Meeting the specialist! And the genders are sealed!

Today’s Dr. appointment with the specialist was awesome! At first I did not get a good vibe from the place. The waiting room was small and plain. The other people waiting seemed weird. I had to wait for a long time before even giving my personal information. Waiting made me so anxious. As soon as we meet the ultrasound tech my anxiousness eased.  When she called my name to come back I actually said “thank you, I was getting so anxious.”  The ultrasound room at the specialist’s office was huge and comfortable unlike the ultrasound room at my regular doctor. The ultrasound machine and screen were huge and seemed much more high tech than our pervious experiences. Another huge difference between this ultrasound and the pervious was there was no rush. The ultrasound tech took her precious time and looked at EVERYTHING. The right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, bladder, brain, spine, etc.  I was starting to get a little bored and felt like I was about to fall asleep. I mean I was lying down and it was pretty dark in there. After the ultrasound tech did all of her measuring and picture taking. She told us that everything looked great and we had the best case scenario you can have with twins. Then the doctor came in and she did an ultrasound herself. The first time that a doctor has actually done an ultrasound herself, at the regular doctor, the doctor just looks at the pictures the tech took.  The doctor spent another non rushed amount of time checking out everything – to say that everything looks awesome. The babies are now both 6 ounces and prefect for their gestation! She said that Baby B is measuring a little bigger, at that last appointment Baby A was measuring bigger. The doctor confirmed/agreed with the ultrasound tech about the gender predicts and gave us our info so we can be surprised at the gender reveal party J

                                              

In addition, I was really nervous about meeting and liking the specialist. But I liked her almost instantly. For one I was happily surprised that she was a she. West End OBGYN, had originally told me I was going to be seeing Dr. Christmas who is a male, then later told me they were not sure who in that practice would be working with me. Well, I will be seeing Dr. Head, who is a female, and a mother of 8 year old twins. I like that she has experienced twins herself – that truly adds to the uniqueness of the experience. I also felt that she immediately had a warm inviting presence and connected with Mike and I instantly. Since she will help bring my children into this world I cannot be happier that there was that important instant connection. I feel confident with her has my doctor.

Every day in this pregnancy gets more exciting and every day I am empowered by my blessings.

Xoxo,

Heather

Gender Reveal Party!!!!

Gender Reveal Party… SO WE ARE DOING IT! We will be finding out the genders of our twins with friends and family! We are finding out on Jan 30^th, we will have the doctor seal the information in an envelope (so we will not know) and we will take it to the baker to bake the cake! We will find out the genders at the party which we have planned for Feb 4^th from 2 to 4pm at our home. We have a lot of friends and family who have yet to see our home so we will also be giving the grand tour as well!

Now I really hope the twins cooperate on Jan 30^th!

16 weeks doctor visit.

I am 15 weeks, but am on my 16^th week, which is kind of confusing to me and means I have been a week ahead of myself in calculations… whoops. Anyways… this past Friday we had a check up with an ultrasound. It was SO cool! The last time we saw the babies they didn’t look that much they were more or less just little circles. This time they looked like babies and we could see them move. They were moving all over the place! Baby A wanted us to see him/her. Baby A loved the camera and was hogging all the attention. Baby B didn’t seem to mind. Baby B appeared to be much more laid back in contrast to Baby A. Every time the ultrasound tech tried to get a picture of Baby B, Baby A would get in the way! Baby A jumped in front of the camera and said LOOK AT ME!

Their heartbeats were pretty much in sync. The tech took the heartbeats a couple of different times and they varied from the high 140s to the 160’s. She got both heartbeats at 154. This is the same heartbeat we got at our first ultrasound visit.

They measured the babies and they measured right on track with a due date of July 10^th (my 40 week calculated due date is July 12^th). The doctor also said they measured with the same conception date, which apparently is good. (I didn’t know there was a question about this.)

 I also got to talk to the doctor about the birth plan, this made me really happy. I told her that I understand a lot of the birth plan depends on the position of the babies which we will not know until d day. But I told her I really want to have a vaginal birth if possible. She said. “a vaginal twin birth is the most amazing thing in this world, and I did not get to do one in 2011!” This made me happy because she seemed excited that I was even considering a vaginal twin birth. But also a little scared, did she have no twin vaginal births because it is rare the twins will not be positioned correctly?! In my research, I found that it is a 50% chance they are positioned correctly! There’s only a 3% chance of having twins in the 1^st place so I am hoping for a vaginal birth!

I told this to the doctor but I also want readers to know, I will do whatever I have to, to get both babies here safely and healthy. So if that means c-section, then c-section. The main goal of the birth plan is to have two healthy babies!

I gained 7lbs in two weeks! Which sounds really bad, but really that was from my weigh-in right before I got checked in to the hospital for dehydration. I have only had a 2lb weight gain for the whole pregnancy. The doctor gave me a little lecture saying “7lbs in two weeks is a big weight gain, but you only have a 2lb told weight gain, you had a weight loss due to dehydrate.” She said, “I just don’t want you to gain another 7lbs in the next two weeks, you should gain 2lbs a week!”

On January 30^th, we will have another ultrasound where the genders will be found out. Overall great visit.

Starting the Nursery and NOT killing my husband in the process.

Starting the Nursery.

What a task! We have a 4 bedroom house. Bedroom #1 is our room. Bedroom # 2 is the current guest room. Bedroom #3 the smallest room (9x10) is an office. Bedroom #4 is the biggest but downstairs room. We one day would like for bedroom 4 to be our bedroom, but it currently has the smallest closet and we would like to be on the same level as the twins in the early years. So Bedroom #2 the guestroom will become the twin’s nursery.

We began the task of converting the guestroom into the nursery by slowing moving the things out of bedroom #2 into bedroom #4. Bedroom #4 is currently the dog room with nothing in it except for some dog beds and crates. So the tasks seemed easy move items from bedroom 2 to bedroom 4.

WRONG!

See I love my husband and Mike has been amazing through the whole pregnancy, dealing with me and my sickness and taking care of whatever I need. I have no doubt that he will be an amazing dad. With that being said, I think I am going to kill him. No not really. But I did not think that the task of transferring bedrooms would drive me so crazy.

Okay so here is the scoop in bedroom 2, Mike used the closet for his clothes. He often drove me crazy my using the guest bed as his clothes storage for days before hanging his clothes in the closet. They were always neatly folded but stacked on the bed. In our bedroom there is a rather large closet that I use for my clothes. It currently has my clothes only. Mike has a giant dresser in our bedroom that is full of all his clothes as well. I once used a drawer for my underwear and he got upset with me saying he could not share the drawer because he did not have enough room.

So the main problem is Mike has way too much clothes. He has way more clothes than me and all of his clothes are all year round. Meaning he does not pack away clothes for seasons. I have clothes packed away under the bed. The other problem is half of his clothes he needs to goodwill based on having too long, not in style, and no longer fitting correctly.

My suggestion to Mike was to go through his clothes and do just that… decide what he no longer wants and figure out what are some clothes he can pack away as summer clothes. I told him we could then share my closet.

NO of course I do not want to share my closet with him, especially when he has a huger dresser all to himself that takes up so much room in our bedroom that I could not fit any type of dresser in their for myself if I wanted too. But sharing my closet is the only real option.

I guess Mike didn’t like this idea because his response was the twins won’t really need a closet at first, can’t I just keep my clothes in there for a little while? Of course I said NO!

Secondly he asked, can I use the hall closet? Which I said the hall closet is already full with coats… where are they going to go?

The conversation ended, and we parted ways… meaning I stayed upstairs and watched TV Mike went downstairs.  

                                                                                                

I went downstairs and to my surprise Mike was not watching TV he was in bedroom 4 folding his clothes on to the bed. Reminding me of the annoying bedroom 2 habits… I sat on the bed to talk with him and he said look Heather I clean out the closet so I could use it. Bedroom 4, while the biggest room in the house, it has the smallest excuse for a closet known to man. So Mike had decided the bedroom 4 closet would be his (his clothes will never fit).  And when he said he had clean out the closet he really had just took everything that I had tucked away in the closet out.  He left the closet items in the center of the room for me to find somewhere else for them to go. I swear I could have strangled him.

Planning Mode

Now that I am actually feeling alive, I am in full swing planning mode. The problem is I don’t quite know where to start… and feel like I am waiting on the genders so I can really begin my prepare work. Things on my to-do-list include:

1.      Breastfeeding research. Yes I want to breastfeed, but feel like I need to be well informed about how to do this with twins and what to do when I return to work.

2.      The nursery, more on this later.

3.      My supply this. What do I NEED, what do I NOT need. What do I need two of, what can I get away with one of? This is a huge task.

4.      Car. Do we really need a new, bigger, car?

5.      Diapers. Do I want to try cloth diapers? The ones I am interested in are a huge investment. So I need to really be sure if I want to try them and I have to get my mom on board with it as well. FYI, Mom J

6.      Birth plan. I will have little control over what actually happens since it depends on the babies. But I want to be well informed about all the possibilities.

7.      Pediatricians. Where will the twins go? What do I feel about shots? I have no freaking clue about this one.

8.       Who knows? So much to do!

Gender Reveal Party

Ok so... I think I want to have a gender reveal party... but I dont know if I cant wait any longer... I should find out the genders on the 30th... so could plan the party for Sat Feb 4th.

Watching this video really makes me want to do it...

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/parenting-trends-gender-reveal-parties-13921640

Can I have twins twice?

At my first doctor's appointment when I found I was having twins that are most likely fraternal twins the doctor told me that my chances of having twins again increase. She told me it's a a 50/50 chance.

It is not 100% at this point that my twins are fraternal. There is a 70% chance that they are fraternal and a 30% chance they are identical.

So I researched this, this morning, and this is what I found... pretty interesting... it explains the chances of having twins.. and why they doctor at this point does not know for sure if my twins are fraternal or identical. As said in a earlier post... I think they are fraternal!

The following information comes form this website:  http://www.twinstwice.com/twins.html
I tried to copy and paste but it would not let me... check out the website if intrested, it's bullet points and charts.

“You look like a new person.”

Everyone keeps telling me this… I actually look alive now. I have looked dead for the last couple of months, which when you are throwing up 8-10 time a day, you will look dead. Most importantly I now actually feel alive! Going to the hospital was amazing, they got me hydrated and got me on a medicine that actually keeps the nausea and vomiting away!

Is that safe for the babies? A lot of people have asked me this, and this was something I feared too, which was one reason I went so long without getting any meds. But it is used on a pretty regular basis and the doctor explained it to me like this the benefits out weight the consequences and the consequences of not taking the medicine and continuing to be sick is worse for the babies.

In the beginning I had a lot of nausea but the vomiting didn’t really start until the last day of week 7. I went to the doctor for the first time at 8 weeks. She asked me about my nausea/vomiting then. I told her about the constant nausea and how I had just started to vomit in the morning. My doctor offered me an anti-nausea/vomit prescription then which I refused because of it being a “Class C” medicine. Class A and Class B drugs are considered safe during pregnancy.

I fondly remember a horror story from college… a medicine prescribed to pregnant women in the 60’s resulted in babies being born missing limbs! I am sure those doctors told the mothers the medicine was safe then and look what happened! (I know medicine has advanced a lot since this). 

It was called Thalidomide. If you would like to read more about this click the link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

                                                                                              

When my doctor said she could prescribe me something for my morning sickness that story came to mind and I said, “ no thanks! I will live!”

At week 12 the morning sickness had gotten really bad… lasting most of the day or all day. I knew this couldn’t be good for the babies, so I called the doctor and went in for a visit. All they did was give me the prescription that I did not want to take. Because I was home from work on winter break I could get through the day by sleeping and or not getting out of bed (except to go to the bathroom). So I did not take the prescription and I could manage to get some foods down and the days of how bad the sickness was varied.

At week 14… I could not take the sickness anymore, I was back to work and puking all day in my classroom kitchen. Having to work and being sick was not working as well as lying in bed all day. I tried the prescription given to me by the doctor on Monday… and I continued to throw up… I threw up the pill before it had a chance to get into my system. By Thursday I was dead. Friday the doctor checked me in to the hospital and voilà I am better.

I am on Zofran. If you like to read more about it follow the link… here it actually says it’s a class B.

http://www.drugs.com/zofran.html

So to make a long story short…. don’t get me wrong there are still some discomforts like heartburn and constipation. But I am better, happy, and feel and look alive! I’ll take it J

Cabbage Gender Test

Gender Cabbage Test

So a bunch of people kept posting about the cabbage gender test on my online baby groups... so I wanted to try. I know that there is a good chance that my twins are girl/boy but I just wanted to see what would happen.

Here are the steps for performing the test:

1. Go to the store and buy a red cabbage. The size of the cabbage does not matter at all.

2. Cut the cabbage into big chunks.

3. Boil some water on the stove and put in the chunks of cabbage

4. Let the water and cabbage boil for about 10 minutes or so. When the ten minutes is up, remove it from the heat.

5. Grab a cup and go to the bathroom! Pee into the cup.

6. In a separate cup, mix 1 part of your urine to 1 part of the water that the cabbage was boiled in. No need to save the cabbage unless you want to eat it. It's pretty tasty, so you might want to eat it!

If the urine/cabbage water turns pink or red then this indicates a boy result!

If the urine/cabbage water turns purple, this indicates a girl result.

Also I made Mike do it cause I wanted to see what would happen to the water with normal (not pregnant) pee.

Watch the video to see what happened when we did the test.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keqXluoCOsg&feature=youtu.be

"Birth of Twins soar in the US"

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2012/jan/05/tdmain01-births-of-twins-soar-in-the-us-ar-1588123/

this is why everyone asks us if we had "help" with the twins

Strong hormones = a strong pregnancy

That's what the doc said.

Thursday was a horrible day with a ton of sickness. I wanted to leave school and go home but I knew that was pretty impossible. Once you get to school the chances of you getting a sub to come in for you are close to zero. Now if I really had to leave I could, but it would require teachers to come into my class during their planning periods to cover my classes and I do not what to cause more work/stress for anyone. So I stayed at work, miserable and feeling like crap. During my planning period (7^th period of course at the end of the day when a break in the middle would have been awesome) I walked down to the office and told them “I am taking Friday as a sick day because today has been horrible and I am going to use tomorrow to rest.” Everyone at work has been amazing to me. Mainly the problem is I don’t want to be any trouble so I don’t really tell people how BAD I am actually feeling. This is also hard because EVERYONE always asks how are you feeling… which is a hard question because I don’t want to say good, because I don’t feel good, but I am also am not going to tell them that I feel like dying… so I usually say I am feeling okay right now.

I called the doctor that afternoon to leave a message saying that I have been having a lot of vomiting and the medicine they gave me is not helping to stop me from vomiting. The doctor has always been really good about calling me back soon after leaving a message. When I got home from work I went straight to bed. I woke up the next morning still vomiting. I had totally forgot that I had called the doctor until they called me back Friday morning. I told them what was happening and they asked me to come in and see the doctor at 2pm, so I did. I was still vomiting on the way to the doctors and when I got there it didn’t take the doctor long to say you are really dehydrated we need to get some fluids in you. They admitted me to the hospital so I could get IV fluids with Zofran. They pumped the entire first IV into me within a 2 hour period, which is apparently pretty fast. (After many failed attempts to actually get the IV in… and have the bruises to prove it) After the 1^st bag of IV fluids I immediately felt like a new person. They continued to pump me with fluids for the next 15 hours. I was released Saturday morning around noon. The hospital stay was amazing, it felt like a vacation. I am so glad I went.  I also have a perscription of Zofran now so I am really hoping this vomiting thing is over with!  

14 weeks and still sick

Yesterday I was hungry and I thought that was a good sign. I ate and ate and ate. It was the first day that I have actually been hungry. Monday was horrible. I threw up six times while at school. Then when I went home I continued to throw up. Mike when to get my anti vomit prescription (promethazine) and I took it and about thirty minutes later I threw up the pill, I was so freaking frustrated I threw up the pill that is supposed to stop me from throwing up! So Mike took a pill crushed it up and put it in about 2 ounces of water, I drank it, and I passed out until the next morning. Again yesterday I was hungry and I thought I was about over this throwing up mess… but then yesterday around 3pm I got this killer headache that will not and still hasn’t gone away.  I went to bed at 6pm yesterday got up around 10pm, took a quick shower and ate, then when back to bed for the night. Today I am 14 weeks and still throwing up with a pounding headache. I was throwing up my guts all threw my 1^st period class. I had a crying fit break down.  Saying to myself, I am tired of being sick this is supposed to be done by now. I cried almost all threw my 2^nd period class. Thank goodness for my understanding and compassionate students. They knew I was upset and sick, they gave me their sweet words of encouragement (you’ll feel better soon, it will all be worth it when they get here) and left me alone at my desk with my hot compress on my head and then they quietly worked on their study guide until the bell rang. Bless their hearts.

2011

I can't believe how much 2011 changed me.

I owned 2011, this was for sure my year, finished my 9th grad school class, bought my first house, got engaged, got married, vacationed in Mexico and Jamaica, got pregnant and found out it's twins! 2012 = one class away from my masters degree and the birth of my 1st and 2nd child!

 It's funny how much 365 days can changed your life. In 2012 I'm going to be the mom of two babies! Life is beautiful!

27 days until we find out the genders!!!

xoxo,
Heather