showing and snoogles

So, you read all of this stuff in twin books or in pregnancy books saying “Oh, if you have twins, you’re going to start showing really early! It will be crazy how early you’ll show! Like, you’ll start showing SO early that everyone will KNOW you are having twins just by looking at you!”

Well, I’m pretty sure I’m not showing yet. I have a feeling this is pretty much due to the fact that I was already carrying extra weight when I got pregnant, so, I can’t see if I’m getting any belly yet. It’s kind of a bummer, because I’m really getting ready to start looking more pregnant; though I know I shouldn’t be in a hurry, since I’m having twins and will most likely be ginormous by the end. But, I guess I just was hoping with the whole twin thing that I’d be popping out by now. I know, patience, patience. I’ll show eventually of course, and will probably be longing for the day when I wasn’t huge.

However, SOMEthing is happening in the belly region, b/c I’m already having trouble finding a comfy position to sleep in. I am a stomach sleeper, and try as I might to fall asleep on my left side (best, healthiest way to sleep for babies; good blood flow or something) I always wake up on my stomach. Which is my comfiest way to sleep. However, lately it is starting to make my back hurt a bit, which is making me think maybe my tummy is getting in the way even though it’s not really popping out that I can see. I bought a pregnancy sleep pillow and so far, I can’t really fall asleep using it. This is the one I got. The lady in the picture looks SO happy to have her snoogle!
The name makes me laugh. I can lay in it and watch TV, but falling asleep is harder. I actually did fall asleep last night, but woke up on my back, which I never do. Also, starting in the 2nd trimester, you’re not supposed to sleep on your back, so I can’t keep doing that. It’s pretty much just supposed to be side sleeping. Anyway, I will keep working on ways to be comfy while I sleep, which I know will only get more challenging the more my little ones grow.

Speaking of growing, this week they are the size of large plums. So I’ve got two of these growing in mah belly. Crazy! I love my little plums! Can't wait to see which fruit they are next week! :)

~M

*photo found here

holidays, heartbeats, movement and limbs!

So, first off; I apologize for the long hiatus. I could say “oh, yes, busy with holiday travel, shopping, caroling, wassailing, etc. and all of that” but, I’d be lying. See, since I’m all pregnant, my doctor said I should forego flying this holiday season, so we stayed home. And though we made a few treks out for movies and short little trips, we were generally quite lazy. It was lovely, actually. Lots of sleeping in, and relaxing and just cozying up on the couch. We had a blizzard here in NY the day after Christmas, so that made things even quieter. So, I have no good reason for not blogging this last 10 days or so. I just was feeling lazy and not wanting to do much of anything! :)

Anyway! So, on Monday we had what is called the Nuchal Translucency test. It apparently is a standard test in which they measure the back of the babies’ necks. Here’s how it’s defined:

This prenatal test (also called the NT or nuchal fold scan) can help your health care practitioner assess your baby's risk of having Down syndrome (DS) and some other chromosomal abnormalities as well as major congenital heart problems.

The NT test uses ultrasound to measure the clear (translucent) space in the tissue at the back of your developing baby's neck. Babies with abnormalities tend to accumulate more fluid at the back of their neck during the first trimester, causing this clear space to be larger than average.

So, that’s the deal with the test. They also took some blood and will combine the results for a “combined screening”. The doctor said that everything looked normal though, so that is good news. We’ll know a bit more when we get the blood results back, but so far all is normal! This was a huge relief.

Another great thing about this ultrasound was that we got to hear both babies’ heartbeats! They are both in the normal range (I believe both were around 165-170 bpm). It was super cool to hear their little hearts. Then we got really good looks at both of them, and we saw their arms and legs! And unlike at my last ultrasound, when they looked like little nubs, they look like regular arms and legs now! One of the babies even did a little dance move looking thing; it was really cool.

I go in next week for a regular check up with my OB. I think it will just be standard; blood pressure, weight, short ultrasound, just a general checking in. This week’s ultrasound was done at the hospital where I'll be delivering (Mount Sinai) since they have the super fancy machines there. I’ll have another ultrasound there in 5 weeks. It’s called the anatomy scan, and it’s POSSIBLE I could know the sexes of the babies then. Though, I’ve heard too many stories about how sometimes the babies won’t cooperate and show their stuff, so I’m not getting my hopes up. I hadn’t planned on knowing until about 20 weeks, so if I know earlier, that’d be great- but if not, no big deal. I honestly just want them to be healthy. I know people say that all the time, but it’s honestly all I care about. :)

I’d post pictures of the ultrasound, but the pictures aren’t that great. I’m sure I’ll get better ones at my next ultrasound. The images were pretty clear on the screen, but once she did a screen capture and printed them off; it wasn’t as clear. Probably would be less clear once I scanned them, or took a picture of them. So, you'll just have to trust me; it was really cool.

I think I’m starting to really believe that things are going to be ok this time. I think there will always be that element of fear that something will go wrong. But as the days go by, I feel more and more confident. I mean, I’m less than two weeks away from my the start of my 2nd trimester!! That’s very exciting.

I promise to be much better about updates from now on. Now that I’m no longer hiding a big secret, or celebrating holidays, I’ll update like crazy! : )

Hope you all had a healthy, safe, happy holiday!

~M

oh, and one more little thing….

So, I must confess a little something to all of you. I have not been entirely truthful with you about one tiny detail with this pregnancy. You see, with what happened last time, we even debated telling ANYone about anything with this pregnancy, because it was so painful to lose the last one. But then we realized that we loved the support we had from family and friends, and also, the interwebs. So, we told you!

If you’ll remember correctly, my first ultrasound was “inconclusive”. This was scary, even though I read everywhere that since we had one so early (at like 5 weeks) it was most likely too early to see much of anything. So, I felt a LITTLE better, but you know, still worried. Then I wrote this post updating you and letting you know the doctor hadn’t expected to see a fetal pole, so the inconclusiveness was expected.

But there was more to that conversation on November 15th, that I left out. It went a little something like this:

ME- Hello?

NURSE- Hi, Mariah, this is so-and-so from Dr. David’s office. I’m calling to talk to you about your ultrasound Friday.

ME- Oh ok. (feeling all gloom-and-doom, because WOE is me! There was no fetal pole. This is probably a call with horrible news.)

NURSE- So, were you surprised?

ME- UM… I don’t know if surprised is the right word. More like worried, concerned, scared…

NURSE- Well, we told you this was a possibility! (Still thinking she was talking about the inconclusive no fetal pole stuff…)

ME- Um, no you didn’t. I never knew that it was a possibility.

NURSE- I don’t think we’re talking about the same thing….

ME- ……..

NURSE- The ultrasound tech saw two sacs. You’re having twins!

ME- ……..

………. WHAT?

NURSE- yep! It’s still very early, so don’t get too excited, but she saw two sacs! You’ll have to get another ultrasound in one week to confirm it.

**End scene.**

So… yep! Twins! We had another ultrasound the day before thanksgiving, and there they both were! Measuring normal and TWO heartbeats! We are excited, but we must admit that we go back and forth between- “YAY! Two babies!” and “HOLY CRAP! Two babies!”

So, sorry for the delay in telling everyone, but we just weren’t ready yet. But, we’re getting very excited! I just had an ultrasound on Tuesday, and they’re measuring at 9 weeks 2 days and 9 weeks 4 days. Their heartbeats were 171 each, and I saw little arms!! They still kinda look like gummy bears, but they are getting pretty big (I mean, relative to when they were as big as a poppyseed). They are now each the size of prunes, and about 1-1.5 inches long. :) Grow, babies, grow!

And, that’s our news, y’all! There are TWO baby Frasers on the way! Craziness!!

~M

olive you.

When I clicked on my “what to expect when you’re expecting” app today on my iphone, I saw the following:

“The baby is as big as a green olive (1 in long)”

An olive! :) Very exciting. The furthest along we got last time was to a raspberry, so this is good news. I’m in my 8th week, and I just CAN NOT wait until January when my 2nd trimester starts. I know that I won’t be all the way out of the woods yet, but it will bring a bit more security.

For now, I’m enjoying that we’ve reached the olive stage!

~M

*photo found here

happy holida..zzzzzzzzzzzzz

Hoo boy. I’m tired. More tired than I’ve ever been like, EVER. I just want to be sleeping always. Always in jammies and always cozied up under my down comforter. This, however, is sadly not a possibility. So, today I sit here, day dreaming of my bed and how I’ll get to be in it in about 11 hours. Harumph. That’s not soon enough.

Everyone talks about the fatigue of pregnancy, and intellectually, I knew it was coming. But this is the most tired I’ve ever been, so I don’t think I was quite expecting this. Yesterday we attempted Christmas shopping and it was REALLY hard. Well, first off, Christmas shopping is always stressful. But yesterday, it was just physically hard to focus or care very much. Gotta snap out of that though; since we’re mailing most of our gifts home, we have to be done shopping by this weekend at the latest! So, I will soldier on, and continue to dream about my fluffy, cozy bed.

My mom is visiting me starting next weekend! She’ll be here on the 11th, and I’m quite excited. :) She’s going to come to an ultrasound with me, so that will be fun! Since I don’t get to visit her on Christmas, I’m pretty darn happy I get to see her beforehand. It’s her birthday on the 10th too, so I’m happy I get to sort of spend her birthday with her. :)

Today in New York we’re getting the tiniest little snowflakes. Nothing is sticking as it’s really hardly snowing, but it sure is beginning to feel a lot like winter!

Have a lovely day.

~M

a regular ol' update

Well, the ultrasound was a success! It wasn’t as exciting as the last ultrasound, only b/c it was with my regular OBGYN, and my other ultrasound was with an ultrasound tech who spends a lot more time showing you what’s happening in there. But, since I just had an ultrasound a little over a week ago, I was happy with the quick look. Everything is measuring on schedule and I saw plenty of heartbeating. :)

Usually at 7 weeks (almost 8), if you start with a reproductive endocrinologist (Dr. David) you aren’t seeing your regular OB until like week 9 or 10. But, I had to go see her for a separate issue, and therefore had to tell her I was pregnant. SO, I’m currently seeing two doctors, which is just fine with me, because at least for the next couple of weeks, I get to have extra ultrasounds. :) And since I’m constantly worrying that something is wrong in there, it’s nice to have that reassurance.

I have to go in and meet with my hematologist again about my Factor V clotting thing, to make sure that my dosage of Lovenox (blood thinner) is high enough. I’ve been giving myself injections again since I found out I was pregnant, and my stomach is back to looking like someone punched me all over with tiny fists. It’s real purty. Oh well; it’s for a good cause. :)

My nausea is a lot better, though this morning a guy was sitting next to me on the subway eating some sort of hot turkey and egg sandwich and I almost had to get off the train. It smelled SO bad. I think it wouldn’t have been pleasant even if I wasn’t pregnant, but MAN. I had to breathe through my mouth until he finished his gross breakfast. He also chewed with his mouth open and smacked his lips which didn’t help.

I realize I’ve been slacking a bit on updating lately, but it seems as though there aren’t as many things to update recently! I’m going to make an effort to post at least 5 times a week again though, like I was doing at first. I think most of it is; I’m really trying not to get too ahead of myself. It’s really hard, because I’m excited, but I’m quite aware that something could still go wrong. I’m hoping and praying that it won’t, but you never know. So, I hold myself back from looking at strollers, and cribs and reading too many books, because well; you just never know. I’m thinking positively though, just trying to protect myself a bit.

Have a lovely weekend, all! We had company all last week, so this weekend I plan on doing laundry, and a lot of lounging. :)

~M