14 weeks

We have arrived at 14 weeks. As you can see the babies are growing rapidly. They are the size of your clenched fist from head to rump. I can not wait to see them next Thursday, four weeks is too long! I got very spoiled in the beginning getting to see them every other week or so.  The only thing that I can think to complain about is tiredness. Apparently it is a lot of work growing two babies.

   On a side note, Jake is participating in a clinical research trial to test new CF drugs. We will have no idea if he has received the new inhaled antibiotic or just the placebo. The plus side, if he receives the new drug his lung function could increase 10 to 12% ( which is amazing), however, the downside is he had to stop taking some of his medications in order to test the effectiveness of this one. He is going every other week for check-ups and at any point his lung function declines he can be removed from the study to get back on his treatment plan. So far he has maintained his lung function and last check up it increased one percent. He has been taking the medication for one week. Other great CF news, researchers have identified and isolated the specific protein that causes the CF disease down to the starting mutation. They have not only developed a medication for his specific mutation delta F508 (as there are 1400 mutations) but plan to get the medication out on the market hopefully in the next couple of years (they are in the last phase of clinical trials). This medication will not cure CF by any means but will hopefully prevent further damage to pt lungs and other vital organs which is a HUGE step forward.

12-13 weeks

We are officially out of our first trimester and into our fourth month of pregnancy. It seems like it has taken so long, but at the same time flown by.  The twins are going to be about 3 inches long from head to rump and have now fully formed. Now all their systems will mature over the next several months.  Hair follicles, finger prints, vocal cords, and bone marrow are all taking shape. My next appointment is not until the first of September, which seems like forever away. After that appointment I will see a sonographer who will be able to tell us what we are having around 18 weeks.  I cant wait to see how big they have gotten and start the naming process!  It is getting easier to pick up their heart rates with the Doppler, however, hard to tell if we are listening to one baby twice or hearing both babies. As you can see below my tummy is expanding, I have a small amount of "normal" clothes that still fit and finding out that Jake's t-shirts and loose fitting drawstring pants are starting to be my go to wardrobe (real cute)!

10.5

Baby A and B profile

Getting bigger and they look like little babies! You can see arms and legs and them moving like crazy. Everything is progressing like it should and both heart rates were normal. We are almost out of our first trimester and I am counting down the days to feeling a little bit more normal. On Wednesday, I am off all my hormones and just have to take my prenatal vitamins! I am very excited about this, it seems that since May I have been on quite the regimen and it will be nice just to take one pill!

10 weeks

Yay for double digits! The twins should be about an 1 1/2 inches each this week. Cartilage, bones, and hair follicles are starting to form this week. It is offical, I am defiantly starting to develop a baby bump. I can no longer wear a belt, an only one pair of jeans fit my growing waist.  I have my next OB appointment next week. I cant wait to see how much the babies have grown since last week.

9 weeks

 This week has been a roller coaster. I had my appointment on Tuesday got to see the babies moving and twitching (as they are developing tiny little muscles this week) and their hearts beating. They still kind of look like shrimp but with longer nubs. They are about the size of green olives (about an inch long) and there heads are continuing to grow (four times what it was at 6 weeks) and look more like a babies than tadpoles. The stomach organs are also growing rapidly.

After my appointment I was running errands and started to have strange symptoms (vision, memory, and confusion problems) I was able to make it home in time for the right side of my face and hands to go numb. I called my doctor, who told me to go the the ER. Once there, becuase I was pregnant, they did not want to run any testing on me. My physican admitted

me to the antepartum unit for neurology consult. After some testing and two days, they came to the conclusion that the symptoms were caused by the  hormones that I am still taking to help with the pregnacy. Instead of discontinuing the estrogen I am adding baby aspirin to my daily medication regimen to decrease the side effects of the hormones (which I only have to be on until 11weeks, when the placenta will take over). I am home now and will back to work next week.

8 weeks

Sorrry, this is a little late! Last Wednesday we had an 8week check up to see how they are growing. Both A and B are measuring right at 8weeks! We again got to hear there heart beats and see the hearts flickering on the screen.  Next week I have my first OB appointment to get everything set up and do all the other fun stuff like lab work, health history, vitals, etc.  We should also be able to hear the heart beats with a doppler, since we will be 9 weeks. Woo hoo! I have to say I still feeling ok, I still have not thrown up and only had to take anti-nausea medicine a couple of times. Overall I am feeling good! I have started to develop a little bump and my regualar clothes are starting to not fit right.  Below is a picture of all the labor and delivery nurses at work that are pregnant in order of how far along we are.
 

starting with me on the left- 8weeks, 13weeks, 22weeks, 32 weeks, 36 weeks, 39weeks.

7weeks, 1 day

Not only did we get to see both babies heart beats, but we got to hear them beat. Baby A's hear was beating at 135 beats per min (bpm) and Baby B's was about 150bpm. It is so amazing to hear them beating. I was not expecting to be able to hear them this early. The hearts beating looked like little things flickering inside.

This week the babies are about the size of a blueberry (they both are measuring about 11mm from crown to rump), they are forming their mouths, tongues, arm and leg buds. The kidneys, liver, and lungs are also forming.  Below is what our babies look like at 7 weeks.