Category: Ultrasound

OB appointment was, again, routine.  I weigh 193 pounds and my BP was 138/84. My BP spiked a bit over the last week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday), but it is back to normal today. She talked about induction at 37 weeks (not my preference- I would rather the babes chose their birth date). She said more likely than not labour will progress on it’s own.  

The ultrasound appointment was fun. The technician spent time showing me where each baby, limbs, head etc are located. Baby boy’s feet and head are together in a position they call Frank Breech. He is really squished and curled in, and she is completely sprawled out. Her arms and legs were stretched out and her feet are all way up at my rib. Apparently my uterus is huge!! It is 9 inches above my belly button, all the way down to my hips and up to my ribs. Baby boy was practice breathing, and you could see baby girl has hair, it was flowing in the amniotic fluid!!!Baby Girl’s HR was 143 and she weighs 5 pounds and 3 ounces. Baby Boy’s heart rate was 125 and he weighs 4 pounds 12 ounces. Below is a chart of their development. Baby B’s biparietal diameter is below the average on this chart, but the Doctor at the ultrasound clinic said it is most likely due to his head being squished and the technician not being able to get a proper measurement.

Babies need to be over 5 pounds and over 36 week gestational age to not spend time in the NICU (assuming everything is fine when they are born). I am fully confident we will reach these benchmarks. 
The two photos from the ultrasound are of their faces (blob 1 and blob 2). I asked for photos of body parts (spine, hands, feet, legs) but I guess they thought blurry pictures of faces are better, they are attached for your viewing pleasure. 

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My blood pressure is steady at around 140/86 over the last week. No medication at this time. I actually lost weight over the last week, weighing in at 186 pounds, but again, the Doc doesn’t seem concerned. 
She checked my cervix which, in her opinion hasn’t changed in length, but is a bit more dilated at the top. She said she could feel baby girls head! Ahhh how weird is that?! 
She informed us they will not deliver a breech twin naturally. Baby B is breech. So they will either recommend a vaginal extraction (to which they require the labouring women to have an epidural) or a c-section. So epidural it is. C-section is low on our list of birth preferences. It is an invasive procedure with a large recovery time that is not to be entered into lightly. I am hoping they will let me deliver baby A naturally first before they administer the epidural. We will continue to discuss our options with our Doc. In the meantime I am going to try and spin baby B to be head down- there are at home methods for spinning a baby, but they are less effective at this gestational age.

The ultrasound appointment was uneventful (compared to last appointment).
Baby girl’s heart rate is 147 and she weighs 4 pounds and 4 ounces.   

Baby boy’s heart rate is 136 and he weighs 3 pounds 14 ounces.   

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This is a picture of Baby boy spinal column (his face was towards my spine and the technician couldn't get a good profile picture- so I asked for a picture of the spine, I like how defined it is).  The other picture is of the baby girl head on, it's hard to make out the features though!

Baby girl is 2 pounds 12 ounces with HR of 136

Baby boy is 2 pounds 8 ounces with a HR of 131.  He has moved back to the breech position (head up and feet down).

Everything is on track with growth and development

My blood pressure continues to be high and I broke down and bought a home BP monitoring cuff.  I will start taking my BP 3 times a day and give Dr. Baranowski (OB) my readings at our next appointment.

My belly is measuring at 42 inches today!! Woah!