Bed Rest

Well the last week has been pretty eventful! Last Thursday I went to Dr. L's office for my bi-weekly appointment to measure my cervix. Unfortunately it had gotten even shorter and was cause for alarm. Dr. L came into the office and said that she wanted to admit me to the hospital and have the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor check me out. David and I were shocked to say the least! They rolled me out in a wheel chair and took me immediately up to labor and delivery and got me a room. I changed into a gown and got back in the wheel chair to be wheeled to the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor. During the ultrasound examination at this new office my cervix kept fluctuating between 1cm and 1.7 cm. Definitely short. The major cause for concern however, was that I had started funneling. This means that my cervix was starting to open at the top. I wasn't dilated thank goodness. The Maternal Fetal Medicine doctor, Dr. Hughes, told us our options and mentioned a cerclage. A cerclage is a stitch around the cervix that helps keep it closed. At 23 weeks it was borderline too late for the cerclage but she explained the risks to us. The risks included infection and the possibility of rupturing the bag of water. David and I had to decide if this was what we wanted to do. We decided to go ahead and go through with it. Dr. H scheduled the Cerclage procedure for the next morning and I was wheeled back up to my room for STRICT bed rest....this, unfortunately, meant the use of a bed pan! The next morning around 9:30 I was taken back for the procedure. I was given a spinal block. Once Dr. H started the procedure she found that I had dilated 1 cm overnight....while on STRICT bed rest. It is a really good thing we decided to go through with the cerclage! The procedure went well and I was taken back up to my room. I stayed overnight Friday night but I was allowed to get up for bathroom breaks. Around 2:30 on Saturday I was released with orders that I remain on bed rest at home. I am allowed to get up for bathroom breaks, a brief shower and I am allowed to sit up to eat my meals. Other than that I have to remain in a reclining position.

We went for a follow-up appointment yesterday. Both babies are looking great (we found out last week that they weigh about 1 lb 5 oz and 1 lb 4 oz). The cerclage is still in place and everything is closed up. My cervical length is holding steady at 1.4cm. I will be seeing both Dr. L and Dr. H every two weeks so I will get a little jail break from the house. Tomorrow and Saturday I will be going to L and D to get steroid shots to start strengthening the boys' lungs in case they are born prematurely. Hopefully we will make it to 36 weeks with the bed rest.

As an added note, thank goodness for my mother-in-law. She has come by every day so far to help out. She gets here around 9 and leaves around 2. She lets Chipper out, brings me my meals and bless her heart, she has been a cleaning machine! It makes me tired just to watch her! David is going out of town this weekend for a work related softball tournament (I INSISTED that he still go). My parents are going to stay with me for the weekend to help with my meals and such. Everyone is being so helpful. I couldn't ask for better family and friends. This is going to be a long road but a road that is definitely worth it! Once I have Trey and Ty healthy in my arms it will seem like a distant memory! Oh and I am getting out of jury duty!

20 Weeks

17 Week Belly

This is kind of a sucky picture but this is what my "baby bump" looked like 2 weeks ago. I am going to take another picture when I turn 20 weeks on Friday. I am a lot bigger already. Please ignore the fact that we needed to weed eat the backyard! LOL!

We've Chosen Names!

Our baby boys will be named David Wayne III (nicknamed Trey) and Ty Randall. I cannot wait to meet them! I had a great appointment on Thursday. Everything is looking good with me. I have finally gained weight! The doctor was happy about that. I'm 19 weeks now and I have gained 8 lbs. My goal is to gain no more than 30. I hope I can do it! Trey and Ty are looking great too. I took my grandmother along with me so she could see the ultrasound. She loved it. We heard the heartbeats as usual. They were 162 and 149. The ultrasound tech finished up all the anatomy and everything is wonderful. Hearts, spines, brains, fingers and toes.....looking good! We were even treated to a 3d ultrasound which I normally find creepy but actually enjoyed since I was seeing my babies! I am already seeing the doctor every 2 weeks. She wants to monitor my cervix which makes me happy because I've seen too many maternity shows (ie: Birth Day or Deliver Me) that focus on cervical incompetance! I don't want that to happen to me.

Well that's the news for now. TTFN!

The McBabies Are.........

Both boys!!! I am so happy to finally know so we can start buying stuff! I never in a million years thought we'd have two boys. I thought for sure we'd have two girls or a boy and a girl. I'm very happy that they are the same sex. I think it will make things easier. As for me, I will be 17 weeks tomorrow and in good health! I'm going to start appointments every two weeks though but that makes me happpy because I will get an ultrasound everytime and I LOVE to see my boys moving around and hear their heartbeats!

12 weeks 6 days

First OBGYN Visit

As I said in the last post, I was referred back to my regular OBGYN. I had my first appointment on Monday, May 11 (the same day I lost my job!) I met with the nurse practitioner who asked a lot of family history questions and gave me a lot of information. My blood pressure was good. Even though I don't have high blood pressure, I worry about it a lot. According to the NP, I should only gain 25 lbs throughout this pregnancy. Yikes. I'll try my hardest! Once I finished with the NP I was sent for blood work which was not a fun thing. I have had my blood drawn so many times through the course of fertility treatments and it is usually no big thing for me but the phlebotomist was awful. She bruised me up and could barely get blood out of either arm. That has NEVER happened to me before. Enough about that. I don't want to think about it too much because I will have to get blood drawn again eventually!

Now for the highlight of the appointment. I didn't know that I would be getting an ultrasound during this visit but I did! Little did I know that I would also be hearing the heartbeats through the ultrasound. I told David he didn't have to come to the appointment because it would just be a lot of yapping. I feel really bad that he missed out on the heartbeats. Anyway, both babies measured at 9 weeks 1 day. I was 9 weeks 3 days at the appointment so that is really close! The heartbeats were 186 and 176. Nice and strong. I'm so happy things are still looking good. The ultrasound picture is posted above. It isn't very good quality because it was my very first abdominal ultrasound.

My next appointment is June 4 and I actually get to meet with Dr. Leinenbach. I also get another ultrasound and we'll get to hear the heartbeats again! David will be coming along this time! I don't want him to miss it again!