Flashback Friday - It's been three years!

It makes my breath stop when I realize it has been THREE YEARS since I started this blog. THREE YEARS since I finally saw those two very light lines that informed me that, YES, I was, indeed pregnant. I remember it like it was yesterday.

When you are trying to conceive, it makes you very, very in tune to your body. You notice every single pull, every twitch, every cramp, and then google the crap out of it. You take your temperature every morning of every cycle day, look at your graph, and then analyze the crap out of it as well. (You didn't know you could do that? Well, you can!) You take drugs (the legal kind), you become buddies with the ladies that work in your fertility center. You fight with your husband constantly about all this. And then you get a negative test, and you do it all over again. And again. And again.

I felt implantation (or what I had hoped was implantation - it was of course). I remember where and when it happened. (I took great notes through all this as well). A few days after that I took a test. Jake was already at work. It was faint - REALLY faint. I called my RE (Thats a Reproductive Endocrinologist) They did blood work. My beta was a 40. Pretty good for only 11DPO (days past ovulation, I was a pee-on-a-stick addict). I thought I might surprise Jake is one of those super cute ways you see on Pinterest. However, when he picked me up to go hit golf balls (for a fleeting moment I was going to pick the sport back up) I just blurted it out. He wasn't happy, or sad, he was just "just". I think he probably thought it would never happened, so he never got his hopes up. So say I was elated, was an understatement.

I was one of the lucky ones. It finally worked for me after 2.5 years of trying. I knew God had a plan in there somewhere, I just didn't realize it would be in the form of a little girl named Jules and a little boy named Josh. Twins!

Thank you all for reading along on this fantastic journey with us. What a ride it has been!

What you can't see this line? You must not have "super-sonic-can-see-the-faintest-of-lines" eyes.

Jules!

Josh

34 weeks.

28 weeks

3 days old

one month

four months

one year

18 months

2 years

35 week ultrasound appt

We have made it to 35 weeks! Woohoo! Everyone at the doctor's office today was just bragging on me. everyone is amazed at how well I (and the babies) are doing. They can't believe I have 1. made it this far, and 2. still getting around great with no bedrest! Everything looks picture perfect.

Their fluid is great, they are both head down, their movement is great, breathing is great, blood pressure is great, their blood flow is great, etc, etc, etc. We couldn't have asked for better news. My doctor is just amazed! Poor Jake was a little shell shocked today. He wasn't near as excited as I was. I think it has hit him how soon they will be here :)

We are officially in the final stretch. We are 1% dilated and 70% effaced. I have no idea what that means, but I know it's labor-talk. I tried googling about it, and basically it just means its the beginning of labor. They could come in the next couple of days, or couple of weeks, depending on how fast it progresses. So, hopefully, we are still set on January 8th, and that they make it that far. I would rather just go in for that instead of guess about labor. I just now figured out what a contraction is last week, and realized I have been having them now for the past couple of months! Wish us luck and keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

The Baby J's are gonna be here soon!

34 Week Ultrasound Appt

All is good! We are now 98% sure there will be no Christmas babies, which is a good thing. Even though we have decided to do a c-section, both babies are head down and perfect. So, we could "technically" do a vaginal delivery, but I still don't want to chance it. And the even better thing is, if I don't make it until January 8th, I get to come in at the first signs of labor, so none of that will be very painful. (and yes, I know how painful it will be post-birth). My cervix has shortened a bunch, now at 2.7cm, but still very normal. And it is still closed up very tight. So, it looks at this point we are still doing good for Jan. 8th!

33 Week ultrasound appointment

Woohoo! Another perfect report. I honestly cannot believe this. This could either mean one of two things:

1. Because we tried to get pregnant for so long, God is being very, very
good to us and letting us have a very healthy pregnancy and babies...or

2. Because I have had a very healthy perfect pregnancy, my babies will be
little devils and colicy and acid-refluxy and refuse to sleep and keep us up all
night.

I wonder which it will be? Hopefully #1. Everything at the moment though is looking great. Baby Boy is still is the same position: head down, in the center. Baby Girl, however, has decided to move AGAIN. I swear, is no wonder she weighs less that Baby Boy. She is doing aerobics in there! She has completely flipped around AGAIN, as her head was on my left side, feet on the right. Now, her head in on my right side, feet and legs on the left. Her head is more down now, too, so she is more "head down", or diagonal again. I honestly don't know how she has the room to keep doing this.

My cervix is now longer than it has been on my past two appointments. (at our 32 week appointment, which I didn't post about, it was fine. Longer than at my 31 week one) Well, now at 33 weeks, its even longer. My doctor has been joking that most babies are ready to start coming out and that is why cervixes shorten. My babies, however, apparently love it in my belly, so they are moving UP instead of down. LOL. Fine by me!

Now on to the good part- their weight! Baby Boy is weighing now almost 5 pounds: 4lb,15oz. Baby Girl is a little behind him, at 4lb, 6oz. She is actually right on target. He is ahead of schedule. I can't believe they weigh so much. Jake and I both thought they would weigh 4.5 pounds at delivery - and they are both that and beyond, and I still have (hopefully) three more weeks!

We go back on Wednesday (the 23rd).

31 week ultrasound appointment

These updates might get boring from here on out, as we are now going weekly. But, we had another good ultrasound appointment! Jake couldn't go to this one b/c he had a work thing, so I went solo. Babies were being busy as ever. They didn't get weighed, because they only do that about every two weeks or so. The kidney issue that I talked about months ago with the boy is looking very good, to the fact that it has basically cleared up all by itself, which is great news. They are now checking the umbilical cord at every appointment too, to make sure there is blood flow through every section, and that is all fine too.

The only "problem" right now is my lovely cervix. Its not a "problem" per se, but just something a little worrisome. Before this week, my cervix could have won the award for Longest Closed Cervix in the World. Which I was happy to accept. It was well above average. Well, this week, it has shortened dramatically in a week's period. Its still not bad at all, in fact it is still very, very normal. My doctor was just worried about the quickness of the shortening. So, I go back on Monday and we'll see it again!

Oh, and riddle me this: they have moved AGAIN. Why can't they stay in the same spot? It has been only a week! Baby Boy is still the same, head down, on my right side. Baby girl has now completely flopped: her head in now on my left side, horizontal across me, with her feet on my left side. (remember last week, she was also head down, next to the boy, with her head on my right side). CRAZY!

The pictures aren't really great this week either. Baby Boy was being completely camera shy, so we only got a good peek of his spine. But Baby Girl was her usual ham self.

Baby Boy, nice picture, huh.

Baby Girl. The perfect profile shot.

30 Week Ultrasound appointment

Well, I guess we are now considered on the fast track. It has been about 2.5 weeks since our last appointment, and now we are at the "go every week" point, which is crazy scary. That means soon we will be having babies!!

The appointment went GREAT. I am amazed at how good I am doing. I never in a million years thought I would do so well. And as it turns out, my crazy large ovaries are actually a GOOD thing! Because my left ovary is really big and low down on my abdomen, it is actually pushing my cervix closed. How cool is that? (For those who don't know, when your cervix starts getting thin, short, or open, thats when the bad things happen: pre-term labor, early delivery, etc, especially with twins. Gravity is against you there, and two babies put alot of weight on it, causing it to possibly open).

The babies are doing wonderful. Baby Boy has sped ahead. He weighs 3lb, 8oz. He is measuring very well ahead of where he should be. Baby Girl is doing great too, she is right on target measuring 3lb, 1oz. She kept yawning during the ultrasound, which was beyond cute. Our tech pointed out her fuzz around her head, which was hair! She also said that she thought they didn't look alike, which I was pretty excited about. Not that I don't want them to look alike, but I also want them to not look like mirror images of each other. They are now parllell to each other, kind of diagnol. Both are head down, but Baby Girl is stacked right on top on Baby Boy.

Oh, and the BIG news - we have a delivery date!! Now, I know that this, of course, may not happen. After all, the babies will come whenever they want to. Buuutttt, since my doctor thinks we'll go full-term (for twins anyway) she wanted to go ahead and set and date and book the operating room for our c-section. So, here we go!!! It will be:

Friday, January 8th at 8:00 am

How exciting is that??? Its honestly unbelieveable. It seems like tomorrow. Whew...

Our next appointment is next Wednesday, and we will go every week thereafter until delivery!

Pics are below :)

Ultrasound appointment, week 26

We had yet another ultrasound this week! I get so excited when ultrasound week starts. On Sundays, you will hear me say, "YAY! It's BABY WEEK!", then "YAY! IT'S BABY DAY!" on my appointment day. I get so excited. If I could get an ultrasound every day, that would be great. I don't know what I would do if I was just carrying a singleton and could only go every few months. I would go nuts!!

Anyway, babies are doing great!! Baby Girl Stribling is measuring just behind her brother, weighing just at 2 pounds. The u/s tech asked if any of us have long fingers (when she saw hers), and I sadly said that nothing on me is long, so I guess she is taking after Jake in that arena. I don't really remember the heart rate exactly, but hers was in the high 150's (I wish I could remember them both each time, but I just can't! Maybe I'll instruct Jake to write them down next time) Baby Boy was measuring a little heavier, at 2 pounds, 3 oz. He is a few days ahead of 26w3d, (26w6d) and she was a few days behind (26w). I am so excited to hit the 2 pound mark. It just sounds so much heavier, since we saw all those poor 1 pound babies at the Baptist NICU. His heart rate was in the 140's. Positionally, they are still weird. She is diagonal with her head up in my ribcage and her feet on my left side. Baby Boy is horizontally still with his head on my right, his legs on my left. He moves up and down, though, and they are sometimes head-to-head. They also measured the kidneys, arm and leg bones, and heads. They are both doing great and measuring really, really well.

I am doing good as well. Still an excellent appointment for me. Nothing bad going on. My cervix has shrunk a little, but it's still good and long, so that's good. Both placentas are nowhere near my cervix too, which is good. Ovaries are still out of control, but oh well. The tech always does a vaginal u/s to measure my cervix and check out my ovaries at each appointment. She saw the left one immediately, as it looks like Antarctica over my cervix, and she dug around until finally I was like "OW!". She said she was looking for my right ovary, and I said, "Oh, you won't find it down there, its up next to my ribs, you just should have asked." I also had to take another glucose test to check for Gestational Diabetes, so hopefully that will come back looking good again. We go back in two weeks! YAY!

Pictures are below in another slideshow, since they are so many(thank goodness we had a different u/s tech this time!)

20 week appointment (at 19.5 weeks)

I had my big 20-week ultrasound appointment on Wednesday- even though I was only 19 weeks and three days.

In the 20-week appointment, they do another anonomy scan. Meaning, they measure EVERYTHING, which is cool. I was in the ultrasound office for almost an hour. Jake couldn't be here for this one, which was terrible. He has a business luncheon come up the day before, and his boss was coming up, so he couldn't get out of it. I told him not to worry. They literally gave me a TON of pictures. In fact, the u/s tech said I wasn't allowed to look at them until after I left, because she could get in trouble for giving me so many, tehe. I told you I was special!! Mom was even amazed that I get ultrasounds every time. I mean, of COURSE I will! My next appt is in 4 weeks, though, which is a long time. And the next time I get to take the super glucose test, where you have to drink a bunch of yuck to see if I have gestational diabetes. Which, Lord I hope not, because Mama and the babies like their sugar.

Ovary updates - they are still huge and covered in cysts! Surprise, surprise! My left one is up near my ribs still, and the left one is now down next to my cervix. And actually, my doctor thought that was funny and/or lucky. Because with twins, the babies tend to get closer to the cervix, which causes early delivery, which we don't want. Well, that ovary is not letting anything through there - it's like its a barrier to my cervix, which is funny.

Everything looks great with both. Baby Boy Stribling in head down (way down) and his feet are under my right breast. Baby girl is still sideways, and hear head is basically where Baby Boy's feet are. I hope he doesn't kick her head. She was all over the place. She absolutely refused to cooperate, which took so long in the measurements. She also had the hiccups! That was really exciting to watch on the screen. It was just so cool!!! I can already tell she is going to be a handful. And where her placenta is located, I will be feeling her much more than the Baby Boy. Anyway, all looked find. They measured hands, arms, legs, spleen, spine, head, bladder, kidneys, etc. Baby Boy has a bit of a problem in the kidney area. He has some dilation in the tubes that go from the kidney to the bladder. It's very common in boy babies, and is basically a little urine back-up. It should resolve on its own before delivery. If not, they just give him an antibiotic when he's born. Here are pictures for you to enjoy!

Ultrasound appt at 16 weeks

Baby Boy Stribling

Baby Girl Stribling (alien face Stribs)

Doesn't she look just like Jake? - Ha!!

I am feeling oh so special. I love all the attention at the doctors office. Those poor women with only one baby. How could they stand not having an ultrasound every two weeks? I have a bi-monthly date to see my babies, and it is awesome. When I called to set it up this last time, I asked if I was also getting an ultrasound, and the lady was like, "Ummm, no, were you under the impression that you would always have one?", and I was like, "Ummmm, YES, are you kidding me? I want one every time!". Luckily (ha, ha) my ovaries are so wacko, that my doctor does want a ultrasound every time.

Next up is a super fun thing that goes along with pregnancy - the 24 hour urine test. Woohoo! This Sunday I have to carry a big gallon jug around with me, and collect a day's worth of peepee. They have to check a full day's worth to check protein levels. I just feel sorry for the poor person's whose job it is to do this.

Then at 19 weeks we get another big, long scan. They will then again measure everything on Baby girl and Baby boy: head, spine, kidneys, bladder, heart, etc, etc.

I will try to scan in pictures from today. They aren't very good :( Baby Boy was being a rock star for the camera and Baby girl was being camera shy. She finally faced us head on and looked like a weird alien baby. And I told Jake she is taking after his looks. Then I got to chuckling and couldn't stop and the ultrasound tech had to wait until I finished b/c the babies were going nuts, LOL.

Dr. Appt- 14 weeks

We went last week and met with a specialist at Vanderbilt Radiology and Imaging. They wanted to do a complete scan of my right and left ovary. It was scary-looking to say the least. They are now stretched up and down, b/c due to the babies, they have nowhere to go but stretch upwards. She literally was using her little hand instrument to scan all the way up into my ribs!! So, they are literally from my uterus stretched up to each set of ribs - still huge, still covered in cysts. The are both doing fine, its just I am still not allowed to do any movements. They keep telling me everything will be normal once my hormones regulate themselves...We'll see...

On to the exciting stuff. Here is sweet little picture of Baby Boy Stribling and Baby Girl Stribling. Also, a cute one of Baby Boy's "parts". Definitely a Boy! We confirmed Baby Girl's, but couldn't get a good picture of hers.

Baby Girl Stribling

Baby Boy Stribling

Baby Boy Stribling's "Parts" :)

(He's going to love this picture when he's older - I just know it)

Update

We went for yet another ultrsound this morning. We have been quite spoiled with weekly ultrasounds. It is going to be quite a shock when someone tells us that "they'll see us in a month". We are special at the moment, and I like it that way :)

The fertility clinic has released us to our regular OB. (Well, actually my regular OB will probably just tell us to go see a high-risk Ob). That was sad today. I have been going to this clinic for a year now, and see them at least once a month. And here lately, I have been seeing them weekly. They are so sweet. It's sad for them because they have done all of this work for us, but don't get the glory work of a pregnancy and birth. They all gave us hugs and wished us well and told us to keep them updated.

My regular OB's nurse called me this afternoon and I talked to her for a long time about my pregnancy. It's funny, once you experience infertility, it is amazing how many women are secretly going through the same problems. This nurse has been trying for a baby with her husband for 2 years as well. So we talked a long time about everything she has done, different things she could do that I have learned along the way, and abotu how hard it is for her to work in an OB's office. I hope I get to stay with my regular OB, because she was great to talk to.

Anyway, that's it for now I guess. We are off to the beach and Atlanta for the Yankees/Braves game. IPlease keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this journey.

Baby A

Baby B

Multiples???

Well, Jake and I have had one surprise after another in the ultrasound room. When we went in at 5 weeks (first week of June), the u/s technician saw two sacs. Possible twins!! While it took us a few days to wrap our mind around it, we started to get excited. The chances of both sacs developing a heartbeat was about 53%, so I was fully prepared to only have one baby in there.

Well, imagine our surprise when we went in at 6 weeks. Baby A - measuring 6.2mm and 6w3d, and good strong heartbeat. Then they saw Baby B - measuring 5.2mm, 6w2d also good heartbeat. So excited!!!


Now, I know that we are still REALLY early, and that none of these babies will make it, but I feel our probability is up, up, up with one out of two!

Baby A

Baby B