Exciting News

Another set of good reports today and quite a bit of clarification, too.

First, the good reports.  The girls continue to look good, as they both scored perfectly on their BPPs.  We also had another measurement of growth today for the twins.  Some of you may wonder how they measure growth for unborn babies – others know because you heard me explain it one evening in church a few weeks ago =).  Basically, the ultrasound tech measures some body parts, and then those measurement numbers are put into a formula that estimates how far along (gestational age) the babies are.  Then the babies’ weights are estimated based on how much the average baby weighs at that particular gestational age.

Because estimates are involved, there’s some leeway in terms of accuracy; some of you may have been told you were having 9 pound babies based on the measurements, but then it turned out to be a 7 pound baby.  Long, skinny babies weigh less than estimated; short, chunky babies weigh more than estimated.

After that explanation, you might be wondering how our babies measured today.  Two weeks ago, baby A weighed 2 lbs, 7 oz, and baby B weighed 3 lbs, 12 oz.  Today, baby A is up to 2 lbs, 13 oz (a 6 oz gain) and baby B is up to 4 lbs, 12 oz (a 16 oz (1 lb) gain).  We’re glad they’re both growing and are a little disappointed that A has fallen farther behind – she weighs nearly 2 lbs less than B.

Second, we found out some clarification.  Last week we were told that the babies with TTTS are often delivered between 34 and 35 weeks.  We didn’t really find out why, so we (as many of YOU) have been wondering what the reasoning is behind that.  It turns out that babies that are 34-35 weeks along have a virtually 100% survival rate.  After 35 weeks, twins have about a 5% chance of developing complications; twins who have been through what ours have (surgery, bed rest, gestational diabetes) have higher rates of complications.  You might wonder, “Why aren’t ALL babies delivered between 34 and 35 weeks then?”  Dr. Ismail has been asked that, and he told us his answer: “In normal pregnancies, intervention isn’t needed because your body naturally delivers when it’s time; in complicated situations, it’s better to intervene when the babies are still healthy.”  Makes sense to us; especially after all they’ve been through already, we’d hate for anything to go wrong at this point.

Another detail: another set of steroid shots.  Yes, Lisa received those about 8 weeks ago, but they said that she should get another pair of shots.  Because Lisa has gestational diabetes (and because steroids can cause spikes in blood sugar), they wanted to keep Lisa overnight to monitor her.  On further thought, they decided it would be best to keep her in the hospital from when she has her steroid shot until when the babies are delivered.  So…

What does this mean practically?  It means that Lisa will go up to Chicago (rather than Crown Point) on Monday for the NST and BPP.  She’ll also receive a steroid shot, and then she will be closely watched – “closely,” as in, “checked into the hospital and monitored.”  We imagine that the girls will then be kept on the monitors continuously in order to make sure that they (along with Lisa) are doing well.  While we’re unsure of a specific delivery date, she would likely deliver within two weeks or so of when she enters the hospital.  We’re still working on details with regard to where the kids will stay, where I (Jeff) will be, how often our family will visit Lisa, and when (if given the option) we’ll schedule the delivery of the babies.

Lots to pray for. =)  We’re thankful for good news that the girls are growing.  We’re praying that A will miraculously catch up – or at least hit a major growth spurt so that she’s not so little. =)  We’re glad that we have clear direction in terms of what will happen next, and we ask for prayers for wisdom as we discern the details.  We pray that the kids will understand a bit of what’s going on so that it’s not too hard for them to be apart from Mommy for a while.  And we pray that Mommy will be able to survive without seeing the kids very often. =)

We’re getting there.  Thanks for being there beside us.  We'll keep you updated.  God is good, all the time.