Thursday, May 22, 2014

14 Weeks Along

Lily                                                   Twins

Wow. Look at the difference. Oh how young I looked when pregnant with Lily. It seems so long ago. I was 33 years old when pregnant with Lily in 2011 and now, 36 with the twins. I'm older, wiser, and a stronger woman than I ever thought I was back in 2011. I've been through a natural birth. The kind of birth most women are scared of. The kind that requires strength and courage. The kind that is excruciatingly painful but worth it. Now I know I can do anything because nothing will be as hard as giving birth to an 8lb, 2oz baby without any drugs... except maybe giving birth to two at once.

Twins. Look how much bigger I am at 9 weeks, at 12. Of course it has to be because there are two in there. Two. I'm still trying to get used to that. We found out through a chromosomal blood test last week that we are having at least one boy! A BOY!! Woohoo! Dan's very excited 'cause he gets to carry on the Gorman name on the East Coast (his brother has two boys out in California)! They can only tell one and not the other because it's a blood test. If they didn't detect a Y chromosome, we would be having two girls, but they did detect a Y chromosome.  Unfortunately they can't tell if there's two boys and they can't differentiate between my chromosomes if the other is a girl. So we will have to wait to see on an ultrasound what the other is. That's OK though, it gives us something else to look forward to. 

I've been feeling kicks every once in a while. The first time I felt it was on Mother's Day. What a great way for them to tell me "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!" I thought it was strange being so early, but my OB says it could be because there are two or because I know what kicks feel like. Most first time pregnant woman can't tell the difference between kicks and bodily functions - like gas. Well, when you get jabbed like someone is taking a finger and poking you really hard but from the inside, I'm sure that isn't gas!

Hmm. What else has been going on? 


I designed this to go on a t-shirt for Lily to wear at our House Warming Party we had last Saturday. Unfortunately, I couldn't hide the fact that my belly looks like I swallowed a basketball, so the shirt felt kinda pointless. Plus, people didn't really see it. Lily was running around and when they did get a chance to see it, it didn't really make the impact I was hoping for. I don't think everyone got the "Membership Expires" part. Oh well. I still like the idea of it.

I guess I'll leave it at that for this week. Hope you all have a Happy Memorial Day weekend and just remember what/who we really should be celebrating on Monday... Our troops!


Monday, May 19, 2014

Testing the Tube: A New Journey

As many of you know by now, we are pregnant with babies #2 & 3! That's right, TWINS!! EEEKKKK! This more than makes up for our 5 failed attempts at conceiving last year. For those of you who are interested, this post is the story of how we got pregnant.

We started the IVF (in-vitro fertilization) process January 8th. It was quite different from doing IUI's (intro-uterine insemination) which we had done to get our Lily. I had a thought the other day that Lily, even though we had to do an IUI to have her, she still was conceived "inside" of me. Meaning, the sperm found my egg and the whole fertilization process was done inside my body as if I actually got pregnant by having sex. TMI? Sorry. But baby #2 will be a "test tube baby." I don't like that title, but that's basically what he or she will be. My egg floats around in a petri dish and Dan's sperm will be placed in the dish to find it's way to the egg OR the sperm will be ejected directly into the egg with a process called ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection). Once fertilization happens, the now embryo, will be placed back inside of me to hopefully implant itself into my uterine wall. How amazing is it that we live in an age where this is a new normal for people who can't conceive naturally?

All together, it took 9 weeks from the start of the process to the end when we found out that we were pregnant. What a long journey but definitely worth it.

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I was on 10 medications with the IVF process:

Medication #1: The Pill - Started 1/10/14 ... Ended 1/30/14

True that the pill is used to prevent pregnancy, but it also has a greater function for those who will be doing IVF. The Pill will stop my follicles from growing eggs. This is important because we need a lot of eggs to grow all at once for the best chance of egg retrieval.

Side effects? A little moodiness.

Medication #2: Lupron - Started 1/26/14 ... Ended 2/24/14

Lupron (leuprolide acetate) prevents ovulation in order to control the timing of IVF or artificial insemination. I started taking Lupron 2 1/2 weeks after the start of my cycle. It is taken as an injection in my abdomen.

Side effects? It has been giving me major headaches at night and upset stomach. Luckily, once I started the next 2 meds on my list, I went down in the dosage amount of Lupron...which helped ease the headaches and stomach issues.

Medication #3: Menopur - Started 2/9/14 ... Ended 2/23/14

 This is used to stimulate the development of multiple eggs and is injected in my abdomen.

Side effects? Well, besides the horrible burning sensation I get from injecting it into my stomach, I would say moodiness is a major side effect.

Medication #4: Gonal-F - Started 2/9/14 ... Ended 2/24/14

This is a human follicle stimulating hormone that gets injected in my abdomen. I take this in conjunction with the Lupron and Menopur. 

Side effects? Moodiness.

Medication #5: Ovidrel - Started 2/25/14 ... one dose only

Another injection in my abdomen, Ovidrel stimulates the release of the egg during ovulation. I only take this once.

Medication #6: Dostinex - Started 2/27/14...Ended 3/4/14

This was used to prevent Ovarian Hyper-Stimulation Syndrome (OHSS). I had a lot of follicles so they didn't want to take any chances.

Medication #7: Doxycycline - Started 2/26/14...Ended 3/4/14

This antibiotic pill will be taken 2 times a day for 7 days starting the night before they retrieve my eggs. We don't want an infection!

Medication #8: Methylprednisolone - Started 2/27/14...Ended 3/4/14

I take this pill once a day for 6 days the night of the egg retrieval. It is used to relieve inflammation.

Medication #9: Crinone - Started 3/1/14...Ended 4/24/14

This coats the vaginal tissues to provide long-lasting release of progesterone. I'll be taking this once a day. I will continue to take this for the 2 week wait and if I am pregnant, I keep taking it until week 10 of my pregnancy.

Medication #10: Estradiol - Started 3/8/14...Ended 3/17/14

Making sure the estrogen levels are where they need to be, I will be taking this pill 2 times a day.

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As you may have guessed from reading all the injectables I needed to take, my abdomen looked like a drug addicts arm with all the puncture marks and bruises. Not pretty.

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The Retrieval Process

On 2/27/14 I went in to my fertility doctor's office at 7:30 am. I was put under local anesthesia for this procedure.

I had a total of 16 eggs retrieved. Out of those eggs, 9 were able to be fertilized. 2 were chosen to be placed back inside of me. Out of the 7 remaining embryos, 3 survived to the freezing process for that just in case we need them scenario.

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The Transfer Process

On 3/4/14 I went in to my fertility doctor's office at 8:45 am. I went in with a full bladder, the 2 embryos got injected inside of my uterus at precisely the spot where they will need to implant themselves, I stayed laying down for 30 minutes, I went home to wait.

I was a 5-day transfer, meaning the 2 embryos that were placed inside of me already made it to the blastocyst stage. This is a good thing because it means that they were stronger and more likely to survive. Now they just need to attach to my uterine lining.

Here's an outline of what is happening when everything goes according to plan.

5-Day Transfer

Days Past
Transfer (DPT)
Embryo Development
OneThe blastocyst begins to hatch out of its shell
TwoThe blastocyst continues to hatch out of its shell and begins to attach itself to the uterus
ThreeThe blastocyst attaches deeper into the uterine lining, beginning implantation
FourImplantation continues
FiveImplantation is complete, cells that will eventually become the placenta and fetus have begun to develop
SixHuman chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) starts to enter the blood stream
SevenFetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
EightFetal development continues and hCG continues to be secreted
NineLevels of hCG are now high enough to detect a pregnancy

                                                                                                                                                           Taken from nyufertilitycenter.org

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The 2 Week Wait

Once I got home, I was put on strict bed rest for 48 hours.  After that I was on restricted activity for the dreaded 2 week wait. That meant no lifting heavy objects. Hmm? What about Lily? Yes, she is a heavy object and I was very limited by how I could lift her if needed (in and out of the crib only).

The 2 week waiting period to find out if all the work to get pregnant was a success was so dreadful. I just wanted to know already!!!! During that time I was going in for blood work to make sure my hormone levels looked good.

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Our Wait Is Over

On 3/12/14 we got our answer to whether this whole lengthy process worked. We didn't have to wait the full 2 weeks to get the call that informed us of our future... We are pregnant!

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Our 1st Ultrasound

On 3/19/14 Dan and I went in for our 1st ultrasound to make sure everything was looking good. We were very curious to find out if just one embryo made it or both. We got our answer - BOTH took and we are having twins. Wow. The first thought was, "We need a bigger car." Oh boy. We are going to be a family of 5!

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Our 2nd Ultrasound

On 3/27/14 Dan and I went back to our fertility doctor to hear the heartbeats. This was nerve racking. With everything that we have been through from our very first pregnancy back in 2009 to now, we have always been very cautious...or at least I have been. No need to worry right now though, we heard two healthy heartbeats!


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Our 3rd & Final Ultrasound With Our Fertility Doctor

On 4/3/14 I went in for my last ultrasound with our fertility doctor. This time, my sister Kristene came along to videotape so Dan could see when he got home from work. Again, we heard two beautiful, healthy heartbeats! 

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Now our journey to being a family of 5 really begins. Stay tuned!