20-week ultrasound pics

Today is 21 weeks, and I am celebrating by posting pics from last week's level 2 ultrasound. Life is crazy right now while I deal with pregnancy, poison oak, our new mortgage paperwork, the title company, the contractor for our remodel, our house inspections, finding homeowner's insurance, our taxes, my full-time job, and extra work for my husband's company. Life is nuts right now!

I'm sorry to say this, but the 3D images sort of make me think of Vo.ldem.ort from the Harry Po.t.ter movie. Still, it was really cool to see. Here are my favorites from our pics - enjoy:

Tadpole's beautiful face

Tadpole's legs - knees at the top, feet at the bottom:
Turtle's face - not sure what he's doing. Holding his nose?

Turtle doing yoga - that's his leg up in front of his face. Not sure why he couldn't just take a normal picture. I'm seeing a lot of interesting family photos in our future.
Turtle's arm. I love how clearly you can see his elbow and fingers.

Busy bee

I cannot believe how fast last week went by. Time is speeding up, and I am getting so far behind in just about everything.

First point - the results of last week's bike ride

I think my last post was ... last Monday? We had a busy weekend, signing the counteroffer from the sellers of our (hopefully) future house, and going on a 20-mile bike ride. Yeah, that bike ride, it was LOVELY! I don't think I really mentioned it (it actually was very beautiful), or how badly I had to pee pretty much the whole time. Or how I got off my bike after 15 miles and ran behind some bushes to pee. Or how on Tuesday I started breaking out with ... POISON OAK.

OMG, my friends, I don't know if you've ever had poison oak. I have. I have had it many times, and I always have it really badly, sometimes requiring steroids to get it under control and help my body fight back. After one particularly serious bout, I wasn't sure that the skin on my legs was going to grow back normally, and I thought I'd be left with hideous scars. And I'm talking about the skin on about 3/4 of my legs, not dainty little patches. I always end up having to wash everything I touch, including sometimes my hiking boots, the steering wheel in my car, and anything else I can think of.

This time I'm a bit luckier - I have several huge spots of oozing, weeping mess (the biggest one about 6 inches in diameter, I guess?) - on both hips, my left quad, two on the side of my right thigh, my right shin, and my right ankle. I'm miserable. I spend my days rubbing on various anti-itch remedies, and bandaging up my legs so I don't make a mess of my clothing (with little success - hello, laundry!). Luckily, after a few nights, I am able to sleep again. I'm hoping this clears up by the end of the week. And I will never again assume that I won't get poison oak from road biking. I'm clearly talented enough to pick it up anywhere.

Second point - my level 2 ultrasound!

Perhaps this should have been the first point, but poison oak has taken over my life and overshadowed just about everything else.

The ultrasound went really well - the babies looked fantastic, except for one thing. I don't know if I should worry. They both had cysts on their brains. Should I worry? The doctor came and spoke with us and said it was relatively common, and that they would expect them to disappear by around 24 weeks, or else sometime during the third trimester, and we should follow up to check on them. And that was it. I'm trying not to worry too much, but any advice or experience would be much appreciated in the comments.

Otherwise, it was great. They are beautiful. First, they confirmed for us that Baby A (Tadpole) is a girl and Baby B (Turtle) is a boy. They had also switched sides, I guess, but Tadpole was still the "lower" twin and Turtle was the "upper twin". We think we have names picked out, but I'm not sure if we've finalized them yet. The ultrasound tech also completely surprised us by switching to 3D in the middle and showing us their faces! We got some great pics, which I'll have to post later this week.

Third point - life in general

Everything else right now is gravy. The house we're buying is looking great, the inspections went well, but it needs a new roof. Which is actually a good thing, because the current roof is hideous and we were going to replace it anyway, and now the sellers have to pay for it (it is a not-quite-flat tar and gravel roof). My architect sister is busy drawing up floor plans and making virtual 3D models for us to make our renovation decisions, and we'll meet with a contractor hopefully quite soon. I'm not sure we'll be able to pull this off before the babies are born, but I am hoping that maybe we can manage somehow.

My husband is also sick, again. He never gets sick, so I was shocked to come home from my book club meeting yesterday and discover him on the couch with a fever, for the second time this season. I am a little worried about him, and also hope that I don't get it too - I really don't need a fever while pregnant (and while having poison oak).

I'm keeping in shape by biking and using the rowing machine at the gym - I'm hoping to keep it up as long as possible.


So that's my life - there's so much more going on, but I don't want to write a novel.

PLEASE - if you have anything to add about brain cysts seen in ultrasounds, I would love to hear about it! Thanks!!!

Hope all's well for all of you.

14 weeks and NT scan pics

I'm 14 weeks today! According to our ip.od pregnancy application, the babies will double in length from about 3 inches to 6 inches in the next few weeks - I'm going to be getting huge pretty soon.

A few quick pics of my NT scan last week. I still don't have results because I didn't know I was supposed to get my blood drawn earlier, and I couldn't have anyway since I had just returned from Italy. However, they did say that the ultrasound portion of the test looked very good.

Here's a pic of the two little beans together. It was amazing, on the screen we could see them kicking each other, their little legs flailing wildly. I guess it was a preview of what is to come.
This is a pic of Baby A (I think - how do you keep track of which is which?), sort of sucking his or her thumb. I couldn't believe how well-formed the fingers were. Baby A was very mellow, just hanging out and letting the tech get lots of pics. We have some great profile pics. To get all the measurements, the tech had to jiggle the transducer pretty hard against my stomach to get the baby to turn. And here is a pic of Baby B, our little acrobat. This one would not sit still for a moment, the tech was waving the transducer all over the place trying to catch up with this little tadpole. We got some decent pictures of the arms and legs, but nothing great of the whole baby since Tadpole wouldn't stop zooming around. I love this pic, though. Everyone who has seen this pic is convinced that this one is a girl.
And that is my post on the NT scan. The scan itself took about 30 wonderful, magical minutes, and then we met with a genetic counselor who took our family history and advised us on which blood tests we may want to do. I just wished we already had the blood test results so we could have found out our risk levels that day.

So far, though, everything is looking good! I am starting to let out my breath a bit and believe that things might go well up to the end. It's a really nice feeling.

8w5d and H1N1

I had my first OB appointment this morning. It went really well!

We met with a nurse practitioner who was a little over-the-top, but very darling. She did my annual exam, since it’s been a year and a half since I had one, and then gave us tons of information. It’s a little overwhelming. Luckily, my hospital has one of the best birthing centers in Northern California, with water births, midwives and doulas, and very relaxed rules about everything. I’m looking forward to taking childbirth classes and touring the birthing center! Not sure my husband is looking forward to all of it, though – it’s going to take up a lot of time.

We did get to see the babies on ultrasound! They looked so cute, quite a bit bigger than a week ago, and we could see their heads, their heartbeats, and even their tiny little arms and legs. I’m so excited for the ultrasounds when we get back from Italy!

We’re going to have a lot of prenatal testing, but I still don’t understand whether I’m supposed to call and make those appointments myself, or if someone will make them for me. Why don’t they tell you this stuff?

Our appointment was at 9:45, and since we’re traveling to Italy in a few days, I called last week and tried to schedule my H1N1 vaccination this morning, too. The Women’s Health center didn’t have any preservative-free vaccine, so they told me to make an appointment with my regular doctor. I don’t really have a regular doctor, but I called the last doctor I’ve seen, who has now moved to the next town, and told them I wanted an H1N1 shot. They asked my age, and because I had a feeling they were trying to tell if I was in one of the priority categories, I said “I’m 31 and I’m pregnant.” They said, “OK, you can come in at 8am on Monday morning”.

So this morning I had to get up early, miss work, and drive 10 miles to the next town for my vaccine, only to be told when I got there that they didn’t have any preservative-free vaccines and they couldn’t give me a shot. I was SO pissed.

At my OB appointment, I told them what had happened, and they said that since I was traveling, I was at risk for H1N1, and that while the preservative was controversial, there was no scientific evidence that it caused any harm, and the risks of actually getting the flu were much worse. So I got the shot with the preservative. Oh well – I guess you win some and you lose some.

We’ve also been telling people about the pregnancy. It’s still early, and I’m a little nervous, but it’s hard to pass up big events like holiday parties where we can tell a lot of people at once and everyone is in a celebratory mood. And we’ve now seen the heartbeats 4 times, so I feel more comfortable about it.

So far, so good. And I think today is technically 2 months. Almost 9 weeks! And then – Italy!

Where do I start? (7w5d)

It has been a crazy roller coaster of a week, and I'm exhausted and worn out after everything.

On Friday, the day after my first ultrasound, I started having brown discharge. Kinda worrisome, but everything I looked at said brown discharge was ok, plus I had just had the ultrasound the day before and thought it could have irritated something.

We told my husband's family in Italy about the babies on Thursday night, my sister on Friday evening, and my mom and brother during the day on Saturday. I was so nervous that I might have jinxed everything.

Saturday night we decided to go out to a nice dinner, and right before we left I went to the bathroom - and saw some red spotting. Not very much, but enough to scare me. We called our local OBGYN office at the hospital and left a message for the doctor on call, after being assured she'd call back in 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, we called again, and they tried to page her again. 20 minutes after that, we said "screw it" and went to the emergency room. They admitted me, put in an IV, got a urine sample, did a pelvic exam, and finally did an ultrasound after the ultrasound tech had been called in (I felt a little bad about that - I'm sure she had better things to do on a Saturday night).

But look what we got to see!


What an awesome picture. She showed us each baby, did thorough scans of their sizes, and let us listen to the heartbeats. The ER's ultrasound machine was amazing, and seeing the babies on it was awesome. They found nothing to indicate that anything was wrong, diagnosed me with "threatened miscarriage", and let us go around 12:30am, when we finally had dinner at In N Out, the only place open. I was STARVING, since it had been about 12 hours since lunch.

Yesterday I took it easy all day, but after dinner, at 10pm, I went to the bathroom to discover a small bit of blood on my underwear, a few drops in the toilet, and a bit on the TP. CRAP! The ER nurse had called to make me promise I'd see the OBGYN today, so I waited until this morning and made an appointment for this afternoon.

After an hour wait I got to see the babies and hear the heartbeats AGAIN! They looked great, and she said there was nothing to worry about. They suspect a possible minor UTI, or something similar, but otherwise said to just take it easy and not worry about it.

I feel spoiled by all the ultrasounds, but they also told me that I won't be getting one at my intake appointment next week, and then I leave for Italy, so the next chance for an ultrasound won't be until mid-January at the earliest, when I am 12-13 weeks. So I am really happy that I got these two snuck in there.

And I'm especially happy and grateful that the babies seem to be fine. Hang in there please!!!!!

In the meantime, I'm trying to think of nicknames for the little guys - the husband suggested Ann and Bob, but I wanted something a bit more gender-neutral. I'm thinking Bean for Baby B (not very inventive, I know), but I have no idea for Baby A. Ideas?

Guess what!!!!!

Yup, twins!!!!!!!! (it's hard to see the little note in the top left-hand corner)

We were worried she might keep going for a second, but luckily she didn't find a third. Here are the stats:

Baby A - measuring 6w6d (so two days behind), hb 120
Baby B - measuring 7w1d (perfect!), hb 122

Other good news - nausea is still around but majorly better, plus the RE prescribed Unisom and Vitamin B12 to help with that. She also prescribed extra folic acid because of the twins, so I am on a bunch of drugs right now (considering I'm also taking a prenatal and progesterone).

But really, everything's ok! I'm so amazingly happy I can't believe it, and I can't wait to start telling family about the news in the next few days!

I thought I was done with this thumb twiddling

I'm not avoiding posting for lack of anything to say, exactly, more like lack of anything interesting to say.

I can't believe how slow this time is going by - it's still two weeks until the ultrasound. Luckily, tomorrow is Friday (sweet, blessed Friday!), and Saturday is very busy, and Sunday is Sunday, and next week is only a 2.75-day week (woohoo!), and then there's Thanksgiving and shopping and lazing around in pajamas and then suddenly it will be ultrasound week. And my ultrasound is on a Thursday, so Monday-Wednesday will be rather tough, I'm sure. But still! I guess it's not too far away after all.

I know what I want to see at the ultrasound, and I'm really hoping it's not too much to ask for. One or two little beans, of appropriate size and with appropriate heartbeats. That's it. Please!

In the meantime, just like last post, I am cramping. I get cramps for 20-30 minutes randomly throughout the day, and then they go away and I feel more or less fine. I'm starting to think that I am feeling some nausea here and there, but if it is, it's so mild that I am not even sure.

How boring, I know. Ultrasound blah blah blah cramps blah blah blah mild nausea blah. Maybe I won't update again until there's actual news.

Life Goes On

I'm not sure what to write about these days.

I feel a bit like a kid in a candy store, not really believing that my parents let me go in. I've googled a few things about pregnancy, like what kinds of medications I can take and how much do maternity clothes cost anyway? I feel clueless, timid, anxious.

I also feel crampy. Which I've been told is normal. It was really alarming for a few days, but now that it's been going on for over a week, I'm ok with it (not that I LIKE it). So far it is my only symptom, though. Who knew that being pregnant would feel exactly like having my period? The only difference is that the cramps are much more sporadic and feel a bit like indigetstion, too. I think I'd rather have some mild nausea.

So the big question - the ultrasound! The clinic originally told me that they'd schedule an ultrasound for 7 weeks, and when I called to schedule it, my coordinator suggested a date that was 7 weeks 6 days - which is 8 weeks as far as I was concerned, and there was NO WAY I was going to wait that long. I actually had to argue with her about getting it earlier, and she gradually moved up the date until it was 7 weeks 1 day, complaining that that was too early.

Whatever. I am not putting up with this clinic anymore, I am telling them what I want and they are going to do it. I paid a LOT of money for that privilege.

The ultrasound is December 3. Two weeks and three days from now.

Another freaking two week wait, but so worth it this time. Of course I'm terrified of something being wrong, or of having crazy multiples (which seems unlikely since my betas were not crazy high), but I'm so hopeful to see one or two little beans.

And in the meantime, I have to try to get used to saying the "p" word.