WEEK 6

How your baby's growing:

This week's major developments: The nose, mouth, and ears that you'll spend so much time kissing in eight months are beginning to take shape. If you could see into your uterus, you'd find an oversize head and dark spots where your baby's eyes and nostrils are starting to form. His emerging ears are marked by small depressions on the sides of the head, and his arms and legs by protruding buds. His heart is beating about 100 to 160 times a minute — almost twice as fast as yours — and blood is beginning to course through his body. His intestines are developing, and the bud of tissue that will give rise to his lungs has appeared. His pituitary gland is forming, as are the rest of his brain, muscles, and bones. Right now, your baby is a quarter of an inch long, about the size of a lentil.

See what's going on in your uterus this week.

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

You may find yourself developing a bit of a split personality — feeling moody one day and joyful the next. Unsettling as this is (especially if you pride yourself on being in control), what you're going through is normal. Ricocheting emotions are caused partly by fluctuating hormones. But hormones aside, your life is about to change in a big way — and who wouldn't feel emotional about that?

Surprising Facts: Could it be twins?

Sure, twins run in families and you're more likely to be carrying multiples if you've undergone fertility treatments, but any woman can become pregnant with more than one baby. Could you be one of them?
Your odds of carrying twins

• Overall, about one in 31 births (greater than 3 percent) are twin births. But your chances of having twins are much less — 1 in 89 — if you conceive without medical assistance. The overall odds of bearing triplets or higher-order multiples is about 1 in 565.
• Identical twins usually happen by chance. Your likelihood of having identical, or monozygotic, twins (when one fertilized egg divides in half) is about 1 in 250.
• A number of factors affect your odds of having fraternal twins or higher-order multiples. Fertility treatments dramatically increase your odds. On average, 20 to 25 percent of women who take fertility drugs or undergo in vitro fertilization or other assisted reproductive techniques end up carrying more than one baby.

Other factors that influence the likelihood of having fraternal twins

• Once you have a set of fraternal twins, you're twice as likely to have another set in a future pregnancy.
• Fraternal twins run in families, so if you're a twin or related to twins, you're more likely to have a set yourself. Your partner's family history doesn't appear to affect your odds of having twins.
• The older you are, the greater your chances of having naturally occurring fraternal twins or higher-order multiples. Hormonal changes in older women are a likely cause.
• Fraternal twins are more common than average in African Americans and less common in Hispanics and Asians.
• The more pregnancies you've had, the greater your chances of having twins.
• Twins are more common in large and tall women than in small women.

Video

Inside pregnancy: Early fetal development

A 3D animated look at development of the embryo, which quickly develops from a single cell to several million cells all working together.

When you'll find out whether you're carrying twins
These days, women typically discover they're having more than one baby during an ultrasound, often in the first trimester. If you opt for first-trimester genetic screening, you'll have an ultrasound between 11 and 13 weeks. If you're pregnant as a result of a fertility treatment, you'll probably have an earlier ultrasound, usually within the first eight weeks to count the number of embryos that have implanted. Your practitioner also will recommend an ultrasound if your uterus is larger than would be expected given the number of weeks since your last period. Ultrasound is almost foolproof at revealing multiple pregnancies, particularly after six to eight weeks. However, the more babies you're carrying, the easier it is for one to get overlooked.

Next appointment...

So we went back to the doctor's office to double check everything. This time hubby came with me. I have been having issues with morning sickness. Actually---it's all day sickness.  At least 2-3 times a day I find myself in the bathroom.  It has not been fun or easy.  I try and try so hard to eat.  But I find food so nasty. The smell, the look....everything about it. I just can't handle it. And when I finally do get an appetite, I end up throwing it all back up. 

The appointment went well.  The ultrasound showed that the third sac did not grow, and there was no heartbeat or anything in sac 3.  I had a feeling that this was the case.  I was really hoping that only two were growing---and I think the guys were too.  

Week 5

At this point, it really is starting to get real that we are pregnant. Of course, this is the time when we lost the last pregnancy. I am fearful, worried that anything could happen again this time.   I had a scheduled doctor's appointment and ultrasound to make sure everything was okay, since this was the time frame that we lost the last pregnancy. So the doctors really want to make sure that everything is good.

Laying on that ultrasound table, my thoughts rushed through my mind.  Twins---it has to be. I just knew that there were more than one in there. My stomach is in knots.  My symptoms are way more than I have ever dealt with in any of my previous pregnancies. 

 

The ultrasound tech is flying through the ultrasound, doing measurements.  And sure enough---SHE FOUND TWO!!!  I was so excited and nervous at the same time.  But then she got quiet and said she had to get the doctor because she wasn't sure what to make of something. So they had the OB come in and go through the same things again.  By this time, I was a little tired of having the weinie wand moving around up there....but what she said next would change the way I seen everything----THEY FOUND ANOTHER SAC.  Triplets. 

You could hear a pin drop. I just started laughing.  And told the nurse--"and you thought nothing exciting would show on here" LOL

So she gave me some pictures---and told me to come back in a week to recheck everything.  I left there, smiling....shaking...excited and yet scared.  TRIPLETS....what the heck was I gonna do??

I went home and emailed the guys. They were nervous, excited, scared and happy. They have always wanted two children...but three? The next week took over my life. I thought about everything, from how I was going to be, to how I was going to carry three. We were all very cautious. But at the same time, so freaking excited that FINALLY....it had worked.  My guys were going to be daddies in 2012.

How your baby's growing:

Deep in your uterus your embryo is growing at a furious pace. At this point, he's about the size of a sesame seed, and he looks more like a tiny tadpole than a human. He's now made up of three layers — the ectoderm, the mesoderm, and the endoderm — which will later form all of his organs and tissues.
The neural tube — from which your baby's brain, spinal cord, nerves, and backbone will sprout — is starting to develop in the top layer, called the ectoderm. This layer will also give rise to his skin, hair, nails, mammary and sweat glands, and tooth enamel.
His heart and circulatory system begin to form in the middle layer, or mesoderm. (This week, in fact, his tiny heart begins to divide into chambers and beat and pump blood.) The mesoderm will also form your baby's muscles, cartilage, bone, and subcutaneous (under skin) tissue.
The third layer, or endoderm, will house his lungs, intestines, and rudimentary urinary system, as well as his thyroid, liver, and pancreas. In the meantime, the primitive placenta and umbilical cord, which deliver nourishment and oxygen to your baby, are already on the job.
See what's going on in your uterus this week.
Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing 

You may notice some pregnancy-related discomforts already. Many women report sore breasts, fatigue, and frequent urination starting in the early weeks. You may also have nausea, though it's more likely to show up in the coming weeks.

The outside world won't see any sign of the dramatic developments taking place inside you — except that you're turning down that glass of wine with dinner, perhaps. It's important to avoid alcohol throughout your pregnancy since no one knows exactly how much — or how little — alcohol can harm a developing baby.
You'll also want to continue or start an exercise routine. Exercise helps you develop the strength and endurance you'll need to manage the extra weight you'll be carrying. It may help prevent some of the aches and pains of pregnancy, and many women find that it's a great stress-reducer. Exercise can also help you get ready for the physical rigors of labor.
Finally, it's easier to bounce back after you give birth if you've continued some form of exercise throughout pregnancy. Choose a safe, moderately vigorous activity you enjoy. Walking and swimming are fine choices for pregnant women.