MoM checkin - February

jami2019 · February 2019

Hey multiples moms! How are you all doing? How are those bellies growing? Tired of ultrasounds yet? Give an update below!

jami2019 · February 2019

Hey all, been a while since a check in so thought I would get the ball rolling.

Things are going well with me! Had a bit of a stressful December with lots of dr appointments but looks like both girls are growing well and looking healthy!

Just starting to get some unpleasant 3rd tri symptoms -- acid reflux, joints aching etc., but other than that I feel pretty lucky in the symptom department.

I bought car seats the other day and a couple of ladies on the streets saw that we had two of them and squealed Are you having twins!!??? Which was very cute. Otherwise getting tired of people telling me I look small for twins. I get that maybe they're trying to compliment me somehow, but it's not something I want to worry about - why comment at all?

That's it for me, how are you all doing??

MRDCle · February 2019

@rockclimbingmom I've been getting a lot of "You look so great/small for twins!" and honestly it's really bugging me. They boys are slipping on their growth curve so I already feel like I'm failing them. A lot of people commented last night at the Superbowl party we were at and even AFTER I explained it's probably because they aren't growing as they should necessarily people STILL made comments. Actually just now as I'm tying this I just got almost scolded by a coworker because I "don't look any bigger" to her. Cool cool thanks.

Crappy third tri symptoms here too. The reflux is the worst and it's just starting out. I also can barely get comfortable to sleep at night. I start most nights out propped up on my back but always wake up when I slide down.

I have an US this afternoon and I'm anxious to see if they slipped any further down in growth or not. I also hope to talk to the MFMs about if they have any input on delivery since my OB seemed hesitant to comment. @rockclimbingmom have they mentioned anything to you about timing of delivery?

wabash15 · February 2019

Lurking**** @MRDCle I hope your babies are hanging in there on their growth curves this time. With my twins we would have a lot of back and forth... one month one was slowing on the curve and then the next month they would have caught back up and they would take turns stressing me out. In the end they did great. I hope the same will be true for you. Its so hard not to feel guilty when they are not growing as the docs hope, but its not your fault. you are not failing them. You have kept them baking this long and giving them a great chance.

MRDCle · February 2019

@wabash15 thank you for the kind words! I appreciate hearing first hand twin-experiences!

jami2019 · February 2019

Hey @MRDCle, thinking good thoughts for you at your US this afternoon! As long as your eating well and taking your prenatal, you are doing everything you can for your twins!! How far along are you? At a certain point I think slowing down on the growth curve is normal and expected for twins... That being said, I've had some scares with growth over the past months as well, the smaller twin was measuring in the 5th percentile a month ago. At my most recent scan, she was measuring at the 39th!! In fact, the doc said there was probably measurement error in the earlier US. Just remember a lot can change between scans, and babies go through growth spurts at different times. Also, as I found out recently, measurement through US isn't exact. It seems every time I go in, they find something new to scare me with but nothing has panned out as a legitimate concern, so I'm getting tired of hearing about something that "could go wrong" and am trying to just focus on how everything has been good so far. I appreciate the extra monitoring with twins, but it also seems to come with them noticing every little thing that isn't exactly "normal" and I'm sure no one's pregnancy is 100% normal.

As for delivery -- I went through a phase of asking at every appointment, and the most I get is "things are looking great today!" I think the docs are hesitant to make any promises, or even guess at what delivery could look like for me, or when it could happen. They just give me the same spiel: If they continue to grow well AND nothing develops, we'll go to 36 or 37 weeks. If Baby A is head down AND Baby B isn't a lot bigger than Baby A, vaginal birth is possible. But of course they continue to monitor for TTTS and SIUGR and early labour, so I guess we'll just have to see!

Let us know how it goes today!!

MRDCle · February 2019

Update — growth is holding steady! Both babes are head down now, so we’re hoping they stay that way. They’re also only 1% between the two so we have a good shot at attempting a vaginal delivery at this point. He reinforced the idea of delivery between 36 and 37 again today. That gives me five weeks left of work tops. Holy cow.

MRDCle · February 2019

Oh! We saw them practice breathing today.

jami2019 · February 2019

That's great @MRDCle! Wow you're really getting there! So exciting!!!

MRDCle · February 2019

Have you guys started considering how you will feed them? I EP'd and then nursed/pumped at work with DS1, so ideally I would love to try to BF again but it's already SO overwhelming.

honey_suckle · February 2019

Hey guys!
Nice to hear how things are going with your little ones

.
We had a bit of a tumultuous weekend as we had an US on saturday and found out that twin1 had gotten even smaller (proportionally) since our last check on jan 2nd (from 14% below average to 25%), while twin 2 had gotten bigger (from -4% to +0.6%). Because it was the weekend we got stuck at the hospital waiting for extra checkups of their heart beats etc. and they weren't able to do the analysis of blood flow in the umbilical chords until yesterday. I felt so worried that tw1 was being squished in there and maybe not getting enough food. Yesterday they did very thorough examinations of all the blood flow both from me to the placentas and from them to the twins, and everything looked great. Since they aren't sharing a placenta there is no concern for twin transfusion, so they still do not know why tw1 is so much smaller. From now on they will just check in on their growth and the blood flow every other week and unless tw1 stops growing or decreases even more, the babies should do better staying put in the womb.

It feels so weird to not be able to do anything about them growing, and just have to wait and see, but so far we've been lucky to mostly recieve good news. We're trying to think that maybe they are just two individuals of different sizes, with different DNA, and it seemed like the biggest concern was that their sizes differed, not so much that -25% was dangerous.

Besides all the size info, the nurses were really happy to see how much they were moving and we could also see that they were practice breathing

It really feels like there's a dance party going on in there most days, lots of kicks and twirls and they keep pushing their heads out so that I can almost hold them in my hand

. right now they are both lying with heads up and feet down, so not really ready for delivery yet.

@MRDCle My goal is to try to double breast feed, but since I have no experience I'll just have to see how it goes. I don't have to worry bout being back at work for a good while though, so I can see how that would get stressful.

@rockclimbingmom I'm sorry you're getting size comments, that's never fun. I feel it's hard for people to really see how pregnant I am under my winter coat so old people glare at me when I take up seats at the bus unless I open my jacket and loudly proclaim that I'm pregnant and need to sit.

@mermaidca Thanks for the shout out in the random thread. Did your twins get progressively more and more different in size, or was it sudden? Were they sharing a placenta?

mermaidca · February 2019

Hey MoMs!

@honey_suckle My girls were progressively more and more different. At the nuchal around 12 weeks we saw Twin B was a bit smaller, but at that point still within normal limits. Then at the anatomical scan around 19 weeks there was about 2 week difference, so Twin A was measuring normal but B was measuring more like 17 weeks. Then I was in every 2 weeks for ultrasounds and cord dopplers and the gap just kept growing. Mine were di-di twins so no sharing. Her cord flow was not good at all so her smart little self started shunting the blood that was getting through to her brain and major organs so they could still grow and develop even through she stayed small. I was pulled off work and had nurses come to my home for monitoring until finally I was just admitted to the hospital so I could have an ultrasound every morning before breakfast and monitors attached 3 times a day. When they were born at 30+5 because Twin B's cord flow was actually negative (pulling blood away from her) Twin A was 3lbs 6oz and Twin B was 1lbs 8oz - essentially half the size!

Sorry for the novel!!

honey_suckle · February 2019

@mermaidca thanks for sharing, that sounds like it would have been a really stressful situation. I'm glad both girls made it out allright. Do they still differ in size, or did it even out eventually once they were eating?

mermaidca · February 2019

@honey_suckle They are starting to even out now (almost 4 years old). One pediatrician told me if you line up a bunch of 5 year olds you would never be able to tell who was preemie and one ped told me that she may always be slender. She for sure is slender and slight and her sister has always been more plump and chubby. She's probably an inch shorter and 5ish lbs lighter at this point.

honey_suckle · February 2019

@mermaidca yeah, I guess we'll just have to wait and see how they turn out. The main thing is of course that they're both healthy ❤️

jami2019 · February 2019

@honey_suckle sorry this coming so long after your post. I've never gotten notifications from the bump, even when tagged, so I miss a lot. How are things going now? How are both babies growing?

For everyone -- Have you guys gone on maternity or pregnancy leave yet? I just started last week and am finally able to get stuff done, which feels amazing! Some of the MoMs in a preparing for multiples course i took have been in and out of the hospital with babies that seem like they could come any day now, so starting to feel real! I've got 5 more weeks until induction or c-section, getting there!!!

Would love to know how you all are doing!

MRDCle · February 2019

Hi @rockclimbingmom! I've got three more weeks of work as long as they stay put till the week of 3/18, which is when we will induce or have our CS. I've been taking my hospital bag with me to all appointments (up to three per week now, ugh) just in case though, but two trips to L&D in the past two weeks is enough for me to want to be ready. How are you feeling?

honey_suckle · February 2019

@rockclimbingmom our babies had caught up a bit in growth last week when they checked, so they just assume that they are following thir own growth curves which makes sense considering that they are di di. Right now no1 is butt down and No2 has turned diagonally which is making things feel a lot more crowded and uncomfortable. I've been on sick leave from work for a month now, and even though it gets a bit boring, it has significantly decreased the amount of stress for me and frequency of contractions, so I'm just trying to take it easy and incubate 😊.

jami2019 · February 2019

@MRDCle wow, you are working right up to delivery - hardcore!! Sorry to hear about the trips to labour and delivery but great they are staying put for now!! Other than that, babies are doing well?

@honey_suckle thanks for the update, sounds like things are going well!! I hear you about the dullness of staying home. Luckily it hasn't hit me yet, but if I do make it to 36 weeks, I anticipate boredom setting in at some point. How far along are you? Is it likely the babes will turn face down? I've got a friend whose baby flips up and down each week it seems, and shes 34 weeks so movement still seems possible, although mine have been in the same position for each scan since week 20!!

As for me, I'm doing well, thanks for asking 😊 Growth seems to be going steady for both girls, and they're not showing signs of wanting to come out anytime soon! Other than the "oh shit, I'm going to be a mom of twins" feeling that has started coming around more and more frequently, I feel like I more or less have a handle on things! Mostly focused on buying up things I dont have yet (this weeks focus is breastfeeding equipment) and preparing emotionally for NICU stay and logistics with families.

Ahh I cant believe this is happening so soon!!!

How are you all holding up? Has it hit you yet?? 😅

MRDCle · February 2019

Actually @rockclimbingmom we found out yesterday that both boys are IUGR. Were going to end up inducing on Thursday. But technically I’m working a half day today so other than taking tomorrow off I have basically worked till delivery

jami2019 · February 2019

@MRDCle I was just reading the nicu thread and saw your post. Wow, babies are coming!! You must be nervous, excited, everything!!! I'm sorry to hear about the iugr, but outcomes are excellent after 32 weeks so you made it!!

I just got out of my US scan and there is a .5lb difference between estimated weights of the girls, so twin a continued to have siugr due to unequal placenta sharing... not fun, but seems like with mo-di twins you are bound to run into some complications.

I am so excited for you - I'm sure you will do great and you get to meet your twins soon!!!! Will be sending good thoughts on Thursday!

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