We had yet another good day at the doctor today. But before we inform you about today, we should rewind a few days back to Monday. As many of you know, this week marked the first week of seeing the doctor twice every week. We’ve added Monday appointments to our weekly schedule, but thankfully we don’t have to drive as far on those days. Instead, we’re able to go a (relatively) short distance (about 35 minutes) to Crown Point. For those appointments, we only have a non-stress test (NST).
“What’s that?” you might say. If any of you know what it looks like when a mother-to-be is monitored for labor and delivery, then you know what an NST is. A nurse puts a round device on the mom’s belly and uses an elastic band to hold it in place. That device listens to and charts the baby’s (or in our case, “those devices listen to and chart the babies’”) heart rate and movement. The goal is to have 20 minutes of consistent measurement, and it seems to be at least twice as hard to do that with twins. Another monitor measures whether (or how often/strong) contractions are for mom.
The NST on Monday went quite well, and the (first) one we had today didn’t go as well as planned. They kept hearing just one heartbeat with the two monitors – apparently the girls were so close to each other that it was tough to distinguish where each heartbeat was.Nevertheless, the nurse seemed satisfied when we left that testing area.
Next, we had another ultrasound to measure growth, MCA levels, fluid levels, and biophysical profile (BPP). Let’s go over those results…
1. Growth – twin A put on another two ounces this week, bringing her up to 1 lb, 15 oz. (just an ounce short of 2 pounds!). We’re glad she’s growing. Twin B put on a whopping 7 ounces this week, bringing her up to 3 lbs, 3 oz. Our doctor didn’t seem concerned at all that there’s now over a pound difference in weight, so we aren’t either. =) As Dr. Ismail said, “Leave the worrying to me.”
2. MCA levels – we were extremely pleased here. They measured the blood flow in the middle cerebral artery (MCA) and use a formula to determine the score. The normal range is 1.7-2.3 for this developmental age. Twin A had a 1.8 score and twin B had a 2.2 score. We’re really happy that they’re both in the normal range!
3. Fluid levels – these were incredibly encouraging results. Twin A had about 9 cm of fluid and twin B had about 7 cm. Remember, these are the levels that we prayed about a while back when twin A had less than (the danger threshold of) 2 cm. Good news!
4. BPP – there’s only a half-hour window to watch both twins perform all 4 BPP factors: muscle tone, movement, breathing, and fluid. Each of those is awarded 2 points for completion, with a perfect score of 8. Twin B scored a perfect 8, while twin A had a 6 – the tech didn’t see her doing any of the pre-breathing. She wasn’t concerned about it, but…
Our doctor wanted to stay on the safe side. So, we went back for another NST to make sure that A was doing okay. The nurse was able to get a much more consistent measure, and everything looked great.
We met with the doctor for a short time, and he was very encouraging again today. “You are going to have two healthy baby girls,” he told us. Lisa is up to 29 weeks and 4 days today. As (I think) I’ve said earlier, the average length of pregnancy after having the laser procedure for TTTS is 31-32 weeks, but our doctor didn’t seem to think that Lisa would be delivering any time soon. He affirmed that if we’re able to make it to 34 weeks and the presenting baby has her head down, Lisa will be able to try delivering the babies without a c-section (“naturally”).
Even with our good news, we continue to have heavy hearts and pray for Tim & Laura. We’re thankful that you’re doing the same.
Ooh, before I forget, we have a few pictures from the last two visits – they’re 4d (I didn’t make that term up, I just go with what they tell me), so you’ll have use your imagination to see the girls’ faces. The first one is straight-on of twin B from last week. The second is a ¾ angle looking down on twin B from last week. And the last one is a ¾ angle looking down on twin A from today. Enjoy!
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