Waiting for Rainbows: Baby Nicknames...

Talk about one heck of a week…I had my very lowest point of the pregnancy and some of my highest points of my pregnancy…yes, all in one week!! You know by now that I have had my fair share of “morning sickness,” which most pregnant women know is a very bogus term. Needless to say, I went from bad to worse in a week’s time and not only was struggling to keep any sort of food down, liquids as well. After I no longer could even keep down water, I knew that I had gone to the “dark side” of what some people experience in pregnancy, known as hyperemesis gravidarum. My doctor, who never uses a higher dose of Zofran (the medicine for nausea and vomiting) that what I was treated with, decided that I was in need of IV fluids and a pump for Zofran which continuously delivers this most precious medication and also gives me the option of giving a bolus, or extra dose, every three hours. At first, I thought it was overkill, but after realizing how severely dehydrated I was and how much better both the IV fluids and Zofran pump made me feel, I realized that I indeed did need to step it up a notch to treat this so called “morning sickness.” I can honestly say that I had the two worst days of not only my pregnancy, but the two worst days that I can remember in a very, very long time, yet in the same week, at times I feel better than I have the entire pregnancy!! Praise God, I’m finally being adequately treated for how sick I have been and it is amazing how great it feels to have your sanity back. Even though it stinks to be this sick, I’m so thankful that I’m turning the corner. I’ll be on the IV fluids through the weekend for a total of 10 days then I will try off the IV to see if I can remain hydrated. I will be on the Zofran pump probably for a few months, perhaps until the end of the pregnancy. The needles go in my upper portion of my legs and they get changed out on average about every 12 hours—between an IV in the arm, a needle in the leg, and a needle in the butt (did I really go there!) for other medicine, I’m seriously starting to turn into a pin cushion…but mark my words…It will be so worth it!!!

So, when I was feeling “slightly less than well” this past week, I was thinking of affectionate baby names for Baby A and B. When I was at my very worst, they got the sweet and loving baby names of “Nausea” and “Vomit.” As the Zofran started to save my life, they changed to “Zoe” and “Fran.” But now we are using the names originally created by Jason…”Double” and “Trouble!” I know as I continue to feel better, surely I will come up with more sweet motherly names…but until then, meet Double and Trouble!!

You will just be amazed at how far these babies have come over the past two weeks. Each baby is 3 inches long or the size of a peach (for some reason, I look like I’m carrying grapefruits—how does that happen?!). This week the intestines, which have since been developing in the umbilical cord, will be twisting and turning to move to its permanent location in the abdomen. Although this sounds fairly simple, let me assure you, this in and of itself, is very precise and an amazing detail of pregnancy. A simple turn the wrong direction and the baby will not be able to digest food…and is a common GI complication we see in the NICU. So every little detail counts! Talk about details….our babies now have fingerprints on their tiny little fingers…God thinks of everything! The babies are breathing in the amniotic fluid as they live in a fluid-filled environment. The kidneys are also excreting wastes which get transferred through the umbilical cord to be processed by my kidneys. The nose and lips are completely formed and the jaws are lined with tooth germs, which later become teeth. The vocal cords are also in the process of developing at this time, although they will not make sounds until air passes through the cords at birth. For any of you out there that think we have at least one girl, there are already 2 million eggs in her ovaries!! Personally I think we are having two boys, but we won’t know until later this month. Phew, I think that is enough for one week!!

Below is a picture of me at 12 weeks and 5 days. I’ll probably post more 13 week pictures later this weekend or early next week. See you next week.