20 weeks!

If I were pregnant with just one baby, we'd be at the halfway point. Since we're having twins, I probably past that point a couple of weeks ago. I've gained about 26 lbs and about 12 inches around on my waist. I'd love to say all of the weight is in my mid section, but even my arms appear to be getting chubby. Oh well! Anything for the babies.

In any case, we had the rest of our anatomy scan on Friday @ 19w4d, and both babies look great. All of their organs look good, their limbs are measuring appropriately, Baby A is 11 oz and Baby B is 10 oz. Their amniotic fluid situation is perfect and I've still got a very long cervix, which is ideal.

Of course, there are a couple of things that we need to keep watch of. Baby A's placenta has not moved up yet. This should still happen as the uterus moves up, especially after 20 weeks. So until then I am on restricted activity. Baby B has an eccentric or marginal umbilical cord insertion. An eccentric insertion is nothing to be concerned about, but if it is marginal, that means it did not implant in the best possible place in the placenta. This hopefully won't cause any problems with growth discordancy, but we'll have to keep monitoring them for their growth to make sure. It's pretty common that one twin outgrows the other, but hopefully not by too much. It's also fairly common for a twin pregnancy to have a cord issue with one or both of the babies. Generally it's a problem at delivery, but since we know about it well in advance we can watch it. However, this is just another reason why I will most likely have a Cesarean delivery.

However, the peri is not too concerned and is keeping me on my regular monitoring schedule for now, so I won't be back there until nearly 24 weeks. Just hoping all goes smoothly until then (fingers crossed!)

Here are a few new belly shots from today:







Finally starting to look pregnant and not just like I had a big lunch!

Not much to update

I've been working from home, since I've now had 3 doctors tell me to take some time off and relax. TMI ahead - The good news is I haven't even had a hint of spotting or irregular coloured urine in 8 days!! That, coupled with my scan on Tuesday that revealed my cervix was 4.41, which my OB said "couldn't be any longer", and she saw no signs of PTL. So, my new job is just to relax and keep the girls cooking. I am 18w5d today, so 19w on Monday. Our complete level II sono is this Friday at the peri's. I am a tad nervous but everything has looked so good on our partial scan and through all the first and second trimester screening tests that I am mostly excited to see the babes again and all of their cute little organs and parts.

Other than that, we have friends coming over to visit from the city tomorrow. And, I will attempt to go into work just for Monday only IF I am feeling up to it. My cute hubs will drive me to/from, and hopefully I will remain seated for most of the day. I'm sort of craving human interaction! It's definitely been lacking and limited.

We started to get some baby items, a double stroller and car seats that click in. We were going to go with Peg Perego, but the safety ratings on the Graco seemed so much better, so we decided to go with that. And, it was so much less expensive. I still don't want to get too much just yet.

That's pretty much it. Oh, and it's snowing like crazy here! A nice excuse to stay inside anyway.

It's been a really long time

Sorry everyone, but with the holidays and first trimester sickness, and with just how busy I've been at work, it's been hard to update the blog. I have, however, been reading all of your blogs, yet only commenting for those who need some support and are going through rough situations. I think of you often, and wish you all the best.

As for my updates (warning: pregnancy related), here they are:

- I am 17w3d today
- The NT scan went great, and our risk for down's is 1/2700. This is substantially lower than my age group, so we are happy.
- I've gained about 16 pounds, so pretty much on target for what my peri is looking for.
- The partial anatomy scan showed no issues except Twin A has a low lying placenta (but not a previa). The peri expects this will resolve itself as the pregnancy moves along, but I have been put on pelvic rest - no sex or working out. Fine with me!
- I did have an incident on Tuesday where I had a couple of spots of blood drip out when urinating. However, that was it, and I got an emergency u/s which showed the twins were just fine, and my cervix was still very long. OB thinks it is because I have this violent cough which acts up at night, and prescribed me tylenol with codeine, which she said was ok to take at this point. I have also begun to work from home. The 2 hour commute each way is too much for my body to handle I think. The OB was pretty clear that I need to be more careful and slow down.

Evidently I woke up this morning from a sex dream. When I went to the loo, my urine was slightly darker as if it could be tinged with blood, but then that stopped right away. I think the combination of my coughing fit last night coupled with the possible orgasm in my dream triggered some slight possible spotting. So unfair! It's not even my fault if I O in a dream! Anyway, I checked the heartbeats with my doppler, and they were both fine. Stressful!

Oh yeah, and the twins are 2 girls! Dizygotic (fraternal) of course. We are thrilled!

Here are a couple belly shots for y'all:

Sono Pics

I realized that I hadn't posted any ultrasound photos since the first one at 6w1d. Here are Baby A and Baby B (I really have to come up with better names) at 11w2d:

Update on NT

We couldn't do it today, because my uterus is tilted pretty far back and it needs to be done with the above the belly u/s, not the vaginal one. She tried but also said we should probably wait till 12-14 weeks anyway. For Baby A she was able to get a bit of a look at the neck and said it looked quite thin that she couldn't even take a measure, so that was a good sign. Other than that, Baby A is on target and Baby B is a day ahead. Everything else was normal. We also couldn't hear the h/b with the doppler because of the same uterus issues. Oh well! I will go back on New Year's Eve for another try at the NT test. I will be exactly 13w. I guess that will be a pretty significant day!

NT Test Today - 11w2d

Thanks to the supportive ladies who posted. I guess my nausea abated for awhile, and then started coming back with a vengeance. I can hold more food down know, which is great because when I met with the peri on Monday she told me I should be gaining 45 lbs in this pregnancy, and it should equate to a pound a week in the 1st and 2nd trimesters. So far I have gained about 5. So, not there yet, but at least I am not losing weight anymore.

The babies are looking great, getting bigger and really quite active! They were kicking and flailing their little arms and bouncing up and down on Monday's sonogram. We were exactly 11 weeks, and she said everything looks just the way they want it to look at this point. My cervix is in good condition and long enough, but I need to get it checked every 1-2 weeks apparently. She also reviewed the laundry list of what makes twins high risk, and it sort of freaked me and DH out. But I guess they have to tell you everything up front. I think I am going to be at the doctors at least every 2 weeks, if not more often. I am trying to figure out what to do about work. I was recently promoted to a management position, and I am worried about my sudden absences. DH and I agreed that we would do whatever it takes to have these babies, and I don't want to sacrifice their health or well being at all, but I can't help but have some nagging concerns about work.

Anyway, the NT test is today, so we'll find out the downs syndrome risk. I would be more nervous if we hadn't had an u/s just 2 days ago. However I guess I have no idea of what the outcome would be at this point of the NT test, so I am just praying everything looks normal with my little munchkins.

As for the belly update, I am still not getting any larger in the stomach, except for the nighttime bloating. I guess I will "pop" when the time is right.

Update...

Nothing really new to report, I haven't had an u/s in 11 days (!!) so I have NO idea what is going on in there. I was really sick last week, vomiting nearly every day after dinner. I think I figured out that greasy food really sets me off (cheesy/oily, like baked ziti, pizza, grilled cheese and fries - I puked after all of those meals.) However ever since Sunday, the 10w mark, I have been feeling alot better. My appetite is not normal, but I can tolerate the thought of more food, and I have not thrown up once. My nausea is very minimal indeed. At first this worried me, but I then read up on how HCG levels peak at 9-10w and decline, so perhaps that is why. Maybe my body is used to the levels finally! I also had my progesterone checked at 9w and it was 49, so I have spent a week tapering off the PIO shots and the Estrogen tablets and patches. One more week and I will be completely done.

I see the MFM doctor on 12/17, but I don't think it is for an u/s. However my NT test is on 12/19 and I have an appt with the OB after.

Lastly, my belly is sort of bloated, but I don't think this counts as showing. I have been keeping a measure on my waist around my belly button. It is around 31-32 in the morning and 34 in the evening, which leads me to believe there is definite bloating going on. It is normally 26, so I am definitely putting on some wideness. I'd love to just "pop" so I can feel confident in this. I know my RE said after having so many good u/s that my odds of having a m/c drop to 5% or less for each baby, so that helps, but I am still nervous. Should I be wishing for my nausea back or just be glad it is finally tapering off? I don't know.