14 weeks

Alright, I'm officially in the second trimester!  Feeling pretty good, fatigue is much better and food aversions have subsided for the most part.  Otherwise nothing really to update.  I'm still in this awkward not looking pregnant but definitely feeling extra chubby so I bought a belly band at the Mall of America the other day.  Basically it looks like an extra tiny tube top (my first purchase of anything remotely resembling a tube top!) that slides on over one's waist are to allow for regular pants to be worn unbuttoned but still covered.  I'd rather not walk around with my pants unzipped, regardless of how appealing it is.  But the belly band works pretty well to hold them up, still sort of awkward to have on, maybe I just have to get used to relying on a piece of spandex to keep my jeans up.  On a related note....why aren't yoga pants acceptable attire to wear wherever and whenever I want?  Sigh....

I also finally figured out how to get photos off my phone and onto the computer without having to go through uploading them to Facebook first.  No laughing, I'm still adjusting to having a fancy smartphone.  My goal is to keep photos and such off Facebook to avoid spamming others feeds with baby stuff, so we'll just keep it on the blog. 

Ok so here's the ultrasound photo from our 6 week and 2 day scan.  This was the first scan that told us that we were having twins! 

And this photo was from my ultrasound done at 11 weeks and 5 days.  So cool to see how much they already looked like little people and see them moving around.  Kind of hard to see both but one is sort of laying on top of the other. 

Lastly, the above 2 photos were taken last week (a week ago today) at 13 weeks 1 day.  Amazing how different they look already right?  Their little faces look a little like aliens....but adorable little aliens! :0)

Next appointment May 6th and assuming they'll be another ultrasound that day.  In case I didn't already mention it, the twins are definitely identical as they are sharing a placenta, but each baby has their own amniotic sac (or bag of water).  Sharing a placenta is higher risk because our twins are at risk for Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome or TTTS.  TTTS causes unequal blood flow to each baby causing one baby to receive too much blood and the other baby doesn't receive enough.  This is bad for both babies as the baby receiving the blood is at risk for heart failure and the twin not receiving enough blood isn't receiving enough nutrients for proper growth.  I'm hoping and praying that this doesn't happen but we'll likely have many more ultrasounds in the future to make sure they're both growing at adequate rates.  At the last ultrasound a week ago Baby A was measuring about 5 days or so ahead of Baby B, so some growth discrepancy is common but starting at about 16 weeks we're anticipating bi-weekly ultrasounds to monitor their growth closely and make sure they're sharing things equally in there ;0)

~Lisette

13 Weeks!

Last week of the first trimester...crazy!

Changes this week:  My jeans are too tight.  No bump yet to justify my overly tight pants, so I'm just feeling extra pudgy.  Time to go maternity clothes shopping, some of those maternity jeans look really cute and comfortable! No other specific changes this week, although the fatigue may be lessening, sometimes it's hard to tell if it's still fatigue or me just staying up too late. 

Looking forward to:  My first appointment with the doctor I hope to see for the duration of the pregnancy.  I've heard such amazing things about him, I've seriously never been so excited to go to a doctor appointment!  Tom and I are also anxiously awaiting these little twins to get big enough so we can find out if we're having boys or girls!

Frustrations:  I know this isn't such a big deal all said and done but I'm getting a little irritated with all the people asking if Tom and I did fertility treatments since we're having twins.  I guess this question makes me prickly because I really don't feel like it's anyone's business how a baby is conceived, whether it was the "old fashioned way" or if technology lends a hand.  I know people are curious since twins (especially identicals) are pretty uncommon.  So sorry if you're reading this and you're one of the people that asked me.  Maybe it's just the constant bombardment with this question that's starting to get on my nerves.  I guess I should get used to it, I'm sure people's comments (both positive and negative) will continue to bombard us after their born.  Is it bad I'm already thinking of smart-ass remarks to comments like "better you than me!" or "wow, twins! So glad that isn't me!" Yes, so am I, you're clearly not up to the task to handle it.  I'll be honest, I was overwhelmed at the thought at first and still am a little, but we've been chosen to parent these babies for a reason.  So please, keep the negative comments to yourself. 

12 Weeks and Second Ultrasound

Twelve weeks today, crazy to think I'm ending the first trimester already.  I dare say my extreme fatigue seems to be lightening a bit? Maybe? Please? 

Had an ultrasound on Monday and it was so cool! Unfortunately Tom couldn't come with me that day but my mom was awesome and was able to take some time out of her work day to come with me.  Seeing the babes moving around in there was so cool, it's amazing how they already look so fully formed, just little tiny people already!  Didn't get to hear the heartbeats but saw them both flickering away!  At the ultrasound I was 11 weeks 5 days according to my last period so here were the babies stats that day: 

I should start by saying it was really hard for the techs to determine which baby was really A and which was B.  They label the babies according to who is closer to the cervix but both were hanging out so close together it was difficult to tell (how cute, they already are cuddling) :0).  I also got to have an ultrasound student do my ultrasound, her first for twins!

Baby A (or the one we're calling baby A): measured 12 weeks 3 days (already ahead of schedule!) and had a heart rate of 162bpm (I think? I know it was in the 160's--remember, pregnancy brain is my excuse for everything).  This was the one doing most of the moving and at one point looked like she/he was making little punching movements

Baby B:  measured 11 weeks 5 days (right on track) and had a heart rate of 149bpm.  This baby seemed to be a little more relaxed and didn't squirm around too much during the ultrasound. 

I spent the last few days cruising Etsy and other websites looking at baby stuff, can't wait to find out if we're having boys or girls! 

Next appointment is May 6th, I'll be almost 16 weeks and hopefully maybe showing a little?  A few people have asked if I should be showing already, but alas, I think they're just too tiny still.  Or I'm too chubby, but from what I read women with twins don't seem to start showing a whole lot sooner than women with one baby

Until next week! (I'm really going to try to keep up with this weekly.)
~Lisette