I feel so blessed and lucky today. I feel this way most days but today has been a good day. After looking back and seeing where we have come from and the odds we were up against I am so thankful for what I have and for the people and friends in my life. This experience has opened my eyes to the extreme thoughtfulness of friends, family, and complete strangers. We have had so many offers for help, prayers, well wishes, etc. and I couldn't be more grateful. I got an email today form the Moms of multiples group I joined recently with the offer to bring meals a few times in the next 2 weeks. This is so sweet and generous seeing as how I have not even met most of them yet. I have not been able to attend any functions due to my modified bed rest and now strict bed rest. So, for them to be willing to help me out is awesome. I have also been blessed by my mommy group friends who have done so much to help me out as well. They planned a sprinkle for me and brought all the food, decorations, etc. and made a great day for me and my girls. They have been such a great support system and I appreciate all of it. My family has also been a wonderful help with Cole and taking care of him so I can rest and Daddy can catch a break. You all are the best and we love you!!
We went to our 2 week growth check today and got wonderful news. All is well and the girls have grown about 1 lb each in the last 2 weeks. YAY!!!! So exciting. Baby A is 5lbs 2 oz and Baby B is 4 lbs 1 oz. This is still about a 24% growth discordance but like I have said before is not of extreme concern because A is such an over achiever. Baby A is measuring about 34 weeks and Baby B is right on track at 32 weeks. This would be dis concerning if A was average for gestation and B was behind. I am not sure but I like to think all the extra protein I have been eating has helped put some weight on the girls. The fluid for each baby looks good as well. It even looks as if things may have shifted to where baby B has a little more fluid than A. This has been the opposite the entire pregnancy. Either way they both have abnormal amount at this point. Baby B has 7cm and Baby A has 6cm. The membrane is still intact and bladders look great. The girls are moving quite a bit still although with 9 lbs of baby I'm not sure how this is possible. LOL. 9 lbs of baby with 4 weeks to go. YIKES!!! I hope to continue the pattern of 1/2 lb per week and if we make it to 36 weeks that would make baby A 7 lbs and B 6 lbs. That would be so great!.
Now I continue with the NST's twice a week and hopefully my contractions mellow out on the nifedipene. I think it is helping some but I still feel contractions pretty regularly and I can tell when it is getting close to needing another dose of meds because the contractions do pick up.
Thanks to all who have been apart of this journey and continue to follow our blog. I am glad I have a place to keep everyone updated and to vent my feelings and emotions onto paper to have forever. Until next time.......
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
31 weeks NST and L&D visits
Im a little behind on my weekly update. A lot has been going on this week as far as being seen by the doctor and in L&D. I started my weekly Non stress tests to monitor the babies Heart rates and measure contractions 2x per week. These appts are Tues/Fri for me with a DR. appt in between usually on Thurs. These NST (non- stress tests) are to help determine how often I have contractions and what the babies HR does during this period. The babies have to be monitored contiuously for 20 minutes together and must have a couple of HR accelerations during movement (Each babies HR should increase during movement). This can be quite difficult to keep two babies on the monitor simultaneously. They like to move and come off the monitor. I feel like I cannot move a muscle in an attempt to get them to stay on together.
So, I started my first NST Tuesday morning at 8:45. I think I left L&D at 3:00pm. Not what I was expecting. Quite a day of continuous issues. Nothing too serious but my girls don't like to make things too easy for me. I passed the NST pretty early on in the morning but my BP (blood pressure) was borderline high and this concerned my Dr. She sent me from the ATU (antepartum testing unit) where the NST's are done to L&D down the hall to be monitored a little more and have blood work done to rule out signs of pre-eclampsia. I have been experiencing headaches but no swelling and or vision disturbances. During this monitoring session I started contracting about every 2 minutes. I did not feel all of them but I had been feeling the stronger ones. I had one really strong one that made my smaller twins HR have a deceleration. The Dr. was not too happy with this. This pretty much guaranteed me a c section when delivery comes because it shows that Baby B won't tolerate labor well at all. She told me that it would be a good idea to do the steroid injections to mature the lungs of the girls at this point. I am at a good gestation for the shots and she thinks I will probably deliver earlier than expected. The shots are betamethazone and they are given 2x in a 24 hr period. I got the first one Tuesday about noon. I was to come back the next day for the other shot. I was also given Nifedipene to slow and hopefully stop my contractions. This medication I will continually take every 6 hrs for the duration of my pregnancy. Lucky for Scott , the only pharmacy that carried the type I need was in Auburn. They called 14 pharmacies in town and none carried the 10 or 20 mg rapid release dose. The all only carried the 30mg slow dose. Nice huh??? I like to make it difficult! LOL.
The blood work all came back perfect. No protein in my urine, good platelets, not anemic, no uric acid, and liver and kidney enzymes were good as well. It is quite ironic that what I initially was being seen for (high BP) turned out normal but the contractions ended up being the issue. It was a good thing I went in. Also, since I was contracting so regularly the Dr. did a FFM (fibro fetal something or other). This tells the Dr. whether I will go into labor in the next 2 weeks. If the test comes out negative it is 98% accurate. If the test comes back positive it only has a 60% accuracy. So, mainly they are looking to see if the test is negative, which for me it did come back negative. This is great! So I probably won't go into labor in the next two weeks but the other issues need to be looked at as well.
Today I returned to L&D for my second steroid shot which bought me a ticket to another NST as well. They were never able to get both the girls on the monitor at the same time but were able to get good strips individually. This appeased the Dr. enough to discharge me. However, I did have a few high BP's again and now I get to do a 24 hr urine catch. Awesome right? I get to pee in a jar all day tomorrow and then refrigerate it. EWE!!! I had Scott run to Walmart to buy 2 gallon freezer bags so I don't contaminate the fridge. We will clean it, don't worry. Haha.
I go tomorrow to see the perinatal associates in Sacramento to check the growth, fluid, dopplers etc of the girls. This will tell us if they are growing still and getting the proper nutrients and oxygen from the placenta to continue life in the womb or if things might be easier on the outside.
Hopefully we can push this out another 4 weeks. Thats the goal. I'm not sure how realistic this is but I can be hopeful. I know the girls will do well at this gestation but I want some bonus days to reduce NICU time and all the risks of prematurity.
I may also end up on hospital bed rest in the near future as well. I think my Dr. hints about it regularly and with the difficulties of being on bed rest at home with a toddler it might be in my best interest to optimize rest and reduce stress on Mom and Dad.
I shall update after our appointment tomorrow and let you know how life in utero is going. I hope they have grown and the fluid looks good. There is such a nervousness prior to these appointments for me. I hope I can relax and get some good news.
31 weeks 3 days
Can you see the BIG contraction?
So, I started my first NST Tuesday morning at 8:45. I think I left L&D at 3:00pm. Not what I was expecting. Quite a day of continuous issues. Nothing too serious but my girls don't like to make things too easy for me. I passed the NST pretty early on in the morning but my BP (blood pressure) was borderline high and this concerned my Dr. She sent me from the ATU (antepartum testing unit) where the NST's are done to L&D down the hall to be monitored a little more and have blood work done to rule out signs of pre-eclampsia. I have been experiencing headaches but no swelling and or vision disturbances. During this monitoring session I started contracting about every 2 minutes. I did not feel all of them but I had been feeling the stronger ones. I had one really strong one that made my smaller twins HR have a deceleration. The Dr. was not too happy with this. This pretty much guaranteed me a c section when delivery comes because it shows that Baby B won't tolerate labor well at all. She told me that it would be a good idea to do the steroid injections to mature the lungs of the girls at this point. I am at a good gestation for the shots and she thinks I will probably deliver earlier than expected. The shots are betamethazone and they are given 2x in a 24 hr period. I got the first one Tuesday about noon. I was to come back the next day for the other shot. I was also given Nifedipene to slow and hopefully stop my contractions. This medication I will continually take every 6 hrs for the duration of my pregnancy. Lucky for Scott , the only pharmacy that carried the type I need was in Auburn. They called 14 pharmacies in town and none carried the 10 or 20 mg rapid release dose. The all only carried the 30mg slow dose. Nice huh??? I like to make it difficult! LOL.
The blood work all came back perfect. No protein in my urine, good platelets, not anemic, no uric acid, and liver and kidney enzymes were good as well. It is quite ironic that what I initially was being seen for (high BP) turned out normal but the contractions ended up being the issue. It was a good thing I went in. Also, since I was contracting so regularly the Dr. did a FFM (fibro fetal something or other). This tells the Dr. whether I will go into labor in the next 2 weeks. If the test comes out negative it is 98% accurate. If the test comes back positive it only has a 60% accuracy. So, mainly they are looking to see if the test is negative, which for me it did come back negative. This is great! So I probably won't go into labor in the next two weeks but the other issues need to be looked at as well.
Today I returned to L&D for my second steroid shot which bought me a ticket to another NST as well. They were never able to get both the girls on the monitor at the same time but were able to get good strips individually. This appeased the Dr. enough to discharge me. However, I did have a few high BP's again and now I get to do a 24 hr urine catch. Awesome right? I get to pee in a jar all day tomorrow and then refrigerate it. EWE!!! I had Scott run to Walmart to buy 2 gallon freezer bags so I don't contaminate the fridge. We will clean it, don't worry. Haha.
I go tomorrow to see the perinatal associates in Sacramento to check the growth, fluid, dopplers etc of the girls. This will tell us if they are growing still and getting the proper nutrients and oxygen from the placenta to continue life in the womb or if things might be easier on the outside.
Hopefully we can push this out another 4 weeks. Thats the goal. I'm not sure how realistic this is but I can be hopeful. I know the girls will do well at this gestation but I want some bonus days to reduce NICU time and all the risks of prematurity.
I may also end up on hospital bed rest in the near future as well. I think my Dr. hints about it regularly and with the difficulties of being on bed rest at home with a toddler it might be in my best interest to optimize rest and reduce stress on Mom and Dad.
I shall update after our appointment tomorrow and let you know how life in utero is going. I hope they have grown and the fluid looks good. There is such a nervousness prior to these appointments for me. I hope I can relax and get some good news.
Life In L&D with twins. One monitor for each baby and one for contractions......
Saturday, May 26, 2012
The Start of Something Special
I only add this to laugh at later as I am completely aware of how huge I am. Please avert your eyes if this offends you or small children who may be in the room with you.
I am 29 weeks 6 days pregnant
Friday, May 25, 2012
30 Weeks down and 6 to go!!!!
We hit the 30 week mark which is fan freakin tactic! We had our supposedly last appt yesterday at our safe haven UCSF with Dr. Rand. We had our ultrasound and then we hung around for a few hours at Burgermeister while we waited for Dr. Rand to arrive and review our case. We really wanted to talk to him so we could wrap up any lingering questions, get the placenta box, and decide our course for the next 6 weeks. Since we have been a little unhappy with our treatment in Sac we wantd to go over that with him and get his views and see what he could do to push our Sacramento office to get us the care we need. UCSF seems to be miracle workers and they make a call to Sacramento and amazingly things get done. Funny how that works. BTW, burgermeister on Carl St in S.F. is sooooo good and if you are ever in the area check it out.
For the results of our appt we are doing phenomenally well. My inner goddess is doing arabesques (haha if you are reading 50 shades of grey you will get that.) If not, it means Im over the moon sort of :) The bladders on both babes look great as do the kidneys, brain, gallbladders, stomachs, dopplers, cerebral blood flow, and fluid levels. I feel so blessed to be at this point. The fluids have normalized about 6 cm for baby A and 5 cm for baby B. The sonographer tried to get 3D images of the girls and the best we could do was a mouth and nose of baby B. The amount of room for twins at this point I think is running out and we may have missed the window for a good 3D pic. Luckily, we got one back at about 16 weeks that was really good of both girls faces. (see pics below). The weights for the babies are A a whole lotta nearly 4 lbs at 3lb 15oz, and baby B at nearly 3lbs at 2lbs 15ozs. So, they are 1 lb difference and that makes then still holding steady at 24-25% difference. It is good that this size discordance has not worsened. Like I have said before that even though 25% is a lot, in our case it isn't disconcerting because baby A is in the 90th percentile and baby B is right on track at 50th percentile. It would be more alarming if A was normal and B was behind her at the same difference in percentage (clear as mud.) Sorry if it is confusing but bottom line is things are good!
After a long discussion about how my treatment and the girls health should be monitored in the next six weeks we came to a few conclusion that I am happy with and they are as follows:
1. We need to have growth checks every 2 weeks from here until delivery. UCSF told me if I go to Sac in 2 weeks and I am still not confident in their assessment that I can come back to see them at the next 2 week appt. This works for me. They are also going to write up an extensive treatment plan to send to Sac telling them I need to be seen every 2 weeks and not 3 like Dr. Chyu had tried to do.
2. I originally thought weekly fluid checks were necessary as well but Dr. Rand feels that it is over the top and not necessary in my situation. I feel that coming from him I respect that and will abide by that recommendation.
3. I need to start having non-stress tests 2x per week starting at 32 weeks. This will help to determine if the babies are getting stressed in utero and might do better out than in. They will monitor HR at the hospital for a period of time 2x per week.
4. They do want to have my placenta and we will give Dr. Juhn the box and will get all kinds of data regarding inter-utero life for the girls. It will help for future people in this situation and give us insight as to why our pregnancy took the course it did. A win-win.
5. I will get steroid shots to help develop the girls lungs closer to the date when they think I will deliver if time permits. It takes I believe 48hrs for full effect and lasts 7 days so about a week before delivery I should get those but if i look like I might deliver early I may get them early and hopefully 48 hrs prior to delivery.
So lots of appts are in my near future which is relieving for me because I know we will be monitored closely because since we are at a good viability I don't want anything to be missed that we could have caught early. I feel much better having gone to UCSF and they will always have a special place in my heart and I appreciate everything they do!! They have it down over there.
The only thing that I am now on the fence about is C section vs. vaginal delivery. I had discussed this with my OB and we had decided that a c section would be best because Baby B has such a smaller share of the placenta that labor might be hard on her. I really don't want to vaginally deliver A and then have to have a c section for B. However, after talking to Dr. Rand he HIGHLY recommends that I give a vaginal delivery a try for a few reasons- it is safer for babies and mom, it will be better healing, and I won't really know if baby b will have a hard time with labor unless I try. He said if I were delivering at UCSF he would really push me to try to deliver vaginally if both babies are head down. At this point A is head down and B is breech. Things could change but he would deliver A and if b remained breech would do a breech extraction because the cervix has already opened enough for A that delivering B feet first is appropriate only in this type of situation. He also said this is something they do but not all regular Obs might be comfortable with this type of delivery. I don't think Dr. Juhn would be open to this and quite frankly it worries me. So, I may continue to think about this and if either baby is breech at delivery I think I will opt for the C section. If they are both head down I may try to deliver naturally. Time will tell. I want to do whatever will have an end result of 2 healthy babies and a healthy mom.
All in all we are trucking along and I am thrilled with how things are going. Im hoping Baby B will continue to gain weight and we can make it to 36 weeks. Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!
For the results of our appt we are doing phenomenally well. My inner goddess is doing arabesques (haha if you are reading 50 shades of grey you will get that.) If not, it means Im over the moon sort of :) The bladders on both babes look great as do the kidneys, brain, gallbladders, stomachs, dopplers, cerebral blood flow, and fluid levels. I feel so blessed to be at this point. The fluids have normalized about 6 cm for baby A and 5 cm for baby B. The sonographer tried to get 3D images of the girls and the best we could do was a mouth and nose of baby B. The amount of room for twins at this point I think is running out and we may have missed the window for a good 3D pic. Luckily, we got one back at about 16 weeks that was really good of both girls faces. (see pics below). The weights for the babies are A a whole lotta nearly 4 lbs at 3lb 15oz, and baby B at nearly 3lbs at 2lbs 15ozs. So, they are 1 lb difference and that makes then still holding steady at 24-25% difference. It is good that this size discordance has not worsened. Like I have said before that even though 25% is a lot, in our case it isn't disconcerting because baby A is in the 90th percentile and baby B is right on track at 50th percentile. It would be more alarming if A was normal and B was behind her at the same difference in percentage (clear as mud.) Sorry if it is confusing but bottom line is things are good!
After a long discussion about how my treatment and the girls health should be monitored in the next six weeks we came to a few conclusion that I am happy with and they are as follows:
1. We need to have growth checks every 2 weeks from here until delivery. UCSF told me if I go to Sac in 2 weeks and I am still not confident in their assessment that I can come back to see them at the next 2 week appt. This works for me. They are also going to write up an extensive treatment plan to send to Sac telling them I need to be seen every 2 weeks and not 3 like Dr. Chyu had tried to do.
2. I originally thought weekly fluid checks were necessary as well but Dr. Rand feels that it is over the top and not necessary in my situation. I feel that coming from him I respect that and will abide by that recommendation.
3. I need to start having non-stress tests 2x per week starting at 32 weeks. This will help to determine if the babies are getting stressed in utero and might do better out than in. They will monitor HR at the hospital for a period of time 2x per week.
4. They do want to have my placenta and we will give Dr. Juhn the box and will get all kinds of data regarding inter-utero life for the girls. It will help for future people in this situation and give us insight as to why our pregnancy took the course it did. A win-win.
5. I will get steroid shots to help develop the girls lungs closer to the date when they think I will deliver if time permits. It takes I believe 48hrs for full effect and lasts 7 days so about a week before delivery I should get those but if i look like I might deliver early I may get them early and hopefully 48 hrs prior to delivery.
So lots of appts are in my near future which is relieving for me because I know we will be monitored closely because since we are at a good viability I don't want anything to be missed that we could have caught early. I feel much better having gone to UCSF and they will always have a special place in my heart and I appreciate everything they do!! They have it down over there.
The only thing that I am now on the fence about is C section vs. vaginal delivery. I had discussed this with my OB and we had decided that a c section would be best because Baby B has such a smaller share of the placenta that labor might be hard on her. I really don't want to vaginally deliver A and then have to have a c section for B. However, after talking to Dr. Rand he HIGHLY recommends that I give a vaginal delivery a try for a few reasons- it is safer for babies and mom, it will be better healing, and I won't really know if baby b will have a hard time with labor unless I try. He said if I were delivering at UCSF he would really push me to try to deliver vaginally if both babies are head down. At this point A is head down and B is breech. Things could change but he would deliver A and if b remained breech would do a breech extraction because the cervix has already opened enough for A that delivering B feet first is appropriate only in this type of situation. He also said this is something they do but not all regular Obs might be comfortable with this type of delivery. I don't think Dr. Juhn would be open to this and quite frankly it worries me. So, I may continue to think about this and if either baby is breech at delivery I think I will opt for the C section. If they are both head down I may try to deliver naturally. Time will tell. I want to do whatever will have an end result of 2 healthy babies and a healthy mom.
All in all we are trucking along and I am thrilled with how things are going. Im hoping Baby B will continue to gain weight and we can make it to 36 weeks. Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Top- Baby B nose and Mouth 3D Middle- Baby B profile Bottom-Baby A profile
Sunday, May 20, 2012
29 weeks 2 days/ 7 1/4 months/ 205 days/ 73.8%
Can you tell by my title for this post that Im a little crazy about counting the days that have passed? Each day that goes by is 3 less days in the NICU. So, Im a little anal about counting. Which in turn makes time go by pretty slowly. Haha!
I wanted to do a second update this week because we have had some news that may affect things in the near future but I hope not. I went and saw my regular OB on Friday to do our normal check up. Things with me are going well which is fantastic. I have been worried about my blood pressure since it got high with Cole around this time. It was not low but not high either. I passed my glucose test which was a big sigh of relief. Im not anemic and my platelet count looks great. Big thumbs up for me!
Scott and I discussed our concerns we have with how our appt went on Monday with Dr. Chyu and she agreed that our concerns were reasonable and that she would call Dr. Chyu and discuss trying to get growth checks every 2 weeks and fluid/bladder/ and dopplers every week. Especially since the fluid does look lower in the baby who had polyhydramnios it would be good to check it weekly. We felt a little rushed out of Dr. Chyus appt and we never really got a good answer as to why if UCSF suggests bi weekly growth checks why she wanted to to it every three weeks. This gets so convoluted because you have 3 different doctors, 3 different opinions, and 1 crazy mom who seems to never get the right answer in a timely fashion.
After our long winded discussion (good thing Dr. Juhn likes to talk) we had a quick ultrasound just to check heart beats with our reg ob. This is on a very low resolution portable ultrasound machine they typically use on non complicated pregnancies. Dr. Juhn was a little concerned that the fluid in Baby A's sac looks a little lower than what we got on Monday which was 5cm. She also thinks that our placenta is already in the beginning stages of calcifying which means it is starting to go kaput. It may be working at capacity to the point we might not make it to 36 weeks. However, since this is such a low resolution ultrasound and I like to think Dr. Juhn is very conservative. So I hope when we go to our next appt they will find that we are in better shape than it looks. I also, must prepare for the possibility that we might not make it to 36 weeks either. Kind of Scary. NICU time almost seems inevitable. Dr Juhn wanted to me to get in contact with UCSF and see if I could move my appt that is this Thursday up to Monday or Tuesday.
I left Dr Juhns office and called UCSF right away. They seem a bit skeptical about all the finding and asked me some questions I was able to answer but some I thought Dr. Juhn should answer herself. UCSF said they were all booked next week but that they would talk to my Dr. and figure something out. This was Friday at 2pm. I thought for sure I would not hear back by then end of the day. Much to my surprise I got a call form UCSF who always seems to come through. They said that they were unable to squeeze me in but talked to the MFM and want me to go in to the office in Sac Monday to re-check things to be sure they are stable enough to make it to my UCSF appt on Thursday. This puts me at ease a little because my concerns are legitimate and Im a little worried about my placenta because nobody has mentioned this to me before. The more appts I have I feel a little more at ease because I know we are more apt to catch something earlier than waiting 3 weeks. I just feel that at this point wouldn't it be smarter to check things more often because I am at a point where viability is so high? Meaning if something was going awry we could deliver rather than extend my appts to 3-4 weeks and miss something that could have been remedied by delivery that we missed because you all thought things were going to be ok. I may be totally over reacting and hope that everything will go ok. But if there is even a slight chance for acute TTTS or something similar I want to be checked weekly.
Ive also been having a lot of contractions lately as well and Dr. Juhn is threatening hospital Bed rest too. We will re-evaluate this after we go to UCSF and determine our status. Im really looking forward to going to UCSF and very nervous as well. When we get there we will not have had a growth check in 3 weeks and I'm on pins and needles to make sure they are both growing and getting plenty of blood flow through the umbilical doppler.
If all goes well we did discuss delivery at 36 weeks and are probably doing an elective C-section. I could do a vaginal delivery but my Dr. thinks that since Baby B is smaller and most likey has a thinner umbilical cord that she won't tolerate labor very well. So after Baby A is born (which she would come out first being closer to my cervix) that baby B will possibly turn and not be head down and show signs of distress and I would need a c section anyway. I DO NOT want to do both so Im electing to do a C section. July 5th looked like a good day so if all goes well we will have the girls On Thursday July 5th. I pray we get walk into the hospital on the 5th and deliver big beautiful healthy girls. :)
I wanted to do a second update this week because we have had some news that may affect things in the near future but I hope not. I went and saw my regular OB on Friday to do our normal check up. Things with me are going well which is fantastic. I have been worried about my blood pressure since it got high with Cole around this time. It was not low but not high either. I passed my glucose test which was a big sigh of relief. Im not anemic and my platelet count looks great. Big thumbs up for me!
Scott and I discussed our concerns we have with how our appt went on Monday with Dr. Chyu and she agreed that our concerns were reasonable and that she would call Dr. Chyu and discuss trying to get growth checks every 2 weeks and fluid/bladder/ and dopplers every week. Especially since the fluid does look lower in the baby who had polyhydramnios it would be good to check it weekly. We felt a little rushed out of Dr. Chyus appt and we never really got a good answer as to why if UCSF suggests bi weekly growth checks why she wanted to to it every three weeks. This gets so convoluted because you have 3 different doctors, 3 different opinions, and 1 crazy mom who seems to never get the right answer in a timely fashion.
After our long winded discussion (good thing Dr. Juhn likes to talk) we had a quick ultrasound just to check heart beats with our reg ob. This is on a very low resolution portable ultrasound machine they typically use on non complicated pregnancies. Dr. Juhn was a little concerned that the fluid in Baby A's sac looks a little lower than what we got on Monday which was 5cm. She also thinks that our placenta is already in the beginning stages of calcifying which means it is starting to go kaput. It may be working at capacity to the point we might not make it to 36 weeks. However, since this is such a low resolution ultrasound and I like to think Dr. Juhn is very conservative. So I hope when we go to our next appt they will find that we are in better shape than it looks. I also, must prepare for the possibility that we might not make it to 36 weeks either. Kind of Scary. NICU time almost seems inevitable. Dr Juhn wanted to me to get in contact with UCSF and see if I could move my appt that is this Thursday up to Monday or Tuesday.
I left Dr Juhns office and called UCSF right away. They seem a bit skeptical about all the finding and asked me some questions I was able to answer but some I thought Dr. Juhn should answer herself. UCSF said they were all booked next week but that they would talk to my Dr. and figure something out. This was Friday at 2pm. I thought for sure I would not hear back by then end of the day. Much to my surprise I got a call form UCSF who always seems to come through. They said that they were unable to squeeze me in but talked to the MFM and want me to go in to the office in Sac Monday to re-check things to be sure they are stable enough to make it to my UCSF appt on Thursday. This puts me at ease a little because my concerns are legitimate and Im a little worried about my placenta because nobody has mentioned this to me before. The more appts I have I feel a little more at ease because I know we are more apt to catch something earlier than waiting 3 weeks. I just feel that at this point wouldn't it be smarter to check things more often because I am at a point where viability is so high? Meaning if something was going awry we could deliver rather than extend my appts to 3-4 weeks and miss something that could have been remedied by delivery that we missed because you all thought things were going to be ok. I may be totally over reacting and hope that everything will go ok. But if there is even a slight chance for acute TTTS or something similar I want to be checked weekly.
Ive also been having a lot of contractions lately as well and Dr. Juhn is threatening hospital Bed rest too. We will re-evaluate this after we go to UCSF and determine our status. Im really looking forward to going to UCSF and very nervous as well. When we get there we will not have had a growth check in 3 weeks and I'm on pins and needles to make sure they are both growing and getting plenty of blood flow through the umbilical doppler.
If all goes well we did discuss delivery at 36 weeks and are probably doing an elective C-section. I could do a vaginal delivery but my Dr. thinks that since Baby B is smaller and most likey has a thinner umbilical cord that she won't tolerate labor very well. So after Baby A is born (which she would come out first being closer to my cervix) that baby B will possibly turn and not be head down and show signs of distress and I would need a c section anyway. I DO NOT want to do both so Im electing to do a C section. July 5th looked like a good day so if all goes well we will have the girls On Thursday July 5th. I pray we get walk into the hospital on the 5th and deliver big beautiful healthy girls. :)
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
28 weeks 5 Days
I had my weekly appt today with Dr. Chyu here is Sacramento. This was my appt where I thought they were going to do growth checks and dopplers since we have been doing them bi weekly since week 16. However, to my dismay she decided we would do this every 3 weeks instead of 2?????? Why? Not sure. I left my appt today with a lot of questions actually. Although I think Dr. Chyu is very knowledgeable I do feel rushed in her presence and feel she is in hurry and doesn't explain things as well as I would like. She is definitely more thorough than Dr Veille but I just can't help that nobody can compare to the care I get in San Francisco. They just seem to be so much more thorough on their ultrasounds, they sit and explain all findings in detail and let you ask a multitude of questions. They also seem soooo consistent when it comes to the values we have been getting every week. When I go to Sacramento or Roseville we get such drastically different values week to week that I am skeptical about the accuracy of the findings. I understand there can be error due to different sonographers and such but Baby A went from having 8 cm of fluid last week to about 5 this week. Now this was explained to us by Dr. Chyu that it can be normal and isn't cause for concern. She did however, see the drastic difference in numbers from a screen outside my room and came in to check for herself when she saw the numbers. So it must have shocked her to some degree to come in right after that measurement was taken to check for herself. In fact, she even said I couldn't believe what I saw so I wanted to check as well. They were able to re measure a pocket that was measured originally at 4 and got a little over 5. All of these numbers are normal but since it is so different than last week I was a little skeptical because the last 6 weeks we have been hovering around 10cm. Im just worried that if it can go from -10 in one week down to 4-5 the next week that it can be seriously lower next week?????? It is possible things are just improving and that is great but when they say "oh we don't need to see you for another month" Im like HELL NO. I may be over analytical and a debbie downer but I really need to feel that I am doing everything I can to ensure that weekly we check this. I know I am not a Dr. but sometimes I feel brushed off when this was so extremely dangerous and possibly life threatening such a short time ago and now I feel like they are assuming everything will be hunky dory. Good God I hope this is the case but one can never be to careful. Better safe than sorry right?
So, the babies look good and each have a DVP of about 5cm. This is fantastic and the bladders look great. But now I have to wait another week to check the growth to determine if Baby B is still growing well and thriving. I continue to be blessed and breath a little sigh of relief after hearing strong heartbeats and seeing fluid in the bladders.
Dr Chyu told us that the extra fluid that is now not there gets absorbed by me and by the baby. I asked if this was something we should be concerned with and she said no. I didn't think to ask until we left about where it gets absorbed and at what point it is a problem? I guess since she said it wasn't something to be worried about that I didn't think much else about it. But after I left I started to wonder if it could be a problem for the girls if absorbed in and cause pulmonary edema or CHF etc. Sometimes a medical background is not a blessing because you know just enough to stress yourself out but not enough to answer your own questions. Ignorance is bliss....
I did stew over the appointment while on the car ride home and decided it could not hurt to call Dr. Rand in San Francisco and discuss my concerns over the fluid differences and hear what he thought about it. They are so great and even though he was in with another pt. the nurse talked to him about my situation and got a instant response. He feels that it could be completely normal but that he would be skeptical at such a difference in one weeks time. There really is no course of treatment about such a difference since it is in the normal range but is glad that I have an appt down there next week to check for himself. Me Too!!!! The what ifs are just getting to me and I try so hard not to dwell on the well this could happen and that could happen but I can't help it. I know we are in a fantastic place and the girls are looking great. I NEED to focus on that and I tell myself all the time. This is just very stressful when you don't have a see through belly and I cannot do anything to help. The next 6 weeks will definitely go by so slow. I will do my best to enjoy the quiet and rest.
I think the babies are getting bigger just from the way they move and how they are now positioned. I feel punching and kicking very hard all the time and I am loving it. I know they are doing good if they are kicking me awake at night. :) They also have been next to each other throughout the pregnancy but today we learned the Baby A on the left has pushed Baby B up on top and breech transverse. So Baby Bs head is on the Left as well and her body comes across the top of my belly and down my right side. Hmmmm wonder if she will stay in this position or turn head down? We shall see.
Ive been feeling ok. Im having a hard time sleeping now and the fact that it is getting hot out does not help. I try to go organize the spare bedroom and I have about 20 minutes of standing and bending before I need a break. Its pretty crazy. My back just starts to ache and I start to have some contractions and I feel it best to throw in the towel and rest. I know the organizing can wait. It may wait until the twins are 5 but it will still be there. haha.
I see my regular OB on Friday and I had my glucose tolerance test last Monday. I assume I passed since it has been over a week with no phone call. Im so glad because I was worried about that as well.
Next week we go to S.F. and this may be our last appt down there. I am very grateful for the team down there and it is bittersweet to leave them. I must trust that the Docotrs here have my girls and my best interest at heart. I will keep fighting for them and I know they will keep fighting for me, Dad and big brother Cole. Cole was excited to see the "baby beds" up in the girls rooms and then he comes over and pats my belly and say "hi sissys" "bye sissy's" and kisses them. I look forward to him holding them and giving them love if even for 2 seconds before he smacks them with a toy. :)
So, the babies look good and each have a DVP of about 5cm. This is fantastic and the bladders look great. But now I have to wait another week to check the growth to determine if Baby B is still growing well and thriving. I continue to be blessed and breath a little sigh of relief after hearing strong heartbeats and seeing fluid in the bladders.
Dr Chyu told us that the extra fluid that is now not there gets absorbed by me and by the baby. I asked if this was something we should be concerned with and she said no. I didn't think to ask until we left about where it gets absorbed and at what point it is a problem? I guess since she said it wasn't something to be worried about that I didn't think much else about it. But after I left I started to wonder if it could be a problem for the girls if absorbed in and cause pulmonary edema or CHF etc. Sometimes a medical background is not a blessing because you know just enough to stress yourself out but not enough to answer your own questions. Ignorance is bliss....
I did stew over the appointment while on the car ride home and decided it could not hurt to call Dr. Rand in San Francisco and discuss my concerns over the fluid differences and hear what he thought about it. They are so great and even though he was in with another pt. the nurse talked to him about my situation and got a instant response. He feels that it could be completely normal but that he would be skeptical at such a difference in one weeks time. There really is no course of treatment about such a difference since it is in the normal range but is glad that I have an appt down there next week to check for himself. Me Too!!!! The what ifs are just getting to me and I try so hard not to dwell on the well this could happen and that could happen but I can't help it. I know we are in a fantastic place and the girls are looking great. I NEED to focus on that and I tell myself all the time. This is just very stressful when you don't have a see through belly and I cannot do anything to help. The next 6 weeks will definitely go by so slow. I will do my best to enjoy the quiet and rest.
I think the babies are getting bigger just from the way they move and how they are now positioned. I feel punching and kicking very hard all the time and I am loving it. I know they are doing good if they are kicking me awake at night. :) They also have been next to each other throughout the pregnancy but today we learned the Baby A on the left has pushed Baby B up on top and breech transverse. So Baby Bs head is on the Left as well and her body comes across the top of my belly and down my right side. Hmmmm wonder if she will stay in this position or turn head down? We shall see.
Ive been feeling ok. Im having a hard time sleeping now and the fact that it is getting hot out does not help. I try to go organize the spare bedroom and I have about 20 minutes of standing and bending before I need a break. Its pretty crazy. My back just starts to ache and I start to have some contractions and I feel it best to throw in the towel and rest. I know the organizing can wait. It may wait until the twins are 5 but it will still be there. haha.
I see my regular OB on Friday and I had my glucose tolerance test last Monday. I assume I passed since it has been over a week with no phone call. Im so glad because I was worried about that as well.
Next week we go to S.F. and this may be our last appt down there. I am very grateful for the team down there and it is bittersweet to leave them. I must trust that the Docotrs here have my girls and my best interest at heart. I will keep fighting for them and I know they will keep fighting for me, Dad and big brother Cole. Cole was excited to see the "baby beds" up in the girls rooms and then he comes over and pats my belly and say "hi sissys" "bye sissy's" and kisses them. I look forward to him holding them and giving them love if even for 2 seconds before he smacks them with a toy. :)
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