Darek + Stacie

I’m running a little behind on the pictures, due to one being held hostage in a car en route to the other side of the world and the other being in my camera all the way across the room.

Today we had a fluid check, and unfortunately baby A’s fluid has increased from about 8cm to about 10cm. We’re now in the danger zone, although the doctor said that if it stays below 12cm we should be all right. We’re being switched back to weekly ultrasounds, possibly for the duration, to keep a close eye on things.

We’re trying not to worry too much or think too far ahead, but since people ask, the “treatment” would be to stick a big needle in my stomach and drain some of the fluid. Unfortunately, this comes with risks. The doctor wants to avoid it unless it’s absolutely necessary, so we’re just hoping hoping hoping it doesn’t come to that.

I’ll be 24 weeks on Wednesday, so we’re getting closer and closer.

Today we had a “long” sonogram – the kind where they measure everything. “Everything” as in: from the babies’ brains to my cervix.

The babies were super active this morning so they had some trouble getting all of the measurements, but in the end they got them all, and everything looks great.

Baby B’s fluid is normal. Baby A’s fluid is on the high side, but okay. The doctor said that the fluid is “really just baby pee” so we shouldn’t worry too much if they’re a little unbalanced. He said he wasn’t worried, we don’t have TTTS, everything looked great, and the fact that we’ve made it this far without problems is a good sign.

Both babies weigh exactly one pound each! They’re in the 46th & 47th percentile, which I don’t completely understand but it means they’re each the size a “regular” (singleton) baby should be at this point. It’s also wonderful that they’re the same size.

The babies kept moving around the whole time; Baby B completely changed positions during the scan, from head next to Baby A’s head to butt next to A’s head. Nice. When the tech switched over the the 3D view for a few minutes, we got to see B kick A in the head repeatedly. So sweet…

They measured my cervix, and in what I expect was an attempt to get me to laugh (ultrasounds are worrisome now) the doctor said mine was “a mile long” and “not even human.” He then said I might want to be a surrogate after this. Ha. Ha. Ha. Our doctor is a funny guy. In seriousness though, we really, really like him, and trust him completely.

So for now, everything is good! We’ll keep going in every 2 weeks for fluid checks to make sure the levels stay stable. The risks of TTTS will always be there, but to make it this far without it is a really good sign. So we’re very hopeful and positive right now.

22 weeks down, 14 to go??? 36 weeks is my goal.

It rained on picture day.

The babies’ fluid levels are “stable.” They’re pretty much in the same area they were last time, which is in the “okay” range. They haven’t gotten any worse, which is a really good sign. We’ll go back in one week to get them checked again and go from there.

I’ll be 21 weeks tomorrow. Every week that goes by is another week closer to the goal. Every week that something doesn’t go wrong is a success.

The doctor seemed really happy that the levels were still in the same range. She said it’s okay if they’re different, as long as they’re not too different. From my research and talking to people who have experienced TTTS, the real problems start when the levels are below 2cm and above 9cm. They took two measurements – one was 3 & 8 and the other was 4 & 7. So depending on how they measure and how the babies are hanging out, it can fluctuate a little. But either way, they’re doing ok.

I’ve been a mess this past week worrying. We’ll continue to get close monitoring and hope for the best, and I’ll try to worry a little less.