13 weeks pregnant

I have been posting the weekly updates I get e-mailed, but as they really only apply to singletons I think I will just try to do a weekly update on my own.
I read that the babies are each about the size and weight of half a banana, so I figure I am carrying around a whole banana in there. I actually lost weight in the first trimester (only a few pounds), but things seem to have been repositioning. I can definitly feel a solid little bump between my belly button and my pelvic bone. My pants feel tighter in the front. The first thing I do when I get home is change into my stretchy yoga pants. I think I will need to do some shopping soon for maternity pants.
At 13 weeks the babies also are supposed to have their own finger prints. I think that is pretty cool. As well if I poke my bump they are supposed to react to the pressure by moving or trying to find something to suck on. I can't feel them moving yet, but I know from seeing them on the ultrasound that they are very active in there. Twice when I was leaning over and squishing my belly I felt what could be described as a butterfly flutter. I couldn't really say for sure if it was movement or just gas or something, but it is exciting to think that soon I will be able to feel them wiggling around in there all the time.
I was hopeful that the puking was going to ease up at the beginning of the week, I had 2 days in a row where all I did was gag and have nausea, no actual puking. Well Friday I puked 3 times, so I guess I will continue to feel sick for a while longer. Oh well it is worth it. I am also really tired still, but am having some trouble sleeping. Baby A was doing a headstand on my bladder during the ultrasound, and I continue to have to pee all the time.
I have had a lot of questions about fraternal or identical twins. They told me that they couldn't tell that yet. The babies are more likely fraternal as I know I released multiple eggs, but it is possible that only one fertilised and then split. They are each in their own sack with their own placenta. This is apparently a good thing as there are less risks than if they share stuff.
I would be due at the beginning of August if I was having a singleton, but with twins full term is usually only 37 weeks, which means I am due around mid July.
I have started looking around at baby stuff. Wow some of it is expensive! Especially when you have to look at getting 2 of many things. People seem to be really generous when they hear you are having twins. I have already had friends offer me some of their used baby stuff.
Next ultrasound is at 2:30 on March 16th. I can't wait to see the babies again. After that I will be getting ultrasounds ever 2 to 4 weeks so that they can keep track of growth and check on my cervix.

Suprise!

Big News! We are expecting twins!

We had our 13 week ultrasound yesterday, to check development and to take measurements. This was our 3rd ultrasound. In the first ultrasound (transvaginal at 6 weeks 4 days) we saw one sack, one baby, one heartbeat. At the 2nd ultrasound (abdominal at 8 weeks 3 days) we saw one sack, one baby, one heartbeat. When 2 babies appeared on the screen yesterday it was a bit of a shock.

In October, before I was pregnant, I had a dream that I was a mother of twins. It was a very vivid dream. As we were going through our fertility treatment I tried doing visualisations each step of the way. Healthy egg growing, sperm meeting egg, cells dividing, baby implanting etc. I also tried visualising myself with my baby. As hard as I tried, when I saw these images I always saw 2. I told some of my friends this, and like me they were suprised when I had my first ultrasound and we only saw one. I was disapointed for a second there was only 1, but quickly changed my way of thinking and accepted that that was the way it was going to be. After all 1 is much easier than 2...

Well yesterday when we discovered it was 2, it seemed to make sense. It feels "right". I know that sounds kind of crazy.

So I am happy to report both Baby A and Baby B seem to be healthy. They have strong heartbeats, all their organs are where they are supposed to be, There are 4 legs and 4 arms between them. Both babies were wiggling around like crazy and Baby B even looked like he was waving at us. A is below, and was the baby we saw on the first ultrasound. Baby A still seems to be trying to hide out a little in my pelvis, doing head stands on my bladder. Baby B is on top, and would be the one we saw at the 2nd ultrasound. He is up closer to my belly button.

12 weeks pregnant

Welcome to your second trimester! Your raging hormones could be calming down a bit and you may also notice your nausea tapering off. Most women happily wave good-bye to morning sickness around now (although queasiness can return periodically throughout pregnancy). Many women enjoy pregnancy much more in this trimester — early symptoms fade and the risk of miscarriage drops dramatically.

Your baby has entered what is known as the fetal period, when tissues and organs rapidly grow and mature. Your baby's face is beginning to look more human, even though he is only about 2 inches/5.5cms long from crown to rump and weighs slightly less than half an ounce/ 14 grams. The eyes, which started out on the sides of the head, have moved closer together. The ears are almost in their normal position on the side of the head. The liver is making bile and the kidneys are secreting urine in the bladder. The fetus squirms if your abdomen is prodded, although you cannot yet feel movement. Fetal nerve cells have been multiplying rapidly and synapses are forming. The fetus has acquired more reflexes: touching the palms makes the fingers close, touching the soles of the feet makes the toes curl down and touching the eyelids makes the eye muscles clench

Snowday!

I just have to say I love Love LOVE snowdays. Almost nothing is better than waking up and hearing on the radio that school is cancelled. Other years I would have rolled over and gone back to sleep for a few more hours. Pregnancy seems to make sleeping in hard to do. I am soooo hungry by the time morning hits, I just have to get up to make breakfast. My sleeping in this morning was rudely cut short by my body deciding it was time to gag, which always happens if I am hungry. Ah well, I will have a nap later...

a milestone

My last pregnancy I miscarried the week between 10 and 11 weeks pregnant. By the 11 week mark, it was all over. I have found this to be an emotional week this pregnancy, as I remembered so clearly what had happened last time. We have made it past this milestone and this little bean seems to be hanging on and doing well (and kicking my butt with morning sickness). I can feel myself start to relax a little. I have an ultrasound booked for Jan 29th (between 12 and 13 weeks) and am really looking forward to seeing my little bean again.

11 weeks pregnant

Your fetus now looks like a baby, with tiny but fully formed fingers and toes. As his body grows and becomes more developed and functional, he'll start twisting and turning like an acrobat, cushioned and protected by your amniotic fluid. You, on the other hand, are probably feeling less like a gymnast every day. Leg cramps, which can sometimes be a sign of calcium deficiency, and heartburn (caused by pregnancy hormones that relax the valve which separates the esophagus from the stomach) may be annoying you during the day and keeping you up at night.

You're getting close to the end of the first trimester. Most of the baby's critical development will be behind you after the next couple of weeks. Measuring from the crown of his head to his rump, your 1.5-inch/ 4-centimetre fetus has all his parts, from tooth buds to toenails. Your baby is busy kicking and stretching ; his movements are so fluid they look like water ballet. Fingers and toes have fully separated. Now the fetus's main task during the next six months will be to grow larger and stronger until it can survive on its own outside the womb. A dark vertical line of pigmentation may appear on your abdomen. Your uterus has risen above your pelvic bones and you can now feel it during an external examination.

There's no single explanation for why you're feeling sick. Some combination of the many physical changes taking place in your body is probably responsible. Those changes include rapidly increasing estrogen levels, an enhanced sense of smell, excess stomach acids, and increased fatigue. Although it won't alleviate your nausea, it may be reassuring to know you're not alone. About 75 to 80 per cent of moms-to-be find the early weeks of pregnancy feel like one long, sickening ride on a mega-roller coaster. What's worse, this morning sickness can strike morning, noon, or night.

Thoughts

"There's the whole guilt layer of hating a pregnancy symptom after you've fought through infertility to get where you are."

I had a bit of an emotional breakdown last night. I was exhausted and cranky, feeling nauseous and gagging, I was hungry but couldn't think of anything I felt like eating, I had to pee for the 95th time that day and was constipated. I just started bawling. Then because I was bawling about PREGNANCY symptoms I felt guilty and that made me bawl even more. Hormones going crazy?
Today, after taking 2 naps already before noon, I was reading through some blogs online. I came across a comment on one of the blogs (quoted above) that made me realise that what I am feeling, has been felt by others before me. I am normal. Just knowing that someone had felt the same way I felt made me feel much better. Yes I can be incredibly happy to be pregnant and love this little growing bean with all my heart, but still hate the symptoms it is causing me.

Puking

I decided to write a post on this subject because it seems to be what my life is revolving around these days. I spend my day deciding what to eat that wont make me puke, wondering if it will make me puke, wondering if the nausea is going to amount to anything, and sometimes wondering when I am going to stop puking.
They call it morning sickness, which seems to be the wrong name, I would call it all day sickness. In fact, until Friday (when I puked at school for the first time), I hadn't puked in the morning. Evenings and middle of the night still seem to be my worst times of the day.
As much as I am not enjoying this part of being pregnant, I am glad that it is happening. When I miscarried (between 10 and 11 weeks) my nausea had pretty much disappeared by week 9. This time it has gotten worse. I really hope that it is a great sign that all is well with the bean.

10 weeks pregnant

10 weeks pregnant

Your baby has tiny fingernails now and the ability to kick, swallow and move. That's quite impressive for someone who's only the size of a lipstick. That will change soon; within the next few weeks, your featherweight child should double in size. You may notice your clothes getting tighter as your uterus is now almost big enough to fill your pelvis.

The fetus is only about 1.2 inches / 3 centimetres long from crown to rump and weighs less than a sixth of an ounce / 4 grams. Even so, it's busily swallowing and kicking. Each day more minute details start to appear, such as fingernails and peach-fuzzy hair. The vital organs -- the liver, kidneys, intestines, brain, and lungs -- are fully formed and functional, while the head is almost half the length of the entire body. The forehead temporarily bulges and sits high on the head, but later will change into a more human-like feature. If you could take a look at your baby this week, you'd be able to see the clear outline of his spine. Spinal nerves stretch out from the spinal cord. Your uterus is now the size of a grapefruit.

Trouble sleeping? It's not surprising, especially if you're in and out of bed all night to go to the washroom. And when you finally do drift off to sleep, you may have strange dreams that wake you up again. Many women report vivid images during pregnancy.

First OBGYN appointment

I had my first appointment with my obgyn. I got to know her last time after the miscarriage and during the first year of TTC afterwards. She was the one who referred me to the RE. She was super excited to see me back again (this time for a good reason), and to find out that I had gotten pregnant on my first treatment cycle.
This first appointment included peeing in a cup, getting weighed, getting blood pressure taken and filling out lots of paperwork. I got asked a million and one questions. No I do NOT smoke or use drugs...
I asked her about the bleeding, and the brown spotting since then; she basically told me to stop worrying.
The good news is that I get to have another early ultrasound. I will be having one sometime in the next few weeks. I am relieved that I will get to see the bean again in a short while.

So for now I have to try to relax, not worry and wait until my ultrasound. I go back in 3 weeks for my next appointment with the obgyn.

A good read

I always try to read a few books when I am on vacation. This Christmas break I decided to read the Twilight series. I have heard much buzz lately about these books (both from adults and my Junior High students). I just finished all 4 of them, and at the end was sad there wasn't more. I was a huge Buffy fan, and enjoy reading about vampires and werewolves so I figured they might be good. Now I am feeling at a loss for what to read next. I can see a visit to Chapters will have to be on the schedual soon. Any suggestions?

9 weeks pregnant

If extreme mood swings leave you feeling like a drama queen this week, you're not alone. Hormonal fluctuations are treating your emotions like a yo-yo now. One minute you feel weepy and the next you're laughing harder than you've ever laughed before. Take comfort in knowing that those same volatile hormones are helping your baby grow. In fact, this week marks the first time your baby looks almost human. He has all the standard body parts in place now — though they're not yet perfectly formed.

you may find yourself riding pregnancy's emotional roller coaster, feeling moody one day and joyful the next. Disturbing as this is to some women who pride themselves on being in control, what you're going through is normal and will probably continue throughout your pregnancy. Up-and-down emotions are partly caused by raging hormones.

At week's end, your fetus measures approximately 0.9 inches / 2.3 centimetres long. In both shape and size, it resembles a peapod and weighs less than a tenth of an ounce / 2 grams. The eyelids are fused and won't open until week 27. The wrists are more developed, ankles have formed, and the fingers and toes are clearly visible. Arms are growing longer and bend at the elbows. By week's end, the inner workings of the ears are complete. Though you can't yet identify the sex of the fetus by ultrasound, its genitals have begun to form. By now the placenta has developed enough to support most of the critical job of producing hormones.

What the experts say...

Knock on wood the bleeding seems to have stopped (It was only there for an hour or so). I have occasional brown spotting (old blood), but nothing red. Of course I googled about this and found all sorts of scary information as well as reassuring stuff. I got my weekly update today and there was an article attached about this exact same thing. Here is what the experts have to say:

Bleeding in early pregnancy is always worrying, but it's also surprisingly common. There can be several possible reasons.
In the very early stages of pregnancy, as the fertilized egg implants there can be a day or two of light bleeding.
Later, as the placenta embeds in the uterine lining, it causes slight bleeding. Sometimes a woman will experience 'breakthrough' bleeding.
Pregnancy hormones cover up a woman's usual hormonal cycle, but variations in those normal cycles still go on. Some women notice bleeding at around the time they would usually have had a period as a result of this 'background' variation in hormonal levels.
And occasionally women will experience a cervical erosion (a softening of the cervix), which can cause bleeding in early pregnancy.
Bleeding can also be associated with a vaginal or cervical infection or a polyp (a benign growth) and can also occur after intercourse.
Sometimes it's not possible to decide what has actually caused minor bleeding.