january
Bleh. Not the best start to the year. We were trying to participate in the January cycle of InVitro with our fertility clinic but because of cycle timing and my recurring ovarian cysts we didn't qualify. So we spent the month planning and getting our financing together, dreaming of starting a family.
february
This month we began our IVF cycle, there were lots of shots, meds and ultrasounds involved. Looking back on my calendar, almost every day has an IVF related item; starting certain meds, appointments and the two biggest days of the cycle. February 22 was the retrieval where I had to be put under and the doctors retrieved 5 eggs (not so hot compared to the average 25, but we were still hoping for success). The eggs were fertilized and we were updated daily on their progress (the further along in cell division, the more likely they are to result in a pregnancy) and we had a close call, almost having to transfer them early because they weren't doing so well. The doctors thought that we'd have a better chance if the embryos were put back into their environment. Luckily they held on one more day (day 3) which slightly increased our chances for success (day 5 would have been ideal but because we were down to 3 embryos at this point we went ahead with a day 3 transfer).
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How many people can say they have a picture of their babies 3 days after conception??
February 25, 2 of our 3 embryos were transferred back to me and I spent days on bed rest praying that this was the beginning of our family! The third embryo was left at the clinic to see if it would grow to day 5 so we could freeze it for future transfer but sadly it did not make it :/ We also celebrated Valentine's Day and I read the Hunger Games trilogy to keep myself occupied hoping that the little blastocysts were becoming babies!
march
More waiting, parent teacher conferences and March 7. The day that changed our lives! I was convinced that I wasn't pregnant and we prepared ourselves for bad news. When the doctor called and congratulated us on speakerphone with our nurses, we were in shock! We did it! We shared the news with the few family members who knew that we were going through fertility treatments. My beta numbers were very high and kept climbing so we were hopeful that both embryos took and we were expecting twins. This was confirmed on March 19 with our first ultrasound!
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You can see the two sacs, we were able to see one heartbeat and hear the other!
april
This month we celebrated Dan and his twin sister Sheila's 30th! Despite being 10 weeks pregnant, exhausted and sick I threw them a party. Everyone (except me) participated in Pat's Run that morning and the pool party was that afternoon. This was also the weekend we announced our pregnancy! You can read that post here.
Ten weeks pregnant, I swore I was HUGE at this point...little did I know what was in store!
may
I spent May consuming Ginger Ale and...well that's about it! I was still so sick despite making it to the second trimester. I still terrified that something would go wrong with the pregnancy (blame it on the infertility) but the little beans kept going strong! We were pretty sure "Todd and Margo" (the embryos nicknames) were Margo and Margo at this point.
12 week ultrasound, the last time we'd see them both in the same shot!
15 weeks
june
I taught summer school forthelasttime, BUT I've said that before so hopefully I don't have to eat my words! We started organizing all of our hand me downs and clearing out the nursery. I also blogged about the first part of our infertility journey and the second part is still in the works. We got the surprise of our lives when we found out at 18 weeks that the babies were BOYS!
july
We celebrated the 4th of July in Prescott with our families as usual :) Parade, boot race, family bbqs and cooler weather. Very nice for this prego!
We also completed our registry for the babies!
21 weeks and no mistaking it!
We took a trip to Charlotte, NC to visit our sweet friends Joe and Natalie then headed down to Charleston to visit the beach! It was our last getaway before the boys and it was fun taking an adventure to a new place together!
august
Back to school and it was SUPER HOT. It was getting harder and harder for me to get around but I had to pull it together to set up my classroom and get the school year underway.
My awesome team, Ruth and Jen.
We were checking things off of our list for the babies and seeing the doctor every two weeks for ultrasounds, that was the best part!
Almost 25 weeks, not even close!
My mom threw me a baby shower with all of her yaya friends. Many of the ladies there have known me since I was a baby, it was very sweet and fun!
26 weeks
August was a busy month, we also went to Greer to celebrate my mother in law's 60th birthday, luau style!
september
August was busy and eventful but September was even more so. It seems like life picked up once I got further into the pregnancy and was less sick. Either that or I got better about documenting it! We celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary but we didn't do anything special, I wasn't sick any longer but I was huge and REALLY uncomfortable! I hit 30 weeks the day after our anniversary and that felt like a big milestone! Also, each day I made it through school was an accomplishment because I was experiencing many symptoms of pre-term labor but those babies stayed put!
Sarti women; Sadie, Rachel, Sheila, Trish, Mimi and Grace
I made it to 32 weeks and then it was time to stop working. I was having Braxton Hicks contractions regularly and overall giant and exhausted. The physical demands were just too much, especially since I was measuring 40 weeks pregnant! I was looking forward to some time off "modified bed rest" to finalize things for the babies, get thank you cards out and rest and cook the twins!
The diference between 30 and 32 weeks
No such luck, my first week off of work I frantically finished my report cards and in the middle of the week I had a doctor's appointment with my new doctor (former doc went on sabattical and left no replacement..the office wasn't willing to work with us and doc NEVER returned ANY of our phone calls so we left) and we discovered that the baby formerly known as baby A was a pound smaller than baby B. I was referred to a specialist and the rest of my "time off" became full time doctor's appointments and hospital visits to monitor the babies.
october
The twins were born! It was a crazy month when Will was diagnosed with IntraUterine Growth Restriction with umbilical cord resistance and a calcified placenta. After 2 Amnios to check for Ben's lung function, the delivery date was set. October 14, 2012!
I made it to 32 weeks and then it was time to stop working. I was having Braxton Hicks contractions regularly and overall giant and exhausted. The physical demands were just too much, especially since I was measuring 40 weeks pregnant! I was looking forward to some time off "modified bed rest" to finalize things for the babies, get thank you cards out and rest and cook the twins!
No such luck, my first week off of work I frantically finished my report cards and in the middle of the week I had a doctor's appointment with my new doctor (former doc went on sabattical and left no replacement..the office wasn't willing to work with us and doc NEVER returned ANY of our phone calls so we left) and we discovered that the baby formerly known as baby A was a pound smaller than baby B. I was referred to a specialist and the rest of my "time off" became full time doctor's appointments and hospital visits to monitor the babies.
october
The twins were born! It was a crazy month when Will was diagnosed with IntraUterine Growth Restriction with umbilical cord resistance and a calcified placenta. After 2 Amnios to check for Ben's lung function, the delivery date was set. October 14, 2012!
October, as you can imagine, was a blur. 7 days in the NICU for Will and 10 for Ben and by the time we were all home and settled...it was Halloween!
november
We celebrated my 30th birthday, their one month birthday and the babies first Thanksgiving. I survived my first 3 nights alone with the babies when Dan went back to work.
At the end of November, we lost my Grandpa to cancer. We all decided to fly to Michigan for the funeral, minus Dan who was just beginning his job with US Airways.
december
The babies took their first flight, and met all of the Couvreur family including Great Grandma Couvreur.
They had their first visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we stayed for most of the month while Dan trained for US Airways in Charlotte. They met Santa, saw their first snow and celebrated their first Christmas!
The year was mostly centered around the babies and I wouldn't change it for anything!! We were incredibly blessed :) I'm glad I finally finished this post (it only took me all of January), since I haven't written in the babies baby books since we were in the NICU and had nurses helping 24/7...twin life!
2013 will bring many firsts for the babies and I can't wait to experience it all together!
Lots of love from the Sarti Party of 4!
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