Well, it's been quite a week.
I'm a little bummed over some news we got yesterday, and I'm just not up to smiling for the camera, so I went with the lame belly-bump-in-the-mirror shot. I think it will do, don't you?
As I mentioned last week, we've been zero'ing in on getting the babies' room ready this week. Our entire upstairs looks like we are getting ready to move - there are boxes everywhere, almost nothing is in its place. Kyle has done an ENORMOUS amount of work. The now-nursery had been a workout room/family computer space, and there was a lot of heavy lifting to be done to get that cleared out. He also painted and set up the cribs.
We are nowhere close to being done, but it's taken a lot of work just to get to this:
I'm a bad blogger and forgot to take "before" pictures. We'll count this as the before for an after reveal when it all comes together. Deal?
Thursday, I had my regular OB check-up. I love my doctor and her nurse so much! My OB is someone I could genuinely see myself hanging out with outside of the office. She is so upbeat and encouraging and younger than me, which is a new and strange part of advanced maternal age.
While I was there, we talked about the upcoming milestone weeks and how excited she is and will be when I hit each new milestone. We listened to the heartbeats, and as per usual, Twin B's rate is about ten beats faster than his brothers.
I did my one-hour glucose test, too. I have a long history of blood sugar issues, and every single pregnancy, I've been convinced I'll have gestational diabetes. That hasn't happened yet, but my OB did prepare me for the fact that because the placenta produces a hormone that mimics insulin and because my placenta is larger (all the better for supporting two babies, my dear), there was a reasonable chance that I would fail the one-hour test. I'm still waiting to hear results on that.
Not much in the way of news or developments there except that now I'm on an every two-week schedule for seeing her.
So then yesterday, I had an ultrasound and MFM doctor appointment. Kyle and his mom went along. That was fun because we lived too far away from family when I was pregnant with the girls for any of our family members to be part of the prenatal appointments.
The sonographer got all the usual measurements. She referred to Twin B as The Big Guy a few times, and as she finished measuring everything, she told us that Twin A is weighing in at about 2 pounds, 4 ounces and that Twin B is weighing an even 3 pounds.
Well, of course I panicked a little bit at that as Twin To Twin Transfusion came to mind immediately. I asked her about the weight discrepancy, but all she would say is that Dr. Williams would answer any questions I had about that.
I am so thankful that Kyle and my mother-in-law were there because they kept me distracted as we waited for the MFM to come in by telling me funny stories and making me laugh. I know if I had been by myself, I would have been completely spinning out while I was waiting.
This was the first time I had seen Dr. Williams - I usually see a different specialist in that office - but I liked him at once. He immediately assured me that both boys' organs and other measurements look completely fine. We talked about the weight difference, but more importantly, how much fluid they had measured for Twin B.
A normal deep pocket measurement of amniotic fluid would be an 8 or less. Twin A's fluid measures at about 5.6 (I think?). Twin B's, however, measures at a 12 right now, so he has been diagnosed with polyhydramnios -- too much amniotic fluid.
This shook me up quite a bit. I know that in the grand scheme of pregnancy and especially multiple pregnancies, this is not the biggest deal ever. But talking about what it could mean and what precautions we might have to take was a little unsettling.
I think part of it is that everything has gone so smoothly in the pregnancy. Moreover, all of my pregnancies have been very smooth and uneventful. I think the other part of it was that I was pretty well-convinced that based on how everything has played out that I would carry these babies fully to term. And now with one of them having polyhydramnios and the increased risk for early delivery, I don't have that confidence anymore.
And I know that I know that I know that lots and LOTS of multiples spend time in the NICU and it's hard but manageable and life goes on. From the moment I found out we were having twins, however, having one or both of them in the NICU has cast a dark cloud of unknown over this whole pregnancy. So I've spent the past 24 hours just kind of processing everything which is where I still am. Just thinking (and trying to avoid consulting Dr. Google on any of this!).
If nothing else comes up, I'll see both doctors again in two weeks, and we'll just go from there!
As always, thank you so much for your encouraging words, thoughts, and prayers. It means so much!
