Thursday, November 24, 2011

Double the thankfulness this year!

The short story: I'm pregnant again. And it's twins!

The long story: In September, Greg and I began another round of IVF. This time my protocol was changed, probably because the doctors thought my eggs were getting old as they gave me a test for ovarian reserve. That test came back fine, but nevertheless, they decided for a ganirelic cycle, which meant a month of birth control and other oral medications, but no shots, followed by a month of a crazy amount of shots.

By retrieval day, my cycle didn't appear any different than the two previous ones. I had a modest amount of eggs at each of my monitoring appointments, and the surgeon predicted less than 19 eggs, which was how many we got in our second cycle (Claire). Boy was I surprised when I woke up and heard the number "31." I was so loopy and asked Greg the whole way home if they had really said "31." He confirmed probably about 15 times before telling me to quit asking.

On transfer day, 5 days later, we had a few embryos to choose from. Always you want to put the best one in so you don't risk freezing and thawing to your best shot at pregnancy. Of the embryos, we had two A's. We've never gotten A's before and after talking with 3 nurses, the embryologist and the doctor, we finally decided to throw both of them in and see what happened.

On the day of my first beta (blood draw for pregnancy) nine days after transfer, my number was 479. Whoa! With Claire my beta # was about 170, and the pregnancy before that was 90. (Anything over 50 is considered positive for pregnancy). So, at that point we were fairly certain both embryos had implanted. That was a Friday. With betas, it's important that the number doubles every 48 hours. That signifies the pregnancy is progressing like it should. So, when I went back on Monday, we expected the number to have tripled over the weekend. It did not. Just shy at 1182. Immediate worry and panic ensued even though I was told that I wasn't in the "danger" category. Two days later was my 3rd beta, and once the number is over 1000, it doesn't necessarily follow the doubling rule. We were hoping for about 2200, and ended up with 2532!! Instant relief....at least for a few days until the ultrasound.

Last Wednesday, we learned that we had two good heartbeats and both babies are measuring at 6weeks 2days, the exact same that Claire measured at this point.

On Saturday, I started spotting, so we went back to the doctor on Sunday. We learned that both babies are still doing well, but there's a place where the placenta attaches to the uterus that is bleeding. So, I'm on bedrest until the bleeding stops and modified bedrest until my next ultrasound on December 5. My doctor has jury duty next week, and I really think the greater civic duty would be to let him give me an ultrasound this Wednesday instead of waiting another torturous 5 days. But, that's not what the state of Tennessee thinks, so I have to wait. In the meantime, I wouldn't mind if a prayer (or two, or twenty) were said on behalf of our babies.

It's a ton of trouble for us to get pregnant, but that hasn't stopped us. Really, I can't imagine it any other way! Plus, I won't have to answer any embarrassing "How did you get pregnant?" questions from my kiddos later on..... We're just beyond excited and anxious to welcome these two precious souls into our home. I'm due July 7, but full-term for twins is June 9, so that's the day I'm counting down to.

60 comments:

Unknown said...

Congratulations April! I'm so happy for you and Greg! I remember reading your journey from the time you started sharing with regards to getting pregnant. I wish you all the best and will be sure to send up prayers on a regular basis for you and your family.

justem said...

Holy moly! Congratulations!!! I will keep you and the babes in my prayers! So happy for you!

waleska said...

Sooooo happy for you guys!!! Congratulations!!!

Unknown said...

OHMYGOODNESS APRIL! DOUBLE CONGRATS!
So happy for you guys :)

Karen S. Imes said...

I am so happy for all of you! Claire is going to LOVE being a big sister...praying for a healthy stress free pregnancy and 2 healthy babies!!!

Ashley Harris said...

Oh my! Total tears are here and so happy for you and Greg! Congratulations!!! YAY!!

Unknown said...

Congrats!!! So exciting. Good luck with the bed rest. It's awfully difficult. Praying for your family.

Michelle L said...

Congrats! I will be sending many prayers your way! Hope the 5th comes quickly!

Unknown said...

Congrats April!! Lots of prayers for your and your family. :)

Paige Taylor Evans said...

Congrats X 2! That is so exciting - super happy for you!

Danielle Higginbottom-Brown said...

Congratulations!!!!

Jackie xxx said...

congratulations x

Margrethe said...

So very, very happy for you both (or all three, or... five?) :)

Kelly said...

Double congratulations April & Greg - that is absolutely fabulous news xxx

Lulu said...

Aww.... Huge congrats April and Greg!! I will add you and your sweet babies to my prayers.

caroline hancock / Scrappercaz said...

OMg this is just fabulous news April, im beyond over the moon for you :)

Betsy said...

So happy for you and Greg! Welcome to the club! Excited for your mom too. Prayers and hugs for the placenta concerns. Hang in there on bed rest.

Claire T said...

What fabulous news! I will keep you and your wee babes in my thoughts. I hope the bed rest is not too tedious and the days between now and June ninth pass uneventfully!

Amy Kim said...

wow! such amazing news! i'm so happy for you, greg, and claire. i will keep you guys in my thoughts. :]

Olivia said...

Such wonderful news April! So happy for you all. Wishing you well & keeping you in my thoughts & prayers xx

Diane Payne said...

Congratulations! So happy for you!

lisa truesdell said...

so very excited for you and greg and claire! =)

sending along lots of love for the bedrest - i had something similar w/ alex, a subsomethingorother hemmorhage where the placenta pulled away from the uterus wall. i had a terrifying weekend of bleeding and a couple of weeks of bedrest and the rest of the pregnancy was back to normal. hoping you have a similar story. =)

Lynn Ghahary said...

Congratulations to you and Greg! As well as to soon to be big sister Claire! I'm so very happy for you guys! xoxo

Suz said...

Congratulations! So happy for y'all. Praying for healthy Momma April and babies. All the best!
Suz

Barb said...

Oh, April! This is great news. I'm nervous and excited for you all at the same time.

Will keep you and the babies in my thoughts.

Unknown said...

Congrats and stay healthy!

Laura Kurz said...

Take it easy, friend. Everything will be OK. Thinking of you and those growing babies. Can't wait to find out if it's two boys like I think it is (but I am always wrong, so it's probably two girls).

lindsay k. said...

Congratulations April & Greg! What a wonderful blessing for your family!

Amy Scalze (happy2create) said...

Congratulations! I will pray!

Melanie said...

many congrats, april - so happy for the three of you! you're just a bit over a month behind me. :)

saying a prayer to keep those growing babies and you happy and healthy!

Gracie said...

Oh my goodness April!!! :)

Congratulations! How exciting!

Christina said...

congrats!!! I'll pray for you guys!
xo

Ann said...

Congratulations! Such wonderful news and I will definitely say a prayer for your growing family!

Sockergrynet said...

Congratulations! So happy for you!

mandyb said...

congrats!!!!
how exciting for you all!!!

Kate aka stinkydudette said...

Lots of prayers and positive vibes going out to you and Greg. Super exciting news!! Congrats!

nada said...

Congratulations, April!!! I'm so happy for you and Greg!

Elisa said...

congrats!!! what an amazing surprise!!! two babies :)

Ally said...

Congratulations! This is very exciting I'm sure :) Many happy, healthy pregnancy thoughts coming your way!

Unknown said...

Wow! Huge congratulations!!! And of course, I will be praying for you all!!! ((hugs))

Ursula Schneider said...

so very excited for you both April. But I just read that last bit so I will be praying for you and they. Take care of you. and don't mind the bed rest too badly, after about 8 months, you won't be getting much of that, LOL

Nelmarie said...

Congratulations for you and your husband!!!! Everything is going to be alright and you will have 2 healthy and beautiful babies like Claire, just have faith. Blessings for you'all.

Anonymous said...

So excited for you April! Praying for your babies!

Linda (lindam)

Melinda said...

Congratulations and blessings to you all! So excited for you all and sending prayers your way!

Dawn said...

Congratulations to you and Greg!

Shirley M. said...

Wow how exciting. I knew you were trying but didn't know you had succeded in such a wonderful way. We certainly will pray for you and those babies. Can't wait to find out the sex but it really doesn't matter. Just healthy babies. Love you and stay in bed and take care of them.

Denise said...

Congratulations to you and your family! I'm sending positive thoughts for those little babies.

Unknown said...

connnnngrats april!!! i'm so excited for both of you, thats definitely something to be thankful for :] sending lots of love your way!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to you! I hope you progress well and that you end up with two more precious bundles of joy x

Mary Jo said...

Congratulations!!!
Will keep you and those sweet babies in my prayers :)

Dao said...

That is such wonderful news. Congratulations! I'm extremely excited for your family.

Susan Beth said...

Congratulations! And hang in there. I did IVF, had lots of spotting and a torn placenta. Still got a healthy baby boy out of it (we never got any "A" embrios, and we never had two implant). I know it is really a "head trip" to have good and bad news constantly bombarding you. I will pray for peace in your mind, and healthy babies in your womb!

Stephanie Eaken said...

Congratulations!! Sending prayers & positive thoughts your way!

Jaime Lee said...

Congratulations! So happy for you an it's a double happiness. Take care! :D

Laurie LaRiviere said...

wow April congrats to you and your family, how amazing!! and wonderful, you deserve this, and Claire is so lucky that she's going to have little baby brothers or sisters!!

Lisa said...

Congratulations!! I will definitely keep you in my thoughts and prayers!

Robyn said...

Huge congrats April! Wow!! So neat! I can't believe it's twins!!!! So so happy for you and Greg!!! I hope that the bleeding stops! Let us know how it goes tomorrow at your ultrasound. Sending prayers your way!! And again, so happy for you!!!

Amanda Sevall said...

Congratulations!! As someone who has gone through IVF unsuccessfully, I'm absolutely thrilled for anyone who gets pregnant!! Hang in there with the bedrest and I'll be sending positive thoughts your way. :)

Abbey said...

Congratulations! I'm so happy for you and expecting my third baby right around that same time. Hugs and prayers to you all!

Megan said...

Oh my gosh. Where have I been? I am SO happy for you both. What a blessing. Please accept my apologies for the delayed congrats. I've been a bit MIA this fall. I hope you're doing well and feeling great. Take care of yourself, cute mama!