Monday, October 31, 2011

babies' first graduation

Second u/s was this morning. Both babies are doing great! Baby B is ever-so-slightly smaller than Baby A but they both rounded to 8w2d for their official measurements. Heart rates were 174 (A) and 179 (B). The ultrasound tech tried and tried to get a picture of them both together, but she wasn't able to due to their positioning. (Baby A is low and vertical and Baby B is high and horizontal.) We got several good shots of each of them on their own, though. Our RE gushed and gushed over how perfect they both look and sent us off with hugs and pleas to bring the babies in after they are born.

In related news, I feel dehydrated, queasy, hungry, and drop-dead exhausted All.The.Time. I can't believe how much sicker I am this time around. I'm about halfway through Dr. Luke's book (thanks to An Offering of Love for the recommendation!) and I'm doing my best to follow her guidelines about what and how often to eat. That seems to be helping a bit. Other than that, I'm just giving myself hourly pep talks about how likely it is I'll feel better in a month or two and if not, the babies will be here in 7 months so this can't last forever! I'm sorry I've been such a lousy blog commenter lately. I've been reading (usually horizontally, on the couch) but I'm bad about typing comments on my phone keypad. I promise I'm thinking of you all and sending thoughts out to those who need them!

Next step: Making some decisions about prenatal care. I liked the OB that delivered E, but not the hospital where he was born and after marinating on it for the past couple of weeks, I've decided to deliver elsewhere this time around. Unfortunately, my OB only delivers at the hospital where E was born, so I'll have to switch care providers. My RE said that since I had an uncomplicated pregnancy with E, I should go to a regular OB for prenatal care this time as well. Dr. Luke's book is adamant that all twin pregnancies are fundamentally different and should be managed by a perinatologist. Those of you who have carried twins, what type of doctor did you see? What did you like/dislike about your experience?

10 comments:

jessie said...

This is so exciting!

tammy said...

I saw a peri the entire time, but I was super high risk. If I wasn't as high risk as I was, I would have seen my OB with an u/s at the peri's office once a month. I like to joke my ob "fired us" because she wouldn't see us after 11 weeks.

YAY for the awesome news too!

Emily said...

gah, I wrote a dissertation and blogger ate it.

In short, we went with an MFM who delivered (which I know is rare). I am so glad we did. I read a million things about multiples pregnancies and he was always a step ahead of my questions, and we never had to ask for additional care (more cervix checks, growth scans, etc - we probably got too much care (we did a few other things specific to our situation we probably could have skipped) but I don't regret a bit of it since we have healthy babies and a healthy mom now!). While DW's pregnancy wasn't particularly high risk or complicated, we did deliver early due to IUGR (which turned out to be more severe than the U/S implied) and I'm not sure we would have had as good of a baseline from the regular OB. No regrets at all :)

Bionic Baby Mama said...

hooray for a and b!! i read that last night that they were okay and then passed out before i could comment. heh. but i am so glad.

no twin advice, but i think you're right to switch hospitals. as much as dr. russian was...a disappointment, i loved the hospital where the bean was born, and really, i spent a lot more time in contact with the nurses, etc., (and hence the hospital culture) than with dr. russian.

tbean said...

1. Hooray for your graduation! And your ticker! And being 8 weeks!
2. My "ick" really peaked in week 9 so hopefully you will turn the corner soon.
3. I also read Dr. Luke's book at AooL's suggestion but I didn't really like it. I found it a bit harsh and judgey (like you absolutely cannot be a vegetarian if you are pregnant with multiples...I'm not a veggie but I was offended on their behalf). All in all, the book stressed me out so I didn't scrutinize it that much.
4. Definitely investigate the culture of the hospital you deliver at. I picked the hospital first and then a practice that delivers there. Our hospital was awesome and fantastically progressive. Lowest section rate in the area and would have let me try for a vaginal birth had things been different. My friend who had twins the day before the turtles were born delivered at Suburban C-section Factory hospital. And while she was a day shy of 38 weeks and one or both of her twins was head down, they just scheduled her for a section with no discussion. Ridic. She didn't even attempt labor. Lame, say I.
5. We had a regular OB practice. They were totally awesome and worked hand in hand with the MFM clinic and the peri there. That was the best of both worlds. The ob care was excellent and once we had the level II at 20 weeks, they just automatically said that I would start getting growth scans and cervical measurements at the MFM clinic every 4 weeks. When my care got way more complicated, they worked together beautifully. So as long as your ob practice has a peri and a MFM clinic they work with, you should be fine. Peri's very rarely do delivery, as I understand it. The one we saw was just the wizard behind the curtain at the MFM clinic. He didn't even do our scans, the sonogram techs did.

Strawberry said...

Just excited for you, and happy that all looks well! Oh, and I think both babies are the same sex based on the hb's so far ;-)

Anonymous said...

Just to be cautious, pick a hospital with an excellent level 4 NICU. Hopefully you won't need it, but if you delivery early, you won't want to be at one hospital, and the babies at another. I worked with a regular ob who coordinated my care with a perinatologist. That is pretty common. I felt better at 13 weeks.

anofferingoflove said...

yay!! congrats on the "graduation" and great scan! :)

hope the exhaustion/queasiness goes away soon.

we used a regular OB, who partnered with a MFM practice. in retrospect, i think i would have gone with someone who specialized in twins from the beginning. our OB was pretty laid back about the whole "twin thing" and i often wonder if they could have caught R's shortening cervix earlier (which led to 10 weeks of bedrest).

@tbean - i totally dont recall the part of that book saying you cant be a vegetarian while carrying a twin pregnancy. we must have selectively skimmed over that passage, as R has been veg 12 years or so and continued to eat that way throughout her pregnancy. i guess as with all advice, you have to take what is helpful and leave the rest :)

Anonymous said...

The "ies'" of this post title just made me break out in a big ol' smile. Congrats on graduating, K! Woot!

X

Mama L said...

Yay! for graduating! I know what an awesome feeling that it, so enjoy it. I've wondered the same thing about the OB and the Perinatologist. I think perhaps we'll be seeing both. Luckily, here there is also a special MOMs program that works with our OB to ensure we're getting enough/right kind of nutrition, exercise, and support. Hope you have something similar in your area! Congrats!!!