16 Week Update

How far along: 16 weeks!

What are the Twins up to?: Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your babies will double in weight and add inches to their length. Right now, they are about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. Their legs are much more developed, their head is more erect than it has been, and their eyes have moved closer to the front of their head. The twin’s ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of their scalp has begun, though their locks aren't recognizable yet. They have even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, their heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

 

 Maternity clothes: I bought my first maternity dress this week. I thought I could get by without one, but I soon realized I was wrong. I wore my new dress to “Meet the Teacher Night” at school. I thought the dress made me look SO pregnant.

 

Sleep: I am still not sleeping great. I turn so many times during the night the Joe keeps asking “Are you OK?” I feel bad that I am keeping him up, but I just cannot get comfortable. I know it is only going to get worse. I may talk with my Dr. at my next visit to see if there is anything I can take to help me out in this area.

Best moment of this week: Find out the gender of our little ones! It was amazing how clear it was and how I could even tell the gender before the tech announced the news! Only a week or so until we can share!!

Miss anything: This week I am missing sleeping on my stomach. I am such a tummy sleeper and have missed it!!! I cannot wait until I can return to this position! 

Movement: Still no… I wish it would start! I have done a lot of reading and many women don’t feel movement until 20 weeks or so. This brings me some sense of peace since I am a worrier. I will just need to continue to wait patiently. 

Food cravings: This week I was in the mood for bread a lot (the worse thing for you)! I wanted rolls and garlic bread nonstop… I had to refrain at times! I am still not really into eating meat. I am trying my best since I know my little ones need their protein. 

Anything making you queasy or sick: I am still not over the morning sickness. My trigger is bad smells. I can smell anything even when I am two rooms away! If the trash needs to be dumped I know it as soon as I wake up… morning sickness soon follows! Zofran is still my friend!

Have you started to show yet: I have noticed a pop this week! I can see a little bump and certain clothes really extenuate it. 

Gender: YES!! Can’t wait to share!

Labor signs: Nope… not yet! Thank goodness.

Belly button in or out: In still! It’s early 
 

Happy or moody most of the time: I am feeling good this week. I have had a few teary moments… certain songs or things on TV make me cry… but in all I am doing great! There are so many things to be grateful for!

Looking forward to: Our Gender Reveal Party!!!

Fun Twin Fact #2: 22 % percent of twins are left handed, compared to 10% in singletons.

Week 15 Update

How far along: 15 weeks!

What are the Twins up to?: Our growing babies are now measures about 4 inches long, crown to rump, and weigh in at about 2 1/2 ounces (about the size of a lemon). They are busy moving amniotic fluid through their nose and upper respiratory tract, which helps the primitive air sacs in their lungs begin to develop. Their legs are growing longer than her arms now, and they can move all of their joints and limbs. Although their eyelids are still fused shut, they can sense light. There's not much for our babies to taste at this point, but they are forming taste buds. 

  Maternity clothes: Not quite yet… but I am sure close. I have been wearing “baby doll” style tops and leggings all summer but will need some maternity close for work! Shopping will be in order VERY soon!

Sleep: I get up multiple times each night to use the restroom and have had a hard time getting use to sleeping on my side! Whichever side I am sleeping on eventually falls asleep during the night and is uncomfortable. I have to roll of in order to bring that side of my body back to life! Let’s just say I toss and turn a bunch!

Best moment of this week: Talking about and planning a gender reveal party with my Mommy. We have so many great ideas and cannot wait to celebrate with our family and friends!

Miss anything: Adult Beverages and Coffee. I don’t miss them often, but when we go out with friends it is not as fun when you are the only one not indulging!

Movement: Not yet… I don’t think…! I have felt some interesting “zaps” this week, but it was not a regular occurrence and could easily be gas (says my Dr.)

Food cravings: I have only wanted one thing… Biscuits and Gravy. This is not a craving all of the time, but does hit be every now and then. I have a MAJOR food aversion though… I cannot stand eating meat! I have been doing my best since I know how important protein is…. But it has NOT been easy.

Anything making you queasy or sick: I have had morning sickness since about 6 weeks. The Dr. has me on Zofran and it is my savior! I still puke each and every morning and I know it has to do with having an empty stomach! I am extremely sensitive to bad smells and gag each time I come across them. In all, these last 9 weeks have been all about queasy or sick!

Have you started to show yet: I don’t know whether I look fat or pregnant! My mom says she sees a bump and I know for a fact that with Twins I will be HUGE by the end!

Gender: Soon enough….

Labor signs: Nope… not yet! They need to stay put for at least 20 more weeks… if not more!

Belly button in or out: In still! It’s early!

Happy or moody most of the time: I have felt fairly happy! I did notice that I was easily agitated and moody during the first 8 weeks or so. However, I have felt very happy and blessed recently!

Looking forward to: Finding out the gender of our little ones! I cannot wait to begin shopping and planning for the future!

Fun Twin Fact #1: There are two types of twins: fraternal and identical. Identical twins are less common than fraternal because identical twins require the splitting of a single fertilized egg, which is very uncommon. Fraternal twins occur when two separate eggs are fertilized by two separate perm and implant in the womb at the same time!

The Journey Weeks 6-12

Weeks 6 -14

I knew that I wanted to document my pregnancy on this blog since day one. I wanted to be sure that I had something to look back on once the babies had arrived, as well as I feel it is a wonderful way to keep our loving California and Ohio family updated!

First Doctor Visit!

I LOVE MY DOCTOR! He is so amazing and makes every visit a memorable event.

The first visit to the doctor was a little scary. After what had occurred in January, I was so nervous for this appointment.

I was first called back for an ultrasound to see if a heartbeat could be detected. The tech applied the ultrasound wand on my stomach and I didn’t see anything! I was so worried that we were going to go through the disappointment of an empty sack again. The tech then decided to do a vaginal ultrasound and almost immediately I saw something!! As I continued to look at the screen I was a bit confused. I asked, “Why are there 2 circles on the screen?” The tech was so calm and replied… “Because there are 2 Babies in there!” This was so shocking and exciting. Both babies had extremely strong heartbeats and looked like blobs J. The rest of the appointment was a blur. My doctor was just as excited as I was! We learned that the twins were in their own sacs and did not share any nutrients (the best kind of twins!) They could not tell us whether they were identical or fraternal…they said both were a possibility! 

10 week Checkup

My next appointment was at 10 weeks. I had been feeling great after my doctor prescribed me nausea medication at my first appointment.

The ultrasounds are my favorite! The babies had changed so much in just 4 weeks. They were no longer blobs… but kinda looked like babies! At this point they could still get a picture of them side by side and it was so fun seeing them together!

My doctor told us that they looked wonderful and healthy… news I hope to hear each visit!!

12 week Checkup

This doctor’s visit was the best! There on the screen we saw real, bouncy, moving babies!! The ultrasound tech spent time measuring and checking their heartbeats!

Baby A was measuring bigger than Baby B… They explained this is very normal with twins! Both heartbeats were once again very strong. Each baby did some flips and dance moves for Joe and I… pure happiness!

After the ultrasound, I had to wait to see my Dr. Joe just kept repeating… “They are so small and cute!” He was a proud dad for sure!

My doctor gave us another glowing report and encouraged us to begin sharing the news! I was so scared and we waited until around 13.5 weeks to send out announcements to family and friends. Due to what occurred in January, I have been very apprehensive about sharing the news. I wanted to be very sure that they were strong and healthy before I began to tell everyone!

In all the first 12 weeks went well! I have spent much of my time sleeping (so tired) and feeling nauseous. We are so excited to become parents… I know it is going to be a wonderful journey!

This is Happening

We're Having a Baby... I Mean 2 Babies!!!



What a journey this has been! Joe and I are feeling so incredibly blessed to announce that we are expecting twins. As I type these words it still doesn’t seem real. Our path towards this announcement was not an easy one and was full of bumps. These bumps included months of trying with no success, fertility medication, and an early miscarriage.

Our story:

In April of 2011 Joe and I began discussing the topic of family. He and I had always known we wanted children and after much discussion we decided that we would begin “not preventing”. I say “not preventing” because we had decided to go off of birth control, and we were completely fine with not getting pregnant right away. We were still fairly young and knew we still had time. After several months of being off of birth control I had a feeling something was wrong. My monthly periods had not returned to normal and I knew this was a potential problem. I had never in my life had irregular periods and was not sure way now! In November of 2011 I went and saw my doctor. This was a disappointing visit and nothing was solved! The doctor thought that the irregular periods might be due to the absence of birth control and they wanted me to try some natural vitamins and give it a little more time. This was about the time that we decided we really needed to start “trying”. I began to read online about all the things that can be done to get pregnant and we tried out a few. I began to try and track ovulation and eat foods that are supposed to help with fertility. This was quite difficult since my periods were still all out of whack!

In February of 2012 I went back to see my doctor again since nothing had really changed. This appointment changed everything! The doctor performed a variety of test on me and soon discovered that I had small cysts on both of my ovaries. This was causing the irregular periods because the cysts were not allowing me to ovulate regularly. I was so relieved to find out that this was VERY common and that they had various ways of treating it. As a group we decided to start me on a medication that would first regulate my periods and solve the issues with my ovaries. Upon leaving that appointment I was so excited. I immediately began taking the medication and my periods returned to normal. They were like clockwork! I thought we had solved all our problems, but we weren’t quite there just yet!

In May of 2012 I took another trip to the doctor. We had solved the irregular periods, but it had been over a year and we were still not pregnant. This was when the doctor asked Joe to get checked out. I have always loved Joe, but my love grew for him even more when he was willing to see a specialist to ensure the issue did not also involve him. Luckily, he was just perfect! The issue was solely with me and we were determined to fix it! My wonderful doctor decided I should begin taking Clomid. This is a fertility medication that forces ovulation. It took a few months to get Joe’s results and so I began Clomid in August 2012. Clomid was my magic drug! 

In December 2012 we discovered we were pregnant! Joe and I were so excited… we had finally done it. We went to the doctor immediately and they did blood work. We were told to come back at 6 weeks because that is when the baby is visible through a vaginal ultrasound. At 6 weeks we returned to the doctor and had our ultrasound. The tech detected a sac but no baby was visible. They told us that I was probably earlier along than we had previously thought and asked me to return in 2 weeks. I just knew that something was not right as I left that appointment. I had been tracking ovulation and I was pretty certain of when I had ovulated. I also had not had ANY pregnancy symptoms which is unusual. My mom came with me to that 8 week appointment. I felt sick as we went in for the ultrasound and even sicker when we once again only saw an empty sac. I met with my doctor and he explained that the sperm and egg had met and implanted, but that a baby had never formed. He listed many reasons for this and just kept saying, “We now know you can get pregnant… We will do it again!” It didn’t bring me much reassurance as I left the doctor’s office with medication that would help my body dispel the empty sac. (I’ll spare you the icky story on the weekend I took the pills and got rid of that empty sac)

After that ordeal, Joe and I just began to enjoy life and stop “trying” to have a baby! This was one of the best times in our marriage. We had a large group of friends and spent every weekend trying new restaurants and bars. Life was really good and we were really happy! In May 2013 it happened again! ON Mother’s Day I realized I was 3 days late and decided to take a pregnancy test. It was positive!! And so our journey began. In following posts I will tell you all about our first doctor visits and how the last 16 weeks have been.

The Suarez Twins are on their way!!