Hydrops Fetalis

We went to our MFM appt at Week 10 for a followup appt from our previous week appt to confirm what kind of twins we will be having. 

During the scan, the ultrasound tech was extremely quiet and didn’t say a word. After when she was done with the scan, she left the room to talk to our doctor. The doctor came into the room after their discussion to do a few more scan shots of the twins and determined that indeed we were going to have mono mono twins since they can’t locate the membrane. As we were wrapping up our scan he mentioned that he was wanted to discuss something with us.

After I got dressed, Johnny and I met our doctor in an office. It took him awhile to get into the room - approx 15 mins. When he entered he sat down and I had a gut feeling that he was going to deliver us some bad news. 

When our MFM doctor came into the room, he sat down and told us that one of our twin babies had hydrops. 

What is hydrops fetalis?

Hydrops fetalis is a condition in the fetuscharacterized by an accumulation of fluid, or edema, in at least two fetal compartments.^[

When our doctor told us the news we were just shocked and speechless. He continued to talk about the future medical plans for the twins and the pro/cons on this pregnancy. There was sooo much information to process that i couldn’t express my feelings.

Here were the options our MFM doctor told us.

1. Maybe the twin with hydrops will demise in the next couple of weeks
2. Go to UCSF for an intervention procedure at 17 weeks
3. Go to Washington Hospital/UCSF clinic for a Chromosome testing to test the placenta for noonan syndrome.
4. Just terminate the pregnancy. 

When we left the doctor’s office, I broke down in the garage area. I felt so helpless and this journey we have been wanting to start a family is about to end due to the news we got about one of the twins and their hydrops conditions.

What????? Twins???

On January 9th, I had a followup appt with my fertility doctor. It was our last appointment together and he wanted to do the last scan at the Fremont Location so we can get some 3D images of our child.

At the beginning of our scan, he gave us some unexpecting news about our child. He told us that we were having twins. My husband was staying behind our doctor and he just look shocked. I questioned our doctor on how this could’ve happened since we only had one embryo. He said that there are cases like our where the embryo actually splits after implantation but that only happens less than 3%. 

With concerns, he quickly went to the MFM (maternal fetal medicine) to book us an appt so we can see if the twins are going to be mono mono twins (where the twins are sharing the same placenta and anomatic sac) or conjoined twins.

During the MFM appt, the ultrasound tech was able to do a stress test with the babies to see if they were conjoined. It was confirmed that they were not conjoined because one of the babies actually flipped. 

The mfm doctor wanted to see me the next following week. 

Let’s see what is cooking

I had my first couple of ultra with the fertility doctor prior to Christmas. It was very exciting time for my husband and I. We heard the first heartbeat at our first scan.

These pictures below is from the 2nd ultrasound.

(Temporary Backup) My Fertility Journey

My husband and I been married for over 11 years and we are currently expecting with our first pregnancy. We found out on late November that we were expecting. The journey was long especially with our fertility treatment process. It started 6 years ago with many failed attempts of IUI and this pass June we decided to do our first round of IVF. (Details below)

• We had our first consult with our fertility doctor (Dr. Dobson from Palo Alto Medical Foundation - highly recommended) in Jan 2018. 
• Had our medical records and exams for IVF preparation from Feb thru Apr 2018
• Was going to start IVF process in Jun 2018, but we had to postpone due to a family emergency (my father in law passed away)
• IVF resumes in July 2018 with an egg retrieval procedure scheduled in Aug 2018.
• Egg retrieval was a success in Aug 2018. We were able to harvest 22 follicles. They were able to fertilized 17 follicles and 12 survived the 24 hours process. At the end of the 5 day blastyst, we only had one embryo that survived. We sent the one embryo for PSG so we know the condition/quality of the embryo. 
• We got the results in Sept 2018 that our embryo was a normal embryo and it was a boy embryo. 
• On Nov 21st (same day as my mom’s passing date and my brother’s bday), our embryo was implanted. 
• On Nov 30th, I went into the fertility lab to do my blood test and it turned out it was positive. 

Journey of P90x - Week 1

Today I decided to start my P90x day 1 experience. The program I chose was the Lean program so it is a little easier. My husband went through the classic program a couple of months ago and now is starting his second set.

Start Weight: 103.7lbs
Day 1 - Core Synergy
Day 2 - Cardio X
Day 3 - Arms & Back + Ab Ripper X
Day 4 - Cardio X
Day 5 - Legs & Back (Only 30 Mins)
Day 6 - Legs & Back + Ab Ripper X
Day 7 - Kenpo or Cardio X

Overall - the work outs are not that bad. You just need to get use to the routine. Drink lots of water and you will need to a recovery drink. My hubbie and I are taking a protein drink (chocolate flavored) with Glutamine & BCAA powder.

Week 1 Ending Weight: 102.4lbs

Shutdown Again

Sooo sad... This is my last shutdown week for awhile. Techincally it's not really my shutdown because I took at 10% pay cut due to work since I ran out of vacation hours to cover for my furloughs.

This week I'm going to try to finish up my mini projects at work - like finishing the backlog analysis for the service segments (FUN) and try to finish up all the write up for the wedding business I'm starting up on the side.

Junior's 2nd Visit to the Vet

This past Friday, we took Junior to his 2nd vet visit. It was time for him to get his rabies shot. So we took him to this local clinic that was recommended by this pet nutritionist we met over at Petsmart's. The clinic was only 5 mins away from our house and it was definitely cheaper than normal vets. But i have to admit, it was pretty dirty. It run by a chinese couple and people talk good things about them.

Overall the wait was about an hour and he got two shots since he was an indoor cat. After the shot and I got home from dinner with Audrey, Junior wasn't feeling too good.. Poor thing was just not himself. He wasn't eating and he even refused his can food. He was having side effects from the rabies shot. All he wanted to do was left alone. He didn't want his treat either. That was a surprise to me.

It took about 24 hours for him to recover from the shot. The next morning he was still out of it but at least took some treats. I also had to hand feed food to him since he wasn't eating.

Yesterday - we had a mini July 4th BBQ since Tuan was visiting from Texas. I baked chocolate cupcakes and marinated some chicken. We only had a couple of friends over and just stuffed us with food and drinks.

I fell asleep pretty early because I woke up early because I was worried about Junior. It was nice to have him sleep with us yesterday night and having him act like his normal self.