The stretching uterus

 Monday, January 17, 2011 (15 weeks, 2 days)

I get a call from my case manager at Kaiser to check up on how I'm doing and to go over my glucose numbers. It's kind of nice, actually. Every two weeks I see a doctor (alternating between the regular OB and the high-risk OB) and in between each of the two weeks when I don't see a doctor, I get a call from my case manager to check up on me. So this call we went over my new glucose numbers now that I was on insulin. In the 5 or 6 days since starting insulin, I had only 2 elevations (the first one because the insulin hadn't really kicked in yet and the 2nd, well, my fault) but aside from that, I had too many lower numbers than they'd like to see and two incidents of physically reacting to low sugar levels. Which was interesting. So she decreased my insulin dosage by 2 (something. cc's?).

Saturday, January 22, 2011 (15 weeks, 7 days)

Attended a friend's baby shower where there were of course, lots of sweets. I declined on them all :( I explained that I couldn't eat sweets because of diabetes, and my friend announced to everyone that I was expecting twins (gasp!). At least half of the attendees were pharmacists (LOL) and one told me, "That's what insulin is for! To eat cake!" I kind of laughed because I thought she was just joking, and then she said that she had gestational diabetes with both of her pregnancies and when she wanted to eat cake, she'd increase her insulin by 5 (my reaction wasn't that she ate cake, but rather, she increased it by 5 when my case manager decreased mine by only 2 for too many instances of low glucose levels!). Then her sister (also a pharmacist - in fact, the poster girl pharmacist for Target) turns to me and says, "Don't do it."

I didn't.

Monday, January 24, 2011 (16 weeks, 2 days)

Had my regular high-risk OB appointment today. I like going to this facility because it's so nice and new but the problem is I tend to wait longer here than any other place. Particularly today. I think we waited almost 45 minutes (we were 15 minutes early, which they suggest doing). So the cool thing about visiting the high-risk OB is that I think they do an ultrasound every time, just to make sure the babies are developing on schedule, so each visit to the high-risk, we see the babies. And today was no different. And thanks to their high tech machines, we hear their heartbeats at the same time. So after the doctor measures the babies' heads and checks the thickness of the lining between them, she says, let's see if we can tell if they're boys or girls. Looks at Baby A. Baby A not budging. In fact, Baby A seems to curl up tighter into a ball and flips upside down for no view whatsoever. Modest baby. So she moves on to Baby B, who had been wriggling around (I can't feel them yet, but this one certainly seems active on screen), and just as soon as the doctor does so, Baby B flips over and says, "See? I'm a girl! See?" Well that was easy... um, a little too easy. Should I be concerned at my little girl's eagerness to um, show off her, um. Girl parts...?

And then I went down to the lab and had my blood drawn for the Second Trimester Screening. And provided a urinalysis. Of which I received the results an hour later (love kp.org!) and I have no idea what they were checking, but the long list of stuff fell in the "normal" range. Which is always good.

So two more weeks until my next OB appointment with the regular doc (so no high-risk high tech stuff) at which point I'll be 18 weeks, and hopefully I'll get an official sonogram scheduled with the x-ray people who will do all sorts of measurements on the babies, and maybe, just maybe, Baby A will be just a little less modest (or at least, caught off guard)!

Looking yellow?

 After some errands the other day, the hubster and I swung by his parent's place on our way home so that he could give something to his dad. His mom, ever so thoughtful, kept asking if the smell in the kitchen was too much and if I wanted to go wait in the bedroom (she was cooking dinner at the time). As I have slowly transitioned into second trimester, the smell of food cooking doesn't bother me nearly as much as it did before... plus it smelled like a bunch of different spices rather that actual meat cooking. Or rice. Ugh, I don't know if I'll ever not gag at the smell of rice cooking ever again. I told her that, no, I'm fine, and took a seat at the dining table. She then promptly started getting me things: a glass of water, a container of dry-roasted almonds, a bowl of cut jicama (a normal snack in that family), and I thanked her.

And then she said, "You're looking quite yellow."

I didn't know what to say to that. I mean, I am Asian, right? I'm supposed to look kind of yellowish, no? But she smiled and said, "That's a good thing."

Is it? Is 'looking yellow' a sign of a good pregnancy? *shrugs*

But anyway, she sat down and started asking me how I was doing, if I was able to eat, sleep, etc. It was really nice. I think I lucked out with my mother-in-law. In fact, as we were leaving, I thought to myself, my mom hasn't even said anything to me since I told her about 3 weeks ago that we were expecting twins. Well, no, I take that back. As of this past weekend, she hadn't asked/said anything. On Monday, she randomly asked, "How many weeks are you?". I stopped, slightly dumbfounded, and asked, "Huh?" She repeated, "How many weeks are you?" so I replied, "Oh. 15." At which point she asks, "15? That much?"

Well, I dunno mom. You haven't said anything or acknowledged the existence of your soon-to-arrive grandchildren at all since I told you - at just about 12 weeks - on the night of Christmas.

Oh darn. I just split my favorite pj pants.

Another reason I'm glad I no longer work.

 Aside from the narcolepsy and the heart palpitations, I'm glad I am not working in an office anymore... or more specifically, not working anymore. My new daily schedule has been presented and MUST be followed.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011 (14 weeks, 4 days)

Met with... I don't know what to call her. My case manager? Anyway, I met with her to get instructions on how to properly give myself insulin injections. She had me practice using saline. It was awkward, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. Twice a day (once before breakfast and once before dinner) in the belly. And then we ended the session with a video about pre-term delivery. Which freaked me out more than sticking a needle into my side.

I remember when I decided that I had had enough with all of the pills I had to take (at some points, 9 per day) and was so glad that it eventually all dropped down to just my daily prenatal and (every other day) low-dose aspirin (even though the prenatal make me nauseous, but if I take it right before going to sleep, it's not so bad). But I didn't realize that it would be replaced with needles. 6 stabs a day, actually. :)

Anyhow, with my pancreas not cooperating, the gestational diabetes needs to be super controlled (I would say more for the babies sakes than my own), so a schedule was implemented. I can't imagine working this into my old work schedule. Behold, my new typical day:

8:00 am - Test fasting blood sugar

8:15 am - Inject insulin

8:45 am - Breakfast (1 starch and 1 protein, usually a slice of toast, no crust, and peanut butter)

9:45 am - Test 1 hour after breakfast blood sugar

11:15 am - Morning snack (1 starch and 1 protein)

1:30 pm - Lunch

2:30 pm - Test 1 hour after lunch blood sugar

4:00 pm - Afternoon snack (1 starch and 1 protein)

6:30 pm - Inject insulin

7:00 pm - Dinner

8:00 pm - Test 1 hour after dinner blood sugar

11:00 pm - Bedtime snack (1 starch and 1 protein)

Double, double, toil and trouble

 To recap:

Monday, November, 1, 2010 (4 weeks, 1 day)

Positive home pregnancy test. Confirm exhaustion suspicion. Extreme exhaustion. Continued nausea become more intense. Get more blood work done.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010 (5 weeks, 2 days)

First OB scan. Saw one baby sac. Saw a second baby sac. Freak out. Officially turned off by all foods but bread and fruits/smoothies. And Jack in the Box tacos.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 (6 weeks, 2 days)

Second OB scan. Just to make sure that both are still there (it is apparently common that the second twin sometimes disappears and dissolves before developing). So tired am now waking up at 11am, taking a 3-hour nap in the afternoon and going to bed at 9pm. And so nauseous can no longer even watch Food Network - and I'm not talking about the extreme foods. I'm talking regular foods. Like sandwiches. Normal everyday sandwiches. Meat: ugh! Get taken out to eat. Order a "safe" item from the menu. Discard after one bite for the complimentary bread basket.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 (7 weeks, 2 days)

Third OB scan. For good measure. Both babies are developing on track. Mind blanks occurring. Not good. Especially since my long-feared GRE exam is immediately after my doctor appointment and I couldn't remember the word for "aspirin" at the visit much less the 350+ "most frequently used" vocab words I had been studying. And not remembering. Exam ended up being rough but not dismal. Thankful that I didn't fall asleep during the exam, especially since I didn't even quite finish.

Thursday, December 9, 2010 (9 weeks, 4 days)

Meet new regular OB doctor. Get a full exam (last one was a year ago).

Friday, December 17, 2010 (10 weeks, 5 days)

Glucose blood test. FAIL. No, EPIC FAIL.

Monday, December 20, 2010 (11 weeks, 1 day)

First full OB sonogram where she measured the babies and stuff. Baby A is all curled up in a, well, fetal position (at which point will later hold it's hand up to it's forehead in "The Thinker" pose), and Baby B is all stretched out without a care in the world (except later, will have it's hand over it's forehead in a very dramatic fashion)... I would like to be able to stop calling them "It" but will have to wait longer until we can determine if they are he's or she's or a he and a she. Excited because it looks like they are showing personality.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010 (11 weeks, 2 days)

Officially diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. Had to attend a class on the importance of following a diabetic diet (for babies sakes, not just mine) and learned how to use the daily (or in my case, 4x a day) blood sugar meter thing. Officially put on "high risk pregnancy" profile for 1) twins and 2) gestational diabetes. A double whammy. Let's hope asthma doesn't flare up.

Thursday, December 23, 2010 (11 weeks, 4 days)

First Trimester Prenatal Screening blood test. They will compare the blood results with Second Trimester results later on to determine likelihood of Down Syndrome and other genetic disorders.

Friday, December 24, 2010 (11 weeks, 5 days)

Had Christmas (Eve) dinner at in-laws. After gift exchange, we finally made the first announcement that we were expecting. Mom-in-law was floored and speechless. Then the hubster announced that, wait, we're having twins. Mom-in-law started crying, and said that was the best gift ever. Made me start crying (not like I wasn't already tearing up at thinking "baby"). Made my two sister-in-laws start crying. The guys popped open a couple more beers. Mom-in-law said she had been wanting twins in the family (her sisters were twins and also had twins) and youngest sister-in-law who has a 3-month old said her mom told her to do in-vitro to get twins. Haha.

Saturday, December 25, 2010 (11 weeks, 6 days - Christmas Day and my 31st Birthday)

My sister and brother-in-law and their 10-month old daughter came for Christmas dinner. My sister brought me two cakes: a small strawberry and cream one (yummy) and a small mocha Noel log one (yummy). After dinner as I sit behind the cakes to cut them, I look up and announce that I can't have cake. My sister looks like she's about to throw something at me, so I quickly explain that I have gestational diabetes. She understands immediately because she had it too, and starts jumping up and down clapping her hands. Apparently she's the only one who gets it. So she turns to her husband and says, remember? Remember when I had it? And then it clicked to him that I was expecting. Then I hold up two fingers, and she stops and stares. "Two? Two what? Two... TWINS?!" I nod and both she and brother-in-law are like, OMG! I turn and look at my mom who's just standing there smiling, but I'm not sure if she's smiling at me or at my niece. I ponder if she understood what I just announced, when she turns to my uncle (sitting at the far end of the table) and asks, "Did you hear that? She's having twins," and he nods. So she did understand. But I don't think much about it. That's how she usually reacts to any of my news anyway.

Sunday, December 26 - Friday, December 31, 2010 (12 weeks)

We slowly start announcing the pregnancy to our closest friends. Excitement! Finally I can explain why I'm always sleepy and eating weird. And since I don't typically drink, not many suspected anything.

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 (13 weeks, 2 days)

Meet with regular OB doctor again. We hear the babies' heartbeats for the first time. One is a little quicker than the other, but both sound good. I'm glad. My heart has been feeling extra worked the past week or so, and regular heart palpitations have begun. It's a weird feeling, like I'll suddenly feel a big THUMP! in my throat. But the good sign is, my nausea isn't as crazy as before. I still can't stand being in the kitchen or even at home when my mom is cooking, but at least now I can watch shows and movies with food scenes again.

Friday, January 7, 2011 (13 weeks, 5 days)

First meeting with High Risk OB. First step: ultrasound. She started off low, and we saw Baby A, floating on it's belly facing down. Then she moved the ultrasound up and found Baby B, which was weird because it looked like there was a glitch on the screen. I don't ask. She moves the ultrasound back down to Baby A to do measurements, and Baby A has flipped back over and facing up, as if to say, "I wasn't doing anything." When those measurements are done, she moves the ultrasound back up to see Baby B, and sure enough, I see the same thing again as before, but this time, I'm sure I saw it correctly. "Is Baby B... flopping around?" I ask. It was a weird sight, like a cartoon jumping bean - that kind of flopping. The imager laughs and says, "Yes, and Baby B is quite photogenic today, too," and sure enough as soon as she says that... Baby B turns it's head towards us. WEIRD! After the appointment, all I can think is, oh man. They sound like they're gonna be a couple of handfuls. Particularly Baby B.

However, bad news. Despite my diabetic diet of high protein and vegetables, no sugar, 1-2 servings of starch per meal, my glucose levels were still pretty high. I started cutting out starch and fruits altogether with only small amounts of carbs that are found in meats and vegetables anyway. Glucose levels still elevating. I need to officially be put on insulin. Dr. says I was doing really good on my diabetic diet and didn't want me cutting back anymore or else I'd starve and said that 1) it's not my fault, I just don't produce enough insulin as "normal" people would and 2) stress is probably causing all of the elevations. So let's get started on insulin (which is also a cause for alarm because gestational diabetes isn't typically diagnosed until end of 2nd trimester-3rd trimester; mine was diagnosed in the first). Now on glucose watch and blood pressure watch (which, thankfully has still remained in normal ranges). Too bad I still have to be on the diabetic diet even with insulin. I really, really miss fruits. And bread (particularly french bread with butter). And, I will probably go from gestational diabetes straight into type 2 diabetes. And aside from birthday cake and wedding cake, I'm not even a big fan of sweets! Hrmph! Thanks, mom.

It all started with...

 The first day of November, 2010.

I had been waiting for two weeks to do this. I woke up that morning and making sure I had a nice full bladder, got a very rapid and glaringly Positive mark. It was really quick - so quick, the control line hadn't even started forming yet.

I contacted my doctors and they ordered some blood tests to be done. Basically if your hcg level comes back at greater than a 5 (or is it 6?) it pretty much means you're pregnant. Mine came back at 903. Surely that must have been a mistake? Two days later, I had the same blood test performed. Typically your hcg levels double every couple of days when you are prego (to a certain date). Two days later, my number came back at 1953. It was so high, my doctor said I didn't even need the third blood test. Just come in for my first OB scan.

November 9th, I went into the office I had been frequenting regularly for the past several months. I laid down and had my first OB scan performed. See that little black dot in the middle of the white area? That's it. That's my little baby sac. I jokingly said to the doctor, "There's just one, right?" and she paused and said, "Well actually... there's a second one!"

Brain failure.

Say what?

At this point I was 5 weeks 2 days (and at this point did I learn that the first two weeks of "pregnancy", you aren't even pregnant at all. Conception comes after the second week with ovulation because they count day one as the first day of your cycle.). The little baby sacs were so small they wouldn't show up on the same imaging plane, but there were definitely two. And then she proceeds to tell me that it is natural to see two sacs, but until they are developed (i.e. with the backbone and other organs and heartbeat and stuff, usually by week 6 or 7) one of the sacs might even dissolve. But really, only time can tell.

Explains the giant hcg levels (multiple babies). Explains all of the exhaustion. Explains the glitches in memory. And then soon I will quickly discover, explains all of the nausea. So much nausea, I could only stomach fruits and bread. The smell of food and especially food cooking made me so sick, I would have to leave the house when my mom would cook. Which ended up being everyday because I could no longer stand being in the kitchen. But then I could only go out for maybe 2 hours at a time before I fell asleep.

What was that? Double the babies = double the gestation = double the symptoms? Yay me!