Okay... so today hasn't been the best so far lol
I left here by cab to go up to the hospital for the appointment. Got there 45 minutes late first of all lol Then registration was a NIGHTMARE! Waited over a half hour to be registered, even though I was only 16 numbers away... everyone was so slow, didn't have their information... didn't know what doctor they were going to see etc.
To start with, I forgot my camera in the back seat of the cab I was in [cab #4, I'm glad I remembered this as it narrowed it down a great bit and it made it easier to track down!]
Then I waited at obs for over 2 hours just to see the nurse.
Weight : 110, same as last week.
Blood Pressure : 110/50, a little low, but that's okay
Heart Rate : 120 at rest... not exactly great... but at least it hasn't really gone UP
Review of progress in Pregnancy : 13 weeks and 6 days
Then I waited another hour to see the doctor. In the mean time, I bought an orange juice and chicken salad sandwich as I was nearly falling asleep and needed to at least go for a walk before I fell asleep sitting up! The OBS was also cramped today, so everything went sooo slooowww.
FINALLY go in to see the doctor, he reviewed my chart, 12 lbs gained, hoping to see at least a couple lbs being put on at the next appointment.
Checked cervix, as it is common with multiples to have problems early on, and wanted to see if we would have any soon... cervix is still very closed and hard and long - perfect!
Uterus was just above my belly button after I peed, he said about where it would at 21-22 weeks with a singleton, so we're growing great. haha. So next was to check the heart beats, which is always my favorite part... but I was a little tense today as sometimes when you miscarry before 12 weeks, the body simply reabsorbs the baby, and you have to signs or symptoms of a miscarriage. This is especially true for twins and triplets, and it can be very devastating!
I haven't really gotten my hopes up to make it past the second trimester with both babies ... I wanted to be sure of myself and wait until I HEARD them both.
The doctor started at the top of the uterus and for awhile I held my breath. Were they both okay? Why couldn't he find them if I was growing so fast? Could something have happened? Were there symptoms I passed up as normal... but weren't? Those 3 minutes felt like an eternity.
He picked my heart beat up... which is fast anyway, about 120... but with the stress and anticipation, it was up to 132 lol At first he thought it was a baby, but then I reassured him that it was only my heart rate escalating at the tension.
It didn't help that I couldn't even record it, and even though we had all expected to be skyping this moment, the hospital's internet was down for the day due to construction being done. I was intensely sad, and I was a bit mad at myself for forgetting such a valuable part of the day in the backseat of a cab. I felt as though it was definitely my fault, and that I should have had it... I was so mad at myself. All of this ran through my mind as I thought of the worst case scenerio... something has happened to these babies... and I was thinking about my camera?! I was now on the verge of crying.
And then... something unexpected happened. He found a heart beat!! 170 and strong! It sang out to me and I sighed with relief... at least one baby made it. I asked him if he could find both, but he said it could take until 16-20 weeks to find both since they're still small [about 3.5 inches each and weighing just over an ounce] and move around, and usually, one tends to grow on top of the other. I kind of worried then, and wondered when we would know if the other one survived.
We knew so far that Baby B was alive and strong! He/She even kicked the doppler and the doctor was kind of taken by surprise, but I wasn't. lol.
He tilted it a bit when Baby B moved, but he caught it quickly. Then he tilted it again to get a better sound, and he found the second one only about 2 inches over to the right! Baby A was there!! He/She had made it! They were both there! What a relief! Baby A was at a strong 160. At this point, I'm sure my smile was so big that it took up most of my face. I haven't ever felt that kind of relief before!
The appointment to this point felt like a definite hour or two.. but it had only been 25 minutes.
We also went over all the symptoms I've been having on my thyroid medication [so far, increased nausea, sore joints, tiredness and headaches] and he brought up that I was definitely not my cheerful self, and he started to ask me questions about how I've been feeling... more stressed or sad lately. I realized that I was, but just attributed it to being tired and so far behind on chores. I've never really stressed about chores to be honest... and I realized that I have even b een crying over unfolded laundry! There was a symptom that I had missed... depression. This is one of the most common side effects, and he doesn't think I've reached that far yet, but they have me on close watch. I was really grateful that he picked it up, cared enough to realize. I was shocked... but in a way, I felt relieved that I wasn't going crazy, that being sad isn't my fault... it's the medication that is keeping me alive.
I'm not sure if anyone out there has dealt with depression during pregnancy. I will be talking more about it at my next appointment, but now that it's been pointed out, at least I know that I have to watch myself, watch my activities and start to enjoy this pregnancy more. He told me to go out more often [when possible] so I'm going to have to wait at least two weeks and see if I can even afford that or now. I'm not sure how I can make some money from home... I thought about babysitting, but I think I have more than I can handle some days with my own two children.
Any suggestions are more than welcome!
I could stand on the corner with a sign and a pot for change.. but it's just tooo cold out there LOL I can see it now "Money for poor single surrogate who has two children and attempting to bake two!"
My IM is sending me my first maternity shirt, should be here by the end of next week, hate waiting though. It says "I love my bump" I will have to post pictures of course. Now i need pants lol I wore my jeans today... but I felt like I couldn't breathe all day, so won't be doing that again!
Next OBS is March 11th at 1030 am. Won't be much to report before then, although he said if I feel like I need to be checked out before then, just to call and make an earlier appointment. He wanted to put it in two weeks, but he realized that he won't be in that day, so he put it for 3. He said after that appointment though, he's prefer to see me every 2 weeks, which is fine. I'll be 16w6d at my next appointment, so hoping for an ultrasound maybe, and we'll be able to tell the sexes of the babies! How exciting is that?! He hinted that he wanted an ultrasound soon since we have detected both heartbeats.
I'm anxious to see them again and send their parents more pictures. It makes me a bit sad that I won't have any in utero pictures of the surrobabies... I wish I had one to put on my fridge to remember why I eat the way I eat, sleep the way I sleep and live life the way I do. Maybe he'll print off an extra picture for me next time :)
That's all there is really, but if I left anything out, don't be shy to ask in the comments and I'll blog with all the answers. I'm also going to do a video blog tonight on youtube, I forgot to do one for 13 weeks, and havent' received any questions. There wasn't a whole lot to report anyway, but I will take a shot a my belly in the video, and answer questions, so I'll post a thing on my wall on facebook today [yes, it's back open... a friend of mine couldn't get a hold of me, and it worried us both to be apart haha] and wait for questions under that as comments.
Thank you for following, and I do appreciate all the readers... it makes me feel special to be honest. I'll give you all the link to the youtube videos, there are only two from 12 weeks so far though!
Here's the link to the 1st vlog :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-X366cBTNY&feature=relatedHere's the link to the 2nd vlog :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzDGID-bq7A&feature=relatedFollow me there too!!
Thank you everyone, and I hope that I have helped answer questions and hopefully inspired some of you to look into surrogacy, either as an Intended Parent or a Surrogate... I have some cute shirts that I am looking to buy for myself during this pregnancy, and I will post some pictures tomorrow and get some votes on them!!!
<3 Cathleen
