8 weeks 1 day ultrasound

We had our last visit at the fertility clinic today. According to the RE, everything is looking great in there. Here are some pictures from this morning's monitoring.

OK I just have to share the twins' portrait first. This picture is my absolute favorite because Baby A (on the left) looks like he/she is waving on the screen. Baby B just kinda lazes around (already taking after me apparently).

Twins' portrait

Baby A measures 17.03 mm, right at 8 weeks 1 day.

Baby A

Of course we had to take videos of the heartbeats again this morning. My favorite sounds in the world so far! Our Baby A's heartbeat was a strong 178 bpm.

We were also happily bemused when the doctor announced that both babies are now developmentally the same gestational age (they were one day apart in our last ultrasound). 

Baby B

Baby B measures 17.06 mm, also at 8 weeks 1 day.

And here's the heartbeat for our little Baby B at 174 bpm.

Bloodwork results are normal as well. My beta numbers are up to 162,791 and my progesterone level is looking good. In fact, they are stopping my progesterone in oil shots (I can almost break into a happy dance for this one because as you know, they are brutal), estrace, and metformin. I'm now on progesterone suppositories twice a day, which is probably a million times better than these shots. And I'm down from taking 12 pills a day to only 3... what a win for me!

We left our clinic today with a big smile and a bunch of parting gifts: a USB of our ultrasound pictures, a parenting magazine, and my medical records. The nurse said this morning, "Congratulations, you've graduated from the clinic!" Graduating from the clinic sounds about right because truly, I feel like we have accomplished something. Something meaningful, something truly amazing that's nothing short of a miracle. We are pregnant and in a few months, we are going to be parents. We are building our family. The joy of just getting to where we are today is truly a triumphant one for us, given the odds.

This afternoon, after my nurse's update on my bloodwork, we said a joyous but bittersweet goodbye to each other. After over three years of trying to conceive, it's hard not to feel emotional about the wonderful people that you meet throughout this journey. Hopefully we'll continue to meet wonderful folks who will support us for the next part of our journey.

Well, what's next? We're now moving forward to my regular OBGYN, who will continue to care for the pregnancy for the next 8 months. We have an appointment on May 8th (one that is thankfully NOT at the crack of dawn anymore). Hopefully things continue to go smooth sailing for our little ones in there.

Ultrasound 2: Two heartbeats!

We were in for our second ultrasound today, after 10 days of anxiously waiting (but seemed a lot longer). At one point I got so impatient, I almost called the nurse last week to see if I was able to come in on Friday instead. I'm glad I waited.

Yes, as the blog title goes, we have TWO heartbeats! DH was there with me again this morning, holding my hand as the doctor did the ultrasound. The doctor immediately saw the heartbeat of Baby A (I had trouble seeing from where I was lying) but DH, who had a MUCH better angle, said it was like watching a really cool flicker on the screen.

We whipped out my IPhone to try to capture the scene on camera but it is still a bit hard to see. We did however, capture the moment we heard these beautiful sounds:

Baby A measured 6.3 mm and is currently 6 weeks 3 days old. Heartbeat was a strong 113 bpm.

Baby B measured 7.32 mm and is currently 6 weeks 4 days old. The doctor said that it's pretty normal for fraternal twins to be a day or so apart. Heartbeat was 125 bpm. I immediately teared up after hearing Baby B's heartbeat too... possibly out of relief that they're both still there, hanging on strong. We are just so, so grateful and hope that they will continue to develop normally.

More ultrasound pictures... you can tell they're starting to look more and more like a baby:

Baby A

Baby B

Both together - looks almost yin yang, doesn't it?

We are SO over the moon right now. Just so grateful. And this certainly makes all of the shots and the gazillion different medications totally worthwhile.

Bloodwork results came back this afternoon, and my beta numbers are 78,271 and progesterone level is 19. We're due back in 10 days for another bloodwork and ultrasound and then we are told to make an appointment with my regular OBGYN. Hopefully that means I'm close to graduating from the fertility clinic.

Our estimated due date now is December 5th, although with twins, it is possible for an earlier due date.

Beta #3 and First Ultrasound

Finally, after what seems to be a standstill of a week, we finally went in for our first ultrasound with great anticipation. The doctor sticks the magic wand in and we got our first glimpse of what's going on in there. Here's what we saw:

Baby A

and... wait for it...

 

Baby B

So yes, folks, we have confirmation that both embryos took. DH dubbed them as "Walker" and "Texas Ranger" (from one of our favorite Will Ferrell movies, Talledega Nights)

DH and I were pretty much left in disbelief. We held hands as the doctor showed us the parts of the forming yolk sacs. From the first two pictures, you can see a whitish line separating two parts of the embryo - according to the doctor, that's quite possibly where the baby will begin to grow. But everything looks great so far - the embryos implanted where they should be and they measure at a normal length at this point in time.

We are feeling very, very overjoyed. Seeing truly is believing and seeing them for the first time today made it real that we are actually having a baby x2 (well, the nausea and unbelievable fatigue ALSO make it real for me, but this really struck us today). DH had tears well up in his eyes when the doctor left, as we just sat and stared at the screen for a few short moments. Finally, we are pregnant.

We sat in the parking lot and immediately called our parents and our siblings with the good news, even though we had initially thought we'd wait until we hear the heartbeats. But we were just far too excited to share the news. No doubt, both sets of parents are thrilled - these being the first grandchildren for both sides of the family. My dad, being a traditional Chinese man, was all too joyful that we will be having Year of the Dragon babies... something we never even thought about. I just read an article on the Wall Street Journal that talks about how so many Chinese parents (even fertile ones) are doing IVF just to have the chance to get a Dragon child, who is considered lucky and auspicious. Hopefully we're off to a good start!

My beta number came in at a whopping 15,398 and my progesterone level is at 18. The nurse who called was pretty happy with my progress and said that our ultrasound pictures looked "beautiful" today. She sounded pretty excited, which made me excited. We are due back in for a second ultrasound on April 16th. Hopefully we'll have a chance to see and/or hear the heartbeats.

While there's certainly lots to think and worry about with twins, I would not trade this for anything else in the world. We are just extremely thankful and feel so blessed.