30 weeks and counting...

Yesterday was 30 weeks and believe me I'm COUNTING EVERY SINGLE DAY at this point. Been in the hospital almost three weeks now and probably at least another 2 ahead. I hope they aren't all like the last two days. I usually get monitored every 6 hours to make sure the babies heartbeats are ok and to look for signs of distress. Well both yesterday and today, Kamryn's little heart took some pretty major dips which led to continuous monitoring for 10 hours yesterday and 7 hours today...that is NOT fun. Today's was a little rougher as my contractions picked up and yesterday they maxed me out on my Terbutaline pump dosages. So they are now adding Procardia to the mix of drugs I get to keep contractions under control. Procardia is a blood pressure medication which is interesting since I already have REALLY LOW blood pressure. So they have to watch me pretty close to make sure I don't drop too low. Anyway...the babies recovered pretty quickly despite everything my body is trying to do to give birth!!

So we are still waiting...January 12th is 32 weeks which is the Dr's goal. In case I don't get on before then, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY and SAFE NEW YEAR!!! Kiko and I will be snuggled on the hospital bed watching the ball drop together with the girls in my HUGE belly. We are excited for all that 2009 has to hold for us!!

So what do you think??

I'm still hanging in there!! Dr. Adam did an ultrasound yesterday and it looks like Kayla's amniotic sac is hanging in there and not changing a lot which is good news. The bad news is that she is still falling off the growth curve...Last Saturday she was measuring around the 19th percentile....yesterday she was at 14th. If she drops below 10% they will get the girls out...so now it's a waiting game...will her amniotic fluid level drop below 5 (I don't know the units) or will she drop below 10th percentile first???

The on call Dr stopped by this morning and he said they will probably do another ultrasound next week sometime and that he thinks they will be delivered within the next week or two. I'm guessing next week sometime but I'd rather wait till my regular Dr returns from vacation...but this Dr just delivered quintuplets a month ago so I feel comfortable with him too. Who knows. All I know is that it is in God's hands at this point so regardless of when they are born, they could use all the prayers they can get!!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!! Will post next week sometime!

29 weeks and still going...

Today the girls have reached 29 weeks, and tonight's ultrasound showed that we are still hanging in there for a little while longer. Kayla's amniotic sac fluid level is low at around 5.76...the Dr said that once it reaches 5 she will get the girls out. The goal is to reach 32 weeks...I don't know that my body (or the girls) can hold on that much longer, but we'll see. On top of the TTTS, I'm still having a lot of contractions that they are trying to keep under control with medication. So between the two issues, I have a feeling that we'll be meeting our little girls sooner rather than later. But we'll hang on as long as we can. My next check will be Christmas Day.

We appreciate all the well wishes and support from all our family and friends. I'm sorry this is so short, but I can't sit up for very long!

Stay tuned!!

Hanging in there...

Well so far so good. Thursday nights ultrasound showed only a slight change from Tuesday night which was good. The Dr felt comfortable enough to wait until Monday for our next ultrasound. In the meantime I'm undergoing Non stress testing every 6 hours on the babies where they check for fetal movement and heart rates. If at any time one or both of the babies start showing signs of stress they will do an emergency c-section. On Monday the plan is if the babies ultrasound shows continued decrease in amniotic fluid in one of the baby's sacs they will get the babies out Monday night or Tuesday morning. This is basically a waiting game...the longer the girls can stay the better.

Waiting Game...

Day 7 in the hospital and all is well. The babies have been diagnosed with Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrom (TTTS). This is basically a condition in which one baby steals the nutrients from the other baby and only occurs with identical twin pregnancies. We are scheduled for an ultrasound this evening to see how the twins are growing. If it looks bad then we'll perform an emergency C-section within the next 48 hours. If it has slowed or is stable then we'll go back Monday and do another ultrasound. Please pray for the best for our little girls. We'll update soon.

Back in the hospital...

I'm in the hospital again...got here last night, Dr office called and said they wanted to monitor me since I was on max Terb and still breaking through...decided to switch me to a Magnesium drip for a few days. Well that didn't quite work...they put me on the mag and kept the terbutiline going...then they tried to take me off the terb and I started contracting again on the mag..so now I'm on both. FUN! I've got an IV in one arm...a terb pump going into my leg that I have to carry around because I can't wear pants or underwear to clip it onto...and I have to pee every 30 mnutes...ugh...

So I don't know what's going on just yet, but the Dr wasn't happy that they couldn't get me off the terb so due to that and the fact that the babies have started to fall off the growth curve (last appt) she went ahead and started the steroid shots for the babies lungs. I also got the visit from the neonatologist in the NICU to prep us on what will happen, etc if my dr decides to take the babies early. My Dr didn't say it but the neonate said that from what she knows of my Dr that I'm most likely in here for the rest of the duration so she can keep an eye on me. Oh and I had REALLY low blood pressure this morning which really worried her...like 80/42...so I think she's worried about how my body is handling things and how the babies are growing.

So that's the status...playing it by ear right now. I'm for sure in here through the weekend and we'll see what the Dr wants to do after that...stay tuned...

It's SNOWING!!! In HOUSTON!!

I know for the rest of the country, snow is no big deal...but when it's only snowed in Houston twice in the last 20 years...it's a BIG deal!! Here are a few pics...I managed to get out of bed long enough to enjoy the snow and get my 27 week belly pic!

Due Date Pool!!

Some friends suggested I try this out to help the time go by! If you are feeling lucky, click the link on the side and see if you can guess when our girls will be here!! Be sure to guess for each baby and include weights and length!! It will be interesting to see who gets the closest! Enjoy!

26 weeks down...10 weeks to go!!! We hope!!!

I had my 26 week appointment today. I must say I was very anxious to see the girls as I've had a rough two weeks with contractions and being put on the T-pump. I was worried about how my cervix was holding up and hoping that I wouldn't have to get put on hospital bed rest any time soon. It looks like my cervix is shortening (which I expected) but the cerclage is doing it's job and holding tight. I have broken through on my contraction monitoring a lot over the last few days so they had to up my medicine dosage AGAIN to try and get them under control. It seems to be working so far.

The doctor said that I will need to have the girls by c-section and that she won't let me go beyond February 9 for a due date. Although, we both seem to know it will most likely happen sooner than that.

The only worrisome news was that both babies have "fallen off their growth curves"...which basically means that they are slowing down in their growth rate. She didn't really say much about it other than to say that we need to watch it. I think that this is the beginning of something called IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction)...which basically means the babies are getting too tight in there and they "may" have to come out early if they start developing complications. She seemed confident enough to go another two weeks before my next appointment though. I just have to make it through the end of the year as my Dr will be gone for Christmas :(

I'm wondering if I should start a pool to see who gets closest to the due date :)

And I'm back on the terbutaline...ugh...

Well it looks like these little girls are determined to make their presence known!! I think they got Kiko's and my patience...or lack of patience...lol. My contractions have been becoming a lot more frequent and pretty painful so the doctor ordered me on a terbutaline pump. This is basically a continuous feed pump (much like an insulin pump) that supplies medicine to prevent contractions. I have to wear this thing 24/7 and change the location of the injection every 3/5 days. It is really intimidating not to mention uncomfortable having this tube inserted into your thigh and a cord running to a pump that I have to carry around everywhere. Showering is going to be interesting. The ironic thing is that I'm still having pretty good contractions even being on the pump so I'm pretty sure that I may end up in the hospital here before long...I may be enjoying Christmas from Woman's Hospital. Think they will let me put up a tree??

So that's the latest...still hanging in there. Today is Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be Thankful for!! This will be short as its hard to type one handed still. Keep checking in...things should be getting pretty interesting soon...I have a feeling the girls will ge here in the next 6-8 weeks!! My next Dr appt is Tuesday so I'm going to try and get a better feel for when my c-section will be targeted for.

Baby Shower!!

We had our 2nd baby shower with some very dear friends from the pool leagues that Kiko and I play in...well I haven't played in a while...LOL. Kiko and I first met in a pool league shortly after I moved to Houston and you couldn't ask for a greater group of friends and extended family. I can't post all the pictures (or type too much)...but we LOVE ALL of you and greatly appreciate all the wonderful gifts!! We look forward to you all being a huge part of our daughter's lives!! Here are a couple of my favorite pictures that I've seen so far (thanks Ben!)...Kiko had to do all the unwrapping since I had to be reclining on the couch...I love his BIG SMILE!!! I think he's getting excited about our little girls!

24 week update!!!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long between posts! I've been on bed rest and it's very hard to update the blog when I can only type one handed! I'm sitting up so I can type a lot faster today and maybe get caught up!!

First - had my 24 week checkup yesterday and the babies are doing great! Both growing right on track! I also had my gestational diabetes check and I passed, so that was good news! I am very anemic though so I have to take iron supplements and up my iron intake twice a day. Yuck. I'll take that over diabetes though. I am still on bedrest and taking medication to try and keep the contractions to a minimum. I am averaging about 2-3 an hour which is ok. We hit the viability mark, so I'm thrilled! Next goal is to make 28 weeks!!!

We had our first baby shower this past Sunday with Kiko's family and some of my friends. I don't have any pictures to post but we had a really great time and enjoyed seeing everyone!! We also got some GREAT gifts for our little girls which we desperately needed so it is all very much appreciated!!! I am not able to write out thank-you notes just yet so please be patient with me on getting those out. We have our second and final baby shower this Saturday with all of our "pool hall" friends! I can't wait!!

Well, I'm back to bed rest and will try to post some pictures soon. Stay tuned!!

22 week update!

Today was my 22 week appointment with Dr. Adam. The girls are doing well and no signs of TTTS which is a relief. I'm still having contractions and cramping though, so the doctor ordered a home monitoring device for me which will monitor for contractions. I feel much better knowing that I can monitor at home for any problems now!

Other than that...not much else to report!

I don't like terbutiline (or whatever it's called)...

So Tuesday night was exciting...Kiko and I went out to dinner and I finally got to get out of the house and I started having some pretty good contractions. I had over four in about 45 minutes, so we left dinner early and I went home and laid down for an hour...but the cramping and contractions continued. So I called my Dr and she said to get down to the hospital. So Kiko and I arrived about 8 pm at the hospital and I got hooked up to some monitors in the Labor and Delivery unit. Of course, then the contractions went away...I felt like I was crying wolf. After about two hours of monitoring, the contractions came back and I was having quite a few of them, much more than four an hour...so the nurses came in and started administering drugs to try and stop the contractions. Me no likey the shots. They do a drug called Terbutiline (??) where they give me three shots, one every 15 minutes, as long as my HR was under 125 bpm. After the first shot, my heart rate shot up, I started trembling and having trouble with my head going 100 mph...I was crying and really hating the effects of those shots...but they were able to give me all three shots as my HR was right at 124 bpm. I really hope I don't have to do that again. It was not pleasant...but it did stop the contractions...which was the goal.

So I had to spend the next few days in the hospital and I got home late last night and on stricter bed rest now. I'm praying that I can keep these little girls inside me a little longer!!!

I have my next appointment on Monday where they will check my cervix to make sure it hasn't shortened and that the cerclage is holding. Hopefully it's ok and I can keep the contractions I have been having under control...or else I may be going back to the hospital for bed rest until the girl's are born...I'll do whatever it takes though!!

Baby B has a name!!

Baby B has a name!!! From now on she will be known as KAMRYN GRACE!!!! Baby A will be named KAYLA ANNE!!

I LOVE both of their names!! For those who don't know, Anne was my mother's middle name (and my middle name) and Grace is Kiko's mother's name...so both of their names have very special meaning to both of us.

I appreciate everyone voting in the poll here and on my Myspace page!! Khloe was the clear winner on this poll, and Kiko and I struggled between Kamryn (the winner of the Myspace poll) and Khloe. In the end, we decided against Khloe as Kiko's son is named Joey and his neice is named Zoe...and well...we didn't want Kayla to feel left out!! :)

Next Dr appointment will be November 3...I'm hoping I might have some 3D ultrasound pics from that appointment...we'll see!

20 week update!!

Well, we made it to the critical 20 week mark!! Next milestone is 24 weeks, which is considered the "viability point"...meaning if the babies were born at that time they could potentially make it with significant NICU stay and help. The Braxton Hicks have gotten a little more frequent, about 3-4 an hour now...but my Dr gave me some medicine to help them out if I need too...so we just keep watching and waiting. Here's my 20 week belly shot:

I had my 20 week Dr visit yesterday. The babies are doing great! Baby A (Kayla) is 11 oz and measuring 19w3d. Baby B is 13 oz and measuring 20w0d. The dr doesn't seem concerned that Kayla is measuring a little smaller than her sister, seems that can happen with identicals. But they are both growing at the same rate so we are very happy! Here are some pics!!

This is a pic of their heads...Baby B is on the left and Kayla is on the right facing her sister.

This is Baby B...I think she has Kiko's lips!! What do you think?

This is Kayla waving "HI" to everyone out there!! She's got my personality, I think :).

Braxton Hicks....

So as many of you know, this is my first pregnancy and I started having my first round of Braxton hicks contractions yesterday....wow those are crazy!! At first I thought it was just one of the babies pushing up on my tummy but my neighbor said they were BH. I had them about once an hour for most of the day yesterday, but they never got any worse so I'm just monitoring right now. Dr said if I start to get more than 4 an hour, than I need to call her and go get checked out...

So I've been trying to stay off my feet and drinking lots of water and hoping to keep many more contractions at bay...If I start getting a lot of them than I'll be on more permanent bed rest and I really, really don't want that this early!!!!

18 week Dr's appt...

Yesterday was my 18 week checkup and ALL is wonderful with the little girls!! Kiko even got to go with me and see them moving all around and the U/S tech gave him PROOF that we were having GIRLS still...he's still not convinced...but he's getting there. The babies were both growing right on schedule and didn't show any additional signs of TTTS (so far). Also got our Quad Screens back which don't show high risk indications of Downs Syndrome or Spina Bifida so that is a relief. So if we can just keep my cervix from shortening and going into premature labor, everything would be perfect!!

So I'm still on modified bed rest and will be for the duration of the pregnancy. My cervix was the same as it was two weeks ago which is good news, it means the extra rest is helping keep labor at bay. The goal is to make it to at least December 15, which is 28 weeks. The babies would at least be developed enough at that point that they would be ok after a decent hospital stay. 24 weeks is really the "viability" goal, but I'm an overachiever. LOL. Once we make it to December 15, the next goal will be to make it to 32 weeks, which will be January 13. If still going strong at that point, the babies will be born most likely no later than February 15 simply due to growth restrictions and other possible complications.

My friends are starting to plan a baby shower, so stay tuned...due to all the possible complications and the bed rest, the Dr suggested earlier rather than later so most likely will be soon! Oy! I guess I better finish registering!! LOL!!

18 weeks...

Ok, I'm starting to get huge now...I kept losing weight before, but ever since I got put on bed rest, I'm getting HUGE!!! So don't laugh!! Dr Luke's book says I need to eat and eat and eat! I'm really not eating that much....just laying around isn't helping. Oh and Kiko didn't want me to feel bad, so here's his belly shot...he says he's about 12 weeks....LOL!

Doctor update...

Went to see Dr. Adam today for my 16 week appointment today. Things are ok with the babies, but it looks like my cervix is shortening again, which concerns the doctor. So now I'm back on modified bed rest and can't go into work unless necessary. I also have to stay off my feet again as much as possible. "sigh"....

Oh and the amniotic sac on one of the babies is starting to possibly show signs of TTTS so have to keep watching it...

Basically, I'll be on modified bed rest through the pregnancy and hoping to stay off permanant bed rest as long as possible. I guess I'm taking "high risk" to heart...

Say some prayers that my body cooperates and the babies are safe inside me for as long as possible!!

Oh yeah...here's a belly shot (the first of many!!). This is my 16 week shot...

Vote for Baby B's name!!!!

Please vote for a name for our dear Baby B!! Right now, Baby A is planned to be named Kayla Anne Novilla. (Kayla is a name I have wanted since I was a little girl and Anne was my mom's middle name). Now we are at a loss for the second little girl's name! We have some requirements though!

1) It cannot end with an "a"...we didn't want it to rhyme or be too close to Kayla
2) It must start with a "K"...trying to keep a theme here...LOL
3) It can't be any of the following as we have friends/family with the same or similar names (Kelli, Kaitlin, Karen, Katherine, Kimberly, Kasey or Kailey)
4) It needs to go with the middle name "Grace", which is Kiko's mother's name
5) No funky, foreign names...we want it to compliment Kayla and not contrast it :)

So anyway...we have our favorite choices on the poll to the left, so please vote! If you have other suggestions that fit the above, let us know! LOL!

Thanks!! Baby B appreciates it!!

Hurricane Ike!

Well...I always said that I didn't want to be 8 or 9 months pregnant in the middle of the summer not only because of the heat, but also because of HURRICANES!!! Ike proved me right once again! As most of you know by now, the Houston/Galveston area took a beating from Hurricane Ike last week. I live in League City, which is less than a mile from Galveston Bay and I must say we were very lucky. At the last minute, Hurricane Ike made a jog to the east about 20 miles which spared not only my house from a tremendous storm surge, but also my work and the homes of many, many, many of my friends.

I'm from Florida and hurricanes don't usually worry me too much. I've been through SEVERAL of them and have only evacuated twice. Once when I was a little girl for Hurricane David in the early 80's I think...and three years ago with Hurricane Rita. A Cat 2 (such as Ike was), really didn't worry me too much, as I've ridden out LOTS of Cat 2 and Cat 3 storms. What worried me with Ike was the storm surge...they were predicting a storm surge equal to that of a Cat 4!! What was worse, being so close to the water and having only lived in Texas for 6 years, I had NO CLUE what the flooding could be like in my neighborhood. Further complicating matters were that Kiko had to work the day of all the evacuations and my city management stinks. They kept telling my city that we were not a mandatory evacuation zone. It wasn't until Friday morning when they finally said Zone A was Mandatory (which I live in), but the City of League City kept saying we were VOLUNTARY. Talk about confusing!!

So there I was, the morning of the storm's predicted arrival, trying to wake up Kiko and John (as Kemah is already starting to flood...less than 2 miles away) and get them to leave. We ended up "hunkering down" in a hotel room in the Medical Center, about 20 miles away as we didn't leave enough time to get further inland. We lost power at about 1:30 am and water about 10 am at the hotel, but the winds weren't that bad (even though there was a lot of damage...It wasn't any worse than I'd seen with Hurricanes David, Erin, Andrew, and several others I'd been through). What I was really worried about was if my area had flooded.

Saturday morning, we drove back and checked on the house and it was like a ray of sunshine! The house was perfect! A few small plants were blown over, my fence out back was leaning a little, and my pool was now a moat...but not a shingle was missing! My neighborhood was pretty banged up and a lot of friends were not so lucky with damage, but we were spared the devastation that Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston received. The only tough part was enduring no power...i.e...no AIR CONDITIONING....which to a PREGNANT woman is HELL!!! LOL! So Kiko and I loaded up the car again and drove out to Austin to stay with my Aunt and Uncle.

Of course, the day after we arrived in Austin, our power returned back to League City. LOL. So we turned around and came right back home and have been cleaning up ever since!

All in all, we fared very well and it was great practice for us to prepare for a bigger hurricane that we pray will never come. We appreciate all the prayers and we hope that all of our friends are safe and sound! Here are some pictures from my neighborhood...I haven't had my camera with me to take pics of surrounding areas in my town, but if you watch CNN I'm sure you've seen them!!

Here is my pool...which is now a moat!!!

Around the corner from my house...fences down all over the neighborhood...

Well, the news is in!!! We are having...

TWO LITTLE GIRLS!!!!

I'm so excited!!! I think Kiko is in denial...LOL. I think it's good for him...the world just couldn't handle two more Kiko's!!

Well, had my follow up appointment with Dr. Adam today and so far the babies are measuring on target and looking good. They are watching out for something called Twin Twin Transfusion Syndrom (TTTS), which is something that can only happen with identical twins like ours. It's a very serious complication and can happen quickly so we're under the watchful eye of my high-risk OB. Praying that we don't end up with this problem as my pregnancy will be complicated enough I think.

So that's our exciting news for the day!! Stay tuned!!

Well that wasn't any fun...

So I had my cerclage surgery on Wednesday and that was NOT FUN!!! First of all the cerclage itself was fine and the babies seem to be hanging in there so far...next appt will be Tuesday so say prayers that all is well with them.

The actual surgery ended up being very difficult...they did general anesthesia and turns out they had a tough time intubating me with the breathing tube. They tried three times and on the fourth try, they finally had to use a metal breathing tube and paralyze my throat and lungs to get it in. I didn't find this out till 24 hours after the surgery when I was in such terrible pain after the surgery. Felt like the worst case of whiplash, could barely turn my neck or swallow anything from the pain.

Anyway, all is better (after LOTS of vicodin) and I'm hoping the babies managed to make it through all my pain and pain medication with no ill effects. Let's hope I don't have to do that again!!

Bedrest stinks!!!

So Friday was my first appointment with my new OB, and I really like her. She's a no-nonsense doc which I love. So it wasn't the greatest first appointment as she had some sort of bad news. It turns out that I'm suffering from an Incompetent Cervix, which means that it is already opening due to the added weight of the twins in my uterus...that shouldn't happen for a while and if not fixed, I will lose the babies. So I've been scheduled for a cerclage to stitch my cervix shut on Wednesday. Not looking forward to the surgery, but will do whatever it takes!!

So now I'm on bedrest as my cervix is also shortening and I'm at high risk of losing the babies before then, so around I sit. And it's BORING!!!!

Anyway, say some prayers that I don't have any problems and can make it to Wednesday without any issues. Also pray that the surgery does it's job and keeps the babies nice and safe inside of me!!

12 week update!!!

Today was a wonderful day in Babies Novilla land!! I got to see the little ones and they were soooo active!! It was so amazing to watch them, I could have stayed there all day if it weren't so uncomfortable! They were squirming and moving all over the place!

This is the funny part. Because they are in the same placenta and only separated by a very thin membrane, it makes it more difficult to get measurements. So when the dr would zoom in on one of them, you would see out of the corner of a screen this foot come flying into the picture and push the one we were measuring down. I laughed so hard! Then when we'd measure the other one a hand would come flying into the frame. It was so funny! I guess with normal twins they are in their own sacs and at this early in the game, they aren't really that close to each other yet. But with identicals, since they are sharing the same placenta, they are pretty close to each other. I can see troubles with these two later if they are boys...why do I see a lot of wrestling matches happening...lol.

Here are the stats, I am so thrilled because they are both doing AMAZING!!! They have finally caught up in their size and their heartbeats were just perfect!!

Baby A: Measuring 12w0d, Heartbeat 158 bpm
Baby B: Measuring 11w6d, Heartbeat 155 bpm

I have my first appointment with my new high-risk OB on Friday!! I am very excited to meet the woman who will be caring for me and the babies for the next 6 months! She's up at Women's Hospital in the Med Center area, so I'm not looking forward to the drive, but supposedly she's one of the best high-risk OBs in town and I'm honored that she's taking us in!! On Friday, I will have some more testing done and get some more ultrasounds of the babies, so hopefully I will have some really great pics to post. The ones from today weren't that good because they kept moving around!!

10 week update!!

Today was our 10 week visit to the doctor and the babies seem to be doing well! They are still measuring a little behind but I hear that is normal. Now we wait again for another two weeks for our 12 week appointment. That will be a big one because we'll be officially "released" from the reproductive specialist to an OB...that will be nice! Unfortunately, those appointments will be in downtown Houston....not so nice. LOL. So here are the stats! I'm starting to hope they might actually be girls!! What do you think??

Baby A: Measuring 9w5d, HB 173
Baby B: Measuring 9w3d, HB 162

The old wives tale is anything over 160 is a a girl....hmmmm....one just never knows....the wait is killing Kiko!! He he he...

8 week ultrasound!

Here are the little peanuts!!! Baby A really likes Baby B and wants to be as close to him/her as possible! LOL! Hopefully this doesn't cause problems later! Stay tuned for more scans!

8 week visit!!

We just got home from our second ultrasound and the babies are doing great!!! We have a great ultrasound but my scanner is not cooperating so I may have to run over to my neighbors house to get them up on here! I'm beginning to think they may actually be boys...if you believe the old wives' tales about the heartbeats...what do you think??

Baby A: HB 152 bpm, Measuring 7w5d
Baby B: HB 148 bpm, Measuring 7w3d

My next appointment is in two weeks. Baby A is really close to Baby B in the gestational sac so it made it kind of hard to measure Baby B's size. So I'm staying optimistic that everything is just fine with the little ones. Their heartbeats looked nice and strong so we were very happy!!

Can you say SHOCKED?!?!?!?

Miracles do happen. I'm still in shock. Kiko and I had our first U/S appointment this morning and it looks like we are having IDENTICAL TWINS!!!!! We had one gestational sac and TWO heartbeats!!!! They were also separated by a membrane which is good news, means less complications further down the road. I'm just shocked. The blood test numbers gave absolutely NO indication of twins, in fact even the doctor assumed we only had one when he came in. When he saw the sac and the second heartbeat there was no mistaking it. I started crying from all the emotion because I just haven't "felt" pregnant this entire time...so I was starting to prepare myself for the worst...this was like the BEST news of my entire life and I just can't help but smile. God has truly blessed us....TWICE.

So here are the stats...Both babies are measuring 6w1d. Baby A's Heartrate was 107 and Baby B's Heartrate was 111. Perfect!!!

Obviously it is still early, but the risk of miscarriage goes way down after you see the heartbeat so I am feeling very optimistic now. Next appointment is Monday, July 28th for our 8 week visit!!

So any guesses??? Boys or Girls??? I'm hoping for girls, Joey and Kiko are wanting boys!!

Tired of all this waiting...

It seems like all I do is wait...I am not a patient person, everyone who knows me knows this...it's going to be a LONG 9 months for me and probably everyone around me...LOL.

So tomorrow is a big milestone...6 weeks!! I still want to see what's going on in there, but that won't happen till Friday...sigh...so it's hard to know if the baby is still going or what!?!?!?! Sometimes I don't feel pregnant at all and that worries me...other times, there is no doubt, nausea, boobs hurting, tired, peeing all the time...but those aren't constant (which I guess is a good thing). Not complaining about not being sick mind you...just wishing I knew everything was ok. Someone told me the worrying won't stop till their 18...probably never...

Anyway...stay tuned for Friday...hopefully we'll have wonderful news to post! I can't wait to see our little bean!! I think I'll call him Howard....just kidding...

The Blood Doctor...

So today I had my appointment with a hematologist to make sure all was good with the pregnancy and my APS (Antiphospholipid Syndrome). His nurse is an idiot...but I liked him. I called last week to make an appointment and she was extremely rude and I just about didn't go to see him but he's the only one in Houston that specializes in APS...so I kind of had to go. Here's a sample of my conversation with her while trying to set up my appointment...

Me: "I'd like to set up an appointment with Dr. Escobar, please".
Her: "Why?"
Me: "Um...I was just diagnosed with APS and I just found that I'm pregnant and my rheumatologist said...."
Her (cutting me off): "How do you even know you have APS in the first place?"
Me: "um...because my neurologist ran a bunch of tests and the bloodwork came back testing positive for APS. My rheumatologist said that I needed to see..."
Her (again cutting me off): "Well that doesn't make sense, nobody just tests for APS. I don't think you know that you have it because it isn't something you just know you have".
Me: "umm...okkkk....but I have the tests right here and it says I do have it"
Her: Have you had any blood clots yet?
Me: Not that I'm aware of...
Her: So why do you need to come in??
Me: Because my rheumatologist said I needed to see Dr. Escobar.
Her: SIGH...I don't know if he'll want to see you just because you seem to think you have this disease and it's just really not something that you should joke about...

WTF??!?!?!?!?

yeah, ok...so fast forward to today...I see the dr (oh and Miss "your an idiot" was there too and was just as sweet as she could be). Anyway, he wants to see me every other month during the pregnancy and to help me coordinate with a perinatologist when the time comes for the delivery. I wanted to just scream at her sitting there being all nice to me in front of the doctor when she was so terrible earlier...ugh.

Ok, I got that off my chest, I needed to vent...

Back to waiting for next week when I get the ultrasound...I hope everything is going ok down there. I keep cramping which I hope is normal. Boobs don't seem to hurt as bad, but I hear that's normal too. I have no idea what is normal at this point.

Oh and congratulations to Melanee and Chris who just found out that they are having TWIN GIRLS!!!! WOOHOO!!!! I was wrong, I admit it.

Third beta!!!

Today was our third and final beta and the number is 984!! The doctor's seem happy, so I guess we are too! I have no idea what is good or not, really. LOL. Anyway, next appointment isn't until July 18 for our first ultrasound. We'll be about 6.5 weeks along then and hopefully we will be able to see the heartbeat. I will feel much better once I see that!! Also, we'll find out how many are in there too...my guess is still only one...what do you think???

Second beta is in...

Today was the second beta test. When you are pregnant early on in IVF, they check your HCG levels to make sure they are rising properly like they should. The rule of thumb is for the beta to double every 48-72 hours (or at least a 60% increase by 48 hours). So far:

6/30/08 Beta #1: 101
7/2/08 Beta #2: 192

So it's close enough to doubling for me :). Since it's not rising at a rapid rate, we're assuming that there is only one baby that made it based on the lower numbers (twins are generally twice this high)...however we won't know that for sure until our 6.5 week ultrasound!

Next beta is Monday, July 7...our 1 year wedding anniversary!! Please keep the prayers going as our little angel is not out of the woods yet!

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!!!

Kiko and I are officially PREGNANT!!! Our first blood test was today and the beta came back at 101. Whew! I go back in on Wednesday for another beta to make sure it is rising properly. There still is a lot that can happen, but the fact that we know that I can get pregnant is encouraging!!! Keep saying those prayers!!

We'll find out in a few weeks how many are actually in there!!! Any guesses??

It's "UNOFFICIAL"!!

Ok...technically we find out tomorrow, but I'm just too excited, can't sleep and Kiko won't let me tell anybody yet so this is one of only two places I can do this!! Check it out for yourselves!! WOOHOO!! Ok, but like I said, tomorrow is the official day when we get the blood results back from the dr!

And the waiting continues...

I think this is the worst week of my life...just waiting...waiting for a clue that the babies are attaching to me...waiting for some "SIGN" that they are still there. It's worse than waiting for Christmas morning when you were a little kid...it's like that wait times SEVEN!!! Sigh...there has been some "hopeful" signs...a few twinges and cramps on the days that implantation should have occurred. Some hot flashes, which I don't even know if those are a symptom, but let me tell you I was about to rip my clothes off at Kroger yesterday it was so bad. I would think if things were happening, I'd start to feel something soon...I am pretty in tune to my body and pretty much know when things are "off"...so I'm praying I start getting that "feeling" soon...

So stay tuned...oh and if you want to come over and get yelled at, feel free to stop by anytime...my hormones are definitely elevated because I'd like to drop kick Kiko a few feet...but is that any different than normal?? Just kidding... :)

SIX TOTSICLES!!!

I can't believe it. John, the lab director from CORM just called and said, "Ms. Kinder, I'm not sure if you know this or not...but you left some of your children here at the lab with us and we'd like to freeze them if that's ok??". I started to cry. I asked how many made it to freeze and he said SIX!! Not only did six make it to freeze, but all six were of fantastic quality (3 AA's, 2 AB's and a BB). He said he's seen pregnancies from all of those qualities and I have two even better ones inside me already! I just spent the last five minutes crying on Kiko's shoulders because I couldn't believe how different this cycle and last cycle were and how much better things are looking right now compared to last time.

Once Kiko and I have our family complete, we will most likely donate or put our embryo's up for "adoption"...its amazing what they can do now!!

So I've been laying around on my butt for the last day and a half...being waited on hand and foot. I must say I could used to this! I'm sure Kiko won't let that happen though! I'm on "bed" rest until tomorrow and then I can go back to work. Bummer.

We're PUPO X 2!!!!

I am officially PUPO x 2!!! (PUPO - Pregnant Until Proven Otherwise)!!!

We went in this morning and found out that almost all 10 of our embabies were still going strong!! We transferred 2 Grade 4AA blastocysts!!! They don't get any better than that everyone!!! We also have 2 Grade 3AA and 3 Grade 3AB blasts that they are watching and will freeze tomorrow if still going strong! We're praying we can have at least 4 blasts frozen for future brother/sisters or in case these two don't make it! But I know they will, I just have a really wonderful feeling about them!!

The doctor said they should begin hatching and attaching this afternoon!! Woohoo!!! Please keep the prayers going everyone!!

Oh and I get to start my Lovenox (blood thinner shots) today....hopefully those will be worth it!! YUCK!!

Ten Little Piggies!!!

So I'm in amazement that our TEN little piggies are still going strong today on Day 3!! Today we have (7) 8-cell and (3) 4-cell embryo's growing away in a petri dish about three miles from where I am sitting. Amazing really if you think about it. I truly believe our prayers are all working!!

So Saturday will be the BIG day!!! No updates tomorrow as the lab doesn't do them. Day 4 is when the male chromosomes kick in and several of them may drop off or stop growing (we'll pray it's not the case for ours). I go in Saturday morning at 7:30 am to have two (maybe three) embabies placed back inside to grow for the next 9 months!!! I'm just so excited!! To think, in two days I will be PUPO!!!! (PREGNANT UNTIL PROVEN OTHERWISE)

They're still kicking!!

I'm just so relieved this morning. The embryologist called and said that out the 10 that were fertilized yesterday, all 10 are dividing properly this morning. WOOHOO!!! So on Day 2, they want to see either 2 or 4 cell embryo's and we have 7-4cell and 3-2cell!! I'm praying that those two cell ones can catch up to their four cell brothers and sisters!!!

So tomorrow morning we will get another call from the embryologist for our Day 3 report. The goal is to have several (if not all) 8-cell embryo's tomorrow!!

Please keep the prayers going!! We are already doing 1000 times better than last cycle, I just pray that they can keep going till Saturday when we put back a couple of them.

And then there were ten...

Well, as expected some of our little eggies didn't fertilize, but we're still doing good. Out of the 18 eggs that were ICSI'd, 10 of them have fertilized!!! So now we wait some more. Tomorrow we will get another fertilization report to see how they are dividing. So keep saying those prayers that they are all dividing beautifully tomorrow!!! We're still on track for a Saturday transfer...woohoo!!!

Retrieval Day!!!

Today was our Egg Retrieval!! I'm in so much pain, but it is oh so worth it!!!

They retrieved 22 eggs (compared to 11 last time) and 18 eggs were mature (compared to 6 last time). So far so good!! Tomorrow we will get our first fertilization report. They say the average is get 50 - 70% fertilization rate, so I'm praying to get at least 10 embryo's tomorrow as they tend to drop off over the course of the next few days. The hope is that they will all fertilize and make it to Saturday. We'll transfer either 2 or 3 embryos and pray we have some extras left over to freeze.

So please keep the prayers going for our little baby Novilla's!!!

Kristen and Kiko

Trigger is done, we're on our way!!! Woohoo!!!

So last night was the "TRIGGER"!!! That needle is huge and has been scaring me for the last six weeks! But my neighbor Yuni came to the rescue last night and gave me my shot in the butt!!! Thank goodness, because I was afraid if I let Kiko do it, I'd be paralyzed!!

Today is Father's Day and it's also my "FREE" day! No shots or appointments for me, that's a first in a VERY, LONG TIME!!! So I plan to do absolutely nothing and relax for tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the Egg Retrieval day! So far, things are already looking better than last time. Last time I only had 11 eggs retrieved and only six were mature. This time, I've got well over 20+ eggs and I think at least 12 of them are in the mature range...so I'm praying that we'll get our little angels to go the distance!!

The hope is that all of them (or at least 70% of them) will fertilize and then we'll do a 5-day transfer on Saturday with the best quality embryo's. We are planning to transfer 2 or 3 depending on their quality.

Stay tuned, I'll be giving daily updates as things go along! Oh and do me a favor, don't bug Kiko about how things are going...I don't think he knows what's going on when and depends on me to tell him where to be and what is happening! LOL! So he gets caught off guard when you all know more than he does!!

Some interesting news...

So as many of you may know, I've had migraines for years and years but they seem to really be horrendous during my IVF cycles. So I decided to go to the neurologist to see if they could figure out what was going on...they were getting so intense I was starting to get pretty scared. So long story short, I have what appears to be several blood clotting issues which pretty much means I'm at high risk for miscarriage, pre-eclampsia and stroke. Not so good news when trying to get pregnant...

I've been diagnosed with APS (Antiphospholipid Syndrome, aka Hughes Syndrome) and double -heterozygotic MTHFR gene mutation. Basically all this means is my blood is too thick and makes me much higher risk for blood clots.

SO...I get to be on baby aspirin daily for the rest of my life and I have to take blood thinners every day if I get pregnant (Yep, more shots). And it also means that I'll probably end up on bed rest earlier than I normally would. After I have children, they need to look at putting me on long term blood thinners to try and keep me from having a stroke...my MRI is still in review but my doctor said to not be surprised if it comes back showing that I have already had several mini-strokes already...I guess that would explain a few things...lol!

Anyway, things are progressing on the IVF front! Started my stim drugs today...woohoo!!! I've doubled the amount I was on last time so hoping and praying for double the amount of eggs!! Here's a look at all my medications for this round:

This doesn't look so bad, but inside each of these boxes are LOTS and LOTS of vials of meds!!!!

Finally getting going!!

Well, I'm hoping this is the first of many, many posts!! Today is Cycle Day 1 of my next IVF round. We've been blessed to get another chance at a Clinical Trial to hopefully have our dream baby (or babies)!! So here is our tentative schedule for this round...

May 8 - Start Birth Control Pills (ironic to be on BCP when trying to get pregnant isn't it??)

May 23 - Start Lupron Injections

June 6 - Start Stimulation medications (LOTS of shots start now)

June 17 - Tentative Egg Retrieval Date

June 22 - Tentative Embryo Transfer Date

July 1 - Beta #1!

July 3 - Beta #2!

July 7 - Beta #3 and our Wedding Anniversary!!! How cool is that?!?!?!

IF we are pregnant this round, our Due Date would be ~ March 10, 2009!

Please feel free to leave us words of encouragement, they are greatly appreciated as we go through this!! And if I snap at you, just remember, I'm on a LOT of hormones!!!

Round Two!!

Well, today was the first day of our next attempt at IVF. I had a follow up appointment with my RE after our first IVF attempt failed. Our first attempt resulted in 11 eggs, of which 6 were mature but only one fertilized. We were on a clinical trial that really restricted how much stim drugs she could give me, so she plans to make some changes this go around.

My next cycle will start in Early May. She wants to really increase my stim drugs to dry and get a lot more eggs to develop, and hopefully fertilize. So stay tuned! I'll be tweaking our little blog here and adding more information as we get it!!