They are girls!

Yes, I know that it is a ridiculous title considering everyone that reads this blog already knows this, but I might as well put it down in the blog. 

Since my last post, I have had a doctor's appointment (which turned into another appointment with the nurse practitioner) and two ultrasounds.  I came away from the doctor's office feeling pretty annoyed for lots of little reasons that really didn't matter all that much in the end, but the ultrasounds were great.  Both ultrasounds confirmed what we had been told earlier.  We are in fact expecting two girls.  That has taken some getting used to in my mind.  After 4 boys, I am finding it hard to really believe that I have daughters.  I have also had my cervical length checked twice.  The first time it was checked in a way that wasn't very accurate, but the second check at the high-risk OB was done well.  The high-risk doctor wanted to know if I was proud of my "rock-star" cervix (his words, not mine).  I think I am withholding judgement until later.  They want me to be seen every two weeks for a cervical length check and every four weeks for a growth check on the babies.  I am going to have these done at the high-risk doctor.  It means more driving, but I feel more comfortable with their ability to catch any problems if they develop.  I will continue to see my regular OB for my normal prenatal visits.

I had a really busy weekend last weekend.  I managed to sort and put away all the clothes given to me by my best friend for the girls.  This may sound like a small task, but considering she had enough clothes to outfit a small army of babies, it took me awhile.  Now, I am on to working on the room.  I am going to try to find the paint color this weekend.  I also managed to finish my registry, go to a baby dedication, baby-sit 10 kids (with help from my brother and sister-in-law), go to a game night, and finish my taxes.  The taxes were a little more difficult to do this year.  This is mainly because we could claim two of the triplets as dependents.  It was hard to put them on there, and hard to only be able to put two of them on there.  I was using a tax program that asked me how long they had lived with us.  I wasn't sure what to do so I clicked on an explanation box.  In it, it explained what to do if your child had died, or was kidnapped, or if there was a divorce.  It was a sad box full of painful situations.  Of course I was not off the hook yet. One of my students asked me on Tuesday what I had done over the weekend.  I told him that I had done my taxes.  My student in an off-handed way asked if I had claimed a bunch of dependents that I didn't have in order to get a better return.  He doesn't know about the triplets.

I will leave you with some pictures of the babies.

Baby A Face

Baby B Face

Baby A Profile

Baby A with hands in front of face

Baby A hand

Christmas, New Year's, and an Update on the Twins

I don't have any picture to post of the holidays.  I manged not to pick up a camera at anytime during my break, and my husband who works at a camera store surprisingly takes few pictures these days.  I spent most of my break trying to enjoy myself and just trying to get through it.  I really wasn't sure how I would handle the holidays this year.  Christmas overall was easier than I thought it was going to be.  There were some hard moments as I watched several babies experience their first Christmas.  It was also difficult that no one mentioned or referred to the boys all day, not even some family members that I have not seen since or talked to since last Christmas.  I was actually more worried about how New Year's Eve would go.  Gabriel was born in 2004, and by 2005, we were trying for a second child.  That New Year's Eve as the ball dropped, I told myself that I would surely get pregnant in the new year.  I said it again at the end of 2006, 2007,  and 2008.  I finally did get pregnant in 2009, and last year with the triplets I was finally able to say that I would have children in the coming year.  This year, I didn't say anything to myself.  I don't know if I am just too scared to say it, or if I have finally accepted that they are only here on loan and it is not my decision as to how long.

I have been struggling to talk about them being here next summer.  It feels weird to me sometimes when people talk about them as a done deal while I am just waiting for the first problem to show up.  Apparently, I am not alone in this.  A couple of weeks ago as Gabriel and I left church, a baby was crying, and Gabriel told me that the baby should stop because it was being loud.  I told Gabriel that he needed to get used to the noise because we would have two babies in the house this summer.  He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "If they are alive."  He wasn't trying to be mean.  This is just his reality.  I did finally buy car seats for the twins.  I heard of another couple with twins selling theirs, and I couldn't pass up the price.  We are also going to be buying one of the cribs soon because we have a good coupon on furniture. 

I have had a couple of appointments since my last post.  I finally got to meet my doctor.  She did not seem as concerned about pre-term labor as the nurse practitioner did so I don't have to do a cerclage.  She was worried about whether the twins were on two separate placentas on not.  I thought that had been well established by my fertility doctor, but the report he sent her just said separate sacs, and she did not have copies of the earlier ultrasounds.  She decided to send me to a high-risk doctor for a more in-depth ultrasound.  The new ultrasound showed what looked to be one placenta on the back, but there were other signs the the twins were actually on two different ones.  They believe now that the two have just fused together.  I go back for my anatomy ultrasound on the 21st of February.  Hopefully, we will definitely be able to find out the genders by then.  The technician believes that they might possibly be two girls, but it was early so we will see.

Please, pray for my friend April.  She lost her baby this week after many weeks of bed rest.  I know the pain that she is going through right now.    Pray that she will be able to find peace with God's plan for her life.  I hope that Gad has more children planned for them because she is and will be a wonderful mother.

A sister's gift

Very shortly after I found out that I was pregnant, my sister asked me if she could create a blog that told the story of this pregnancy in pictures.  I was a little speechless when she asked and a little afraid to say yes.  I don't consider myself photogenic so I avoid being in photos.  I would have to put that aside if I was going to do this.  I decided in the end to do it though.  It has been a little strange asking permission to get certain photos.  The lab tech who drew my blood looked at us like we were crazy when we asked, and I am sure that my fertility doctor was thinking the same thing.  I am hoping that my new OB will be open to Melissa possibly coming in as well.   The new blog is here: http://amoxleybaby.blogspot.com/ .  I will also be putting it as one of the links along the side of my page.  Melissa has added some comments with some photos in case just the picture was confusing.  Make sure you go all the way to the beginning post and follow from there.

Twins

It is twins for us.  Ever since I found out, I have been both less nervous and more nervous.  Less nervous because the risk of carrying twins is far lower than the risk of carrying triplets.  Also, we do not have any babies sharing the same placenta (the twins are fraternal).  More nervous because I don't know what to expect this time.  That may seem funny since I certainly didn't know what to expect with the triplets either, but I really didn't have to.  Last year, I was seen by a doctor every week of my pregnancy from 7 weeks on.  Not only was I seen, but I had an ultrasound as well.  This time that is not going to happen.  I have an appointment scheduled with a new doctor, but it is not for another 3 weeks.  I have found out that it is going to be with the nurse practitioner instead of the doctor.  I am really interested to see what I am going to find out at this appointment.  How often are they going to see me?  Will I have more ultrasounds that a singleton pregnancy?  Are they going to try to use Doppler to find both babies' heartbeats at each appointment?  Will they do an ultrasound each time if they cannot find one of the heartbeats on Doppler?  Will they keep a closer eye on my cervix length this time since I know have a history of premature labor and birth?  I will have to wait for these answers.   

Crocidiles, Tigers, and Blessings

The problem with ignoring your blog for so long is that you don't know where to start when you come back.  I have written many post in my head over these last few weeks.  They were witty, topical, and sometimes even moving.  I am sure this post will be none of those.  My thoughts on my anniversary and Halloween will have to wait for next year as neither seem appropriate three weeks later.  I do have a few other odds and ends to share.

Although this is late as well, I thought you would enjoy another chance to laugh at my crafting skills.  Gabriel's school has the students make and wear hats to represent a vocabulary word for their fall parties.  Gabriel chose his word from a list, and I set about trying to bring it to life.  I will leave it to you to guess at the word...when you are finished laughing at it of course.

When Gabriel was young, we went to the zoo as a family.  My parents bought him and my niece a stuffed tiger at the gift store.  Recently, I have been finding the tiger (who is of course named Tiger) in the closet in Gabriel's room.  I asked Gabriel why I kept finding him in there instead of in his stuffed animal bin.  He said that the tiger was coming to life and saying mean things to him in the night.  This is not the first time that Tiger has stirred up trouble.  Shortly after we first got him, we would put Gabriel to bed with Tiger to sleep with.  All would be quiet until Gabriel would open his door sometime later, throw Tiger into the hall, and close the door to go back to bed.  In the last week, I have been finding Dolphin in the closet too.  I wonder what he did wrong.

Lastly, I think most of you who look at this blog already know this, but if you don't and you have been waiting patiently in suspense, I am pregnant.  Those words don't really seem like a reality to me right now.  I am trying to wait for my ultrasound, which will be on the 30th, before I really let myself really absorb that.  My levels were high again.  That could mean nothing, or it could mean that I am pregnant with twins or triplets.  I will reserve further comment about  how I feel about that until I know whether I should be using the plural or not.

So Different

This IVF cycle has been so different than last year.  Last year the cycle went without a hitch.  Everything was easy.  This time around things have been so much harder.  It didn't help that I got a cold during my first week of stimulation.  It also didn't help that I had to put my injections at 5 in the morning and at 9:15 at night because this was the latest and the earliest that I was assured to be home every day.  This trend continued with my egg retrieval surgery yesterday.  Last year, I felt fine both going into the surgery and out of it.  This year, it was a horrible day.  From the moment I woke up, I was having symptoms of a stomach bug.  I don't get stomach bugs often, and I was pretty sure that this was all hormonally induced.  That didn't help my pride as I threw up in a garbage can in the parking garage of the hospital.  I also got sick right before surgery and on the way home.  It was also harder emotionally.  The nurse came in to put in IV.  She chose the one spot I didn't want her to choose.  The scar on my hand from where the IV was the day the boys were born.  I am a hard stick so I didn't say anything to her when she choose this spot.  Then the anesthesiologist came in.  He wanted to know if I had ever had this procedure before.  Yes, last year.  He of course assumed that it wasn't successful then so I felt the need to explain to that it was and why we were back.  After we got home, things were not much better.  I spent the rest of the day on the couch between sleep and pain.  Every time I tried to get up, I would feel like I was going to faint.  Today has been much better though.  The transfer will be next Wednesday.

Holding Pattern

Last year, I stimulated too fast during my IVF cycle.  My egg retrieval had to be moved up a day, and I stopped my injections early.  In light of that, my doctor decided to give me much smaller doses of medication this time.  Unfortunately, now I am stimulating too slow.  I was supposed to have surgery on Wednesday, but now it looks like it will be Friday at the earliest.  This will also move back my transfer next week from Monday to Wednesday.  I am trying to see the benefits of this new plan, but I ready for this section to be over.  Simulation days require three injections a day, and I have to travel to across town every other day to be monitored by ultrasound.  Today, the alarm went off at 4:45 so I could do my first injection, get ready, drive to the north side of town, get my blood drawn, check my progress by ultrasound, and drive to the west side of town for work.  I was at work by 7:15.  I go back again on Wednesday.  Hopefully, I will get the green light for surgery.  Then, my stomach may get a break for awhile.  Watch out glutes.  It is your turn next.