One of the things about twins is, as during most of their childhood, I imagine, in pregnancy everything happens sooner and more intensely. I started showing at about eight weeks. I knew it when my toddler patted my stomach and said, very solemnly, "that's a big Mama."
I had my first prenatal at eleven weeks, and the doctor said I had a "15-weeks sized uterus". I'm also noticing symptoms that started around 10 weeks, symptoms I didn't experience in my first pregnancy until four months or so (ligament cramps, lightheadedness). I started pulling out maternity clothes a few weeks ago, and now that everyone knows we are pregnant I get to start wearing them rather than the layers of baggy stuff I've been wearing lately. From what I've read about twin pregnancies, I'm going to look full-term around seven months. (Oh great, two months of feeling like Jabba the Hutt instead of a week or two.)
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Cat's Out of the Bag
Finally we are "out" about our latest creative endeavor! Here's the timeline of our last few months:
2/11 - consultation with fertility doc. Complained of mood side effects from Clomid, so we decided to switch to Letrizole with next treatment cycle. Tally is now seven cycles of IUI, four at the midwife clinic, three at the fertility clinic, six of those with Clomid.
2/13 - began to suspect that we were pregnant
2/16 - BFP, which was a little surprising because with Mini-Me #1 I got several negative test results before a positive one 18 DPO. This time it was 12 DPO.
2/17, 2/19 - blood tests to confirm pregnancy. Got a call from the fertility clinic to say that my labs looked good. Actually what the nurse said was "yes, you're very pregnant." (The mathematician in me was vaguely annoyed. After all, it's a binary process, right? Either you are or you aren't, not like you can be "very" pregnant or "a little" pregnant... just wait, joke's on me!)
3/1-3/8 - took Mini-Me #1 to my parents' house across the country for a visit. Was exhausted the whole time, took advantage of the built-in grandparents childcare, took lots of naps, found that sitting up for an hour or two made me tired. Also threw up in the shower once while brushing teeth. Was puzzled because I was nowhere near this exhausted with first pregnancy, but chalked it up to pregnancy + travel + toddler care. Was sure Mom and Dad had guessed I was pregnant.
3/9 - back home, first ultrasound. Doctor asked how I was feeling. Complained of mind-numbing fatigue and worse nausea than I had experienced with first pregnancy. He said "well yeah, I'd expect you to be twice as tired and twice as sick because you're twice as pregnant." Thunk.
So, twins. Two little white beans on the ultrasound for me to see.
Each black blob is an embryonic sac. Each little white bean inside is a growing baby.
This and subsequent ultrasounds have helped determine that these twins are "di-di", that is, they do not share a sac or a placenta. This is good news, as it is the type of twins that are least likely to have medical problems later on in the pregnancy. It also means that they are fraternal. There is a 50% chance that they are boy-girl, 25% chance both girls, 25% chance both boys.
The last six weeks have been a haze of fatigue and stomachaches. I have never experienced anything like it before, though it reminds me of my best friend from high school describing her weakness while recovering from mono. Eighteen hours a day in bed sometimes. Appetite hit or miss. Waking up every hour or two at night, spending 45-60 minutes trying to get back to sleep. It's been a real drag, but it's starting to improve. Some days I actually have the energy to do TWO things (bring toddler to the park AND go grocery shopping) in a day, though it usually knocks me out to the point where I spend a few hours in bed at dinnertime. My child has had her brain turned to mush by too many Elmo videos and she and I are both getting by on triscuits and cheddar cheese and grapes, sometimes more than once a day.
Husband has been complaining that I haven't been very excited about this pregnancy, but honestly, I'm thrilled. I just didn't have the extra energy to be cheery.
2/11 - consultation with fertility doc. Complained of mood side effects from Clomid, so we decided to switch to Letrizole with next treatment cycle. Tally is now seven cycles of IUI, four at the midwife clinic, three at the fertility clinic, six of those with Clomid.
2/13 - began to suspect that we were pregnant
2/16 - BFP, which was a little surprising because with Mini-Me #1 I got several negative test results before a positive one 18 DPO. This time it was 12 DPO.
2/17, 2/19 - blood tests to confirm pregnancy. Got a call from the fertility clinic to say that my labs looked good. Actually what the nurse said was "yes, you're very pregnant." (The mathematician in me was vaguely annoyed. After all, it's a binary process, right? Either you are or you aren't, not like you can be "very" pregnant or "a little" pregnant... just wait, joke's on me!)
3/1-3/8 - took Mini-Me #1 to my parents' house across the country for a visit. Was exhausted the whole time, took advantage of the built-in grandparents childcare, took lots of naps, found that sitting up for an hour or two made me tired. Also threw up in the shower once while brushing teeth. Was puzzled because I was nowhere near this exhausted with first pregnancy, but chalked it up to pregnancy + travel + toddler care. Was sure Mom and Dad had guessed I was pregnant.
3/9 - back home, first ultrasound. Doctor asked how I was feeling. Complained of mind-numbing fatigue and worse nausea than I had experienced with first pregnancy. He said "well yeah, I'd expect you to be twice as tired and twice as sick because you're twice as pregnant." Thunk.
So, twins. Two little white beans on the ultrasound for me to see.
Each black blob is an embryonic sac. Each little white bean inside is a growing baby.
This and subsequent ultrasounds have helped determine that these twins are "di-di", that is, they do not share a sac or a placenta. This is good news, as it is the type of twins that are least likely to have medical problems later on in the pregnancy. It also means that they are fraternal. There is a 50% chance that they are boy-girl, 25% chance both girls, 25% chance both boys.
The last six weeks have been a haze of fatigue and stomachaches. I have never experienced anything like it before, though it reminds me of my best friend from high school describing her weakness while recovering from mono. Eighteen hours a day in bed sometimes. Appetite hit or miss. Waking up every hour or two at night, spending 45-60 minutes trying to get back to sleep. It's been a real drag, but it's starting to improve. Some days I actually have the energy to do TWO things (bring toddler to the park AND go grocery shopping) in a day, though it usually knocks me out to the point where I spend a few hours in bed at dinnertime. My child has had her brain turned to mush by too many Elmo videos and she and I are both getting by on triscuits and cheddar cheese and grapes, sometimes more than once a day.
Husband has been complaining that I haven't been very excited about this pregnancy, but honestly, I'm thrilled. I just didn't have the extra energy to be cheery.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Here again
Almost a year since my last post, and we are still in the same place. Well, we're not pregnant. After mucking around with a year of progesterone supplements and four IUIs (interuterine insemination) I was referred to a fertility clinic where I started feeling that right away I was in more directed hands.
In the last four weeks, I have had three ultrasounds, two stronger doses of Clomid, one (unsuccessful) IUI, and shelled out thousands of dollars for this expert care. COBRA should kick in soon so we can start getting reimbursed, but geez! I haven't been without medical insurance since that year after I graduated college, and it's expensive all right.
The initial consultation with the doctor was encouraging - my Day 2 ultrasound showed that I had 18 follicles being produced, which is apparently above-average for my age (37). This means that the problem is not that I'm running out of eggs. The problem is pretty clearly that I have a very short luteal phase without pharmaceutical help, too short to allow a fertilized egg to get where it needs to go and burrow in to make a home. One extremely helpful thing the doctor said is that there are lots of ways to manipulate the cycle, but the one thing they can't fix is low eggs, which is not my problem. She said she doesn't see any reason why I can't have two more kids (one at a time).
The new treatment plan is to treat this luteal phase defect on the front end of the cycle rather than supplementing with progesterone after ovulation. She doubled the amount of Clomid I was taking. An ultrasound mid-cycle revealed that I had four or five follicles still developing. When the two largest reached maturity, I gave myself an injection of Ovidrel to trigger ovulation, and we did an IUI. It didn't work this time, as I found out on 12/25 (Merry Christmas to you! You're not getting that one thing you really wanted for Christmas.)
So now I am in round 2. I had an ultrasound to check follicle size a few days ago, I take an Ovidrel shot tonight, and we have our IUI scheduled on Saturday.
In other news, Mini-Me #1 is doing just great, talks up a storm, looks like my father around the eyes, and transitioned into a Big Girl Bed last month. We are investigating preschools to start in the fall.
In other news with me, I finally committed to losing the baby weight, and lost 15 pounds in two months this spring. I am wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes again. I continue to climb every week and I am now climbing 11As and attempting 11Bs.
In the last four weeks, I have had three ultrasounds, two stronger doses of Clomid, one (unsuccessful) IUI, and shelled out thousands of dollars for this expert care. COBRA should kick in soon so we can start getting reimbursed, but geez! I haven't been without medical insurance since that year after I graduated college, and it's expensive all right.
The initial consultation with the doctor was encouraging - my Day 2 ultrasound showed that I had 18 follicles being produced, which is apparently above-average for my age (37). This means that the problem is not that I'm running out of eggs. The problem is pretty clearly that I have a very short luteal phase without pharmaceutical help, too short to allow a fertilized egg to get where it needs to go and burrow in to make a home. One extremely helpful thing the doctor said is that there are lots of ways to manipulate the cycle, but the one thing they can't fix is low eggs, which is not my problem. She said she doesn't see any reason why I can't have two more kids (one at a time).
The new treatment plan is to treat this luteal phase defect on the front end of the cycle rather than supplementing with progesterone after ovulation. She doubled the amount of Clomid I was taking. An ultrasound mid-cycle revealed that I had four or five follicles still developing. When the two largest reached maturity, I gave myself an injection of Ovidrel to trigger ovulation, and we did an IUI. It didn't work this time, as I found out on 12/25 (Merry Christmas to you! You're not getting that one thing you really wanted for Christmas.)
So now I am in round 2. I had an ultrasound to check follicle size a few days ago, I take an Ovidrel shot tonight, and we have our IUI scheduled on Saturday.
In other news, Mini-Me #1 is doing just great, talks up a storm, looks like my father around the eyes, and transitioned into a Big Girl Bed last month. We are investigating preschools to start in the fall.
In other news with me, I finally committed to losing the baby weight, and lost 15 pounds in two months this spring. I am wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes again. I continue to climb every week and I am now climbing 11As and attempting 11Bs.
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