Never gets old

Yesterday I had an ultrasound and it was pretty neat. I brought the kids along with and believe it or not Brayden was much more into it than Harmony. They both got bored pretty quickly when she started to measure the brains, leg bones, tummies, etc. They did think it was pretty darn cool to see them moving around in there and we saw baby girl waving and doing what looked like a fist pump but the best part of it was when baby boy looked to be doing baby squats. It was hilarious, up and down and up and down probably 5 or 6 times. She took a pic that I am posting. Its of the back of him, no head but baby back, legs and lil teeny baby boy butt. Super cute, I just wanna pinch it! :-)
Matt says I need to eat more cuz baby is too skinny, I said that’s prob why he was doing squats. He is obviously Matts son. I have plenty of fat he can take and considering he weighs about 10 oz, he looks pretty good :-)
Baby girls pic is of her being all cute and cuddled up, hands in front of face, legs crossed just like a lady. Its hard to see since they are 4d pics.
I am just shy of 19 weeks now and have another u/s next week that Matt will be able to come to. They are also doing “genetic counseling” with us which I think is ridiculous. Little late for that, dontcha think?!?!? I am not gonna let them sit and tell me all the things that “could” be wrong since we chose to be pregnant “at my age” but I will allow them to tell me what type of tests my kids should have since I have 4 mutated genes that I can pass to them. Any reason to go and see the babies again tho. This is the OB’s gender u/s..... I wont tell them that we already know....shhhhh.

The flood gates have opened and I have started buying.... watch out checkbook! I buy at least one package of diapers and wipes each week, sometimes 2 if it’s a good sale and looking at clothes but harder to buy those not knowing if they will be super little or “normal size” so only bought a few super cute things on clearance so far. I have a girlfriend that had twins 4 months ago and they are on a preemie formula - she is spending $100 each week on formula so I am hoping that I can BF a lil bit, to off set some of that cost. With buying diapers and wipes each week I hope that will help too when the babies come and I am not working.

Not sure how much longer I will be working either. Specialist says all ok for now as long as I continue to do what I am doing, which is pretty much nothing. I go see them every other week and so each time I will know whether or not I have another 2 weeks to work. No tears or bleeding **knock on wood** as of now so that is good too. Blood flow is perfect so i can stay on the the lower dose of lovenox injections and i am completely off the progesterone AND the steroid. Being off the steroid is nice, the acne seems to be clearing up but i think thats where a lot of the pain is coming from. I think i could bathe in Tylenol and still be unable to get up and walk w/out pain. Oh well.... NO complaining here.... wanted this and so happy to have it!!!

I like things even

I have been like that since I can remember. Even numbers of things, cept my fav number of 3 (dont ask), things stacked in the cupboard evenly, etc. We have a son, a daughter, a girl dog, a boy dog and now we have another girl and boy on the way! Brayden seems to have my "even issue" cuz when he was told, he said "cool, now things will still be even in the house".

I think we will need to get another Guinea Pig in the female form tho since Rocky is messing up the "even-steven-ness" that we have going on :-)

I would have been happy with whatever we were having but I was really holding out for at least one girl and how fun would TWO twincesses be???? But I also really wanted Matt to be able to have a son. I know how important that seems to be to men. We have struggled so long and pushed so hard for this and it still doesnt seem real, maybe when I go into labor or am actually holding 2 healthy babies, I'm not quite sure when it will hit me.

Matt wants each of us to name one baby and the baby we dont name we name the middle name.... sounds fair, but I would really rather just agree on names, i mean, we are adults, we should be able to find 4 names that we both like, right? LOL, yeah, with Matt and I, that is not an easy thing to do.

The tech was funny yesterday cuz Baby "A" (the boy) was showing his stuff no problem and she really really needed to look and search for the sex of Baby "B" (as the tech put it "not a boy"), she being a lil more modest. Makes sense, Brayden still would walk around naked and show off his stuff if we let him.

Back to life, back to reality....

Fridays u/s went well and I was released to go to Disney - only if I stayed in a wheelchair. I was a lil annoyed by that but by the 3rd day I sure was grateful for that thing!
Disney was great - way too short - but great. I love that the kids are fun to be around now and are willing to go on rides (for the most part).
I figured I would toss a pic of here of my growing belly. Yow-za, I thought my 10 week belly bump was big..... it was nothing!
I took this today (yes, in the bathroom) and i think i am in my 16th week now. Maybe the 15th tho, cant keep that straight.
Feeling ok, weaning off the steroids so I assume that is why my joints hurt. Hoping the puffiness and acne will go along with the steroids tho.
Still on modified bedrest, that will continue until strict bedrest comes - hopefully later rather than sooner.
We are hoping the less I do now the longer I will be able to work. Makes sense, right? :-)

Anxiously awaiting the Disney trip...... got the braces off, getting my hair done Wed after work and new contacts on Thursday......
Seeing the babies never gets old, I got to see them yesterday and will go back again on Friday afternoon. Love that!
I have also gotten to decrease my prednasone dose and will continue to do that until i am on 5mg and then i think they park me there for awhile but not sure. But I am really hoping some of this puffiness and ance will leave along with the prednasone - good lord! Ive only gained 6 or 7 pounds so i know that my face being all fat isnt from the weight gain!
Babies are looking good, measuring 3 and 4 days ahead and she said that is normal. They have everything where it needs to be and are the size of a large orange now. I'm hoping we can find out if they are boys/girls or one of each very soon. Looking forward to being able to call them him/her. Makes it much more real once you can call them a name, however, they will prob be nameless children since Matt and I will never agree on names.

Trying to keep up with all the appointments!

Last week I was in IL twice, this week I was there once already and to the OB already and will have a treatment at my old RE’s office on Thursday morning. Next week I will be getting braces off, to IL twice and to the eye doctor. Phew, Im exhausted already! I do love seeing those babies tho :-)
So...... babies are doing well and growing like crazy which is wonderful! I started weaning off the steroids and soon the progesterone. The Blood flow is still a concern for baby A, when I am on the lovenox its perfect for both babies, but if I am bleeding or spotting I cant take the lovenox and baby A’s blood flow gets all screwy so then back on the lovenox and prob another tear. Kinda goes hand and hand I suppose. I really hope some of this bloating and puffiness will leave with the weaning of the steroids. I may be able to go off the metformin as well, yay, less pills to swallow down each day!
OB was able to find the HB’s right away this time and I am measuring at 17 weeks and am 13 weeks, I guess that is normal for twin pregnancy tho.
Wasn’t able to get anymore 3D pics of the babies, they move around way too much now. She said you cant get a good 3D or 4D picture when they are this active.
Tech at the specialist also said she was gonna try and check gender next Friday but she wasnt sure that she would be able to see anything. I am 13 weeks now and she said sometimes at 14 weeks they can tell but that the next week would be easier. Then my OB will do another scan in between 18-20 weeks for gender and to measure all the limbs and check the organs. Love having all these u/s’s!
Looking forward to the Disney Vacation!

Follow up appointment

My specialist in IL didn’t want met to wait to come in on Thursday so she had another doc scan me at their office this morning. She took me off the Lovenox completely when I started to bleed a week ago Sunday.
I haven’t bleed **knock on wood** or had any brown yuck for at least 3 days, yay! However, there is a bleed that has not started to clot just yet, which makes me think it’s a NEW bleed - why wouldn’t I be bleeding from that if it was the same one? Who knows.
What I do know is that the blood flow to one of the babies is not the best, not where they want it so I will need to go back on the blood thinner injections but they don’t want me to if I am bleeding or have a “bleed”..... tricky stuff there. So now I am just waiting on the docs call to see what the next plan is. The doc that scanned me said that she would want me back in 3 days for another scan, great, more time off of work and another 2.5 hours in the car! Sure do love seeing those babies tho, so I guess there is always a pay off when I go out there :-)

They have lowered my steroid pill to 25/day instead of the 30 and hoping we can go down again real soon. I’m getting super “puffy” in the face and the acne is killing me! Plus she had said she wanted me off by 12 weeks..... I’m 12 weeks now..... whoops!
Im also hoping to be able to cut back or go off the progesterone but we shall see about that. With the bleeding and the “bleeds” in the uterus I don’t think me getting off progesterone is their main concern right now.
They don’t want me at work but since I sit all day and take the elevator they ok’d me as long as I wasn’t actively bleeding so that is good.
The babies were moving around today and it was pretty darn cool to see. A few weeks ago baby B twitched while we had an u/s but tech said it wasn’t voluntary and now the babies are moving cuz they wanna. Pretty neat to watch them bop around in there. Once it looked like they did a “head-butt” but obviously since they have their own sacs it isn’t possible but sure looked that way.

Had a minor panic, freak out over the last few days but glad I was able to keep it under control for the most part.
I am just now getting used to being pregnant and talking about the future with these babies as part of our family and then Mothers Day crept up on me. Last Mothers Day I got “the call” that my numbers had gone down (after progressing very nicely twice) and that I would miscarry yet again. Was a hard call on any day but it was a lil extra cruel on that day. I was able to enjoy the day because of family, the hubs and the 2 children that I have but not before I cried and lost my mind first. It was not cool. So remembering that made me freak a lil bit. Remembering how painful it was sent me into a tizzy thinking about how this could end up the same. I kept it under control and enjoyed the weekend! Of course I know that things don’t have to end up the same each time and that we are ok but being rational doesn’t really come into your mind when you are having a panic attack. Too bad cuz I’m pretty sure that would stop them. Oh well, learning to live with them and getting better at not letting them get out of control so that is good.

I would have rather peed myself

**Things I never thought I would say**
Sunday I stood up from the couch and felt a gush...... thought to myself "did you just pee yourself, please let me have peed myself". But I didn't, it was blood and I freaked. Obviously.
Went over to ER and after 2 HOURS they finally gave me an u/s to see if the babies were ok. Ugh, 2 hours. Why would they take my blood, blood pressure, temp, do a pap, etc THEN check for heartbeats? What would any of that matter if they were gone? Whatever, I wasn't in my right mind otherwise I would have asked.
Both babies were there snug in my uterus and moving around with heartbeats, thank goodness! Heartrates were great and they labeled me as a "threatened miscarriage" and a subchorionic bleed. Which from what i can understand is when the placenta tears away from the uterus and bleeds. They don't know why people get them and there is nothing you can do to cause them or keep them away. Some of the "lucky ones" just get to have them. Lucky me.
I was put on modified bed rest with no work until I could see the doctor. I saw my regular OB and the nurse over at old RE's yesterday and babies were still good. I was told I could come to work 2day but to use the elevator, etc.
I guess what you need to be careful with these is making them bigger. They can go away on their own and cause no issues at all but if they get bigger instead of smaller then they will make you miscarry. So if I wasn't on "light duty" before I sure as hell am now.
Every cramp makes me think but I am trying to stay positive. The specialist said this could happen cuz of the blood thinner injections so this was not a complete shock - just didn't want it to happen. Would have rather have been the person who didn't bleed while pregnant and on blood thinner - wishful thinking I suppose.