in the middle of the night and they told me to come in at 11:30 which is when the on-call doctor would be back from the hospital.

I gave them the printout of the lab work, the doctor did yet another pelvic exam and sent me home with instructions to stay off my feet for the rest of the day. She said it was likely that the ultrasound they did on Friday irritated my cervix (it was a transvaginal ultrasound) which caused the bleeding. I told her that I knew things like that could cause spotting but this was WAY beyond spotting. She said that with twins, the blood flow is increased and many things are amplified.

So here I sit on the couch, after a nice long nap, trying to not do anything at all until I am able to go back to work tomorrow. Let's hope we don't have any more nights like that!

Heartbeats!

Dave and I went to the doctor's office today for an ultrasound. The primary purpose was to determine viability. I, of course, was excited and nervous all at once. I had been reading (something I shouldn't do so much of, apparently) and came across something on Vanishing Twin Syndrome where twins are detected early but one fails to develop and never becomes a baby.... well, we saw 2 tiny fluttering heartbeats today and that made me feel so much better! I've also read that once you have heartbeats, the chance of miscarriage drops to 3% which is great!

It's also amazing how much they've grown in the 2 weeks since my last ultrasound! Last time all we could see were the sacs.... now those sacs are much larger and have babies!

Cracker Buddy

When the whole morning sickness thing started, just about everybody I talked to would tell me to eat a few saltine crackers before I even got out of bed... what a great tip!

What makes it even greater is that I have a cracker buddy every single morning. I know all of you are thinking that Dave eats my crackers with me (which is the first thing I would think because Dave usually has to have a little bit of everything that I have) but you're wrong! Every morning I reach for the saltines and as soon as the plastic wrapper makes a crinkling sound, Sammy comes running and hops up on the bed! Who would have thought that the cat would LOVE saltines! I usually eat 3 or 4 crackers, saving the last, tiny corner of each cracker for the cat. It puts a smile on my face each morning, no matter how bad I feel!

And the symptoms begin...

Morning sickness hit me last Thursday. I was 5 weeks, 3 days pregnant and the smell of cat food made me throw up in the kitchen sink. I had no idea it would come on so suddenly! Prior to smelling cat food I didn't have any nausea at all!

So I started taking Dramamine, which is on my list of approved medications. That helped for about a week and I started thinking "I can handle this! Just take a Dramamine and all is well!"

Boy was I wrong! While the Dramamine worked for a while, yesterday the Dramamine came back up and I was miserable all day long!.... time for a new plan. This new plan is way more involved than taking a small pill in the morning...

Last night I took a whole Unisom tablet and 25mg of vitamin B-6. This morning I took 1/2 Unisom tablet and 50mg of B-6 along with eating a few saltine crackers and drinking a little bit of Coke (thanks to April for the Coke tip) before I even got out of bed. I also took my time getting up and, while I was about 20 minutes late for work this morning, I've felt fine all day!

I don't know how long this "magic" combination will help with the sickness but I hope it's until the morning sickness goes away completely!.... just in case, I do still have a pot (lined with a plastic grocery bag) and saltines on the passenger seat of my car!

Telling My Parents

A couple of days after we told Dave's parents we went to my parent's house for lunch. It was Sunday, October 28, 2007 and they were completely baffled as to why I was bringing wrapped gifts for no reason. I told them that I saw something they would like and thought it would be fun to wrap them.

Of course, the very first thing we did was open the presents! I insisted on it!....But first I made sure that my mom had her glasses handy! They opened their boxes. Inside mom's box was a onesie that said "That's it! I'm going to Grandma's!" and inside my dad's box was a onesie that said "When Mommy & Daddy say no... ask Grandpa!".... I think my mom was too stunned to say anything at first but a BIG grin spread across her face. It took my dad a second to catch on and then he said "Kristy! You're having a baby!"

Then I did the same thing as with Dave's parents.... told my mom to remove the tissue from her box.... she put on her glasses and I pointed out what the ultrasound said and, again, the excitement started all over again!

It was great to sit down for lunch and talk about the babies over yummy lasagna!

Telling Dave's Parents

Now that we know we're having twins I'm finding it impossible to keep it a secret! So we scrapped our plan to tell all the parents together...

On October 26, 2007 we shared the news with Dave's parents. We shipped a package to their house in PA. Inside the package were two wrapped presents with bows. One said "Mom" and the other said "Dad". Dave called them before they received the package to tell them it was coming. He said it was something for their trip down here (they'll come to Myrtle Beach on November 10) and they are to call us before they open the package so we can explain it.

I tracked the package and saw that it arrived on the afternoon of Friday, October 26. I was so excited and anxious for them to open it but when I got home from work at 6:00 Dave wasn't there. He had to work late and didn't get home until about 8:30... by that time his parents were out to dinner! By now I am absolutely DYING for them to get home and open our package. Dave finally called them around 10:30 to see when they would be home.... around 11:00 they finally made it home and called us.

They opened their presents. Inside mom's box was a onesie that said "gaga for golf!" and inside dad's box was a onesie that said "Don't look at me... that smell is coming from Grandpa!".... they knew immediately and were SO happy and excited! After the excitement calmed down a bit we told Mom to remove her tissue and look in the bottom of the box.

I taped the ultrasound pic that said "Guess What... Twins" to the bottom of the box! She saw the ultrasound pic but they had to find glasses to read what it said.... when they finally saw that it was twins the excitement started all over again! It was such a great night and so much fun to be able to finally share the news!

Biggest Surprise of my Life!

We're having TWINS! OMG.... TWINS!!

I went for my first doctor's appointment this morning. I should mention that this is a different doctor than the one from the previous post. I received a recommendation from a girlfriend to see Dr. Golden at Magnolia OB/GYN so I made an appointment.... and I'm SO glad I did! The whole staff was nicer in general and the doctor's seemed to care more about me than my other doctor's office!

Dave didn't come because I was told that there would be no ultrasound... it's too early to see anything but the amniotic sac. I arrived, answered some questions and had a pelvic exam. Then the doctor asked me about the cramping that I've had. I told her that last Friday they were pretty severe but have been better since. She said it was probably a temporary cyst on my ovary but wanted to do an ultrasound just to make sure I didn't have an ectopic pregnancy. I got dressed and went back out to the waiting room until the ultrasonographer was ready for me.

When she led me to the ultrasound room she reiterated that I'm very early and we wouldn't even be able to see a heartbeat yet. All she was looking for was an amniotic sac. She didn't want me to be disappointed. I told her I completely understood and we got started. It was a transvaginal ultrasound and the technician "looked" in several different directions before she told me she'd be right back and left the room.

The technician came back with Dr. Golden who introduced herself and proceeded to tell me that I'm carrying twins. I didn't believe her at first. I thought she was just messing with me. So, she told me to lay back down and she'd show me.... sure enough, two little blips on the screen. Two healthy amniotic sacs, both containing an embryo!

I called Dave and told him I needed to talk to him. I told him he could either come home or I could come to Wild Wing.... he chose to come home. When he got here I sat him down on the couch and told him the exciting (shocking) news.... like me, he was floored, in disbelief, and totally excited! I went to work, told my boss, told my co-workers and managed to do absolutely no work for the rest of the day.

Lesson Learned Early!

I took the morning off work so I could go to the doctor's office to fill out some paperwork and pick up some information and prenatal vitamin samples. After I completed the paperwork I handed it back to the nurse and asked if they would be doing an ultrasound to hear the heartbeat at my first appointment (which is now scheduled for 11-14-07... I'll be 8 weeks and 2 days). They said no :-( I was hoping they would do that but I guess there's no need for Dave to come along to this appointment.

My boss has offered free flu shots to everyone in the office and I read online somewhere that it's not really a good idea during the first trimester. So I asked the nurses at the front desk and one of them automatically said "Sure, no problem! We actually recommend them!" At which point I looked at her and said I'm only 4 weeks pregnant is it really safe for the baby this early? The other nurse went to ask the doctor and the doctor said "No way! Wait until you're further along" Lesson learned: Don't always believe what the nurses say.... if you have doubts, keep questioning!

So many things to think about...

Last night I was woken by cramps in my abdomen. I've had them for 11 days now but never so bad that they woke me up. I lay awake for a little while and eventually drifted back to sleep. I told myself that if they weren't better in the morning or if I had bleeding I would call the doctor. Today I'm still not technically "late" and I certainly don't want to get my period!

I woke up at 6:00 AM, popped the thermometer in my mouth (keeping an eye on your temp is a good way to know if anything is going wrong with your pregnancy) and immediately checked the temp in the bathroom when the thermometer beeped.... Dave was still asleep and I didn't want to wake him by turning on the light. It was 98.49 which is actually higher than it has been...good news! The cramping was better and there has been no bleeding. No need to call the doctor today!

Until I got to work and went to request the day off for my first doctor's visit. November 8, 2007. I looked on the calendar and, of course, that is the day of the one seminar I'm required to attend for work every year! Guess I have to reschedule for the 13th....I sure hope they have something open that day. I need to stop by the doctor's office on Wednesday morning to pick up an informational packet so I'll just reschedule when I go in. So many little things to think about, I'm going to have to start carrying around a planner or something!

Sharing the big news...

The day we found out I was pregnant (Thursday, October 11, 2007) Dave and I sat at the kitchen table and had breakfast together. Still in shock over our discovery, we discussed when we would tell others. We decided not to tell anybody until after my first doctor's appointment. That day, during my lunch hour, I made an appointment for November 8, 2007. Exactly four weeks away. We had toyed with telling our parents right away but, in the end, decided that this was so early in the game (I hadn't even missed a period yet as I tested 3 days before that was supposed to happen) we would just wait.

The fact that my first appointment would be just a few days before Dave's parents came to town for a visit solidified our decision to wait. We planned it all out. We would have both sets of parents over for dinner. We would hand each parent a box and inside those boxes would be onesies that said different things about "Grandma" and "Grandpa". While we knew it would be so hard to keep it from them, we wanted to see Dave's parents faces when we told them and thought it would be even more fun if they all found out at the same time!

So the plan was set. We would tell the parents just before Thanksgiving and then tell only close friends until my graduation party when I would be headed into my second trimester. We knew it was going to be hard but we didn't know how hard!

Friday, October 12, 2007. I woke up and peed on another stick. It was one of those fancy new digital sticks. No lines to guess at... just "Pregnant" or "Not Pregnant". It showed "Pregnant" and I was happy all over again. Later that day a friend call to ask us if we wanted to hang out with them that night. Of course, we say yes! We arrive at the condo that they have for the weekend and promptly tell them that I'm on antibiotics (we concocted our story in the car on the way to see them) and won't be drinking. Well, Kristene decided they wouldn't have it! They finally have a weekend away from all kids and are ready to party. She tries to talk me into drinking with her....she tries to talk Dave into just ordering shots.... she's not taking no for an answer! I don't blame her, I would have done the same thing! After dinner, we stop at the grocery store for beer and head back to their condo. Walking in, Dave and I quietly decide that we don't like lying, that it's too hard and we're just going to come clean. This is a couple we can trust with our secret and they have a 2 year old so it will be nice to have someone to talk to who just went through this whole pregnancy thing. Once we get inside and have the beer tucked safely inside the fridge, Dave calls for a "huddle" in the living room....Kristene looks at me and says "Are you pregnant?" I scream yes and there's hugs all around! It was so exciting to tell somebody! It made the whole scenario more real for me.

Knowing we would be going out again the following night with different friends and also knowing we really weren't ready to tell these friends yet, Liz talks a bit when she's drinking and I knew this would be too big for her to keep to herself, Dave and I came up with yet another plan to keep it a secret on the car ride home.

Saturday, October 13, 2007. Liz and I attend Tammy and Calli's wedding at 2:00 PM. After the wedding we go back to Liz's house and wait for Jeffrey to come home from work. Liz hands me a beer. I open it and head to the bathroom where I pour the beer down the sink, rinse out the can and fill it with water. I head back to the living room with my Mich Ultra can filled with water and pretend that I'm drinking my beer. Liz has no clue! I think this is going to actually work!

We all go to the hotel bar and order beer. I, again, go to the bathroom and fill my can with water. When it's time for another "beer" I take my empty to the bar and tell the very sweet bartender that I need her to just fill my beer can with water each time and she happily helps me out. This goes on for a couple of hours and I should have just stuck with this plan as it was working out very well... nobody suspected a thing! From there we go to the Boulevard Grill for food and I order a club soda with lime (we were the first to arrive) and I put a little drink stirrer in it to make it look like a vodka tonic. Still, nobody suspected anything. After we ate, we walked down to International Cafe and I ask Dave to order me a "crown and coke".... well, apparently the bartender didn't get it because he gave me a coke in a regular glass with regular straw (instead of making it look like a cocktail). That was the end of my secret. Liz saw I had a coke and started badgering me about it. I tried telling her that I was kind of tired and just needed a little caffeine. She wouldn't hear of it! Finally I looked at Dave and she looked at me and said "Oh my God! Are you pregnant?" I nod, she squeals and says "I have to tell somebody!" (just as I suspected) .... so she goes down the bar and tells Tammy, the newlywed, and soon the whole group knows our secret. Everybody is super happy but I felt bad about letting it slip on a night that was supposed to be about Tammy & Calli!

After that, we went to Fat Harold's and the Spanish Galleon and Dave I were in bed by 11:00.... exhausted! So much for not telling anybody! It is still our plan to tell the parents all together in mid-November. I feel bad that they weren't the first to know but I'm just weak when it comes to my friends and they get very suspicious when I'm out and I'm not drinking.....

So fast!

I've always wanted to be a mother. That has always been a part my definition of success. A wonderful marriage, a career, a house and children. My dream was derailed for a while in my early twenties. I married the wrong guy (there goes the wonderful marriage), I was working retail and, while it can be a great career for some, just wasn't my "thing". And while my ex and I weren't "trying", there were several times that I really should have gotten knocked up (thank God I didn't). So naturally, I'm thinking I would have some trouble trying to conceive.

Fast forward about 6 years. I'm now so happily married it's ridiculous and I have a great career as the supervising paralegal of the real estate department in a law firm. I will be finished with my bachelor's degree (another thing that went awry in my very early twenties) in a couple of months and for my 30th birthday, in July of 2007, decided it was time to go off birth control. Everything is going great! In September I decided that I was going to chart by CM and BBT in order to understand my cycles and possibly spot any potential problems early on.

Every morning the alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. I hit snooze and pop the thermometer in my mouth. I chart everything on fertilityfriend.com and, aside from erratic temperatures (high-low-high-low) and a fairly early ovulation (12 dpo instead of the "standard" 15 dpo) everything looks normal. Now Dave knew I was charting and knew it was my fertile time and it just so happens that we timed the BD perfectly on my peak ovulation day.
Starting on 8 dpo I started experiencing mild cramping. Like the kind you get with your period but just not nearly as bad. Implantation cramp? Maybe.....
I continued to watch my temperature go up and down and on 11 dpo I had a spike. Triphasic chart signifying pregnancy? I was hoping! 12 dpo the temp dropped again and so did my hopes for that triphasic chart! I decided that if my temp was back up the next day I would test.

Sure enough, another temp spike on 13 dpo! I got out of bed, peed on a stick and set it on the bathroom counter. I brushed my hair and tried to wake up a little....then I looked at the stick and thought I was imagining a very faint second line. So I waited and watched for a couple of minutes and sure enough, that line got darker. I stood in the bathroom in complete disbelief for a minute or so, not sure how to tell Dave, who was still sound asleep in the bedroom. I opened the bathroom door with stick in hand and sat beside him on the bed. "Honey, can I turn on the light and show you something?" Dave sleepily responds "sure". So I reach over and turn on the lamp by my bed and rub his arm. "Bear, I need you to wake up a little".... "Are you going to show me a blue stick". I reply "well, sort of" (it was really a stick with pink lines.... but same difference). He picks his head up and says "Are you pregnant?" All I can do is grin and nod, at which point my half-asleep husband gives me a high five and says "Congratulations!" This struck me as funny so I start laughing and crying and he pulls me to him. Who would have known it would happen so fast! October 11, 2007 goes down in history as one of the happiest days of my life!