September 2, 2008

Today was doctor day again ;) We had our 33 week check today which was complete with a doctor check and the first NST.

First was the ultrasound. It is more and more obvious that the boys are getting more and more squished in there! The pictures are getting less and less clear, which I GUESS is a good sign that they're growing in there! Both boys were movers and shakers, and looked great on ultrasound.

Baby A-
Heartrate: 132 BPM
Estimated weight: 4 lb 7 oz (32 percentile)

Baby B-
Heartrate: 141 BPM
Estimated weight: 4 lb 1 oz (23 percentile)

So...I got a little nervous because we were told at our last ultrasound that they grow nearly a half pound per week, so I really expected them to be bigger. Not to mention that at our last ultrasound, they were in the 50th and 44th percentile, and now they're at the 32nd and 23rd. I was worried, and asked the doctor. He says that it's totally normal for twins to plateau at this age, and not to grow at the same rate as singleton pregnancies. He said that they are running out of room to grow, and that he won't be concerned about their weights unless they dip under the 10th percentile. When I asked him why they hadn't grown a half pound per week, he said that twins grow more like a quarter or a pound per week. Humbug.

As I sit and ponder, I just hope and pray our babies are okay size when they're born. I am not expecting two 8 lb babies, but it would sure be great to have 6 pounders. Come ON boys! Grow grow grow. Really, their weight is not important to me as long as they are healthy and breathing on their own, and ready to come home with us when they're born.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention...Baby A IS indeed head down, very low in my pelvis right now! Yay! Baby B is also slightly head down, sort of transverse, but the tech believed that he'd flop to head down when his brother gave him some room to move. So....pray pray pray for BIG healthy babies that stay head DOWN!!!

It is also very important to mention that there is about a 10% margin of error on the ultrasounds. As the babies get bigger, they are MUCH harder to measure with accuracy, so that could be playing a role here as well.

That all said, we only got a few pictures of them this time. They are SO squished and the photos are getting less pleantiful! We did however, get two hallarious ones. One is of Baby B grabbing his penis (in 3D) and one is of Baby A flipping us the bird (in 2D). Daddy is so proud.

Next was the NST. The room was like a HOTEL! It has a plush recliner for me to recline in during the test, and a huge cushy sofa for Dad. Curt was thrilled with his posh seat of luxury! The doctor explained they wanted to see 4-5 heart accelerations and decelerations with movement PER baby. After about 10 minutes of being hooked up to the monitors, the nurse told us they were being boring, and brought me some ice water to drink. I drank it, and Baby A did his thing. The doctor came in and looked at the strip, and wanted Baby B to do a few more before he'd let me up ;) So she brought me yet another glass of ice water to chug (while strapped down to monitors and not allowed to potty!). Baby B finally did his thing and we were allowed to get up (and I was allowed to pee!). Curt was in a TRANS watching the babies' heartrates. It also monitored my contractions, so he gave me play by plays of all three screens...Baby A's heartrate, Baby B's heartrate, and UA (uterine activity). He read it off to me the WHOLE hour and cheerleaded for Baby B to do his thing!

Last, was our doctor check. I did remember to ask and I am measuring at 41/42 weeks (I am 33.5 weeks). The other update is that I am holding strong! I am still 50% effaced, and MAYBE a fingertip dialated he said. So...he wants me to stay on modified activity in order to keep them in there as long as possible. 3 or 4 more weeks would be great!!! Grow big boys GROW!!!

The last update is that he had us move our ultrasound to 3 weeks rather than 4 weeks, so that's nice. Makes me feel better to know we'll be seeing them again and measuring them again sooner rather than later. In the meantime, we'll have NSTs every visit, which is once per week! Yay!!! It's very reassuring to know they're doing okay in there still!

I think that's all for updates for today! TTYL!