24 weeks + mother's day 0.5 + an inappropriate sonographer

so this was a pretty okay week. we started sunday going to our friends' daughter's 1 year birthday party at a restaurant. i, of course, had to be wheeled around and stay in my seat once we got to our table. though i was glad to have seen everyone, it sucked that i couldn't walk around to talk to as many people as i wanted to.

later that night, i was touched and happy to have celebrated my "first" Mother's day. i didn't think it really counted cause the twins aren't born yet. but, my families (mine and mark's) all thought it counted. they sent me cards and gave me small but very meaningful gifts. i was so touched and felt so loved that i cried... a lot. because of the bed rest, we decided to just order food and eat and celebrate with mark's family here at our house. it was nice and simple and quiet. the best part was our nephew greeting us all a happy mother's day!

mid-week, mark and i had lunch with a friend of ours that's also pregnant with her first, a boy. we got to swap some pregnancy stories here and there. then we got to stories about what her husband is and isn't doing to help her during her pregnancy. let's just say, i'm ever so blessed and thankful for mark and all that he has done for us and for me especially to make this pregnancy go as smoothly and stress-free as possible.

thursday, we had another appointment with dr. matia - i have to see her every week now. i thought everything was going to be pretty routine - check my cervix length, check the babies, check out. well it wasn't. we waited in the waiting room and got called in by a sonographer that we hadn't seen before. she seemed okay at first. then she was just plain rude and mean and had the crappiest bedside manner i had ever experienced. she mentioned several times as to how hungry she was and how it's lunch time for her. because of this, she rushed through all the scanning and this irritated the living hell out of me. i understand that she was hungry, but that doesn't give her the right to rush through a patient's appointment and scans. she has a job to do and if she can't do it right, she needs to get someone else to do it. she commented about how it was nice that my feet and ankles weren't swollen like most other pregnant women and i said it's probably because of the compression socks that i had been wearing. she asked where i had gotten the idea and i said i googled it and then asked my obgyn about it to make sure. she responded with something along the lines of "you shouldn't google things to get medical advice." did she not hear about the part where i asked my obgyn if it was okay? ugh!

later, when the scanning was over, she again commented on how i have no stretch marks on my belly yet and how nice that must be. i again said that i googled something about stretch marks and she snapped at me and told me, "you need to stop googling things and ask your doctor with the medical degree!" it took a hell of a lot of restraint for me to not get up and punch her. i was so extremely mad! after entering whatever she had to on the report she just up and left me with all the now-cold sonogram gel all over my belly and cold vaginal ultrasound gel (for the cervix check) all over my vagina and didn't even bother to hand me any papertowels to wipe any of it off or put my underwear back on. it wasn't until 10 minutes later when dr. matia walked in that i was given papertowels to take it all off and put my underwear back on. unfortunately, i was so concerned with the results of the sonograms that i forgot to tell dr. matia how upset i had gotten with that horrible sonographer. i fully plan to make sure that she will never ever do any of my examinations ever again.

anyways... the twins and i are all doing okay. my cervix hadn't gotten shorter and the twins were doing well. reagan is finally catching up to lincoln's weight and they are measuring at good sizes. there is still the concern about lincoln's little heart, but dr. matia said his heartbeat is nice and strong and well within the normal range. thank you God.

other than all those things, the rest of the week was nice and uneventful. i stayed in bed for the rest of the weekend while the twins went crazy in my uterus and mark worked on one of our cars.

hope everyone else's week was less chaotic than ours!

a sonogram + a big change in plans

so we went in on monday for our 20 week anatomy sonogram and scan. it was a long appointment. we got to see the twins squirming all over the place and got to see their faces via 3D ultrasound. it was amazing!

we're thinking that lincoln looks more like mark and that reagan looks more like me... at least from what we got to see. you be the judge.

lincoln jude

reagan elizabeth

so the sonographer took a ton of photos throughout the exam. like i said, it was a long appointment. then, my high risk obgyn, dr. pamela matia, came in to discuss the results and photos.

first, we discussed the twins. they were measuring really well and were looking great. lincoln was weighing in at approximately 1 lb and reagan was weighing in at about 12 ounces. as i just typed that, regan just head-butted me pretty hard! haha! they were both super squirmy during the whole exam and at one point towards the end of the sonogram, lincoln did a full on somersault and just flipped completely! it was so funny and amazing to see it happen!

next, we discussed me. this is where it got serious. according to the vaginal ultrasound prior to the sonogram, my cervix was shorter than my last appointment. this was not good. if this continued, my cervix could open up and push me into preterm labor and delivery and we could lose the twins. i think my heart dropped about 500 feet below sea level at that point. all i could hear was "could lose the babies" over and over again in my head. you ever get punched in the gut when you really really really have to pee? that's how i felt.

we were given 2 options: 1. bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy or 2. surgery to close up my cervix to prevent the preterm labor - a McDonald Cerclage.

option 1 would have been a hail mary type approach - hope for the best, prepare for the worst. but there was no guarantee that the babies would survive. i didn't like those odds at all. option 2 would get us to at least 36 weeks gestation. i'd have to modify all my activities to basically nothing unless absolutely necessary, but the odds of the babies surviving would be significantly greater than option 1. it was a no-brainer: we were going with option 2.

so what did this mean...
1. all plans we had were cancelled until further notice. we had to cancel our babymoon/friends' wedding trip to the caymans that we were scheduled to leave for next week. we had to cancel all our baby-prep classes that were all scheduled to start this week. i had to cancel my attendance for aforementioned friend's bridal shower brunch scheduled for this coming saturday.
2. surgery was scheduled A.S.A.P. dr. matia put me on the surgical schedule for the next morning (tuesday, 11:15am)
3. bed rest until further notice. after surgery, i would get to go home the same day, but would be put on strict bed rest until my follow up appointment next week. i would only be able to get up to go to the bathroom. if i wanted to bathe or shower, it'd have to be super short. otherwise, i'm stuck in bed.

so where are we now...
2 days post-op and doing well - as far as i know. not much bleeding and discharge but there's some cramping pain and my back is sore from the spinal tap because they can't put me fully under 'cause of the pregnancy. the twins are still squirmy so i'm glad and not worried about them right now.

mark's relieved and been the best dr./nurse husband. i'm sure he's still worried inside, but he never really shows it - at least not to me. i really could not have been more blessed with such a caring and loving life partner.

so for now, we're (me and the twins) are just resting and recovering. i'm getting restless and bored, but i know i have to stay put and take care of myself and the twins. c'est la vie! now, just praying that this week goes by fast and that my follow up appointment next week goes well. wish us luck!

the process, the gory details and all that stuff - part 7

a BIG FAT POSITIVE.

we were pregnant! we had a few blood tests to check that my hcg (pregnancy hormone) levels kept rising. boy did they rise and boy were they HIGH! they were definitely indicating a multiple pregnancy! and our first sonogram verified that there were, in fact, 2 little babies growing in my uterus!

just before we were set to "graduate" from shady grove to my OBGYN, we had another bleeding scare. this time, they were calling it a subchorionic bleed. dr. o'brien wasn't overly concerned about it and said it was more common that i thought it was. we just had to monitor it as usual and make sure it wasn't getting worse. it would pass and heal itself with time and i needn't worry about it if she wasn't worried. but i have to tell you, seeing blood when you don't want to makes you worry even though you know you shouldn't. dr. o'brien graduated us the week after and we made our first appointment for the twins to meet my OBGYN at Capital Women's Care.

and that's where this lengthy multi-part process ends and starts with the updates from "since January 18, 2014".

stay tuned for why i decided to tell you all about every little detail (as much as i could remember) and why it was so important for me to do so. 

mini update

sonogram went well and we got to find out which baby is the boy and which one is the girl. i predicted that baby A was the girl and baby B was the boy and mark thought the reverse. mark won.

 

Baby A: Mr. Lincoln Jude Yuen

 

Baby B: Miss Reagan Elizabeth Yuen

and yeah... it's carpal tunnel. but it should go away after the twins are born. also, i don't have to keep taking my metformin!

16 weeks, ugly socks and a wedding

it was a scary week. we went to the OBGYN for an emergency sonogram because my stomach pains weren't going away no matter what i did. i called the doctor to schedule the appointment to make sure everything was okay. turns out that i just pulled a muscle pretty bad when i slipped. tylenol, rest and slip-proof socks is what the doctor ordered. fyi, slip-proof socks for kiddos are adorable. slip-proof socks for adults are not.

this saturday, March 22, 2014, we attended our first wedding sporting my babies bump! i hadn't really realized how many of our friends are either pregnant now, on their second or third pregnancy, are trying to get pregnant or have all the kids they want. it was nice to see all the new families and families-to-be around us. the food was a typical chinese banquet style with about 10 courses that consisted of mostly seafood. it was so hard to limit myself with all that delicious food in front of me. i love seafood so much, but during pregnancy you're supposed to eat it in moderation - some docotrs say no more than 12 ounces a week! such torture!

we stayed until about 11pm-ish and i was exhausted. this morning, mark and i laughed about how we couldn't even make it to midnight! not too long ago, we would have stayed till the lights were turning on and the DJ was packing up. we would have been congregating with those that were left standing and wondering where the after party was to drink and party until our bodies just couldn't take it anymore. my how times have changed.

i finally got a good night's rest last night as well. i hadn't been sleeping well because i haven't been able to get comfortable because now that i have to sleep on my side, my hands get numb. i'm usually a back sleeper. from time to time, i'll end up on my back in the middle of the night but then wake up suddenly because i can't breathe - the twins are apparently putting pressure on my diaphragm and lungs. so i went on a search for a solution and found the Leachco Back N Shape Adjustable Maternity Pillow Set. it's a 2 pillow set where 1 pillow in the shape of a wedge supports my belly and the other pillow supports my back and prevents me from slipping back onto my back in the middle of the night. the 2 pillows can detach and adjust as my belly grows and when the babies are born, the back pillow part can be used like a boppy feeding pillow.

i'm still getting used to using it and my hand still gets numb from time to time, but so far so good. i'll have to talk to the doctor tomorrow at our next visit about the numbness. i'm hoping it's not carpel tunnel as i've read on many forums about this same problem!