It's Been A While - Updates From Trip and NT Scan

Sorry I've been a bit absent over the last couple of weeks.  Unfortunately, right before I went to Seattle I came down with the nastiest cold I've had in...I dunno, a decade.  Constant low-grade fever, horribly sore throat/loss of voice, terrible congestion, blowing and coughing up green gunk - the works.  I tried to hold out and just deal with it, but after about a week my sister told me I should consider getting antibiotics - she had just come down with the same thing and had it for a MONTH until she finally got antibiotics.  Luckily my OB's office said they could prescribe me some antibiotics that were safe to take, so I am finally just about over this thing, 2 weeks later!

However, being sick didn't dampen any of the joy I had in breaking the news to my family.  They were all overjoyed, and couldn't believe we were having twins!  It felt so nice to be able to finally share the news with them, it made everything seem much more real.  My mother is now obsessed with getting updates and making sure I'm eating enough.  This is the type of thing that would usually drive me crazy but somehow I'm just amused and touched.

Yesterday I went in for my NT Scan, and H and I got a really good look at the babies.  They both seem to be doing really well - measuring on track, strong heartbeats, and (for the first time) lots of movement!  They were jumping around, waving their arms, kicking - it was amazing to watch!  And you can really see their faces too, they aren't just little blobs anymore.  The u/s tech said she didn't see anything alarming in terms of the neck measurements.  I am hoping this means we are low risk, but we don't get the full results for another week and a half.  Here are a couple of pics from the ultrasound:

Aside from the cold, I'm doing pretty well.  I've gained a hefty 7 lbs already, so I think I'm well on my way to my 20 week weight gain goal!  I'm definitely showing too - it's partly a nice thick layer of fat on the tum, but there's no doubt the belly is pushing out as well.  Boobs continue to be huge and getting huger by the minute.  Nausea is pretty well under control - since I tend to only feel sick when I don't eat enough, I can manage it just fine (by eating and eating!)  Once in a while I'll have a food aversion, but I haven't thrown up yet - I feel really lucky in this.  However, I do have gas all the time - it's pretty embarrassing.  I'm not usually a burper, but the past week I managed to burp loudly into a conference call (luckily I don't think anyone heard me) and right in the middle of a play.  The guy next to me just gave me a look, and H started pissing himself laughing.  Man, you really have no dignity as a pregnant woman!

I have been quite tired this past week - usually during the day.  I find I need a nap at least once a day.  And I've been more crampy than usual - think the uterus is really stretching now.  I've started having anxiety dreams that mostly have to do with being underprepared - you know, realizing that you forgot to study for the test, send in that application, etc. etc.  Gee, I wonder why I'm having these dreams ;-)

I think we will be going public fairly soon.  I wanted to wait until after the NT Scan results, but we have a number of big social engagements this weekend, and I'm not sure I can really hide the bump.  I'm still waffling, but we may just come out with it, we'll see.  It will be fun to finally let friends in on the secret, although part of me is scared about jinxing the pregnancy by coming out too soon.

That's it for now.  I think I'm pretty caught up with most of your blogs, and generally things seem to be going fairly well, with a couple of disappointing exceptions.  I hope for all of you still waiting that you get your BFPs soon, soon, not a moment too soon.  Will be thinking of you ladies...

10 Weeks - Update

It's been a while since I've posted so I thought I'd write an update.  Things have been going pretty well in the last week and a half.  I bought a book on pregnancy with multiples and learned some interesting things about desired weight gain during the first and second trimesters.  The concept is that since almost all multiples are born preterm, the goal should be to get the birth weight of the babies up as much as possible before birth.  Because of the rise in multiples with IVF, doctors now have enough data to study pregnancy weight gain and it's effect on babies' ultimate birth weights.

The authors of the book maintain that the weight you gain in the first trimester is the most important to your babies ultimate weight and health, followed by second trimester weight gain (third trimester weight gain does little for the babies, according to them).  They also say that you need to gain a lot more weight than was previously recommended - like 40 - 56 lbs, instead of the 25 - 35 lbs that is recommended with a singleton.  Their view is that because multiple pregnancies used to be much rarer, the medical community didn't really have enough data to give appropriate recommendations in the past.

The general concepts in the book definitely make sense to me, although I am finding them daunting.  By 20 weeks I am supposed to have gained 20 lbs!  That seems pretty crazy to me, and I'm not sure given how small I am that I will get there.  But I am going to shoot for at least 15 lbs, as opposed to the 10 - 12 lbs that I was going for before.  I am trying to eat more substantial meals, with a higher amount of protein and fat than I was eating before.  And I think that in addition to making me fatter (which it definitely is!) I am also feeling less nauseous when I eat more.  Maybe some of the really bad nausea I had at 7 - 8 weeks was due to not eating enough substantial food?

In other news, I had an ultrasound this morning.  I was going to wait until the NT Scan, but I decided that I wanted one more before I went home and announced the news to my family.  Would be terrible to tell them and then find out something had gone wrong.  Because my OB's office only does monthly u/s, I did this one at a radiology lab.  It took forever, but we finally got the great news that both babies are doing well - very relieved, I had some lingering fears about Baby B.  Also exciting was the fact that they did the u/s on the belly for the first time!  No more vag cam for me!

I am also weaning pretty quickly off the meds - am down to one estrogen patch every other day and have stopped progesterone.  If my blood test results from today are good, hopefully I'll be able to stop everything.  I think getting off the progesterone has also helped with my fatigue and nausea somewhat - it didn't help me very much in that department.

I'm leaving on Wednesday for my trip home - am so excited to tell my family, it's going to make everything seem so much more real.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week and that there is nothing but good news while I'm gone.  Off to eat dinner!