Skipping the honeymoon

So its been 2 years almost to the week since we said our vows.
Our trip to Mexico was wonderful and exciting and though a Hurricane put a damper on our last couple days there, we did a great many things!

We decided, though Jase wanted to begin immediately, not to start planning our family when we returned because my sister was having a challenging pregnancy with my beautiful niece Aubrie! Obviously, all worked out well and Aubrie came into this world, happy healthy and ready to take it all on in January of '10.

As soon as it was "safe", Jay and I began "not, not trying" or letting nature take its course. We soon found this to be traumatic and frustrating as month after month we found that nothing happened. After a full year, we decided to go to the doctor for some help. In February, we were put under the guidance of a couple doctors skilled in the art of helping couples with barriers have babies. We tried to work up the right Karma for IUI to work, but no luck. In June we all decided that our only recourse for a "quicker" solution was IVF. And though my philosophies said that wasn't what i wanted, i was terribly tired of being sad every month with the disappointment of  having to start again. The constant cycle of  "two week wait" was very trying for my heart and our relationship. So we opted for the technology.

One cycle of IVF. We started the drugs at the end of June '11 and I gave myself shot after shot. 2-3 a day in preparation for the procedure we would undergo. Jason and I both underwent an "outpatient" procedure under general sedation on July 11th. They successfully removed 10 eggs and enough swimmies to give them all a try. On July 12th, they let us know that 9 had successfully fertilized but not to expect that many to prosper. Sure enough, our appointment set for July 14th, we returned to the doc to find that 5 had grown well enough to be candidates. 3 were perfect and 2 were B students. Because of my age and health, they only wanted to transfer 2 back inside. Each embryo had only a 60% chance to reach implantation and they wanted to give us as good a chance as possible for one baby. More, however, is not always better. So 2 was what we went with.

Embryo 1

Unfortunately, even though there are fantastic, amazing pictures of the embryos at 8 cells, there was no magic way to tell if they would implant! Or if even one would take hold and snuggle down. So the two week wait was twice as grueling. At first i had no doubt that anything they put back would take hold and grow. But as the days toiled on, I grew more nervous and more doubtful. My beta, or blood test to determine my hcg level, was not until July 28th. And they warned me that taking a home pregnancy test too early could lead to false positives and false negatives! Scary.

Embryo 2

I was a basket case, so my mom and sister had planned accordingly and whisked me and my niece and nephew and little sister off to Galveston for a  "girls' weekend" to try to keep my mind occupied. My body had other ideas. I was giving myself progesterone shots still and wearing estrogen patches to encourage my body to do what it would have done naturally had all been normal. I began experiencing horrible piercing pain on my left hip that would come and linger a few moments before disappearing. I was tired, scared, and felt exhausted more than normal. I was just positive everything had been for nought. That it had all failed and the beta would be negative.


I came home very scared and very sad even though we'd had a wonderful time. Monday morning I determined was late enough in the 2 wk wait to be through the false positives caused by the trigger shot. I had several at home tests left from my months of disappointment. They weren't in boxes anymore but they are all pretty much the same. I woke early Monday morning before work and thought "3 tests left. I can test today to make sure the trigger is gone. Test wed. And then test thurs before the beta, that way if its negative i will know before they have to call me at work to tell me the bad news." I was that sure it would be bad news. I took the test. Sure enough. 2 straight lines. Parallel.

I took this for the negative i thought it was going to be and was neither disappointed nor excited. I just was assured the trigger was gone, well, long gone by all calculations so i let my hopes drop just a little farther. I went to work and did work things. I went to the CVS cause i decided that i didn't want to use the last 2 digitals i had left as reading "not pregnant" is thoroughly depressing, much more so than just 2 straight lines. I sat and looked at all the tests in the booth and realized with a start that the lines i saw were parallel. Parallel lines on those tests were POSITIVE! My heart began to race! I rushed home, well as much rushing as a 50min highway trip would allow and pulled the test from the garbage. two parallel lines!!! I grabbed a digital and ran it right then and there, knowing that it was possible it would be negative since it was late afternoon. It read "PREGNANT"!!!! I bounced around the room, yelled, threw myself on the floor and kicked my feet so happy was I.

Pregnant indeed

We couldn't tell anyone until the day before the Beta. We went to our parents after the 3rd positive test and presented them with the presents. Tears everywhere.

Thursday morning we went in, and despite everything, i was sure they were going to tell me it was negative. Instead they called and said "I'm sure you know already, but its positive." Apparently, I am one of THOSE patients, lol. They made us wait till Aug 10th for our first confirmation ultrasound at 6wks. What did we see??? Two, two tiny little tadpoles had made their home there. The next 2 months we had ultrasounds almost every 2 wks like clockwork... which brings us to today.

We still, as of yet, do not know what they are boys or girls. The Ultrasonographer gave us her best guess about 10days ago, but told us not to get attached to names until the next appointment.She gave us a white envelope, with a sticky inside. Like this. The next post you get will be at the regular doc and then the one after that we will reveal genders and names! Expect big news the evening of Nov 8th!
 See below for a chronological picture book of the Bridgeman twins.... lol, oh horror.

Aug 10th:6 wks: just two dots and two heartbeats

Aug 23rd: 8wks: tadpoles: A baby is Turtle 16.4mm and hr 165bpm

    8wks side by side, B baby (left side) is Frog 17.4mm and hr 164bpm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sept 1: 9.5wks side by side

Frog 27.3mm hr 165bpm

Turtle 25.3mm and hr 158bpm

Sept 15: 11.5wks, top of their heads

Sept 15: split view.

11.5wks Frog  50mm and 160bpm hr

11.5wks Turtle  49mm and hr 153bpm

Oct 3rd:14wks, Frog sitting on Turtle's head

Turtle at 14wks

Frog at 14wks

Oct 12th: 15.5wks Frog

15.5wks Turtle

Turtle from the front. See the face, belly hands and feet?

Lastly, a first "baby bump" pic. 4 months. The deliberation is: is this a big baby bump or a small one? I've had both stated! Some say it barely looks like I'm pregnant, like I had a good meal, or gained some weight. Some people want to know where the babies are cause i'm still "small" and yet others say it looks like a 5-6m pregnancy already... Since its my first- i have no clue. lol.

And the teaser....

Beneath these stickers lie the ultrasonographer's thoughts... to be continued...