Category Archives: Pregnancy

Baby Batman # 4

Posted in Pregnancy by

Our brood of little Batman’s is growing again! We are expecting our fourth baby at the beginning of December and are thrilled.


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I’ve always said I wanted four children and after the boys, just had a strong feeling that there was supposed to be one more in our family. Luke thankfully agreed and in January we decided to pursue getting pregnant.

Many of you already know our background, but in case others don’t, we conceived Lila easily, miscarried when she was 18 months old and then had unexplained secondary infertility. We tried for more than a year after my miscarriage with no luck and no real answers before pursuing fertility treatment, which led to conceiving twin boys, who are now three.

Since we had unexplained secondary infertility and no real medical reason why we couldn’t get pregnant, we decided to try on our own for awhile while also lining up next steps for treatment if it didn’t work. We met with our doctor in January and made plans to give it a go for six months on our own before getting help.

I started using the Ava bracelet to track my fertility closely. About three months into it, I went on a girls getaway to Mexico and kept joking with my friends that “maybe all I needed all along was a vacation!” The day after I got home, I tested without much anticipation and was shocked to see a very faint line.

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For my readers who have infertility, I wrote a separate post outlining what I was doing differently this time vs when we struggled. I don’t know if it contributed to our success, but I know I always wanted to know what changed for people.

Thankfully that line got darker as the days went on and by 5.5 weeks pregnant my typical morning sickness (all day sickness really) kicked in. And boy this first trimester was a doozy! My sickness was worse than even with the twins. I was dry heaving every 15 minutes and vomiting several times per day.

On top of the morning sickness, I came down with a horrid stomach virus at 7 weeks that lasted a full six day. Then almost immediately after that, I got bronchitis and laryngitis for another 7 days. I began to wonder how the baby could survive with how sick I was.

My doctor is amazing and worked to get my the right medicine support so I could be functional during the day and curb the vomiting so I could keep food down. At 10 weeks we confirmed the pregnancy and that there is just ONE healthy babe. I am 13 weeks now and still battle nausea every day – with it being worst at 4pm on, but am hopeful it will subside like my other pregnancies around 15 weeks.

The kids are all super excited about the baby in mommy’s tummy. Lila wants it to be a girl and the boys want it to be a boy (of course). We all agree that our already crazy house is going to be even more fun with a baby around.

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Thank you all for your well wishes and especially to my friends and family who supported me emotionally during this tough first trimester. We are so excited to meet this baby in December!

What Was Different This Time Around

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I know a many of my reader have struggled with infertility in the past, so I wanted to share what I was doing differently this time around vs when we struggled to conceive. Keep in mind we had no diagnosed cause for our infertility, but I still wanted to share as a few friends have already asked.

Of course I’m not a doctor and this is not medical advice. Just my thoughts on what I think helped.

1. I used the Ava bracelet. My cycles were always very consistent even when we struggled, but the Ava helped me to see that I ovulate later than I thought – day 16/17 vs day 14/15.

2. About six months before we started trying I began to use natural progesterone cream in my luteal phase. This was after having symptoms of estrogen dominance – heavy, clotting periods, insomnia, breast tenderness and bad PMS. I researched and started using this OTC cream days after I ovulated. Within two months my symptoms pretty much disappeared including my year long battle with insomnia.

3. I was on the keto diet for 12 weeks prior to getting pregnant. I also remembered when I got pregnant quickly with Lila I was on a low carb paleo diet. I followed Mark Sisson’s Keto Reset plan and found the gradual ease into Keto to work very well for me. The keto diet is supposed to reduce inflammation, balance hormones and balance blood sugar. I actually did not lose ANY weight being keto, but clearly my body was working on healing other things!

4. The final thing that was different was that my stress level around TTC this time was very low compared to when we struggled. I was in an emotional nightmare then and this time I knew we had a backup plan, so I felt no anxiety or worry. I know they said stress doesn’t cause infertility, but when you read up on things like the pregnenolone steal, it’s hard to believe that emotional stress doesn’t play some role. During my TWW this time around I was relaxing with great friends in Mexico. One day we slept 11 hours and laid by the pool all day! My stress level was extremely low and I think it was to the benefit of my body.

Those are the main things I think were different this time around. Whether they affected my ability to get pregnant or not I’ll never know for sure, but I do know I entered this pregnancy feeling healthy and confident. I hope some of this info helps any of you out there looking for answers!

Twin Pregnancy Update: Second Trimester

Posted in Kids, Liz's Life, Pregnancy, Twins by

Yesterday I turned 26 weeks pregnant with our twin boys. Only two more weeks until the third trimester, which seems crazy! After a tumultuous first trimester, I’m happy to report that the second trimester has been smooth sailing.

I’m currently huge … measuring six weeks ahead (32 weeks) and am daily getting the “any day now!” comments from nice strangers. The look of horror on their faces when I tell them I’m not due until June is pretty funny. :)

26 weeks pregnant with twins

The boys are growing healthy and strong from what we can tell. They’re both measuring the same for estimated size … 60th% for all babies, and have strong heartbeats. They’re being cooperative guys for now and are in the optimal head down position side by side. Baby B is very active all throughout the day and night, while baby A is quiet except for at 4am when he gets his groove thang on.

I’m feeling good, other than typical pregnancy complaints. Namely bloody noses, leg cramps, back pain, insomnia, shortness of breath, exhaustion and broken blood vessels on my face. I also am at the point where I cannot walk more than four blocks without feeling pain and pressure. But for a twin pregnancy, this is all par for the course, so I am not complaining.

The biggest worry right now is pre-term labor. 51% of twins are born preterm, which can mean a nicu stay and possibilities for long-term disabilities. Thankfully my body seems to be handling the pregnancy well so far and I don’t have any signs of preterm labor.

Our “goal” is 36 weeks gestation, with 38 weeks being ideal. I’d love the boys to have a birth weight above 6 lbs each, which is great for twins. Lila was just 6 lbs 9 oz, so we’ll see. Finally, I am hoping to avoid any nicu time and have the babies with me immediately.

I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to move around or if I’ll have to be on bedrest, so I’ve been nesting a little earlier than a typical pregnancy. We have the nursery mostly ready. We did a travel theme this time complete with a vintage map wall mural, antique suitcases as a nightstand and a cool vintage globe. We still have to get another crib, bedding and Luke is working on building storage into their closet so I can start organizing the massive amount of baby boy clothes my friends have handed down to us.

Travel nursery decorWe also got Lila situated in her new room. I read that we should do it early, so she doesn’t feel like it’s a punishment once the boys arrive. We got her a new pink chandelier to make it special for her.

Pink, green and blue girls room Pink chandelier

 

We’re all starting to get very excited to welcome these boys into our family. The next few months are going to be tough physically for me, so prayers and encouragement are appreciated. I know it will all be a distant memory once those babies are laying in my arms.

 

 

All About Our Good News!

Posted in Kids, Liz's Life, Pregnancy, Twins by

If you follow me on Facebook, then you likely saw our recent announcement. If not, here it is…

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We are expecting twin boys!! We are beyond excited!! Here’s how this blessing came to be.

If you’ve been following along on our fertility journey, you know that we had unexplained secondary infertility after an early miscarriage. After undergoing a surgery this spring, we decided to try on our own for another six months before seeking more help. That six months went by without any luck, so we turned to our amazing doctor, Dr. Shamma here in Toledo for assistance.

We followed his advice to a T and our treatments were successful. I cannot say enough good things about Dr. Shamma and his staff. They made a very stressful situation as positive as it could be.

My first trimester started off filled with excitement and joy that I was finally pregnant. Soon enough morning sickness reared it’s ugly head and I was so sick it was debilitating. I was pretty sick with Lila, but twin sickness was a whole new ballgame.

Thankfully I started taking Diclegis, which is a morning sickness medication made up of B6 and antihistamine, that took the edge off enough for me to be functional. Before that I was literally laying on the ground trying not to vomit much of the day. Even on Diclegis I had serious food aversions and  all-day nausea. Lets just say I have a TON of respect for women who have hyperemesis gravidarum. 

Other than morning sickness I had a very stressful and scary two weeks around weeks 12-13. I began spotting and then bleeding every night around 4am. It would stop in the morning, but each night I woke to the same nightmare. After having a miscarriage and infertility, any spotting is terrifying. Every time it happened, I would get an ultrasound, both babies looked great and there was no visible reason for the bleeding. Then around 14 weeks it stopped and hasn’t happened again. Thank goodness.

While I was so sick and having spotting, I was essentially on bedrest, which put a huge burden on Luke and our extended family to help out. Lila was definitely impacted by it all and for a few bad weeks was very angry with me. I went from her full-time caregiver to barely around. She would hardly even look at me for awhile! Thankfully I begin to feel less nauseous around week 16 and our relationship rebounded instantly.

19 weeks with twin boys

I am 20 weeks today and besides some exhaustion, I am feeling good. My bump is pretty large and the babies are big as well. At my last appointment at 18 weeks, my belly was measuring 7 weeks ahead (compared to a singleton pregnancy)! However, I’m not too uncomfortable and am still sleeping well, so no complaints here.

The boys are fraternal twins, meaning they are like two separate siblings just born at the same time. I had my anatomy scan a week or so ago and both looked perfectly healthy and ACTIVE! On the ultrasound they were already rough-housing, with the top boy smacking the bottom one in the head. Don’t worry, the bottom one quickly retaliated and hit his brother right back. It was hilarious to watch.

I have a long way to go in this pregnancy and I’m sure pretty soon it will start to get uncomfortable and challenging, but for now I am just basking in my happiness about bringing two precious boys into our family. Lila says they’ll both be named “Lila” and can wear some of her jammies that are in boy colors. :)

Our journey to conceive these babies was not easy, but I would go through it all again to get to this same conclusion. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for encouraging me to keep going when it got tough.