21 week ultrasound and more cervical trouble

We went for another ultrasound this morning.  The babies are big and doing great.  They are appoximately 1 lb 3 oz (A) and 1 lb 2 oz (B).  We checked our preemie chart and that is in the 50%ile.  They both turned and are in a breech position now.  Basically they are both having a joyful time jumping up and down on my bladder!  Baby B gave us the peace sign!  They gave us 3-D pictures of their faces and they look like REAL babies now!!  My weight:  164 lb (up 5 lb from 2 weeks ago). I measured around my belly and I am 39.5 inches.  The doctor measured me and said I am measuring at 25 weeks, due to it being twins.  Other interesting measurements:  head circumference 19 cm, head diameter 5.5 cm.

My cervix is not doing well.  It measures 21 mm.  That's down about 4mm.  The biggest concern is that it appears to be "funneling" which means it is opening up from the inside.  They kept asking if I was having contractions.  I didn't think I was.  I definitely had a big contraction later in the day.  That scared me.  The doctor said I need to stay off my feet as much as possible and rest with my feet up several times a day.  She asked what type of job I have.  I told her it really wasn't possible for me to do that with my job.  She has asked me to come back in a week to re-measure my cervix.  I am assuming that if it still getting shorter or funneling,  she will be pulling me from work.  When I think of all we've been through to get to this point, I will do whatever it takes to keep this pregnancy.  I cannot face trying this all over again and quite honestly, it won't matter if I don't have a cervix that works.  And I'm getting rather attached to these 2 cute little faces that I saw today.  One week at a time.  Taking it easy!

19 week ultrasound/check-up

We are officially switched over to the high risk doctor associated with Strong Hospital.  We had our first "real" visit today.  The ultrasound shows both boys growing nicely.  They are about 13 oz. each.  Baby B was opening and closing his mouth, drinking and swallowing.  Baby A was still face down so we couldn't get a good look at his face.  Heartbeats:  A/150 B/143.   I can feel A jumping around a lot every day.  B is much quieter, and he makes me nervous!  My weight:  159 lbs.  My cervical length is still around 24 mm.  No change is good.  If I can carry to term, they will take them both by c-section on May 24th.....although, the babies could always announce an earlier arrival at their choosing.  The blood screening for neuro-tube/Down Syndrome was good.  Chance of Down Syndrome is 1 in 18,000 and chance of neuro-tube defects is 1 in 4,000.  Things are looking good.  Hoping it stays this way!

As for names, we are thinking William and James.  Dave really wants a John or Jack.  I do like Jack, but not a fan of John.  I am thinking a cute nickname for William is Liam and for James, Jamie.  Dave isn't quite sure how he feels about the nickname Liam.  We continue to hash this out.  :)

18 weeks, ultrasound, & high-risk doctor

Since Lakeside did my cervical length ultrasound incorrectly yesterday, we were sent back to Strong to have the repeat ultrasound.  I love their ultrasound!  It's very comfortable and there is a big screen in front of us to we don't have to crane our necks to see the computer screen.  Both babies looked good.....very active!  Baby A was holding and playing with his umbilical cord and then putting his hand in his mouth while we watched.  Baby B was yawning.  It was very cool!!  My true cervical length is still around 2.4cm.  While this is still in a "danger zone", it is good that it didn't get worse.  That is what we're hoping for.  We asked the doctor about switching over to this group for the rest of the pregnancy.  It's a group of 6 high-risk doctors/midwives.  We've really liked his forthcoming manner with information.  My regular doctor never tells me anything and I have to remember to ask for things that she should just be doing.  Also, since the fiasco at Lakeside's ER yesterday, we want to have the babies at Strong.  They are much more prepared for premature babies and any other things that could come up.

So, my regular doctor in Brockport never called me today to let me know the UTI results.  I called them right before 5p and asked for the results.  The receptionist told me that the doctor would call me back.  The doctor didn't call me, but another receptionist did.  She told me that the doctor was prescribing an antibiotic.  When I asked if this was because I had a UTI the receptionist wasn't sure.  Great.  Why am I not privy to this information?  I'll be pissed if I find out that I'm on this antibiotic just to shut me up.....if I don't have a UTI.  Who knows?  Also, she never found my bloodlab results, so Strong just re-did the blood tests today.  I have to say, I have no confidence that she would have even called me before Monday with the UTI information.  That is just unacceptable!

We are officially finishing this pregnancy and birth at the high-risk group at Strong.  Whew!  I'm finally feeling a bit more in control and relaxed.

18 Weeks and another Emergency Room visit

I woke up this morning in even more pain that I have experienced in the past week.  I was already scheduled to go to Lakeside hospital for a cervical length check at 10:30.  By 9:00, I was so concerned with the pain that I called the doctor's office.  They told me to go to Lakeside ER right away.  At ER they did a whole bunch of tests and a cervical length test/ultrasound.  The babies looked great.  Baby B waved at us.   :)  My cervical length was 6.1cm.....this was VERY surprising since it was 2.4cm just a week ago.  I was told it might grow a millimeter maybe, but not much more than that.  If we were lucky, it would just stay at 2.4cm.  They checked for a UTI and found nothing.  When the tests were done, the ER doctor came in and said, "Okay, you're all set to leave." ????  But I was still in pain!  He said, "If it gets worse, come back."  What the heck!?

Fortunately, I was already scheduled to see my own doctor this afternoon.  I explained to her that I was still in decent pain and had been all day.  She asked if they checked for a UTI.  Yep.  She had me do another urine sample and found a little blood in my urine, but no infection.  Soooo, she said she needed to but a catheter into my bladder to take a sample.  Oh good lord!  It wasn't as bad as I expected.  She has to wait for the results and call me.   I asked her to explain how my cervical length could go from 2.4 to 6.1.  She said, "It didn't.  They needed to check it transvaginally, but they didn't.  I'm writing another script for you to go back to Strong and get it done."  Great.  I was breathing a sigh of relief about my cervix and now I'm back to stressing about it.  I have to schedule that, and probably miss another half day of work.

So, my weight:  154 lbs (down a pound from last week).  Babies heartrates:  A=157  and B=153.  Both good.  All the other ultrasound measurements looked perfect.

New Year's Day Emergency room visit

All night I kept feeling "wrong".....pressure, tightness, dull cramps.  I had put myself on bedrest the previous day and spent several hours this morning wondering if it was normal or if I was being overly worried.  I finally decided to call my doctor's emergency service and let them decide.  They encouraged me to head to Strong's maternity ER and get my cervix measured again.  I went in.  They tested for contractions:  none.  They found 2 good heartbeats.  They did an internal and things looked and felt good.  They tested me for a yeast infection:  positive.  The doc said that these infections cause cramping/pressure.  I was never so happy to have a yeast infection.  Got my pill and hopefully things should be better.