9w0d.....No News is Good News

Well, I figured I better write since it's been awhile.  I haven't had much to report except the usual pregnancy complaints, and that's no fun for anyone to hear about.

Remember that list of foods?  Well, the food that is appealing to me has grown smaller and smaller by the day.  I'm down to hiding my fruits and veggies in my morning smootie, and protein is coming in the form of cottage cheese, Greek yogurt, and a tupperware full of cold rotisserie chicken that I nibble on all day. The best things in the world right now, though, are:

1) LEMONADE
2) GREEN APPLES
3) PICKLES
4) LEMON YOGURT

Do you see trend? Yes, all I want is sour and tart!  Anything sweet, sugary, warm, or creamy about sends me running for the toilet.  Our bodies are crazy...

In baby news, these nuggets are doing great!  (I'm calling them nuggets right now because that's what they looked like in the most recent ultrasound. Cute adorable little chicken nuggets.  See?

The both measured at 9w0d, and that day I was 8w3d, so measuring well!  It's also a good sign they are both measuring exactly the same size.  Tomorrow I go for my bloodwork, and next Friday I'll be back to see Dr. Thompson.

Not much else to report right now!  Sawyer told his teacher today that his mommy is having two babies but they are going to live in the snow.  Who knows what crazy things will come out of that kid's mouth before this is all over?  I love that he is having this experience though.  I want him to approach this world with the most open and loving heart any little boy can!

Off to teach piano! :)

7w1d....And the Ultrasound Says...

What do you get when you combine 2 high quality embryos, an early bout of morning sickness, and super high hcg levels? Yep, you guessed it......TWINS!

Two adorable sacs showed up on our ultrasound on March 5, along with 2 fetal poles both measuring 7w3d (by the calendar, I was 7w1d, so that measurement is spot on.)  Both had strong heartbeats right around 150 bpm, and everything right now is looking normal and healthy.

Everyone is super excited, but I think some of us are more surprised than others.  I felt almost sure it was twins once the "Yuck" started so early, but you just never know! I was most relieved it wasn't triplets!!

I am most excited about that fact that their parents can achieve their dream of two children without having to go through this whole process another time.  I know it's been quite an emotional rollercoaster up until this point, so to be able to put that chapter of their lives behind them would make me so happy!

I am most nervous about the complexities of a multiple pregnancy.  Until you have one, I think you kind of assume that it's just the same as a single, only a little bit more.  As I've been reading and researching, I've learned that there are really two major goals when carrying multiples:

1) carry them as long as possible
2) get them as big as you can before they are born

With these goals comes a whole different set of nutritional requirements, restrictions on activities and exertion, and a responsibility to learn the warning signs of problems BEFORE they become a problem.

With these nerves, however, comes a greater gratefulness that God has blessed me with this responsibility.  I know His Hand is over the lives of these two babies I carry inside me, and I trust that he will guide me, their parents, and the doctors to make wise and careful decisions throughout the pregnancy.  I have complete faith that He will soon deliver two healthy miracles into this world and create a brand new, beautiful family.

Never Ever Throw Up on Your Piano Students

Okay, don't worry. I didn't actually throw up on him.  But I almost did...I think.  Well, anyway, this wave of nausea came over me as my itty bitty Jaxon was laboring his way through "Old MacDonald Had a Song" and I just about lost it.  Luckily, the wave passed pretty quickly and I was fine, but it was a reminder that I really need to tell these parents! "Just so you know, I'm pregnant but it's not mine. Tell your kid."

I'm hoping everyone is okay with it.  I know it's not an easy conversation to have with this age of child (7-9) because they understand it but they just don't GET it.  Sawyer was easy as he doesn't know any different.  His biggest concern when we told him was how the baby was going to get home to Minnesota.  (Well, honestly he wasn't thrilled that he wasn't getting a brother out of the deal, but that passed pretty quick.)

Basically, they are going to have to explain it to their child or they just won't be able to take lessons with me any more.  Knowing my families, I really don't think that will happen, but you never know how people are going to react.  Surrogacy is becoming much more commonplace these days, but I don't think it's rolled into mainstream suburban San Antonio just quite yet.  In my eyes, it would be a great teachable moment on faith, trust, servanthood, people coming together to accomplish a goal, and the marvels of modern medicine. So let's just hope that's how it plays out.

In other news, I ate a HUGE pancake this morning at my favorite breakfast spot without an ounce of guilt.  One of the perks of pregnancy.

7 days until the ultrasound!  Can't wait to see who's in there!!

The Gag Test

Tonight Ryan and I resurrected an old game we used to play while I in my first trimester with E and S.  It's called The Gag Test. Here's how you play: 1) I close my eyes and think of a food that doesn't activate my gag reflex. 2) R goes to get that food.  Game over.

This game is pretty much reserved for weekends, as weeknights nobody has the time to deal with the fickle tastes of "The Yuck."  (Oh, I have renamed "Morning Sickness" "The Yuck" because it's not morning and I'm not sick.  I'm just "yuck".)  And tonight we kind of bent the rules because I had to choose between feeding and bathing my children and driving to get my food.  I chose the drive.

And tonight's winner of The Gag Test is...... Savannah Chopped Salad from McCallister's Deli!

 

I thought it would be fun to keep a running list of the "good" foods and "yuck" foods so see how they change in the coming weeks.  So here we go:

Food That Make Me Say "Yum"

• McCallister's Savannah Chopped Salad
• Subway (this tends to be one place that always sounds good when I'm pregnant.  I think the last time I ate there I was pregnant.)
• cold cuts of any kind
• the kids' macaroni and cheese (I NEVER eat this and probably never actually will do it)
• cold pasta salad
• broccoli/kale salad from Byerly's (been craving it)
• cold pea soup
• turkey hot dogs (also something I NEVER consume, but thinking about picking up a pack of the natural ones...)
• apples and most fruit in general
• popsicles
• cold tomato sauce

Food That Make Me Throw Up in My Mouth a Little Bit

• hot grains of any kind (quinoa, lentils, oatmeal, etc.)
• hot soup
• milk (still getting my calcium, mom!)
• chocolate and candy
• hummus
• carrots
• hot vegetables
• coffee 
• soda or anything carbonated

Okay, that's enough for now.  Better go eat my salad before it switches lists.

The REAL Two Week Wait

I am NOT by nature a patient person.  Nope, not at all. I enjoy immediate gratification just as much, and probably more, than your average person.  So when you tell me I have seriously high levels of hcg in my blood for only 11 days after the transfer, I immediately want to know how many little rascals are kicking around in there.  AND I want to know that whoever is in there is healthy and growing as they should.

Our answers will come in TWO WEEKS!

We've already been waiting 6 days from the last beta test, and now I have 14 more?!?!  I know if I'm jumping out of my skin, my IP's are probably even more eagerly crossing off days on the calendar, hoping for March 5 to get here as quickly as possible.

On the up side, that's the most I have to complain about right now.  I'm feeling good, although I think I'm starting to feel the inklings of some nausea coming on.  That's all a good sign that my levels are continuing to increase, though, so I'm kind of happy about not feeling fantastic. Also feeling a little more tired than usual, and after staring at me in the showing for about 5 minutes straight with a big grin on his face, R informed me that my body is "plumping" in certain husband-pleasing areas.

So right now things are rather uneventful, which is a good thing.  Although they aren't doing much right now, I really wish these little guys inside me could know how many people are cheering for them, praying for them, and waiting so, so patiently (or not so patiently) for them.

Fast Forward a Few Months....

Wow, it's sure been a long time since I posted, and SO much has happened. 

The months of October-December were rather uneventful, but in January the ball started rolling again. Meds arrived, pills were popped, shots were injected, patches were stuck, and then I hopped on a plane to the cold, cold Midwest. 

Three feet of snow welcomed me as I stepped out of the airport, and the sub-zero temps were NOT the highlight of my visit.  Seriously, it's crazy that people are expected to go outdoors in that weather.  If San Antonio ever saw anything remotely similar, our city would literally shut down for a good three months of the year.  Craziness...

Anyhow, on the morning of Sunday, February 2, we (well, the doctor) transferred two adorable blastocysts into my plumped and primed uterus.  The embryos were "beauties" according to the RE, and he gave us a 79% chance of a singleton, and 60% of twinkies.  (Somewhere in the "less than 1%" range there exists a chance of triplets or quads, but let's not even go there.) Last time, our odds were 50%.

Now all that science stuff is well and good, but after was when the REAL magic happened:

1) Pineapple.  I ate 1/5 of a pineapple every day for 5 days, including the core.  Some say the enzyme bromelain in the core causes the uterus to get "puffy" (a good thing).

2) Bill Cosby.  Watched an old stand-up routine about drunk people immediately following the transfer. Hospitals in Israel send a Medical Clown to women's rooms for 15 minutes post-transfer.  Studies have shown a 20% higher rate of pregnancy when the women were entertained immediately following IVF.

3) Miralax.  I won't elaborate.

I laid around for a few days up north, discovered the wonder of Byerly's, fell in love with a new soap and organic milk, decided Juan Pablo is kind of a sleeze-ball, and hung out with awesome IF and IM before returning to a 70 degree February day in San Antonio.

After a LONG "2 Week Wait" (actually 9dp5dt), I went in for my blood test on February 11 so they could measure my hcg levels.  Last time mine were a big fat ZERO.  This time.....562.

Repeated the test two days later and levels were at 1585.  YES, FOLKS, WE ARE PREGNANT!!**

**With a very special thank you to Bill Cosby, the makers of Miralax, and God (the maker of pineapple)

9dp5dt - Beta is a BFN

BFN in the TTC (trying to conceive) world stands for "Big Fat Negative".  I'm getting good with these acronyms.  Feels like a foreign language for awhile...

Anyhow, I went in early to the clinic today for a blood test.  After having to wait WAY to long for the results, we got the dreaded phone call from the doc that the pregnancy test was negative.

We are all disappointed and a little air was certainly let out of our balloons today.  Still, I think we are all looking ahead to the next step and the next cycle.  There is optimism that with a few changes, we'll have a much better chance next go-round.

Not much else to write about.  I'll probably take a break for a while until we get our next cycle going.  Hopefully soon!

7dp5dt - One Hot Hormonal Mess

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement...

Still, it doesn't help that my 3 year-old son (okay, almost 4) is currently on a plane on his way to Disneyland with his grandparents, taking his first trip away from us ever.  I know he is GREAT hands and is going to have a BLAST at the "Happiest Place on Earth", but right now it's reading more like "Best Place on Earth to get Lost or Kidnapped or Fall out of a Teacup".  Gigi, I know you will read this and don't worry, this is just the hormones talking. I know everyone will be just fine. :)

I seriously have been going through the day flip-flopping about every 10 minutes between "I know I'm pregnant!" and "I wonder how soon we can do the next cycle?"  I'm sure this is normal for everyone in the 2WW, but man it makes the day seem long!!  I'm sure it's way harder for my IPs.  I want soooo much for them for there to be a baby or two in there cooking right now.  They've been waiting long enough, darnit!

I guess all I can do is leave it in the Lord's hands and lay it all at His feet.  If this is His timing, EXCELLENT, but if it's not, then PLEASE Lord give their perfect child in Your Time...though we will all take sooner over later if that works with Your schedule...

6dp5dt - I want to POAS!!

For all you new to the IVF world, that means"six days post five-day transfer".  The embryos were five days old when they transferred them, and we are now six days past that.

POAS means "pee on a stick" aka HPT "home pregnancy test"

The waiting is so hard.  I'm trying not to read into "symptoms" as I really feel it is too early for that. I also don't want to take a home test as hcg levels are so unpredictable right now, that I could easily get a negative when we really ARE pregnant, or I could get a positive even if it's a chemical.  So I'm just going to be a good girl and wait for my beta Friday morning.  We will know Friday afternoon if the beta results were good.

Longest week ever!!

Bed Rest

Where do I start with bed rest? First of all, it was WAY better than I thought.  I was honestly a little nervous to be staying at the home of my IP's, especially when they had to be waiting on me hand and foot! As much as I feel that we have gotten to know them over the past year, I still had no idea what to expect staying at their home! So here is my top ten list of things I appreciated about my stay:

10) Aveda Shampure in the shower.  It made my hair smell good even the second day that I couldn't shower. Love that stuff.

9) IF paging IM during the day.  I am still laughing thinking about it.  (No one else will get this, that's okay....)

8) Full fat Greek yogurt.  I never realized how good that stuff is.  That splurge was totally worth it!

7) No judgement on my crazy cracker and Twizzler consumption. That what you get for asking "what else can we get you?"

6) Amazing salmon....my compliments to the chef and his fancy pan.

5) Not losing power in the stormy weather.

4) Belly laughs with IM about BET and other such nonsense.

3) No judgement about my smelly self after 48 hours without bathing. 

2) Not getting any of my show watched because IM was hanging out with me the whole time. So great!

1)  Knowing even more that God matched us with the perfect couple to go through this with. I feel so close to you both now, and I am so blessed!!

Oh, and I think I came up with a name for my IM.....

FIVE-POKE POLLY! (this story will go untold...)

:)