Emergency Room Visit

Last night was scary....VERY scary.

At about 9:30, I felt just "off." I can't explain it other than just "off." I'm sure everyone has felt that way before and know exactly what I'm talking about.

I went to the bathroom and before I knew it, I was bleeding.....I mean BLEEDING. Red, lots of it and with clots. (Sorry if too much information for some of the guys out there. :) )

I ran out of the bathroom and told Adam I was bleeding....not spotting.....bleeding. I started bawling and felt so nauseas, it took everything in me not to puke. Adam was pretty panicked too so we called the on call nurse at CCRM. She told me that believe it or not, there were several reasons I could be bleeding, but it didn't necessarily mean I was miscarrying. The only comforting thing I had, was I did not have any major cramping as I had with my other 2 miscarriages. She said we should just lay down, get off my feet, go to sleep and go in for my scheduled appointment the following morning. Yeah right. She also said that if we were really stressed out, we could go to the ER....which is what we did.

We got to the ER about 10:30 last night and got home around 2am. They did a pelvic exam to make sure my cervix was still closed...which it was, so that was good. They also did bloodwork which came back fine and what felt like a million years later, they did an ultrasound. They did the ultrasound and said the babies looked fine and had strong heartbeats, but they could not locate the source of the bleeding. That made us feel much better that the babies seemed to be completely oblivious to the drama that was unfolding around them. Little stinkers, giving Mommy and Daddy a heart attack.....I'm sure it won't be the first time. :)

Anyway, we came home, still nervous, but feeling better that the babies seemed fine....until this morning. The hospital faxed over the results from my ultrasound last night so I could take it with me to my appointment this morning. The measurements the u/s tech took showed that one of the babies was measuring a week behind where it should be. It said baby A had a heart rate of 167 bpm (good) and it was measuring 6 weeks 5 day....(not good, should be 7 weeks 3 days)......and baby B had a heartrate of 189 bpm (also good)....but measuring 7 weeks 1 day...should be 7 weeks 4 days. Panicked again, I called CCRM and since I was going in for bloodwork this morning anyway, they ordered another ultrasound.

I am SO glad they did the ultrasound. They explained that the ER ultrasound techs are not usually as thorough as they are and have been known to "mis-measure" the babies. This turned out to be true. My ultrasound this morning showed the following:

Baby A: 163 bpm (strong heartbeat) and measuring 7 weeks 3 days (right on track)
Baby B: 169 bpm (strong heartbeat) and measuring 7 weeks 6 days (a little AHEAD of schedule)

BOTH looked GREAT! Here is the new picture:


They've definitely gotten a lot bigger than their last picture. :)

They still can't locate the source of the bleeding and it seems to be tapering off now, but still there. My u/s tech this morning said that I do have some pockets of blood near my cervix, so to expect more bleeding over the weekend, but as freaked out as it will make us, just remind myself it's not coming from the babies. Ugh. The cause is still unknown.

My Dr. has officially put me on partial bedrest at least through the weekend and maybe through next week. I have my next OBGYN appointment on Wednesday.

So that's we're at....still needing lots of prayers and good thoughts for our precious babies!

On another note, I had my first dream about the genders last night and dreamt of a baby girl and a baby boy.......so we'll see. :)

Thanks for ALWAYS being there for us!

We love you all and appreciate your prayers and support more than we could ever tell you!

Love,
T & A (and our 2 little buns.......little stinkers :) )

First Ultrasound Pic - 6 weeks!

This is the first picture of our TWINS!!!!!

I was nervous about my spotting yesterday, so I talked to my nurse from CCRM and she said we could have our ultrasound this morning instead of waiting until Friday! :)

We were SO nervous going into the u/s this morning.....I felt like dead man walking. (I know.... a little dramatic) I honestly thought something was going to be wrong and was trying to accept it.

The nurses there were wonderful as always and greeted me with a hug and a lot of reassurances. We went into the room, Adam started to sweat and it felt like everything was in slow motion as she started the ultrasound. She knew we were so nervous and apparently we were making her nervous too because she's gotten so close to us.

She told us she wanted to look at the screen first and assess everything. She studied the screen for about 30 seconds.....which felt like an hour to us. She told us that she doesn't normally get emotional with patients because they're trained to disconnect themselves.......well, she started welling up with tears and turned the screen and said "everything looks perfect and congratulations, it's twins." I started crying and Adam got pretty choked up. She showed us the flickering lights on the screen which were their little hearts beating away. It was an amazing site and I couldn't stop crying with happy tears.

Baby A (on the left in the pic) is measuring right on schedule at 6 weeks 1 day with a heart rate of 122 and Baby B is measuring 6 weeks with a heart rate of 115. She said everything looked as good as it possibly could for this early in the pregnancy and that the heart rates would get faster and faster as the pregnancy progresses.

She also found a small sub-chorionic tear which she said is causing my spotting. Apparently it's very common in twin pregnancies and is no threat to the babies.

Our due date is December 20th because it's twins, but she said they could basically come at any time during the month of December.

My estradiol level is 1,038 today which is good. They like it to be over 300, so they are changing my patches to 3 every other day, as opposed to 4.

My progesterone was 11.8, so I am still on the same dosages of progesterone.

I go back for more bloodwork on Thursday, but they didn't mention my next ultrasound. I will probably find out on Thursday.

I can't imagine a better Christmas present than our 2 little bundles of joy!!!! We are over-joyed and so thankful to God for these precious miracles!!!!

Thank you for all of your support and love!!!!!

Love,
T & A (and our 2 little buns!)

Vomiting and Nausea Remedies

So remember how I was nervous because I wasn't feeling sick every day....only once in a awhile? Well, I am sick 24/7 now and vomiting about 10 times/day. I have a call into my nurse and will hopefully hear back soon.

Does anyone have any good remedies they used for all day sickness.....I don't know why it's called morning sickness because I have it ALL day and even woke up in the middle of the night to get sick. I'm miserable. (Still loving it in a twisted way though...because it tells me I'm definitely still pregnant :) )

These are what I've heard so far:

• Brown rice with a tiny bit of cinnamon and sugar (from my Mom, which I actually was able to keep down for a few hours yesterday)
• Toast, crackers etc.
• Ginger Ale....which honestly makes me feel worse because of the carbonation
• Preggy Pops....which I had to order online because I couldn't find them anywhere local. Hopefully they'll get here early next week
• Suck on a lime with a tiny bit of salt.
• Eat small meals throughout the day.......NOTHING sounds good and it stays down for 10 minutes, tops.

I'm hoping my Dr. can give me something for the vomiting. I feel like I've been hit with a severe case of the flu. I'm weak, dizzy and exhausted. No fever though.....so i know it's pregnancy related.

Anyway, does anyone have any other remedies they can share? I'm open to try anything at this point.....ANYTHING.

Thanks for being here!

Love,

T & A

Prayers Needed

I debated posting this because I didn't want to worry everyone, the way I've been worrying.....but then I realized, we need some prayers.

I started spotting on Monday which has continued through to this morning. I am completely freaked out. I talked to my nurse at CCRM on Monday and she told me that it's completely normal when on progesterone vaginal suppositories. IShe said the suppositories can irritate your cervix and cause spotting. She said that unless it's a lot of bright red blood with severe cramping.....not to stress out. When you've had two miscarriages, which started with spotting....this is much easier said than done. I'm a mess.

I had to go in this morning to check my P4 and E2 levels anyway, so they did an HCG test as well. The nurses all assured me the spotting was normal, but I started sobbing during my blood test. They ran the pregnancy blood test and it came back at 9,364 which is right on track and right on target for where it should be. I don't have any severe cramping....just twinges and quick pains here and there which they said is my uterus stretching.....plus no major bleeding.....just a tiny bit of spotting. When you're pregnant though....ANY amount of blood is alarming.

My P4 came back at 13.8 which has actually gone up, which is a good thing. My E2 level came back at 868 which is great.

Anyway, I didn't want to make everyone else worry as much as we are, but we need extra prayers right now. God gave us this pregnancy as a gift and I am just praying every day that it sticks around for another 9 months or so.

Our ultrasound on May 22nd can't get here fast enough..................

Thanks for being here!

Love,
T & A

Question.....

How am I going to make it until Friday, May 22nd for our ultrasound? I mean seriously, how?

I am driving myself...and Adam, crazy. Every morning, I look for symptoms. I actually get upset if I don't feel sick during the day. My symptoms come and go. One day, I feel fine, and the next I am so nauseas I want to cry. No consistancy and it's killing me. I even POAS this morning to check my pregnancy test. It was an extremely dark line which made me feel better. Then I threw up after breakfast this morning and was SO HAPPY! I know, I'm psychotic.

This little stinker....or stinkers in there are already messing with their Mom.

Our ultrasound is scheduled for Friday, May 22nd at 9:00am. I am officially 5w1day pregnant so I will be 6w5days pregnant at the ultrasound....but whose counting.

They asked me if we wanted morning or afternoon that day....and I was like, um, are you kidding me? We'll wait 3 weeks from finding out we're pregnant, so what's another day? Yeah right, I asked for the earliest available appointment that day. So 9:00am on the 22nd it is.

I go back in on Wednesday for my P4 (progesterone) and E2 (estrogen) levels check.

Please keep the prayers coming!!!!

Thanks for being here!

Love,
T & A

3rd Beta

More good news!

My beta jumped to 819 today. They like it to double every 48 hours, so they would've liked to see it at 640, so 819 is GREAT!

7dp5dt: 47
10dp5dt: 321 (P4 = 10.5)
12dp5dt: 819 (P4=10.8) (E2=896)

The P4 (progesterone) might seem low so I asked my nurse about it, and she said that since I am on endometrin, which goes directly to the uterus, your blood level is always a LOT lower than what your actual P4 level is. They say to multiply your blood level by 6 and that's what your P4 inside your uterus is.....which is where it's the most important. :) So mine is estimated around 60....which is very good.

They won't do any more blood work to monitor my pregnancy hormone until the ultrasound, but they will continue the blood work to monitor my P4 level and E2 levels. I go back on Monday for the first monitoring.

As for me, I am still puking and not loving it quite as much as yesterday, but still loving it. I am also exhausted all the time and hungry, yet nauseas.....it's like I can't decide if I want to eat or throw up. I'll figure it out as I go. :)

Tenley also had her last eye surgery this morning. They successfully removed the oil from her eye and she is home recovering. She can see again and is a little groggy from the anethesia, but is otherwise doing fantastic!

Thanks again for all the love and prayers!!!! We are so overwhelmed with gratitude and love for all of you for cheering us on in making this dream come true.

Keep the prayers coming and we love you!

Thanks for being here!

Love,
T & A

Let me start with a picture........

Cooper and Tenley proudly spreading the news!

After 4 years……….(almost to the day we started trying)
2 IUI’s with Clomid
2 miscarriages
2 surgeries
2 hysteroscopies (tours of my uterus)
1 integrin 3 biopsy of my uterine lining
1 HSG
1 Saline Ultrasound for tubes
4 IUI’s with injectables
4 In-Vitro’s
Over 200 injections
Over 100 bloodtests
Over 100 doctor’s appointments
3 doctors
3 trips to Denver
And countless tears……………

WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!!!

We are over the moon and praying everyday that this pregnancy continues happy and healthy for the next 9 months. I figured out my due date for 1 baby would be January 10, 2010 and twins or more would be December 20, 2009. (Twins are full gestation at 37 weeks) These dates are an estimate, and we would find out our actual due date at the first u/s.

We told everyone that the test wouldn’t be until Wednesday in case it didn’t work out. We would’ve needed a few days to deal with everything before I would be okay to post. Just trying to protect our feelings and be realistic. I hope everyone understands.

I had promised Adam I wouldn’t take a home pregnancy test without him, but I caved. I think he knew deep down that I would cave, but tried to have faith in me. He had no idea I had been testing, which made it even more fun to tell him the good news.

I started POASing (pee on a stick) with the cheapie internet tests on Wednesday (5dp5dt) and swore I saw a faint pink line on the HPT. I chalked it up as an evaporation line because I was cramping so bad that I thought there was no way I was pregnant. I definitely thought af was on her way.

I woke up Thursday (6dp5dt) and felt sick all morning. I thought something might be up, so I took another test and the same thing happened. I decided to go out and buy a few different brands of tests to try to see if I could get a more clear result. I went out and bought a FRER (First Response early Result) and a CBE digital (Clearblue Easy Digital).

The FRER came up positive pretty quickly and I almost fell over in shock. I decided to try the digital one too which flat out says “Pregnant” or “Not Pregnant.”
“Pregnant” popped up and I started bawling….I think my dogs were afraid of me. I laid on the floor with them sobbing while they gave me kisses.















It took everything in me not to pick up the phone and call Adam at work. I held it in ALL day. I ran up to Osco to pick up a balloon and card for him. I walked up to the balloon counter and asked the lady for a “Congrats Daddy” balloon. She asked me if I had just found out I was pregnant. I started bawling and told her all about the fact that it had been 4 years and that I promised him I wouldn’t test so he had NO idea and how surprised he would be etc. After she came to grips with the fact that I wasn’t a sobbing lunatic, she had tears in her eyes and told me she had the chills. She gave me the only “baby” balloon they had and I came home….still in shock….and still crying.

I went home and laid out a bunch of IU baby stuff we’ve had along with the card, the balloon and the 2 positive pregnancy tests on the kitchen table. The picture below is what Adam came home to when he walked in from work. ☺ He was SHOCKED and kept saying “I don’t believe you.” We both had a very emotional hug and we couldn’t stop smiling…..or crying. It’s been SUCH a long road to get here and it is still sinking in. Adam is going to be an amazing Dad. He is an amazing husband and has been by my side through EVERYTHING. I honestly don’t think childbirth will faze him at all after what he’s seen. ☺










































He is my rock, my Soul Mate and now he is going to be an amazing father to our children. I am a very lucky woman and our children will be very lucky to have him as their Dad.

We called our families that night. Our Moms both cried, our Dads were thrilled and our sisters and brother were soooo excited for us, but we told them to keep it under wraps until our 2nd blood test today.

Since my blood test wasn’t scheduled until Monday, I called my nurse at CCRM, told her about my positive home pregnancy tests and begged her to move my blood test up to Friday. My nurse told me not to freak out on her if the number came back low…..because it was still so early. I promised I wouldn’t freak out on her, so she laughed and gave in. Our nurse, Dawn, has been so great through all of this.

I went in on Friday morning for my blood test and waited for the results. My blood test was at FCI since they do my local monitoring for me. I absolutely love everyone there and they all hugged me and had tears in their eyes when I walked in for my blood test. Apparently, when I had called the day before to schedule my appt., I told one of the nurses about the positive tests. She called everyone….including some at home….because they were all praying so hard for me. I adore them.

CCRM finally called that afternoon and told me I was definitely pregnant and my beta at 7dp5dt came back at 47, which she said was a very good number considering how early it was. Anything over 10 confirms a pregnancy. My progesterone was 15.8 which she said was also good. They will continue to monitor that throughout the first trimester as well. My 2nd beta was today and it came back at 321! (10dp5dt) They would’ve liked it to be around 150 or so….so 321 is GREAT! It could also indicate more than one little munchkin in there….uh oh!!!!! ☺ Dr. Surrey called us to congratulate us as well and said that based on our numbers he wouldn't be surprised if there's more than 1 baby floatin' around in there.......Adam's hoping for twin girls....or maybe even triplet girls.....hee hee.

7dp5dt: 47
10dp5dt: 321

I go back on Wednesday for one more beta test and then we wait for our ultrasound on Friday, May 22nd. That’s when we’ll find out how many babies we’re having. ☺

I feel nauseas, have already thrown up several times, am an eating machine and I am LOVING it. I am so bloated that I already look 4 MONTHS pregnant, not 4 weeks. I seriously can’t button any of my pants right now. There is something else that had gotten bigger as well….actually 2 things….that Adam is LOVING….not that I’ll let him touch me. Ha ha.

We still can’t believe this is really happening. We are both waiting to wake up from this dream. We’ve been here twice before and lost both pregnancies, so we’re cautiously excited. We’re trying to live in the moment and enjoy every second of this experience. I think we will both feel better once we see / hear the heartbeat(s) at the u/s. As for finding out the gender, we’ve decided to not find out if it’s 1 baby….but twins or more, we will definitely find out. We will need to plan and prepare as much as possible. Ha ha.

Please continue with the prayers! We debated on telling everyone so early in the pregnancy….but we kept it a secret the other 2 times and look where it got us. We figure we need all the prayers we can get right now and you’ve all been with us since the beginning…………we need your prayers more than ever.

One last thing, for those of you on facebook with us, please don’t post a congrats on our wall or anything…….for now. ☺

We LOVE you all so much and thank you again for the love, support and prayers for us and our little baby / babies. ☺ This baby / babies are already loved soooooo much!

Thanks for being here!

Love,
T & A
(and our little bun(s) in the oven….finally!) ☺