Baby Blog: May 28, 2011

It's time for a long twin update. The last one was written in March. Eeek...that was a long time ago! One reason I haven't been writing is because sweet Benton takes up all my time (love that little guy) and the other is because there are just some realities to this pregnancy that have taken some time for me to process (more below).

First off, a picture of the growing girls (all three of us!) taken at 24w 6d:

Here is another picture taken at 26w 1d:

I'm not even really sure where to start, so I'll start with our high risk appointment from April 15th and then work towards my most recent appointment. I see my perinatologist every other week and my regular OB every other week (on a rotating schedule...so I see one of them every week), and I'm really only going to mention things from the perinatologist appointments.

Here are some of the details from my perinatologist appointment on April 15th (at 21 weeks gestation). At that time, the girls were doing great, with Baby A measuring at 7 ounces and Baby B measuring at 9 ounces. My cervix was measuring 3.0cm. I was given the okay to pretty much do anything I wanted unless it caused consistent contractions or made me uncomfortable. They did ask me to stop exercising.

(I had LOTS of contractions in this time.)

Here are some of the details from my perinatologist appointment on May 6th (at 24 weeks gestation). At that time, the girls were doing great, with Baby A measuring at 1 pound 9 ounces and Baby B measuring at 1 pound 7 ounces. My cervix was measuring 2.5cm. With the change in cervical length, they asked me to decrease my activities significantly and rest often.

(I continued to have LOTS of contractions in this time. I rested as much as possible.)

We most recently saw our perinatologist on May 20th. The girls look amazing still, and we are so grateful for that!!!! Baby A was measuring at 2 pounds 3 ounces, and Baby B was measuring at 2 pounds 5 ounces. Still no signs of twin to twin transfusion, and they are actually measuring a little bit ahead, which is pretty uncommon for twins that share a placenta. Grow, baby girls, grow!!! My cervix was measuring at 2.0cm on ultrasound...not good. They put me on modified bedrest (house arrest) and asked that I lay down for most of the day and only do absolutely necessary activities (care for Benton, shower, etc). On a positive note, my fetal fibronectin test was negative, which means that there was a very low likelihood of delivering the girls in the two weeks following the test.

(I am still having LOTS of contractions, and I've had more on daily basis than I did the previous times.)

I will have another appointment this coming week, and if my cervix has shortened anymore, they will put me on a more strict bedrest and start steroid shots for the girls lungs. The reality of this is very scary for so many reasons, but here are the two most obvious... (1) Preemie babies...enough said, and (2) We have the cutest, sweetest one year old around, and all I want to do is chase him and tickle him and give him lots of kisses.

Please be praying for our little family... that my body can hold the girls in until they are full-term, that the girls continue to do well, that Benton continues to adjust well to being stuck in the house with his non-active and boring mommy, and that Landon has the energy to take care of all of us (he has a very full plate right now). Thanks friends!