Slabiak Sluggers...that's what my girlfriends who threw me my baby shower in the end of June called the babes and I thought it was catchy! They threw an adorable MN Twins themed party and decorated it all in baseball related decor. It was so much fun and I appreciated everything they did to make it a great time!
I myself feel like a "Sluggish Slabiak". This makes sense as I am only 1 week away from the grand finale...the THIRD trimester! YAY! I can't wait for them to get here but know it's not time for the girls to meet us yet. Patience! Anyway, since about a week and a half ago I really have popped (it seems like I keep saying that but then I get even bigger) and has made doing simple things like putting on pants, bending over and getting up out of the car or sofa very difficult. Plus around that time, I've begun to experience the joys of heartburn. Now, I must say all these slightly irritating symptoms are NOTHING compared to the nausea I had first trimester so I try to remind myself how much better this is.
However, one downfall to all these current symptoms that I don't think I realized was affecting me so much was how terrible I've been sleeping. I'm so used to being a champion sleeper my whole life (like how I can sleep anywhere, can always sleep in and let's not forget how I could sleep through industrial fire alarms my freshman year of college). Well Becky, I think my 26+ year run of fantastic sleep is going to be just about over for a LONG time. Now, I can't fall asleep because my chest burns so bad, I get up at least 3-4 times a night to pee and usually always at some point have a small snack accompanied my bizarre preggo craving of a glass of milk. Not to mention all the tossing and turning I do trying to find a comfy position on my side with the thousand pillows that have overtaken our bed. Pete has been a great sport and I think is still sleeping OK from what he tells me. :-) I have witnessed some pretty funny Pete sleep talking moments in the last few months. One night he just started blurting the word "taco" out over and over again probably 20 times at least. The other night he was talking about someone named "Crawl"...it proves to be pretty entertaining!
Anyway, last week after 2 particular really rough nights of sleep and feeling really crummy, I saw the doc and she gave me the go ahead to start taking a low dose of pepcid before bedtime...this has really helped and all weekend I was able to get some great shut eye in with a little less tossing and turning. We spent a few days this week at Shell Lake with our great friends Ryan and Lissa and their adorable pooch, Dexter (how cool that they chose to spend their one year anniversary with us!). We had a great time however the last day the heat got really bad. With humidity it felt like 103. Lis, Dexter and I were planning on staying one more night but we decided the heat was too much. We still had a fabulous time though!
Moving on, I'm badly overdue for a blog and part of the reason I procrastinate is because I elaborate so much on each detail. So, I've decided to give a quick timeline of what's happened over the last month instead of writing a novel (which I already have done I notice, 5 paragraphs in...)
June:
-Friends threw me the MN Twins shower! It was such a great time. Lots of my friend's mom's were even able to attend which was wonderful being able to catch up with them and it also reconnected me to some old friends I hadn't seen in forever! The girls did a great job with everything...the food, decorating, desserts, games...everything was perfect!
-Got together with the dancing mom's and those nice ladies collaborated and generously threw me a surprise shower at the gathering! It was so much fun and so nice of everyone. They had a diaper bag theme which was so cute and got me off to a good start on all the necessary supplies! The cake was adorable...it said "Twice as Nice" on it. I think there is a picture of it floating on someone's camera that I must get to put in the girl's baby book!
-Had several ultrasounds at Abbott proving to all be very encouraging...the girls have been measuring/weighing almost exactly the same and the risk of TTTS is very low at this point.
July:
-Spent the 4th over at Lissa's parents, Paul and Patti Madison's house. It was the girl's first time in the lake and they loved every minute! I sported my one and only maternity swimsuit all day and it sure felt awesome being in the water.
-My sister in law Amanda (with the help of my mother and law and sister in law Maria) threw me a shower for the Schroeder/Slabiaks at Ellen's house. It was beautiful! Amanda spent the week's at her mom's house that week and put so much effort into the shower along with Ellen and Maria...everything from the flowers, table settings, food, gift giveaways...looked like it came from a fancy magazine. Thanks everyone for making it so special! Pete's cousin Allana made us a GORGEOUS cake as well...I'll post a pic. She does this on the side and is SO very talented. It was so special!
-Pete and I had our first of three "childbirth for multiples" class at Abbott. It was very informative but also a bit tiring learning all kinds of new information. We are thrilled we signed up for this specific class because of the approximate dozen other parents in the class, everyone is having twins with the exception of one couple that is expecting triplets!
-Had another ultrasound at Abbott (finally, at this like 7th trip to Abbott I learned the best place to park!) Both baby a and b are doing great. However, just as we had suspected...baby b decided to change positions. (We had felt a very odd, slow and hard movement a few mornings prior and were wondering if that's what had happened). So...baby b is breech and baby a is vertex (head down). The doc said that my chances of a natural delivery are probably low if they stay in this position...however, the girls can move several more times until about 32 weeks so nothing is set in stone. For first time mom's it's difficult to try and deliver a breech baby when she's a twin because the risk of complications goes up with all the cords and there are other factors as well. I'm just not going to lament over anything yet, because the plan is up to the girls and God! I'm just the incubator :-) The doc mentioned that often times the breech/vertex position is how twins will end up. It just seems to help them "fit". They're kinda like a ying yang! So I can call them the "ying yang twins" for fun (which is a rap group, ha!) Which reminds me, I'm going to write about some nick names we've developed...
-Nicknames:
"Cute little potatoes" or "sweet potatoes"...this is what Pete likes to call them and I think it's adorable! We play this song for them that my parents used to play for me called "Little Potato". It's so sweet and often gets them dancing. Sometimes when they are moving and Pete's talking to them, he will call them "you little STINKERS!" which I love :-) I tend to call my nieces and nephew this a lot. Hopefully they don't take it to heart because it's my way of expressing my love for how "stinking cute" they are!
"Sassy and Trixy"....My friend Kirsten at work thought of this one. I love it because we've kind of associated baby a as being a bit of the womb hog and she was who I felt move first...so we've kind of given her the rap as being "sassy". Trixy is baby b...because she for so long was curled up in the little room that baby a left her with and now how perfect that she, the little trickster, "Trixy"...switched on us!
"The Jefferson's" (or Georgina and Weezy)...this is because one day my friend Michael at work asked me what size they were that current week and I said, "eggplant...they're movin on up!" He instantly thought of the Jeffersons! LOL. Michael has come up with some great nicknames along the way...and often times has kindly brought in fruit/candy corresponding to the girls' current size of the week! He even got me a delicious fresh squeezed lemonade from the Good Earth last week just because! He also came up with "Pete's angels" since there are three of us for Pete like "Charlie's angels" and before we knew they were twins, since Michael knows I'm an avid office fan, was calling them "Jim and Dwight". Mike, another friend from work suggested "Jimessa and Dwightina" once we found out they were both girls! Haha!
I'm sure I've forgotten dozens of nicknames...so let me know if I did. But perhaps my favorite nicknames thus far was determined by my 3.5 year old niece, Laney. When she first found out there were two girls in my belly she thought of "Plomey and Clomey" or "Isla and Isla" (Isla is my niece/Laney's 1 year old sister). Right before the Slabiak/Schroeder shower, she decided upon "Trampolina and Plomey" as their current names. How adorable is this??! I must mention that when Laney saw me for the first time in about a month last week I said, "Does my belly look bigger"? She said, in this silly little voice, "IT LOOKS LIKE YOU HAVE A BIG WATERMELON IN YOUR BELLY!" Haha! Kids say the darndest things. Another cute quote was when she was showing my friends Tiff, Lissa and Ryan that she knew how to do yoga, Lissa said, "Do you know downward dog" and Laney started to do the post and then corrected her and said "Downward FACING dog!".
-This isn't a nickname but another sweet comment that daddy to be said about the girls last night that almost brought a tear to my eye was, "They are the most beautiful things I never seen". Awww...
Time to wrap it up...I'll keep ya posted if anything with the babies changes. I'm going to upload some belly photos, etc. It's hard to post ultrasound photos because they are getting so big that they aren't taking lot of pics of the girls together and they show up kinda fuzzy on screen. Love to you all and thanks for everything everyone has done to help/support us along the way!
OH, and yes...on SIX different occasions we encountered double yolk eggs. 5 out of 6 were hard boiled and the last was when I was baking cake pops. How crazy is that?!?!?! We swear to God this is for real too...I know it seems unreal!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Some overdue belly shots
These are in order from earliest to most present...even though I feel I look huge in some and not as much in others!)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Tickled pink!!!
So today was our big day...our 20 week level 2 ultrasound! It was amazing. We had it at Abbott Northwestern and boy is that place incredible! It is like its own little city. Our tech was very knowledgeable and has been doing ultrasounds for almost 30 years-we could certainly tell! It lasted about an hour and a half and she took measurements of just about everything you could think of! We feel blessed and happy to report that both babies are healthy! 4 heart chambers, good brain sizes, fluid in their tummies (which means they can swallow), strong heartbeats (Baby A-155 and Baby B-153) and each had perfect little arms and legs that we got to experience moving all over the place! They looked like little chicken legs! We could also see feet, toes, hands, fingers, their mouthes moving, eye sockets...even some internal parts like their kidneys and liver! Medical technology is absolutley amazing.
Its amazing how much they were moving around! I have felt lots of movement especially within the last week...I feel tons of flutters inside and Pete and I got to experience the first definite kicks externally last Tuesday after I came home from...how perfect is this...the Twins game (on a night we actually won!). Then this weekend Pete put his head up to my belly and in his words "was punched in the ear!" So seeing the little rascals move inside of me today made sense but we were still amazed at just how much they are moving.
If you haven't figured it out already...the most exciting news we learned today was the sexes! It turns out there is only 1 placenta which means they are identical (occurs in about 25% of pregnancies) so as soon as she told us the sex of baby b we knew what baby a was (but she double checked to make sure)....
We are having identical GIRLS!!!!
The best news is that although this means there is a risk for TTTS (Twin Twin Tranfusion Syndrome-basically where one baby gets more nutrients than the other and can result in early delivery) our Dr. said things couldn't be going any better! They measure almost identically and weigh the same...12 oz...which is a great sign that the gals are on the right track. Our Dr. said that if TTTS will develop it usually doesn't appear any later than 24-26 weeks...so only a few more weeks left. To be on the safe side I will be seen every 2 weeks for the next 6 weeks for a quick ultrasound to ensure the growth is progressing healthfully.
We just couldn't be any happier...it's really neat that I have great girlfriends Anne and Sarah that are twins...so I know all the secrets already (haha). Sarah's reaction was great...my parents guessed that she would squeal in delight when I told her and she sure did! So cute. I wore my dad's late twin sister Becky's ring on my necklace to the appointment today and my dad and I both were thinking that this is kind of a indirect way that she is being honored being that they are both girls :-) It just seems extra special.
Muahaha...Pete is outnumbered and has said that he will just start living in the garage now and might as well have a door with a little slot under it where we will push his food through to him. Lol. Nah, he is so excited and we all know the girls will have him wrapped around their fingers. He is going to be a GREAT Daddy. Being a girl myself I do know that these little ones will be pricier down the line than boys...shopping, hair, makeup, weddings, etc. Oh the good times to be had :-)
It was so fun calling and telling our parents the news. They all will be fantastic grandparents! Poor Gabriel (our nephew on Pete's side) is outnumbered now 4 to 1!!! He will be a great cousin to them we know for sure! I got to talk to my niece Laney today and when I told her there were girls in my belly she said, "maybe we can come over right now and see them!" So cute...and she also later said that we should name them either "Plomey and Clomey" OR "Isla and Isla" (which is her sister's name). I wonder where Plomey and Clomey came from?! She is adorable.
My parents had us over for a delicious dinner tonight and it was very special spending some time talking everything over with them. They even picked up some adorable pink and white booties and little pink onsies :-)
Sorry we didn't contact everyone personally...we sure were wiped out after the appointment! There was a lot of information and after digesting all that info, grabbing a bite to eat, starting our registry and imagining all the possibilities...we took a little nap! Figured we better get it in now!
Thanks to EVERYONE for all of your thoughts and prayers. They mean SO much to us and we couldn't do this without your support. We love you!
Love,
Pete, Becky and the bambinas :-)
Its amazing how much they were moving around! I have felt lots of movement especially within the last week...I feel tons of flutters inside and Pete and I got to experience the first definite kicks externally last Tuesday after I came home from...how perfect is this...the Twins game (on a night we actually won!). Then this weekend Pete put his head up to my belly and in his words "was punched in the ear!" So seeing the little rascals move inside of me today made sense but we were still amazed at just how much they are moving.
If you haven't figured it out already...the most exciting news we learned today was the sexes! It turns out there is only 1 placenta which means they are identical (occurs in about 25% of pregnancies) so as soon as she told us the sex of baby b we knew what baby a was (but she double checked to make sure)....
We are having identical GIRLS!!!!
The best news is that although this means there is a risk for TTTS (Twin Twin Tranfusion Syndrome-basically where one baby gets more nutrients than the other and can result in early delivery) our Dr. said things couldn't be going any better! They measure almost identically and weigh the same...12 oz...which is a great sign that the gals are on the right track. Our Dr. said that if TTTS will develop it usually doesn't appear any later than 24-26 weeks...so only a few more weeks left. To be on the safe side I will be seen every 2 weeks for the next 6 weeks for a quick ultrasound to ensure the growth is progressing healthfully.
We just couldn't be any happier...it's really neat that I have great girlfriends Anne and Sarah that are twins...so I know all the secrets already (haha). Sarah's reaction was great...my parents guessed that she would squeal in delight when I told her and she sure did! So cute. I wore my dad's late twin sister Becky's ring on my necklace to the appointment today and my dad and I both were thinking that this is kind of a indirect way that she is being honored being that they are both girls :-) It just seems extra special.
Muahaha...Pete is outnumbered and has said that he will just start living in the garage now and might as well have a door with a little slot under it where we will push his food through to him. Lol. Nah, he is so excited and we all know the girls will have him wrapped around their fingers. He is going to be a GREAT Daddy. Being a girl myself I do know that these little ones will be pricier down the line than boys...shopping, hair, makeup, weddings, etc. Oh the good times to be had :-)
It was so fun calling and telling our parents the news. They all will be fantastic grandparents! Poor Gabriel (our nephew on Pete's side) is outnumbered now 4 to 1!!! He will be a great cousin to them we know for sure! I got to talk to my niece Laney today and when I told her there were girls in my belly she said, "maybe we can come over right now and see them!" So cute...and she also later said that we should name them either "Plomey and Clomey" OR "Isla and Isla" (which is her sister's name). I wonder where Plomey and Clomey came from?! She is adorable.
My parents had us over for a delicious dinner tonight and it was very special spending some time talking everything over with them. They even picked up some adorable pink and white booties and little pink onsies :-)
Sorry we didn't contact everyone personally...we sure were wiped out after the appointment! There was a lot of information and after digesting all that info, grabbing a bite to eat, starting our registry and imagining all the possibilities...we took a little nap! Figured we better get it in now!
Thanks to EVERYONE for all of your thoughts and prayers. They mean SO much to us and we couldn't do this without your support. We love you!
Love,
Pete, Becky and the bambinas :-)
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
God is good!
I've been feeling SO much better. Had a small set back this weekend with what I like to call "the ghost of first trimester past" and was up in the middle of the night throwing up. My back is starting to bug me a bit but doc has me wearing a support belt and its really helping. Also, my iron is a bit low so I'm working on making sure that in addition to my prenatal I am getting enough through my food. Total cereal has 100%!
We're getting anxious for our 20 week ultrasound. It's scheduled for May 31st and we'll get to find out the sexes! :-) We've also decided we will deliver at Abbott Northwestern in Minneapolis...they have a level 2 nursery and they've got great neonatoligists on hand.
I've met 3 different moms of new twins at Pottery Barn. It's really exciting to see their babes and awesome having them as resources...they've all been so helpful!
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sweet little peaches...
Hello again,
Here are pics of our babes at 13 weeks! They are about the size of peaches...and I wonder to myself, how could tiny little beings as sweet as peaches make me feel like garbage? Miracles-they have grown so much in just 3 weeks! I couldn't believe my eyes during the ultrasound...both babies (especially baby A) were moving and jumping around a LOT again. It made it hard for the tech to get good pics, but these ones give you a good idea of where they're at.
Here is baby A...
Baby B...
And both of them together!
Here are pics of our babes at 13 weeks! They are about the size of peaches...and I wonder to myself, how could tiny little beings as sweet as peaches make me feel like garbage? Miracles-they have grown so much in just 3 weeks! I couldn't believe my eyes during the ultrasound...both babies (especially baby A) were moving and jumping around a LOT again. It made it hard for the tech to get good pics, but these ones give you a good idea of where they're at.
Here is baby A...
Doc is very happy with how things are going. Still not 100% sure if there are 2 placentas or not because it is located posterially (behind my uterus). The location is fine, just makes it hard to tell if it is one placenta or 2 separate (which is what we're hoping for but won't be the end of the world if they aren't).
I'm super excited to be in the last week of my first trimester-feeling so grateful for everything and also hoping and praying that the nausea subsides. Last week was rough...had to go to the ER and get an IV for dehydration since I was puking a ton still. Felt really great for about a day and then, the next day after I started taking the prescribed zofran my head started POUNDING! At first it was no big deal and I thought it was a nice distraction from the nausea...but then at the end of the night as I was leaving work my coworkers told me I looked pale. Sure enough...1 mile down the road I feel like I'm going to ralph (haha, just trying to use creative words other than puke, barf and vomit) when I'm going 70 on hwy 62. I happily realize that I have a barf bag from the hospital and just barely made it...only to find out there was a hole in it the size of a softball. Still having about 25 miles left to drive, I realize I'm out of gas. So I've got my dinner dripping down my legs as I am pumping gas and continuing to heave. I barely remember the drive home...I had the windows rolled down for obvious reasons but whenever I'd pass a semi truck or a car with someone smoking I'd get sick from the smell. To conclude that story, let's just say that Pete gets husband of the year award for all the times he's cleaned up after me.
I'm ready for my mini afternoon nap...enjoy the pics and I will write more later! Thanks everyone for all the support, thoughts and prayers. We love you!
-Becky and Pete
Monday, March 28, 2011
Go Twins!
I've got bad baseball fever...can't wait for the Twins to start playing! Baseball means all things summer: sun, warmth, vacation, weddings and to me, pure happiness. I've been following preseason games online and am just itching to see it on TV and live at Target Field! But this summer...when I say "Go Twins", it has an even more special meaning..."Go MY twins!!!!" And...I found a Twins maternity shirt this weekend!!!!!
Anyway, we had our 10 week checkup last Monday and it was AWESOME! Thank the good Lord, the ultrasound showed the babies in separate sacs which we were praying for. If twins are in the same sac, it is a much more dangerous pregnancy with a 50% chance of harm to either baby due to cord entanglement. So, we counted our blessings that the tech immediately found them nesting in their own sacs! :-) Then came the next shock...their size! Wow, they looked WAY different than just 3 weeks before. We could clearly see their heads, leg and arm buds and heart beats (which were both great-164 and 168)!!! And were they ever wiggle worms! I described it as "it looks like they are moving, dancing, even boxing!" Baby A (which medically is the baby closest to the cervix) was literally kicking Baby B in the butt! One of the photos shows this...it's hilarious! The only thing that we didn't find out at the appointment was if they will have 1 or 2 placentas. Ideally, they would have 2...but it was too early to tell. I go back in another 2 weeks to find this out. If their is only 1 placenta, the babes will have to be monitored more closely to catch if TTS is occuring (Twin to Twin Transfusion). That means one baby could start taking more than its share of nutrients. The doc said it isn't nearly as serious as if they were in 1 sac, but it still would be watched very closely. Then the doc reminded me that I'll be having a lot more appointments than if I were pregnant with 1 since carrying twins is always a higher risk pregnancy. It comforts me to know that they will be watched closely.
Today, 1 week after our 10 week appointment, the babes are the size of LIMES! When I told Pete this last night he seemed shocked. It is crazy how fast they are starting to grow. My belly seems to me that its slightly starting to "pop" but Pete says he doesn't really notice anything yet. I'm ready to start showing...because that means I'm getting further along and...almost out of the first trimester!!!
Since I'm also using this blog as a way to record moments in my pregnancy, I must touch for a moment on how I've been feeling. SICK AND TIRED. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. But...thankful to be feeling this way. I just need to gripe and I feel better. The doc says that often times pregnancy symptoms are exaggerated when carrying twins. I'm still puking occasionally and worse, feeling nauseous almost all day everyday. Even worse yet, I'm absolutley driven to gag whenever I smell or even THINK about certain things...such as:
-Perfume/cologne
-Meat cooking
-Asian food (dang you Big Bowl across from Pottery Barn), actually the entire smell of the mall I work at
-Car exhaust
-My beloved Aveda shampoo of all things
-Peppermint gum
-Toothpaste (this has been interesting...Sensodyne makes a mild paste that hardly has any flavor thankfully)
-Ginger (odd I know, its supposed to soothe nausea but this is one of the worst triggers for me and people recommend it to me all the time which makes it awful)
-The smell of our dish soap...I just bought unscented the other day and Pete, bless his heart cleaned the kitchen tonight and used the old stuff...I didn't have it in me to tell him how nauseous that makes me.
-Any and all alcohol...if you've been drinking, I will NOT be near you. I can tell the second I approach someone if they've had anything to drink. I'm interested in this one because I thought I would miss drinking a little bit but I feel quite the opposite!
And without a doubt...first place goes to...
-The smell of fridges/freezers...
Today I forced myself to go through and purge anything that made me nauseous and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, no joke. I had a scarf wrapped around my face and was gagging about every other second. It sounded as though I had taken a large dose of syrup of ipecac. Once I was done, I was so glad I did it, because now I'm not as afraid to open the fridge.
Man, it feels so good to verbalize how icky I've been feeling...like giving a confession or something. Sorry its a bit much, but as you know, I tend to be just a wee bit dramatic.
This weekend my friends Lissa, Nici and Patti (Lissa's mom) went shopping at the Albertville outlet mall. To my surprise, there was a Motherhood Maternity outlet! The ladies helped me get a good start on my new maternity wardrobe...it was fun. I tried to faux belly on and everything, which was amusing and a bit sobering to realize that that's just what it looks like to be preggo with one! :-) It will totally be worth it.
Thanks for reading. I will soon scan our ultrasound pictures and post them on here as well!
-Beck
Anyway, we had our 10 week checkup last Monday and it was AWESOME! Thank the good Lord, the ultrasound showed the babies in separate sacs which we were praying for. If twins are in the same sac, it is a much more dangerous pregnancy with a 50% chance of harm to either baby due to cord entanglement. So, we counted our blessings that the tech immediately found them nesting in their own sacs! :-) Then came the next shock...their size! Wow, they looked WAY different than just 3 weeks before. We could clearly see their heads, leg and arm buds and heart beats (which were both great-164 and 168)!!! And were they ever wiggle worms! I described it as "it looks like they are moving, dancing, even boxing!" Baby A (which medically is the baby closest to the cervix) was literally kicking Baby B in the butt! One of the photos shows this...it's hilarious! The only thing that we didn't find out at the appointment was if they will have 1 or 2 placentas. Ideally, they would have 2...but it was too early to tell. I go back in another 2 weeks to find this out. If their is only 1 placenta, the babes will have to be monitored more closely to catch if TTS is occuring (Twin to Twin Transfusion). That means one baby could start taking more than its share of nutrients. The doc said it isn't nearly as serious as if they were in 1 sac, but it still would be watched very closely. Then the doc reminded me that I'll be having a lot more appointments than if I were pregnant with 1 since carrying twins is always a higher risk pregnancy. It comforts me to know that they will be watched closely.
Today, 1 week after our 10 week appointment, the babes are the size of LIMES! When I told Pete this last night he seemed shocked. It is crazy how fast they are starting to grow. My belly seems to me that its slightly starting to "pop" but Pete says he doesn't really notice anything yet. I'm ready to start showing...because that means I'm getting further along and...almost out of the first trimester!!!
Since I'm also using this blog as a way to record moments in my pregnancy, I must touch for a moment on how I've been feeling. SICK AND TIRED. I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired. But...thankful to be feeling this way. I just need to gripe and I feel better. The doc says that often times pregnancy symptoms are exaggerated when carrying twins. I'm still puking occasionally and worse, feeling nauseous almost all day everyday. Even worse yet, I'm absolutley driven to gag whenever I smell or even THINK about certain things...such as:
-Perfume/cologne
-Meat cooking
-Asian food (dang you Big Bowl across from Pottery Barn), actually the entire smell of the mall I work at
-Car exhaust
-My beloved Aveda shampoo of all things
-Peppermint gum
-Toothpaste (this has been interesting...Sensodyne makes a mild paste that hardly has any flavor thankfully)
-Ginger (odd I know, its supposed to soothe nausea but this is one of the worst triggers for me and people recommend it to me all the time which makes it awful)
-The smell of our dish soap...I just bought unscented the other day and Pete, bless his heart cleaned the kitchen tonight and used the old stuff...I didn't have it in me to tell him how nauseous that makes me.
-Any and all alcohol...if you've been drinking, I will NOT be near you. I can tell the second I approach someone if they've had anything to drink. I'm interested in this one because I thought I would miss drinking a little bit but I feel quite the opposite!
And without a doubt...first place goes to...
-The smell of fridges/freezers...
Today I forced myself to go through and purge anything that made me nauseous and it was one of the hardest things I've ever done, no joke. I had a scarf wrapped around my face and was gagging about every other second. It sounded as though I had taken a large dose of syrup of ipecac. Once I was done, I was so glad I did it, because now I'm not as afraid to open the fridge.
Man, it feels so good to verbalize how icky I've been feeling...like giving a confession or something. Sorry its a bit much, but as you know, I tend to be just a wee bit dramatic.
This weekend my friends Lissa, Nici and Patti (Lissa's mom) went shopping at the Albertville outlet mall. To my surprise, there was a Motherhood Maternity outlet! The ladies helped me get a good start on my new maternity wardrobe...it was fun. I tried to faux belly on and everything, which was amusing and a bit sobering to realize that that's just what it looks like to be preggo with one! :-) It will totally be worth it.
Thanks for reading. I will soon scan our ultrasound pictures and post them on here as well!
-Beck
Friday, March 11, 2011
Double trouble!!!
So, I went to the doctor last Monday for my 10 week checkup...doc couldn't find the heartbeat so she suggested an ultrasound. Dr. Mattson said she'd see me back in her office after. The ultrasound tech found the heartbeat and then proceeded to ask me if I was on fertility. Thinking nothing of it, I replied no thinking of it as a routine question. When the tech told me to empty my bladder and that she was going to do an internal ultrasound I was a bit alarmed. She said she and the doc would be back in a minute. 15 minutes that felt like an hour later, the two of them came in and pulled up the baby on the screen. The tech said to the doc, "Here's that membrane I was talking about". Of course, I panicked and started thinking of the worst...tumor, cyst, etc... Finally I said, "What are you guys talking about!?!" Dr. Mattson tapped me on the leg and said..."Looks like there's going to be two!" Oh my gosh was I surprised. I joked with Pete the night before "what would you do if they found twins?...haha". So of course, when I called to tell him, he didn't believe me. I specifically asked the tech to label both babies so I would have proof on the picture. The babies measured earlier than we had originally thought...baby 1 measured 7 weeks with a heartbeat of 126 and baby 2 measured 7 weeks 1 day with a heartbeat of 149. My dad was a fraternal twin and I am named after her (sadly, Becky Jo died when she was 3 due to a brain tumor). We feel so incredibly blessed!
The first trimester symptoms have been giving me a run for my money, but I am more than happy to endure them. I'm more tired than I have ever been in my entire life...I get up several times a night to pee andI'm constantly nauseous and hardly ever hungry (which is not like me). When I am hungry, all I want is mashed potatoes, popsicles, ice cream and milkshakes. Occasionally I want chili, a hamburger or hotdog...but only sometimes, other times the thought of them makes me sick. When I first found out I was pregnant on my own, I stocked up at Whole Foods on lots of healthy options. That was before nothing sounded good to me. I wish healthier food sounded better to me, but for now I'm just focusing on getting anything in my belly! Honestly, the thought of any other vegetables other than classic iceberg lettuce with ranch makes me gag. Which bums me out because usually I love vegetables! I never thought that the rumors about pregnancy food cravings/aversions were actually real...but now I am a firm believer and am very curious as to why I crave certain things and am repulsed by others.
Although I've been gagging constantly, I never thought I would actually throw up (I kind of thought that was just a pregnancy myth) but when I threw up on myself out of the blue when I was getting ready for work I was stunned! Then later that night I got out of bed and started puking again (I really regretted having a hot dog a few hours earlier)! And the next morning at work where I showed up pale faced and shaking, I wasn't too surprised when I puked up my breakfast in the public restroom. How embarassing...there were people in there and by the end of my episode I had mascara running down my cheeks.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good and am praising the Lord for his great gift to us. Being pregnant has really reconnected me with my faith. So often I worry and want to know the answer to everything...this is a situation where I've learned I have to trust that God is in control and all I can do is pray. Otherwise, I end up driving myself crazy worrying about every little thing. I'm thankful that this pregnancy has helped me to realize this. A sweet coworker showed me this wonderful Catholic prayer booklet she constantly uses called "The Mother's Manual". I went and picked one up at a Catholic bookstore and am using it constantly. There are a lot of prayers for expectant mothers and I'm so thankful she showed me this great resource.
I've got my 10 week check up in a little over a week...praying for the health of the precious angels!
The first trimester symptoms have been giving me a run for my money, but I am more than happy to endure them. I'm more tired than I have ever been in my entire life...I get up several times a night to pee andI'm constantly nauseous and hardly ever hungry (which is not like me). When I am hungry, all I want is mashed potatoes, popsicles, ice cream and milkshakes. Occasionally I want chili, a hamburger or hotdog...but only sometimes, other times the thought of them makes me sick. When I first found out I was pregnant on my own, I stocked up at Whole Foods on lots of healthy options. That was before nothing sounded good to me. I wish healthier food sounded better to me, but for now I'm just focusing on getting anything in my belly! Honestly, the thought of any other vegetables other than classic iceberg lettuce with ranch makes me gag. Which bums me out because usually I love vegetables! I never thought that the rumors about pregnancy food cravings/aversions were actually real...but now I am a firm believer and am very curious as to why I crave certain things and am repulsed by others.
Although I've been gagging constantly, I never thought I would actually throw up (I kind of thought that was just a pregnancy myth) but when I threw up on myself out of the blue when I was getting ready for work I was stunned! Then later that night I got out of bed and started puking again (I really regretted having a hot dog a few hours earlier)! And the next morning at work where I showed up pale faced and shaking, I wasn't too surprised when I puked up my breakfast in the public restroom. How embarassing...there were people in there and by the end of my episode I had mascara running down my cheeks.
Overall, I'm feeling pretty good and am praising the Lord for his great gift to us. Being pregnant has really reconnected me with my faith. So often I worry and want to know the answer to everything...this is a situation where I've learned I have to trust that God is in control and all I can do is pray. Otherwise, I end up driving myself crazy worrying about every little thing. I'm thankful that this pregnancy has helped me to realize this. A sweet coworker showed me this wonderful Catholic prayer booklet she constantly uses called "The Mother's Manual". I went and picked one up at a Catholic bookstore and am using it constantly. There are a lot of prayers for expectant mothers and I'm so thankful she showed me this great resource.
I've got my 10 week check up in a little over a week...praying for the health of the precious angels!
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