19 Week Ultrasound. It's a...

BOY!!

The appointment didn't start off on the right foot. In the waiting room, Alaina started to get annoyed because there was no actual "baby" to be found. Even though she went to ultrasounds when I was pregnant with her brothers AND we had been prepping her all week for what was going to happen at the appointment, she didn't want to look in Mommy's tummy. She wanted to see the baby. The baby GIRL. Oy.

I finally got her calmed down but then she wanted to lay on the table with me while I had the U/S. She was able to do this when I went for the boys but the table this time was not as wide and there was no room. So that upset her.

Then came the big moment - the viewing of the penis. Oh boy. "YOU TOLD ME I WAS COMING TO SEE THE BABY GIRL." Okay, appointment over!

So, besides Alaina's clear disappointment, the rest of the scan showed all positives. The baby is looking good, coming in at the 46th percentile for size. He has a beating four-chamber heart, all of his organs are in place and doing what they're supposed to.

The scan also showed that my cervix looks great! It's about as long as it could be. Alaina went home with Daddy once the scan was over and I went in for my regular check up with another doctor in the practice. He then broke the news to me that while my cervix looks good (yippee!) I have a placenta previa. Ouch. This means my chances of a VBAC went from "excellent" to "we'll see". I had this with Alaina also but it appeared at 9 weeks and disappeared by my 20 week ultrasound. This time I'm 20 weeks and ... there it is. The doctor was not super optimistic but on the bright side, it means I'll get a few bonus ultrasounds to keep checking it. The good news is that it can't/won't get any worse; if there is any change, it can only get better. I'm going to delay, delay, delay on scheduling a C-Section until as late as possible. I read a post on Babycenter of a woman whose previa disappeared in the 34th week! So there's hope 'til the end.

So, an appointment that didn't go the way I hoped but in all reality, I can't complain because I have a perfect, healthy baby in there and that is all I can ask for. We're starting to talk names and we'll see how that goes. All I know is that we are going to be getting a run for our money with 3 boys 15 months apart!

First Ultrasound = 11 weeks and ONE baby

Now that we are "out" with this pregnancy, there are just SO MANY things I want to say about it. But, first things first. Ultrasound pictures!

I was sent for an ultrasound on Monday for two reasons. First and foremost, to check my dates. Since I haven't technically had a period since before I got pregnant with the boys, I couldn't tell Dr. M when I missed one. So, really, we didn't know how far along I was. The other thing we were checking for was number of babies. Although the odds were not really in favor of another set of twins, it was still a concern.

Here's what I saw on Monday:




I also saw and heard the strong heartbeat.

While I was at the surgery center I had my initial blood work done (including my 6th? HIV test in three years...pretty confident in THAT result at this point...) and I am proud to say that I did not faint this time. Always a major accomplishment for me.

So the journey continues....

Perinatologist Appointment - May 9

"Everything is perfect."

Can you ever get tired of hearing those words?

So, another successful visit to the Perinatologist today. We had the tech we had on our first visit to this office and she is awesome. She got every measurement really quickly so we had plenty of time for FUN at the end.

After she got everything she needed she asked "do you mind if I try some 3D images?" Um...no!! Unfortunately only Baby A wanted to participate in this photo opportunity. Baby B was his usual, camera-shy self and she was unable to get a picture of him. Well, she got a picture of his rear-end in Baby A's face, but she wasn't able to get the "right" end of him :-)

The highlights:
- Baby A is weighing in at 1 lb 13 oz and Baby B is weighing 1 lb 15 oz. This puts their growth exactly on target for their gestational age
- Developmentally they look excellent
- My cervix is still over 4 cm which is shocking and thrilling to me. The Peri was also thrilled with this number
- Baby A is still head down and Baby B is still breech, although he has changed from a Footling to a Frank. He does NOT look comfortable in there! But, it does explain why the painful, deep kicks to the bladder have stopped (for now)
- While I am in perfect pregnancy health, and there is no medical reason for me to be on bedrest at this time, I was told to rest at every opportunity. I thought it was funny that the Peri shot a glance in Brian's direction as she said that!

What's next:
- I report back for another visit and growth check in three weeks
- At the next visit, they will start scheduling me for weekly Non-Stress Tests (NSTs) which is common practice with a high-risk pregnancy
- I will start cutting back my in-office work schedule at 28 weeks (2 weeks from now). This is something I am looking forward to as even using the restroom during the day at this point is exhausting!

U/S Scans:
(To my unborn son, Baby B: Please know that I don't love you any less because I have posted only one scan of you here. It's just that you are terribly camera shy and it's very hard to get scans of you. I'm so sorry!)

Here is a profile of Baby B. This was the best scan we got of him for the day. Head is in the lower left and upper right is where you will find his legs. He looks very cramped in there!

Here is Baby A's profile. He already seems to have a big head like his daddy.

Baby A in 3-D! Notice his little tongue sticking out and his hand up on his face. Note: Brian likes to sleep with his hand up by his face as well. The blob on the left was not identified. We do know it is an out-of-focus part of his brother.

Now his hand is up by his mouth. Look how cute that ear is! Brian remarked that he seems to have his Daddy's big forehead. It is really amazing that even in utero, I can tell he looks like Brian!

Perinatologist Appointment - Apr 17

There is something so reassuring about seeing your babies up on the Ultrasound screen and continuously hearing the words "that's great", "that's perfect", "all good".....

The biggest problem we encountered today was trying to view each baby separately. They are all over each other which meant it was very hard for the technician to get the measurements she needed. But, in between stories of her laminate flooring and her nephews, she got them all done. Although, she did apologize that the pictures she gave us to take home are a little less than ideal!

The highlights:
- Each baby is weighing in at 1 lb 4 oz. If you were to do the math (as Brian and I immediately did), that means they have each doubled in size in the 4 weeks since they were last scanned! They are currently above the 50th percentile for their gestational age. I guess my slamming down all those bottles of Boost is paying off.
- The fluid levels around each baby still look very equal.
- Baby B is still breech but Baby A has flipped head down. If he stays that way - and assuming all parties are in agreement - this technically means we could TRY for a vaginal birth. There are many, many things to consider with this decision and we'll be talking more about that with the doctors in the coming weeks.
- My cervix is still measuring at 4 cm even with the increased baby weight so ... big sigh of relief there!

What's next?
We saw a different Peri this time and his approach to mono/di twins is a more cautious one than the Peri we saw last time (which I liked!). He was not comfortable with me waiting a full four weeks to be re-scanned. So we will be going back in three weeks for another growth check and I will see Dr. M twice between now and then. He did mention that it was a great sign that no indicators of TTTS have presented yet!

Ultrasound Scans
When we left the appointment we were laughing at how bad these were. I wasn't going to post them but then I thought, they are SO bad, I must share!!





Baby A's profile (this one is ok....)















Baby B - yes, that's his face in the bottom LEFT!

Perinatologist Appt - Mar 20: Little MEN

Ok, you wanted to know.... We're having identical BOYS!

The ultrasound was great - and thorough. Thankfully Brian was with me asking lots and lots of questions because I was pretty much speechless throughout.

The tech went over each baby individually taking a picture and measurement of every single part (ok, there was ONE part she didn't measure...). Once she was done, she sent the images to the doctor - who was waiting in the next room. He reviewed the images and then joined us and took over the U/S machine, explaining things as he went. He was super nice and he kept telling us how great everything looked which made me very happy.

So...the highlights:
- Both boys are both perfectly healthy, with all their parts in place
- They each weigh 8 oz., which is good, and they are measuring at 18w3d which is right on target
- They are sharing a placenta (monochorionic) but they are thankfully separated by a membrane (diamniotic). The presence of that membrane has been my biggest concern in the weeks since the last U/S. Even though it is thinner than usual, finally seeing it was was a huge relief as it means we are now out of the highest risk category
- They are both in the breech position and seem to be enjoying looking at each other. The doctor said they are probably already scheming up ways to torture their parents which I did not find very funny
- My cervix looks excellent so a cerclage is still not necessary
- Assuming all continues to go well, I can look forward to a full, 38-week term. They will not let me go past 38 weeks, however, as there are significant complications that arise in twins after that point

What's Next?
Besides continuing to see Dr M for my bi-weekly visits, I will return to this office once a month for the rest of the pregnancy. They will continue to measure my cervix to look for any signficant changes. Also, because the twins are monochorionic/diamniotic they are unfortunately at risk for Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). Keep in mind, this is NOT likely. As a precaution, however, their growth will continue to be monitored by the specialist, and I will receive many more ultrasounds which is a bonus!

Ultrasound Scans
A view from the top.
Here are the tops of both babies' heads.












Brotherly Love.
This is a profile of Baby A. That blob on his tummy is the head of Baby B. These two are inseperable!











Stop touching me.
Here is the profile of Baby B. Again, there is a little bit of his brother creeping into the shot.












Playing Footsie.
The tech could not get a single shot of either baby with just their own feet. They were really going at it. At least they were not punching this time.

Second Ultrasound - 12 weeks

Well, now we are starting to see something! Here is an image of the two babies together. Below there is a scan of each of them separately. Seeing them move on the U/S was awesome.

First Ultrasound - 6 weeks

What - you can't tell what this is? ;-) This is the image the technician chose to print off for me after telling me I was carrying two babies. Good thing I was willing to take her word for it because by looking at this scan...I see nothing but a big blob. Apparently, however, the A and the B are each part of the babies and the YS is the yolk sac of baby A. Or is it Baby B....hmmm...That's why I'm not a tech.