Taking a relaxing bubble bath in beautiful Huahine (one of the Tahitian Islands-during our honeymoon).


Yesterday, we reached a couple of important milestones!

First, my doctor finally took me off the additional progesterone I was taking to help support my pregnancy. The twins are doing great and as a result I am making plenty of progesterone on my own now.

But what this all really means is that I can finally take a bubble bath again! It has been so long!! Baths are for me a place to de-stress, re-new, and become centered. I have really really missed this. Last night with a magazine in hand I took a nice, long, warm bubble bath-it was pure heaven!

I love Bath & Body Works! (Thanks, Paul!)



The second milestone is a bittersweet one. My reproductive endocrinologist released me to the care of my obstetrician. Working with my r.e. has been a wonderful experience and he really became an intricate part of our lives during the infertility treatment & ivf cycle. I will definitely miss him!

He told me "promise me after you give birth, you will bring those babies in for me to see". I am looking forward to being able to do that. We owe him so much for helping to make our dream into a reality!

I do have to admit it was quite strange to hear the "after you give birth" part. Sometimes I still feel sooooo surprised that this is actually really happening to me. Geez... I am going to be giving birth! Holy smokes what I have gotten myself into now? ; )


~A special postscript: Happy Birthday Tiffany!!
I am thinking of you! *hug*

Week 10!
Thursdays mark the beginning of a new pregnancy week for me. I will be writing a little developmental update of the little ones so you can follow along with our progress. = )

The little baby D's are now fetuses, having left the embryonic phase of development.

They measure from 1 1/4 to 1 2/3 inches in crown to rump length.

They each weigh about the same as a large strawberry.

Twenty tooth buds are forming in each of their mouths.

Fingers and toes are separated and easy to make out on ultrasound.

Most of their joints are formed.

All of the vital organs have been formed and are starting to work together.

If we are having a boy, his testes will begin producing the male hormone testosterone this week.

Brain growth will increase rapidly this week - almost 250,000 new neurons are being produced every minute!

Yo Ho Yo Ho
It's a Pirates Life for Me!

This Thanksgiving one really great thing we were thankful for was...

First there was us. Two crazy people in love and ready to share our lives not just together, but eventually with a little one:



We tried to conceive for quite a while, but with no success. =(

So, we went to an obstetrician who specialized in infertility who then after a few months referred us to another professional, a reproductive endocrinologist:



After finally finding the cause of our infertility and then following a surgery in March we were ready to begin the in vitro fertilization process!!

But first we needed a WHOLE lot of these:



With our account settled (thanks in a huge part to the in-laws!) we were ready to begin the protocol *cue up 2001 theme music here*

Onto the drugs... bring on the shots!



Whoa! Hold on one minute...Is that a maniacal grin on the face of my shot giver??



Many many many shots later...



I had plenty of oocytes ready for retrieval:




in fact WAY too many. The promising ones were getting crowded out and beginning to slow in development. It was time for the retrieval!

Off to the famous...



We go...
Well right next to Rodeo drive anyway!

Now all we needed was some lil swimmers:



After Dirk made an *eh hem* deposit at the assisted reproductive technologies center all was set for nature errr... science to work with the help of an embryologist, a very good microscope:



A petri dish and a test tube!





Later we got the news that we were the proud parents of five embryos!

Sadly, they couldn't be transferred just yet due to being hyperstimulated from all those hormones coursing through me.

Suspended animation- it's not just science fiction! Just a few cells big our new little embryos were cryogenically preserved until I was healthy enough to proceed with the transfer.

They weren't stored in a refrigerator/freezer like this:



A cryopreservation tank, like this one, was their home from July 12 until October 8th:



In September I began preparation to have the transfer and on October 9th it happened. Ok perhaps it's not as romantic as the traditional method of conception, but you gotta take what you can get!



The dreaded two week wait began with two full days of strict bed rest. I did get breakfast in bed, however. Oh wait I got breakfast, lunch, and dinner in bed. ; )

During the transfer my doctor said I could come in a couple days early to find out the results if I wanted and he wouldn't tell anyone. Well of course I want to come in sooner!

On October 21 (12 days post transfer) we received a positive result from a home pregnancy test and an official confirmation from our doctor... We are expecting!!



On October 31, we had our first ultrasound and found TWO gestational sacs! We were still unsure if we were actually expecting twins because it was still very early.

On November 14 we saw two growing embryos and two strong heartbeats. The doctor was surprised and optimistic!

At our most recent ultrasound, the day before Thanksgiving, we saw one of our little ones moving around (which was really neat, but also strange to see). Both are growing like weeds and have strong little hummingbird heartbeats. With two in there I am really starting to show, which was initially hard for me, but I am beginning to adjust. It is all definitely worth it!

Although we are still in the first trimester, the doctor feels very good about my pregnancy and has put our risk of miscarriage at only 5 percent now. Only two and a half more weeks to go to the second trimester and I can't wait!!