Nausea: Much much better! Still have waves, but haven't thrown up in a long while. I can eat and keep it away. Don't miss it AT ALL! I was thankful for it as a reminder that I was really pregnant. Now I have many other reminders:). Including a big old belly. Growing by the minute. Today, I went to Destination Maternity at Mall of Millenia. I had to buy larger jeans. In the midst of that, a sales girl actually said to me "you must be due any day now". The pic below is last weekend with my beautiful sisters. They are, obviously, very into fitness, I'm very into cupcakes and thai food right now. Usually I can hold my own in the littlish department, right now, I submit to the necessity of the size L. Whatever it takes to nourish these babies.
Weight Gain: Speaking of nourishment, well my friends, I have an announcement to make. I have met....well exceeded......my goal of gaining 25lbs by 20 weeks!!!!! This is yet another thing that I never thought I would be proud about. My babies measured 9oz each at our 18w5d appointment. We are doing pretty great at the weight gain thing. So good that my ob said "we were all caught up" weight wise after the difficulties of the first tri. I think he really meant "ok momma, it's ok to pump the breaks on the eating extravaganza".
What's new? OMG Heartburn! This is what was bugging me most these last 6 weeks, really bad at night. I'm sleeping on an incline (when I can actually sleep). Feeding my heartburn worked for a few minutes, tums had the same effect. It was causing some major coughing, making my throat raw. My GP tried zantac with me, and it worked to take the edge off, but it didn't really solve the problem. We tried nexium next.....I never thought I would be thrilled to try a heartburn med. My doc said it would change everything. He was right! It's a brave new world! I can sleep. The pukiness is really gone. Being able to eat and sleep is making me feel like a whole new woman!
What else is new? Well, I'm swelling. Mostly the back of my left ankle, sometimes both ankles, sometimes my toes. I didn't exactly have dainty feet before, now they are like tree stumps. Shoe choices are very much dwindling. I know this is only the beginning. I already miss my cute shoes. Small price to pay:).
One more new thing, at the beginning of week 18 I definitely felt the babies move. Now, at week 19, they are active, and I love every minute. Hubby can't feel them yet. Soon I hope. He's leaving for work for next week, home on the weekend, and then gone again the week after. I don't know what I'll do without him. His job has been very understanding not making him travel during all the IVF stuff, all will be well over the next few weeks, but I will miss him terribly.
On Thursday at 18w5d we saw the specialist again. The babies were doing really well, both moving all over the place. Our little boy caught up to his sister, no more weight discrepancy. They both had echoes for their hearts, both hearts are beautiful. All other body parts looked great too. No clefts, no signs of spina bifida. They didn't even bother pushing the rest of the genetic testing on us. I took that as a good sign. Also, my cervix looked plenty long, which is good news! My BP was also good. If I were swelling and had higher BPs we would have had a very different kind of visit. Also really exciting news....great pictures of their faces were captured. It's the closest I've come to ever seeing the face of a child of mine. Our Daughter is on the top and bottom left, our Son on the right. What they can pick up on the 3d ultrasound is amazing.
One more update, the showering with showers has begun. My name is on a baby shower invite! I saw it with my own eyes! It was a bit of a shock to me. I used to avoid the feelings that would overtake me at the sight of this genre of invite. I even said "I just can't" to baby showers of some of my favorite people in God's green earth near the end of the nine year wait. I just couldn't do one more. Feelings were too raw, I wasn't any fun. I just gave myself permission to take space from them. To the women I didn't get to celebrate, know that today I wish I had been strong enough, and that my absence did not mean that I don't care.
There are three showers on the books right now. I am completely humbled by the thought of this many people loving us, and wanting to celebrate us. I'm not great at being the center of attention, I tend to shrink away from it, look for little ways I can "give" instead of "receive", or hide altogether. I need God to give me the grace to let people love and care for me. I know this is a silly need to speak of out loud, but something tells me I need to learn this lesson now, so that accepting help is easier for everyone, especially if it benefits these babies. So thankful for the efforts of these cherished, sweet friends and family members of mine. I'm speechless with gratitude.
Here is the first of the invites, elephants were chosen because I will never forget the nine year journey to these miracles.
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