This was sharper looking when we were there, but it appears Baby B is giving us the looser sign with her thumb and forefinger....Maybe she is just a Smash Mouth fan?
Baby A looks peaceful here.
Well things are moving right along. Joy feels the two of them moving more and more each day. Sometimes it can be really distracting for her at work. I guess they tend to fidget a lot like their dad.
Our visit went well. There is a 9.7% discordance between the two of them. Meaning one is bigger than the other. This is a little bit of a concern for them, but not too much. The estimates from the U/S equipment put them and 431g and 389g and the 23rd percentile and 8th percentile for their age. The difference in percentile sounds huge, but really we are only talking about 1.4 oz or so. I'm not too concerned because Baby B has always been smaller when we get them measured. In fact back around 13wks 1d the software had them at about 10g difference or 8.8% off. So I guess the size difference has widened a tad, but I'm not worried about it.
The blood flow in the cords looked good. They did not see any problems there and their BPP scores were good. They both got 6 out 8. They both lost 2 point because they were not showing constant breathing motions. However, being that they are only 22 weeks this was not a surprise.
The slightly bigger cause for concern relates to Baby B's kidneys. I probably shouldn't even say concern. They just want to keep an eye on her kidneys. When they measured them there was a 3.5mm space with fluid. They prefer to see less than 4mm. So she is close to the limit. This could be that she simply needed to urinate or it could be that the valve near her bladder isn't quite right. If it is the valve when she urinates some of the urine travels back up to the kidney. If this does develop into an issue it could mean that she forms a bladder infection when she comes out and may need a few months of antibiotics. If this continues to be suspicious then she may have some follow up ultra sounds and maybe a dye test when she is born to see if urine is flowing back up to the kidney. In any case, it sounded like something that may be nothing or may turn into a minor issue when she is born. The doctor noted that she sees this maybe 4 times a week and that it often turns into nothing. They just noted it in the file so the U/S Tech and the next Dr. will remember to take an extra look.
Although, there is a size difference and the kidney "issue". The other measurements don't suggest any Twin-Twin Transfusion. However, they will move up our next growth scan. Instead of being in 4 weeks they will do it in 3 weeks. That means things are about to get really busy.
In 2 weeks Joy gets two steroid shots 24 hrs apart to stimulate lung growth.
In 2 weeks Joy starts 3x week NSTs (they monitor fetal heart beats this should be about 1 hr each time).
In 2 weeks there is another U/S to check on Twin-Twin Transfusion. They will be looking at the heart, kidneys, bladder etc.
In 3 weeks there will be another growth scan.
In 4 weeks if nothing pops up during the NSTs Joy will be admited to Duke.
Hopefully, the two little ones stay comfy and don't come out until 32 weeks (around the week of July 10th-17th).
Overall, we are still very positive. No big curve balls. I re-read some case studies and at this point in the game the odds for these little ones are very good. Granted the case studies are small with only about 30-40 babies in them, but it seems that "properly managed and monitored" the outcome should be very good. In one study the only losses were after birth and in both of those cases the child had heart deformations. So far they have not seen any heart deformations in our girls.
I have also started to research baby stuff. I found some cribs that were highly rated by consumer reports. So on the spur of the moment Joy and I headed to IKEA to pick up some cribs etc. We decided to go with more "disposable" cribs ($100 ea.) rather than getting the kind that turn into a full size bed ($500+ ea.). This is because we figured the little ones may chew on the rails and while being a toddler they may beat the furniture with toys and knick it up. So, these cribs turn into toddler beds and should last them until we need to get them "grown up" beds. At which time we hope they will be less destructive.
Also, Consumer Reports recommended to not reuse cribs from other people. This is because the heating or cooling during storage could effect the safety. You would need to determine if there had been any recalls etc. They also recommended not using drop side cribs and to buy very simple cribs.
I also picked out our car seats. I'm still having problems justifying the City Select double stroller. It is crazy expensive to carry two car seats. We are looking about about $850! Ouch!!!!! Not sure I can talk myself into that. The good thing is that you can convert it back to pushing toddlers and it looks pretty sturdy, but man...pricey!
We are both getting very excited and we are going to go ahead with a baby shower at the end of the month before Joy goes into the hospital. She really wants to let loose and enjoy things. She really doesn't want to miss out on a "normal" pregnancy event like a shower. So her and several helpers are trying to sort out how, when and where to throw a party.
Ok....back to the ol' grind.
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