How Many Babies Did You Say??!!??!

haven’t updated in a while because I wanted to get my thoughts together before this post. I don’t even know if it will make sense even still, but I will try!We went for our ultrasound on Thursday afternoon. I didn’t sleep at all Wednesday night, I was so nervous. I felt like everything was OK with the baby, but it is still nerve racking knowing that you are going in to make sure the baby has a heartbeat. Steve didn’t sleep much, either, but still did pretty good.Steve took me out to lunch before our appointment, but my stomach just doesn’t handle much these days. I try to eat, though, because I sometimes feel better after I eat. Just depends on what it is. We got to the appointment early and they got us in early, which was great. We were in there and she said my uterus was ‘acting up’ so she went to the ovaries first. She wasn’t saying much and that panicked both of us. She did point out that I have a large fibroid on the right and a smaller one on the left and that they are OK right now and not interfering with the baby. Then she finally went in to look for the baby. She didn’t say anything again for a while, and Steve and I just kept looking at each other. Then she finally said she was going to go to the sac on the left first. When she used the word ‘sac’ I was positive there was no baby. She looked it over, then said, OK…this baby is alone and we will call it baby C. Hello!?!? I said you mean there is more than one baby? She said, we’ll go over to the right to that sac. And, again, I thought, ok, a sac, no baby. Inside that sac were TWO BABIES!!! She said because of the fact that they are in the same sac, they are identical twins. Amazing!! They are facing each other and it is so neat to see. She can’t see a membrane separating the two right now, but she did say that she saw two yolk sacs, which means that there is a very high chance there is a membrane. If there isn’t, that can be dangerous because they can strangle each other as they get larger. She said usually if there is no membrane there is only one yolk sac, too, so we feel pretty good there is something there. It is so early that it can be hard to see it all. The babies heartbeats were as follows: Baby A: 140; Baby B: 133; Baby C: 140….all excellent! The rate of miscarriage after seeing a heartbeat is less than 5%, so we know they are OK. They are measuring terrific, also. The doctor and nurses informed us that the identical babies have nothing to do with infertility treatment….it was all God. He is so awesome and deserves all the glory for these babies!Of course, the doctor wasn’t pleased there were triplets and immediately discussed selective reduction with us. We told him absolutely not and he informed us it was his “medical duty” to let us know we should strongly consider it. Bodies aren’t made for carrying more than one baby and I am immediately a high risk pregnancy. We told him that morally and emotionally there is no way that we would even consider selective reduction. We were upset because they discussed this with us before and said that they would be cautious with triggering and they would cancel the cycle if there were more than three follicles. So, I didn’t get it, but we got past that.I am able to go back to my regular OB for now. He will see me unless I go into premature labor and then I will be sent back to Iowa City. I don’t have my first appointment with him until August 22nd (he will do another ultrasound) because he is on vacation before that. How am I going to wait that long?!?! I guess I don’t have a choice!The fibroid is causing some pain, especially when I am really active during the day. I have discovered that I really need to take it easy….when I push myself I get exhausted and am in pain. “Morning” sickness has been horrid, but that’s to be expected. The tech had asked how I was feeling and when we saw three babies we knew why I was so sick. We went back to DBQ this weekend and told everyone. It was exciting and I was so glad to finally be able to tell everyone I was pregnant!Please keep us in your prayers to keep these babies healthy and right where they should be at least until February!

Waiting...

I am getting so excited for Thursday that I can hardly stand it. It seems like the last three weeks have just d-r-a-g-g-e-d by! I am more and more convinced there is more than one baby in there. I have checked several different hCG calculators and it is high for a single, and even high for twins. I am so excited to see how many are there and just keep praying that there is a heartbeat. In my heart, I just feel this deep reassurance from God that this baby is OK and everything is going to be fine. I also feel this tug that there is more than one...but have a question as to whether we will actually *have* more than one baby. It's a weird feeling and I don't understand it at all...but I guess all will be revealed this week! I've been feeling more nauseous as the days go by. And it is completely unpredictable. Some days it is constant all day, others it is in the morning, not in the afternoon, then back in the evening, other days are different than that, too. Ugh! And it is just a general icky feeling...not like a real sick, sick feeling. Which I guess is good, but I don't like feeling so icky all the time. I've also still been really dizzy at different times and have some "stretching" type cramps on my right side. It feels more like a pulled muscle than anything is really "wrong." And it is beginning to happen on the left, too. I have been super tired and very irritable, too...I feel so bad for the boys. I have had a short fuse and have tried to be nice, but it isn’t working all the time. I also feel very “full” up top…I don’t know if that is because I nursed until just six months ago or if it normal for everyone, and feel very full and bloated down below. I SWEAR my uterus is already way enlarged…I guess that is normal with a third pregnancy.Steve is excited and nervous also. He's thinking about it more than I realized. We talked about it again and he keeps saying that Thursday is a big day. I keep tossing out different names for him and he keeps telling me that when the snow flies, we can discuss names. I am not one to wait, so I guess I'll just name her! ;)(I'm just kidding!!) I think he's trying to not get my hopes up too high in case something isn't right...but no matter what, this is a baby and I am pregnant and it isn't something that will just be "written off" if there is no heartbeat. He understands that, but is trying to protect me, also. I told Austin today that on Thursday we might have some big news for him when I get back from my doctor's appointment. We haven't told him point-blank yet that I am pregnant, but he's gotten enough hints. So he got really excited and asked me if maybe the shots and medicine have worked. I said we will find out for sure on Thursday. So, now he's excited too. I just don't think this is something that would be a great idea to just drop on him...if at all possible, he needs *some* warning. It is getting harder and harder to not tell my family! We went to dinner yesterday with my mom and uncles and grandparents and I SOOOO badly wanted to tell them. Steve said to go ahead, but I just want to be sure that there is a heartbeat before I tell everyone. I told him if anyone asked if we were ever going to have any more children, though, I would have jumped and said something. Noone did, though. :( Oh, well!Please keep us in your prayers for Thursday and pray for a healthy baby and a strong heartbeat! I will update as soon as possible Thursday afternoon. Our appointment is at 1:30 p.m. and we have a couple hour’s drive to get there and back.

This week has been a very long one. I don't know how I am going to wait another two weeks before we get to see this baby and make sure she has a heartbeat! I was doing pretty good...generally just tired, a little sore up top, dizzy, but that was about it. I had a little icky feeling earlier in the week, but I am pretty sure it was from going off my medication as I have been fine the rest of the week. Then, this morning, it hit. Ugh! I didn't eat breakfast right away and as the morning went on, I felt ickier and ickier. I finally gagged a little, but nothing happened, then had toast and laid down for a little bit. I felt better after that. I haven't had an upset stomach prior to that, but my diet has been pretty un-exciting, also. I think for most meals this week, I have had Campbell's Vegetable Beef soup, minus the beef (I pick it out). Today I added a peanut butter sandwich to it to try to get a little more protein and that went over OK. I have only wanted the soup for some reason...nothing else really sounds that good right now. The only other thing I am mildy (trying to remain *mildly*) concerned about is I have a very slight pain on my right lower side. It pretty much hurts all the time, even when I am not pregnant, so I am thinking it is nothing. Plus I also have some pain on my left side, so I am thinking it is probably just normal stretching, but my mind works overtime all the time, so I am thinking the worst things right away. Something to keep in prayer!I got too excited this week and told Aidan about the baby. I knew he wouldn't tell anyone and I knew he had no clue really. He didn't get it at all. He was fascinated when I showed him where the baby was, then pulled on my shorts to "see" the baby (had to explain that one), then stuck out his tummy and said his baby was in there. It will be interesting to see what happens as this progresses and then when the baby actually comes. I have tried to talk Steve into telling everyone in the family earlier and I am going to tell my family as soon as we see the heartbeat...he can wait for his family if he wants to, but I cannot wait 12 weeks this time! We know that the baby will be fine if we see the heartbeat, and even if it isn't, I would like some support if something is wrong. I am going to take Aidan to the fair in my dad’s town on the 27th, so I’ll tell my mom and dad that day. The next week Austin has fair here and I thought, if Steve wants, we can tell his family that day. We did it his way last time and I just really want everyone to know and share our excitement this time!

I'm Pregnant!!!!

We have been trying for another baby with medical help since November 2005 and since Aidan was born on our own. In November, my doctor didn’t seem very positive. He did a suppression cycle and then we began medication in January. We had six IUI’s prior to returning back to Iowa City’s infertility clinic in the end of May. Since we know what worked with Aidan, we started the same protocol immediately. Then began the nightmare of injections, ultrasounds, and blood tests. On June 14, we went in for our IUI. Everything looked great, except one number. The nurse who did it said that with that one number being a little low, the pregnancy rate dropped drastically, so this cycle would not count towards our total of four. So we tried not to get our hopes up, but she still gave us some hope.We went about our “normal” lives for the next two weeks and went on vacation. I was exhausted and moody, but figured it was just PMS.On June 28, I went to Allen in Waterloo at 8:30 a.m. to get our hCG blood draw, so I could go off the progesterone and start everything all over again…so convinced was I that it did not work. I waited and waited and waited, and finally, at 5:30, the nurse from the clinic called. The number was 196…an EXCELLENT number that meant I was, indeed, pregnant!!! I was so excited and couldn’t believe it. I asked her three times if she was sure she had the right person and even took a home test at 3:15 a.m. to be positive it was correct. We are now waiting to go in for our first ultrasound on July 20, which will be seven weeks. That will check to make sure the baby has a heartbeat, and with a number like 196, to see if there is possibly more than one! There were three really nice follicles, so technically, there could be three babies, but we highly doubt it. They don’t think my one side works very well and on the side that does work, it only had one follicle. I guess only time will tell.Please keep me and this baby and our family in prayers these next few weeks and months. We can use every prayer we get…it has worked several times and it will work again! God is Great!!!