Week 8 - Raspberries

We are 8 weeks now and excited that both babies, who are the size of a raspberry, are thriving and looking great. We won't get another peek at them till later this month and I'm already getting anxious about seeing the dramatic difference in their appearance. In the meantime we wait and pray all continues to go well.

I've been feeling rather good so far. As I said earlier this week I haven't had any real m/s, just some occasional queasiness. The fatigue has started to hit but right now a brief 10 minutes on the couch will give me a much needed second wind. (Thank goodness for nap time here at the daycare!) This week I've reluctantly had to start eating smaller meals because my digestion has slowed WAY down ... if I eat a full size meal it sits like a rock in my stomach - not fun! This is something you anticipate having to deal with later on as the baby/babies get bigger but not THIS early. However, I do remember experiencing the same in other pregnancies during these early months. Overall I'm doing really well though and looking forward to this new experience.

Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. The babies are — about the size of a raspberry — and are constantly moving and shifting.

The "Gummy Bears"

We had our final appointment with the RE's office today and both babies are measuring right on target (7w4d) and look great. They are the size of gummy bears now and are taking shape. Baby A had a heartrate of 165 and Baby B was 167. I got my final med instructions (stop my PIO and patches 3/24) and we've already scheduled our first OB appt for 3/22 at which point we will be 10 weeks+.

I'm feeling pretty darn good. I carried twins to this point with my last surrogacy (lost Twin A around 8wks) and felt way worse then. So far the queasiness has been tolerable, the fatigue manageable and everything else pretty typical of a regular pregnancy. I have to stop over analyzing my symptoms (or lack of) and try to just enjoy that I'm pregnant with twins and let myself believe they are going to stick around.

I was able to have lunch with K&S afterwards. They are both very excited that things are continuing to progress and I think like me, are getting used to the idea that there are going to be TWO babies. We discussed our upcoming appointments and our move to the OBs office out here in my area. Very excited that WE HAVE GRADUATED!!!

The Gummy Bears

They are really hard to get in the same pic due to how close they are together. You can see in the image of Baby A - the sac above it is Baby B's ... you just can't see him/her due to the angle.

Two for Two!!

Last weeks lil nondescript squiggles with barely visible yolk sacs/fetal poles are now two adorable lil blobs with HEARTBEATS!!!! Both babies are measuring right on target (6w5d)and had perfect fetal cardiac activity. Baby A 130 bpm and Baby B 135 bpm. Baby A is in the straight up and down position in his/her gestational sac and Baby B is laying down and cozy in his/hers.

The u/s tech pointed out a subchorionic bleed at the top of my uterus and said not be alarmed if I experience some spotting/bleeding and that it's very normal in IVF pregnancies but, as of now I haven't had any. Otherwise all is looking great and we'll wait from instructions from the RE as to whether he would like another u/s before releasing me to the OB.

My symptoms are still pretty mild. I have some waves of queasiness throughout the day but nothing overwhelming. I'm experiencing the other usual stuff too like sore breasts that have grown a cup size (!!!) and increased CM. I got hit with a head cold this week - YUCK! I've been healthy all winter long and now that I CAN'T take anything I get sick. My husband [Jason] says it's because my body is putting in overtime baking these two babies and it left my immune system vulnerable. Only other thing of mention is that I get in what I call "food moods". I'll have an appetite for one thing and one thing only ... guess it's the same as cravings but not for anything strange. The other day I wanted cream soup, it didn't matter what kind I just REALLY wanted a creamy soup. LOL One of my other favorites when pregnant is fruit so I'm pretty excited that this will be a summer pregnancy with lots of produce choices. :)

Keep growing lil beans!!!

I Wasn't Convinced ...

... nor was I making any predictions but guess my labs were indicating a lil more than just a solid pregnancy.
TWINS!!

We are 5w5d today and did not see any cardiac activity but are hopeful to see heartbeats at the follow up next Thursday. They are smooshed in there pretty tightly together so the u/s tech was having a lil difficulting getting a good image of the yolk sacs/fetal poles but she assured us the gestational sacs are measuring on target and all looks great.

We are all very excited but still cautious, my IPs have experienced loses and as many of you that followed along with my previous journey know, I lost a twin 8 weeks into my last pregnancy so ... not quite ready to start buying doubles of everything but, we are all very excited and pray both continue to develop. K&S are expecting not one but TWO babies this fall!!! Our due date is October 13th.

We've Got A Sticky One!

As a recap the first two betas were ...

11dp5dt - 403
13dp5dt - 1070

Today our third and final beta at 15dp5dt is a nice strong 2240!!

I think we've got a sticky one! We are anxiously awaiting our first ultrasound at the end of next week - Thursday can't come soon enough!!! We still have a long way to go but are feeling very optimistic and starting to get excited. Yay!!!!

Beta's on the Rise!!

I had a second beta drawn today! Yeah I know I said Thursday but I had a scheduling conflict and had my orders changed. ;)

Things are looking great. The official number at 13dp5dt is 1070!!! Woohoo!! We have a very nice doubling time of 34 hrs and things continue to look strong and solid. Hoping for another nice beta number on Friday and then it's on to an u/s late next week if all continues to go well.