NO MORE MEDS!

That's right: I'm finished. I'm so freakin' happy!!!! I had b/w yesterday to check my levels and both were great: E2=2761 despite weaning from Estrace tablet over the weekend and my P4>60 so I was able to skip the Prometrium supps the past 2 nights. Final check tomorrow to make sure that the P4 level hasn't dropped, but that would be unlikely since I've been greater than 60 for the past several b/w checks. So, I've been livin' it up the past 2 days. I feel so liberated. This is just fantastic timing so that I don't have to take extra meds with me to Phoenix on Sunday.

OB check-up tomorrow! Can't wait to see the babies!!

Green Olives

"Your little embryo has now officially graduated to fetus-hood. Adding to the excitement, a Doppler ultrasound device might be able to pick up the beating heart. With basic physical structures in place and increasingly distinct facial features, baby is kind of starting to look like... well... a baby!"

The babies weigh around 3 grams or 0.11 ounces. I still feel great and have actually been a little less tired than previous weeks. Even though I've only gained about 2.5 pounds, my clothes are feeling different. On Monday, I couldn't take my suit for a full work day and decided to run to Motherhood Maternity over lunch and get their version of a Bella Band. I really needed to get some belly relief! It helped a lot! So, maybe this will hold off full-on maternity clothes for at least a month.

We have our next OB appt. next Wed. More b/w today. Everything still looks great. E2=2438 even after taking off last patch, so I take my final Estrace tablet this weekend and then I'm done with estrogen! Yippee! P4>60, therefore I am also able to decrease 1 more Prometrium supp, so I'll be on just 1 supp at night beginning on Saturday. Re-checking levels on Monday. So happy. Can't wait for my legs/nerves/butt to recover from PIO. I have shooting nerve pain down both my legs. Praying it goes away with time...

More weaning...

My levels were drawn again today. E2=2,222 after weaning down to 1 patch, so I was told to take the last patch off today! Only 1 Estrace tablet to go. Yay! P4>60 still, so I weaned down to 2 Prometrium supps. Re-checking levels on Wednesday. I'm tired of the 2-3 blood draws per week, but at the same time, I like the escalated weaning procedure. I have to be OOT for work beginning week of Jan. 25 with no ability to get b/w drawn whatsoever. So, I think they wanted to kick it in high gear. Yippee! Maybe I'll be off everything before I leave for my business trip! A girl can hope!

Kidney Beans/Raspberries

Babycenter has great twin pics every 4 weeks, so I'm gonna be alternating the Nest baby growth information with these better pics as often as possible! Here's what is going on this week with the boys:

"New this week: Webbed fingers and toes are poking out from your baby's hands and feet, his eyelids practically cover his eyes, breathing tubes extend from his throat to the branches of his developing lungs, and his "tail" is just about gone. In his brain, nerve cells are branching out to connect with one another, forming primitive neural pathways. You may be daydreaming about your baby as one sex or the other, but the external genitals still haven't developed enough to reveal whether you're having a boy or a girl. Either way, your baby — about the size of a kidney bean — is constantly moving and shifting, though you still can't feel it."

This is a big growth week for the babies as they are growing about 1mm a day. They have their first weight measurements this week too: 0.035 ounces. Gotta start somewhere, right? Finally, just heard from my nurse, I can wean off more meds! NO MORE PIO!!!!! I feel like it's a "Ding, Dong, the witch is dead" kind of day! My progesterone level is still >60, even after going down to 1/2cc earlier this week, so I'm finished! Also, my estrogen level rebounded back to 2,337. So, I get to take off another patch tomorrow! Re-checking levels again on Monday. Only 3 more Prometrium supps, 1 more Vivelle patch, and 1 Estrace tablet to go, then I'm finished!! Yippee!!

Quick hormone updates

My estrogen was 1779 on Tuesday, and because this was a drop from 2150 last week, I have to remain on the 2 patches and 1 Estrace tablet for now. Hopefully next time, I can wean 1 more patch. As far as progesterone goes, great news-it was >60. I, of course, wanted a specific number, but the nurse told me that it is common to see this general result when the level is over 60. So, last night, I was able to decrease to 1/2cc PIO. Nice! I have to go back on Friday to re-check levels. I debated weaning the Prometrium as I hate it almost as much as PIO at this point. It's gross. Oh well, still on track to be weaned from everything by end of first trimester at the latest. My poor veins...they look awful. I'm glad it's winter right now, so no one can see my bruises.

Initial OB appt.

Of course, I had to start out with a new ultrasound pic! The twins looked great and were both within the appropriate ranges for growth. I'm so relieved. They've grown a lot in 2 weeks!

My OB appt. took longer than I had anticipated. My nurse and MD reviewed all of the scary twin info. Always nice to hear. I get to go back in 2 weeks for another OB u/s. Yippee! My OB knows how much of a procedure junkie I am, so I'm glad to get another appt so quickly! I also had b/w drawn today for the initial OB panel. Fine, but I told the nurse 90% of it was unnecessary as I've had almost all the b/w within the last 6 months at CCRM. Oh well, sounded like a pain to waive everything, so please Mrs. Vampire, take more of my blood...

Speaking of vampires, I went to see "Twilight" finally tonight with my friend, Gina. We had so much fun and would appear to both have strong crushes on Edward. How can we not? I was hooked when I read the entire novel in one day on bedrest following my FET in Denver over Thanksgiving. I kept thinking, "Bite me Edward, kiss me." Steve doesn't care about my crush. That's good.

Finally, last blood reference, E2 and P4 bloodwork looked good today too. I'll post more specifics later. A good day though and I hope the bad dreams are gone for a while at least...

Bad dreams

I can't wait to our next u/s on Tuesday. My mind is definitely in overdrive right now. I really try not to worry, but unfortunately, I can't control my mind during my dreams.

Last night I had several dreams, all of which involved me doing something stupid to jeopardize the pregnancy. From jumping off a cliff into a lake filled with trees and other debris that could easily injure both me and the babies to snow skiing down treacherous slopes again filled with all kinds of potential disasters. Why am I dreaming of these crazy stunts? I don't even do these things in a non-pregnant state. I tried to think about other things, but really couldn't shake the dreams. All of them ended with me and an u/s and not being sure of its outcome.

Obviously, I know I'm worried about our u/s. I just hope everything looks okay. I know my fears and concerns really won't ever leave me, but man, I hope I can start managing them a little better. I've got 32 weeks to go!

New Year's a la pregnancy

We headed to dinner with some friends on NYE at an early reservation time slot of 6:15pm. Good thing too, as I was yawning by 8:30pm (didn't get a nap in before dinner). We decided to head home instead of going out after dinner, which was just fantastic to me. I fell asleep at 9:30pm-out like a light. Then, somehow, at 11:59pm I woke up to visit the toilet. I get up about 3-4 times a night to use the bathroom. Frequent urination is definitely one of my symptoms. Anyway, Steve screams "the ball is dropping" and I scream back "well pause the channel til I'm finished" and thus ushered in 2009. I was asleep again by 12:04am. Fun. Sexy. Good times.

In other holiday notes, I just realized that this was the first non-baby related holiday we've had since Memorial Day. As a re-cap, we were in Denver for our 1 day work-up over July 4th, then back again for my ER over Labor Day, and then there once again for our FET over Thanksgiving. Of course, last week's Christmas was filled with joy, fear, anticipation for our initial u/s which was the Day after Christmas. So, maybe this uneventful New Year Holiday was the first of many uneventful holidays in 2009. That would be fantastic!

My first OB appt. is coming up soon-next Tues. (1-6). I got to see the babies again! Hope they are doing well. I worry about them all the time. Are they growing? Are both heartbeats still strong and age appropriate? I could go on and on. I'm pretty sure I'll have these feelings until both are in my arms. Hopefully it will lessen as the pregnancy advances, but just wanted to put some of my fears and concerns out there.