Category Archives: Pregnancy

Second Trimester Recap

What to Expect and my Pregnancy Calendar app let me know that second trimester included weeks 14 to 26. We hit week 14 on February 7th, which was the same day we got the key’s to our new house!

Because Mike wasn’t moving out to Port Alberni until early March he came out to Vancouver Island to visit for the Family Day long weekend. We booked a room at Blackrock Oceanfront Resort and did a pregnancy announcement photoshoot! Before we headed out to Ucluelet though I brought Mike around to our different office locations and introduced him as he would also be working for the Coulson Group when he arrived later in March. We actually had the opportunity to tell my boss that we were pregnant together which was pretty special.

I only had to manage another month on my own before Mike arrived with the pups on March 13 which was the start of week 19 for us. I was barely showing at week 15 and then the belly really started growing around 20 / 21 weeks. By week 26 you could have mistaken me for a full-term singleton pregnancy.

Week 15 vs. 26

Most of the symptoms from the first trimester went away except for insomnia and heartburn. And insomnia all but disappeared later into the second trimester. Once Mike arrived I started sleeping well again, which was such a relief. So that just left me with lots of heartburn to contend with. Thankfully it usually just bothers me in the evening so I don’t have to worry about it during the workday.

The Twins First Flight

The babes got their first chance at air travel during the second semester! I flew to Sacramento at the beginning of March for the North American Aerial Firefighting Show and I got to go up in my first helicopter ride for an air to air photo shoot. I had a few concerns about the noise in the helicopter as we were going to be flying with the door off (so the photographer could snag amazing shots such as the one below). However, I was assured that one of our C-130 pilots has flown that aircraft through 2 pregnancies and it was even louder than a helicopter. I had the chance to speak with her and her firstborn son’s hearing tested fine upon birth which made me feel so much better.

COVID

Mike, the pups, and the bus arrived on March 13th and we went into COVID physical distancing practices starting the following week. I started working from home as of Monday, March 16. This was a blessing in disguise. As my body started to grow I slowly started growing out of all of my clothes. Bras started hurting so I would pretty much spend the day braless unless I had a zoom call. Even comfy pants that fit were unconformable so my uniform of choice became flowy Bali pants.

Renting Maternity Clothes

Before COVID hit I had started a monthly rental box with the Sprout Collection allowing me to rent maternity pieces perfect for the office. We returned back to work as of May 11 so I was able to quickly start up my monthly rental box again. I had also purchased 2 pairs of maternity jeans after trying one out in a previous month’s rental box. So those and my Lululemon Align tights have been the only pair of pants I can wear out in public.

I’ve tried to wear a few of my own dresses but they just weren’t built for a twin pregnancy belly so thankfully the Sprout dresses are stretchy. I’m wearing a size medium in most of the dresses and everything is fitting and accentuating the curves quite nicely!

I think one of the hardest parts about being pregnant during these pandemic times is having to go to appointments alone. Mike is so excited to become a dad and so present in being there for everything that it’s been a bit disheartening to go to ultrasounds or midwife appointments alone.

Gender Reveal

And last but not least, the most fun was had week 24 of our second trimester when we finally were able to learn of the babies’ sexes for our virtual gender reveal! We are so excited to be having a boy and a girl!

Gender Reveal

Two trimesters down! One to go!

Hosting a Virtual Baby Shower

Since we moved across the country away from our friends and family and have scattered loved ones around the world, we thought we’d host a virtual baby shower to gather everyone together!

Virtual Baby Shower

We set up a laptop in our skoolie since we had the cables to connect it to the TV in there. We grabbed beverages for us, beer for Mike and Kombucha & La Croix for me! And loaded the pubs into the skoolie 2 Saturdays in a row.

We decided to host 2 showers, one for our friends and one for our families. This was to facilitate conversation and ensure there weren’t too many people trying to talk at once. I made invitations in Canva and we sent out an email to each set of invites about a month in advance so hopefully, everyone could find time in their schedules to hang out on zoom with us.

I had thought about playing 2 games. A baby mad lib game, which we ended up playing with our families and was quite cute. And I wanted to play guess that nursery rhyme but we spent so much chatting with everyone we didn’t end up playing it.

I thought I’d make it fun by suggesting everyone show up in an 80s outfit since Mike and I were born in the 80s. We had some fabulous outfits, wigs and blue eyeshadow makeup make its appearance.

Mike and I put together some fun outfits. Sequinned pants, a tie-dye shirt for Mike and pink leggings, and a red bodysuit with a side ponytail for me!

We sent out our registry to everyone in the hopes of getting help getting ready for the kids. We also asked our friends and families if they’d send us their favourite childhood book instead of a card so we amassed a beautiful library!

I cannot wait to read to our babes!

Pregnancy Podcasts

The moment we found out we were pregnant I immediately did a search on my podcast app for pregnancy podcasts and then the minute we found out we were pregnant with twins I did the same search but for twin focused podcasts. Here are my top 6 podcasts that I’ve been listening too for education.

Top 4 Pregnancy Podcasts

40 Weeks – a week by week guide that provides you with a quick overview of what to expect for the week and for your babe!

Pregnancy Confidential – a week by week guide hosted by Parents magazine with chatty anecdotes from the hosts. While I don’t love their world view’s I find it helpful to understand how many women view pregnancy and birth.

Dr. Berlin’s Informed Pregnancy – an interview focused show with health practitioners to real birth stories.

Healthy Births Happy Babies – an interview focused show with health practitioners.

Top 2 Twin Podcasts

Twin Talks – a round table chat format around topics from birth to raising twins.

Twiniversity – I follow this account on Instagram and its chalked full of knowledge, I’m not always a huge fan of the podcast as I struggle with the host’s strong New York accent but love the content.

Twin Podcasts

We Conceived by IUI

Disclaimer: If you are in the midst of trying to conceive and reading about pregnancy could be triggering I wanted to send you love and a warning about the content of this post before you embark on reading it.

We got pregnant via turkey baster (just kidding, but not really). This is our story about how we conceived via IUI (Intrauterine Insemination).

My husband, Mike asked me if I was going to share that we got pregnant via IUI and I said, “of course”. Our fertility journey has been so private, that I’m ready to share and talk about all aspects of getting pregnant. I’ve been quiet about it for so long I’m ready to talk!

So I shared two days ago that I have a whisper of PCOS. My LH or luteinizing hormone is higher than my FSH or follicle-stimulating hormone at the beginning of my cycle and throughout. Which in simple terms means, my body never really knew when I was ovulating.

I literally tried every gadget on the market to try and figure out when I was ovulating. I’d pee on ovulation strips for an entire month and it would tell me I was ovulating the entire month because of my high LH. I bought the Natural Cycles thermometer and ended up throwing it out in frustration after a year of trying. Also, the thermometer would beep loudly every morning and it would disturb Mike who would sometimes sleep in later than me. I also bought the Ava Bracelet which I’m actually still using to track my pregnancy because it tracks way more than just your basal body temperature. But in the end, none were able to predict ovulation because my hormones were so confused.

See in a “normal” female cycle your FSH is higher at the beginning of your cycle to develop follicles (hopefully containing an egg) on your ovaries. During the ovulation phase, your LH hormone would then spike and signal to your ovaries to release an egg. Since my LH hormone was higher at the beginning of my cycle an IUI cycle with hormone injections meant we were able to simulate a normal cycle for my body through synthetic hormones.

Did I want to conceive “naturally”? Of course!

I had started seeing a fertility naturopath around the same time as all the fertility testing started and had a great protocol. I was taking specific supplements to help regulate my hormones. I was doing weekly acupuncture appointments. I was working at reducing my stress at work. But I was informed that I would have to be patient and wait at least 6 months to see if it would work. And after trying for a year and a half and being conscious of my age, I was ok proceeding with fertility treatments that would not have harmful side effects on my body vs. waiting to see if my body could re-regulate.

So after hoping we had conceived naturally in October and feeling the disappointment come on as waves of my period cramps started, my husband and I had to make a rush decision if we’d start an IUI cycle that month. It was a rush because if you decided to start a cycle you had to call on day 1 of your period. So on day 1 of my period on November 2nd, I wiped tears from my eyes and I called the Ottawa Fertility Centre and began my first IUI cycle. We also applied for government funding for an IVF cycle at the same time. I was prescribed FSH injections (that are normally used for IVF). These started at approx day 6 of a cycle. Near the end of my follicular cycle, I went in for daily ultrasounds to see how the follicles were growing. Nearing the end of my follicular cycle I had developed 2 large follicles that were ideal for IUI. I was then prescribed an injection that would trigger ovulation. I was instructed to take it at 11 pm on a Friday night and then it was timed that the insemination would happen at 11 am on a Sunday morning.

Mike and I went in together for the procedure (cause I would like my husband to be there at the time of “conception”) and he held my hand throughout the procedure. It was a really easy procedure. A nurse inserts a catheter, takes your partner’s washed sperm and injects it. You then have to lie there for a few mins and are sent on your way. I even went on a hike later that day with my friend Susy. We were also told to have sex that day as well so of course, we indulged (TMI?). I was also then prescribed progesterone suppositories. I actually took 3 rounds to safeguard against miscarriage (you normally only take one box – 1 round).

So at the end of the day, our procedure was extremely successful. We are extremely lucky and know it. Both follicles that developed were fertilized (I don’t know why typing that makes me giggle). Also, at the end of the day, we actually have no idea if the pregnancy resulted from IUI or natural sex.

And last but not least, we’ve been joking around that we bought one baby and got one free. LOL. They literally are a BOGO. We are also part of the 15% that conceive twins from an IUI procedure so how bout them odds.

If you have any questions about what an IUI is like I’d be more than happy to answer them in the comments!

We’re Expecting… TWINS!

Disclaimer: If you are in the midst of trying to conceive and reading about pregnancy could be triggering I wanted to send you love and a warning about the content of this post before you embark on reading it.

December was quite a month for us. On December 1st, I signed a contract for a new job in Port Alberni, BC and on December 4th, we found out we were pregnant! Cue excitement!

We went away for Christmas for a week and because I was moving out to Vancouver Island on January 1st, we had an ultrasound scheduled on December 20th before we left on our Christmas holiday. To our surprise with a vaginal ultrasound wand inside me (enjoy that picture), we found out there was not one but two healthy babies growing inside me! Cue overwhelm!

Twin Ultrasound

The ultrasound technician asked “how do you feel about multiples?” as two amniotic sacs with little lima beans inside them appeared on the screen. I started laughing and crying all at once and the words “holy shit” flew out of my mouth. The technician handed me a tissue and Mike grabbed my hand as fast as he could.

I was 7 weeks pregnant at the time so it was still early for an ultrasound but they both measured to 7 weeks and we saw 2 hearts pumping. And their heartbeats were perfectly healthy. It was an incredible feeling of overwhelm and excitement.

Ok so let me backtrack to simply the pregnancy excitement before we get all caught up in twin talk.

Finding Out Were Pregnant

Mike and I have known since we met that we wanted to start a family. To become parents has been one of our core values that brought us together and I’m pretty sure we talked about having a family during the first week we started talking to each other. We said we’d start trying the minute we got married so a honeymoon baby had been a huge hope for us.

Around August of 2019 (after a year of trying), we were told about a new family doctor taking patients. Needless to say, our previous one was just a nightmare. We had been trying to conceive for over a year at this point so our former family doctor had started to order rounds of fertility testing.

I’ll share more in another blog post about what we discovered. While I know a year of infertility may seem like a short amount of time for some, for us and for me especially, it was difficult. I’m 37 years old, so my age had started to loom over me. We also want 2 kids so I was cognisant of conceiving as early as possible. Every month, I would get my hopes up, I would track my cycles, we would have sex on all the right days and times. I would even let go of expectations to get pregnant some months and just have fun with life. I would do everything in my power to be healthy for pregnancy from giving up alcohol pretty much the minute we started trying to conceive, to giving up coffee around September to do everything I could to get my body ready. What I now understand about an infertility journey is it’s truly one of the loneliest paths to walk on if you choose to keep it private. AND we had decided to keep it private. I very well could have talked about it publicly as my employer at the time was aware we were trying. But it just felt like something I didn’t want to share with the world. I did share with a few key friends how I was struggling and got just the right friend support I needed.

However, every month when my period came I would find myself experiencing pure grief, my body racked with sobs. Sometimes hiding in the work bathroom overcome with sadness, or wrapped in Mike’s arms at home just letting myself cry. Always wondering what I could have done differently. I would have friends or acquaintances say “it happens when you stop trying!” I equate that statement to someone in a relationship saying to the single girl “you’ll find your person when you stop looking.” And that’s all well and good but you have to date to find your person and you literally have to have sex to have a baby so you literally need to “try”. To this day, you’ll never find me saying “it happens when you stop trying!” to another human being! Layer on hormonal imbalances (more on that later) that were potentially the culprit of our “unexplained fertility” and I felt at a loss for what to do.

We were referred to the Ottawa Fertility Clinic and more tests ensued. For months I would spend mornings getting my blood drawn or having ultrasounds and then getting to work before anyone else and trying not to worry. According to the clinic, there was literally nothing wrong with me. The one hormonal imbalance, which my naturopath explained to me, I had to urge the Fertility Clinic to pay attention to. I’ll share more about the hormonal imbalances that were discovered which led them to suggest we try a round of IUI and apply for funded government IVF treatment (waiting times were a year and three months). We opted for IUI so I’ll share in another blog post our IUI experience. But back to the fun part of announcing our pregnancy to our family!

Telling Our Parents

The Baldwins

My mom was aware of what was happening. I had confided in her that we were going in for an IUI procedure in November and when I didn’t call her crying with the appearance of another period I think she figured out what was going on. My mom was performing in her church choir at the beginning of December so we headed out to the performance and then went back to their house for dinner. I used a silver paint pen to write “Grandma & Grandpa Est. Aug 2020” on a glass ornament and put it on their tree before they got home. When they walked in the door I told them “We finished decorating our tree and had way too many ornaments so we brought you one of ours”. My dad walked over to the tree and read Grandma and Grandpa and said: “that’s nice”. See, we call them that with the dogs so I think he just thought we were referring to the puppies.

I told him to go back and read it again, but because I used a silver pen he couldn’t read the August part. So I read it out loud saying “Est August 2020” and that’s when he said “REALLY?” and teared up. My mom was already hugging me with this look on her face like she already knew.

The Pineaults

Mike put together a much more elaborate scenario for telling his parents. He bought shirts for his parents that read “promoted to Grandma” “promoted to Grandpa” and “Auntie” for his sister. He lay them out on our hotel room bed (writing face down) with a pair of dollar store mittens and a Werther’s on top of them. We also bought lottery tickets that read “Winner Baby Pineault Aug 2020” in the last scratch-off square.

We went out to dinner on our first night at the resort and then Mike announced he had Christmas gifts for everyone to use while on vacation. So we brought everyone back to our room and blindfolded them. From there we instructed them they’d have to put on the shirts, then the mittens, open the Werther’s and then scratch lottery tickets. We didn’t really think about the fact that they wouldn’t all go at the same speed so we kept yelling at his mom or dad to skip a step so they would all scratch the lottery tickets all at once. Rebecca (Mike’s sister) was the first to figure it out. She read the winning lottery ticket square out loud, screamed, threw her mitts off and jumped on top of me getting her earring stuck in my shirt in the process. Mike’s mom proceeded to stand there and cry and Mike’s dad gave him a big hug while Mike helped extricate his sister’s earring from my shirt!

Twins Announcement

So on December 20th after our ultrasound, we were having dinner over at my parent’s place. We showed them the ultrasound picture of Baby A and Baby B (first picture in this blog post). My mom clued in right away. I had to say we saw their heartbeats today and then my dad’s eyes went wide and he looked a little shocked.

After telling Mike’s parents we were pregnant, Mike put a picture of Baby A in a Christmas card for his mom and a picture of Baby B in a Christmas card for his dad. When they opened the cards, we waited a few seconds and said “What? You can’t tell your grandchildren apart?” No one figured it out so Mike repeated: “How come you can’t tell your grandchildren apart?” Cue more tears from Mike’s mom and Mike’s dad looking as shocked as mine did.

This past weekend, Mike flew to Vancouver Island to visit (he’s not moving out here until March). We booked a stay at Black Rock Resort and a photographer, Tashia Potter, for a pregnancy announcement on social media (here’s a link to the IG post).

Robyn & Mike announcing they are pregnant with twins!

We are so happy with how some of the shots turned out!

Stay tuned for a post about my hormones and our IUI experience if you’re curious to know more.