17w, 3d -- Appointment Update

Good Evening,

I had to venture out today in the snow to go to my OB appointment. I tried to reschedule it for later this week or early next week, but unfortunately, Dr. Roberts is booked solid until Jan. 12th. My appointment today was rescheduled once because she was on vacation last week, so, I had no choice but to go.

I have been nervous and cry-y all day. I think it is from exhaustion, hormones or probably a combination of everything. I am trying to snap out of it, but without much luck. Maybe after a good nights rest, I will feel MUCH better.

I got to my appointment and did the normal pee in a cup. I then had to wait in the waiting room for the nurse to call me back. She weighed me, I gained 5 lbs., the doctor said that it was good for having twins. It was the first weight that I have gained since being pregnant and I am now at my pre-pregnancy weight.

My BP was 128/68, the systolic is a little high, the doctor didn't think so, but I do! I also had a trace of protein in my urine. It is normal, but of course, I don't want to start down that road of pre-ecclampsia. I need to drink even more water (this has been difficult for me, especially since I can't drink while I am eating), and I need to eat LOTS more protein & a little less salt. I have been craving salty foods, and after months of nasty vomiting, if it tastes good and I think it is going to stay down, I eat it. I have had a little swelling in my legs, so, I just need to be more vigilant.

I also think I need to focus more on making my #1 priority being pregnant to these twins. I am still so preoccupied with every thing else, when I really, really need to just focus on being pregnant. The laundry, housework, etc., etc. will be there when I am done, but if I am not careful, our babies might not be. And I don't even want to THINK about that.

Dr. Roberts just went on and on about how great everything is going and how good it all looked. She didn't tell me what my uterus was measuring at and it took her a little bit to find the left twins heartbeat. She did say that they are laying on top of each other, but we will learn more next week.

I also decided to have the blood test for the QUAD screening. It will test for down syndrome and a few neuro defects. It will not change a single thing, however, if we will have a special needs child, it will be important for us to deliver in or near a hospital with a Level I nursery, rather than trying to LifeFlight them down to the cities after birth. They send the blood sample to Salt Lake City, Utah, so it will take more than a week to get the results.

I can not wait for our BIG ultrasound. I want to see our babies again and be reassured that they are growing on target and healthy.

Stay Warm,
Love, Sara & Dustin

17 week Belly Pictures

Just posting a few belly pics from the weekend! I can not believe I am 17 weeks pregnant! I am (finally) starting to feel better. I have felt the babies move, which is the coolest feeling, I can't even describe it!

Dustin deserves the "Super Dad" award for his work on the nursery this weekend! I am so proud of him! He got the entire thing painted and is working on putting up the rest of the base board & changing the fixtures. Our house was a mortgage foreclosure, and the nursery was BRIGHT blue when we moved in and the trim had been removed when they painted & never replaced. He worked so hard on it and it looks AMAZING! I can't wait to put two little babies in their new room!

I go to the doctor tomorrow at 3 p.m. for my 3 week check-up (which got pushed to almost 4 weeks because of the holidays). I will post after that.

Hugs, Sara

Christmas Reflections

Merry Christmas to All! We hope that your holidays were full of love, food and the spirit of Jesus's birth. We were blessed to be able to spend a lot of time with both of our families this holiday.

On Christmas eve. We went to Hillman to my parents. It was so fun watching our nephews (Ethan & Owen) open their gifts of toys and go back and forth between them all. We were able to all be there: Mom, Dad, Dustin, myself, Betsy, Rob, the boys, Emma, Aaron (her boyfriend), & our family friend, Bud. Bud is a friend of the family who has been celebrating Christmas with us for 10 plus years, his wife Catherine, passed away in August 2007. There certainly is a spot at the table missing with Catherine gone, but we are grateful that Bud still joins our family. We went to Christmas Eve. Mass, although, the kids in front of me were more well-behaved then myself! I could NOT kneel, every time I did, I thought I was going to fall over & my back hurt so bad. And of course, you pack about 350 plus people into the Catholic church in Harding & the temperature is bound to rise. I managed to take my coat off and I was still sweating. At one point, I thought I was going to pass out, I started to fall back & caught myself on the back of the pew. Mom was so sweet & told the lady behind me (who I knocked into) that I was carrying twins! Oh, Sorry I just fell on you, but I DO have an excuse! :) We got a ton of gifts and lots and lots of presents for the twins!

We were able to have a quiet Christmas morning at home, I made breakfast and we watched TV, listened to the babies heartbeats on the doppler and were just able to enjoy each other & the morning. It was fun to talk about "what next year will be like" and to dream about having TWO babies around the Christmas tree.

In the afternoon, we went to Brooklyn Park to Dustin's mom's, Nancy's & her husband's. We had DELICIOUS salad & manicotti, it was so nice to have dinner with them. We watched "A Christmas Story" and opened gifts. They were VERY generous, as always, and bought us a beautiful 4 in 1 crib. The twins will be sleeping together until they get too big for the divider or start waking each other up. This weekend, we will be painting the nursery and putting the crib together.

Today also was bittersweet. It was one year ago today that I woke up early, took a pregnancy test and saw those two beautiful pink lines. One year ago today that we found out we were pregnant with our angel, Sammie. Last year, on Christmas morning, our whole lives changed, as we found out that we were pregnant & now parents. We found out we lost our angel exactly one month later. I only got to be pregnant with her for a month, but the love that we have for our first born is unimaginable. We learned so much medically, emotionally, spiritually. Our lives were tested in every possible way. We lost a baby, we grieve a child we never knew. But, we now know hope. We have a child, waiting for us in Heaven with Jesus. We know that the twins will be born because we lost Sammie. We have excellent medical care now, because of the hell we went through when we lost our first angel. Being pregnant again this Christmas does not replace last year, and these babies never will replace our first child. We will blog throughout the next month of our story, and losing Sammie. It plays a huge role in the twins life, and they will always know about their older sister & that by losing one child, God blessed us with two.

Love to All, Sara

Posting

Rumor has it some of y'all are having a rough time posting comments.

The easiest way is to sign up for a Google Mail account (http://www.gmail.com - far superior to other web-based emails and a lot more feature-ridden) and use that same login and password to sign in on Blogspot.

Things are going well - snowy as hell the last couple days. I put a snow blade on the garden tractor and plowed the driveway with that. Amazing how no matter how old you get, a guy always has needs for new toys. The toys just change in their form and function a little. :-)

Stay warm,

Dustin

16 weeks

Here I am, this morning at 16 weeks. Am I looking pregnant yet?

Feeling good, still vomiting. I switched to a new prenatal, with fish oil, oh yeah, that is REALLY helping with the nausea. :)

We are getting ready for Christmas, still no tree, we might just skip it this year. I know I will never be skipping a Christmas tree again!



And, I got a B in Chemistry & either an A or B in my Drug class. I am so excited about it, I could scream! YAY!

I am really looking forward to things now. I finally feel like these babies are going to make it, they are going to keep growing, their hearts are going to keep beating and we will actually get two at the end. I just feel so blessed! We have so much coming up, our ultrasound, baby showers (2-28 and one in March), and of course, the birth... It still seems surreal, but I am so extremely thankful.

Hugs to All from the Belly!
Sara

It's Scheduled!!

After MUCH hassle, losing my orders, getting new orders faxed, oh, you can come in this day, "oh wait-- you are having multiples? No, you can't." "Want to try this time? Oh, Sorry, NOPE!"

WE FINALLY HAVE OUR COMPREHENSIVE ULTRASOUND SCHEDULED!

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center at the University. We will know after that: their sexes, their growth rate, & if they have any abnormalities. HOW am I going to wait until then!? I am going crazy all ready!

Lots of Love, Sara

15 weeks, 1 day

This picture is from yesterday, at 15 weeks. I look like an idiot, but what are you going to do?!? I haven't taken any Zofran for a few days and boy, can I tell! I vomited twice yesterday and I know, I just KNOW it is going to get better. Once in the morning & once in the evening, I don't think that has squat to do with gender, but, anyway.
We have been pretty busy this weekend, yesterday, we decided to tough out the crowds and try to get some Christmas shopping done. I hadn't even started. I can not believe that Dustin went, and by the second store, we were both DONE and decided to finish online. We aren't buying many gifts this year, we exchanged names in my family, I have Aaron, Emma's boyfriend & Dustin has my Dad. We buy for Ethan & Owen (of course!!) and that is about it really... I shopped a little online and just needed to finish it up at the store, well, no such luck. We STILL need to buy more for Owen and we struck out completely with Dad. We did buy gift bags this year. I am not wrapping presents. We still don't even have a Christmas tree. I just can not get into all the hussle and bussle. I am in no mood for the holiday hoopla. I know that it isn't about the hoopla, and maybe that is why I am not really into it.
We also are not sending out Christmas cards. We are saving our money (& stamps) for baby announcements. So, if you don't get a Christmas card from us, don't feel slighted, I just figured we really don't have anything exciting to share with you quite yet.
I am wrapping up this semester also & have been studing as much as I can. I have a final in Drugs, Alcohol & Tobacco tomorrow night, Dustin is going to drive me to class in Cambridge again (what a honey!) and Tuesday morning, I finish up Chemistry.
We are getting somewhat of a blizzard at the moment. The visibility stinks, I can maybe see 1/4 mile out the window. It is raining/snowing/windy! It is supposed to get VERY cold. Just what I like! JK. It is pretty nonetheless and despite my low level of Holiday spirit, I am thankful that it will be a "White Christmas."
I should close up for now and try to shop for Little O. (Who is feeling MUCH better by the way...)
Love to All,
Sara, Dusty, Baby 1 & Baby 2

14 weeks, 5 days

Hello All Blog Readers,

I am sure this post won't be as exciting as the ones from my lovely, sweet, nurturing husband. I am the one carrying the babies though, so maybe that will give me a little added bonus!

I have been having some nasty pain the last few days. It starts in my groin and goes up towards my hips. It is worse on the right side. Today, I have a similar pain, on my left ovary. The groin pain (oh, I know you are all so excited to read about this!) is round ligament pain from growing and stretching and my uterus getting bigger and bigger to carry these babies. I would imagine that the ovary is just getting squished.

I took some Tylenol last night which took the pain away completely. I don't really love to take medicine, but at some point, the choice is really out of my hands.

I am trying to drink lots of water. I even add some flavor to it occasionally. I am not a fan of water or anything at this point, but I know of course that it isn't for me.

We have names picked out for all possibilities! B/B, G/G, B/G!!! I won't share them yet. ;)

It's Cold Out

Middle of December and the weatherpeople effed up on the forecast again. What a surprise. We were supposed to get over six inches of snow over the weekend through yesterday (Monday) and we barely got two. Not a big deal except for the fact that people act like the appearance of snow means it's time to shut it up and lock the doors and stay home which makes for an awful boring day at work.

Sara says she hates me.

Apparently when you keep rewinding home video of a lady giving birth (with no pain medication and OBVIOUSLY feeling the overwhelming ...joy... of home birth) and cranking the sound up REALLY REALLY loud isn't the best way to prepare her for upcoming blissful event that will be the birth of our twins. (hehe) Gotta love Discovery Health. Just wish it was in HD to get even more life-like experience.

Talk to y'all later!

Just So You Know...

Sara barfed all over the car on her drive home from work yesterday.

I laughed really hard.

14 week belly pictures

Hi!

So, I apologize that these aren't the best pictures. but I took them by myself. I am home alone, Dustin is at work again. My belly is certainly getting bigger, my uterus is measuring at 20 weeks. Lots of growing by all.

Appt. Today, 13 w, 5 d

My appointment with Dr. Roberts went great today. I have lost another pound, so, she gave me some ideas about what to do to try to keep food down. I am going to try to not drink with my food (which is going to be SO hard) and then drink an hour or so after I eat. She also suggested ginger ale or ginger tea. She thought it would be better in 2-3 weeks. I also am going to take some Zofran to help with the nausea and vomiting, either every day or every other day. It won't hurt the babies.

She listened to the babies on the doppler, they both had really good, strong heartbeats. My uterus is getting really big and she commented on how well they are both growing.

The left twin was available right away & we could hear the heartbeat immediately. The right one moved around the whole time before she could finally track it down. Every ultrasound we have had, the left one is sleeping or relaxing and the right one is flipping. It is crazy how they have such incredibly unique personalities in utero.

I will schedule my big ultrasound soon! I will try to call again tomorrow. Dr. Roberts thought that it was a great idea that I go to the U for that.

She suggested that I get lots of rest and do a lot of self pampering. I must look tired or something. I had to rush through a Chemistry test right before my appointment and I was almost late, maybe she could see the stress on my face!

My BP was good though, at 118/72.

My next appointment is on Christmas eve. at 10 a.m. in Zimmerman. All of my appointments will be there now, she is switching her practice to a new clinic (with a rockin' ultrasound machine!) I am still seeing Dr. Roberts every three weeks.

Thank you to everyone who follows our little blog and the growth of our peanuts!

Love, Dustin, Sara, Baby 1 & Baby 2

Just chillin' at 13 weeks, 3 days

I really don't have a ton to blog about this morning. The Fall semester is winding down for me. I am going to be SO glad to not take Chemistry!!! I just hope that I pass :/, I don't know if I could endure another semester of the periodic table!! I am enrolled in school for next semester, I am taking Biology & Child Development. Dustin is taking some classes too. Oh! We will be such smarty-pants parents!

I am feeling good, I haven't vomited since Sunday night, whoohoooo! I am still very tired and just waiting for that time in the 2nd trimester I have heard so much about, when you feel amazing?! I actually, don't mind feeling like shit. If it means that in the end, I will get healthy babies, I don't really care if I puke every day for months and months.

I haven't weighed myself, but I know I am still below my pre-pregnancy weight. The doctor wasn't too impressed with no weight gain last time, so, I hope I packed on a little by this appointment.

I am going to the doctor on Thursday, December 4th at 3 p.m. I will for sure keep updated after that. I keep trying to call to make my 18 week Ultrasound Appt. at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center at the University of Minnesota (where the high-risk OB, Dr. Tracy Prosen is), however, they don't have their 2009 "book" yet, and I will be 18 weeks on 1/3. Doesn't the receptionist know that I would really like to find out what kind of babies I am cooking (although looks like most think boy/girl!)

Ok, I am off to bed and to listen to little heartbeats.

Hugs & Love to All,
Sara

P.S. Congratulations to my very sweet friend, Tracy, on an amazing 6 week ultrasound! :)

13 Weeks

What Sara forgot to post in her latest entry is that today is the 13 week mark.

Lucky...?

I added a nice picture of Dustin and our godson, Owen (my sister, Betsy's youngest son) from Thanksgiving. So happy! Even though he puts pictures of DISGUSTING meat on here. However, this morning, my aversion is to bananas.

DUSTIN CLIFFORD, You better get that meat off of here, or the next time that I throw up, I might not be so kind to leave the room! (sometimes though, honestly, I can not make it to another room!)

And his shopping time limit is about 5 minutes. No more. We hardly get into a store and he gets all crabby and antsy.

Did I mention that I am the luckiest girl in the world???

Love, Sara & the babies.

At Work

On a Saturday. This sucks.

We bought a TV for the bedroom today, so when Sara's big ass is bed-ridden she can at least keep up with the latest episodes of 'House Hunters' and 'My House Is Worth What?' on HGTV. Too bad we can't watch the Food Network anymore - it makes her "pukey" to see all the glorious bits of spinach and assorted other food items. Raw meat REALLY gets her.


Exactly like this.

Today we will venture into St. Cloud where undoubtedly I will become enraged at the general public. This is pretty common while we are shopping. I have an internal timer that I can deal with people for a predetermined amount of time, and once that timer expires my mood swings faster than a pregnant lady with twins. This should be an interesting trip.

I will report back, but I fully expect it to end up like all of the 'Grand Theft Auto' games. Those that have played know what I mean.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Dustin

Blogging

Sara is giving me shit because I haven't blogged on this thing enough, so here you guys go.

You ladies at the TTCAM-PAL-PMS-ASAP-BBQ-LOL forums know me as super-sperm. Hi ladies. Good to talk with you all once again.

I am watching the Wild game (winning 3-1 in the 2nd period, by the way...) while having an icy-cold beverage and I don't have to work tomorrow. Quite happy about that. In addition to that, I get fed some turkey and other assorted quality food items tomorrow so right now things are going quite well. Fat guy's dream, for sure.

Things are going quite swimmingly with Sara and the twins so far. We do listen to the heartbeats every night. I know this because the belly doppler is so fu%!ing loud and scratchy that I can hardly stand it - it's like nails on a chalkboard to me, but nevertheless we plow through for the common good and for Momma's sanity.

In all seriousness, I can't describe how cool this is to be expecting twins. Granted, at this point we will take anything that is given to us but there is a certain extra-cool factor about seeing more than one little squirt in there moving around and creating havoc already.

Mom recommended 'A Child Is Born' when we were pregnant with Sammie. I bought it right away, but quite honestly didn't read through a whole lot of it at the time. I got to the picture where the baby's head is sticking out of the mother's hoo-ha towards the end of the last chapter and just shut the book up right there and let it collect dust since. Now, I find myself checking it out a lot to see how far the babies are along.

Anyway, that's my blog for the evening. I may be coaxed into blogging more if there is enough interest. Personally, I find my blogging to be enlightening and delightful and I hope you feel the same.

So Thankful...

We are thankful for so many things this holiday season. Amazing friends, family, supportive parents, great sisters, two ADORABLE little nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins.

I am thankful for several girls who I have met through our trying to conceive journey, the unbelievable love and support that we have received takes my breathe away.

I am thankful for my husband, I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I am thankful for my angel in Heaven, Sammie. I miss our baby every day, it is hard to imagine that she died so that we could get the twins. I can not fathom God's plan, but I trust in it and in Him.

I am thankful for our two little babes, growing and kicking inside every day. They are getting so big and developing at such an amazing rate! We still listen to their heartbeats all the time, they are in their own little place in my tummy, I can usually find them both right away. :)

We are spending our Thanksgiving in Hillman at my parents, we are so excited! A day with family and to play with Ethan & Owen! Can't wait.

Love to All. We are thankful for each person who reads our little blog, prays for us and supports us in all we do.

Happy Thanksgiving, Sara

My Belly!

Here it is! The first "belly pic!" It just kind of popped out today! I got up, went to the bathroom and was kind of like, Wow!! I have a belly!

It also looks like I have a lamp coming out of my belly, you'll have to forgive me, I am new to this whole thing!

I sold a dresser on Craigslist this morning that was in the nursery, I am trying to make as much room in there as possible before we paint! We picked a color today... I will keep it a surprise until it's done.

Today is Week 12. Praise God!

Love, Sara & Dustin and the Twins.

Whew! 12 weeks tomorrow!

I can not even begin to explain the relief that I am feeling being lifted off our shoulders as tomorrow I will be at the 12 week mark! After having a miscarriage, the only pregnancy outcome we know is a negative one. We have never been pregnant with a baby at the end. We don't know what that is like... In January, we weren't able to see a heartbeat, or bring a baby home from the hospital. The only experience we had was a really insensitive doctor, dropping hormone levels and empty arms after a D & C. This time is different, this pregnancy is different and each & every day is such a blessing, such a miracle & an amazing answer to so many prayers and so many tears.

Yesterday morning, after work, I got out the doppler and was able to hear two separate, distinctive little heartbeats. They are right next to each other (how sweet, our babies like each other!!) I wish Dustin would've been home to hear them, but I did record it on my phone and text it to him. Technology is so cool!

I was scheduled for a First Trimester Screening next Wednesday, Nov. 26th at the Maternal Fetal Medicine Center at the University of Minnesota that I canceled. We discussed it and we would NOT abort, no matter if there was a "problem" or not. The "problem" that they look for is Down's Syndrome. We talked to Dr. Roberts about it also, and she didn't deem it necessary.

I did talk to the receptionist about scheduling my 18 week ultrasound at the University where we will find out the sexes! I see from the poll most are voting boy/girl (myself included). We won't bank too much on the results and the nursery will be gender neutral. That ultrasound will be right after New Year's.

The latest thing around here is blaming things on the twins. For instance, Dustin turned the thermostat down to SIXTY this morning (I like it more like SEVENTY or more... I did grow up with wood stove heat!) And when I asked him who turned the heat down because the babies were freezing, he blamed the left twin. Well, then, the right twin turned that sucker right back up!

Thanks again for following us. Watch for belly pictures coming soon!

Love to All, The Grieser's

How We Feel at 11w, 2d

Hello Friends & Family,

I hear a lot of people are following us on our blog, which is completely awesome!! I would like to post often, because as much as it is important for us to keep you updated, it is a little journal for us. I have a pregnancy journal, but I don't always get the time to write in it!

I have been feeling really good. I am tired a lot, but blessed that Dustin just lets me fall asleep and then wakes me up to go to sleep on the bed. I have been off my narcolepsy medicine too, which I suppose adds to the sleepiness, but it is worth it.

I have a serious food aversion to bar-b-que sauce. I loved it when I was first pregnant and now, yuck. I can't even think about how disgusting it sounds. I have had cravings, but nothing crazy. These babies are a serious fan of ketchup though.

I am still vomiting, but that's ok. Yesterday, I think I puked three times, but none today (yet). It usually hits me right before bed.

I just got home from school, I am taking a Drug, Alcohol and Tobacco class at Anoka Ramsey and then I also have a Chemistry class online. I don't like Chemistry.

Thank you all for your thoughts, well wishes, voting on the sex (I personally think boy/girl, but we will see)! We so appreciate every positive thought & prayer. We need each and every one of them. We are so thankful for all of you and appreciate all your love.

Lots of Hugs,
Mama & Daddy Grieser, Left Twin & Right Twin too!

Heartbeats

Here is a recording of the heartbeats. One of them is very prominent, but if you listen closely you can hear the second one in the background. They are both beating along wonderfully, but Sara concentrated the belly doppler on this one for now. We'll try to get another recording up later on when I have a better recording tool. The smartphone just doesn't cut it for this kinda stuff. :)

Click here to listen to the heartbeat. (.wav format 256 kb - right click, save as)

Thanks for reading.

Dustin

Update on Appointment

Hi! Sara here. :)

I had another appt. today at 3 p.m. The doctor tried to listen to the heartbeats with a fetal doppler and couldn't hear them, so decided to do an in room ultrasound.

As soon as she started, two beautiful babies appeared on the screen. They are both nice size and had strong heartbeats. The left twin was moving around in crazy circles, jumping all around and then the right twin was asleep. :) It was so precious.

Our doppler came today. I was able to hear one heartbeat. We will try again when Dustin is home. :) As you can see, lots of smiles.

Keep in mind that the ultrasound pictures aren't the greatest. I think we used the oldest machine in the clinic. She had to update the year for Y2K!!

Love to All.

The Mama!

I thought that I would post a little something tonight. I am not sure if I know what I am doing. I have never "blogged" before. I am really excited about it though. I am actually thrilled about all our blessings that have been in our life lately.

Today was my last day at work, I am going to still work at the same place, I am just going down to 30 hours a week, at night. My OB (Dr. Sujatha Roberts, in Princeton), said that I will need to start lifting restrictions at 20 weeks and switching to nights will help with that & daycare once the babies are born.

I am still so nervous about losing one or both. I am continually praying and thinking positive thoughts. It is hard, the only experience I have with pregnancy ended in lost. I know that this is different and today, I am 10 weeks, 4 days, and we lost Sammie at 7 weeks, 4 days.

My appt. with Dr. Roberts is tomorrow at 3 p.m. I will update after!

I would also like to thank my amazing husband, Dustin, for creating this blog and also for ordering me a doppler. I am the luckiest woman in the world!

Love to All, Sara

Quick Update

Sara has an appointment this Thursday at 3pm with Dr. Roberts here in Princeton for a basic check-up. Everything is going very smoothly - honestly not a single bump in the road to report other than some pretty visceral morning sickness, albeit at nighttime.

We got one of those bellybeats(.com) dopplers coming so we can listen to the babies heartbeats. It looks like a pretty neat deal, but I honestly don't have a clue how to work the thing so hopefully Sara puts some of her nursing schooling to work and figures that sucker out before I throw it against a wall.

Thanks for reading.

Dustin

First Entry

We are starting this blog to help keep people informed about the progress of our twins.

We found out about four weeks ago that we are expecting twins. We are excited, nervous, and elated at the same time. It's been somewhat of a struggle for us in this regard so this has truly been a blessing.

We will post pictures and updates here for anyone who is interested. It will help keep you in the loop as well as provide an online journal for us as well.

Thanks for reading, and be sure to check back soon for more updates!

Dustin and Sara