...video of the announcement that we are pregnant...

to see the video larger, just click on the video twice

to take you to youtube where you can make it full screen

...and now another episode of, "As the Babies Turn"...

When last we left our little boogers they were tearing up the dance floor...it seemed literally. A little blood issue, but an US to show that our guys had the right moves and could dance around with the best of them!

Things calmed quite a bit over the next six days and we were left with the usual...headaches, fatigue, then out of the blue a fine day, no issues...the roller coaster continues....

We had another bout with the blood yesterday, seems to come in cycles now, but with a call to the doctor and Jen relaxing with the legs up, we were told to just keep trucking, no need for another US so soon unless things persist... and today, no issues.

So, we keep fumbling along this path worn to the bone by so many before us however our feet have no callouses and each step, even upon the smoothed and appearing safe as can be road, fills us with dread and exuberance all at once, emotions are the blood life of living and I would not change a thing, the roller coaster makes me feel sane, without it, Jen and I would be bored to death.

So keep good thoughts sent out to our twins, let the schmoopies know you are ready for them to come and can't wait to hug them, they can feel it already, and we all appreciate it...


more on the next episode...

ultrasound four - unexpected

ultrasound four - Well, another scare, but all is ok. Jen started bleeding on Saturday.

Scared the crap out of both us, seems like this roller coaster of a pregnancy is delighting in our torture...we did the usual rationalizing that it was like the last time and we kept our date to go our friends xmas party.

On the way we stopped at a gas station for Jen to use the restroom and the bleeding still continued. We decided to call the doctor and get their opinion.

They had us calmed, but said we should probably get Jen on her back feet up and relax, so we turned around and headed home. Crap. Xmas party has a white elephant gift exchange...man I had a great one, Jen's was even better. Oh well, next year maybe.


We got home and have been taking it easy since.


The doctor told Jen to get in to the office on Monday and schedule an US.


Jen went in this morning, all is well, two happy and "literally" bouncing babies, Jen said they were wiggle-bots that looked like gummy bears doing the jitterbug!


Here they are in all their, "normal growth/size/weight/heart rates for 9w5d" glory!


Enjoy, keep sending out the good juju, they appreciate it!

OBGYN day 1 ( or zero according to yesterday's post )

So the appt. went fine, nothing out the ordinary just new schedules for the first OB US to see the heartbeats again.


Doc was pleased that Jen had the injection, she may have to get two more to facilitate the body not producing antibodies which could have future effects if Jen were to get pregnant again. But that will be decided later.


yeah, boring post, but you'll have that sometimes... more later.

day negative one (-1)

Tomorrow is Jen's first OBGYN appt. So, I am calling today day negative one as tomorrow stands to be the true start of our long windy road to babydom with a planner and strategist...WOW - F'n twins, still blows my mind.

Jen is doing well, tired everyday, but strong willed about everything...staying positive...yesterday was good, she had more energy, seemed light.

Today, not so good, headache, tired, uncomfortable...gonna run my hands through her hair, rub her temples, send the babies good juju.

I think comfort food may be in order, hmmm pizza? Always does the trick!

Will post another update tomorrow after the appt. send good thoughts and energy the babies way and don't forget the dash of extra whipped happiness on top for Jen.

ultrasound three - unexpected

third ultrasound - This was a rough week. Jen has been very tired and fatigued. Off to work at 6:45am - home around 4:30pm, straight to the couch. PLOP!

I get her feet up on some extra pillows we have, flip on the tube, and let her surf til her hearts content.

So, yesterday, I'm sitting at work and I get a text. It says, "Having some bleeding left a message for doctor" Oh my God! Scared to death I call Jen...she explained later that she texted instead of calling because she could barely speak through the crying and knew she wouldn't have been able to tell me anything over the phone...that's my wife!

So, she says its quite a bit of blood and I decided it was no time to wait for somebody to listen to a voice mail and get back to us.

I called their emergency line and got an appt. for an US at 2pm, what     a    long     time      to     wait      until 2.

She also informs me that the message she left at the doctor is probably irrelevant anyhow considering the blubbering message, she said she'd be surprised if they any type of clue what the hell she was talking about.

We got there and in our typical fashion, because I know Jen so well, we held hands and did not speak a word as we walked toward the building, Jen cries a bit when she is upset, and she can hold it in well if you just leave her be. I decided jokes and laughing would be better than concern, then we would really see the waterworks. So, a few comments here and few comments there and I had her laughing by the time we got to the front door. Laughter is the healer of all maladies.

We got the US up and BOOM, two heart beats, looking both at normal growth for their gestational age...wow, stress is crazy, you never know how much stress you actually had until it starts to ebb.


We got some news that is scary but workable. It appears that Jen is Rh negative and that the babies are Rh positive which can cause Jen to create antibodies that want to remove the babies as invaders to the body. Now this is not definitive as it is to early to tell that type of blood distinction, but the doctors advice is to take steps now to stop the symptoms if this is the problem. This is something usually dealt with around 28 weeks, not 8. However, when you have a bleeding event it can be one of the issues causing a problem and it gets looked at early.

With that said, there is a fix, of sorts. Jen got an injection that will cause her body to stop producing the antibodies and will keep any further complications in regards to the Rh Factor from being an issue. Hopefully this is the last of this issue and we will be good to go from here on out.

The condition makes Jen a little higher risk pregnancy, but with all we have been through to get to this point, one more bump is nothing we can't handle. :-)

ultrasound two

 

the top is of "B" and the bottom is "A" - this will be relevant later

second ultrasound - the second US came a week later and showed that we were having twins...holy shit...twins. They showed that B had actually been a decent size in comparison to A, its just that B was further back and kind of behind A, so it was a little tough to get a good image.

It funny how you kind of say something out loud while thinking of it occuring in some distant detached future and then feeling the firm emotion that wraps you up once you visually see on the screen the fact that you will shortly have TWO children...at the same time!


Many have asked so far so I am inclined to make sure you understand that it is not a negative feeling, just a surreal floating type feeling, even good news, given the right amount of impact kind of leaves you reeling in a shock type stance.


The US showed they were both growing fine and were good to go at  6 weeks 5 days (6w5d)
and then we got to see the heart beating and hear it...woosha woosha woosha woosha woosha...wow.

One of the most amazing things I have ever seen or heard in my entire life.

ultrasound one

first ultrasound - We saw the gestational sac of both embryos, with the yolk sac of one clearly and the other yolk sac was almost imperceptible.

The one was larger than the other, they were not sure if the smaller one was growing or not but they told us we needed the second ultrasound (US) to really have a baseline comparison for growth. That would come in a week or so.

They said the larger of the two was perfect in size and they were very pleased with the size of the yolk sac, very encouraging!

They said we could have two growing normal and that one just implanted at a different day and thus was pulling nutrient/blood supply longer than the other. We just couldn't know at this point...so, glad to have one healthy guy at the least!

The options they prepared us for were - the smaller could be not growing and by the next US would be reabsorbing into the uterine lining; the little one could be growing fine and show on the US a day or so behind in size. I felt twins, Jen was not so sure!