From Assisted Conception to...Babies!!!

[ashknowsbest]

MrsW - So sorry to hear about your low lying placenta ... that must be scary! I can't believe you're 23 weeks along! I can't WAIT to be that far along. The wait is driving me crazy. I can't wait to meet these little loves.

Cmo - you gotta do what will make you happy I've decided that after everything we went through I'm done. It took us 5 IVF cycles to get pregnant with cCS testing so these will be my only children unless we decide to adopt later down the road or get pregnant naturally which would be a complete miracle. Good luck with whatever you decide, there's no wrong answer!

AFM - i'm just moving right along. I've had no more scary spotting or any issues at all. Not even many side effects which is scary but I'll take it! We did have our NT scan last Friday and everything looks great. We got to see the babies moving around which was so cool. Our little girl was sucking her thumb and little boy was so calm .. probably sleeping. I posted pictures in my journal if anyone is interested.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

 

[CMo]

Ash so glad everything is going well. 5 cycles are such a lot to go through, I can't even imagine! So worth it when u get to hold these precious bundles! Will they let you go full term or deliver early with it being twins?

We were so lucky that our first cycle worked and I always said I'd do as many cycles as I could mentally tolerate to have a baby but never another full cycle for a second. It's so expensive! Don't think I could let my wee frostie go to waste so think I'll use it and see what happens. We might be lucky again but if not I'll be happy with one. As much as I didn't really enjoy being pregnant (think I just worried the whole time) I'd love to experience it all again!

 

[CMo]

Oh and I'm just heading for a peek at your pictures on your journal!!

 

[ashknowsbest]

Cmo - it was a ton to go through and like you I always said I would do however many we could afford and mentally handle. I actually said after the 4th that I was done but we really wanted to do ccs testing but needed more embryos than we got during that 4th cycle to make the cost make sense. (It was 10,000 and couldnt justify the cost for 2 embryos) my doctor and hubby convinced me it was worth one more go to be able to do ccs testing and figure out if that was the reason we weren't having them implant. In hindsight I'm so glad I did that last cycle because that's the one that yielded me the babies I'm pregnant with now. We had 4 to test and 2 came back normal. Should have been higher for my age but boy am I grateful for that last cycle. I too wouldn't be able to leave my frostie! Best of luck when you're ready to transfer.

Oh and my doctor won't let me go past 38 weeks with twins and what they consider term for twins is 36 weeks. If I can go to 38 I would love that to avoid nicu time but we'll have to see how it goes. I'm built pretty small so I'm a little nervous to be carrying twins but ... I'm just hoping for the best!

 

[CMo]

My friend had twins last year and they were going to let her go to 36 weeks max (they were identical and shared a placenta so they like to deliver early, if they had separate placentas she could've went longer- not sure if it's the same where u are ) she had them both naturally at 32 weeks and they done amazing. They were in neonatal for 3 weeks only due to their size there were no other concerns at all. As soon as their feeding was established properly and in a regular pattern they got home and both are thriving now!

 

[3chords]

Ash, my OB doesn't let twins go past 37 weeks so anywhere 36-38 seems to be standard. I was just hanging out with a twin momma the other day, she has identical girls and they are a lot of work but so darn cute to see them together and interacting now that they are noticing each other more.

Star - can't believe how quickly your FET may roll around. Wow! We seem to be set on doing a fresh cycle in August but won't do a FET until October at the earliest, though maybe not that early. I wouldn't mind doing it soon but I see a lot of friends with kids only 18-21 months apart and it's REALLY hard. So I keep thinking maybe a 24 month spacing would be a bit easier...

CMo - I'd also like to wait until 2018 if I didn't have fibroid issues but I don't want to give them time to grow bigger so hopefully things work out for us in 2017.

MrsW, can't believe you're more than halfway. Hopefully no big issues with the placenta for you. Always something to worry about, isn't there?

We are doing fabulously well. I am just loving being with Henry and having him. We had a very difficult time with reflux and no sleeping from about 3-5 months, I thought I would lose my mind. But now things are under control, he is thriving and sleeps 7-7 every night plus naps like a champion. Have great schedule these days, I am finally able to plan out my days. And it's almost summer. AND Henry is actually the most beautiful baby in the world...I know I'm biased but people stop us in the street to say the same! So it must be true.

He will be 6 months old in a week, time flies. He always looks older to me, all the hair makes him like a little old man. Love him!

 

[star25]

sounds like you have been through a lot Ash, i'm so happy you have your miracle babies nice and snug, i'm going to look at your beautiful pics too

3c, I know it seems crazy to think it could be that soon, we only had the appointment so soon as they had a cancellation and this week dh has been taking it easy at work ready for our hol so was a good time to go and then saw friends after and their little girl who live nearby
It would be hard if it worked but then I think 2 children would be hard at any age lol i'll see how my next few cycles go , at least when I do want to go again everything is ready to go and all I have to do is call
henry is GORGEOUS!!

 

[star25]

Forgot to say I feel for you with the reflux, Madeleine has it too, we did go dairy free for a while in case was an allergy/intolerance but it didn't make a difference
we have an appointment at the allergy clinic in june anyway to make sure but for now we use anti reflux milk and I breastfeed at night as she isn't really sick at night
At the moment we both have horrible colds though and in the last week theres been about 8 projectile vomiting incidents from coughing, dr said its ok though nothing on her chest but will be glad when its gone, feel so sorry for them when they're unwell

 

[star25]

3c looking forward to you starting again too, although on 4 hrs sleep last night I wonder if it worked how I would do it! Though I then think if I started getting good night's sleep I probably wouldn't then want to start all over again with a newborn!

 

[3chords]

Thanks Star.

Henry is on prevacid for reflux and is basically totally cured on it. Was rough going for a while but now he is a little dream. I am lactose intolerant so I don't eat dairy but that was the first thing the doc suggested I cut out. So I knew it wasn't a milk allergy with him. We elevated his crib and did a bunch of other things though.

 

[Ilovetomatoes]

Hi Ladies,

Can't believe it's been a month since I last visited! Time flies!

MrsW, take care my friend. Low lying placenta sucks! I had that and went to ER multiple times. At one point, my bleeding was so bad, we thought we lost the babies. But our babies (all of ours!) are little fighters .

Star, I am starting to wean the girls slowly from their milk intake. So far, they have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I do make most of our food except their lunches, which we added a couple of weeks ago. It's easier to pack the store bought baby food than anything else. I started with pureed food and just steamed everything and used my food processor to puree it. Then every month, I tried a bit coarser blend. At 7 months, I added protein into their diet by boiling chicken wings (softer meat than thighs) then pureed it. I added the protein into their veggie puree and cooked the veggies with the leftover broth. But most of the time, I steamed the veggies. Squash is favorite. You'd think they'd like potatoes...but no..they don't like it as much. Never use food processor for potatoes. It comes out like glue lol. At 7 and 1/2 months, I started feeding them our food when we go out. Salmon is great! Meat is soft and they can easily gum it. If it's something that's a bit hard, I'd food process it with the best food processor in the world...my mouth and teeth! I know it sounds gross but it works. I am like a mama bird with 2 little birdies to feed ahahahha. Now at 9 months old, the girls can eat soft rice, scrambled eggs, salmon, and snacks without being pureed. I start slow . I tried baby led weaning and it wasn't for me. It was hard to watch them choking. So I tried my own way of weaning . You'll figure out what's best for you and Madeline.

3chords, Henry is super super cute!!! Red hair and striking super blue eyes! oh my. He's going to be a heart breaker in the future .

Ash, I see you are living in the Bay area. Me too!! Let me know if you have any questions . I think since you are having fraternal twins, the risk of early birth is lower. But still eat a lot! They'll take everything you have . 38 weeks is considered full term. Plus, even if they are born 36 weeks, but if they are mature enough and over 5lbs each, they could go home with you . I had Kaiser and got the best care from them. Not sure who you have but I am sure they'll provide you with the best care. My perinatalogist recommended extra iron intake since there were two of them. Not sure if yours recommend it too.

For the ladies who are starting solid soon, Mumi & Bubi is a good product. I love it. I have NUK to freeze my baby food, but man oh man. Taking them out was a struggle. Mumi & Bubi definitely much better.

When the babies were in the NICU, I told my husband that I wanted another one because I wanted to experience "normal" pregnancy. One that doesn't required multiple ER trips, living in the hospital (although I do like hospital food. Go figure!), and a full term baby. We found out recently that my husband's grandmother (his dad's mom) was an identical twin also. My grandfather was an identical twin too. Now that we have an identical twin, the chance of having another one will be pretty high. I am not sure if I can handle another set of twins. Granted that everything is much easier now than 6 months ago. The girls are babbling like crazy, screaming together in stereo, playing with each other, grabbing each other's toys, but yet loving each other. It's great to see. I am still not sure if I am ready for another 4 hour feeding. The girls are sleeping through the night now and sleep in during the weekend, which are AWESOME! But for whatever reason, my body is still on the 4 hour schedule . Grrrrrr...

Now, what to do with the rest of my 4 frosties . If it's according to what I want, I'd transfer them all. But, man, daycare is super expensive. It's like a mortgage payment. Can't afford another two at the same time. Anyone has leftover frosties and not planning for another baby?

 

[ashknowsbest]

ilove - I never knew how hard eating a lot was. I'm struggling with this but I feel fine as of right now so I convinced myself that I wasn't going to stress about it. I also gained the correct amount of weight during the first trimester so that's a good thing I think. I thought my appetite would get better by the second trimester but it hasn't really kicked up again yet. I'm waiting. I'm giving birth at the El Camino women's hospital. They have a level 3 nicu and I've heard nothing but great things about them. Plus that's where my OB is affiliated so that makes everything so much easier. It's out of network for hubby and I but insurance will still cover 70% so that's not awful. I'm all for getting the care I want and having to pay a little bit more than if we went in-network. Do you mind me asking when you went into labor? I'm so worried about going too early but trying to remain positive and relaxed. I'm drinking a lot of water and eating as much as I can. I feel like I'm doing everything I can and at last cervical check I was (if I'm recalling correctly) 4.23 which I think is good. Anything over 4 right? Also, I hope you don't mind me asking so many questions but did you breastfeed and if so were you able to tandem? I'm just so worried about this. If I can't tandem feed I worry about how much sleep dep I will have. And since you're located in the bay area do you know of any mommy groups in the area? I want to get involved and get all the advice/help I can!

Hoping for the best!

 

[FirstTry]

ilove - I never knew how hard eating a lot was. I'm struggling with this but I feel fine as of right now so I convinced myself that I wasn't going to stress about it. I also gained the correct amount of weight during the first trimester so that's a good thing I think. I thought my appetite would get better by the second trimester but it hasn't really kicked up again yet. I'm waiting. I'm giving birth at the El Camino women's hospital. They have a level 3 nicu and I've heard nothing but great things about them. Plus that's where my OB is affiliated so that makes everything so much easier. It's out of network for hubby and I but insurance will still cover 70% so that's not awful. I'm all for getting the care I want and having to pay a little bit more than if we went in-network. Do you mind me asking when you went into labor? I'm so worried about going too early but trying to remain positive and relaxed. I'm drinking a lot of water and eating as much as I can. I feel like I'm doing everything I can and at last cervical check I was (if I'm recalling correctly) 4.23 which I think is good. Anything over 4 right? Also, I hope you don't mind me asking so many questions but did you breastfeed and if so were you able to tandem? I'm just so worried about this. If I can't tandem feed I worry about how much sleep dep I will have. And since you're located in the bay area do you know of any mommy groups in the area? I want to get involved and get all the advice/help I can!

Hoping for the best!

You can pump and bottle feed sometimes, too! In the beginning, babies take a long time to feed from the breast. But it only takes 15 mins to pump. And then you can either bottle feed them yourself or hand the bottle to someone else! Plus, there's no shame in supplimenting with formula.

I'm excited for you, Ash!!!

 

[FirstTry]

ILT: we have a PGS normal frostie and are struggling with what to do. I can't carry again, so it's either hire a surrogate or donate to another family.

 

[3chords]

Ash that is a great cervical measurement. No worries at this point.

Our IVF cycle was moved to July...can't believe how soon it will be. But since we are doing a freeze-all I'm less freaked out. We really only want to have one more baby (well unless we win the lottery) so I often think what will happen to our embryos. We have 2 now that are not PGS tested and I really hope we get at least 2 PGS normals again this time. Any leftovers we figured we would donate, which makes me feel a bit weird but destroying them doesn't seem right. I think we'd want an anonymous donation though.

 

[star25]

That sounds like a good idea 3c donating, I always wonder what I'll so but then I might need them all anyway to get a brother or sister for madeleine
July is so soon! But like you said freeze all so less to panic about haha
I always think though having 2 would be hard with close age gap but then in the long run it would probably be easier after the initial couple of years

We're on holiday at the moment, madeleines first trip abroad and she's loving it
She was good on the plane too, we had a baby behind us and twins in front so with us in the middle felt sorry for those around us!
I bottle fed her on take off (well she drank most of it before take off lol) and breast fed her on landing so her ears were fine, the other babies weren't feeding and Lord the noise landing between them crying, poor little babies felt so sorry for them, madeleine was just sleeping after having boob haha
She was well behaved throughout though, such a happy baby and she's been sleeping through 8-10 hrs a night in the travel cot so good for her!

How are our bumps? Hope you and babies are all well
Xx

 

[3chords]

What a little trooper on the flight!

Henry did great on his flight too, we went when he was almost 5 months old. Didn't cry on take off or landing, and he was only drinking one of the times, the rest of the time he didn't even need to swallow. But he was just excited to be in a new place I think. Now would be a lot harder to fly with him since he is no longer satisfied with sitting still...

 

[star25]

Haha I know it's harder when they get to be little wrigglers, nearly 4 hrs is long enough on a flight
She'll be confused when we get back home!

 

[Mrs W 11]

Hi everyone

Star - hope you are having a lovely holiday! feeding on take off and landing is a good idea. Where are you? Hope you are getting lots of sun!

3chords - Exciting that you will start cycling again soon, even if its for a freeze! Its a lovely idea to donate the embryos, its an unbelievable gift for some couples who cant have children.

Star/Bump - been thinking of you guys recently and our days at complete fertility. I ended up in hospital recently as I had a bleed due to my placenta previa and also lost some fluid which tested positive for waters but was later thought maybe to be fluid loss from a clot. Anyway I was blue lighted from my local hospital to the Princess Ann Hospital in Southampton where we had our treatment and spent a week there. It was so odd because when we were having IVF, just outside the toilets you can look down out of the window and see a nursery/feeding room where new mums and midwives feed the newborn babies. I often looked down and felt sad, wishing it was me. Funnily enough that room was on the ward I was on and I wandered past it every day!!

It was scary as they thought baby might have to be born early at only 24 weeks but thank goodness everything was fine and I am now home with baby still safely tucked up inside and taking it easy.

Hope everyone else is well. xx

 

[star25]

Oh no Mrs w you poor thing, I'm so glad baby is OK though, must have been frightening for you but sounds like you were well looked after
I never noticed that room before, it felt strange to be in there the other week when I went to sign consent forms for next fet, felt like I hadn't long been there, well I know it was that long ago but recognising all the faces really makes you think back to when we were going through it
Hope you're been waited on as much as you can with a little one xx