Dr. SA Visit, 30 weeks 5 days

Everyone,

Yesterday I went to the perinatologist office for my bi-weekly scan of the boys and my cervix. They were actually on time today, and I went in shortly after I arrived. They did the fFN on me first thing, and then looked at my cervix. There's some definite change from last time. I went from 3.6 to a 2.9. Still a good number, but things are starting to get closer to labor. I am about 7 weeks away so really, things should be changing some. If my test comes back positive, then I will be put on bed rest. But Dr. SA said he doesn't anticipate it coming back positive and no news is good news. Well, I haven't heard anything (24 hours later) so I'm assuming I'm in the clear for this test until next time.

Baby A update: He is head down! Yay! Go Baby A! He is also engaged in my pelvis (I'm assuming his head is now stuck between my pelvic bones?) and will probably not move out of this position. His head is also probably the reason my cervix is changing. He was being very cooperative and let us get a 4D ultrasound of his face. His cheeks are cute and chubby already! All parts of his anatomy are doing well (kidneys, stomach, bladder, etc.) and he is measuring about 3 lbs, 9 oz. Which is what a normal singleton baby should be measuring at this point. If he continues to grow, I am on track to have 2 8 lbs + babies. Ugh...I am going to be miserable, aren't I?

(An aside: Last peri visit the boys were measuring about 18% difference, with Baby A being smaller by almost a pound. Looks like he grew!)

They always take their time with his heart just to make sure that the issues he's had before don't come back. But this time, they did. I could hear the instances of PAC right off the bat. I was hoping that was gone for good, but no such luck. Instead of being every 3rd beat, though, it's every 8th or 9th beat, sometimes every 16th beat. Dr. SA wanted to know what I did differently. Honestly, the only thing that has changed has been the gestational diabetes. He said he did see more instances of this with his diabetic patients and wonders if there is a connection. Maybe. Dr. SA said that we know his heart is well formed. We know it can work normally for longer periods of time. He's not too worried, although at this point they may continue into birth and we will be referred back to Dr. Cardio at Children's Hospital downtown when they are born. I am still being asked to stay away from chocolate (not too hard because really, can I have chocolate with GD? I think not...) and all forms of caffeine.

Dr. SA said that I am close enough to my weekly visits to go ahead and make that jump so we can keep a closer eye on Baby A's heart. So now I have a standing appointment with him on Thursday mornings. Hopefully his heart will figure itself out and go back to beating normally.

Updated on Baby B: What an active guy! He kept twisting and turning and kicking and trying to move in on Baby A's space (and his ultrasounds...so many times we had to wait for him to get his bottom/feet/hands/whatever away from his brother to get a clear shot at what we are looking at). And as soon as we started scanning him, he flipped around and refused to do anything but squirm away. He is breech, with instances of frank breech happening more often than not (his feet up by his head).

Baby A is head down, facing my right, and Baby B is head up, facing my left. Kind of like 69.

All of Baby B's anatomy is doing just fine, including his heart. He is a perfectly normal baby with a head FULL of hair. Yes, you read right. We couldn't see his face today, but we saw tons of long hair waving around his head. Now I was very bald when I was born. And I believe Juice was too. But Butterfly had some hair (not much). Maybe he will loose some of this hair before he is born, otherwise I may have to have the nurses give him his first haircut in the nursery. :)

Dr. SA said that I'd have to talk to my OB but this is a suitable position for a vaginal delivery. If Baby A's heart will take the strain. I am still thinking we will have a c-section unless Baby B flips over and stays over. I really do not want to have one vaginally and then have an emergency c-section for Baby B. We will see, though. I still have a few weeks to figure out what is happening.

Oh, and Dr. SA said from here on out, 1 thing a day. Period. That means, if I go to the doctor that day, that's it. No running to the store, no stopping for lunch, etc. I am getting slightly sick of the inside of my house, but I really have no desire to go anywhere. I always end up in pain for several days later and to me, that's just not worth it.

I may actually be starting into nesting because I'm itching to get things all set up for these guys and have their sleeping spaces all set up and ready. Hopefully I can convince Juice to bring everything down from the attic this weekend, and I can wash everything and get it all settled.

Now to convince Butterfly that the bassinet in her room holding all of her blankets is really for the babies to sleep in. Wish me luck with that.

Safire