Winter Cycle Friends 2009/2010 - Everyone Welcome!

[angelaezra]

Natasha – With this pregnancy, I probably had six or seven betas because my beta was rising very slowly in the beginning. They only requested probably four betas but I wanted the extra reassurance, so I asked for additional betas. So, try not worry too much, I am sure they are just keeping a good eye on you to make sure you are progressing well!

Stephanie – I like the name you both came up with for your son. I think it is wonderful that you were able to compromise regarding a name!

AFM – I hope everyone is having a great weekend! My DH told me something that made me feel just a little better. Sometimes he has visions that normally come true … He dreamed that we had a daughter who was alive and healthy. He actually dreamed this the last time I was pregnant but said her name wasn’t Ashley, which actually came to fruition because she didn’t make it. I wonder if he was seeing her sister. I know a lot of people don’t believe in visions but he has predicted several things that have come true. When he was nine years old he dreamed that his uncle would be murdered by a woman by being stabbed. On his 10th birthday his uncle was murdered by his girlfriend by a stab wound to the heart! It took him so very long to celebrate his birthday because of his loss. But, he has predicted other things as well. So I am holding on to his dream. It will be very surreal if a u/s proves this is another girl! So, I guess we will see!

Angela

[babyluv]

Steph I am loving the names! I can't wait to find out the sex of our other baby to start making those decisions. I still really like Juliet for a girl, and maybe Helen as a middle name (DH's mom's middle name...he lost her while he was in college). So Juliet Helen. Not sure about what to do if we have two girls. I like Violet also, but DH isn't crazy about it. I thought it would be fun because then all of our girls would have names ending in "T" (DD is Scarlett). But I can't do Violet if we just have one girl, because I can't name both daughters after colors!!

Angela - I actually DO believe that God gives us dreams and visions sometimes. I've woken up so many times with a particular person on my heart, only to find out later that they had something traumatic going on. Also, a good friend told me that she had a dream one night while we were both in our 2ww that she got an email saying, "It's positive!" and the positive was in pink. She thought it was for her, then thought wait, why would I send myself an email? So then thought it could be for me. I told her I would have rather it have been a text since that's how I would tell her! Well sure enough, I WAS pg, and I DID email her...I had totally forgotten about her dream. And it looks like there is at least one girl. So who knows, not everything can be taken at face value, but I do believe that dreams and visions do come true sometimes.

AFM - I just got the "When You're Expecting Twins, Triplets and Quads" book that my twin mommy friend recommended. It has things like what your diet should be, how much you should gain, WHEN you should gain it, etc. DH and I had looked up on the internet that I should gain 35-45 pounds with twins, which I thought was a little low. According to the book, twin moms need to gain 40-56 pounds, and since I was slightly underweight to begin with, I am supposed to gain about 52! Good thing I looked it up! I don't think it will really be a problem. I put on 10 pounds the first 15 weeks, but I have put on three pounds in just the last week! So I'll do what I need to if it will help keep my kids out of the NICU! There's only so much I can do, and diet is one thing I can control.

[Stephanieford78]

Babyluv - Oh my girl, that's how much weight we need to gain?? I was a little overweight when I got preggers and they told me to gain around 30. I have only gained 6 last I knew and when I was sick I lost 5 of those pounds. Not sure if I gained any back yet. I haven't gotten on the scale. I am almost 20 weeks... does it say anything about how much I should have gained by now if I were overweight? lol Maybe I should get the book? I think those names are great. I love the name Juliet. I love Shakespeare though and Romeo and Juliet is my fave, regardless of the cliche. I am glad Andrew agreed to change the boy name, I wasn't too sure about having all three kids have A names. lol All the kids ending in T though is cute and not that obvious like the Duggers and all their J names.

Angela - I absolutely believe your DH has a gift. I think we all are born with the ability to use those extra senses but because of other's influences, whether it be some religions or non believers, we lose it. I am sure each and every one of us has at some time thought of someone and then the phone rings or something along those lines. Your DH just held on to his gift and that is a gift. Maybe he can bond with the baby and get more feelings from your growing belly! I had a dream way before I got pregnant about twins. I assumed both were boys, but I only checked one diaper to see the gender... that one was a boy and the name was Ethan. So now that the names are in place, I feel things are as they should be. Both babies had hair so blonde it was almost white. lol I can't wait to see!

[babyluv]

Steph I would really recommend the book. It has a lot of great info in there. The authors are Dr. Barbara Luke and Tamara Eberlein. It does have a schedule of when to put the weight on, since moms of multiples don't get the full 40 weeks. Weight gain is dependent on your BMI, and it has an entire chart on that. Basically if you are less than 20 (I was a BMI of 18 to start with), then you need to gain 50-66 pounds! 20-24.9 needs to gain 40-56, BMI of 25-29.9 needs to gain 38-47, and above that is 31-36. Almost all of it needs to be put on before 28 weeks, because the amount you gain BEFORE then, affects the growth of the babies AFTER 28 weeks. Or so the book says My friend had her twins at 31.5 weeks after gaining only 25 pounds, but her daughter's placenta was also only working at 10% capacity, so there were other circumstances involved. She did not follow the book, but says that most twin moms she knows who DID ended up with full size babies and no NICU time. Obviously there are other things that can lead to preemies (size of uterus, cervix, etc), but diet is one area we can control.

It also has a great chart of how much, and what, to eat (protein, carbs, etc), with a bunch of recipes.

So yea, if you fall in category #2 with the BMI, then it's saying you need to have put on 20-30 pounds by this point! CRAZY!! I wouldn't worry though... Just do everything you can to make it up. It also says to eat every 2-3 hours, so don't wait to get hungry. And make every bite count (though I do like my cookies, so...).

I am almost 5'8" and started at 118 pounds. I don't consider myself underweight because that weight fits my frame...I don't think every woman can take every chart the same way. However, my body has adapted really well to this pregnancy, and so far I'm putting on the weight just fine...though according to the book about 8 pounds or more behind, so I'm stepping it up!

[Stephanieford78]

Babyluv - Wow, thanks for the info! Not sure how I can gain more weight unless I eat a bunch of junk. I am not hungry every 3 hours and I have no idea what to snack on that often or if I could afford to snack that often. lol I quit the junk and I think that is why I haven't gained much weight. I wanted to try and be more healthy for the pregnancy, plus I haven't craved much junk. Brownies once and cheesecake once. lol When I was cycling I gained 30 pounds in 6 months and I know that messed me up. Too bad I can't count that as pregnancy weight. I will have to call L&D and ask a nurse. I would call my OB office but I don't like his staff. I like him, just not the advice I get if I am lucky to get it from his nurses.

I am short, only 5 ft and pretty sure that I won't make it to 40 weeks, there wasn't much room when I had one baby in there. I just met a twin mom who said they took her twins at 38 weeks because they told her after that the risk of stillborn for twins rise. I never heard that. She is a big girl though, not sure if that is from twins or if she was that big before. Of course I couldn't ask. I just hope to make it to a safe place for them!

[malya324]

love ya all but I have to unsubscribe to this thread, its just too painfull. I hope to be back at some point just not this year. I wish everyone the best and I can be reached on Facebook malya.donoff. Thanks for all the support and I wish you all easy pregnancies and labor!

Love Malya

[lycase]

Steph - cute baby names congrats. I know that this time my dh will want to pick cause I picked the last one so??

angela - wow it is amazing the gift your dh has and yes I do believe in those types of predictions so hold on to it girl... you are doing great.

babyluv - glad you got a book and yes 35-45 is for a SINGLE pregnancy not a twin one. I gained 5 lbs in the first 15 weeks so hopefully I won't get too large but we can worry about that after I think you are doing great and i would not worry your body and babies will let you know if you don't eat enough.

Bye Malya - I will talk to you on facebook and in the mean time take care... love you too. Hugs.

AFM - well dh's son doesn't want to move and that's what I expected since the park is such a great place for him too. So I guess the place I got is not that bad after all. so I told dh that his son has to pick up his crap and clean the area all his stuff is in so I can finish setting up the basement. Dh now thinks, because his son is not going, that the place he got is too much. So oh well but it's ok for now we will see in a month or so if other news come in and how plans fall.

only 3 more weeks of work I hope they don't renew me but I feel they will (they have a money issue) and that is for the whole team of 10 or so. We are all finished at the same time cause the budget is not enough... would be nice to have days off and scrapbook again.

We had a crop this weekend (a scrapbooking day with the girls at a community center) and it was great I worked on my grand-mother's pictures and I am so glad they are finally safe in my album.

Dh really wants to know what the gender of this baby is so we can start planning but the OB won't let us have another u/s... it's illegal here so dh said to go in another province to do it... I will try and book one today. Do you girls know if at 16 weeks we can get a pretty good idea?

thanks.

Hugs

Helene

[claud662]

Hi Ladies,

Hope you all had a nice weekend!!!

Angela-I totally believe in dreams like and intuitions!!! I have had some crazy dreams in my past that have come true (including me saying goodbye to loved ones before they passed on). I am happy that DH had such a vivid one and I can't wait to see if you are having a little girl or not!!! How are you feeling now that you started to ween off the Zanax?

Natasha-I also had a bunch of beta's in the beginning because like Angela my numbers were slow to rise and then I had bleeding/spotting around week 5 and week 6 so they did a bunch of b/w to make sure my numbers looked good! You could go to lilypie.com to make a ticker which is fun to watch go by week by week!

babyluv-So glad to hear that you are right on track with your diet (even if you are a few pounds behind). I am jealous of your height!! I am about 5'5" and always wished I was taller!!! When do you find out the other gender of your baby?

Steph-That is great that Andrew agreed to Ethan and Andrew for a middle name!! It's a great name and I love both of the names you choose! Hope you are feeling better after your bought with seminella!!

Helene-Yes, they can tell the gender by week 16 so good luck getting those results!!! Are you going to keep the baby no matter what or are you still contemplating giving the baby to a friend if it is a boy?

Katie-how are your ankles hon? Take it easy with your chores!!

Hazel-hope to hear good news about your pops soon!

AFM...I have some fun news...I felt the baby last Friday and Saturday!!! It was only for a few seconds and it felt like butterflies by my pelvic bone!! It was so exciting and I can't wait to feel them again!!! I went in this morning for bloodwork (my bloodwork that I did in March 09 was outdated) so they needed a fresh test and I had to give 7 viles of blood!!! YUCK!!! Not much more to report...been having some stretching ligament pains that I try not to overanalyze and just excited for my two apts at the end of the month!!!

[lycase]

Claud - me too I think I had some stretching ligament pains specially if I touch it or try to see where it comes from.

And no luck with U/S even if we pay noone will do it... we were so looking forward to it. And yes it is still the same so far if it's a boy I would like my friend to have it but that also means she would have to take the following one(s) cause I don't want to seperate them. Even if the other (if any) is a girl. These are true sibling and I don't want to see them living seperately. So I have been looking at an Donor Egg Cycle again for me for next year if this is the result... At least baby would know her/his daddy and I would do PDG (Predicted Gender) so I would make sure if it works to put the girls in first and then the second one would be whatever comes as a sibling.

I havent been in touch with her lately though so not sure how her adoption process is going if at all. I know she was going to try anything possible to have a baby So we are just waiting for the anatomy scan for that. It is schedule for July 7th so I guess another 4 weeks is not that much of a killer... but if I could go and pay somewhere I would do it this week. I am at 16 weeks now so I know it's possible to see it. I wonder who is hiding in there but I really have the guts feeling it's a boy but I also redid the needle and tread trick and it's a boy all the time... just my luck. But I know she will be happy if she is still in the looks

Helene

[Stephanieford78]

Helene - When did you change your mind about not keeping the rest of the babies that come from these DE's?? What you are doing is already unorthodox, but now you are being very controversial. Not sure how things work up in CA, but in the US unless you are a true surrogate, no doctor would agree to your transfer or let you adopt embies knowing these conditions. I am completely lost by your logic now. I could ignore it, but I wouldn't be me if I did. So many losses, so much pain and heartache in the past in this board and you are talking about keeping giving away babies and buying more embies. It's just a little mind boggling is all. Maybe I am just hormonal and sensitive to everyone else's tragedies?

Claudia - I think the salmonella finally broke the last two days or so. I am back to being constipated. lol That is awesome that you felt the baby move! It doesn't happen as much as we hope when it starts but it is enough to put a big smile on our faces. Have you thought of names??

Malya - Sorry to see you go. I hope that you will be ok in whatever journey lies ahead of you. You have a wonderful husband who loves you so dearly and with him, we are all happy that you are here to continue your journey with him. Whatever happens, you have touched us all.

Katie - Where are you at baby mama? You must be busy lately with chores, errands and being baby blah huh? You don't seem to post as much as you use to. I hope you didn't hurt yourself doing that deck!! Take it easy!! Have you felt baby move more? If not, she should be beating you up here soon. lol I like the name Caitlyn... seems to fit well. Has Chris gotten Samantha out of his noggin yet?

Hazel - How is pops doing? I know you are probably not going to be able to keep up or even see these posts till you get home, but you and your family are in my thoughts.

Gi - How are you doing over there in one of my favorite countries? Is baby moving?

Sara - Hope your twins are behaving and you are enjoying your summer!

Has anyone heard from Ktelise?? She hasn't been on the thread much and I sent her a pm but nothing yet. I hope she is ok!

[lycase]

sorry I offended you Steph, you are right in a lot of ways. lets hope it's a girl and I don't have to go that route but I adopted these embryos for my friend and I and I don't want them to be seperated. That's all. It's just fair to them. Why do you say I am adopting more embies I am not adopting more embies. I had mentionned as soon as I got in that I might be a surrogate for a friend... nothing has changed that was already set before... I only changed my mind on keeping the babies together if there is another one in the remainers... I think that's only fair to them... I could be selfish and just seperate them but I am trying to think of them.

Let me know if you want me to leave the tread and if it offends others.

Helene

[karenthescorpio]

Hi everyone. Boy I didn't realize how long I've been MIA. My mom has been in town and keeping me occupied. She left today and I must say I'm kind of enjoying the solitude alittle. I'm not on official bedrest anymore. Just "limited activity"...but I still rest alot b/c I feel it can't hurt. Last Thursday I had my follow-up appt with my doc after having my cerclage put in. It was a great visit...my cervix actually lengthened 1.1cm and the funneling is gone!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was just hoping for "no change"...which would have been fine. I thank God everyday for these babies and my health. I hope everyone is doing well and happily counting the weeks like me!
xo
Karen

[Stephanieford78]

Helene - You didn't offend me... Like I said I don't get the logic when you said what you did last about the embies. When you said you were looking at another DE I thought you meant adopting more embies since you said you would be doing gender testing on those. Since you said that you would be giving your friend all the babies from this donor, it seemed as though you were adopting more and gender testing those. The way I understood it was you did adopt them for you and her. So if it's a boy it goes to her, if it's a girl it goes to you. I also remember at the beginning you were talking about how to tell the babies about the brother or sister and you felt comfortable then with her having one and you having another. As far as doing what is best for the babies by keeping them together, that does hit a nerve a bit because it implies that by me giving up my left over embies that I am not doing what is best for them. Though I know I am because I am more then confident that the couple who gets them will be the best parents to them. Even though they will be Andrew and my biological children, biology doesn't make you a parent or a sibling or anything else. My DD has a biological dad but everything that makes her her, the little quirks and mannerisms, that comes from Andrew raising her. She gets nothing but blood from her bio dad. Plus, she will be a true sister to these twins even though she will be missing half of the biological bloodline. I know keeping my embies and having upto 5 more kids would be irresponsible of me. If I misundertood what you said it is only because of your wording and I apologize, but I am still confused. If you aren't adopting more embies and you aren't keeping any of these babies that come from this donor, then what embies are you gender testing and what baby(ies) are you keeping? I am sorry if I offended you, but leaving the thread is not necissary.

[lycase]

Sorry yes DE (Donor Egg) are the same letters as DE (Donor Embryos) so sorry for the confusion.

Remember when I asked what do I do if I have to split them and what do we tell them I was already lost in seperating them NOT because if you have left over you should not give them, not at all some have like 20 embies left, noone can have all those babies. I mean the reason I don't want to seperate them is that they are anonymous donation. Meaning they will NOT know their bio parents, ever. So at least if they are together they will be able to discuss their feelings together. You know when you are a teen and start to rebell about one thing or another well Donor Embryo might be a subject one day and if he/she have each other then they can understand better. I am really trying to be unselfish here and not the other way around.

BTW the clinic already knows they were for me and my friend and only required that she signs the adoption papers also. they also know that she may not be able to carry and I have to carry them for her. Only because I though 12 would be like 4 children we decided it would be great to adopt them and at least they would know each other... but if there are only 2 in 12 then I think they should stay together... just my thoughs...

And the ones I would be gender testing would be MY embryos. I mean my dh and a Donor Egg from the clinic. So the child would know her bio dad at least and have all the info on bio mom. It's just so much money that's why I didn't go that route and also afraid it will fail again...

If you had lets say 12 embryos left ... would you split them between different couples anonymously? See that's what bothered me from the left over from this couples left over embryos. If I only took 4 like they normally give they would have split the other 8 between 2 other couples and that is what was breaking my heart just because it was anonymous donation. I though if at least they are together how awesome would it be for them. Hey this little on might be the only one that is going to be born who knows?? But at least this little baby would know that his other siblings are with the parents and he was the only one left and hopefully be happy to live...

I think this will opset others just let me know and I can just leave I hate hurting people... not my goal at all. Only looking for suggestions and ideas and support...

Helene

[Stephanieford78]

Helene - Oh honey, I could go on and on with questions because although I see your reasoning, I still don't understand it. lol Like.. it's ok to split them up if 4 came out of the 12 but not 2? What is the difference in splitting up 20 or 2? How much are the kids going to know? I am sure they won't know the great lengths to not have a boy and how would a boy feel if he knew that you gave him away because of his gender? How would your boys feel knowing you want another baby but not one of them? When you look at things from all angles, you might see things a little differently. You are doing a generous thing for your friend, you really are! That is an amazing gift. You must have a reason why you feel your family is not complete with 7 kids and why you feel you need another girl to complete it no matter the costs. That is your decision and I am sorry again if I am hurting your feelings by asking questions and letting you know I just don't get it. I see so many losses and heartbreak in this thread alone of people who just want one healthy baby, just one no matter the gender. So with the tragedies we have all had to read and all being scared it could happen to us, there is your story. In my opinion, you are very lucky to have all you have. I am sure you have your good days and your bad days with your children, but you have them and you are quite blessed. In your mind, you have a goal that you have to reach and more power to you. It is unique, but it is your way of getting what you want. You don't have to leave, that was never my intention. I am sorry if I caused any drama or made anyone uncomfortable including you Helene. Maybe I should have PMed you instead or not have said anything at all. Really, what you do is none of m business and sorry that I pried.