Nicknames!

I just came up with nicknames for the babies!

For Baby A, the girl (we think), I still like Tadpole.

For Baby B, the boy, I like Turtle. Any objections?

I want to write a 19-week post tomorrow, but I had a few things I just wanted to get out there.

First, a friend of mine who was dealing with MFI just announced that she is pregnant without intervention while they were waiting for their insurance to change to pay for IVF! I'm so incredibly happy for them. She is about two months behind me, due in September, and they went through a bunch of IUIs and started the IVF classes. This will save them a lot of time, money, and heartache, and it's such great news.

Second, due to popular demand, I will probably post a belly pic. Maybe tomorrow. I have a 16-week pic and an 18-week pic, although nothing before that. I do have some pics from last year before pregnancy that might be a good comparison, but since I am an active person and I'm finding my activity severely limited these days, looking at those pics makes me a little grumpy right now. So I'll see what I can do.

Third, we're closing in on buying a house! We've found a fixer-upper on a large lot near the center of our town. It's really expensive b/c of the location and size of the lot, and it's going to need a lot of work to get it into shape. Still, if we decide to bid and we buy the house, it will be a hopefully fun ongoing project that we'll take some pride in eventually completing. And it will be nice to make a house that really reflects our tastes. Even if it takes a few years. Our realtor is supposed to let us know today if there is anything else on the market worth seeing - otherwise, wish us luck!

Back tomorrow with my 19-week update and how things are going in pregnancy.

Almost 18 weeks

Despite what my ticker might say, I am 18 weeks today (why is it so often one day behind?!). Aside from occasional bouts of anxiety and depression, I have never been happier.

I'm keeping very busy with work and home, and I'm trying to stay really active as well. This past weekend I went snowshoeing up near Lake Tahoe (really beautiful, I'll try to post a pic for Show and Tell!), and did a one-hour bike ride. I'm also trying to do my leg weights and some really easy jogging. And I'm still rock climbing, but I have a feeling that won't last much longer - my harness won't fit pretty soon.

I'm getting HUGE really quickly, I'm pretty amazed by it. Just a few weeks ago, it wasn't at all obvious that I was pregnant except to me and my husband. Now, I can only hide it under a bulky sweater or jacket. I look at least 5 (or more!) months pregnant with a singleton. I'm having a harder time getting used to it than I thought I would, but I'm definitely adjusting. I AM starting to worry about how much bigger I'm going to get, though!

I'm also holding out hope that we find somewhere to live sooner rather than later. Rentals in our town are dismal - anything for a reasonable price is a student rental in awful shape, anything nice costs more than a mortgage payment. And because of the awful real estate market, no one is selling (because there are always students to rent to). I am willing to move into a fixer-upper at this point - I'm just hoping I have time to actually do the fixing up after we move and before the babies come.

I still haven't done any baby shopping (although I bough some desperately needed maternity clothes). I can't believe how complicated everything is. I think I've narrowed down our carseat choices to a few, and we have to check and see if they'll fit in our Toyota Matrix (anyone have experience with this?), and I think we'll also get a Snap N Go stroller (maybe both a double and a single, so we can push one baby and carry one if we want). I want at least one babywearing option, but probably two (front slings and those backpack-type things) so I could carry both or we could each carry one. I'm also trying to decide on early sleeping arrangements - I'd like a co-sleeper, but I might also consider a pack n play or bassinet. I don't think we'll buy much in the way of swings or jumpers or whatever that stuff is until we need it - there's too much to buy up front as it is.

And I'm hoping to try cloth diapers, but that's dependent entirely on our living situation - running downstairs to our building's single shared washing machine and putting four quarters in for every single load of laundry will mean I won't want any extra laundry to do. And don't even get me started on the drier that, for the bargain price of $1, doesn't actually dry anything.

So that's the situation. We're hashing out names, looking forward to the midwife appointment and high-resolution ultrasound in 2 weeks, and getting through daily life a lot better than during the horrible first trimester. I'm THRILLED to finally be enjoying pregnancy instead of feeling miserable all the time.

And I'm REALLY REALLY excited that several of the bloggers I've been reading for some time are cautiously optimistic that their current cycles may have worked! That, for me, is the best news of all.

17 weeks!!!! (plus genders ...)

I had my 17 week OB appointment today, and it was fun! Actually, they didn't do much except an ultrasound and take a few growth measurements. Both babies are measuring perfectly for their gestational ages.

Oh yeah. And they told us the genders. I had Baby A and Baby B mixed up apparently. Baby B is on the right, and was the relatively laid-back and relaxed one ... and is definitely a BOY! I need a nickname - the husband wants "Elephant", but we'll see. His motives aren't exactly pure.

And Baby A is the one that was darting all over the place last time, on the left side, and is most likely (but not 100%) a GIRL! This is the one I was calling Tadpole (and my husband wants to call "Potato" for his own vulgar Italian reasons - yeah, not happening).

I'm so thrilled - I would have been perfectly fine with two boys or two girls (and still will be thrilled with two boys in case they have Baby A wrong), but this is the best of both worlds.

I'm not even going to bother putting up ultrasound pics because quite honestly, you can't see almost anything. I was amazed the doctor could read them, and so I'm really looking forward to my next Level II high resolution ultrasound, which will probably be my last clear look at the babies until they arrive.

I also think I might be feeling the first signs of movement, but it's really hard to tell. I just feel a gentle tapping near my belly button. Pretty cool. I can't wait to start feeling real movement.

Oh, and I've definitely been gaining weight - I'm up at least 10 pounds, although I don't know if my reading at the doctor was accurate, especially since I was wearing doc martins, which are rather heavy shoes. According to their scale, I'm up at least 11 pounds. Either way, I'm more or less on track. Whew!

Hope all is well in blogland.

16 weeks (almost)

I should be happy, but I am feeling a little down today.

Tomorrow, I am 16 weeks pregnant. As usual, it doesn’t seem like it could possibly be real, but it is. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve seen the beans (Tadpole and …?...), and I am anxious to see them again. My next appointment is next Wednesday, when I will be 17 weeks.

I haven’t really gotten good answers about the NT scan, and it’s frustrating me. No one told me I should get my blood test done first, so I didn’t have any of that ready when I went for the scan, and the genetic counselor said I would get my results from the OB’s office. I called and spoke with a nurse who said that some tests were negative (for being a carrier of a genetic defect) and others looked good. She didn’t seem to really understand what the tests meant, and that’s all I got. Shouldn’t I get something a little more concrete than that? I don’t know what to do about it. I have felt that my entire pregnancy, from the RE to the OB to the NT scan people, has been handled in a very laissez-faire way, and it’s starting to annoy me a bit.

My work conference went well, but I am exhausted. I am having a lot of trouble sleeping, and I’m not sure if it’s related to the pregnancy. I have always had a penchant for insomnia (lucky me) and it seems to be kicking in again. Right at a time when I really need my sleep.

Last, we put in a bid on the house we were really interested in, and we were outbid the same day. We even upped our bid quite a bit, and the other buyer’s bid was still higher. There are almost no houses available in our town (let me put it this way – in a $400,000 price range, there are about 10-15 houses total on the market). Anything good that comes on the market gets sold quickly, and if we try to bid, someone else always outbids us the same day (this isn’t the first time it’s happened). We really can’t stay in our apartment, at least not comfortably. We have nowhere to keep stuff like a stroller, a bike trailer for the babies, new furniture, toys, etc. Even if I do a major clean and cull, it won’t buy us that much more space. And it’s really old and dirty – the carpet needs to be replaced, among other things, and there’s no way the landlord will do that while we’re still living there (if at all). The chances of another decent home coming on the market in the next few months aren’t great, and I’m starting to feel a bit panicked.

I know I shouldn’t complain. I’m 16 weeks pregnant with twins, I have a roof over my head, a good job, a wonderful husband, enough to eat, and everything I really need in my life. I know I need to focus more on what I have in my life instead of what’s missing. Still, I think a nice, clean place to live is a reasonable request.

Only one more week until I see the little ones, and maybe find out the sexes, too! I’m so excited!

15 weeks

Like every week, I can’t believe where I am. I cannot believe I am three and a half months pregnant. Life is changing on an almost daily basis for me, and I am really excited even while I am missing some of my favorite things (like sushi!) in the meantime.

I have a definite belly bump now, although someone could still easily think I am just a bit overweight and carrying the extra in my belly. I think I have gained about 5 pounds. I still have some queasiness, but no more vomiting so far. My second cold of the season has faded to almost nothing and I’m crossing my fingers that I stay healthy now. A beautiful day of sunshine after two weeks of rain is doing a lot to improve my mood, too.

On the life front, things are mostly good. We’re looking at houses, and may have found one to make an offer on. It is next door to a park, but an inspection of go.ogl.e maps shows that part of the park, the part that shares a fence with the house, is parceled into a nice neat rectangle, and we’re wondering why. It would suck to buy a house on a park only to have an electric station or some other ugly thing go in next door. Otherwise, though, the house is beautiful and perfect for kids – 4 bedrooms and a huge loft, beautiful kitchen and living areas, plus a really nice yard. It’s ridiculously expensive, but we’re lucky that we can manage it. We could manage in our 2-bedroom apartment for a while, but it’s not very realistic – especially with no space to keep a stroller or anything else baby-related.

We’re looking at other purchases, although we won’t be actually buying anything for at least several months still. We’re guessing we’ll need a second car (in bike-friendly Davis, we’ve managed just fine sharing a car up until now), but I still want to get a jogging stroller that converts to a bike trailer for some of our jaunts downtown. Once we figure out where we’ll be living, we’ll have to start thinking about baby furniture, too. I haven’t thought much father than that, though – I don’t want to even think of buying any baby stuff until 20 weeks, and preferably not until after 24.

In two more weeks, we have an ultrasound at the OB. They don’t have a great machine, but I’m really hoping we can find out the genders. Then we can finally start having some real discussions about names and other plans. I’m very, very excited.

And tomorrow I leave for a four-day work conference, and I'll hopefully find out why I haven't been promoted yet, and if I ever will be. And if not - well, February just might be my last month at work.

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.

Mish mash

I feel like I have so much to write about, and at the same time I don't know what to write about. A lot of little blurbs and bits, and I know I have my NT pictures to post - I'll try to do that tomorrow.

I'm feeling very, very sad about Haiti. I don't know what to think about it. I hate that I am a "rich American" and feel like I am helping by throwing money at the problem - but on the other hand, I have no idea what else I could do. I read a book a while back about Dr. Paul Farmer, who has worked for years to alleviate suffering in many poor places in the world, but whose special focus was Haiti. The book is Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. The organization Dr. Farmer co-founded is Partners in Health, and they are accepting donations for Haiti - so if you want to make a donation but don't know which aid organizations are reputable, I would vouch for this one. And because they have been in Haiti for years, they already have the basic infrastructure to provide aid, so you know your donation will be well-used.

On the home front, I am doing well. The nausea has subsided for at least a few days, and I am trying to eat a lot. I even made it to the gym today, which I NEED to do to complete my knee surgery rehab. It's also a nice place to weigh myself, since I don't have a scale at home.

And that's how I know that at 14 weeks (minus one day) I STILL haven't really gained any weight - I'm up about 2-3 pounds, but my weight generally fluctuates and I'm not over the upper limit I usually set for my non-pregnant self.

Are there any women out there who are pregnant with twins or who have given birth to twins who can tell me if this is normal? Dr. Luke doesn't think so at all. I eat two breakfasts, lunch, and dinner, and at least one small afternoon snack. I never let myself get hungry (and if I do happen to get hungry, I eat right away). I haven't been working out, although I'm starting a low-level exercise routine for my knee and my cardiovascular health.

Other than that, the pregnancy seems to be going well. I'm getting lots of weird pains and cramps and stretching and pulling, but nothing that I'd consider a big deal. I have back-aches and pain that feels like sciatica, but thankfully it comes and goes quickly. I'm getting a bit more of a belly, especially after a big meal, but no one at work has noticed at all.

The other big exciting news in my life is that we're looking for a house. Which we've BEEN doing for about 3 years, but now at least we have a reason to need a house and a goal and even a sort of deadline, so we're feeling more motivated. Unfortunately, I live in one of the worst places for house-hunting and there's not much on the market at all, let alone something nice for a reasonable price. Considering my due date of July, the likelihood of babies arriving by the end of June, the need to move at least a month or two before that (April-May), and the need to put in an offer at least a month before that (March), we don't have a lot of time. I hope some stuff comes on the market in February!

So to recap - please consider helping the Haitians, pregnancy is going well except for weight gain, and we are hoping to find a house in a really unlikely market. Busy times!