My Story

The chronicle of the journey from infertility, to miscarriage, to finally raising twin girls born in June 2012.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

7w5d ultrasound

Woke up nice and early for my date with Wanda this morning.  Here are the results -

Both babies have caught up in size.  They measured 7w5d and 7w4d so yippee!!!  Heart rates measured 144 and 147 so those are perfect as well.  Woot!

They are definitely fraternal.  They are far apart, each with their own private survival system.  The placentas are attached in 2 different places, they are unlikely to ever fuse together or anything like that.  So in terms of gestational safety for twins, this is the safest twin situation.  As much as I desperately want to bring both home, there's some comfort in knowing that if something horrible should happen to one of them, the other one might still be saved.  Had this been the case with the girls, we might have brought one of them home.  Not very likely, but at least it would have been worth attempting.

Here's the bad news - I'm going to bleed again.  She found some blobs near the cervix that are likely going to dislodge and create some dramatic and scary looking bleeding.  Fortunately, these blobs are NOT where either placenta is located so it's most likely not going to affect the babies at all.  It will freak the fuck outta the mommy, but probably won't touch the babies.  The problem area is closest to Twin B.  Even though it's pretty far from B, if it gets more dramatic and causes some harm there, Twin A will still be quite protected from it.  But again, it doesn't look like it will touch either of them.

So I'm not looking forward to when that happens, on the other hand, I'm REALLY glad to have some warning.  It's going to make it so much easier to intellectualize instead of straight out panic when it starts.  I can know what the blood is, where it's coming from, somewhat predict how long it will last, and be fairly confidant that it's not disrupting the Maybies.  In logistical terms, I'll be able to flush it away without worrying about what it is that I'm flushing.

I told her that I've basically put myself on modified bedrest - I'm not in bed, but I'm not doing a damned thing either.  She said "that's probably wise".  I also told her about my video shoots this week and that my camera equipment is 15-20lbs.  She's not thrilled about that so we're looking at putting my equipment on a hand truck so I can roll it in from the car, and I'll take advantage of any gallantry that the men at the shoots choose to offer in moving the stuff around and loading it back into the car.

I talked to her about Endometrin.  I really don't like any foreign objects near or in my crotch right now considering I've lost to infection before, it makes me leak constantly so I'm wiping myself raw out of fear, and as far as I can tell, we haven't even tested my progesterone level to know if it's even necessary.  The concern is that if I stop taking it, or if I switch to the oil and that takes some time to absorb, my body might interpret the sudden drop in progesterone as the end of the pregnancy.  Sooooooo she's looking into some options.  I dunno, maybe taper down the endometrin while starting the injections or something.  But it's also something that is generally stopped around week 10 anyway so it might not be worth switching course for only another 2-3 weeks.  We'll see.

I also asked how a huge clot is able to escape through the cervix intact.  She said that it's likely the blood leaked through the cervix, pooled in the vagina and clotted there before passing.  So that explains that!

Overall, she's very pleased with everything.  She says I've dropped to the 5% or lower chance of MC category which I just can not wrap my head around.  My brain simply can not make the switch from "maybe" to "probably".  Especially with so much bleeding that's already happened, and knowing it's going to happen again.  The good thing about the bleeding - it means I get to look in my little guys a LOT more often than I would without it.  I have another ultrasound scheduled for next week, and I should call my OB and schedule my first appointment with him for a week or two after that.

So I'm having a pretty decent day!

7 comments:

  1. Yay! That's fantastic news. If you continue to bleed/spot/clot, you might ask your doctor to continue on the PIO (or whatever they have you do). I was on it until 11w1d and my RE says this time he might keep me on for the duration of the pregnancy.

    One more thing: IMO, doctor's can shove that "loss percentage" straight up their asses. As you know, once you've become part of that supposedly tiny 5% who DO lose their pregnancies in the 2nd or 3rd trimester, you realize exactly how huge that community of grieving parents really is.

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  2. YAY! Glad you got some good news.

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  3. That's great to hear!It sounds like they are being really thorough and while it sucks that you will bleed again at least they know why and can give you assurances ahead of time. Yay for you!

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  4. I'm still sending good vibes your way. This is amazing news. I'm thrilled for you and wish you the best!

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  5. woohooo! that is some great news, and if your dr. is pleased, well then that's pretty mint :)

    how is K taking everything, still in disbelief?

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  6. That is wonderful news! You might not bleed at all. I had a similar bubble and it got absorbed back in instead of coming out the vajajay...so there is hope you won't go through another scary bleed. Woot!!!!!

    My RE put me on the goo today and off the injections, so I'm going opposite to you. I'm assuming that I'll be on it for the remains of the first trimester. I have never been on this stuff before, just the suppositories. I'm not looking forward to it, it doesn't sound pleasant :( My butt will be pleased, though.

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  7. We are at this stage and wanted to appreciate you for your posts. Love your blog!!!

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