Exploding head and NT Scan

On Saturday I had my IVIg done by a nurse in my own home. She actually had to travel 2.5 hours to my home and then she forgot the Dextrose Solution. The dextrose is an IV bag of fluid that they use to flush the actual Gammagard (Gamunex) with. It's basically like saline. That way they can keep me well hydrated and hopefully prevent some of the side-effects of the IVIg. The nurse ended up calling Dr. Z and asked him if she could please do this one infusion without the Dextrose. She said she would have me drink a lot of water and hopefully that would make up for it. Dr. Z wasn't happy but said that since he didn't want me to wait any longer he would agree this one time.

We did the infusion and it took about 4 and half hours. I felt fine throughout it and was happy I could do it in my own home and not have to drive all the way to San Fran to have it done. I couldn't believe the many supplies the nurse had though. All of which I get to keep since I purchased them...can't wait for this bill! I even own my own IV pole now.... should make an interesting hat rack when this is all done with.

About 3 hours after the infusion a bad headache started up (Sat evening). If you've followed my pregnancy to date you'll know that I've had about 6 migraines in my 1st trimester. Not fun. My entire family suffers from migraines but this is ridiculous. Typically I had 1-2 a month before my pregnancy and was able to take a medication to make them manageable. I knew pretty quickly that this headache was different than my others. Migraines are bad but this was just different and maybe even worse. The front of my face, especially around my eyes and at the temples felt like it was going to explode. The pressure was so intense I couldn't help but cry from the pain. Just touching my eyelids was incredibly painful… My blood vessels were huge and you could take my pulse by touching any vein on my face. This didn't let up at all and I had my NT Scan on Monday w/ the high risk OB/GYN (Dr. H). He's located about 45 mins from home and I managed to drive there. My husband met me there since he works nearby. We had to wait over an hour for our appt and I'm sure that all of the patients in the waiting room thought I was the highest risk in the room. I was shaking, pale and couldn't stop holding my head. I looked like hell. In fact J said it looked like I'd just come back from a 24/7 week long bender of drinking and partying all day and night long. Basically he was saying yes, you look like hell. Finally we had our NT scan and we saw both babies. One was measuring exactly on date at 13 weeks 3 days and the other was measuring a little ahead at 14 weeks. This concerned Dr. H a little just b/c you really want to do the NT measurements before the babies are measuring 13 weeks 6 days but he said it could be b/c the baby was stretched all out so he decided it was still okay to go ahead and do the measurements. They looked great and had strong heartbeats. He did the measurements which took forever b/c the babies wouldn't cooperate. One was dancing all over the place and wouldn't sit still for a second while the other was kicking back like a cool cat and wasn't going to roll over to make it easy for the doctor. Dr. H kept pushing and pounding on my tummy to try and get him/her to move but it was not working. Finally the baby was in a decent enough position to take the measurements. Dr. H wouldn't tell me anything at all b/c he said we had to wait for the blood tests to know anything. I caught some of the measurements and it sounded like the largest were 1.6mm for one of them and 1.4mm for the other so I'm hoping we're okay. Those sound like good measurements from everything I've read. I should find out the official results in a week or so.
He didn't even attempt a try on the sexes and I didn't care. I was so happy to see the babies growing and thriving. It makes it all worth it.

It amazes me that they are doing so well when I feel like death run over twice. I'm a little concerned about my weight too. In the beginning of my pregnancy I lost 5 pounds b/c of the hyperthyroid issues and then I put that back on plus 3 pounds. So I've really only gained 3 pounds over my normal pre-pregnancy weight. Not good at all since I started out a little underweight. I was told they wanted to see about a 10 pound weight gain on me in the 1st trimester since I was pregnant w/ twins. I actually can't believe I've only gained 3 pounds. I have a little baby bump and my boobs have already gone up almost two sizes. I hardly recognize my own chest. It's just so hard to focus on food when you feel horrible. And I get sick to my stomach w/ the headaches so that doesn't help. Going through the kidney stone and thyroid issues wasn't helpful either. And I can't believe the amount of protein I'm supposed to eat...150 grams a day for twin pregnancies. Are you kidding me! I could easily be a vegetarian. I eat some chicken or fish maybe 2 times a week pre-pregnancy. So now I am really trying. I'm eating high protein yogurt, more milk, lots of eggs, cheese and having meat entrees every night when I can get the food down. But even that doesn't amount to even half of the protein I should be getting. I tried the protein powder smoothie idea and couldn't force it down. It was so chalky...yuck. I need to try some different brands of whey protein powder or something.

So it's now Weds and my head is a little better...not a lot. I pretty much spent Sat through today in bed and only got up to spend some time on the computer to read a few blogs and try to eat. Yesterday I gave in and called the local OB/GYN and begged for him to help me. He prescribed some pills that have codeine/butalbital/caffeine in them. They must be safe enough since they were prescribed by an OB/GYN but the pharmacist freaked me out by saying he wouldn't recommend then for a pregnant woman since they're a class C drug. So the bottle is sitting in front of me and I haven't taken one. I will though if it starts to get worse again. I just can't take it anymore. I'm doing the ice packs on my head and I tried Sudafed thinking maybe that would help with the pressure. Don't even mention Tylenol, b/c that might as well be sugar pills for the good they do. If you have any other ideas for relief from headaches/migraines in pregnancy let me know b/c I will worship you forever if you can take away this pain.

And that has been my week so far. And to end on a positive I have to say nothing, absolutely nothing compares to seeing two strong little babies on a u/s screen. Those images from Monday will get me through... at least until the next u/s :-)

2nd Trimester

I'm finally over 13 weeks now... Officially in my 2nd trimester right? So... when do I start feeling better?

Today I will be having my IVIg infusion done at home. I spent all week working/fighting/arguing/pulling my hair out/going back and forth with several home health agencies on getting this started so I won't have to drive 6+ hours round trip to have an infusion. The biggest problem is that I didn't have a very large window of time. I had to call and say I needed this yesterday. In fact I'm really lucky and blessed that it worked out b/c I would have had to give up and do the drive again if they hadn't organized everything by today. My natural killer cells are too high and Dr. Z didn't want me to wait. This will be my 5th or 6th infusion. I can't even keep track now. It'll be interesting to see how it goes at home. Usually the infusions take 3-4 hours so it'll be nice to be in the comfort of my own home.

I have my NT scan on Monday with my new doctor (Dr. H). The one I've never met but he will be taking over my case. He's supposed to be the best high risk OB/GYN in the area so hopefully my scan goes well and I like him. I'm a little nervous. I suppose that's normal. Just really wanting everything to be okay. I feel like this will be a big milestone.

I checked out 5 books from the library on twins... They just make me turn from excited to scared shitless. Basically each one tries to enforce as strongly as possible how difficult life is about to become.....how much can go wrong..... and how you had better have a lot of support nearby (which we don't). J and I are pretty much on our own and we're moving again so the few people I've met since we've lived here won't be available to help. My Mom will come visit for a few days here and there but we'll be pretty much new parents w/ no experience and no nearby friends or family, praying for insight and good instincts. I find it interesting that I know everything there is to know about getting pregnant...you mention a topic related to infertility and I'm up on it. I could write a book, guide you and feel very secure doing so. All I've done for the last 3 years is think about how to get knocked up. I never gave any thought to what happens when it finally happens. Honestly- raising twin babies...I'm clueless. And having teaching experience doesn't help at all either. I've taught mostly 4th and 5th grade. I haven't babysat since high school and even then it wasn't very often. Do any of you feel this way? Am I the only one that feels utterly overwhelmed at times? I'm hoping this is a normal emotion. There is nothing I want more that these babies. I just hope I do a good job.

Going Poop and other things...

Have to start out saying that I've been MIA for a few reasons. The massive amount of blood loss w/ the kidney stone scared the crap out of me. I was so very frightened for the babies. I've had such a difficult time sitting back and enjoying this pregnancy so far. I was just starting to believe that my odds of having a full term baby were highly likely when that happened. That medical incident didn't affect the babies at all thank goodness. They are both fine and I actually had another u/s yesterday that showed them both measuring on time and looking really good. One was sucking his/her thumb. I'm basically at 12 weeks and I'm really hoping that the 2nd trimester goes a little smoother. Between the constant migraines, the hyper-thyroidism and the passing of a kidney stone, not to mention a renal u/s that was at 2:30pm in the afternoon and required 12 hours of fasting...no food or liquid which was horrible...I'm more than worn out. Don't get me wrong. I thank God every day for the miracles that are growing inside me and I would do anything (I mean anything) to keep this pregnancy going. It would just be nice if I could start to feel a little better. And I am. After the kidney stone passed I was sore and exhausted for a few days but then I felt almost human again. My parents came to visit for a week and provided all the meals and did a million things around the house. (We are hoping to move and are putting our house on the market *more on this another time) So I was able to eat and have actually put on a few pounds.

As far as pregnancy goes there are two things that make me much happier than anything else. The first by far is going to an ultrasound and seeing the babies thrive. The second is pooping. YES- I am so deadly serious. I get very excited when I have a bowel movement these days. The frequency is about the same as going for my ultrasounds. Not exactly- but close. I am going every 4-5 days at the most. I was going through a really long stretch when my parents were here and my Mom was sooo excited about my baby bump. Finally on the last day of their visit I managed to go and my Mom realized the bump she was petting all the time wasn't really a baby bump since it basically disappeared after my bathroom visit. I’m now going to take daily Colace to help in that department. I was eating fiber (fiber cereal, fiber bars) by the truckload but it wasn't doing anything.

Remember how I mentioned that I needed my blood drawn and shipped to Chicago so I can see how my immune system (NK cells are doing) I planned to have J do it b/c I refuse to drive once again over 6 hours round trip for a stupid lab draw. I've done that one too many times. Well- I ended up asking my neighbor who's a nurse (she is actually graduating from nursing school next month). She's a nurse’s aide at the moment. I didn't know all of this until I asked her. She was more than willing to help out and J and I were both relieved. I ended up doing this yesterday and it was a disaster. I needed 3 vials of blood. I had 8 vials on hand. We went through 8 vials, 4 veins, and blood everywhere. She couldn't get my blood going and then when it did, the vein would stop all of a sudden. So she'd poke and search around in my vein the try and hit the right spot. She did this on 3 of the veins. Then she got frustrated and while the tourniquet was still around my arm, she withdrew the needle without putting a cotton swab or anything at the location so blood spurted all over the floor, all over the counter top, it was even on the two vials we had managed to fill. Finally we were able to fill 3 vials, cleaned them off and rushed to make it to Fed-Ex 10 mins before they wouldn't take overnight shipments anymore. I hope the vials are okay, that the blood isn't contaminated somehow and that my NK cells come back normal for once so I don't need yet another IVIg infusion. If I need more blood sent to Chicago I'm not sure what I'll do. I won't be asking this neighbor again. Although- I have to give her credit. She could have easily said forget it in the beginning when she was having trouble. She never quit and we finally managed to get 3 vials filled. It also amazes me at how far I've come. 2-3 years ago I would have freaked out at what happened. But, this didn't really faze me at all. I've been through so much poking and prodding, shots and infusions that it would have taken much more for me to have asked her to quit.

Back to another reason why I've been MIA. After the kidney stone incident and my parents left I went back on-line to catch up on blogs. I read a few blogs and everything I read was so terrible. So very sad. So heart-breaking that I literally felt like it was unhealthy for me at that point to keep reading. I'm sorry it that offends anyone. So many of you have been there for me through each rough spot I've gone through. I'm sorry I can't always do the same. I just knew that I was in a very vulnerable place from recent events and needed some time to try and feel positive for both my sake and my babies’ sake. I even attempted to read only "safe blogs"...and there is no such thing. I saw more bad news or even references to others people pain and anguish. I read about a miscarriage at 11 weeks and didn't want to hear about it. I ended up calling J and telling him about my intense fear that it could happen to me. J has threatened over and over that he's going to pack up the computer.

I now think I finally feel like I'm at a place where I can support other bloggers in a healthy manner. I had an u/s and things look great. My NT scan is in less than 2 weeks. I'm almost in the 2nd trimester and I'm praying for smooth sailing from here on out.