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Saturday, December 1, 2018

Highs and Lows

Our official anatomy scan was yesterday. We had an early one two and a half weeks ago at my request, since the anatomy scan milestone was a big one for me. The good news is that everything is still looking good with the babies. Hearts, brains, diaphragms, kidneys, arms, legs, nasal bones: all were within normal ranges. Both babies were beating up on each other the entire time - heaven help us if they keep that up! Lefty, our girl, is estimated at 10 oz, and Righty, our boy, at 9.

There was some less good news, too. Nothing downright scary yet, but less good. My cervix has shrunk from 4.9 to 3.8 in two and a half weeks. That means that the uterine irritability I've been feeling has been causing cervical changes. We're not to the place of worrying yet, but we'll keep monitoring. To be fair, I don't know what else we can do if we reach the point of worry (e.g., 2.5 or lower). I already have a TAC which is the gold standard, so anything else would be like trying to put a bandaid on a broken steel beam that's been welded back together: if the weld doesn't hold, the bandaid sure won't help. There's a great study that shows at 19 weeks, a cervical length between 3.5 and 4.0 is correlated with a 23-29% probability of delivery before 35 weeks in di/di twins. Once again, I knew that was likely anyhow, but I'm still hoping for 37.

We also found out that Righty has marginal cord insertion. While this could be nothing, it's correlated with a number of negative outcomes, like abruptions, pPROM, and growth restrictions. Those are scary words for anyone, especially someone with my history. Further, since Righty has measured behind his sister this entire time, and still is doing so, we'll be monitored a bit more closely for his growth.

So, high note: both babies look great and are moving up a storm.
Low note: As expected, my body is pretty shit at this 'being pregnant' stuff. Hopefully it can keep holding out long enough to keep them both safe.

One day at a time continues. Pictures below are Lefty first, followed by Righty. Very different profiles than Quinn had, although maybe that's just gestational age. For now, I'm guessing they'll look more like their Dad's side of the family than mine.


2 comments:

  1. First off, yay for babies growing and being on track!!! That’s very good news!!

    The scary news about your cervix shortening is hard to hear, especially given that TAC you put yourself through. Monitoring is good as is just taking it one day at a time. I know it’s tempting to beat yourself up, but lady I know for a fact you are going above and beyond to make sure these 2 come home safely. Focus on that and take care of yourself.

    Sending love, many hugs and staying put vibes.

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  2. So far so good!
    At this point you're doing everything you can. Hopefully the monitoring will also help ease your mind? Lots of hugs!

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