p/g w/ twins at 8W, overwhelmed and still having ovarian cramping?

[jen16]

hi, all,

i'm p/g with twins and feeling a lot of pain around my ovaries--wondering if anyone else is feeling this way or did feel this way. i went thru IVF and had 19 eggs retrieved, so i know my ovaries were really stimulated. the pain seems worse when my bladder is full or just emptied. it seems it increases sometimes when i lie on my right side (my left ovary aches then?).

anyone else had this experience? i want to be simply happy after all these years TTC #2, but i'm having a hard time with this pregnancy--all day m/s that gets worse in the afternoons, m/s before/after i eat, anxiety over how i'm going to take care of twins, etc. and this ovary pain just adds to the discomfort.
any advice??

thanks,
jen

[BC-LittleaBige]

I had pain in my ovaries from about weeks 7-10 of my twin pregnancy. My pain seemed to be worse on my right side though. It was a dull shooting pain with cramping if that makes any sense. From what I remember my RE told me it was perfectly normal. If it would make you feel better call your DR. and they should be able to put your mind at ease. Congrats on the twins!! So far, raising them has not been half as bad as people told me it would be. Actually, to me it has been pure joy doing everything for them!!

Christi

[momheather2007]

My ovaries stayed swollen and sore for a while after IVF, and I also have 19 eggs retreived. I'm not sure how long I stayed sore, but it was longer than I expected. So hang in there! I got lucky with m/s and hope you start feeling better soon. I've heard that smelling mint can help.

Congrats on the twins!

[BeccaMichelle]

I felt the same exact way you did when I was 8 weeks. Bad m/s that lasted all day, pain in ovaries, etc. I had IVF too and had 17 eggs retrieved and also had a touch of ohss so my ovaries were very swollen and have just recently started going down. You could have cysts from the IVF too. I did. They should go away on their own. Tylonal helps a little. If it's really bad pain, call your doctor and tell him you think you have something wrong with your ovary. They will have you do an u/s likely. As for the m/s, I take zofran which works very fast and is safe during pg. I am a whole different person when I take those which is everyday. I am still getting bad m/s where I'm really sick in the mornings early. I take half a zofran if it's really bad which it always is. The only thing about zofran is that it causes constipation which stinks too. The lesser of two evils. There is another nausea medicaton I forget what it's called that causes drowsiness but not constipation. I may switch to that. I'm hoping my m/s stops since I'm 13 weeks now. I hope you feel better soon. Try to ask your doc for a m/s pill so you can function. They'd rather you be able to keep food down than get sick all day. And get that ovary checked for cysts. Good luck! Join us in the due in 08 board.

congrats on your pg!! This is my first one and it is hard but I think it will get better soon. Just take it easy and hang in there. We're all here for you!
Becca

[jen16]

thanks, everyone, for your responses! i'm still not feeling very good, but i think i'm okay--not getting sick, just feeling nauseous all the time, so i don't know if it warrants getting the meds. what do you think?

i did join the due in 08 board, so i check in there periodically. anyone have any advice on how to eat during these first months? i've read it's so important to gain weight (for each baby to have a good birth weight), and i just don't know what a good diet means if i have indigestion and can't do citrus much and don't feel up to that many veggies. i eat meat, carbs, some veggies, soymilk, cereal. soymilk and cereal seems to be the easiest thing on my stomach. any suggestions? i'm not into sweets, so that isn't a problem. what are some good snacks/dinners/etc that you all have done well with?

thanks so much!

jen

[momheather2007]

Jen, just get by on what you can while you are feeling sick. I was lucky not to have serious m/s, just nausea if I didn't eat regularly. I ate a lot of plain Cheerios and saltines. Look for sources of protein that you can stomach. Whole grain breads or enhanced pasta (I like Barilla plus) are good, as is cottage cheese. I didn't want anything very sweet or even very flavorful those first weeks. Hopefully the sickness won't last much longer and then you can start to get serious about the weight gain. I started craving all kinds of fresh fruits and vegetables, which I considered a blessing and enjoyed all summer. Carnation instant breakfasts, ensure, or boost shakes are an easy way to get some protein and a balance of vitamins.

I think you said elsewhere that you have read Dr. Luke's book. I used that as a guide, but I have never been able to eat as much as she recommended and didn't let that bother me. Now I am having trouble fitting very much into my squished stomach and am grateful I followed her advice to gain weight early so I know I have food storage for the babies.

[Statlady]

I'm not sure if this will help, but I figured I'd share my experience (plus, I'm bored). I had horrible OHSS with my twin pregnancy. I was in pretty much constant intense pain from conception until about week 15 . . . . I was continuously on Vicoden that whole time and went to the ER for pain 3 times! There was a time when the pain was so bad that I couldn't get up off the recliner sofa without help and peeing made me cry every time. I even made DH bring me a bed pan several times. I guess my point here is that it could be WAY worse for you! That's not to belittle the difficulties you're having, of course.

I was lucky (??) enough not to have very bad m/s. I did, however, have almost no appetite for the first 12 weeks or so. I think I only gained 7lbs in my first trimester. I more than made up for it later, though, gaining 65lbs in total. I agree with what others have said about just eating what you can eat and not worrying too much about nutrition. There will be time for that when the m/s goes away (hopefully). Personally, I couldn't even take my vitamins most days because my gag reflex was so bad.

I was able to eat more starting at about week 16. I drank a lot of Boost and Ensure to get calories and nutrition. I also drank a lot of Gatorade to stay hydrated. It's kind of funny--I ate extremely healthfully before getting pregnant and then when I was pregnant, I ate like a picky 10-year-old. I don't think I ate veggies more than twice during the entire pregnancy. I got a fair amount of nausea again during my 3rd trimester and the only thing I could eat some days was Cheetos! One day I ate an entire bag myself! Isn't that horrible? I joke that my babies are made of Gatorade, Mac & Cheese, and Cheetos!

[KoKo]

I dont' remember the ovarian pain, but it's probably normal. You're doing all kinds of growing and stretching in there.

As far as feeling overwhelmed, YES YES YES! At that point in the pregnancy I was worried sick all the time - how would we afford to raise them, how would we be able to take care of 2 at the same time, etc. Our son had just turned 3 years old when we conceived the twins so I was feeling so scared that I wouldn't be able to handle 3 of them! As the pregnancy progressed, my feelings of anxiety lessened and my excitement grew. Once you wrap your mind around the fact that there are two precious little miracles in there, you can come to love them more, and be less scared of the future. The truth is, it's hard. The newborn stage of twins is very sleep deprived and exhausting. The last weeks of pregnancy are miserable - at least they were for me - being huge and hot and so tired. But in the midst of all that exhaustion and misery you will have 2 beautiful little babies to love and nurture, and that makes it all worth it!
(now that mine are 2.5 they're not so sweet sometimes, but I still marvel at the miracle that they are!)
Good luck to you, it'll all work out fine!