My mother and I went to the Civic on Monday for the 20 week ultrasound, and she got to see the babies in action for the first time! I was expecting that the technician would do a brief headcount and that would be it, considering all the detailed measuring was done two weeks earlier. However, she still examined the hearts, brains, kidneys, bladders and spines of all three and the ultrasound was nearly as long as the first. She mentioned the difficulty of getting a good look at some of these vital organs with three of them in there - with an singleton, you can change the angle for a better view. With multiples, there's usually someone else in the way!
Edward and I went for our results on Thursday, and our OB was very pleased with the ultrasound. He noted that Babies A and C are exactly the same weight (about 10.5 ounces), which is within the normal range. However, Baby B is a good 12 ounces, which places it several weeks ahead of its siblings. He told us that as long as A and C continue to thrive, he's not at all worried about the discrepancy - and B has been the biggest from the very beginning. I definitely feel this baby the most, and yesterday morning it delivered a kick that made the newspaper on my (even expanding) belly jump. It's wonderful to be able to feel their movement on the outside, even though they're still fleeting at present, and I'm really excited that Edward will have the opportunity to experience it, too! My cervix has also lengthened considerably, which is great. But the OB warned me that it will grow and shorten throughout the rest of my pregnancy, so I shouldn't be too pleased by what is likely a temporary gain. I'm still on modified bedrest.
Our next ultrasound is July 21st (22week 2days), and from here on in, our care will be managed by the High Risk Unit at the Civic. It's MUCH easier for us, logistically, because the Civic is a fifteen minute drive from our house - but our meetings with the OB are twenty-five minutes away. It will be a lot less complicated to have everything centralized at the Hospital. Plus, once we get settled in there, they will give us a tour of the NICU so that we have a better understanding of what to expect. They strongly encourage us to go, as it is not the sort of place you first want to see when your babies are admitted.
At our prenatal class we were told that it could take them 45 minutes to an hour to sew me back up after the c-section, and that Edward would be able to accompany the babies to the NICU immediately after their birth. I'm thinking I'll arm him with a camera so he can document their status and report back to me. The NICU nurse was saying that a lot of frazzled new fathers get so overwhelmed trying to keep everyone and everything straight when their babies are admitted to the NICU, that they return to their wives virtually speechless. Edward is a very level-headed person, so while I don't expect that the situation will alter his approach too much, I think it's wise to give him a few tools to help jog his memory - after all, enquiring minds will want to know every little detail!
Showing posts with label ultrasound. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ultrasound. Show all posts
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
18 Week Ultrasound
I'm a week late in posting about our milestone 18 week ultrasound - we've been dealing with a sick Sprocket since last Monday, and as all of you animal lovers know, it can be incredibly time consuming ($$$ consuming!) and emotionally draining to have a pet with unresolved medical issues.
In any case, this is most certainly a Good News post, so l'll focus on the babies!
We were pretty nervous going in to this ultrasound last Monday. We hadn't seen the little ones in 6 weeks, and although I could feel sporadic movement in my uterus, it was impossible to guess how many babies that movement represented. This was also our first ultrasound at the High Risk clinic at the Civic Hospital, and we were impressed by their technology and empathetic bed-side manner.
The tech started off by making sure all babies were present and accounted for - all three had very good heart-rates (145, 148 and 155), and all three measured and weighed within the normal range for their gestational age. The next step was to carefully examine each one to ensure all major physiological structures were intact and functioning (brain, kidneys, bladder, heart, etc). Of course, we were offered the opportunity to find out their genders too, but we declined. That being said, one of them flashed us unexpectedly and I got the distinct impression that Baby B is a girl! The tech didn't say too much while she was scanning - there was a lot of wiggling and flipping going on, so she had to concentrate to get the right angles for measurement. All in all, the ultrasound lasted a good hour and 15 minutes, so we knew she was being very thorough!
Waiting until Thursday to review the results with our OB was a little stressful. The tech didn't seem to overly focus on one particular baby, or body part, so we felt somewhat reassured that we would receive good news. Our OB was thrilled with the results, telling us that the Civic's best prenatal radiologist reviewed the scans and found the babies to be "perfect". He did note that one was a little smaller than the others, but still within the normal range so he was not yet concerned about its growth. In fact, its very rare to have non-identical multiples measuring the same - size discrepancy is to be expected.
He also made note of the length of my cervix. This is an important indicator of preterm labour risk, and although I'm technically within the norm, it is a little shorter than they would like to see at this stage of my pregnancy. Thus, the dreaded B word was mentioned, and I'm now on modified bedrest. This means that I'm allowed up and about, but I should be off my feet for most of the day, and no malls or extended shopping trips for me! I've already started a few lists for Edward, and bought some stuff on-line, so hopefully we'll get everything covered by the time we need to use the nursery.
Monday is our 20 week ultrasound (we're going every 2 weeks now), with another result session with the OB on Thursday, This time, my mother will accompany me to the scan because Edward is starting his new job (a lateral move within the organization) the same day. Hopefully, all the babies will cooperate, and Nana can have her first look at the latest additions to the family!
In any case, this is most certainly a Good News post, so l'll focus on the babies!
We were pretty nervous going in to this ultrasound last Monday. We hadn't seen the little ones in 6 weeks, and although I could feel sporadic movement in my uterus, it was impossible to guess how many babies that movement represented. This was also our first ultrasound at the High Risk clinic at the Civic Hospital, and we were impressed by their technology and empathetic bed-side manner.
The tech started off by making sure all babies were present and accounted for - all three had very good heart-rates (145, 148 and 155), and all three measured and weighed within the normal range for their gestational age. The next step was to carefully examine each one to ensure all major physiological structures were intact and functioning (brain, kidneys, bladder, heart, etc). Of course, we were offered the opportunity to find out their genders too, but we declined. That being said, one of them flashed us unexpectedly and I got the distinct impression that Baby B is a girl! The tech didn't say too much while she was scanning - there was a lot of wiggling and flipping going on, so she had to concentrate to get the right angles for measurement. All in all, the ultrasound lasted a good hour and 15 minutes, so we knew she was being very thorough!
Waiting until Thursday to review the results with our OB was a little stressful. The tech didn't seem to overly focus on one particular baby, or body part, so we felt somewhat reassured that we would receive good news. Our OB was thrilled with the results, telling us that the Civic's best prenatal radiologist reviewed the scans and found the babies to be "perfect". He did note that one was a little smaller than the others, but still within the normal range so he was not yet concerned about its growth. In fact, its very rare to have non-identical multiples measuring the same - size discrepancy is to be expected.
He also made note of the length of my cervix. This is an important indicator of preterm labour risk, and although I'm technically within the norm, it is a little shorter than they would like to see at this stage of my pregnancy. Thus, the dreaded B word was mentioned, and I'm now on modified bedrest. This means that I'm allowed up and about, but I should be off my feet for most of the day, and no malls or extended shopping trips for me! I've already started a few lists for Edward, and bought some stuff on-line, so hopefully we'll get everything covered by the time we need to use the nursery.
Monday is our 20 week ultrasound (we're going every 2 weeks now), with another result session with the OB on Thursday, This time, my mother will accompany me to the scan because Edward is starting his new job (a lateral move within the organization) the same day. Hopefully, all the babies will cooperate, and Nana can have her first look at the latest additions to the family!
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