From the Man's point of View

Ok, I know that I am odd, and have a very weird memory, but I am loving this pregnancy.  Katja is even more beautiful than ever, and I find more energy and desire to do more things around the house, trying to make Katja feel more at ease.

After the trying and failure, I was, and still am, very excited to finally have the opportunity to expand our family.  When we were told that she is was pregnant, I was excited.  When we found out it was twins, I was shocked.

I watched Katja go through the subtle changes of pregnancy, fighting the urge to not tell my friends or family, because she needed to 1st tell her boss, since she just got that new job.  I guess these "nursing eyes" and "nursing brain" is impossible to turn off.  So I watch her change and love every minute of it.

I have spent a lot of time getting the room ready for the twins.  Painting, moulding, trim, new doors, cribs, etc.  It has been a lot of work, but it helps me feel like a dad (and a husband) doing all that.  Now it is just small stuff to touch up, and get them home soon!

Picking out the theme was difficult.  Trying to agree with a pregnant woman is difficult!  She cannot make up her mind, and no matter what I say or do is wrong!  We agreed to a Jungle Theme, but now comes the decision of which theme.  I have decided to just go with what she wants, and just put in my opinions in when necessary.

After getting the cribs put together, the nursery slowly is coming together.  Shortly after doing that,  I got to feel the babies move.  That was amazing.  I love to know that my wife is healthy, happy, and that the little ones are doing well.  After each ultrasound, I get scared that the doctor wants to talk to us.  When he does not, and we are sent home without seeing him, I feel so relieved.  This is one of those cases where no news is good news.

With this new year coming up, I get to be a parent to two little children.  I have everything a guy could want, a beautiful wife, healthy children, a great dog, a house, and fridge with food in it.  I also have great friends and neighbors.  Soon I will be a nurse, and have a great job somewhere.  Now if I can only be a great dad, I know I will be content with my life.

D-Day...less than 3 months away

You heard it right, D-Day, or Delivery Day, is literally less than three months away. How crazy to think that we are so close (yet so far away!). I am scheduled for a c-section for March 24, 2012. And as you all know, I'm a huge planner and therefore love that I can plan ahead. Somewhat that is, as there is always the chance of an early arrival. The current date will put me at exactly 38 weeks, which is term for twins.

Although Ben has always voted for a vaginal birth, I have always leaned more towards the c-section, particularly with twins. Luckily, we were given an option at Madigan, and needless to say, I chose the c-section. I have heard too many horror birth stories and do not need to put myself or the babies through that. I realize that there can be just as many complications with a c-section, but I am willing to "risk" that. Our doctor has already put it on her calendar, and we are eagerly awaiting the big day.

Okay, not really eagerly awaiting, at least not me. I am freaked out about the whole thing, especially about the recovery part of it. I have stopped reading about the potential for all kinds of scary things....will just try to take it as it comes along. I have a February appointment at Madigan's Labor and Delivery, hopefully that will ease some of my anxieties. And of course, if all else fails, there is always my wonderful nurse-to-be-husband. By then, unless they come early, he will officially be an LPN. He is excited and wants to video everything; I, on the other hand, would much rather sleep through the whole thing (-:

As of now, there are no indications that these babies will come early, which is a good thing. I have heard that my height should help me with carrying them as long as possible. As does a good diet and exercise, neither one of which I follow on a regular basis...hoping that the height will be enough.

I am sure I will learn more about the actual procedure and recovery as time moves along....for the moment, however, I like pretending that I'll just wake up and the babies will magically be there. I can dream, right? I am open for any advice (on c-sections that is, as I am not considering changing my mind, unless absolutely necessary).

Our last quiet Christmas

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. The one comment we have received from just about anyone is "Enjoy your last quiet Christmas". And while it is definitely quiet in the sense of noise and activity, these babies have been moving around like nothing else. Somewhat of a strange feeling, I have to admit, but how amazing?!

I have had people ask for the last few months and was beginning to start feeling somewhat inadequate. Seemed like everyone could feel or had felt their babies much sooner. I, on the other hand, felt absolutely nothing. We were at a Christmas party on December 15 where another twin mom suggested to just tell people that I had been feeling them and that it was an amazing feeling. Heck, I had sure read enough about it online and in all of the books I have been collecting. I was ready to go with that strategy until the night of December 16, literally just 24 hours later.

I had taken a shower and was in bed, engorged in one of the many reality tv shows I seem to be addicted to. And there it was...not a butterfly- or bee-like feeling, but an actual thump thump. I called for Ben and , while he usually does not respond to my demands (now why is that?!), he came upstairs and was able to feel the movements, too. This truly was the best feeling ever!

Let's see, since then we have felt them move many, many more times....at ALL times of the day and night. They are still gentle thumps that make me laugh, although I am sure that will change at some point. At our last growth ultra sound (Dec 22.....24 weeks and 6 days), each baby measured 1 pound and 11 ounces. Baby A (the girl) is facing head down, Baby B (the boy) is transverse, i.e. across by my ribs. He is responsible for the shortness of breath I experience, especially as we dared to visit IKEA on Christmas Eve....a whole different kind of experience.

So, yes, this was a quiet Christmas for both of us. I have to admit I enjoyed spending time with just Ben and the two pets, although we were able to spend some time with neighbors Christmas Eve. We ended our day yesterday with Ben reading "T'was the Night Before Christmas" (he loves reading to the babies) and started Christmas this morning with opening gifts. Ben had written a card to the babies...great idea!

Despite missing family, we had a nice holiday and look forward to the next 12 weeks before D-Day...more on that to come in the next post. Much love to all of you.

The past 6 months in review

It is hard to believe that I am now 24 weeks and 4 days pregnant….where has the time gone? This also means that it is most certainly time to update this blog with a quick review of the past 6 months, catching all our friends and family up with our busy lives. As many of you know, Ben and I began this journey a few years ago when we first noticed that pregnancy did not just happen for us, as it does for many other couples.

Over the course of several years, I pumped a myriad of hormones into my body, ranging from medications such as Clomid to FSH injections and timed intercourse. All our attempts were unsuccessful and left us feeling defeated and hopeless. We decided in the fall of 2010 to place our name on Madigan’s invitro waiting list and received notification that we were able to participate in the Summer 2011 cycle. Needless to say, we were excited, yet nervous and, quite frankly, not really prepared for what was to come.

Our adventure started on May 24, with a required pregnancy test, which, of course, was negative. The following day, I participated in a mock procedure, where the doctors inserted a catheter to check for any blockages or other issues…thankfully, no other issues there. We also participated in a “shots class”, where I realized for the first time how many different hormones I would have to inject. Ben, on the other hand, being the nurse-to-be, was excited about all the practice opportunity he would have.

Following these initial appointments were several weeks of continued birth control to really get my body ready for the hormone overflow that was about to come. And so it was June 19 when I began Lupron injections. At the same time, Ben was required to take several doses of Zithromax; in the grand scheme of it all, a fairly small sacrifice on his part. While my last day of birth control pills was June 26, I continued the Lupron for several more weeks, although at a slightly lower dose.

On July 5^th, a day after I returned from my visit to Germany, I went in for a suppression scan and added two more hormones to my daily injection schedule (FSH and Menopur). During that same week, I went in for several blood draws to check my estrogen levels. The numbers thankfully showed good progress and quadrupled within a matter of days.

The week of July 11 proved to be a busy week with blood draws at Madigan every other day in anticipation of the big day and a one-time HCG injection on July 13 until: egg retrieval on July 16 at Seattle Reproductive Medicine. During that same week, I also interviewed for my current Assistant Principal position at the building level as well as the district level. Talk about stressful! Thankfully, the stress did not impact the retrieval and doctors were able to retrieve 16 eggs. The procedure itself went surprisingly well, as I was completely put to sleep and really do not remember much, other than being slightly tired afterwards. On that same day, Ben had to give his sample, and the eggs and his sperm were brought together in the SRM lab. I had to start a week-long medication called Doxycycline, while we were waiting for our transfer date. A day after the retrieval also marked the beginning of rather annoying progesterone injections.

While I was able to administer most of the other shots myself, this one was one that I was not going to take on. Progesterone needed to be given intra-muscular, i.e. the shots were much more painful and required some cooling prep work and heating post work. Thankfully, Ben was more than willing to inject me with the medication. Thankfully, eventually I was able to switch to suppositories, which, although quite messy, made the whole process a lot easier.

5 days later, on July 21^st, we returned to Seattle Reproductive Medicine for the transfer. While the retrieval was a low-key procedure, this part was probably the most memorable, and not for any good reasons. After an hour-long acupuncture session with the acupuncturist on-site, I was taken to the procedure room…..mind you, it was essential to have a full bladder. Dr. Chow, our Dr. from Madigan attempted to transfer two embryos and was successful with his second attempt. By then, I was breaking out in a sweat, thinking my bladder would explode. As soon as he withdrew the catheter and left the room, I was up and running to the bathroom. Although I was cautioned to take it easy, I attended a School Board meeting that same night, where I was formally introduced as the new Assistant Principal at my school…no way was I going to miss that!

I was able to wait until Saturday July 30 to do the at-home pregnancy test…..PREGNANT! Ben and I were ecstatic and could not believe it. Over the next couple of days, I probably took about 5 more tests and continued to take them for a few more weeks after we received the initial result. I went in on August 1^st for the official blood draw at the Madigan lab and did not, quite frankly, understand the meaning of the number 468.43. When the number had increased to 1267, however, on the 3^rd, I knew that that was a good sign. While this was also my first official week as an Assistant Principal, it was probably one of the most exciting weeks of Ben’s and my life.

We followed up the official pregnancy test and many at-home tests with an ultrasound appointment at Madigan’s REI clinic on August 26. In the room with us were our doctor and two nurses. The result: TWINS! At that point, I was 7 weeks and 6 days pregnant (it took me a while to figure out how this was possible when the retrieval was only some 5 weeks ago…..they start counting from the last day of your cycle!).

Our last appointment in the REI clinic was on September 12, after which we were moved to Madigan’s OB/GYN clinic. Since then, because invitro and twins are considered somewhat high-risk, I have been moved to their COB (Critical OB unit), where I have seen some very caring and dedicated doctors. Most recently, we were connected with Dr. Beeken, who will likely assist with the delivery as well.

Since the beginning of this adventure, we have had many ultrasounds, all of which point to two very healthy babies. I have participated in genetic screening (no issues there), diabetes testing (nothing there, either), 24-hour urine collection (no protein where it shouldn’t be), and most recently, our 20-week anatomy scan. The result: one GIRL (baby A, the one that is pretty much laying on my bladder) and one BOY (baby B, the one that is laying close to my ribs). The pictures we have received are not only very revealing (lol), but also quite amazing.

I am not sure that I would go through this entire journey again, as it has been tolling on both my body and emotional state. However, it has made us as a couple stronger and most certainly more prepared for parenthood and the adventures that lie ahead. There is much more to report, but this is truly it in a nutshell. Both Ben and I could not be any more grateful to the wonderful people we have met throughout this process, particularly the medical staff at Madigan’s REI clinic. We are thankful for the gift they have given to us and look forward to the few weeks that we have left before welcoming our two miracle babies to this world.

P.S. Ultrasound photos to follow soon.