Baby update: I am feeling more bloated and not as comfortable in my regular pants and it's not so comfortable to pull my knee up to my chest when I sit on the couch or at the computer. Those are my indicators of growth because I still don't really see a big difference with a baby bump or such. Also my bras are starting to not fit so well again...seriously? So annoying and I already hated bra shopping.
Cookie Tossing Count: This is pretty much gone.
Cravings: I don't really find myself wanting to eat anything particular. Sometimes I have no desire to eat. I love milk. Also we went to Zupas last night and I got the mushroom soup and chicken chop salad...the mushroom soup always hits the spot even in non-pregnant times.
Symptoms: Just more bloat feeling and annoying enlarged breasts. No real weight gain yet still. I still think this is a balance of gaining baby weight but losing some with hormones in being in balance.
Movement: I don't think so yet. Occasionally I'll feel very small twinge type stuff where I think it would be but nothing convincing yet.
Day to Day: Energy is starting to come back. I tried to clean house yesterday. Managed to shift some things around in the spare bedroom/nursery. We're moving our make-shift office into our bedroom until further notice (blah! but it may be a while as the basement will need finishing before it can really go anywhere else).
The Girls: Kendall and Seren are adorable. They make small mentions of "baby brother" on their own now...like when they see me taking my vitamins or see other babies. They are so fun and smart and sassy. Seren loves to say "you silly" now when she corrects your or tells you what to do. Kendall still loves to raise her voice and say "right now!" when asking for something, which just gets chuckles from us (occasionally time outs when she goes overboard). Kendall is still a very tender heart. We bought twin by twin bunk beds for them recently but haven't fully put them together yet.
Next appointment: May 1st.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Friday, April 11, 2014
Frozen Embryo Decisions
The decision was made on this a couple weeks ago. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be to make. I would still have loved to donate them to another couple but in the end we felt this was the right decision. We originally had arranged to donate our remaining embryos to another couple during our first frozen cycle. A week before the transfer we received news they had experienced a chemical pregnancy and would be trying on their own for a while at advice of their doctor. We held off on looking for another couple and experienced a failed cycle. I didn't think that I would want to but I found myself wanting to give it one more shot and a strong feeling that fate had stepped into the process to allow us to make that decision, as we originally planned to donate them as soon as the transfer was complete. We decided to give it one more go at a frozen cycle and here we are 14 weeks pregnant (yep kind of feeling fate/God wanted this baby with us).
We learned more about the ratings and quality of our frozen embryos during this process of attempting to donate. They weren't as great as I remembered. In fact we only had a couple early blasts and mostly morulas frozen. Granted the ones we did thaw ended up reaching blast stage in time for transfer but still they left a lot to wonder about odds of success. The remaining four embryos in one straw were supposedly the poorest of the bunch. We didn't like the idea of giving someone poor odds and a strong possibility of great disappointment, especially after experiencing our failed cycle. We also didn't want to take the choice away from the couple we originally offered them too. So I contacted them again and offered the remaining embyros to them with explanation of odds and frozen quality. They asked for time to consider it and after a week or two they contacted us again with their decision. They turned them down. They weren't comfortable with the idea of a possible failure at that time in their lives and didn't want to be holding onto them hoping that a time would come when they would be. With their decision made we came to a decision on our end as well. We agreed that we didn't believe there were great odds with these embryos and would likely not wish to try again ourselves even if the worst were to happen with this pregnancy. We didn't want to spend more money freezing them and looking for another recipient we would feel as good about as the first. So with that we signed paperwork to have them discarded.
It's both nice and somewhat sad to have that chapter and option closed. We look forward to having our family complete and welcoming this little one though. So good things are still to come.
We learned more about the ratings and quality of our frozen embryos during this process of attempting to donate. They weren't as great as I remembered. In fact we only had a couple early blasts and mostly morulas frozen. Granted the ones we did thaw ended up reaching blast stage in time for transfer but still they left a lot to wonder about odds of success. The remaining four embryos in one straw were supposedly the poorest of the bunch. We didn't like the idea of giving someone poor odds and a strong possibility of great disappointment, especially after experiencing our failed cycle. We also didn't want to take the choice away from the couple we originally offered them too. So I contacted them again and offered the remaining embyros to them with explanation of odds and frozen quality. They asked for time to consider it and after a week or two they contacted us again with their decision. They turned them down. They weren't comfortable with the idea of a possible failure at that time in their lives and didn't want to be holding onto them hoping that a time would come when they would be. With their decision made we came to a decision on our end as well. We agreed that we didn't believe there were great odds with these embryos and would likely not wish to try again ourselves even if the worst were to happen with this pregnancy. We didn't want to spend more money freezing them and looking for another recipient we would feel as good about as the first. So with that we signed paperwork to have them discarded.
It's both nice and somewhat sad to have that chapter and option closed. We look forward to having our family complete and welcoming this little one though. So good things are still to come.
Friday, April 4, 2014
Update: 13 weeks
Baby update: Our appointment was on Monday, April 1st. Kendall and Seren came with us to the appointment. Everything checked out to be just fine. I was a little worried still as I have such small bloat feeling but all was well. The baby measured 13.5 weeks. There was a second of worry with one leg but the image was off due to leg/ankle crossing. So as of now everything is fine and on target. We heard the heartbeat again with the girls and they were excited and seemed to understand a little better about the baby idea.
Cookie Tossing Count: This is getting better. I switched to gummy/chewable prenatal vitamins. I only really want to gag when I cough too much from the extra mucus going on. I have to take my thyroid medicine in the morning and not eat for an hour after so that's not really helping the morning ick but it's starting to be better.
Cravings: Salad with ranch dressing, black cherry soda (not too much) and chocolate muffins.
Symptoms: More stretchy cramps and a little more bloated feeling. Not showing though really just my lovely POF/POI spare tire. I have been losing a little weight...I'm sure due to the nausea but I also think because my hormones actually are "normal" during pregnancy so it's easier to come off.
Notes from appointment: We were given pretty good odds that this little one will be a boy.
Day to Day: I'm starting to feel like I can clean and do laundry again without nausea. Now I have just developed bad habits of not doing so over the last few weeks haha. I'm starting to gather girls clothes and things to donate or sell once we know for sure. Jeff started a new job. He is no longer in a conflict of interest with his new job so he can start his investment management business. Excited for him.
The Girls: The girls were both not initially happy at hearing the gender news (although the first thing Kendall said when asked what mommy had in her tummy was "a boy" before we even got to the baby explanation). We asked if they were okay with a brother and they both shook their heads no. They have warmed up to the idea a little though and proudly announced to their different grandparents over the phone about a "baby brother".
Next visit: May 1st.
Cookie Tossing Count: This is getting better. I switched to gummy/chewable prenatal vitamins. I only really want to gag when I cough too much from the extra mucus going on. I have to take my thyroid medicine in the morning and not eat for an hour after so that's not really helping the morning ick but it's starting to be better.
Cravings: Salad with ranch dressing, black cherry soda (not too much) and chocolate muffins.
Symptoms: More stretchy cramps and a little more bloated feeling. Not showing though really just my lovely POF/POI spare tire. I have been losing a little weight...I'm sure due to the nausea but I also think because my hormones actually are "normal" during pregnancy so it's easier to come off.
Notes from appointment: We were given pretty good odds that this little one will be a boy.
Day to Day: I'm starting to feel like I can clean and do laundry again without nausea. Now I have just developed bad habits of not doing so over the last few weeks haha. I'm starting to gather girls clothes and things to donate or sell once we know for sure. Jeff started a new job. He is no longer in a conflict of interest with his new job so he can start his investment management business. Excited for him.
The Girls: The girls were both not initially happy at hearing the gender news (although the first thing Kendall said when asked what mommy had in her tummy was "a boy" before we even got to the baby explanation). We asked if they were okay with a brother and they both shook their heads no. They have warmed up to the idea a little though and proudly announced to their different grandparents over the phone about a "baby brother".
Next visit: May 1st.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Update: 11 weeks (basically)
Baby update: I'm taking it everything is fine. I still get nauseous but that's about it and that is starting to be off and on day to day. I don't really feel bloated or like there's a growing human in there but considering there's lots of room to grow in my torso I'm not going to worry. I have but I'm not going to anymore.
Cookie Tossing Count: A handful of times now. I have been bad and been skipping my prenatal vitamins the last week or so because they make me gag usually and don't stay down anyway. Hoping to start stomaching them again in the next week or two.
Cravings: Nothing. The nausea increased the last week or so and nothing has sounded good. Ramen will usually chill it out and peanut butter sandwiches occasionally but nothing was actually delicious. I finally had an appetite today and treated myself to grilled chicken sandwich at Wendy's...boy was I stuffed. My stomach must have shrunk but it tasted good.
Symptoms: Morning nausea (usually gone by dinner time). Very occasional stretchy cramps but that's about it.
Recent Events: We signed paperwork to discard our remaining embryos. That's a post in itself. I'm still awaiting the call from our clinic to confirm verbally before they proceed.
Day to Day: I feel like I barely get to the grocery store lately. I went today...yeah there is some food in the cupboard again.
The Girls: We haven't told them about baby news yet. We ask them occasionally if they want a sibling but get mixed reactions. We are planning to tell them about it prior to next appointment and bring them with us. I hope they are excited but we'll see. We put them into booster seats in hopes of fitting a car seat without the need for a new car. Jeff is still unsure it'll work. The girls love the boosters though.
Next visit: April 1st.
Cookie Tossing Count: A handful of times now. I have been bad and been skipping my prenatal vitamins the last week or so because they make me gag usually and don't stay down anyway. Hoping to start stomaching them again in the next week or two.
Cravings: Nothing. The nausea increased the last week or so and nothing has sounded good. Ramen will usually chill it out and peanut butter sandwiches occasionally but nothing was actually delicious. I finally had an appetite today and treated myself to grilled chicken sandwich at Wendy's...boy was I stuffed. My stomach must have shrunk but it tasted good.
Symptoms: Morning nausea (usually gone by dinner time). Very occasional stretchy cramps but that's about it.
Recent Events: We signed paperwork to discard our remaining embryos. That's a post in itself. I'm still awaiting the call from our clinic to confirm verbally before they proceed.
Day to Day: I feel like I barely get to the grocery store lately. I went today...yeah there is some food in the cupboard again.
The Girls: We haven't told them about baby news yet. We ask them occasionally if they want a sibling but get mixed reactions. We are planning to tell them about it prior to next appointment and bring them with us. I hope they are excited but we'll see. We put them into booster seats in hopes of fitting a car seat without the need for a new car. Jeff is still unsure it'll work. The girls love the boosters though.
Next visit: April 1st.
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Update: 9 weeks
Baby update: growth is on target or a day or so ahead. My ob initially bumped up my due date to October 6th but we agreed it's somewhere in Oct 6th to Oct 9th range since it was via IVF and hard to get original dates wrong. Heartbeat was going strong still. I was told we might be able to find out the gender next visit (April 1st) but I kind of think that it would still be majority guessing.
Cookie Tossing Count: 1 time. I tried to swallow my two prenatals, calcium pill and little estrogen pill in one shot. I failed and caused a gag reflex and the rest is history. I've been nauseous at night but have been making it through with food, water and breathing. I also took up "smiling like a maniac" as recommended by Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs (Season 8 episode 3 on NetFlix if you feel like a laugh and a little grossing out too). Anyway you fake a huge smile with all your teeth...surprisingly it kind of works.
Notes from appointment: I have a week left of shots (well whenever the vial runs out) and Dr B think this will be plenty sufficient as he called it a "good strong implantation". We started a DVD for this kiddo, their office records all the ultrasounds on a DVD for you to keep (love that part). We were decently far along when we started here with the girls so their DVD is hard to discern much out of...jumble of legs and arms
Cravings: Ramen, salad, potato chips, chocolate muffins and a Quiznos sub (pretty much a lot of the same food I craved with the girls).
Symptoms: Evening nausea (sometimes afternoon). Stretchy pain which I guess Dr B said is more common with second pregnancy.
Next visit: April 1st.
Cookie Tossing Count: 1 time. I tried to swallow my two prenatals, calcium pill and little estrogen pill in one shot. I failed and caused a gag reflex and the rest is history. I've been nauseous at night but have been making it through with food, water and breathing. I also took up "smiling like a maniac" as recommended by Mike Rowe on Dirty Jobs (Season 8 episode 3 on NetFlix if you feel like a laugh and a little grossing out too). Anyway you fake a huge smile with all your teeth...surprisingly it kind of works.
Notes from appointment: I have a week left of shots (well whenever the vial runs out) and Dr B think this will be plenty sufficient as he called it a "good strong implantation". We started a DVD for this kiddo, their office records all the ultrasounds on a DVD for you to keep (love that part). We were decently far along when we started here with the girls so their DVD is hard to discern much out of...jumble of legs and arms
Cravings: Ramen, salad, potato chips, chocolate muffins and a Quiznos sub (pretty much a lot of the same food I craved with the girls).
Symptoms: Evening nausea (sometimes afternoon). Stretchy pain which I guess Dr B said is more common with second pregnancy.
Next visit: April 1st.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
First Dentist Appointment
Kendall and Seren had their first dental appointments. I should have taken a picture of their cute little bodies in that big ol' dental chair but I didn't. They both did soooo good. I was surprised. Kendall watched Seren go first. Seren was a total pro and acted like it was something she did every day. Then even though nerves grabbed hold of Kendall a little, while watching Seren, she still managed to climb up and get through her cleaning without crying. Both such brave girls. The dental hygienist had them wear sunglasses when she shined the light on their teeth...they loved that part. And the dentist "pulled" a ring out of their mouth which they thought was totally magical. They loved it. We were happy it was good first experience.
Jeff and I also had our teeth cleaned. Holy cow! It's been 5 years...crazy. We are okay about doctors but our last dentist was not very good and we've just put it off. Surprise...no cavities. Okay so they couldn't do x-rays on my teeth for obvious reasons but Jeff only had some "sensitive or starter" spots and mine looked good from what could be told. I will definitely need to head back after this kiddo has arrived to see a better picture of my dental health.
Jeff and I also had our teeth cleaned. Holy cow! It's been 5 years...crazy. We are okay about doctors but our last dentist was not very good and we've just put it off. Surprise...no cavities. Okay so they couldn't do x-rays on my teeth for obvious reasons but Jeff only had some "sensitive or starter" spots and mine looked good from what could be told. I will definitely need to head back after this kiddo has arrived to see a better picture of my dental health.
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Quiet Around Here...
It's been quiet around here. Mostly because my back still hurts a little...I've been nursing it and taking it easy but it still isn't the greatest to sit in front of a computer with. I've been feeling nauseous. Not horrible and still keeping it on the inside but it's just left me feeling very blah-like and unmotivated, as can be seen by the state of my home and laundry. I hope mercy shines down in the next few days so I can get caught up again. It does make me realize I make a pretty good impact and significant difference at home so that's the positive side.
We contacted the couple we considered donating the remaining embryos to before. I'm not sure they will want to use them. I wouldn't blame them. If they were frozen in order then really there are only morulas that remain and no guarantee they would survive. If this couple doesn't want to use the embryos then I believe we have decided to donate them to research instead. I know there is a small chance of a pregnancy from those embryos but it wouldn't be for us and I'm not sure I could feel good about putting the larger risk of disappointment onto someone else. So we are just waiting to see what our original intended couple decides and go from there.
Other than that things are going well. No spotting or major symptoms that are wreaking havoc on me. Just enjoying the time with my girls and making plans to get out and enjoy the warm days that are coming.
We contacted the couple we considered donating the remaining embryos to before. I'm not sure they will want to use them. I wouldn't blame them. If they were frozen in order then really there are only morulas that remain and no guarantee they would survive. If this couple doesn't want to use the embryos then I believe we have decided to donate them to research instead. I know there is a small chance of a pregnancy from those embryos but it wouldn't be for us and I'm not sure I could feel good about putting the larger risk of disappointment onto someone else. So we are just waiting to see what our original intended couple decides and go from there.
Other than that things are going well. No spotting or major symptoms that are wreaking havoc on me. Just enjoying the time with my girls and making plans to get out and enjoy the warm days that are coming.
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