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Laura's Pregnancy Journal
© Laura Lee Grant Sateriale, Laura@WavGirl.Com.
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Laura |
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It's been a long 18 months of waiting and painful complications, but I am finally pregnant again!
After about 5 months of infertility testing and treatment, and three failed IUIs, I decided I needed a break
before we continued. The first month, I took Clomid, but didn't keep track of my cycle at all. Two days ago,
I took a HPT, even thought I figured there was no way I was PG. To my surprise, the test was positive! I waited for
Micah to come out of work and handed him the test. He is so excited! I took two more tests, which came out very dark (the test line
showed up quicker and darker than the control line!) First thing in the morning, I called the OB who handled my ectopic PG and went in for blood work.
My first quant. came back at 187, which looks great! My progesterone level (which I requested to have tested) results came back today. It is 61.4, which
the nurse says is excellent! The tell-all will be the rest of my blood work and my first U/S, but so far this pregnancy is completely
different from the other two and looks very promising! My HCG levels should be doubling every two days, and I will find that out when I have my second beta
on Monday. They will then keep checking it every two days to make sure it goes up as it should, then I will have my first U/S when I hit 13,000 mIU.
Our families seem a little cautious to be excited because of our past experiences, but they agree that everything is very different this time and that it looks great.
I am so glad we were able to conceive on our own, as I was convinced we'd be in for IVF early next year. This is the best news I've ever had! We hope things continue
on the right path, and that in June, we will be holding our son or daughter! My EDD should be around June 4, 2004.
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Laura |
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My first U/S was today. I was very nervous, of course, but my blood tests from the past two weeks have looked great.
They tried an over-the-belly U/S first, and immediately an image showed up. The technician quickly told me "Looks like
there might be two sacs in here!" I then had an internal U/S which showed two definitive sacs. Micah came in the room at that
time and was incredibly excited. She was able to confirm that I have "two intrauterine pregnancies". "Baby A" measures at 6 weeks 0 days,
and "Baby B" measures at 5 weeks 6 days, both of which are correct and almost perfectly match what I predicted. They both have a heart rate
of 113 beats per minute (BPM), which seems a bit low, but the nurse said that was because since it's still very early their hearts probably just started
beating in the past couple of days. I also have a small (2 mm) cyst on my right ovary, but they told me it's normal (especially because I was taking Clomid)
and that it should dissolve on its own. I'm going back for an appointment on November 4th. We can't wait!
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Laura |
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Where has the time gone? I can't believe I'm already almost halfway there. We're going into week 17,
and the physical changes are overwhelming. I'm finally showing to a point where others can tell, although so far,
I've only gained 3 pounds in the course of the entire pregnancy! My doctor has ordered me to eat whatever
I want for the holidays! I've been keeping up with my walking routine; 2.5 miles in 40 minutes, 5 days a week.
The morning sickness was absolutely horrible from week 6, but it got easier around week 13 and now it's bearable.
I still get nauseated easily and hate the thought of certain foods, but I expected that. My appetite is finally
starting to pick up.
We had the 4-D ultrasound a couple of weeks ago, and it was amazing. Both babies were jumping around like crazy.
We were able to see even little details like their
ears and fingers. Our next ultrasound will be on December 29th.
I'll be back soon with more updates!
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Laura |
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It's been a pretty smooth ride so far, and I am feeling well considering that I am
carrying two two-pound babies around! Shortly after my last post, we found out that
we are having two girls, which has been confirmed in our last few ultrasounds.
This week, I am finally in the third trimester! I read in many different places that
most twins are born between 34 and 36 weeks, which means that our babies will likely
arrive before the second week of May. Although I feel incredibly uncomfortable, two
months does not sound too bad to me!
Carrying twins is pretty strange. Both babies are incredibly active, which every ultrasound technician,
nurse, midwife and doctor I've seen since 10 weeks of pregnancy has noticed.
One nurse told me I was going to have my hands full with Mia (baby A). She is definitely the dominant twin!
I can tell when both of them are going through a growth spurt - They become more quiet for a day and
seem to sleep more, although that's pretty rare!
My belly has grown a lot in the past 3 or 4 weeks. A little over a month ago, people told me
I didn't even look pregnant, and now, they probably think I'm already due! My belly button is slowly
starting to protrude. I am still walking 5 days a week (2.5 miles a day) and haven't needed to slow down much. According
to my doctors, I have gained a total of 18 pounds, so I am thinking (and hoping) that most of the weight
is in my abdomen and that I won't have too much trouble going back to my normal weight after the girls
are born.
I have been to the hospital twice with some pressure pains, but showed no signs of real labor and was sent home after
some monitoring with little concern. In fact, my doctors tell me there is very little risk for pre-term labor, and I received
a negative result on a lab test that checks to see if I am prone to it. That eases my mind a little, but I know we still
need to be prepared for the girls to spend a little time in the special care nursery. This is more common with twins,
though the chance of any complications lessens with each week that passes.
The baby shower is less than a month away, and I'm very excited about it. My sister has taken over the planning, and I am
beginning to sit back and enjoy the wait.
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Laura |
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I am pleased to announce that Mia Elizabeth Sateriale and Molly Eileen Sateriale arrived safely into the world on Monday, May 3, 2004!
Here is the story of their birth.
It was a long weekend. I was swollen beyond belief, basically from the waist down. I also felt really run down and had some dizzy spells.
I lay around a lot and drank gallons of water (literally), but the swelling just wouldn't go down. On Sunday, my sister convinced me to call
and get checked out because it made her nervous about pre-eclampsia. I went into the hospital and was checked in around 4:00 for testing.
The babies sounded great. My blood work all came back OK and there was no protein in my urine. However, the midwife seemed to think
something wasn't right. She said they were going to send me home, but that I would most likely get induced sometime that week. Micah and I started
talking about what we were going to have for dinner, and got ready to leave while the midwife checked in with the doctor on call.
She came back a few minutes later and said "You're going to love this - I told the doctor the whole situation and we agreed we should induce you."
They were going to start out with gel on my cervix and a couple of different medications, but ended up going straight to the Pitocin, which I started
on around 5:00 PM. By 8:00 PM, I was 2 cm dilated, and they broke my water. That made the labor onset very quickly, and by 10:00 PM I was ready for my epidural.
I wimped out, maybe a bit earlier than most people, but the opportunity was there so I figured "why not?". I got myself so worked up with breathing too
much that I vomited all over the place, just in time for the anesthesiologist to arrive! Right after the epidural, they checked me again, and I was at 4 cm.
The epidural was GREAT. I felt better than ever - so relaxed and comfortable, which I hadn't felt in over a month because I was so big.
The process of getting it was nothing bad at all, in my opinion. I've had IVs and blood tests that were worse!
They were having trouble monitoring my contractions, and I didn't feel much going on. So when they went to check me again around 11:30 PM,
I figured I'd be about the same. Much to everyone's shock, I was already 9 cm!! So, at about 11:50 PM, they let me start pushing. I needed
to be wheeled into the OR for the end, but they had me do most of the pushing in my room instead of bringing me out there earlier.
Pushing took what felt like an eternity (almost 2 1/2 hours), and at 2:03 AM in the operating room, Mia was born. I ended up vomiting again right before I finished
pushing because I was so exhausted, and since I couldn't sit up, I was a mess. Ick!
I didn't get a chance to look at Mia because everything was so hectic. Almost immediately, they started trying to manually turn Molly,
which was very painful in spite of the epidural. The whole time, I was begging Micah and my mother (who was also there) to see if Mia looked OK.
They swore that she was stable, though I was afraid to believe them. A few minutes later, Molly pushed her foot down into the birth canal and broke
the water. At that point, they decided to give up on turning her.
Micah and my Mom were rushed out of the room, and everyone frantically started prepping me for an emergency C-section. I was terrified and
upset that Micah couldn't be there, and everyone was so busy that I was on my own. No one came up to me to hold my hand or tell me what was
going on and when. Molly was delivered at 2:30 AM, and they took her off for testing. Her cry was a bit fainter than Mia's, and they had a little trouble
with her breathing. The rest of the surgery took about a half hour, and they showed Molly to me for a split second before she was brought up to the
special care nursery.
I found out as I was leaving recovery that Mia weighed in at 5 lbs. 3 ozs., and 18 inches long. Molly was 5 lbs. 8 ozs., and 18 1/2 inches long.
Micah brought the camcorder over to me so I could see them. Around 4:30 AM, they finally decided to take me out of recovery, and we stopped at
the special care nursery on the way up to my room. I was pretty out of it and didn't see much, though!
The first thing I noticed was how much Mia looks like Micah. It's amazing! Molly also looks exactly like I did as a baby. I was amazed at how perfectly
healthy and strong they seemed. In fact, the only physical flaw I found was a "port wine stain" (birthmark) on Molly's forehead. It will probably be covered up
when her hair grows in, but if not, there are some options to have it removed if it bothers her at a later age.
Over the next few days, we got to see the girls a lot more. About 24 hours after surgery, I was up and about, without any tubes connected to me.
They let me shower, eat solid foods, and get up whenever I wanted, which felt like luxuries after being in bed for so long!
Both Molly and Mia were on feeding tubes, but neither needed any assistance with breathing. They also were under warmers for a few days.
I choose not to breastfeed, but have been using a pump. This has been working out very well so far.
I was set to go home on Friday, but since I was doing so well, the doctors let me get discharged from the hospital on Thursday. So, by the third day after
surgery, I was home and unpacked. I cleaned house, got caught up on the laundry, and finished notifying everyone online about the birth. Luckily, the hospital
was only about 5 minutes away, so we were able to stop by for their feedings and saw them whenever we wanted.
The head doctor at the special care nursery estimated that both girls would be coming home on Tuesday, at 8 days old. I was upset with the news, but
knew they were in good hands.
Mia came home on Wednesday, May 12, and Molly came home the following day.
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