Almost at Week 27...

It's been quite busy this last month with report card writing, student assessments and getting to doctor's appointments. Unfortunately, morning sickness is still here... coupled with back pain and cramps and muscle spasms. I invested in the Snoogle pillow over the weekend while I was shopping in Oregon. I am now sleeping until 4am which is a huge improvement from pre-Snoogle... before I'd be up at 1:30am and then 3-4am and then have to be up for work. I used to get up at 6:15 to be out the door for work by 7ish... recently I have been leaving around 7:30 simply because it's been so hard to get up.

My belly is growing...

December 31, 2013

Only 1 more day to work and then I am on medical leave and then mat. leave until next January... I can't believe how heavy and slow I am now both physically and mentally.

Looking Good

Good news!  Our little trouble maker was more cooperative today.  It looks like Twin A is a girl.  This is not confirmed yet because Twin B made it hard to see Twin A.  The boy is definitely larger... Wil's mom often reminds me that Wilson was a big baby... almost 10 pounds at birth! Crazy! 
Everybody is looking "normal" and I believe my morning sickness is beginning to ease off.

I'm slowly getting into the mindset of having 2 wailing babies and all night feedings... =)

This will be fun, especially with no real home of my own... our architect hopes to have our drawings done in the next 2 weeks. We are hoping we can get construction going shortly after Christmas...

 

Our Little Trouble Maker

We had our infamous ultrasound last Friday.  Our twins are lying one on top of the other.  The one on top, Twin B is a boy. He was great. He lay flat and spun around so he could be measured. But Twin A, on the bottom chose to stay "curled up in a ball" position... so we won't know the gender of Twin A until November 18th.   We are hoping for a baby girl, but we'll be happy with whatever God blesses us with.

We also met our obstetrician for the first time today.  Just getting to his office was an event on it's own.  I used the "web" to find his address... since I misplaced the business card my GP gave me.  Lo and behold his web address was outdated by 5 years... the moa at the "old office" sent me to another building 5 blocks away and I was on hold with obstetrician's secretary for 10 minutes only to find out that I was at the wrong location... ahhhh. We were late, but at least we didn't miss our appointment.

I was told that I should expect to gain 40 pounds... no more.  I've already put on 24 pounds!  So now I've been asked to eat smaller meals... reduce my carbs... great... it's not like I have been binging anyways... I've also been asked to walk 30 minutes after each meal... Aiya!

He also mentioned that I will likely feel morning sickness for the next 3 months. It was so bad last week that I burst the blood vessel in one my eyes for 2 days from my excessive puking!!! Here I was excited that the nausea would go away sooner than later.  He also mentioned that it would be best that I stop working after Christmas... ahhhh.

Feeling Yucky Today

The last few days have been awful!  I have been throwing up at least once every morning and I am not sleeping through the night. My back aches and the skin on my tummy is so very sensitive!

My mother tells me it's only going to get worse. I was hoping that the morning sickness would go away, but I'm at 17 weeks and it's still here!!! I refilled my Diclectin prescription reluctantly yesterday as it works out to $2 a tablet and I take 2-3 a day...

I'm hoping that my energy level and desire to eat will pick up soon...

Week 16 - 4 Month Mark...

I went to see my GP today.  She told me that my NT test results weren't perfect.  One twin has a neck thickness of 1.7mm and the other one is 2.4mm.  Under 2 is normal... So I have to do some more blood tests to see if the twin with 2.4mm is OK.  The NT test is a good predictor for Down's Syndrome...

I'm feeling better, but still experiencing morning sickness...

We're finally meeting our architect this weekend to draft up our dream house...

15 weeks

Yikes!  15 weeks already!  I unfortunately caught a cold. It was inevitable being around sick family members... So I took one day off from work. When I wanted to return the next day, I was informed that there was a confirmed case of Foot and Mouth Disease... so I took another 2 days off. It was a good thing that I did since my cold continued to get worse.

My NT test was good and I had another ultrasound last week too. The doctor mentioned that she would be able to tell us the gender of our babies at our next ultrasound on Friday, November 1. That will definitely be exciting!  I'm still feeling nauseous, but I'm not sure if it's from the pregnancy or from me being sick...

 

Crappy Week

This whole week has been horrible.  I've waking up nauseous and feeling excessively tired... I'm wondering if I'm going through a growth spurt?  My tummy is still 36" wide, but my belly feels heavy. We met with our potential home builder today and signed up for Direct Buy yesterday.  There's so much going on.  I feel like things are such a blur. 

I can't wait until things slow down and return to a semi-normal pace. 

I hate this weird taste that is in my mouth.  I've been chewing a LOT of gum.  I rarely chewed gum before being pregnant. Now I have at least 2 -3 a day.  Hallelujah!  I no longer have to take any more extra meds... just my multi-vitamin and Iron supplements, plus Diclectin.

I'm really hoping all this nausea will go away soon.  Not sure how much longer I can really take this...

11 weeks and 2 days

 I can't wait until all this nausea goes away.  I hate not being able to wear normal clothes.  I have a 36 inch waist now. One of my friends suggested I create a time lapse video of my belly. What a great idea! I did take photos last week but I forgot to include the tape measure... now that I look back at the photos, I don't know how "appropriate" they look since I do look like a whale... =)

I did feel like crap this morning and still went to work... but at least I will take a day to recover tomorrow. I'm going for another ultrasound and NT (Neck Thickness) test next Wednesday. I feel like time seems to pass slowly when you're pregnant... maybe it's because I have feeling so "slow" and crappy...

It was funny when I found out a male staff member asked another female teacher if they had noticed me putting on extra weight.  To which, the female said, "What? You know she's pregnant with twins, don't you?"

My first trimester will be up next Saturday, so I can officially announce to everyone about my pregnancy at the end of this week and I will get to stop all these extra meds... how awesome will that be!

Getting Bigger

Yikes!  I just noticed 2 days ago that my belly button is disappearing!  I have also gained at least 15 pounds. When I went to visit my GP on Friday, she mentioned that I have the belly of 16 week single pregnancy!  I was only 10 weeks when I saw her!

We are settling into our new temporary home. It's not as bad as we had first envisioned it being.  We cut back and have brought the bare bones of what we need.  I guess we really don't need much... =)
Still feeling nauseous and I can't wait until these symptoms go away...

So Far So Good

I had my 8 week ultra sound last Friday, August 23, 2013.  My doctor said everything was looking great... 2 very strong heartbeats and they were both growing at a healthy rate.

This week has been busy. We've been trying to box up as much as we can and are slowly moving things to various homes (a special thank you to our dear relatives who have given up valuable room in their homes for our stuff). I've been back to work, a few hours, a few days a week for the past 2 weeks.  I forgot how much stuff I had to sort through because of the new flooring and lack of time at the end of June.

In terms of health, I'm doing way better. I have my good days and my bad ones... thankfully more good than bad.  I hear this "yucky" feeling will go away after the 1st trimester... I am looking forward to this!  I will be going for another blood test in 2 weeks to check up on my iron levels and I should schedule for another ultrasound (around 11-12weeks).

An Aweful Night...

I woke up at 3:15 this morning. I decided to go downstairs for some Tylenol because I was feeling rather nauseous and crampy. By the time I swallowed the pills and headed back to bed, I was in agonizing pain.  I woke up my poor husband as I could not stand my pain and I could hardly breathe. He, of course, was freaked out.

I was so uncomfortable. I couldn't lie on the bed; I couldn't sit and I could barely stand up. At some point, I was even rolling on the floor!  Then within minutes, I was at the toilet hurling for 5 minutes.  I felt minimally better at that point.

My cramps calmed down after another 20 minutes while my dear hubby rubbed my back with VapoRub. By now it's 4:00am. Both of us are confused. I'm scared that I'm going to have a miscarriage... luckily we are scheduled for an ultrasound this afternoon.

I had my sister drive my to my ultrasound appointment since Wil was scared that I might get into an accident if I drove myself.  This time I made sure Wil was videotaping the ultrasound! We saw 2 heart beats! Yay! It's official! We have twins!  They are growing at a healthy rate, 6 weeks, 5 days old.  We scheduled another ultrasound for next Friday.

So, as aweful as this morning was, at least the babies are fine.

Crazy Beta HCG

I just had another Beta HCG done today. My level is crazy! 65000! This had me worried so I "googled" it.  Most people are reporting that this is about right for a twin pregnancy.

My first ultrasound is on Thursday.  I can't believe it's only been 4 weeks since conception. My belly is definitely not getting smaller and I am going to have to invest in some new bras over the next few days.  I haven't been able to wear underwire bras since last week and my pants are definitely tighter.  I'm just thinking that this is way too fast for me to be losing my figure! =)

This is a picture of a 4 week old embryo.

Beta HCG Levels & Drugs Galore

Since coming back (approx. 5 days), I have seen my GP twice. I was catching a cold and dealing with major nausea, cramping, whole body "achiness", insomnia... it was bad. I haven't been eating these last 2 days... absolutely no appetite.  My beta HCG for  Thursday, August 1 was over 4000! Crazy!  This a great sign for twins! I have an ultrasound scheduled with my local fertility doctor on August 15th. That's when we'll know for sure.

But my iron levels are super low.  This makes sense as to why I have no energy to do anything! So my GP is prescribing Iron supplements.

My drug/hormone/vitamin load is absolutely ridiculous right now.  I think I'll get full just eating these pills. Starting tomorrow I will be officially ingesting 13 pills a day! This is a combination of Estrogen, Various types of Progesterone, Iron, Preg Vit 5 and anti-nausea pills... thank God I am not officially working yet...

I believe I have actually recovered from the whole time zone change!  However, Wil is struggling with that...

Finally Home

After a very uncomfortable flight home, I'm just glad that I can sleep in my own bed. Unfortunately, I now have to really concentrate on packing up... hopefully we'll be able to find a desirable piece of land soon.  The one we had our eyes set on was sold while we were in Thailand. Oh well.

I believe that I will continue to blog until the end of this pregnancy. My crazy dog jumped on my belly during my nap yesterday afternoon because he heard a noise, so I was in pain for a few hours. So now Wil has insisted that I sleep with a pillow over me... 

It also looks more like we'll be moving in to live with my parents until we have a new home... this could potentially be a 1-2 year arrangement... ahhhh.

Fantastic News!

Thank you for your prayers!!!

I am officially pregnant!!!  Our Dr. mentioned normally he sees patients with a Beta HCG around 50. Mine is through the roof, but still normal (477.3). He says it is likely that we have twins, but we won't be certain until a future ultrasound.

Below is a picture of Dr. Wiwat and Tina, our international counselor/translator at our clinic.




  We spent most of the day with our friend in Thailand. We visited the Royal Palace and watched Wolverine! Then headed out for quite the dinner.



 

Please continue to pray for us as we return home on Wednesday.  To be perfectly honest with you, I still can't believe I am pregnant.  I know I have been cramping literally since the day after implantation and constantly thinking that my period is coming... I know I'm not out of the woods yet.

 

Once again, thank you for your many positive thoughts and prayers.  All I can say is "God is Good... God is especially good to me..."  This is a great 10th Wedding Anniversary gift for us thus far!

 

Last Day in Chiang Mai

Tomorrow is our last day in Chiang Mai. I'll be attending a Thai cooking class in the morning before we head to the airport for Bangkok.

I have over 20 mosquito bites (1 on both sides of my face from last night) from being in this city already... and this is with me carrying around mosquito repellent fan!!! I've been wearing my long sleeved jacked and capris here and the critters still get me through my clothing!!!

I'm still quite nervous about the pregnancy test I'll be taking this Sunday at the clinic. Please keep us in your prayers.  I created a video of our trip to date.

Please click on the link below:

 Video of our Trip

Chiang Mai - The Elephants and Tigers

What an amazing trip so far!!! We went on a "Night Safari" tour last night where Wilson pet giraffes and deer that stuck their heads inside the tram.

Today we visited the Tiger Kingdom and the Maesa Elephant Camp.  What a fantastic and unforgettable experience!



Us with a 2 year old Bengal tiger!



Here we are petting the tiger in their wading pool.



Here I am with a baby cub, 1.5 months old! So cute!

Here we are sitting on the 2nd largest elephant in the camp!

Wil getting "kissed" by a baby elephant

Can you believe that this elephant painted this picture!  We saw it right before our very eyes!

The most amazing thing is that the younger elephants (with high IQ) paint to raise funds for the camp.   Below is a painting that another elephant was painting while we watched.  It is selling for 6000 Bhat or $200!

 

This one below was also painted by another elephant and it is priced at  80 000 Bhat ($2,667).

 

Did you know that Elephant poop is collected and used to make paper!  Elephant poopoo paper! Aside from visiting these majestic creatures, I am doing OK. Wil is keeping me sane and I know that I have been gaining weight because I can't be very "active". We have 2 more days here in Chiang Mai before we head back to Bangkok. I'm missing home already. 

Phuket and the Internet

Sorry for not blogging the last few days.  I have not had access to "free wifi".  Our hotel in Phuket charges $5/hour or $10 a day!  We've had access to wifi for me to check e-mail at dinner, but that was about it.

I'm now writing from the "smaller" airport in Bangkok while we wait for our connecting flight from Phuket to Chiang Mai.

Here are some photos of what we did the last few days in Phuket.

Our hotel, Kata Beach Resort and Spa

Private access to Kata Beach from our hotel.  The waves were pretty rough... too rough to swim in, but perfect for surfing!

We watched a snake show and Wil decided to be a part of the show!

  We joined a tour to visit James Bond Island and some neighbouring caves.

 

 

It was during our tour that I realized how much Thailand depends on tourism... I actually began to feel awful realizing that I was destroying their natural ecosystem. There are shops, toilets, food and plastic where they don't belong!  There I am, preaching how we destroying our planet... and here I am participating with so many tourists creating an unsustainable condition and stress on the Thailand environment! 

I know on this trip I am more acutely aware of what the "local" standards are versus the "foreign" standards.  This is reminiscent from my previous mission trip to Cambodia two years ago... 

Back to my primary purpose for coming to Thailand, becoming pregnant.  To say that I have not been thinking about my belly would be false.  It has constantly been on my mind. I feel extremely bloated and fat. These drugs are definitely doing a number on me. I know that I have been praying to leave this to God and I am trying to, but it's difficult.  I keep freaking myself out, thinking that these embryos won't implant and my period will come. It's happened before...

5 more days before my blood test back at the IVF Clinic in Bangkok. Hopefully I won't see any blood until my blood test...



 

The Egg Transfer

Wow! To say I wasn't nervous would be a complete lie!
We have both been anxious for the last 2 days.  When we arrived at the clinic this morning, Tina shared with us the news of our 14 zygotes from Day 1. Of the 14, 7 ranged from very good to superior quality.

Under grading, AA - Superior/Excellent. The number in front corresponds to the stage of the blastocycst. Ideally 2 or 3 is best. So you can see that God truly blessed us with a 2AA and a 3AA egg. We had both of those transferred.  We were thinking about transferring the 1AA, but the doctor did not recommend that at all. He said that with these eggs, there is an 80% chance that we will be pregnant and 70% chance of us getting twins because of the high quality eggs. Even toying with the idea of having triplets was not safe for me or the babies...

So we will be freezing the remaining eggs in case we decide to come back.  This whole process has brought back so many memories. When we went through this process in Vancouver a few years ago, I only produced 4 eggs each time and only had 1 egg to transfer on Day 1. My transferred eggs were "B" quality eggs.  This is a such a game of chance... we started with 20 donor eggs, had 14 on Day 1 and 7 left on transfer day.  That's a 33% yield... no wonder I had no chance with my eggs...

Despite having 2 great eggs, there is still a chance this pregnancy won't happen.  The rest is dependent up on my uterus and the continued growth of these eggs. The next stage is for the blastocysts to attach to my uterus (implantation). This is supposed to happen within the next 1-5 days.

Doctors orders are to relax and not stress out until my pregnancy test Sunday, July 28, 8:30am. Until then, I continue my crazy drug regiment.

So as you can see, I nerves are racking up and those of you who know me well, my brain doesn't shut off very well and what I consider relaxing is not very relaxing... I always want to analyse things and read up on other people's blogs and medical journals. I did this with my last IVF cycles too.  So in my true "style", I looked up to see if my uterus lining was OK, even though Dr. W. said it was healthy looking and normal.

But I know everything is really out of my control. God has really blessed us with this opportunity to even try out this procedure and to be at the stage we are at now.

My hubby wants me to lie around like a beached whale... I love sight seeing, so this is hard thing for me to give up for being in this foreign country for the first time.  But our friend here in Thailand says, "Rose, you can always come back here!" and then my husband chirps in, "Remember our primary purpose here..."

So, lying on the beach is what will be happening...

By the way, Wil and I visited a few arowana fish stores at Chatuchak Market. This was clearly his highlight. He was like a kid in a candy store for the first time!

 I will be heading out the clinic for my last "butt" shot in a few hours and then we are flying out to Phuket this afternoon. Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

 

Just 2 More Days Until Embryo Transfer

 





The skytrain system (BTS) here is pretty amazing! It's very efficient and clean! I even had a chance to try out some Thailand McDonald's food: Pineapple pie, Corn pie and a Pepper Chicken breakfast sandwich.

We have spent a lot of time in the malls. I never really considered myself a mall rat, but these malls are pretty amazing and gigantic!  Wilson ended up going into the women's washroom since he didn't realize the mannequins represented the gender for the washrooms. He didn't know his mistake until he met a female in the sink area washing her hands! 

 

 

I went for my shot of Progesterone at the clinic today and am looking forward to Thursday for our embryo transfer. I've been planning out our trip to Phuket and Chiang Mai.



 

Floating Market and Egg Update

 

We're still having trouble adjusting to the time zone... oh well.  Today we went to the floating market for lunch and snacks. We also joined a tour to see some beautiful orchids and temples.

 

 

 

 

Arriving back at the hotel we found out that of our 20 donor eggs, 19 were mature eggs.  All 19 were fertilized and 14 of these formed zygotes (2 celled). We won't be given anymore growth updates until Thursday the 18th when we implant a few into my uterus.  This is to ensure the growth of the embryos is not disturbed. This is all great news!  Totally beyond what we had expected. God has definitely been blessing us with this information.

 

Now our thoughts turn to how many eggs we should implant back into me... 2 or 3.  Both of us agree that we can handle twins, but not triplets.  We also know that not all embryos implanted will  necessarily survive. But if they did, we are talking about an extremely high risk pregnancy.  We will have to discuss this further with the doctor before the embryo transfer. I'm also thinking that I really only want to be "pregnant" once... I really don't like the thought of not working, being physically "limited" and feeling bloated, cranky and like crap... but I am thankful that God has enabled us to experience the opportunity to get this far, so I'm not complaining.

 

I'll be heading to the clinic tomorrow for another "butt" injection of progesterone... not a happy thought for me...

Every Great and Perfect Thing Comes From God

We started this morning with our omlette, especially since my hubby is a creature of habit.

 

After our meal we headed to the clinic. It was while we were waiting for the doctor to check my uterus that I realized God intervened to saved Wil's life in Thailand over 30 years ago and I believe God's taking us back... full circle.  He performed a miracle back then. There are no coincidences in life, when we look back we can see God's careful planning. Wil fell off a 2 story building flying a kite, fracturing his skull which caused internal bleeding. He had to be operated on, or he would die. At that time, his family was living in a refugee camp in Thailand, so brain surgery wasn't really available.  But through only what can be explained by Devine intervention, a brain surgeon happened be vacationing in Thailand and heard about a young boy requiring brain surgery. This surgeon didn't just sit idle, he volunteered to perform the surgery.  After the surgery, the surgeon told Wil's parents that one of the following things would happen: become a vegetable or have some level of brain damage (major or minor).  But I sit here today, able to tell you that God saved him and he really has not suffered much in terms of brain damage... at least not that I am aware of.

 

The point of this story is that God revealed today that we have come back here to Thailand seeking  life... God saved Wil's last time and now we're praying that God will provide us with a life...it's a full circle... circle of life...

 

I had the opportunity to meet and thank our egg donor this morning.  I thought I had things under control until she stepped forward to take my hand. That's when I could help but tear up. I thanked her and hugged her telling her that she was God's blessing to us.  By the way, the embryologist was able to retrieve 20 eggs from her!  We were expecting 12... and we would have been very thankful for that in itself.

 

We will find out tomorrow the quality of the embryos and be able to implant a few eggs into me next Friday.  Meanwhile, I feel like a drug addict.  I'm taking 4 sets of pills 2 -3 times a day and going in for "butt" injections for Progesterone every 3 days for the next week... I really despise needles and I recall telling the nurse that I thought only babies get shots in their buttocks... I also noticed today that the combination of drugs makes me dizzy and light headed for 30-90 minutes afterwards...

 

My highlight today was visiting Asiatique, where we had dinner at a beautiful restaurant overlooking the Mekong River. We also managed to get half price tickets to see a Cabaret show where all the women performers were "lady boys"... not as entertaining as I had hoped it would be... It started off promising, but both Wilson and I were dozing off towards the end of the show. Thank goodness we only paid $20Cdn, instead of $40Cdn the foreigner price...

 

 

The WiFi at our hotel really sucks... I tried to have a FaceTime conversation with my sis and we would lose connection every 30 sec or 1 minute... our 10 minute conversation was taking over 30 min!

An Eventful 2 Days!

We officially sold our house yesterday... all subjects have been removed and we will technically be homeless in less than 2 months! But praise God that things have gone relatively smoothly thus far.

  Well let me start with the overwhelming types of food in the Bangkok mall. We were at Terminal 21.  There were so many choices that we were tired just looking at the options. Wilson just wanted food and when he's hungry, he's not very cheery... so we ate a trendy Thai place in the mall and I loved the paintings on the wall. I was originally planning to have this on the wallpaper of my laptop until I looked closely the details of these cute pics... She's naked! Not appropriate for my pre-teen class!

We have been enjoying street food for breakfast the last couple of days.  We have  had omelets and rice for $1 each and enjoyed fresh sliced fruit and an assortment fried meat and Chinese donuts all for less than $7 to feed the both of us!




Yesterday we visited the Jim Henderson museum. It's a beautiful home situated in the middle of the city, built by a Westerner who helped start up the Thailand silk industry. He mysteriously "disappeared" when he was in his 60's.



We met up with our friend in Thailand for dinner by the Lake. We felt bad since both Wil and I are still trying to adjust to the time zone change and were literally dozing off. In fact, it was difficult to get Wilson out of bed to go to dinner.

 

 

Today will be heading to our IVF clinic to meet our egg donor and fertilize the eggs!  This will be quite exciting. Please pray for us! We know to be prepared for whatever outcome God has in store for us...