As I've mentioned, 2 of my cousins had due dates this month. Laura was due with her first baby on 3/13 and Heather is due with her 2nd baby on 3/16. And this morning, we got to assign #30 to Laura & Zach's new baby girls - Sophie Anne. I haven't heard the delivery story - but she arrived safe and sound this morning at 7:04AM. Little Sophie weighed in at 8 lbs and was 20 inches long. Sounds like Mom & Baby are doing great - I'm sure the new daddy is too. And the new grandparents, aunts, and uncles are ecstatic!! So happy for all of them and our ever-growing family. The first 2013 baby of the family has arrived. Kinda crazy to think that there may be anywhere from 4-6 more babies joining her in the 2013 crew. :) Little Sophie is going to be the leader of the 2013 pack.
In closing I'd like to shout out a happy birthday to Jen and thank her for graciously sharing her birthday with Sophie. :) I'd also like to close tonight with the song, "You Are My Sunshine." Sophie's parents decorated her room in the theme of "You Are My Sunshine" - so this song is definitely dedicated to her. But it also has a special tie to one of my last few memories of my grandpa. One of the last times we visited him before he passed - we were just hanging out in his room with him. Out of the blue, he looked up and asked my husband to sing "You Are My Sunshine." Anyone that knows my husband knows that he's not one to sing on cue like that. But he sang it that day for my grandpa. :) I'm sure Grandma & Grandpa are happy to see the Kortlandt family growing. Good night!
While our family members and closer friends know about our exciting news, there are still some friends that don't know. We definitely won't mind sharing our news and journey with them later. But our plan is to wait until the pregnancies are further along before we shout the news from the mountain tops. :)
Our neighborhood has a euchre league during the winter months and we hosted tonight. Two of the couples there tonight are in our circle of trust, but the other 12 neighbor friends don't know. To avoid anyone questioning why I wasn't even having one drink tonight - we came up with a plan for me to fake-drink. My sister had some single serving wine bottles in her fridge. So my husband went down and poured them into a wine glass for my mom to drink. Then he came home and filled them with Sobe life water (strawberry kiwi). Genius! So in between my water tonight, I enjoyed a couple mini bottles of "wine."
Another couple did announce that they're having their first baby at the end of July. They are 20 weeks along and having a little girl! I wanted to tell her that we were pregnant, too - but held back. Cute to think our babies will have friends in the neighborhood pretty close in age. ;)
We also found out that one of my husband's cousins is pregnant - she's about 8 weeks along & due in October! :) Two of my cousins have their due dates coming up next week!! Can't wait to hear about the arrival of Baby Williams and Carly's little sibling. :) Good night and don't forget to spring forward one hour this morning!!
Happy Friday!!! Some friends have been asking if I have done any home pregnancy tests since all of the great news. So I took one today and even the home test says I'm pregnant. :) It would've been interesting to see if it would've been positive last week. Hope everyone has a great Friday!
Today would've been my Grandpa's 94th birthday!! Hope he's enjoying his special day up there with my Grandma. I wonder if they've been keeping up with my blog! ;) Grandpa, FYI - there's a good chance that great-grandchild #9 & #10 (and possibly more) are on the way!
As of today, we are 5 weeks pregnant! :) Most of you know I love to document things. So you won't be surprised that I had my husband take a "5 week" baby bump photo of me. I'll admit it, I had him retake it so I could suck in a little bit. I look forward to the days when I won't feel the need to suck in because it will be a nice, firm baby bump.
At this stage of the game, there's no baby bump. But even though I don't look very different, there is lots that will be going on this week.
The baby's heart will start to beat and pump blood.
All of the major organs are starting to grow, including the kidneys and liver. The intestines are growing and the appendix is in place.
The neural tube (which connects the brain and spinal cord) will close this week.
The primitive placenta is starting to deliver food and oxygen to the embryo. The yolk sac will soon begin it's full-time gig of delivering nutrients to the placenta. The amniotic sac now houses the embryo.
Pregnancy Symptoms: My sister hasn't noticed any pregnancy symptoms yet. I feel like my boobs are a little sore and feel bloated more than usual - but it may all just be wishful pregnancy symptoms in my head. No morning sickness or anything like that. Overall, I feel pretty normal - besides the crazy feelings of disbelief that "I'm pregnant!!"
Tonight I'd like to shout out a happy birthday to Nicholas' daddy and Owen (aka Captain America). Hope they both had super birthdays. :) I'd also like to request continued prayers for Annsley & Breann, their parents, and their big sister. The next couple of months are going to be physically tough as the little twins do their best to develop and will be emotionally draining on their parents. Sending lots of love and hugs to the Robbins family!
We were so happy that our streak of great news continued with today's lab results. I got the call around 2:30pm - just as I was wrapping up a meeting. I still missed the call and had to listen to the news via a voicemail from McKenzie. I joined my next meeting a little late so I could hear the news.
Even though the feelings of anxiousness have gone done progressively with each beta test, there's always a little bit of fear. So relieved to hear both numbers continued to go up. My sister's number doubled almost exactly within the 48 hour period. Mine was close, but didn't quite double - which she said is fine because they want it to double every 48-72 hours. Yay!!
In 2 weeks and 2 days we will have our back-to-back ultrasounds, which will let us know if the babies have continued to develop and how many we have inside! March 22nd seems so far away, but I'm sure it will be here before we know it. Good night!!!
Good Evening! :) Tomorrow is our 3rd (and final) beta test. We've never experienced the 3rd beta test before, but it definitely doesn't seem quite as scary as the first beta test. We can only hope and pray that both of our numbers continue to rise. In addition to the beta test (that measures our hCG levels) - they will be measuring our progesterone levels. Our plan is to head in early tomorrow morning and the snow is coming down pretty steadily right now, so hopefully the roads won't be too bad. You all know the drill by now - either Nancy or McKenzie will call me with the results in the early afternoon. I am actually going into work tomorrow and have meetings back-to-back from 12:30-4PM in the afternoon - so there's a good chance they will be leaving a voicemail message for me. So I apologize in advance if you all have to wait a little longer to get the results tomorrow. I offered to wait to listen to the voicemail until I got home, but my husband told me to just listen to it at work and tell him. :)
My parents stopped by yesterday afternoon on their way back home - they had been in-town since Sunday. It was nice to be able to hug them after getting such good news! They also brought us a cute little stuffed animal frog and baby. So cute. :) I guess my mom said something to my sister like, "Well, we were all asking God for babies. So I guess maybe he's saying, 'You wanted babies.... I'll give you babies.'" :) Tomorrow won't tell us how many babies - but it will tell us that we still have some babies developing! Good night!!
We are so thrilled to have two pregnancies at the 4 weeks & 4 day mark - providing lots of hope for our family to grow (perhaps even explode) in 2013. :)
I did a little research online to find out what's going on inside:
Our little babies are still embryos at this point (as you can see in the diagram to the left). They are about the size of a poppyseed and kind of resemble a tadpole. ;)
The primitive placenta is working to create a tunnel in the uterine lining to pave the way for blood to bring oxygen/nutrients to/from the baby.
The yolk sac is producing the baby's red blood cells and is responsible for delivering nutrients until the placenta can take over.
I know there are a lot of pregnancy apps out there - but I think I'm going to wait until the ultrasound before I download them to my iPhone. If anyone has any good recommendations - I'm open to your recommendations! :)
Tonight I also wanted to share some of the supportive (and hilarious) texts/emails that we've received - in addition to all of the amazing blog comments. Many of you have been on this emotional roller coaster ride with us for years and were so unbelievably shocked with all of the good news we've been able to share with you lately. Anyway here were some of your responses.... Enjoy! :)
No $%&#ing way. Sorry. #&%* yes. I’m so excited to see two fat Kortlandts! I am so happy. Congrats! I love you all and those little embryos. Morulas rock. Now comes the anticipation over how many you will have! I can’t wait to start calling them the Johnston ‘litter.’ - W&S’ parents via a group text
Aahhhhhh!!!! Will you take another test soon?? That’s the best news!!!! - LNM
That’s amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love you guys!! Finally we hear those words. Praying praying for things to continue going the right direction. – Hi Puppy!
Wow!!! Love you!!! I second that! - JLT
OMG OMG OMG!! I am so happy for you all!! Wish I was there to hug you!! - SW
I can’t stop smiling! I’m so glad grandpa let them keep cooking!! - Sissy
So you’re both pregnant?!?!? I’m in shock. I don’t know what to say. This is amazing!! Now what?!?! I’m so happy for u guys. I’m so glad I didn’t have a speech prepared for the other way!! God I wish I could have witnessed the call. Did you tape it? [I texted her the video of the call.] I think I’ve watched/listened to that video a million times!! I bet u feel like you’re marching on clouds. Drinking wine to celebrate since you can’t. GOD I always wanted to say that!! 36 weeks to go!! - EW over a chain of texts
Beyond thrilled for all of you!! I can’t stop smiling!!! – SG
Can I have one of the extras? - Cousin Greg
OMG!!! Tears of happiness!! I don’t know what to do with myself! I would jump up and down but that’s not allowed!! Congrats a million times over!! How long till they schedule the ultrasounds? - Spare Bear
Wow, wow, wow!! Congratulations, and lots more prayers and positive vibes that the positive news continues. – K-Rob
Wooooohoooo! Yeaaaay!! So happy for you. I’m wiping away my tears of joy now! :) What an incredible time for all of you! So amazing, you have at least 2 miracles! Maybe more! And you get to experience this journey togeterh, such a blessing! Dr. Lindauer is going to be so excited :) love you girls, my heart is so happy for you both! Congratulations! Enjoy every moment! - DW
I’m really happy for you guys. (I’m going to go out on a limb and say Heather and Carly are too, although I haven’t talked to either yet.) Remember it’s about a 1 in 6,500 chances you guys wind up with six babies, according to my amateur calculations. :-) - RP
Woah!!! That is amazing! Wish I could squeeze you! I was just thinking that grandma would think all of us being pregnant at the same time was really “grand.” - My 79’er
So happy to hear your news, what an exciting day! Hope you have a great weekend celebrating! We will continue to keep you in our thoughts and prayers over the coming months! - KG
Well *$%# me running! Great news! Been a long journey for sure, but now there’s two of them. Of course I’m referring to the designated drivers. We need to start planning events immediately. – PG
:) News made my day…. so pumped. – RP
This is so wonderful! I’m sending lots of hugs and love your way! - BW’s Mama
Are you serious?!?!? Omg!! yay! So happy so so so happy! So wait do you have to take another pregnancy test? When? Nm read your blog for the entire update! I seriously can’t explain how incredibly happy I am for you guys. I can’t even imagine how fantabulous you must all feel! Is it ok if we spread the news in Costa Rice? Hehehe! Woooohoooo!!! - Elphie
I am so freaking happy for you two. I will keep praying and thinking high hopes. Yahoo! I cannot tell you how excited I am for you, Joby and your family. I know this is the crucial time and I will continue to pray. Try not to get too drunk and put the pipe down!! - JK
I am so happy for you! I will keep praying for you guys. You deserve this! ;) - SN
PURE TEARS OF JOY!! Sitting in my office crying happiness for you and Joby and your babies. You’re pregnant!!! OMG!! I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it!!! - LP
No words can express how I feel for you both right now. I love you so much and congrats – DB
I literally have tears of joy for you right now. I’m so happy and excited for you guys. We love you and this miracle is such a blessing. Can’t wait to talk to you and share the excitement. Share my congrats to your sis too!! - BG
I’m soooooo happy for you! – J-Lo
YAY!!!! Love love love love to you guys! - AS
Sooooooo happy for you all!! Xoxoxoxoxoxo – ML
Omg, I am balling. Did you video tape it? I can’t believe how much I’m crying right now. I literally jumped up and down screaming OMG and started crying. God is good. This is absolutely fantastic. Congrats mom and dad! I can’t wait to hug you guys. – BG
Yay!! So so so happy for you guys! Hugs to all of you!! Cannot wait to spoil these babies rotten! – TF
Congrats!!! - AS
OMG!!! Of course it works that way. Only one a piece??? – LK
I just read your blog entry for today and cried my eyes out. I know it’s early and you’re being cautious but I am SO HAPPY for you all! Yay for great news!! - MK
So happy to see you got some good news today :) - LS
ALSO I JUST READ YOUR BLOG! HOORAY!!!!! Love you guys! - EM
Oh my – that is a little crazy but so exciting! – MK
I’m tellin u – I had a feeling – I really did have a feeling it was going to work for her this time. – TK
Congrats on the double great news!! I have been happy all day about this!! - UB
I had to text you and tell you how unbelievable excited I am for all of you. This is the best news ever and you 2 are the most deserving people I know for this excellent news. Prayers abound are being said for all of you. Love ya! - EM
Just wanted to tell you girls you’re included in our prayers every night! Ella said “show em mom” lol – TK (along with super cute picture of Ella)
Congratulations ladies! So excited over here! - JS
So I’m reading up on my favorite blog as I watch 4 wk old Rhetta Grace and am screaming and shedding tears of joy! Congratufreakinglations!! I am beyond happy for you all! – Biz
2, 4, 6, 8 who do we appreciates? Seestas who impregnante!!! – LB
My husband and I got married in 2005 and tried to start our family back in January 2008. We started our 1st round of in-vitro in December 2010 - which is when this blog was started. Despite a near perfect cycle, it resulted in a negative pregnancy test in February 2011. We were fortunate to get 6 extra embryos from that cycle that were frozen. In March 2011 we started a Frozen Embryo Transfer cycle. Despite another great cycle (on paper), all 6 of our frozen embryos had to be thawed to get 2 good ones for transfer - which failed to result in a pregnancy. In 2012, we took the first half of the year off and then tried a couple rounds of IUI with and without fertility shots - still no baby. In 2013, we did our 2nd round of in-vitro with my sister offering to be our gestational carrier. We ended up transferring 2 embryos into each of us and were blessed to welcome 4 babies in October 2013.