Tomorrow is our 24 weeks NO 'Birthday' day. Whoop whoop!! We are still pregnant and still able to say that things are going well. I normally wouldn't use the word well but I feel like today was a good day and I am feeling optimistic. I have spent a lot of weeks leaving S.F. feeling disappointed and scared. This was the first time I feel things may hopefully continue on a path of stability for us.
We made it to S.F. in the rain with 1 hr to spare. We also pulled across the bay bridge to some sunshine. We decided to head to the beach to hang out for a few minutes to enjoy the fresh air and warm sun. We saw lots of families running around on the beach and chasing after their dogs. It was nice to see.
We then headed to our appt and made it with about 15 min to spare. We were called early and were seen by the same sonographer we have seen the last 3 times we have gone. This was very convenient because she seems to know us well and seems to need less time to figure out where things are. She is pretty familiar with who is who and what is what. I also felt a little more relaxed and really tried to tell myself that "it will be ok, I have done everything I can, things are out of my hands, etc. etc. to keep me from getting so nervous and crying during the ultrasound. It seemed to work and I actually didn't get dizzy or lightheaded lying on my back the entire ultrasound. Scott and I being the experts we have become in sonography saw that Baby A's fluid (bigger baby) was 10.89 and Baby B (smaller baby) was 4.8. This is fantastic news. We still have polyhydramnios (excessive fluid) in A baby but B had slightly improved from last week. Even though Baby A has polyhydramnios it is not excessive enough at this point to need any intervention. Also, Baby B holding steady at 4.8 keeps us from needing laser surgery again this week. We did not do any measurements this week since that was done Fri. We will revisit this next week.
We talked to Dr. Kim today as our normal Dr. was out. She seemed very knowledgeable about our case as well. All the doctors meet every tuesday to go over all patients ultrasounds. She seemed very optimistic about how things are going for us and how she anticipates them continuing. She expects that when we return next week that we will continue to be stable and may even "graduate" out of coming every week and coming every 2 weeks. This is awesome but also a little scary because there is some comfort in going every week. Usually if TTTS is going to rear its ugly head it will by the 26 week mark. We will be at the 25 week mark when we go next week. We found out that surgery is not done after 26weeks because this is the point when babies eyes become unfused in utero and they have the ability to blink. The laser used in surgery can damage the eyes if used after the 26 week mark. Obviously anything can happen but we may have some things on our side at this point I like to think.
I am still concerned with the unequal placental share between the girls and the fact that Baby B is 28% smaller than her sister. According to Dr. Kim that although >20% difference is significant, the girls fit the growth chart at 64% and 32 % respectively. This is also in terms of singleton births. So what this means is that Baby A is bigger than 64/100 singleton babies and Baby B is bigger than 34/100 singleton babies. This is really good for twins as she puts it. She also says it is good in terms of A being an "overachiever" because she is above the 50th percentile for singletons. Since she is an overachiever it makes sense that Baby B is 28% smaller. Thats my girl!!!
So all in all I left feeling better than I did when I arrived for the first time. I hope this continues! We still have a ways to go to get to a safer gestation but I am hopeful and thank god that we have been this blessed because after talking to a lot of moms in similar situations we have been pretty lucky thus far. We have yet to need any intervention and this helps to decrease possible complications or preterm delivery. Yay!! We still have two healthy little girls that I need to fatten up in the weeks to come. In the next four weeks they should double their weight.
I also went to the Sutter Memorial NICU yesterday for a tour just in case we deliver before 30 weeks to see what it was all about to ease some of my fears. I was able to see 2 babies that were born at 500 grams and 23 weeks gestation. The other was born at 27 weeks and weighed 800 grams. Although they were super tiny they looked good and the Nurse said they were doing well. Although this was hard to see and I hope we never even see the NICU, it was reassuring that they were doing well at such a young gestation and had the best care possible.
After going to L&D on Tuesday night and experiencing the symptoms I had I have decided to re-evaluate the amount of work I am doing and to really adjust my schedule to possibly stay home or work very part time. I have mulled this over in my head for awhile now and I think this may be for the best.
I want to thank Scott and my parents for their continued help as I become more and more couch/homebound. Scott has really been working hard to make sure Cole and I have all we need and I really appreciate it. I also want to thank everyone who has offered to help us out. We have great friends and family and it is times like this that make that even more apparent. :)
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