On Tuesday, I went to see a musical here in town with friends. While the performance by the actors wasn't too impressive, the munchkins' performance in my belly sure was. They were moving around like CRAZY (I think they really respond to music) and I spent at least half of the performance just watching their little arms/legs poking out all over my belly. I'm pretty convinced at some point one of them will just burst on through a la the movie "Alien"... but until then, I LOVE watching them. So if you see the pregnant lady around town looking at her belly and just giggling, that's me. Please don't think I'm off my meds. :) I play a lot of music for the boys and sing to them all the time. Jason's concerned that I'm not providing them with a wide enough variety of musical genres and has declared that we will have jazz and classical music playing at all times in the nursery (apparently, the steady musical diet I've been providing so far of pop, folk, reggae, oldies, alternative, and show tunes isn't good enough for them!).
Jason onstage playing with the band-
these munchkins have been surrounded
by music since conception...
On Wednesday, I had my ultrasound. Janelle came with, so we had a great time together fawning over the munchkins onscreen. With each ultrasound now, I'm kind of half-expecting them to announce that it's time for bed rest. But that didn't happen this week!
Everything is going well with Momma. My blood pressure is still hanging out in a healthy range. They're watching this very closely because of the huge risk for hypertension/preeclampsia (VERY bad for the babies and me). I've also gained healthy weight thanks to my steady diet of carbs, whole milk dairy, and frequent snacks. For those curious, I've gained almost 45 pounds since my first trimester (when I actually lost 10 pounds at first). While that sounds like a ridiculous number to me, everyone keeps telling me that it appears that I'm only gaining in my tummy. I'm not sure if I believe them, but I keep hearing people say that I don't look pregnant from behind. :)
Good ultrasound pics are getting harder to capture because
the babes are getting so big and so close to each other, but
this is a pic of Baby A's perfect spinal column
GROSS update (but you've been forewarned): they're checking to see if I'm "spilling" sugar or protein into my pee. Both would be bad, but I'm not doing either! Sugar might mean gestational diabetes, and protein might mean preeclampsia- both would be bad for both babies and momma, so thank goodness that I'm not showing signs of either yet. My cervix is still apparently made of titanium (a good thing) and I'm just so thankful that this is our first pregnancy and that my cervix and uterus have never had to be worked before like they are being worked now! (never dreamed that I would be typing a sentence like that)
Baby C's spinal column and head (on the right side of
the pic). We were lucky to get a pic of him because he
was literally FLIPPING between being face up and face
down during the ultrasound- future gymnast?
NON-GROSS update: And the babies are doing pretty well overall too! All of their heartbeats are good and steady where they should be. The levels of amniotic fluid in their sacs are all perfect. They're moving like crazy and gaining weight. The only real concern at this point is Baby A's weight. Remember that Baby A is the munchkin situated lowest in my pelvis (when my bladder gets tapped on, it's him!). He weighs approximately 1 pound 15 ounces, which puts him in the teens (14-17%) on the growth chart. While he is still gaining weight (12 ounces since our last visit!), he isn't gaining as fast as his brothers. Baby B is weighing in around 2 pounds 8 ounces, which now puts him at the 90th percentile on the growth chart, and Baby C is still our little piglet, weighing in at 2 pounds 12 ounces (well above the 90th percentile!). Keep in mind that the growth chart I'm referencing is the same one used for single pregnancies!
What's this?!? Baby B's left ear and shoulder! His ear is the
white backwards 'C' shape at the top right of the screen and his
shoulder is the white blob in the center of the pic (and that's
his arm with a flexed elbow to the left of the shoulder!)
So we're very concerned about Baby A. Athena, the ultrasound tech from heaven, mentioned that they usually see the baby that's lowest in the pelvis gain weight the slowest due to space restrictions and having their siblings on top of them. And it's also not unusual for multiples to be different weights in the womb. Dr. Gilbert was very calm when he was reviewing the results of the ultrasound with me, but he did say that this would mean that they'd be keeping a very close eye on Baby A's weight gain.
As of right now, there's no reason to panic, so of course I'm panicking because this is the first real development in the pregnancy that hasn't been absolutely stellar. I came home and had to let myself have a good cry because I'm so worried about my munchkins. A good introduction to parenthood for me- making yourself worried sick over your little ones...
Well, hello there Baby B! Such a cute nose you have!
This news actually doesn't change any of the doctor's plans for me. He didn't add any additional monitoring or bed rest to the regimen, although I just guaranteed a continued weekly ultrasound schedule for myself. Dr. Gilbert did say that we're in a "watching and monitoring" phase with this news, not in an "action needs to be taken" phase. My plan is to spend even more time everyday (thank goodness for maternity leave!) laying on my side to take the pressure off of Baby A and to hopefully allow better blood flow to him. My next ultrasound is on Friday, so we'll keep asking you all to offer up prayers for Baby A's continued weight gain (and Baby B's and C's too!) and keep our fingers crossed.
Jason rubs my belly multiple times every day and talks to the boys- they're developed enough to hear us! It's so sweet to hear him telling Babies B and C to share the food with their brother. I love watching Jason's face when he's doing this. He's going to be an amazing father (of course I'm biased here!) and I'm so excited to see him hold his sons for the first time.
But we've got a lot of work before then. I'm currently 27 weeks and 2 days pregnant, so here are the upcoming goals that we want to make it to:
28 WEEKS: At 28 weeks, we're talking about quality of life. The risk for developmental delays and major health issues drops slightly. Almost there!
32 WEEKS: At 32 weeks, we're talking about their little lungs being much more developed and much more ready to survive outside of the womb without the need for major medical interventions (they'll still need help probably even at this stage, but it will be of a much less invasive, dramatic nature). This is the doctor's goal for us to get to.
34 WEEKS: At 34 weeks, we're talking about much bigger babies who will have to spend less time in the NICU, which means they can be home with us sooner!!
37 WEEKS: My actual goal for when I want the babies to come out. It's a pretty tough goal to meet, but I figure you might as well aim high, right?!?
No comments:
Post a Comment