10 Weeks and another Ultrasound update

Okay I should preface that this post really dates back to last Friday. But because I basically sleep half a day and work the other half I've yet to find the time to post for some reason.

So last Friday I was exactly 10 weeks and I had called my ob/gyn to make an appt. in 2 weeks just like my RE suggested. Well the receptionist insisted I come in the same week Friday to see her because I was already 9 plus weeks. Didn't matter if I had just had an ultrasound on Tues. Again, apparently the way to have more ultrasounds is to not want to have them. I suppose it's the "playing hard to get method" if you will.

To make a long story short I went in and my ob/gyn did the full check up with pap and all, which was a nice reassurance. Both nuggets were still measuring right on target...well maybe a little better than her estimate. She set my due date at April 18th and the nuggets at 9 weeks 6 days. But on my ultrasound pics it measures them as 10 weeks 1 day and 10 weeks 2 days. So I guess overacheiving is always better in this case. Both were moving around so much that she was having a hard time grabbing ones heart beat, but eventually I heard both for the very first time and was instantly brought to tears. It was also the first time I had a tummy ultrasound. When she didn't take out the probe I was thinking...wow you are a confident woman. But she was right and we saw them perfectly.

It was a rather lengthy visit (especially for her who is usually so busy) since I had to update her on all my other losses, medications and such. We talked about genetic testing and I have decided to do the non-invasive testing first since she highly recommends not doing CVS with twins. She says she lost a pair of twins with that test before. So it looks like I'll be doing the scan and then if necessary and amnio. I've been dreading this portion of the pregnancy forever but apparently it's now time. My RE mentioned that new studies show that it's actually more women in their 40's have issues with genetics than women around 35. So let's hope they are right. If I've gone this far with all of this nonsense and there are genetic issues, I don't know what I'd do.

She also had me continue my progesterone (damn) for another week. And so this friday is my graduating day (yet again). I feel like the kid that can't ever seem to get enough credits in college to graduate.

As for symptoms my morning sickness has increased a touch (especially over the weekend) but today (after a major almost losing my cookies incident) I've felt pretty good and was even able to down a salad this evening, which of course scares the crap out of me since "they" meaning the nuggets never let me eat salad. They aren't big veggie eaters yet and I've had to sneak them in here and there and even gag on a few.

On the topic of the white blood cell count, the saga still continues...although so far the score is 2 and 0. Both my RE and my Ob have said that high white blood cell count is common among pregnant women and that these tests mean nothing right now. I still have an appt. with my GP next week to see what her opinion is. I figure it can't hurt even though mr. sushinut feels it's over kill. At this point I'll take whatever blood tests and other tests are necessary to continue to grow the sushi nuggets successfully.

So that's it for now. Hopefully I'll find the energy to post more often...
Hope all is well with everyone else!

9 Weeks 4 Days - Ultrasound Update

Has it really been that long since I posted? I guess so... I honestly would have sooner but I think I relaxed a bit too much on vacation and don't seem to have enough energy to even post on my blog!

I do want to thank everyone who posted advice on the the altitude information I requested, it seriously was a great help.

So in order to move everything along I think I'll just recap in bullet points what's happened since my last post.

Here goes:

• All ready to go on vacation and on the last Friday of work I slipped and fell (on basically nothing - I guess that balance thing about pregnant women is right) on my way back from lunch. I didn't feel like I really fell hard and caught myself with my hand rather than landing on my stomach, but felt like I sort of stretched out my abdomen a little (or maybe that's the lack of exercise I was feeling the burn from). Picture an emergency downward dog yoga position if you will. Carefully checked to see if there was any spotting or cramping all afternoon long...none. Fast forward to 3a that night...light red period like bleeding (again) and blood clots (again!). Was it the fall? Or coincidence? Called the RE and luckily he was in on Saturday (I guess there were a lot of emergencies that day). Told me to come in for a quick ultrasound. I can now be referred to as the woman who cried blood clot. And apologized to the dr. for doing so. He said it's completely understandable. Ultrasound still showed two heart beats plus the lovely blood clot. Diagnosis was that the fall jostled something (like the clot) and that's why I bled. Immediately stopped bleeding by that morning but was told to again limit my physical activity. Luckily I was leaving for vacation the next morning.


• Left for my 5-6 hour drive on our trip to the mountains. My role in the trip? Stopping at every bathroom location for a pee break and to stretch my legs and reading aloud each posting of the elevation. I now know exactly what elevation each city is from my home and about 300 miles north of me. Interesting material...never really bothered to notice before. By the way the town we passed through and ate dinner at a few times was about 7,500 ft. and the town we stayed at was about 7,600 ft. Although I felt we were going downhill a lot when getting to the resort so I would estimate the exact resort elevation was probably around 7,500 ft. Which by the way is exactly where I stayed practically the whole 5 days.


• My vacation consisted of feeling nauseous, sucking on ginger drops, eating tiny meals and sleeping...repeat. Oh except for the day that I went and got a pregnancy massage, which I highly recommend to all. Oh and a couple of times I went to watch mr. sushinut do things like kayaking and fishing but only in between nap times. It was pure bliss to say the least. I never really felt out of breath (after all napping is certainly not an out of breath sport) but was careful to watch that the altitude wasn't affecting me. Which it seemed not to.


• Came home and vegged some more. Obviously since my suitcase is STILL not unpacked. More nausea with some added acid reflux type of sensations once in a while...still no vomiting.


• Yesterday - had 9 week ultrasound appt. God I hate these. I'm probably the only woman on earth that does. I get so nervous I get more nauseous than I already feel (if that's possible). Again, making sure the tissues are in the pocket...dark sunglasses in purse. Ultra sound showed two heartbeats still and slight movement in both. And one even waved at us with it's little paw! It was awesome. We talked a bit about genetic testing (another post to be written) and talked about handing me off to my obgyn. I am to call for an appt. with her in two weeks. If she's not available I'm to see my RE again, until I can see her. My dr. gave me a hug and everyone told me to keep them updated. I felt a mixture of happiness and sadness. Oh and only a couple of days more to go of the progesterone! Yay!


• Immediately when I got back from my appt. I get a call from my rheumatologist who noted before I left on vacation that my white blood cell count was high and asked if I had a urinary tract infection. At that point I thought I did and was on antibiotics (for the second time) but later found out that for the second time my results came back negative. I took the white blood cell count test again when I came back from vacation and yesterday morning they called to tell me it's still elevated at 15.3 (normal is 3-10). So my happiness was short lived with my ultrasound and I'm now freaking out about this. Dr. google says this can be usual or something suspect with an infection. But each time they've tested for an urinary tract infection it comes back negative! My fear is of course that it's something terrible but I read that often times this is usual with pregnant women. My plan is to call my RE this morning for his input and then call my GP as suggested by my rheumatologist to give me some additional tests. If anyone has had any experience with this issue I'd love to know about...

Again...it wouldn't be my blog...if there weren't enough drama going around. Sigh.

Hope all is well with everyone.

7 Weeks 4 Days Ultrasound update

The sushi nuggets grow a bit more. Still 2 heart beats. Both measuring on target.

My symptoms of nausea have returned but no actual tossing of cookies just yet. Just the irritating feeling of being hungry every second of the day but feeling if I eat something I'll hurl. Fun times. Can't wait to see what this is like on vacation with altitude. Still clocking in about 10 hours of sleep a day otherwise I crash and burn. For the time being, the spotting has stopped. The doctor thinks it was reducing the progesterone.

Speaking of altitude. The doctor was asking how high altitude was the area I was planning to visit. It's about 7,500 ft. Now I don't plan to ski or hike or do any of the very brave things I hear the rest of you doing sometimes. I plan on sitting around the lake or in my very comfortable cabin porch and read and relax. But has anyone had any issues with altitude on their trips during the first trimester? I've read everything from it can cause prematurity to it's nothing as long as you don't go over 8,000 feet. I live in a low altitude or sea level area. So this will be somewhat a change for me. Any thoughts are welcomed. My doctor seemed to cautiously say I should be okay. I will not be flying...just driving up there.

7 Weeks

Or at least I'm assuming I'm still 7 weeks.

Afterall, It has been since Tuesday that I've heard heartbeats. But you never know with me.
I'm trying to be super positive and think positive thoughts. Mr. Sushinut says to keep thinking positive, but it's so hard.

Spotting is still happening bottom line. Nothing like that horrific day this week with the red blood and clots etc. but back to little or no spotting light to dark brown.

I try to look up stuff on dr. google but I hear everything from yes I spotted with twins to spotting with twins usually means you are going to lose one. Not to mention I've read all the complications with twins and it's freaking me out even more.

Nausea: Nausea has dwindled a bit (which again scares the crap out of me - isn't it supposed to be getting worse?) but then again I'm not sure if it's because I finally broke down and bought some saltines and preggy pops (by the way those things are fabulous) or is it because it's really lessened? Don't get me wrong I can't eat like a normally would, I still have to eat small meals and some foods tend to make me feel nauseous but I can tell it's easier for me to eat a little something for dinner now than before. But most of the time if I had to I could easily go without food. Does that count as morning sickness? I feel like an idiot hoping that I'll toss my cookies considering I've always hated throwing up and would do anything not to (even with a hangover). Maybe I'm psychologically fighting it? I occasionally get some acid reflux but that's all I've been able to cough up. Literally.

Breast tenderness: Still feel the same in this area. Again not sure if it's the progesterone.

Fatigue: This has been the only thing consistent and I've only increased my sleep to now averaging 10 hours a night and that's even with "taking it easy" this week by working from home half days as the doctor requested.

Ligament Pains: come and go and I'll usually have one when I least expect it.

That's pretty much all I can think of. My plans for the weekend? Not too exciting...just taking it easy and waiting for the next appointment on Tuesday morning.

Hang in there sushi nuggets!

6 Weeks 4 Days - And an Emergency Trip to the RE

Does the drama ever end?

So last night I had continued to spot, which was rare for me because I've been spotting just a touch here and there during the day (just on my pantyliner, never when I wipe) and never during the night when I sleep. Until last night. It kept increasing and becoming more and more rust color (aka obviously fresh blood coming in). I tried to keep it together in the morning until I went to the bathroom and to my horror was wiping deep read huge (like a teaspoon full in total) blood clots. Hello I'm no amateur at this .... I know blood clots = bad...very very bad.

So freaking out I decide I'm calling in sick and waited anxiously for 8:30a to roll around so that I can call the RE. Finally I'm on the phone and I explain the whole situation. And the following conversation ensues:

Nurse: "Bleeding is very very common with twins".

Me: "there were clots, is it common with clots?" I don't think so lady, I'm no newbie in the miscarrying dept.

Nurse: "Well yes even clots...sometimes". Ah yes doubting yourself are you?

Me: "They were big. And a lot."

Nurse: "Okay well maybe you should come in"

YOU THINK?

So I haul butt to the RE and wait for my ultrasound with dr. backup. I explain the whole situation again (while the tears are coming) to him and the nurse. He asks if I've been cramping at all and I say no, not at all. He tells me how it's common to bleed with twins because there's not a lot of room in there to begin with. For the love of god after passing the clots this morning there should be much more room now! And in goes the wand.

He goes through the areas very slowly and I pray that I at least have one left. Please just let me have at least one if I can't have both. And we see the first heart beat. Now measuring exactly 6.4 weeks with a heart beat of around 130 - 140 he says. I'm stunned...but there is is still the other twin.

But I say, I had twins.

And he says, and you still do.

And miraculously he finds the second one (the shy one) in the back with also a heart beat and the same measurements.

WHAT?!!! What about the clots though I ask???? They were huge!

He slowly goes over the complete area and finds a third area. Not a sac with a yolk. But some area that he thinks might be a ... blood clot? Or I ask if it's possible it was a 3rd that might have not made it to even the beginning stages. He was the one that said that I probably would ovulate about 3 eggs. He said possibly, and measured the area and said they would watch it to make sure it does not increase. But he said for now it's not hindering the growth of the two pregnancies.

We discussed how ironically my bleeding increased when I cut my progesterone down and he has me back up on the 400 vaginally a day. And that I should take it easy. He asked if I could take a week off but that's not really possible with my job so he wrote me a note to take half days. This should be interesting since no one at work, least of all my boss knows I'm pregnant. And with my rap sheet why would I want to tell them? Please 6 weeks along? You've got to be kidding...this could end up a million different ways at this point.

I was sent on my way and my next ultra sound is now in a week next Tuesday. And I've been watching House Hunters and the Baby Story all day long to pass the time in between getting some ice cream. I figured the babies should be rewarded in some way for having heart beats at least! Ironically enough the bleeding has subsided and knock on wood there have been no additional clots passed and I'm back down to just a touch of dried dark brown blood occasionally. Let's hope this is the end of this escapade.

And that's how my Tuesday has been. Does the drama ever stop I ask? Does it ever stop?

6 Weeks 2 Days - Ultra Sound Details

And so there they are. It was difficult to get a picture of both of them in a clear manner because one is sort of hiding behind the other. Or at least in a lower part of my uterus. The one on the right dr. frozen embryo calls the shy one. Not because it was any smaller or a less stronger heart beat. Both I were told measuring exactly the same. But the one on the right is sort of located in the back. Both pretty much look like just a mere sushi blip on the radar but when he zoomed in, there were indeed heart beats. I was completely amazed. Especially with the spotting, which has gone on intermittently and still continues and the second major concern, which is the lack of morning sickness. I mean twins normally means puking your brains out doesn't it? Yet I still haven't. I felt a slight increase of nausea yesterday and I have to be super careful of what I eat and how much, but beyond that nothing. And it freaks me out to no end.

Although I do find it unusual that I crave a combination of different food craving that I've craved in different pregnancies. For example my first pregnancy I really thought it was a boy...because all I craved was mac and cheese, comfort food and occasionally some meat. Then the second pregnancy I was plagued with the desire for less heavy foods...I just had to have fatoush salad and babaganosh (sorry I don't know how to spell it, just eat it). This time I was dying for steak on Friday. And today I want the fatoush salad. It's like they've both returned and are dueling over my stomach. Today I sat in front of the fridge for a good minute or two feeling like peanut butter and jelly one minute and a soft pretzel and cheese the next. Of course then the next second I felt nauseated and wanted nothing.

I also find that the gatorade and anything sour helps immensely when it's gets to be too much. Last night while keeping mr. sushinut company at dinner, I could only stomach a few tangerine shrimp, but hauled in the wonton soup and ginger chicken salad (must have been the ginger) and completely attacked the sliced oranges at the end of the dinner. I never eat those! But oh they tasted amazing! *Note to self, sushi nuggets need orange juice.

Which brings me to one thing they both have in common. Which is the most ironic of all....

Neither one likes sushi! Well how in the world can that be! What kind of ungrateful children am I bringing into the world? I went to sushi last weekend (only ate "cooked shrimp and veggie rolls") and to be totally honest it didn't do much for me. It even made me feel nauseated. The little buggers are siding me against my own namesake for crying out loud!

Oh well they may not know any better and besides if I did constantly feel like raw mercury laden fish all the time it might be an issue. So maybe they know better after all.

Well viable or not, I'm picking up some preggy pops for work this week. Although I'm not puking my brains out it's enough to make me feel pretty icky.

On to other more important details of the appt.

I was so incredibly nervous by the time the appt. rolled around in the afternoon that I had only had some fruit during the day because I was so nervous to eat. I had worried myself to the point that I was for sure not pregnant or that it was ectopic. I was freaked about so much that before I went to the appointment I made all sorts of arrangements for the worse. I tried to get as much work done as possible so that I wouldn't need to focus so much when I returned because I knew I wouldn't be in the mood. I put an extra pack of tissues in my jacket pocket, one in my car on the front seat before I parked at the doctor's office and one in my purse. Made sure to bring my sunglasses in so that in case I was in the midst of hysterics I would have some sort of shield for my tears. And a million other things. Anyone who's had bad news in a dr.'s office pretty much knows the drill.

I was the only one in the waiting room when I came in because I was the first appt. after lunch. She brought me in and the nurse said to me "So this is the first ultrasound huh? Very exciting!" I just mumbled "yeah uh huh" thinking why are you so cheery lady? Don't you know?! Today is the day I find out I'm a failure for the 5th time. I feel like I'm a prisoner on death row walking the plank. No, this is not exciting! I knew that the next few minutes were going to change the rest of my life.

And boy was I right...but for all the wrong reasons.

We discussed many things after seeing the heart beats. Like the spotting. I asked why again after seeing the heartbeats and mr. frozen embryo said it was common with twins. I wanted to ask why but there were other questions I had in regards to the measurements so I chose not to continue to badger. He wanted to take me completely off the progesterone, claiming that I clearly am producing my last count of 50+ on my own. And reminded me that anything taken vaginally does not show up on blood tests (I've read this as well) and that there is obviously no need. I counter offered to take it down to half and see how my test results are next week. He was fine with that so I'm down to only 200 mg progesterone a day. And now that we saw heart beats I was to stop my medrol completely. Honestly I was always unsure of exactly why I was taking this but then he told me in my case it was due to my issue with my elevated ANA levels (which in some people means the possibility of lupus but not in my case). People with this issue have problems with blood clotting and I guess the medrol helps this. As does the baby aspirin which I still remain off until my spotting stops completely.

Oh and for those of you with septum issues, you're probably wondering if I asked the #1 question. Are one of the babies near where the septum used to be. The answer (as I assumed would be since there is not a ton of room with two) was yes, unfortunately. It's the shy sushi nugget on the right that is by the septum area. And thus this remains a major concern for me of course. Because the big question in my book is "is it really all gone?" But only time will answer that question.

As for mr. sushinut, he couldn't take the news about the twins and has since left me.

Just kidding! Just checking to see if you're still paying attention this far :) Surprisingly he was extremely calm and happy and joked...well I knew you had two breasts for some reason. He seems surprisingly comfortable with this news and keeping in stride and excited and carefree. Unlike me who is still freaking out over every little thing.

Next ultra sound is in 1 week which is next Friday.

An Heir and a Spare

Two words ... good ultrasound.

I seriously can't believe it. By this afternoon I had talked myself into the worst. But it totally spun me around and was what I least expected.

...And if you haven't guessed already by the title of this post, the grand prize goes to Newt who's been predicting the whole thing right, all along...

Twins.

Not that of course one would be considered a spare if you will. They'd be always be treated equally if they do make it. It's just crazy for me to wrap my head around successfully having 1 child yet two...And now mind you...I know as well as aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall of you...twins now...do not necessarily mean twins later. ESPECIALLY, in my uterus. But it's always nice to know that there was once a chance.

We saw two sacs, two yolks, and believe it or not...two heartbeats. Each measuring exactly 6 weeks. And each or so my RE says have equally strong heartbeats....for now.

Of course I have the picture, which I will post later tonight.

I still haven't told mr. sushinut. I'll have to break it to him gently. He's not a man that likes to rush into things...like doubling your family immediately. But I know he'll be beyond happy when he gets over the shock.

Dr. frozen embryo said these look like winners and congratulated me. I was fine until he said that and then I broke down and cried. He and you guys are probably the few that know what it's been like...and how much hope these two embies hold.

More of a detailed update later...

Thank you again for all your prayers and well wishes. They always hold a special place in my heart.