So Much To Do!!!

Its 4 am and I can't sleep!!! I've been up since a little before 3 am and my brain will not turn off. I think its finally hit me how much work we have ahead of us in the next 7 or 8 months. We have so much to do and I feel like I don't even know where to start.

• Turn Piper's room into a nursery
• Clean out the crazy closet in Piper's room
• Organize garage to handle all the madness from Piper's closet
• Cribs
• Dresser
• Changing table
• Highchairs
• Double stroller
• Car seats
• New car (since 2 car seats don't really fit in a 2 door Accord)
• Diapers
• Wipes
• Bottles
• Clothes
• Diaper bag(s)
• Toys
• Diaper Genie
• Boppies
• And so much more!!!

I was hoping that by writing some of this stuff down it will help me stop adding to the massive to do list that seems to be growing in my head each day...we'll see! I know I'll be miserable about 2 or 3 pm this afternoon, but laying in the bed for the past hour wasn't working for me either.

Today is also my usual Tuesday appointment at Dr. G's office, Casey and I are looking forward to seeing our babies again. Next week I have my first appointment with my new OB. I know I'll miss Dr. Nebgen, but driving to the Medical Center all the time just would not be fit with my work schedule, not to mention the toll roads, valet parking, gas and traffic.

I think I'm feeling a bit more relieved, guess I'll check out last night's Hills episode on the DVR, somehow the Heidi and Spencer drama always makes me thankful for my simple little life!

Sweet Boy!

This past Wednesday was pretty rough for Team Turner. As mentioned in the previous posting, we were waiting to hear if we had triplets or a tear, and I was put on modified bed rest until my next appointment. This day my morning sickness and nausea also decided to kick in to overdrive. While working from home I had to excuse myself from my computer several times due to feeling so ill - not a fun day.
Casey had the day off and when not making me Sprite or lemon water and crackers he spent the morning running errands for his dove hunting trip. Since his job requires him to work 24 hour shifts I'm always excited when he's home, however on Wednesday I understood that he needed to get ready for leaving on Friday. In addition to feeling rotten I also had my first day of being weepy. Looking back on that day and my behavior, I'm sure my Casey was probably more excited about leaving for that hunt than for any other hunt!
Case had several stops to make and would call and check on me periodically while out taking care of his to do list. I got worried when he wasn't home within a reasonable amount of time and called him. Of course feeling the way I was he was able to easily sidetrack me in our conversation and made me forget that the whole reason I called was to find out where he was. By the time Case got home I was feeling better and working in Piper's room (yes, our cat has her own room I can't even imagine how spoiled the twins will be). My sweet boy came in and handed me two bags and told me had picked me up some surprises. The first bag was from Bed, Beth and Beyond (not exactly a store I've known Casey to shop in, other than when we registered for our wedding), so I had no idea what to expect. I was really hoping it wasn't a cleaning gadget or vacuum attachment, either would not have gone over well that day!
Inside was the neatest pair of slippers I've ever seen. They're almost like booties but instead of being able to walk in them they're for lounging. In the sole there's a sack of cloves, cinnamon and eucalyptus that you microwave and insert back into the slipper when warm. They're so soft and comfortable and are suppose to help with swelling, too. Such a sweet boy!
The second gift probably rates right up there with my engagement ring, as far as thoughtfulness and surprise when thinking of all the gifts Casey has given me over the past 12.5 years. Casey had gone and picked out the cutest, sweetest, most precious baby book ever! I absolutely loved it and of course cried and blubbered as I opened it. Its just perfect and the fact that he went and picked it out makes it even more special. I still can't imagine my Casey, the burly fireman, browsing through baby books for his soon to be babies! He only bought one book since he wanted to make sure I liked it, so we'll have to go back and get the second one for the other baby.
My sweetie-peetie will be the best Daddy ever, its obvious just by the way he takes care of me. No one else can make me so happy and laugh until my stomach is in spasms. He's a keeper for sure! He took a yucky day and made it happy. I know in the future I'll only remember his thoughtfulness and caring rather than all the not so fun stuff on that day. I love my Casey!!!

The Tear Scare

Casey and I went this past Tuesday to Dr. G's office for my usual ultrasound and blood work. This would be Casey's first time to see the heart beats and my second, so we were both really excited.
As the nurse was doing the ultrasound I kept noticing a third spot on the screen. The more she maneuvered around, the more obvious the third spot became. The longer I looked at the screen the more it began to look another embryo, too. The only words I could mutter were, "What's that third spot? I mean SURELY its NOT.....". About the same time I said this I could see the area had also peaked the nurse's interest, too. I kindly explained that if its a third baby, I would be needing an ambulance. Casey then requested that she call two ambulances if it was indeed another baby.
Due to the placement of Ike and Tina, she wasn't able to get a good view. She finally admitted that the third spot definitely had the potential to be a third embryo and we'd have to wait until the next visit to be for sure. I was in panic mode by this point. She said the other possibility would be for it to be a tear in the lining of my uterus. She said I needed to take it easy, do as little walking and moving around as possible and pretty much just chill out until my next visit.
This little office visit scared us both so much. I think my biggest question was how would we care for three babies when we only have two arms?
So today I returned for my next appointment. Everything looked great, Ike and Tina are trucking along. After checking on them, the nurse started to investigate the mystery spot from my last visit. Turns out it was just a tear (whew!). There had been a large amount of healing since Tuesday's visit and we were so glad to hear that we were back on track. Evidently uterine tears are pretty common for in vitro patients and don't pose any big harm when they're monitored and the mother decreases her activity dramatically. So all is well and we're continuing on our normal routine. Still doing the daily progesterone oil shots, estrogen pills and estrogen patches. This will continue everyday for at least another 2 weeks. Casey still does a great job with giving me my shots. He'll be dove hunting all this weekend and my second favorite shot giver, April, will be taking his place.
I think I may actually break down and invest in a new scanner this weekend, too. Each visit to Dr. G's office we get new ultrasound pics and I'm anxious to post them and share with everyone. So stay tuned, Ike and Tina Turner may be making their internet debut this weekend!

Ike and Ike and Tina

So as most of you know, Casey is super zealous when it comes to safety, hence his nickname of "Safety Steve". Well, Safety Steve has become much more relaxed this hurricane season. Casey and I are both known for being weather nerds. We're the freaks that sit on the front porch and watch the storms roll-in, we always know what the weather radar is showing and often argue over who the best meteorologist is. When Ike was forecasted to head this way we both thought he'd make a hard right turn to Louisiana, boy were our predictions wrong. Ike headed straight up I-45!
We had only done minimal preparations. We had some bottled water, flashlights and batteries, a little food and of course cat food and tuna (for the cats). Next time we'll be prepared! We just got our electricity back on late last night and the internet came up about an hour ago...it was 4 days of misery. I was bounced around like a refugee and spent time at my in-laws, some friends, the fire station and even a night at Casey's fire chief's house. We made it through safely and have a whole list of how next time will be different. Casey's mom kept me fed and made sure I had plans and some where to stay every night that Casey was working.
I was able to go to Dr. G's office on Tuesday, since they had electricity down at Willowbrook. It should have just been a blood work visit, but since their computers were down I thought I'd see if we could sneak in my first ultrasound since the transfer of the embryos. I even went and picked up Casey from the fire station and had him come so that hopefully we could see who we had living in my uterus, if anyone.
My plan worked and we were able to squeeze in the ultrasound. My favorite nurse was even at the Willowbrook office that day. Before starting the procedure she said all we'd be looking for was one dot since it was still less than 3 weeks from when since the embryos were placed inside. I was so nervous but felt certain one of them had attached due to my nausea and fatigue. As soon as she started she said the best words ever........"You have TWO dots!!" I just started crying and asked her to repeat herself while Casey kept repeating "two dots, two dots, two dots..." and smiling so big! It took a minute to two for us to fully realize we had just been told that we were now expecting TWINS!!! Casey and me - parents of twins?!?!?!? It was so amazing and we've been beyond happy ever since.
Back at the time of the transfer Casey referred to the dots as Ike and Tina (like Ike and Tina Turner), we couldn't believe Ike and Tina had latched on and even lasted through Hurricane Ike. Our dots/babies are now known officially as Ike and Tina and we were given an ultrasound photo of each of them. They are the most precious things ever. Tuesday was so exciting and such a whirlwind. All of our family is so thrilled and so are we. We can't even explain how blessed we feel with this being such a phenomenal outcome. When I went to drop Casey back off at the station, all the guys came running out to hear our news. Casey was so proud to say we we're now expecting twins!
Today I had another appointment for blood work and headed back down to Dr. G's office by myself. After my blood draw I was told that they'd also be doing an ultrasound today, too. I was excited but also sad that Casey wasn't with me since I didn't know I'd be doing all that today. The babies changed so much since just 2 days ago. I was able to see the yolk sack and the baby along with the tiny heart beating!!! I so wished my Casey had been with me. I'll be going to the doctor twice a week now, every Tuesday and Thursday for ultrasounds. I can't wait for Casey to see the heart beats and see how much they develop by next Tuesday.
Team Turner will be adding two new team mates and we can't say thank you enough to everyone for their support and prayers!!!

First Bout of Morning Sickness?

While its still quite early, I think I may have experienced my first round of morning sickness. I woke up and felt unbelievably nauseated within 5 minutes of being awake. I never actually vomited but it felt like it was right at the top of my throat for about 4 hours. Every time I'd try to walk or stand I'd get so dizzy and the nausea just go worse. I wasn't able to even make it to the shower.
Since I felt so lousy, I had to work from home today. I even had to move my appt at Dr. G's office to the latest they had. By 10:30 am I was able to shower and dress, but was still moving pretty slowly. By the mid afternoon I felt pretty close to normal, just really tired. I keep telling myself it was a stomach bug, but I think my HCG levels increasing may have spawned all my trouble.
The bright side of all this is that my HCG levels continue to rise. Today I was at 814. Dr. G's office said today's number would be my new baseline and from now on its super important that they double every appt. I go back on Friday and get tested again, by then my HCG level should be over 1600 and at 3200 on Monday. This means we could start ultrasounds on Wednesday. How fun is that?!?! Can't wait to actually see the newest Team Turner addition!
Tomorrow I'm going to try eating some crackers before I even get out of bed. Several friends and coworkers have made this suggestion to me, so it definitely can't hurt.

Really? For Sure? No, Seriously?!?!?!

True story.......we're pregnant!!!! The results of my blood work today were undeniable. My HCG level increased from 92.9 to 635!!! That's right six hundred and thirty five - and here we were thinking Wednesday would be the magic day. Dr. G's office called and the first thing the nurse said was, "you're definitely pregnant!"

Casey and I are both ecstatic. I didn't call Casey from work to tell him, instead I stopped on the way home and picked him up a couple of gifts. I bought the cutest camouflage bib and the most precious baby ball cap that is camo and says "Daddy's Little Hunter". When I got home I just told him that I had bought him a little surprise over the weekend while he was gone and had forgotten to give it to him. He was curious, but fell right into my game. As soon as he opened it he got a big smile but of course said cautiously, "Erica, I hope all this isn't too premature". I tried to say it wasn't but all that came out was a bunch of blubbering and tears. He couldn't believe the news either. He was so excited and had the same reaction I did - "really, for sure, are you positive?!?!?"

We're so happy and have shared the news with our family and friends this evening. There are still many more phone calls to be made - but this type of news just doesn't get old. I'll go Wednesday for blood work again. Once my HCG level gets to 2,000 then we can do an ultrasound to see just how many new team members Team Turner will have. We're so happy and I really can't believe we did this on the first shot. We both realize how blessed and fortunate we are...of course all the thoughts and prayers of everyone just make this time even more special!!! Good Times!!!!

More Good News

Today was a great day for Team Turner. When I went in for my blood work I found out that after the transfer last week, we had 4 more embryos reach the right stage in development. Dr. G went ahead and froze the remaining four, so its great to know that we still have a Plan B.

Even better than having a Plan B, is having great test results today. On Tuesday my HCG level was 9.2. According to all my research HCG levels should generally double every 48-72 hours. Well today my HCG level was a whopping 92.9!!! The nurse said this was "great". We're really encouraged by today's results but are still being cautious and realize things can change. My next blood test will be on Monday and the big test will be on Wednesday. Its not even Friday and I've never wanted it to already be Monday so bad!

Today was the hardest day so far. I felt like I had to peel my self off the sheets to get out of bed and it took me forever to actually be able to function. I slept like a rock last night but the fatigue is always there and seems to be increasing quickly. Even several of my coworkers commented about how tired I looked. Today's HCG increase definitely helps explain why I'm so sluggish! Hurry up Monday!!!

One Week

One week from today we'll know the results of all our hard work. I'll have my pregnancy test next Wednesday. All is well so far. I had blood work done yesterday, Dr. G's office said all was good and no changes. I specifically asked about my HCG level, the nurse said it was a 9.3. When I asked what 9.3 was she replied with, "just a number". NO KIDDING!!!!! Maybe its just all the hormones pumping through my veins, but I'm pretty sure I could have identified 9.3 as a number and not say...oh a preposition?!?!?! So I had to be more specific and ask what the 9.3 meant in terms of how much HCG my body was producing. She she then changed her tone and said it was too early to tell if the number was due to the HCG shot I had 2 weeks ago or if my body was beginning to produce its own HCG (that would be a most excellent sign). So tomorrow I plan on asking what my HCG level is since I now have a baseline as to what my level was on Tuesday. Until then we just continue to wait and hope and pray the Turner Twins have implanted and are hanging on tight.

Oh and one last hurdle, I would normally start my period tomorrow so I'll be curious to see if I'm late and if I'm still late next Wednesday. That would be the best ever!!!