Our First Trimester Screening!

Yesterday was our first trimester screening ultrasound! Everything was great - babies are growing beautifully at 12w2d measuring 13w0d (heartrate 160) and 12w6d (heartrate 151). The u/s tech and the peri did separate scans and both think we have 2 girls baking! Chad seemed momentarily overwhelmed at the thought of all that estrogen (and there was mention of hair removal from drains)! :D I cannot wait to get a verification on the genders at subsequent ultrasounds since this one still seems so early to me for them to know for sure - if they really are both girls I will be 4 surrobabies for 4, all girls!! I had thought I'd read something somewhere about more girls being born via IVF then boys, but I just did a quick search and had it backwards - apparently more BOYS are born than girls... so apparently I have a picky uterus??! 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1316079/IVF-skews-ratio-boys-girls.html

Certain types of IVF treatment may increase the odds of having a boy, research revealed yesterday.


Some methods tip the gender balance to as many as 128 boys being born for every 100 girls. The balance for natural births is 105 boys to 100 girls.

The discovery was made by Australian researchers, who believe that the IVF process may be affecting the sex ratio.

Although the reasons remain unclear, the researchers suggested it could be because male embryos may in some way be better equipped to survive the process.


They warned more research is needed to ensure a serious imbalance of male to female children does not develop as IVF becomes increasingly common....

Compared with natural conception, ICSI produced a lower ratio of male babies (50 per cent) and standard IVF a higher ratio (53 percent).


The stage at which the embryo was transferred had even more effect, with 49.9 percent male births from embryos transferred after two days, compared with 54.1 percent at five days.

I liked the peri, she was very friendly and to the point but gave lots of opportunities for Q&A too. She highly recommended I speak with a nutritionist and follow the diet given by her to help with good birth weights and reducing risk of other potential multiple pregnancy complications. I am considering it and do think it's a good idea especially considering my gastric bypass and might look into it more if it appears I'm having issues gaining weight or eating a balanced diet for the babies (I was informed the peri recommends 100 grams of protein a day and their weight gain goal is 24 pounds by 24 weeks for a twin pregnancy). Jenn said it's up to me if I want to pursue meeting with her or not, but they know I'm fairly knowledgeable about diet and nutrition and have been doing my research since day one, but I'm certainly not against help if it looks like I need it either! :)

I've had a couple rough days, I think sort of feeling almost like I am grieving the "loss" of a normal pregnancy - I keep getting reminded of all the worst case scenario and scary things that can happen and that we're at higher risk for and I know we aren't guaranteed to have issues, but we do have to prepare for them too... I think I miss being a boring singleton pregnancy lady! At the same time I know how excited Jenn and Chad are for these two precious babies and and how very blessed I am to be able to carry these two for them and of course whatever happens it will be WELL worth it! I think I'm just trying to balance preparing for the worst and hoping for the best and have to find a happy place in there. I know in my head and have been reminded that there are plenty of women who have totally normal uneventful twin pregnancies, and there's no reason we can't or won't be one of those. There are some things I can do to help give this pregnancy the best chance at staying healthy and full-term and I just need to focus on what I can do and not what is out of my hands or far off in the future! :) So here's hoping and praying for at least 24 more weeks of growing for Jenn and Chad's twincesses!

I have to say too, I was reminded yet again after our appointment and going home and feeling a little overwhelmed and stressed out how thankful I am for the support I do have - between SMO and the other surro's there, my wonderful hubby even if he is so far away, and of course Jenn and Chad - I was fully able to have a little mini meltdown, be worried but express myself and be supported and then able to shake it off and feel better and get back to feeling "myself"! Communication is so, so important and I am so thankful that Jenn and Chad allow me to feel what I'm feeling and that we can talk through things and figure it out as we go together. That means a lot to me! :) Overall I tend to think of myself as a pretty positive person and I feel guilty when I have sad or negative feelings, but I have learned it's just so much healthier to get them out in the open and work through them so I can get back to feeling positive and I think that's what yesterday was for me and I'm just thankful for all the pretty amazing people I am connected to through this journey who are there for those (hopefully few and far between!) down moments as well as for all the ups!! :)

Here are the two chadifer(ina?)s!!

Kent and I are going to have a mini get away this weekend and head to Southern Cross Guest Ranch for a night and I cannot TELL you how EXCITED I am!! The food they serve there is amazing, not to mention the 24/7 desserts and lemonade, the pool, the rolling pastures to meander with the beautiful horses to pet and watch, the game room, huge video library... I can't wait to take my amazing new camera and get tons of fantastic pictures, stuff myself with yummy food, and spend some good, quality relaxing one on one time with my kiddo. I think it will be really good for us both and can't wait to surprise him this evening with the news!!! :)