15 Month Check Up and Other Thoughts

Today we finally had our 15 month check up with Dr. C - only 3 weeks late but hey, who's counting? Stats are as follows:

Collette
26 lbs (90th percentile)
33 in. (99th percentile - Daddy's girl!)

Sebastian
22.5 lbs (30th percentile)
31.5 in. (70th percentile)

That's the good news. The bad news is that they both have some form of bronchiolitis (but not RSV). She said that the cough could last about 3 weeks and I estimate they have had it for about 2. She said we should hold off on antibiotics for a week and see if it resolves itself. For the most part, they have been in good spirits so I'm very much in favor of no meds. But if in a week it doesn't go away, we will have to bring in big guns. Keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't come to that.

Also, because they are sick and could get an ear infection as a result of the bronchiolitis, Dr. C decided to hold off on the shots. She didn't want the kids to get a fever and then have me wonder if its due to the vaccines or if it means they got an ear infection. So, back in two weeks for the fun stuff.

And now for the very good news: Dr. C is pregnant. WITH TWINS!! As soon as she walked in the room, I thought she was preggo. The little bump on her skinny frame was certainly not from a big lunch but was still too small for me to ask. Luckily, she brought it up and told me the good news. But guess what: she is 24 weeks! And barely has a bump! I am 21 weeks with ONE baby and look a lot more pregnant than she does. Then again, I am 5'4" and she is 6'2" (no joke) so its totally unfair all around. This does mean that she won't get to meet Tater Tot until she comes back from maternity leave (if?) so that's a bit sad but I am, of course, very happy to welcome her into the world of MOT-hood.

Somewhat related. I wanted to ask her if she used ART for her twins. They are fraternal which always makes me think that it might be the case. I didn't ask because I didn't want to pry although I doubt she would have minded. But I got to thinking: is the whole ART thing in kind of a snowball effect? I feel like I am always hearing about more and more twins and I know it is in part due to ART. I wonder if, as more people do it, the stigma of seeing a fertility doctor has gone away a bit. Or maybe hearing about and knowing people who have used ART, it makes others more likely to pursue it and pursue it sooner than they would have otherwise. We waited less than a year before seeing a RE (shhh, don't tell Aetna!) and maybe that is a growing trend. In this state, it certainly helps that insurance covers ART but I think that's just part of the reason. If I'm right and people feel more comfortable seeing a RE these days, then that makes me very happy. If millions of people can talk about taking Viagra, then (in)fertility should be ok to talk about, too.

Will History Repeat Itself?

This seems to the question on many a commenter's mind as of late: Will it be twins, again? Of course, I won't know for sure until we see an ultrasound but all signs point to NO! Thank the sweet Lord. Strangely, many of my MOT friends have secret fantasies about having another set. I think they are crazy. I mean, don't get me wrong - if I find out its twins, I'll love them just as I would one baby. But there is not even one little piece of me that wishes it were twins. I'm really looking forward to a "normal" singleton pregnancy. And hopefully one baby won't take the same toll on my body that two did.

So, how do I know it's not twins? Well for those of you who don't know, we have used IVF for both pregnancies, this last one a single FET. We know there is just one embie in there - if it does end up being twins, they will definitely be identical. And run the risk of sharing a placenta and/or sac, both higher risk situations than my fraternal twin pregnancy. Also, the hormone levels (HCG, to be exact) does not indicate twins. Just hints at a very healthy, singleton pregnancy. Of course, I will sleep sounder once we see the nugget on the screen and see the heartbeat. Hopefully that will happen sometime next week.

In the meantime, thank you all for your well wishes. We are so thrilled to be adding another baby to our family.



PS - we are due July 25th! Now I have to wrap my brain around the concept of being pregnant for the whole 40 weeks. Hrm...

WTF?

Ok, maybe I am overreacting.  It's been known to happen.  But I am seriously put off by a seemingly harmless email someone sent to our mother of twins club listserv.  There was been this thread about delivering twins, started by an expecting MoT who is very close to having her babies.  She was asking for advice about which way to go and, as you could imagine, she has gotten advice from both camps.

My issue is with this one responder.  She started her response by saying that since she got pregnant with her twins "without any help from outside sources" that "it only made sense to deliver them without any help from outside sources" - the fuck??  Some of you are probably thinking, "um, I don't get it, what's the problem??"  But you have to realize that when you are part of a mother of twins club in the wonderful state of Massachusetts where we have ART covered by insurance, you are going to be in the company of a lot of people who "needed help from outside sources."  How is that supposed to make us feel??  Since we had to deal with IF and daily injections and surgeries and FAR too many vaginal ultrasounds, it "only makes sense" that we should also have some scalpel-happy OB slice through our abdomens and birth our long-awaited children that way.  I mean, it only makes sense.

And what about the others who also conceived "without help from outside sources" but, for whatever reason, didn't deliver without help?  Are they supposed to feel like they went against nature?

To be honest, this says far more about me than it does about this woman - I know she didn't intend to hurt anyone's feelings.  But I still have a lot of not-so-fun feelings re: IF - I don't think it's something I will ever "get over" but I don't cry about it every day either.  It is what it is.  I also have unresolved feelings about not being able to deliver without help.  It was my plan all along to have a vaginal delivery and for a number of reasons, it didn't work out that way.  But even though I am a bit hypersensitive when it comes to these subjects, I don't think I'm alone in this group.  And I would certainly keep that in mind before spouting off about what makes sense and what doesn't.  This is a group meant for support and I think when people get too caught up in what they do/did and what they believe, they can often forget about the people they are trying to help.

PS: You don't need to tell me I'm crazy.  I already know.  Rant over.

Way Back When-esday: Spreading the Good News

Here's my Way Back When-esday, hosted by Twinfatuation:

When: April 24, 2008

It was the third week of April 2008 when Billy and I got the confirmation from our fertility center that we were pregnant. It had been a roller coaster ride of emotions up until that point - a long month of daily injections, twice-weekly acupuncture appointments, countless ultrasounds and then the actual retrieval and embryo transfer. To "celebrate", we went on a vacation to Portugal and that's where took our first pregnancy. Here is the proof positive:



Probably the only thing I peed on that I would take a picture of but, after dealing with infertility, I'm allowed. Now, since we were on another continent, it was pretty easy to keep this a secret. But since my whole family knew about our IVF cycle, the secret would not last long.

Once we got home, we planned a dinner with my parents - we would tell them the news one way or the other. What most people don't know (including myself before this whole IVF junk) is that you could get a positive pee-stick and be pregnant but that pregnancy might not make it - that's the trouble with testing so early on. So, we wanted to wait for our appointment at the clinic to confirm that my hormone levels were high enough to indicate a viable pregnancy. The levels ended up being very high, hinting at twins...and we all know how that story ends.

The night of our dinner arrives and as soon as I walk in my parents' apartment, my mother takes one look at me and knows. Gotta love moms. I confirm and she grabs the phone to call her mom. Ok, so I guess its fine if my parents and my grandmother know. I'll wait a while to tell other people, you know, just in case.

We get to the restaurant and who do we bump into - my aunt. Seriously? My town is small, but it ain't that small. Ok fine. So now she knows. We get seated and my father goes out for some fresh air (ADHD - gosh I hope it's not genetic...) and who does he bring back with him but another aunt, uncle and their kids. Really??

By now, my mother's entire family knows the good news so its only fair that my dad's side knows, too. So, less than 12 hours after our first blood test, my whole extended family has heard. Kind of like ripping off a band-aid...I guess.

Fisher-Price "My First Blog Post"

This is my first ever blog and I've surprised myself - I'm a self-proclaimed technophobe so I'm shocked I even know what a blog is. I plan to share a bit about my life with my crazy-cute twins and how wonderful each day is with them. But I don't want to write only about being a MoM (mother of multiples). I'd love to share other things/thoughts/experiences/etc. I am sure my darling pug, Lola, can provide some excellent blog-fodder.



So, I guess I should start with how we got here. Hubs always joked that we would have twins, even before we were married. I, of course, reminded him that he was crazy and asked him why he hated me. How could he wish such a fate upon me? Two of his gigantic babies in my tiny belly?? I could not fathom this nor did I wish to. But, when we found out we would have some issues conceiving and would need to do IVF, I began praying for two little nuggets. And two little nuggets i got! Our 6-week ultrasound showed two sacs and we could not have been happier.

Fast-forward to present day and these nuggets are now nearly 3-months old! Its amazing how time flies. Being a new mom and MoT has been challenging, to be sure, but I am having a great time with them. I hope that this blog will help me document their little lives and maybe even help some other people out there who are going through similar things. I'm no baby genius, not by a long shot, but I think these babies will teach me a thing...or two. :)