Weeks 10 & 11

Weeks 10 and 11 seem to have flown by! I am amazed each day at how much the babies are growing and developing. I think I must check at least 4 different “week-by-week” websites a day to see what is happening inside my womb. It is a mystery to me because I can’t see into there and I can’t yet feel any movement; yet they make their presence known to my bladder and my esophagus!  

          Symptomatically, there have been some changes. My nausea seems to be getting better, usually only rearing its ugly head after dinner time and throughout the night. However, a new friend called acid reflux and his cousin indigestion have taken up permanent residence in my torso. I think that I expected those two things to feel exactly like the commercials say, so I didn’t recognize them for what they were. That is, until I started getting acid soaked bits of stuff coming up my throat! Yuck! TMI, I know.

          I am now chewing antacids and taking zantac 75mg twice daily, but neither seems to help. The sad thing is that acid reflux and indigestion are often diet induced by such things as acidic foods, carbonated drinks, fatty and fried food, sugars….blah blah blah. Of course, all of those things are in my top 10 favorite food types!  I have been reading this warning about these types of foods my whole pregnancy and I just thought yeah yeah, I’m hungry! And I didn’t give it much credit, however, last night we had Five Guys burgers (my fave!) and my meal contained fatty foods, fried foods, acid foods, carbonated drink, and sugar! Needless to say, I was miserable all night and today isn’t looking so great either! I learned my lesson; I guess those doctors know what they are talking about after all. Hmmmmm….So today, I am attempting to avoid all of those things (except sugar, I mean come one, I have to live a little!)  

          I am still getting almost daily headaches and I have noticed some slight facial breakouts (thankfully no backne yet “back acne”). My belly seems to be growing more and more; I have officially moved into maternity shorts! And I think I have almost gained 4 pounds. The mood swings and irritability are still in full affect, just ask my husband. I am also still waking up between 3 and 5 AM starving! I now keep crackers, dried apples and almonds by my bedside. It helps.

          Last week I began taking melatonin at night because I couldn’t seem to sleep through the night. Like most things this pregnancy, it was helpful for a few nights, but now its effectiveness has worn off. I can sleep for about 2 hours, but after that I am physically SUPER uncomfortable and I wake up at least once every hour. Then I have to pee, then I am hungry…vicious cycle. I have tried a new pillow, sleeping propped up, melatonin, and even crawling down to sleep at the foot of the bed; all to no avail. Oh yeah, did I mention how HOT I am at night?

          So in my last post I believe that I mentioned I was instructed to taper down my progesterone injections to ¾ of a CC. That made the injection time quicker, but my hip/upper buttocks area are a mess now. They are nothing but bruises, lumps, and swelling. And they are so painful! I was told that in one week I could get my blood drawn and if the numbers were good I could stop the shots all together. That was great news. I somehow made it through to this past Monday and I went and got my blood drawn. The nurse told me she didn’t know how long hormone results would take to get back. Thus, I waited patiently until Wednesday to call my doctor when I had not heard from them.

          The doctor’s office said they received a lab report for me but it said that no tests were done because there was no blood given or it was insufficient. What?! I know I saw her take a full vial from me. So then I called the lab and the lady said normally the testing lab calls her if there is a problem, yet no one called her and no one called me. (What a mess). So she called the main lab, and as it turns out, she put the wrong test codes on my vial! They had the blood the whole time, but the wrong test codes, and never called her to get the right ones! Then they wouldn’t take her word for it, they insisted my doctor call them, so I just had to wait and continue these painful shots while they figured this all out. The lab lady said she would call me….nope, she never did. Thankfully, only 2 shots later, my doctor’s office called me on Thursday and said I could stop the progesterone shots and the estrogen pills!  Zippidy do da, zippidy day!! I was so excited I wanted to do a cartwheel! (I know I shouldn’t, so I didn’t, but man did I want to!).

          However, I have to go back in one week and get these hormones tested again to make sure my body is producing enough on its own. Last check my progesterone was 58.1 and my estradiol was 1823! The nurse did warn me that my natural levels would be lower, and to not freak out about it. She said that as long as my progesterone level is at 20 or more we are good. I am so thankful to be done with those shots, but honestly, I think I would have continued them the entire 9 months for the safety of our twins.

          Next milestone: Thursday the 26^th I go in for my 12 week 5day ultrasound; can’t wait to hear the heartbeat! The doctor said that we could go somewhere else in the building for a more in depth ultrasound. I am thinking about doing this next week, but maybe I should wait until week 16, when I would have a better chance of sneaking a peek at genders. What do you all think?