High Risk Pregnancies

[Brink]

Is anyone interested in joining a thread for high risk pregnancies? I know I love belonging to my due date thread, but there are so many things that are going on with me that just don't apply there. Everyone is terrific and supportive, but it might be nice to share our knowledge/thoughts/fears with others that are going through similar circumstances. I know we won't all have the same diagnosis, but I think we face many of the same obsticles (viable gestation, bed rest, hospitalization, premies, etc.)

Anyone interested?

Just to get the ball rolling: I am 13 wks pg with my second pg. Found out last week we are having twins. Found out yesterday they are monoamniotic. Meaning - they are in the same sac. All types of concerns regarding cord entanglement, twin-to-twin transfustion. Most babies don't make it, but the odds are improving with close monitoring. If we make it to 24 wks, I'll be admitted to the hospital for 24/7 observation and they will be delivered premature.

Again, I know we won't have the same issues, but maybe we can find some comfort in each other and hearing about positive outcomes when the odds are stacked against us (and our babies)!

OK - for those who want to post their info, I'll start a roster here.

ali_ohli
Me: Ali
DH: C
EDD: 11/09/07
Issue: Prior preterm birth at 22 weeks resulting in a loss; fibroids, incompetent cervix and bleeding issues.
Outcome: Henry Jay at 5:05 yesterday afternoon (9/11) after my water broke early Sunday morning. He's 18 inches and a whopping 4 lbs., 31 weeks

Brink
Me: Tina
DH: Dan
EDD: 3/19/07 (won't go past Feb 1st - 34 weeks)
Issue: Monoamniotic Twins (same sac - high risk for "cord accidents"), inpatient monitoring from 24 wks until delivery
Other Children: Aimee - 9/25/05
Outcome: Katie & Kristie - born 1/31/07 at 33wks, 2days - 20 days in NICU

Dizylizy
Me: liz
Dh: Peter
Married-11/8/03
DS-7/1/05, Harry, via emergency c-sec, 38 weeks wasn't to make it to 35 wks.
EDD #2-8-19-07


em1126
Me: Emily
DH: Mike
EDD: 6/3/07
Issue: Cleft lip and possibly palate
Other Children: none

flygirl
Me: Jen
DH: D
EDD: 10/23/07
Issues: Partial placenta previa; pre-eclampsia watch
Other Children: 4 furbabies

Jeggink
Me: Judi, 33
DH: DH, 34
EDD: 12/16/07
Issues: Previous loss due to chromosomal issue, partial placenta previa and possible cervical issues.
Other Children: Joseph, 9/23/04, born early due to PROM, Kayla born 11/27/06 at 19.5 weeks
Outcome: ALEXANDER JACOB, BORN 11/20 @ 10:50AM, 7 LBS 7 OZ, 21 INCHES LONG - 4 weeks early

Jenahdawn
Other Children: Katie Rose and Chloe Dawn - 9/27/06 (19 weeks)
Outcome: Lillian Grace born 11/18, 6lb 14oz and 18" long.

Me: Jenean
DH: Seth
EDD: 6/12/07
Issue: shortened cervix, preterm labor
Other Children: furbabies

Kates
Me: Kate
DH: Denis
EDD: 3/7/07 (won't go past Feb 21st - 38 weeks)
Issue: (pre-existing) Insulin-Dependant Diabetic.
Other Children: Grady - 9/21/04

Kimmiethebride
Me: Kim
DH: Ray
EDD: 3/31/07
Issues: Previous Loss @ 18w5d due to membrane rupture after amnio, Factor V Leiden & MTHFR Clotting disorders (which led to 2 sets of clot in my lungs post partum, on Lovenox, and finally... advanced maternal age - 41
Other Children: Angel Robert born too soon on 11/24/2006
Outcome: Pre-Eclampsia, hospital bedrest for 4 weeks, IUGR
Joshua Michael, delivered at 36 weeks via c-section, 4lbs,12oz, 19.6 inches long
5 days in Itensive Care Nursery (ICN)


LDS Angel 19
Me: Michelle, 23
DH: Aaron, 24
EDD: 7/27/07
Issues: Previous loss due to pre-term labor/incompetent cervix. Carrying twins this time.
Other Children: our angel Allison Grace, born too soon 6/17/05
Outcome- 63 days hospital bedrest
Delivered at 34 weeks and 3 days:
Megan Celeste, 3 pounds, 14.8 ounces, 17.25in
Natalie Grace, 4 pounds, 4.9 ounces, 16.75in
14 days in NICU


LynzeyAHL
Me: Lindsey 28
DH: Dan 25
TTC: haha SURPRISE
Issues: Diabetic sugar NOT in control
outcome: So far diet and pills but I'm all for insulin if it means better control and a 'normal' size baby.
Miss Kaitlyn made her arrival via scheduled c-section on 12/3 as planned. All the shots and doctors appointments were worth it

Micd
Me: M, 25
DH: D, 28
EDD: 6/21/07
Isssue: IUGR, echogenic intracardiac focus (calcium deposit on ventricle), high protein in urine - risk of developing pre-eclampsia


Sage
Me: Megan
DH: Scott
EDD: 3/02/07
Issue: Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS)
Other Children: Ashley - 8/18/05
Outcome: TTTS Survivors: Aidan (recipient) 5lbs, 11 oz, 5 days in NICU; Owen (donor) 5lbs, 7.5 oz, 8 days in NICU - born 2/1/07 at 35 wks, 6 days

Tgal
Me: Tara
DH: Chris
EDD: 12/21/07
Issues: Hypertension; Partial placenta previa; pre-eclampsia watch; Choroid Plexus Cyst detected on 18 week ultra sound and more than likely Gestational Diabetes (had it with dd, waiting for early 1-hr results).

Whitlockan
Me: A
DH: J
EDD: Z 3/21/2007
Issue(s): SUA (aka 2 vessel cord)
Outcome: Zachary Aiden, 3/24 @ 1:49 pm, 7 lbs 8 oz, 20 inches long


Always in our hearts......

Lorbo
Me: lori
DH: jimbo
EDD: 6/15/07
Issue(s): rh sensitization
DD-Brooke 1/03
DS-James 1/05

[Amie]

Tina,
I'm not PG but I wanted to wish you the best of luck! You have a stressful situation but it sounds like you have a great attitude!

Best of luck to you!!!

[Tonysweetie]

I would love to join here. I just got told I'm considered high risk today. I thought I was 8 weeks 1 day but had to go to the ER last night with some minor spotting. THey did a beta drawl and an ultrsound and the baby is measuring smaller than we thought. It measures at 6 weeks 1 day. So 2 weeks behind. Since the spotting my dr. put me on bedrest for 2 weeks and I will be monitored with ultrasounds and b/c of the spotting they labled me "threatened abortion" so I'm little nervous but trying to stay calm. Good luck to you that has got to be sooo scary but I will pray everything will be fine!!! God Bless!!!

[Brink]

Amie - thanks for the well wishes. Is Amie your first name? If you noticed, my daughters name is Aimee.......

Tonysweetie - Good luck to you as well. I know it must be really hard to be on bedrest, but think how much it will be worth it in the end. I hope that little one sticks around. Keep me posted.

[Ericka_Jarett]

I'm no longer pregnant, but was high risk with previous infant loss probably caused by incompetent cervix, which was definately diagnosed in this pregnancy. My son came at 35w 6d just last Tuesday.

[Sully130]

Brink - Congratulations on your pregnancy. I know you must be scared, but it sounds like you have a fabulous attitude and from experience, I believe that makes all the difference in the world. It certainly can't hurt! I hope your babies make a healthy appearance into the world when the time is right.

You said this:
hearing about positive outcomes when the odds are stacked against us (and our babies)!
...so I thought I'd post.

It's funny to me... When I started my last pregnancy I was deemed technically "high risk" because I had had a miscarriage previously and an infant loss because of a freak genetic problem. Little did I know, I would soon learn what a real high risk pregnancy was all about. My water broke at 16w3d. I was told my child had a 5% chance (at best) of surviving. I was told I'd be luckier than lucky if he made it to 32 weeks and if he did, they'd deliver him right then. I prepared myself for the worst, but I tried to stay positive and focus on the chance (no matter how small) that he'd be okay.

The days turned into weeks, the weeks turned into months...and after lots of prayer, more than 30 ultrasounds and tons of NSTs, and 20 weeks of strict bedrest and a few weeks of light activity, my healthy son was born by induction at 38w5d. So yes, the positive outcomes do happen even in times of the worst kinds of adversity. You just have to believe. I hope you get your miracle too.

I hope others going through high risk pregnancies will post because I know it's hard feeling like you are the only one. It's nice to find support. Take care!

[lorbo]

i thought i'd add my last pregnancy for you...both of my pregnancies were deemed high risk immediately...due to antibodies, also known as sensitization-the whole rh - deal...where i was sensitized and baby/babies could be + and my immune system would try to kill off the baby's red blood cells. thankfully, DD was pretty much a normal-high risk pregnancy...amnio showed she was - and the peri docs backed off on their monitoring. with DS, there was always a instinct that he was going to be a problem. christmas week of 2004, his doppler levels were climbing-we did not do an amnio-because in the two years since DD's birth, perinats concluded that less invasive dopplers were just as effective as amnios and better for baby/mom. the following week, his dopplers were sky high and i was admitted to the hospital at 30 1/2 weeks, over new years weekend for steroid injections...and that monday, i was to have an in utero blood transfusion-with the knowledge that if DS's red blood count was horrible...they'd take him in a heartbeat. he was transfused and all was well for two weeks. i had an u/s on a friday and everything was fine-dopplers were climbing again...but i had two u/s a week. the next u/s-just 3 days later, showed fluid around his heart and some free floating fluid and my heart sunk-the tech didn't have to say a word...i felt like i'd been punched in the gut at that point. the peri told me about another transfusion and hospitalization. my doc tried to get me to go across the street to the hospital right away...but my mom was watching DD at home, i was supposed to go to work, i had to talk to DH, etc. i told the dr i was 7 minutes away, i needed to get stuff in order and i'd be back at the hospital in an hour tops. my ob/gyn showed up and talked to me...kept bringing up if i need to get that baby out, etc...at one point i said do you see yourself delivering this baby tonight or tomorrow...she said yes, and it sunk in...just 32 1/2 weeks along and DS was sick. the hospital's NICU is excellent...um, but they had an RSV infection and the head of it wouldn't allow DS in-probably a wise decision due to the congestive heart failure and ensuing respiratory problems. if my doc delivered at this hospital, DS would be taken away almost immediately and i wouldn't see him for weeks. i was sent to the city-about an hour away via ambulance, i was attacked by nurses, residents and docs immediately and was told how he seemed like a good size for his age-almost 5 lbs and how did i want him delivered-i chose vaginal...but the resident felt he wasn't dealing with the contractions well-i still question that...so i had an emergent c/s and DS was born at 1:24am on 1/18/05 4lbs 11oz-he spent 5 weeks in two NICUs-he was on a respirator for a few hours, he had a very large volume blood transfusion where he had a good deal of his own blood removed and replaced and several other transfusions, he had some breathing issues, feeding issues and bilirubin issues. i had him moved back to my supposed to be delivered at hospital when their NICU was reopened. he continued to fight my antibodies and had to be admitted to children's hospital for a bunch of small volume transfusions and few large volume transfusions over a long weekend about a month after he was released from his primary stay...lots of vitamins and doctor visits later...he was finally pronounced healthy. at his one year visit in January, his doctor concluded that DS was done being a preemie and he's a happy, healthy bouncing boy who's constantly in to everything-people shake their head when they hear me say i'd like another baby, and they mention-like the last one wasn't enough trouble...my response is and will always be he's the light of my life...his smile melts my heart each and every day. so that is the story of my high risk pregnancy, i hope this helps.

[myangelsvw]

Brink - I'm 12 weeks, also expecting twins (fraternal) and considered high risk due to a previous pre-term delivery of identical twins at 21 weeks. With the last pregnancy, we actually had a momo diagnosis for about 3 weeks, until we saw the peri, so I've done some reading and know what you're looking at. It's terrifying, I know, but your chances get better the longer you go, so every day is progress. As for me, at this point, I'm just taking it easy because it's still so early. Peri has recommended stairs no more than a few times a day and no lifting anything more than 10 pounds. That's fine with me because I wouldn't feel comfortable doing much more. We'll start weekly cervix checks in another month or so. If everything stays long and tightly closed, I could make it with no more than additional monitoring. Or, we could end up with anything from cerclage and bedrest to hospital visits, drugs and steroids. We don't know why I went into labor last time, so it's a little nerve-wracking waiting to see if the same problems develop again or not. Obviously, I'd love to make it to March (3/14 is 38 weeks), but my goal right now is 28 weeks, which is right around New Years. If we can make it that far, the babies would have a very good shot. It seems like a long time away, so I'm on the one-day-at-a-time plan, too.

[Brink]

Thanks everyone for sharing. It really does help to know that we are not alone.

myangelsvw - it sounds like we are on the same track from a timing perspective. Let's just hope you and I are both still pregnant in January. It's funny - I was thinking before about my baby being due in March and what a great month that was to be born. I can't believe that I am now just praying these two make it to January - seems like such a huge difference in time. Your right, every day for us is a milestone.

lorbo - I am so glad everything turned out well and your DS is doing well. It certainly helps to hear the stories about positive outcomes when the road was so hard.

Sully130 - I can't believe your water broke at 16wks and you made it that far. That is incredible. If your baby can survive with 5% odds, I sure hope these two can make it with their 50% odds.

Ericka_Jarett - so sorry to hear about your daughter, but also relieved that they were able to determine the cause and save your son. I'm sure he is the light of your life right now.

[Kimmiebride]

Count me in!!

Most of you know my story by now, but for those who don't, I lost our son last year at 18w5d due the rupture of my membranes after my amnio. Our son also had bi-lateral club feet, and that could indicate a number of scary things, so we opted for the amnio. My membranes weren't fused on the whole right side of the sack, so it was tricky to manuever to do the amnio, and the membranes ruptured about a day or so later.

I am currently 11w4d (measuring 12w), and we had our NT scan today. My risks for downs and trisomy 18 & 13 went way down based on the blood work and the nuchal measurement (1.7) so no amnio this time unless something really worries us in the level II u/s which we will have on 10/31. Like Sully says positive outlooks are so important, and sometimes it's so hard to be positive, and sometimes we just need to bitch about how unfair it can be with others who truly get it! With postive thoughts, prayers and special care, we can have our miracle babies in our arms!!
Kimmie

[Sage]

Hi! I'd like to join too. I'm 15w6d pregnant with identical twin boys. This is my second pregnancy--my first pregnancy was super easy, went to 41 weeks and was eventually induced and had my little girl, who weigned 8lb5oz. She's 13 months now. It was a very easy pregnancy, all things considered. This pregnancy has been a little more eventful!

Everything was going great until I had some sudden, heavy bleeding at 11 weeks. I had a really early miscarriage before I got pregnant with my daughter, so I was pretty devastated thinking we were miscarrying again, especially considering I was almost out of the first trimester. We went in for an ultrasound a day later to see what was going on, and got the surprise of our lives when we found out we were having twins! The bleeding issue resolved itself--apparently the placenta was still forming and it's possible that it didn't quite attach all the way in one spot, but it shouldn't cause us any more problems.

The twins are monochorionic-diamniotic (one placenta, two sacs), so the doctors are worried about twin to twin transfusion syndrome due to the shared placenta. I go in for monitoring every two weeks so far. My ultrasound yesterday showed that the twins are the same size, which is awesome, but that the amniotic fluid levels are different, which is not good. So, I'm high risk due to the possibility of TTTS, although I haven't been diagnosed with this yet. I'm still in the watching phase.

I also had some issues with one of the babies' nuchal folds being a lot bigger than the other's at 11 weeks. The doctors told me this can be an early indicator of TTTS, or else it could indicate downs. We did the NT ultrasound, and my odds of downs came back at 1 in 197 for each twin. My odds based on age alone were 1 in 588, so I was pretty disappointed in the results. Both of the twins nuchal folds were within the normal range, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. I'm trying not to stress about it because the one twin's nuchal fold was very small, and the doctors told me that the chance of having one identical twin with downs and one without are next to impossible b/c they have the same chromosomes. We're not going to do an amnio since the odds of miscarriage increase when you're pregnant with twins, so we'll just have to look for indicators through ultrasound.

So, that's my story! Glad this thread is around. I'm not quite sure what this pregnancy has in store for me yet. So far it's just involved a ton of doctor visits and ultrasounds.

[jenahdawn]

I'm joining. I've also go mo-di, but don't know the "flavor" yet. (It took three different US to find the membrane, but it was there!)

Was told at my last appt, because of family history, I'm higher risk to develop gd and high bp. (Thanks, dad and dad's side! YAY Genetics!)

Also had lots of bleeding already, so an eye is being kept on me, but otherwise, I feel good. And I'm hoping to stay that way!

I also had surgery back in January where it was discovered I had endometriosis, so the doctor was very happy it happened so quickly for us.

I don't do individual shout outs, nor do I respond a lot, but I will be reading and hoping for everybody!!!

[usafwife]

I haven't been diagnosed as high risk yet but do have risk factors for becoming high risk. I was on bedrest for a while with my first pregnancy due to severe swelling that would not go away with the usual "put your feet up and relax" routine. I also had severe HG and was on several meds to even allow me to be able to function in my day-to-day life.

This time around I've got thyroid issues (which one doc says makes me high risk especially because my levels weren't controlled when we got pregnant. I'd been hyper following the birth of my DD and found out I'm hypo at the beginning of this pregnancy) which could cause problems as the pregnancy progresses (it's already caused one problem), increased risk of the severe swelling again, and HG again with this pregnancy. Almost 3 wks ago I landed myself in the ER due to high BP and contractions after nearly losing my mom (was told it was a stroke only to find out about 15 hours later it was a ruptured cerebral aneurysm). I also had several wks (almost 7 wks) of constant spotting at the beginning of this pregnancy (which concerned me greatly since we'd already suffered one m/c previously) which was due to the thyroid problem.

Sully ~ I'm still amazement of your little baby boy. It gives me such strength to think of him and everything you went through to make sure you gave him the best chance at surviving. He definitely is a strong-willed little boy. I'm so happy for you.

[Brink]

Thanks for joining ladies, I'm sorry that we all have this in common, but at least we can share with each other.

I've never started a thread before - should we have some type of a roster of members? Would I just go back to the first post and insert everyone's info?

Welcome - Kimmie, Sage, Jena, USAWife

Kimmie - I read your post over in 35+ also. So glad to hear the NT results came back positive. You deserve a little relief.

Sage/Jena - Since both of you are Di-Mo - have you visited the following site: http://www.monoamniotic.org/ This site is dedicated to MoMo (which is me) and DiMo twins. There is a ton of information and the chat room there has so many success stories that it really gives you a lot of hope for a successful and long pg. I think you guys would fall into the "misdiagnosed" category. Those are people that originally were thought to be MoMo but instead ended up DiMo. I haven't visited it much, but I think they talk about TTTS and those types of things a lot.

Good luck everyone - let's hang in there until the end!

[Brink]

I forgot to mention - I received my rented doppler in the mail today. The twins hearbeats are 145 and 149. That sounds low compared to many other h/b that I hear about - but since they are consistent, I'm not going to worry too much.

Have a great night everyone!

[Kimmiebride]

Tina glad to hear you got your doppler, and some peace to hear their heartbeats!! I don't think we need a roster... we have enough stuff to worry about - no need to have to worry about updating and all that jazz. Just makes more work for ya, and you don't need that...
Ok, 10 more weeks!! Here's hoping it flies by uneventfully for all of us!!
Kimmie

[jenahdawn]

Brink,

I've essentially stopped reading stuff on the internet. And in books (unless I need a definition) because it makes me worry too much. And you don't get a lot of happy stories out of it. I'm almost 18 weeks and I'm trying not to worry or think about anything until the Magic 24! And I found not reading everything is helping me. Besides, until 24, whatever is going to happen is going to happen. After 24, something could be done about it.

It's the only way I can save my sanity between appts! (My next appt is 2 weeks from today and the 20 week US is 2 weeks and 2 days away!)

[Brink]

jenahdawn - for the most part I agree with avoiding the internet. The only thing I will say about that site is that it appears to be very different from all the rest. It is a site for women that have found nothing but bad news on the internet and need a place to share the actual facts and the success stories rather than the doom and gloom. It was the only place that I was able to find information on Momo twins that was positive and it helped me a lot. Obviously up to you if you choose to visit, but I just wanted to let you know there are many positive things there that might make you feel better.

Also - congrats on your 18 weeks. I know every day is a victory!

[jenahdawn]

Also - congrats on your 18 weeks. I know every day is a victory!

Thanks. I'm just getting anxious to feel kicks. My doc said he wouldn't be surprised if I didn't until 20. (I feel them shifting, if that makes sense, more of a "Oh, this was a soft place, must make it hard now!" feeling.)

[katmg]

I wouldn't consider myself "high-risk" per se, but I had to have a cerclage due to an incompetent cervix and did have some spotting issues early in the pgncy that they were afraid meant another m/c. Luckily, I am now 25 weeks and everything seems to be going fine. Hopefully, my doctor will remove the cerclage at 36 weeks and I'll go from there!

I'm wondering how you are handling questions from other people. I get a lot of questions like, "So how's everything going so far?" Do these acquaintances/coworkers really want a blow by blow on my cervix? I'm not sure they *need* to know that kind of information so I typically just tell them, "things are going fine now." It just seems weird to lie about what has been, at times, very stressful. I also feel like it does a disservice to other women to perpetuate the idea that pregnancy is easy and that every pregnancy ends in having a healthy baby. Do you tell other people about the issues with your pregnancy or do you just let it slide?

[Sage]

I agree with Kimmie on the roster thing--I'm sure we can all keep track of each other!

Brink - Thanks for the reference to that website, it's a great resource. I am ALL over the internet looking up stuff. I've also been on the TTS Foundation's website--they have a good message board too with a lot of information and positive outcomes, although there are definitly sad stories there too.

Jenahdawn - So have your twins shown any signs of TTTS? I'm thinking not since you haven't mentioned it. I hate that I'm kind of in this ambiguous area with it--don't have it, but watchful monitoring. Ugh! I wouldn't worry about not feeling them move yet...this is your first pregnancy, right? I didn't feel my daughter until I was about 21 weeks. I'm 16 weeks now and I think I just started feeling movement, although I'm really not confident yet that it's actually them and not just in my mind.

Katmg - Welcome! I am like an open book - I swear I just tell everybody who asks how I'm doing the whole story. I guess I don't want anyone to be surprised if things start to go wrong. Especially here at work - I have a very demanding job and I felt like I needed to prepare people that I'm going to be out a lot for ultrasounds, peri visits, and bedrest is a possibility. I would just tell people whatever you feel comfortable. It is hard to know that boundary of how much to tell, especially when something is so much the focus of your life right now.

Things with me are going good--there's not much to do until my next ultrasound on the 27th. The only thing I have been doing is trying to eat well and gain some weight! I'm also trying to drink two Ensure high protein drinks a day - some doctors think this is helpful if you're at risk for TTTS. Apparently the high protein helps prevent malnutrition and some doctors think this can help ward off TTTS. From what I've read, it could be a total crock but the TTTS Foundation supports this theory, and you know, I just am happy to be doing something rather than just waiting, since I feel like everything is totally out of my hands. It feels good to be in control of something, even if it does nothing to change my circumstances.

[Brink]

Telling others - I've been pretty open. If I'm talking to strangers, I just say, yep, twins! But if it is to anyone that I know, I usually say "we are having twins, but they are high risk - so we'll see". If they ask more, I tell them, if not - we just move on. I have some friends that want to gloss everything over and they say "oh, don't be worried, they'll be fine" and I stop them. I think it is all individual on how you deal with it. I can't walk around pretending that everything is fine. I think I have a pretty good attitude about it all, but a realistic one. When I talk about the babies, it's always with an IF I make it to 24wks, not a WHEN. I think that way I'm protecting my heart a little bit. I was telling a friend the other day that if they don't make it - it is really important to my well being that I view it as "I lost a pregnancy", not "I lost my babies". I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else, but for me that is how I have to deal with it.

Jena - I know what you mean by the "shifting". I have been feeling that for about a week now. I didn't feel anything with my prior pg until about 18 wks. Between this being my second pg and there being two of them in there, I felt them between 13-14 wks. Now I get worried if I don't feel them (that's what my doppler is for!).

Sage - I've heard the same thing about the ensure drinks. I've been having at least one per day. It's so funny - my babies are also at risk for TTTS, but with the cord issues, that is just not something I have even started to worry about. I figure if they can stay in there another 10 wks without compressing their cords, then I'll worry about TTTS. But, at our last visit they were measuring exactly the same size, so I guess that is good news.

My next appt is the 25th with a new specialist closer to home. I sure hope I like this one.

[usafwife]

Thanks. I'm just getting anxious to feel kicks. My doc said he wouldn't be surprised if I didn't until 20. (I feel them shifting, if that makes sense, more of a "Oh, this was a soft place, must make it hard now!" feeling.)

I wouldn't worry about not feeling kicks/movements from them yet. I didn't feel DD move (or at least that I could be sure was her and not something else) until I was between 18 and 20 wks.

I'm wondering how you are handling questions from other people. I get a lot of questions like, "So how's everything going so far?" Do these acquaintances/coworkers really want a blow by blow on my cervix? I'm not sure they *need* to know that kind of information so I typically just tell them, "things are going fine now." It just seems weird to lie about what has been, at times, very stressful. I also feel like it does a disservice to other women to perpetuate the idea that pregnancy is easy and that every pregnancy ends in having a healthy baby. Do you tell other people about the issues with your pregnancy or do you just let it slide?

I've gotten the questions from friends and family that know about what happened that night. I just tell them that I'm taking things easy, trying to keep my stress level down, and we will see the doc says when we go. Not every pregnancy is easy, that's for sure. A few of my friends and most immediate family know about my thyroid condition and that it could mean problems as we go along. Most know that I didn't have an easy pregnancy with DD (extremely sick, severe swelling) and they just hope that things are better this time around. I've been told to let the hospital personnel know if we have any problems while we are there during this pregnancy. And I make sure that I have my medical records with me so that if anything did happen we have them with us along with my OB's numbers.

[Brink]

usafwife - that's a really good point about having your medical records with you. I was advised to find all of the hospitals between home & work that have a level III NICU just in case something happens. If there are two hospitals within the same driving distance, I want to make sure I'm at the right one!

[jenahdawn]

Sage, at my last US (12 weeks), they were measuring 12w and 12w1d, and the doctor didn't seem worried. Though, after 20 weeks, he's going to have me monitored more frequently just to be sure. Since he hasn't said anything and doesn't seem worried, I can't worry.

I don't have records with me (as the only time between now and when they come will be the weekend before Thanksgiving 2 1/2 hours away~~~Thanksgiving and Christmas will be at our house because I don't want to travel two weeks in a row, and by Christmas time, the doctor doesn't want me traveling (30-32 weeks) BUT...my husband is fully aware (as are both sets of parents) that my doc's number and hospital ER (triage) number are programmed into my phone and will be in my husbands phone soon.

Otherwise, when I get up (in the middle of the night, after sitting for a while, if I am taking a bath) and my ankles and tops of my feet feel prickly and kind of itchy. Not swollen, but prickly and itchy. Anyone else?

[jenahdawn]

Also, does anyone else have goals for their pregnancy? I know some of them I can't really control, but I have goals, beyond getting past 24 weeks (doctor's first goal)

So, with a 2/22 due date, but he (doc) won't let me go past 2/8:

1. PAST my husband's birthday (1/9, doc thinks late January, I'm okay with that)

2. At LEAST 5 lbs each at birth.

3. Take them home with us when we go home!

4. Keep stress down (I've already discovered contractions don't feel good)

Anyone else have goals they would like to share?

[Brink]

jenahdawn - I haven't felt anything with the prickly feet. I didn't with my last pg either, so I don't know where that is coming from.

Goals - I hadn't really thought of them all at once before - kinda scary to put them down - here goes.....

December 1st - hoping to be admitted to the hospital (babies will be just over 24 wks).

January 1st - Really hoping I am still pg (babies will be 29 wks).

My Birthday - January 29th - the babies would be 33wks and the maximum they will let me go is 34, so that is pretty much my ultimate goal - to have these babies born on my birthday.

Going home with the babies is too far out of possibility for it to actually be a goal, so I'll say - no more than 2 weeks in the NICU is my goal.

Weight - I would be happy with 4 lbs each and every ounce over that is a win.

Good topic. It's funny how your perspective changes. Most pg women think - I really hope I don't have to stay in the hospital and I hope my babies don't have to be in the NICU. I am praying that I get to spend at least 10 weeks in the hospital and that my babies make it to the NICU. Funny how a week can change all perspectives.

[jenahdawn]

B~I also get amused when I see threads (just the titles, I've never read them) about people concerned with child spacing (Well, I hope, if I have a c-section, to have 1-2 minutes inbetween...)

I figured, it was way too easy for us to get pregnant (sorry for anyone who had a struggle, but we're all here now!), I was due for a bit of an interesting time.

My mantra: I will do whatever's best for them. (If that means I am in the hospital on bedrest for Christmas, then I am in the hospital on bedrest at Christmas...among all the other "fun" things that could happen)

[Brink]

My first pg with my daughter was so easy. Completely textbook (except the delivery which ended up c-section). She has been the perfect baby. Sleeps through the night since she was 8wks old. Rarely cries, etc. I told people all along that were jealous of her that I would eventually pay. I just didn't know how true that was.

[Kimmiebride]

I wish everyone's pregnancies could just be easy... My first seemed easy, no sickness, felt great right up until the end... at 18 weeks. Then I had all these complications to make it worse... blood clots, and several hospitalizations. At least we know about my clotting problems for this pregnancy, and I just have to take two shots a day to the stomach. A small price to pay for a hopefully happy outcome. I have way more doctor visits, and am being seen by the perinatologist since the beginning. It's stressful, but I think if I was classified as "normal" again this time, I'd lose my mind with worry in between visits. I have thought about getting a doppler, but haven't gone ahead yet. Feeling the tiniest bit of movement every once and a while which is reassuring. Can't wait for big fat kicks in the gut! My mom always says, "God never gives you more than you can handle..." but sometimes I wonder. I just want one healthy baby that I get to bring home and raise, and for me to be healthy too. Does that seem like too much to ask?? :)
Kimmie

[pixiecat]

Hi ladies -
I feel bad for lurking so I wanted to say hello and to tell you that you are all very inspiring! Brink is a friend from the Sept 05 mamas thread and we are all pulling for her and the babies over there too!

Just wanted to let you know that many prayers and good thoughts are coming your (and your babies') way.

[klm2klh]

Just wanted to wish you all good thoughts and healthy pregnancies.

I had a high risk pregnancy - also twins (fraternal), and started experiencing preterm labour at about 28 weeks. I was due in late March and always assumed that I would deliver in March and then all of a sudden I was hoping to make it until then end of January.

I survived almost 10 weeks of bedrest & hospitalization and ended up being induced at 37 weeks due to high blood pressure. I delivered 2 healthy baby boys (5 lb. 12 oz. and 5 lb. 14 oz).

We had many scares along the way including the possibility that one of our guys wasn't growing properly. I know what many of you are going through and just wanted to let you know that I am thinking of you all.

[Brink]

Kimmie - I didn't realize you were getting two shots per day in your belly. I don't think that is something I could ever get used to, but I guess we do what we have to. I have a doppler and really like it. I rented one with my last pg too (and that one was normal). It always made me feel better on the days when I had overdone it or was feeling icky. I could check her for myself and know that everything was ok. I'm trying not to use it too much with this pg, since it is tempting to check them constantly. I'm trying to limit myself to every other day. I too am waiting for the big kicks - although the quieter my babies are, the better.

Pixiecat - thanks for saying hi - you guys in my September 05 thread are the best!

Klm2kh - so glad to hear your boys are ok. I'll have to get some advice from you on how to survive 10 wks in the hospital and not go crazy!

Feeling kinda icky tonight. I've been really short tempered with everything this evening. My dogs are bugging me, my daughter is whining and I have a tummy ache (which I think is just gas issues- TMI). I'm just ready for the day to be over so I can go to bed! This is really not like me, so I think I'm just over tired and tomorrow I'll feel good again.

[la_bride_2004]

18w5days

I think this is where I belong. After the loss of a twin at 7 weeks, a cerclage and being hospitalized for a kidney infection/kidney stone (I may be again in a day or 2- my infection is back and due to drug allergies I need to be on IV antibiotics), I am now high risk. I may have permanent kidney damage- verdict is still out. Because they can't keep the infection down, I know that also raises my risk of pre-term labor.

It also took us nearly 3 years to get pregnant, a round of IVF, FET, 2 rounds of injectibles, surgery for my husband, and 3 early miscarriages. Not sure what to say; it just hasn't been an easy ride.

I'm also fairly certain I never want to do this again. I have never been in more pain in my life than from the stones and the infections. I worry all the time about the drugs in my system and the harm I may be causing our baby. Anyone else feel this way?

Lastly, I too am at a loss as to what to tell people. People always ask "so, do you have morning sickness?" like that's the only possible ailment. I wish it were that simple. Getting through each day is the most I can do right now.

[Sage]

Wow, this thread has gotten busy! Brink, I think our daughters are on the same wavelength tonight. Mine woke up in the middle of the night, which she never does, and I'm having a ton of trouble falling back asleep. It's funny how you're so used to getting up in the middle of the night when they're first born, but then once they start sleeping through the night it is so hard to get up! Hopefully it will come easy again when the twins are born.

jenahdawn - That's awesome your twins are measuring so close. The extra monitoring is nice b/c we get to see the twins so much, but it's also stressful b/c I'm always panicky right before I go in that something's wrong. I'm glad your docs have not been worried--the first peri I saw was a total stress-case and I think it set the tone for me to be worried about everything. I have a new peri now who's much more positive about everything, so I think that will really help me start to relax.

kimmie - gosh, I can't believe you have to have two shots in the stomach every day!! You really are a trouper. I'm sure it will all be worth it in the end when you have your babe in your arms!! I'm excited for the big kicks too--it is a very reassuring feeling. I cannot even imagine what it's going to feel like to have two babies in there kicking.

la_bride - I'm so sorry about the loss of one of your twins. That must have been so hard, and I can't even imagine how you're feeling. And the kidney problems on top of everything else are not helping at all, I'm sure. I'm sorry it has been such a tough ride for you--it's really not fair that getting and staying pregnant is so hard for some and so easy for others. Hopefully we'll all be able to support each other through the next few months and there will be happy outcomes for all of us!

Goals - I really haven't even thought about goals, honestly. I've been so in the moment with this pregnancy--I'm basically operating on a two week time schedule and I don't think I've really thought about what happens beyond the two week periods before my next ultrasounds. Thinking optimistically, I'd like to get to at least 36 weeks, have the twins weigh at least 6 pounds each, no NICU time and have a vaginal birth. Not sure if this is possible, but trying to be optimistic here. It's so hard to even picture having a baby early--like I said earlier in the thread, my DD was induced at 41 weeks and weighed 8lb5oz. So it's really hard for me to picture going early and having a tiny baby.

[cr8zyforaf]

I also just wanted to pop in - Brink is my Sept 05 mommy buddy.

You women are so strong!! I will continue to think good thoughts and pray for all of you!!

[jenahdawn]

Kimmie: "God never gives you more than you can handle..." but sometimes I wonder.


Mother Teresa used to say, "God only gives me what I can handle...I just wish he didn't trust me so much." :)

I start to get freaked right about now. (2 weeks after the last appt, 2 weeks before the next) Not freaked, maybe anxious.

My doctor is fantastic. He's a resident (3rd year) and there are a group of 4 very experienced doctors who manage/supervise them. They are in the hospital I will deliver at and, literally, down the hall are the perinatologists. Also, the hospital is the first in the country to receive...I don't remember what it was called, an award for pre and post natal care (either late last year or early this year), so I am quite confident in them. It's just ME I worry about!

[Tonysweetie]

Wow all of you are truly amazing! Even though as of right now I'm not going through a lot of this stuff but I am on bedrest with little bleeding. I'm just praying it doesn't get any worse and goes away so I can get back to normal and hoping this little one keeps growing. I had an ultrasound yesterday at 6 weeks 6 days and the baby's heartrate jumped from 128 bpm last week to 160bpm yesterday. I was thrilled! I'm still waiting on the doctor to call me and let me know the results of the u/s. I'm praying everything looks fine!

My goals: To make it to full term. At least 37 weeks! Have easy labor, under 4hours, and have an epi. and have a vaginal birth and the baby to weigh at least 6-7 lbs. and have no health issues! I also and hoping me and baby do well and not have any probelms and get to come home shortly, within a few days. Lets just hope this happens!

[Brink]

la bride - What a rocky road you have been on. It must be really hard to juggle the feelings of happiness over being pregnant, the loss of a twin and the kidney issues. I certainly hope there isn't any permanent damage and that you and your baby are very healthy. I can't comment on the affects of drugs. With my type of high risk, there are not any drugs involved at this point. I can see where the concern is. It's like - which is the worst of two evils??????

Cr8zy - thanks for saying hi!!!!!!!

Jena - Here's to hoping your next 2wks fly by. I'm surprised they are only checking you every 4 wks. I thought that most high risk pg's were checked every 2 wks. Maybe that's just me because of the cord issues.

Tonysweetie - so sorry you are on bedrest. I hope your visit here with us high risk ladies is a short one and your pg gets back on the "normal" track.

Feeling better today. I definitely ate something bad yesterday. I ended up checking the babies h/b before bed just to make sure it wasn't them. Their h/b's were up about 10 beats from the day before. But, they were in the 150's so, I think they are just fine.

My daughters first birthday party is this weekend. At least I have something to help take my mind off of making it another week. Come on week 15!

[Brink]

Jena - I know you are trying to avoid the internet, but I did go onto my monoamniotic site and looked for info regarding frequency of visits for DiMo twins. The TTTS foundation recommends checking them every two weeks. I certainly don't want to alarm you, but do you think you could talk to your doctor and insist on more frequent screenings?

[jenahdawn]

(It's Jenah)

There's nothing that can be done until 20 or 24 weeks anyway.

Starting with my next appt (20 weeks) he's going to have me monitored every 2 weeks.

[Brink]

Jenah (sorry about that)- sounds like you and your doc have it figured out. Glad to hear you will get to see the babies every 2wks very soon. If nothing else, it will help the anxiety in between visits. I forget, do you know if they are boys or girls?

[jenahdawn]

That's part of the next appt! (As I call it, finding out the flavor of our babies!)

My doc treated me for nearly a year before I got pregnant (for other issues), he knows me quite well, enough to know to not worry me because I panic and stress and get nervous and that's the last thing he wants. It's not that he keeps info from me, he just has learned how to ease me into it. (It helps that my husband goes to every appt, too)

[Brink]

How is everyone feeling today?

Not much going on around here. I am just waiting for my appt. with the new specialist next week. I also am trying to get an appt. with a different specialist so that I can interview both of them and determine which one I like better. With this pg, I guess it is really important to see if they agree with certain studies and courses of treatment. It's scary to think that the decision I make about who my dr. is could mean life or death for these little babies.

I haven't felt them move today, which scares me. I'm trying not to get worried since at 14 wks, I won't feel them consistently anyway. These are the times when I have to use restraint to not pull my doppler out everyday.

[Sage]

Hi all, not much is new with me. My next ultrasound isn't until next week, so I'm hoping everything is going along well this week. I've started to notice some significant movement, especially from Baby B who is higher. In fact, it feels like a good kick even though I don't see my belly move or anything. It's so strong I even wonder if it's actually the baby since I think it's kinda early to be feeling such a strong jab. I asked my regular OB about it last time I saw her and she said it could be the baby or it could be my uterus stretching or whatever. I'll ask the peri about it next time I see him.

Brink - Wanted to say good luck with your interview with the new specialist. I agree that it's really important to find someone compatible with you. I think I said earlier that I went to the first high-risk doc when I had my bleeding episode (the day we discovered we were having twins), and she got me and DH all worked up about TTTS, down syndrome, the works.... It was so stressful. My regular OB saw me a few days later and referred me to a different high-risk doctor who is a MUCH better fit for me. Just as knowledgable, but way more positive and available for questions, etc. So I think it's really good you're interviewing to make sure you've got the best fit for you.

Also, wanted to say that I bought the Boost high protein drink at the grocery store the other day instead of Ensure b/c it was on sale, and I think it tastes SO much better. It's less thick so it's not as hard to drink. I think the chocolate is the best flavor even though I'm not a huge chocolate person. Okay, now I feel like an old lady talking about Ensure vs. Boost. :) Hope the rest of you are doing well!

[Kimmiebride]

man, am I ever cranky today. I think I want to rip everyone's head off... i am usually relatively patient with people, but I volunteer for this organization, and have spent a lot of time on a project that people completely disregarded deadlines for. I am just so pissed at them for making my life hell because they were "busy." As if I wasn't busy too...

ok, end of rant. Nothing to do with high risk, but just how I am feeling today!
Kimmie

Must add that as I was responding a really good friend who is on the same board said she wanted to take me to dinner to thank me for all the work I did. awwww... very sweet. Hope I can get over the crankies and have a nice dinner!

[Brink]

Sage - thanks for the tip on Boost. I'll have to try it. I've been having 2 ensure drinks per day - it would be nice to have something else too.

Kimmie - people can just be so rude! I'm glad that at least you get to go out to dinner with someone who appreciates your work.

Checked the babies h/b this morning. They are still around 145, so that is good.

I'm off to do some shopping - my one year old's b-day party is tomorrow!

[Tonysweetie]

Brink: I hope your daugther has a great birthday!!!! Sounds like fun. Good luck with your interviews. I'm sure you'll make the right decision in whatever one you pick. :) God Bless!!!


Not much going on with me today. DH is pulling me off bedrest tonight to take me out to eat. I'm so excited! lol. It's amazing what things you learn to appriciate once you can't do it anymore.

I'm a little worried about this infection I have. When I was in the ER last week (for bleeding) the Dr. there told me I have BV (Bacterial Vaginosis) and I was given MetroGel to cure it. It was a 5 day antibotic. Well I finished it about 3 days ago adn I can still feel the symptoms. I know if BV is left untreated it can lead to preterm labor or miscarriage or lowbirth weight. So course I'm scared trying to get ahold of my doctor to call me in another prescription. I called the office this morning and they said they would take care of it and when I called my pharmacy earlier they said my dr. hasn't called it in yet. So I call my Dr. back and they are closed for the day. So now I have to wait until Monday. In the meantime I'm scared something is going to happen. I do have a little bit of the cream left I thought about going ahead and using it over the weekend until I can get into the Dr. on Monday but I probably shouldnt' since my Dr. didn't tell me too. What's a girl to do????

[Brink]

Tonysweetie - I don't know anything about BV - but my guess is that if it is left untreated for a long time, it would be an issue. I can't imagine a couple of days making a difference. If so, you would think the dr. would have made a bigger deal of it, right? Like I said, I don't know anything about it, just trying to put your mind at ease. Yeah for getting out of the house!

[Sage]

Hi all, it's been kinda quiet in here lately. Hope everyone is doing well!

I had my ultrasound this morning and it went really well. They didn't measure the babies size, which seemed a little weird to me, but they told me that they look the same and don't appear to have changed much since my last visit. Bladders, hearts, and everything looked normal. There is still a difference in the amniotic fluid levels, but they said it was only a slight difference. And, they said the fluid levels aren't really a case of one having too much and the other not enough--instead, one has a normal amount and the other has a little excess. So, that made me feel better about the whole thing.

I go back in one week in order to keep monitoring them closely. The only thing that bummed me out is that my peri didn't recognize me. He asked me who my regular peri was, and I was like "...uh, you." And then he laughed and said, "I know that but when do you see him next?" And I was like, "...uh, I see you on Oct. 3rd." It was awkward and I think he was totally covering that he didn't remember me. I've only seen him one other time, so I guess I shouldn't be too upset, but it's kind of nervewracking to know that the doctor who's supposed to be looking out for your best interests doesn't even know you're his own patient. Ugh.

Other than that, things were really good. I've totally started feeling the twins move a lot, which is really fun. Baby B gives me some really strong kicks. Baby A's are more subtle b/c he's lower. At least I think that's what's going on!

Well, hope the rest of you are doing well. Would love to hear some updates on how everyone's feeling.

[Brink]

Sage - glad to hear your u/s went well today. Frustrating about the dr's. I always think the same thing - they should recognize me AND remember all my details!

We had our meeting with the new Peri today. I think I like him. He has a long list of credentials and currently has two other patients with MoMo twins. The visit was rather short as he wants me to come back in two weeks for a really detailed u/s. But, we did see the babies today and he said they looked great. They didn't measure size or anything like that, but he did say..........they are boys! The odds of them being boys is really low. I only had a 1 in 60,000 chance of having MoMo (monochorionic/monoamniotic) twins and of those that survive, only 15% are male. I originally thought we were having a boy but talked myself out of it in the last couple of weeks because of the stats. I guess we should always trust our instincts.

So, I go back on October 12th for the detailed review. He did say that so far the cords looked good. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that these two boys stay on their own side of their room! Oh, and I forgot to mention - he said one of them was kicking the other one in the "you know what". Looks like they are a handful already!

[sunmoonstars75]

I come in here with a heavy heart. jenahdawn went into labor on Tuesday night, and there was nothing the doctors could do to stop it. She gave birth to two beautiful little girls yesterday morning at 6:25 am and 6:35 am. They looked like two perfect angels. She and her family are grieving terribly right now, so please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

[lawgirl4]

jenahdawn - I know that no words can help during this difficult time... I just wanted to let you know my thoughts are with you and your family.

[Sage]

Jenahdawn - Oh my God, I am so, so, so sorry. I wish I knew what to say. Please know that I'll be thinking and praying for you and your family.

[Kimmiebride]

Oh, Jenahdawn!! Our thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time. When I lost my son at 18w5d, I found great comfort in the late-term, stillborn and infant loss group on CC. Sadly, there are many ladies there who feel the same pain. I found it helped me greatly to be able to talk and vent there. Be gentle with yourself, and I pray for peace to wrap around you.
Kimmie

[katmg]

Jenahdawn - I am so, so sorry for your loss. You and your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.

[jenahdawn]

Just pasting because I can't go through it again.

The hardest part is that it's still considered a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion" at 19 weeks. (Well, ONE of the hardest parts.)

We got home a few hours ago. He's sleeping behind me and I'm bawling.

Tues night I started having contractions. I was dialated to 2 cm. After 2 hours, I was at 3 cm and was moved "upstairs" to L&D.

6:15 am Wed, Sept 27, my water broke. By 6:30~ish, my beautiful baby girls were here. Katie was 7.8 oz and 22cm long (8 3/4 inches) and Chloe was 6 oz and 20 cm (8 inches) long. And they were absolutely perfect.

This afternoon, we gave our little angels away so their ashes can be spread over a flower garden so everyone can appreciate their beauty.

But I just want them in our arms again.

Recovering mentally, emotionally AND physically....this is the worst pain anyone can ever feel and the one thing I hope no one else ever has to.

We were told to wait 6 months before trying again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because of the size difference, the doctor and I talked about how it looked the the beginnings of TTTS (It may not SOUND like a big difference when reading it, but it was a BIG difference) and how I want to think of it as someone else ("upstairs" if you will) decided that it would have been very hard and the outcome would have been bad, so they ended it early for us. This way, it was nothing wrong with them, nothing wrong with me, it was just a cruel chance.

It still doesn't help with the guilt.

I wish everyone well.

[Brink]

Jenah - I can't even begin to imagine your pain. I am so sorry for your loss. I know there isn't anything we can say to make the pain any easier, but know that you can always come here and have a place to vent/cry or whatever you need. Try as hard as you can not to feel guilty, it wasn't your fault!

Take care and many hugs to you from my family. My DH also sends his sympathy.

[usafwife]

Jenah ~ I've already posted this in our group thread but I just wanted to express my sympathy again to you and your family. Please do not blame yourself in any way. It isn't your fault. I know it's hard not to feel guilty or blame yourself as I did that following the miscarriage we went through.

{{{HUGS}}}

[Sage]

Jenahdawn - I can't even imagine what you're going through. The names you chose for your girls are beautiful. Please, please try not to make yourself feel guilty. Especally if it was TTTS, there is no way you did anything to cause it. It is just a horrible, horrible thing that can strike a mo-di or mo-mo identical twin pregnancy at any time, unfortunately. This was not your fault. Please try to hang in there and know that we are all thinking of you and here for you.

Brink - In the midst of all this sad news, I realized I didn't say congrats to you on the boys. I think boys will be great, although I'm biased b/c that's what we're having too. I'm glad the visit with the new specialist went well and that the twins are looking good.

[Brink]

16 weeks today!!!!!

I love counting off the weeks every monday. I know it doesn't mean we are going to make it, but at least we beat the odds a little longer. Only 8 more weeks until they are "safe". I can't wait until my next appointment so I can see if their cords are still looking good. I'm also starting to worry about TTTS and hope we avoided this one.

Sage - thanks for the congrats on the boys.

[Sage]

18w3d

Yay for 16 weeks, Brink! I love having the appointments often, too--it can provide a lot of reassurance when you're dealing with all these unknowns. Although I still get nervous the day before. This time I only have to wait a week in between ultrasounds, so that's great. I go in on Wednesday morning, so hopefully everything will be looking good. Gosh, I hope you've avoided TTTS too--you have enough on your plate with the cord issues!!

Hope everyone else is doing well.

[Sage]

18w5d

Had kind of a rough ultrasound this morning...I was officially diagnosed with having Stage I of TTTS. I burst into tears right there when the peri told me--I guess I really had my hopes up that we would avoid this even though the signs have been there.

Right now, they will just keep monitoring me with weekly ultrasounds. If I progress to a Stage III, they'll start medical interventions which could include serial amniocentesis or fetal laser surgery.

The good news is that neither twin appears to be in any distress from it so far. My donor twin still has a visible bladder and has room to move around, both babies' hearts look good, etc. There's about a 7% size difference between the two but the peri said they don't get too concerned until the size difference is greater than 25%.

So, I'm hanging in there but still pretty upset and really scared about what the future holds.

[usafwife]

Brink ~ Congrats on the boys!

Sage ~ I'm so sorry for the TTTS diagnosis. I will keep you in my prayers that it doesn't progress to stage III. I watched a show on Discovery Health a while back about TTTS and just thinking everything that those parents had to go through wasn't easy.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have what I think is the beginnings of pre-eclampsia. I've had headaches for a few days that don't go away. And this morning when I woke up my hands were a bit swollen. My one ring that has always been easy to get on and off isn't that way anymore. If things get worse I'll be calling to see if I can get in earlier. I also am going to ask about having my bloodwork repeated because I feel that my thyroid med needs to be adjusted. If it isn't one thing, it's another. I know these problems aren't as big or as difficult as what some of you are dealing with.

[Brink]

Sage - I am so sorry to hear about the TTTS diagnosis. They say you should start drinking 3 Ensure (Boost) with protein per day and get as much time lying down on your left side as possible. That seems to slow the process. I was poking around the TTTS site the other day and they have a pretty good message board section with people in various stages and it answers many questions. I agree that 7% isn't that much right now and it is just a very good thing you are being monitored regularly and were able to catch it. I think if you catch it early and start intervention, your prognosis is really good. We are pulling for you......

USAWife - I really hope you don't have pre-eclampsia. Glad you are watching the signs and can see someone right away. Let us know if you go see your doc and how things are looking. I hope you just have a bunch of water gain or something else going on.

As for me, nothing new going on here. I've had terrible backaches the last few days (right between my shoulder blades). It's getting hard to sit at my desk for work. I also get really bad chest pains sometimes at night (like last night) and they are painful. This pg is just so different from my first, I didn't have any issues and thought - what do women always complain for, this is easy!!!!! Boy, was I wrong.

[Brink]

USAWife - did you meet with your dr. about the pre-eclampsia signs? Just curious if everything is ok.

[usafwife]

Brink ~ Right now I'm keeping an eye on it. If I continue to keep having the headaches often I'll be contacting the office ASAP. The swelling has went down but I'm keeping an eye on it. Now if only I could get rid of the dizziness/lighheadedness I've had today things would be better.

[Sage]

Thanks guys, for the well wishes. I'm feeling better about everything, although very anxious for my next ultrasound to see how everything's progressing. It's not until next Thursday so it's going to be a long wait...

Brink - The TTTS message board is great. I found quite a few threads on it with women who managed to stay at Stage I their entire pregnancies and they credit it to the Boost 3x a day and bedrest. I talked to my peri about the Boost/bedrest plan, and he said the Boost was certainly worth a try but he didn't buy into the whole bedrest thing. I agree with him at this point, b/c after poking around a bit on the site it appeared to me that the bedrest is helpful if your amniotic fluid levels are off the charts and putting too much pressure on your cervix causing preterm labor. I'm still in the normal range overall, so I'm not too worried about the bedrest for now. I was only drinking one boost a day so now I'm up to 3. We'll see how it goes.... When is your next ultrasound??

USAWife - So glad you're feeling better--be sure to keep a close eye on the pre-e signs. How far along are you now?

[usafwife]

Sage ~ Thanks. I was watched pretty closely with my first pregnancy even though my BP readings were always great and I had no protein/sugar in my urine. I just had unexplained severe swelling that made walking even a chore (I gained a ton of water weight, had no shoes that I could wear after halfway through the pregnancy). Since the swelling didn't ever go away they basically treated me as though I was pre-e and limited my time on my feet and travel restrictions from 25 wks til I delivered.

I'm currently 22 wks (and depending upon what EDD they use I could be as far as nearly 23 or 24 wks) and 2 days.

[Brink]

Sage - glad to hear the site was helpful. I'm drinking 2 Ensure per day even though everything looks good so far. I figure it can't hurt. I sure hope the 3 boost per day do the trick.

My next appointment is on the 12th. That is the big one where he will spend about an hour checking everything about the babies. Hopefully that will all be good news.

[jeggink]

I would like to join in on this conversation, but warning that my pg may not go well beforehand.

I have had 2 m/c prior to this pg with D&Cs at 8.5 weeks in January and April for unknown causes. I also have a 2-yr old son with no complications. This pg I have been on baby asprin, progesterone. I was also on heparin for about a month at the beginning of the pg.

Anyway, I just had my Nuchal fold ultrasound and the fold measured 8mm, WAY out of range. We didn't even bother with the blood test. We also saw fluid on the brain. I have an amio scheduled on the 20th at 14 weeks, wait for results and we will see what comes out of that. If it isn't genetic, then we will need to do further u/s and go from there. I have read good outcomes up til 6mm, but after 7mm, the prognosis is very poor. We may lose the baby in utero.

I wasn't sure I wanted to post here, but we are unsure as to what will happen, good or bad, so we wait. I do not have high hopes, but am trying to keep some hope at least.

Jenah I have seen some of your posts and my heart goes out to you!

[Brink]

jeggink - So sorry to hear about the results of your Nuchal. It must be hard waiting for the test on the 20th. How long after that before you get results? I don't know a whole lot about the Nuchal test, we opted not to have it for either this pg or my first. I know it usually gives your odds of downs, but it sounds like yours detected more than that, right?

Also, while we all appreciate the happy endings, we are here for each other because of the hard times we are going through. Please don't hesitate to post, we are here to support each other and especially give support when things are tough. I think that even though all of our situations may be different, we can relate in one way or another. It's hard to post the bad things in our regular "due date" threads as many of the other mom's with normal pregnancies just don't have the same perspective. They can give support, but (thank goodness for them) they can't really relate.

Anyway, I hope everything goes well on the 20th.

[jeggink]

Brink Thanks, you are making me all teary. I am going to have the FISH results from the amnio which is speedier early result version of the results 1st and then the the full results. This is how it was explained to me.

FISH - THey take an individual cell from the amnio and look at that for genetic issues under a slide. If this is +, your final results will be +. If it is -. there is a possibility your final test results will come back + (they seperate out by chromosomal defect).

Final Results - Usually take about 10 days. This is where they grow the cells taken from the amnio and then look at them closer.

So, it may be a long wait. Yes, the nuchal is a screening for downs, but other items as well. We have a chance of Trisomy 13, 18, turners, downs, etc, also spina bifida and heart defects and other multiple issues. The amnio doesn't detect all genetic issues though, just some. With mine being so high, it probably will be genetic, downs or Turners most likely, and more likely to be a severe form.

There isn't a whole lot of information out there for measurements as high as mine. For those interested, here is a link. Go down to the Fetal neck and NT screening and look at the ultrasound pics. The abnormal one has my babies exact measurement and it also shows a normal meansurement. For the most part you will just see u/s, but one image is a bit more graphic, so please be aware.

http://radiographics.rsnajnls.org/cgi/content/full/24/1/157

The only reason I agreed to this ultrasound is that I had the 2 m/c and ruling out bloodwork on my side, it was most likely genetic.

[Sage]

jeggink - So sorry about the nuchal. We had the nuchal ultrasound too, and frankly, I just regret doing it at all. When we first found out about the twins we basically were so shocked we just signed up for everything they suggested that day, and they wanted us to come back in a week to do the nuchal b/c one twin was measuring 3.7mm (the other was under 1 mm). I was only 10 or 11 weeks at the first ultrasound, so they said they couldn't really rely on the measurements. By the time we went back the next week, the one twin's fold had gone down to 2.3 and the other's had increased to 1.3. They told me it could either indicate Downs or TTTS, but it was unlikely to be Downs b/c I'm having identical twins, so basically they should have identical chromosones, meaning that if one twin had Downs the other would too, and the one twin looked fine. But when I got the full results back from the ultrasound (including bloodwork), I was told I had a 1 in 197 chance of either twin having downs, vs. my age risk of 1 in 588. These results really stressed me out b/c I was expecting a much better result based on what the doctors told me. We opted not to do the amnio b/c it boiled down to a 95.5% chance that the twins would be okay and not have Downs, but I still worry about it quite often.

Anyway, I know this is a long story and actually pretty different from what you're going through, but I just wanted to commiserate on the nuchal ultrasound just plain sucking. I'm so sorry about the results and the waiting period you have to go through. And Brink is totally right, we are definitely here to support each other, especially when times are tough. I think of this thread as a safe place to really lay out the issues we're facing without worrying about being a downer or freaking people out who are experiencing normal pregnancies. I hope that the FISH tests come back negative--hang in there.

Brink - Looks like we will both be going in on the 12th for ultrasounds! I hope the cords and babes are looking good!

usawife - I hope your swelling is going down! Swelling sucks, especially this early! I had a ton of swelling when I was pregnant with DD, but I think it had to do with the fact that I was 9 months pregnant in August! Ugh, it was not fun looking at my puffy duck feet every morning.

Not much to update on me--just patiently waiting for Thursday morning (well, trying to be patient, at least).

[usafwife]

jeggink ~ So sorry to hear about the results of your Nuchal. I can't imagine having to wait 10 days to have the test and then another 10 days to get the results. I'm not sure I could keep my sanity during that wait. I will be thinking positively for you and sending you lots of good luck for the 20th.

Also, while we all appreciate the happy endings, we are here for each other because of the hard times we are going through. Please don't hesitate to post, we are here to support each other and especially give support when things are tough. I think that even though all of our situations may be different, we can relate in one way or another. It's hard to post the bad things in our regular "due date" threads as many of the other mom's with normal pregnancies just don't have the same perspective. They can give support, but (thank goodness for them) they can't really relate.

I completely agree Brink.

[usafwife]

Sage ~ We must have posted at the same time. Thanks. It doesn't seem to be too bad. Now if the headaches would just leave I might feel better (well, except for the constant m/s....wishing that would go away as well). My swelling started around 22/23 wks with DD (and that was in March) and it never once went away. My current OB says she expects it start with this one as well during that time. Oh lucky me!

[Kimmiebride]

Hi gang,
Sorry to hear of Jeggink's nuchal results. I am hoping for the best for you, despite how hard it is. It is devastating to go through this type of waiting and hoping, but preparing for the worst at the same time. When we lost our son last year we found out something wasn't right at the Level II u/s, and they did the amnio the following day... it was exhausting to be told the bad possibilities, and the genetics people are not really known for thinking on the bright side... I am glad you came here for support. You can talk about anything here... the lucky blissful mom's in the due date threads totally mean the best, but sometimes you need more support than they can give, and we're here for you!

I had a bout of high BP last week, which I think was due to massive salt quantities I had - I immediately started watching it, and drinking tons of water, and it has gone down again. The docs are still on watch though. This week I get a baseline urine protien test, 1 hour GTT (early because of my weight I guess), clotting factor test and peri appt on Friday. I am getting ready for my trip to Florida, and hope all the tests come out great so they will still let me go, and so I will be healthy and not worried to go!
Kimmie

[jeggink]

Thanks for the welcome ladies, I appreciate it. It is a very difficult time right now. Yesterday we were dealing with cramping & spotting and I thought I might miscarry, but they seems to have disapeared today. I am hoping that if they come back, it will wait a few days as I fly out for the day tomorrow to another city, yikes! My main stress right now is knowing if my baby is alive or not since I can't feel it yet. I am trying to ignore all this and just go on with my life. I am quite busy from now throught the weekend so that should help.

Yes, it is hard to talk about this in my due date club, I don't want to scare anyone into thinking their pg is bad, that would make me very sad. It is nice being someplace I can discuss this all.

Sage everything I have read about that size nuchal fold, it will be fine. I have read a high measurement is usally about 3, but there is dicussion on raising it to 3.5 or 4. Usually above 2 they like to do some additional testing. I also read the same thing you were saying that if one twin is fine, the other is usually also. Something else that I read, twins can be behind a little bit developmentally than singletons and sometimes have a harder time ridding themselves of the extra fluid in the same time a single pregnancy would. That is probably why the second measurement was better. Not sure if that helps any.

usafwife Yes the wait is awful. I have actually know since last Thursday and DH wasn't with me when I found out. It was so tough to drive back to work.

Kimmiebride Hoping your testing comes back really good!

Brink I hope you next appointment goes well. I have read a little on your twin pg and am hoping for 2 healthy boys for you!!!

[Sage]

19w6d

Hey all! So, I had my ultrasound this morning and things are not improving, unfortunately. Baby B still has a visible bladder, which is great, so I still don't qualify for any interventions. However, the fluid levels are continuing to worsen. The peri I saw today told me that she could see me having the laser surgery as early as next week if things continue on this path. I go in on Wednesday for another ultrasound to see how things are looking. That visit will be with my regular peri, so it will be interesting to see what he has to say about everything. If we need to go for the laser surgery, they'll send me to Cincinnati, which is quite a drive away. At this point, I'm not sure what we'll do with DD, work, etc., but I'm going to try and get everything organized just in case I have to go next week. Of course, there's always the chance that things will stabilize, or my regular peri may decide that we should try amniocentesis before the surgery.

It's so hard to be in this waiting game, ya know? On the one hand, I'm pretty devastated that things are continuing to get worse. But on the other hand, it's kind of a relief to think that we may be able to do something about it next week. Conflicting feelings, I guess.

Brink - Hope your ultrasound goes well today!

Jeggink - Thanks for the reassurance on the nuchal fold issues. I think I was getting myself all worked up about it again to distract myself from the real problem at hand--TTTS. It's sad when I'm looking for new problems to distract myself from thinking about other problems. Ugh!! I'm glad you're busy this weekend--hopefully it will keep your mind off everything until you have some more answers!

Kimmie - Sorry about the high BP! All those tests don't sound like much fun. I hope they all come back great and you get the A-OK for Florida. I am jealous--it is so cold where I live today! I could use some sunshine.

So, that's all for me. Hope the rest of you are doing well!

[Brink]

Also back from our u/s this morning. Everything is looking good. The babies are measuring exactly the same. They are both 6 oz and the doc says they look really good. He looked at all of their organs and they looked good. He did see a "white" spot on Baby A's lung area that he said could be an indication of downs, but then he couldn't find the same spot on Baby B. Since they are gentically the same, he said it must have just been interference on the u/s. Plus, I went back and looked at my notes from my prior peri and he measured the nuchal at 1.4mm, so I don't think we have to worry to much about the downs issue (although you never know). He looked at their cords and didn't see any bad tangling, so I think we are ok there for now. I also talked to him about my "treatment" plan and he said that if we want to go in-patient at 24 wks with 3x per day monitoring, he will approve it. So, pretty much right after Thanksgiving I will become inpatient. I can't wait for the days/weeks to tick by. Almost forgot the biggest news of the day - he was wrong before - they are GIRLS!

Sage - sorry to hear the TTTS has not improved. I've heard really good things about the results of the surgery. I hope you don't have to go there, but like you said, at least there is something that you can do about it. I'll be thinking of you between now and Wednesday and hoping they will start acting like good little babies and start sharing!

Jeggink - still thinking about you. Have you thought of renting a doppler to take away a little of the worry? You can get them on-line at www.babybeat.com I know it has relieved a lot of stress for me. Although it won't change the outcome, at least it can give you a little instant peace of mind.

Kimmie - How is the BP this week? Good luck on your test and appt tomorrow.

Ok - been on-line too long - better get back to work.

[jeggink]

Sage I am so sorry the TTTS is not improving. Can you explain to me what they would do with the laser surgery to correct the issue? I assume it has something to do with the placenta? I am glad they are keeping such a close eye on you all though!! Lots of good thoughts being sent your way.

Brink OMG, that is one big change, 2 boys to 2 girls, how exciting!! Congrats! Glad the cords aren't getting to tangled! I have thought about renting a dopplar, but I am not sure that wouldn't make things worse for me in the sense that it would make me worry more. I am thinking about it and will see. Thanks for the link!

I find myself distancing myself from this pg in order to be able to deal with the stress. I am also trying very hard to keep some hope as well, maybe the dr was wrong, maybe the measurement was off, etc. I have in some ways come to term with the statement "what will happen, will happen". So for right now I am actually doing OK. We shall see as I get closer to next Friday :o .

[Brink]

jeggink - I have done the same thing with distancing myself from the pg. Usually when I talk to people I say "if" we have the babies. I also have thought in terms of if we don't make it, that I lost a pregnancy rather than I lost my babies. I haven't picked names and will not buy anything for them (and won't let anyone else either) until I am at least in the hospital and past 24 weeks. I know with some people it helps them if they connect with the little one early, but with me that would just make it harder. It's definitely a juggling act to keep a positive attitude but also a reaslistic one.

As for dreaming of errors - I keep hoping my doctors just missed the membrane separating them. No real chance of this, but I keep hoping we'll go in and they'll say "oh, there it is". I also keep hoping I go the entire pg without cords tangling - also almost impossible, but I keep hoping.

All add to all my hopes that your doctor was wrong too. Maybe we can just will all of this away.......

Sorry for the long post -

[jeggink]

Brink You wrote down my thoughts exactly. I was distanced already since I had the prior m/c's and then when we got past that point, I started getting excited, only to be let down again. I prefer to keep a realistic view of what is going to happen so I can prepare myself for the worst and then if it doesn't happen, then wonderful. I agree, maybe we can will some of this away..........if only that were true, sigh.

That is going to be tough being in the hospital after 24 weeks. Do you have someone to help with your daughter? I can't even imagine doing that. I know if we loose this one, my mom will come down and watch DS while we are in the hospital.

[Sage]

Brink - So glad the ultrasound went well!!! I can't believe they are actually girls! That is too funny. I swear, this pregnancy is going to be a rollercoaster for you no matter what the issue!

Jeggink - With the laser surgery, they basically will go in and cauterize the blood vessels in the placenta that the babies are sharing. That way, hopefully, after the connections are severed the babies will each get enough blood flow/nutrients and my donor baby won't be sending everything over to the recipient baby. From what I've read on the internet, the success rates for the surgery are about 80% for one baby to survive and 60-70% for both babies. I'm hoping the odds are actually better than that b/c my case isn't so dire right now, and the doctor they're referring me to in Cincinnati is supposed to be one of the best. We'll see what they say on Wednesday...

Gosh, I am SO not distanced from this pregnancy. I wish I was able to be more aloof--I think the problem is that I am just so freaking huge already. At my 18 week appointment I was already measuring 25 weeks. I'm 20 weeks now, so I'm even bigger. My peri told me it was normal for a twin pregnancy, but part of me wonders if I'm a little bigger than normal now from the excess fluid from the TTTS. Also, it's hard to distance b/c everyone in our families is so excited, and kind of in denial about the seriousness of TTTS. My MIL already bought us cribs and a changing table as a baby gift, and she keeps pressuring me to get the nursery ready. The cribs are still in boxes in our living room, and I keep trying to get her to back off b/c I'm not ready to open them. It is my way of protecting myself, at least a little. But I just cannot imagine losing these babes--I feel like I'm full term already.

[Brink]

Jeggink - My DH isn't working - by choice (well, he works on remodeling our house) so he will just focus those 2 months on me/us instead of working on house remodel stuff. I am very fortunate that way.

Sage - I just come out and tell people - don't buy anything. Or, if you buy it, you'll be the one who has to return in or live with it if they don't make it - not me. It's really hard to keep the distance and not get excited. I don't want to take anything away if you are excited though - each person has to deal with it in such a different way. I hope that your MIL will at least respect how you choose to handle it. People can be so insensitive and rude sometimes!

Vent: I just got off my other site for momo twins and this is a horrible story - so feel free to stop reading if it will bother you. There is this couple in the UK and they have been trying to get in-patient monitoring for weeks. Well, the UK won't do inpatient monitoring for momo twins. They will only monitor 3x per week on an outpatient basis. So this couple went through the expense of purchasing a monitor for home. They were still trying to figure out how to read the strips when they noticed a lack of movement and then checked and saw an irregular hearbeat on one of the babies. So, they went to the hospital and found out they had lost one of the babies. Then they found out the live baby was bleeding into the lost baby. If they didn't have surgery right away she would be gone within a few hours. As it is, they are waiting to see if there is any brain damage because of the time it took to discover it. She is now 29 wks pregnant (this happened two weeks ago), so she was 27 wks when it happened. IF they had been monitored in-patient, they would have seen the stress on the lost baby and delivered both of them prematurely. It would have been really early at 27 wks, but they would have had a good chance. Now they have one lost baby and one with possible brain damage. And, if they hadn't purchased the in-home monitor they would have lost both babies by their next appointmnt. I am so angry for them that I could just scream. It also makes me thankful that we live in a society where we have more choices with healthcare. Although, my docs original plan was to monitor us on an outpatient basis 3x per week too, but I am insisting that we go in-patient at 24 wks and he said he would approve of that, but only because we requested it. It is amazing how much of our babies future depends on us and us understanding their conditions and fighting for what is right for our babies. Ok - vent over.

[Kimmiebride]

Brink, that's just awful!! We are so lucky to be here and getting good medical care!

Sage, hope things can turn around... those are pretty good success rates. I wish there was a way to have a 100% chance for both the kiddos!! I know you and your doc are doing everything in your powers to make it happen!

Good appointment on Friday, passed my 1 hour, bp has normalized again, and all my coag levels look good, and they said it's ok to go to Florida! The first few days are work, and the rest is time with my family!! I am actually really looking forward to going!
The baby is so active, and I am loving that!! It is helping me get through my next milestone without total panic! Heart beat was in the 160's! Today I am so tired as I photographed a 9 hour wedding yesterday. I always feel run over by a truck, but pregnant is even worse. DH has been a total doll, and did laundry (my job!) and also made key lime pie, which looks like it will be GREAT! Back to my lounging on the couch!
Kim

[Sage]

Brink - Ugh, what a horrible story!! It is scary how much of an advocate we need to be for our babies' health. I keep stressing about the whole TTTS/bedrest thing--on the one hand, I just want to trust my peri. But on the other hand, I get nervous that maybe I should be doing anything and everything necessary to keep these kiddos healthy, including trying bedrest just in case. It's hard when I see stuff on the internet and it makes me so panicky, even though I feel like I've thought the whole issue out, talked it over with my peri, and think that what he's telling me makes more sense than what I'm reading. It's hard to know where to draw the line between being an advocate and trusting your doctors. I'm so glad that your doctor will sign off on your in-patient monitoring--if I was in your situation, I would be pushing for exactly the same thing!!!

Kimmie - So glad your test results game back so positive!! Hope the key lime pie was good.... When is your next milestone?

As for me, I'm just getting all nervous for my ultrasound tomorrow. I'm hoping things will go well. I've been feeling my donor baby move quite a bit, so I think that's a good sign that he still has enough room to give me a good kick every now and then. Hope you all are doing well!

[jeggink]

Kimmie Glad your tests came back well!!!

OK, quick update
Had my amnio this morning so we just need to wait now. The fluid was still at the back of the neck, less than it was, but still abnormal (3.8 - 4.3). It is normal for the fluid to decrease. The baby is growing well though, measuring on size. I did see them measure the femur and it seemed to be only measuring 13w to 13w2d, but am unsure if that is within the error of the ultrasound. That could point to downs.

It was very active & HB of 156. I am glad it is over with though. I have been cramping a good amount and I do have to say that needle going in did hurt. I could almost feel it go through my ab muscles. The dr told me that the uterus is still a bit thick at this point so it is harder to get the needle in. But they got more than enough fluid and the baby cooperated.

So I get my FISH results in Tues / Wed next week. I get full results in 10 days. If nothing comes up, then I have an u/s schedled at 18 weeks to check for abnormalities. The thing is that even if nothing shows up, there is still no guarantee that the baby will be OK. The amnio doesn't catch all genetic issues, just the most common.

If it's a boy I will know with the FISH results, if a girl, I have to wait for final results as my blood may have mixed with the sample.

I am on bed rest today and have to see tomorrow. If I am still cramping I need to continue to take it easy.

Have a good weekend.

[usafwife]

Sage ~ Sorry that the TTTS isn't improving.

Brink ~ Wow, big change from 2 boys to 2 girls! I was concerned about them being wrong with our u/s but DH saw the better picture (the one I saw wasn't very good nor was the one they printed to give to us) so he's pretty sure that the little one is a boy. I sure hope so. Best wishes that the cords don't get tangled.

Jeggink ~ I distanced myself in the beginning of this pregnancy. I think it had to do with the fact that I had suffered a m/c earlier in the year and that I was having so many issues with spotting/bleeding with this one. I finally told myself that whatever would happen, would happen. It didn't matter if I stressed over it and made things worse. I wasn't going to be able to change things. Good luck on the test results.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still having the headaches. Going to discuss it with my OB at my appt. I'm also still dealing with the m/s. I really wish it would go away. I'd looked foward to hitting 25 wks for sometime now because that's when my severe m/s (of course that is also when my swelling issues appeared...while good for one thing bad for another thing) went away with my first pregnancy. Unfortunately it doesn't appear that is the case with this pregnancy.

[Brink]

jeggink - Thinking of you and wishing you good luck. I'm anxious to hear the results next week. We are keeping our fingers/toes crossed for you (and with my twins, that's a lot of fingers/toes). Sorry to hear the fluid levels are still high. Sorry that I forget, but how many weeks are you now?

usafwife - we cross posted - bummer about the continued headache and m/s. I sure hope you get rid of them this time without taking on the swelling.

I had a visit with a different peri today. This is one that admits to the newer hospital in the area. Even though I would have a nicer stay, I think I like the first peri better. He seemed like he had more experience and is willing to go along with the treatment plan that we want. So I think we will stay with him and just deal with the old/small hospital rooms. We did get another u/s and they confirmed girls. Everything else looked good too. They are both head down with one on each side. My next appt. isn't until Nov. 2nd, so it will be a long 2 weeks!

[Sage]

Not sure if this is going to work--I'm posting from my blackberry. We've been in Cincinnati the past two days and are scheduled for the laser surgery on Monday. My ultrasound last week did not go well, so they had us drive up to Cinn immediately. We did have an amnioreduction before we left--they took out 1.2 liters from my recipient's sac--it was crazy.

Had a whole bunch of tests run here, including an MRI, echo and other ultrasound. Our donor baby is hanging in there with almost no fluid, but our recipient baby is having moderate to severe heart distress. They gave me success rates for the surgery as 87 percent for one twin and 58 percent for both. I am very nervous and scared for the surgery, but I'm hoping that our little fellas will pull through.

I probably won't be able to update again untill after the surgery, but it would be great if you could all keep us in your prayers.

[Brink]

Oh Sage - I am so sorry to hear that it progressed to surgery. But, I'm glad your doctor seems very on top of it and is getting you the best chance for your babies. It's really hard to hear the odds of making it - I know we are somewhere between the 50% - 80% odds too. The only thing I can say is your babies are beating the odds every day and beat many odds just to get to this point - so don't give up hope on them. We are thinking about you and sending all of our best your way.

I hope to hear from you soon that the surgery was a success and the babies are doing great. Hang in there!

[jeggink]

Sage I am so sorry :(. I am glad they found it this soon though and are proceeding immediately with the microsurgery!!! I am sending so many positive thoughts and prayers to you and the twins. Crossing all my fingers that this works and you have no more issues with TTTS!!!! HUGS!

Brink I was 14 weeks at the amnio.

USAWife Thanks!! Hoping your m/s goes away!!

[Kimmiebride]

Just popping in from vacation in Florida to check on you guys!

sage, hope all goes well with the surgery! You are in my prayers!

Jeggink, I'll be checking in to hear about your FISH result, and thinking of you too!
Brink, glad they are behavin' in there!

I have been in the pool every morning, and the baby totally loves it! it was so hot an humid until yesterday, when it finally became bearable! I miss San Francisco!!! (and my DH) but am having a nice time hanging out with my mommy and brother!
Kimmie

[usafwife]

Sage ~ Sorry that you had to have surgery. I hope that it was sucessful.

Jeggink ~ Thanks. I hope it goes away soon too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My BP is low and they are keeping an on it. It could explain the headaches I've been having and also the dizziness. I have a list of things to do to see if it increases by my next appt. I also will have my labs repeated at my visit since they are doing the GTT anyway.

[jeggink]

Sage I am hoping everything went well with the microsurgery!!!!

Sigh, no results yet, WTF! The lab will send the results of the FISH by courier, not fax. They don't come till ~3:30 every day and the office closes at 4pm. It has been almost a week and I am tired. Never do an amnio on a Fri, the beginning of the week is much better! Anyway, the office told me to try back again later today, but I know they will call with the results as soona s they get them since they know I am anxiously awaiting them.

I also had an OB appt today and the nurse asked me if anyone offered me counseling yet. I just started to cry at that point. I told her I had not yet gotten the amnio results back yet. She didn't know that. The dr was sweet and very sad to hear of the results since he has been with me since the 2 m/c. He told me that if we had to decide anything to give him a call with our decision so we could go from there.

Sigh.......:(

[kmmommy]

I've lurked here and there in this thread. My pregnancy with my DD wasn't really high risk but when I was 34 weeks I started measuring ahead so my OB ordered a Level II u/s which showed I had polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid) due to my DD having duodenal atresia (GI blockage) and they also found a heart problem. Both these issues pretty much confirmed that she would have Down syndrome (we opted not to have any testing done earlier in the pgncy).

Anyway, I just wanted to offer my thoughts and prayers to each of you and your precious babies. I would love to check in here every now and then if it's okay with you. Please just let me know if you would rather I didn't.

{{{HUGS}}} to you all and may you have healthy, happy pregnancies and go on to deliver happy, healthy babies.

[Brink]

Hi everyone - we are doing pretty good here. I have 4.5 weeks to go before inpatient. Seems like the time is just ticking away. I have to make sure to get the insurance squared away so I don't have any last minute issues.

Sage - just checking to see how the surgery went.

Kimmie - I'm sure you are back in SF by now. I hope the vacation was fabulous.

Jeggink - I can't believe you don't have the results yet. Although, maybe by now you do. I know we are just another patient to the lab processing things, but jeez you would think they would have some compassion and get the results over ASAP! Thinking of you and hoping the results are better than the odds.

kmmommy - you are welcome here anytime. How old is your DD?

[kmmommy]

My DD was born June 1st so she's almost 5 months. Thanks for the welcome!

[jeggink]

Brink No results yet, sigh.

kmmommy Welcome!!

[Sage]

22w2d

Hi everyone! Well, we are finally back from Cincinnati. We had the laser surgery done last Monday, and so far the boys are still hanging in there, thank God. The surgery was a scary experience for me, but not too painful at all. I had an epidural and local and they gave me a sedative through my IV, so I basically slept through the whole thing. They told me they cauterized 16 connecting blood vessels in the placenta--the most they had ever seen was 18, so I was definitely up there. The biggest concern was that there may not be an even share of the placenta following the surgery, but luckily our boys seem to have an even share. Insufficient placenta share can lead to the death of the twin with the smaller share within 2 days post-surgery, so we were so grateful to hear that they have an even share.

They also did an amnioreduction as part of the procedure and took out 4 liters of amniotic fluid. Basically, I was measuring 36w for a singleton pregnancy at the time of the surgery--now I'm measuring a much more comfortable 26w. It is so nice having some of that excess fluid off of me--I felt like I was going to burst for the week before the surgery!

We have had some follow-up tests on the twins following the surgery. The fluid levels for both twins are even and in the normal range, which is fantastic. Also, the doppler readings are looking good. However, our recipient twin is still showing signs of heart distress. We need to have another fetal echo in the next week to check on that--we hope that it was just too soon to tell following the surgery and that things have improved since then.

We are certainly not out of the woods yet--we are now in a waiting game to see if the surgery stopped the TTTS. The docs have put me on bedrest for the remainder of the pregnancy, so that will be interesting with DD running around. But we will do whatever is necessary to save these boys!

Everyone - Thanks for the prayers and support!

jeggink - I am thinking about you and hoping for the best!

kmmommy- Welcome!!

[jenahdawn]

Sage....

;)

[Brink]

Sage - I am so relieved to hear from you and that the surgery went really well. It sounds like it went as good as could be. I sure hope the heart distress and the continued TTTS are non-issues moving forward. Bed rest with a little one will be really hard I'm sure, but it sounds like you've got it under control. I'm so happy for you guys and will keep thinking good thoughts for you in the next few weeks.

[jeggink]

Sage So relieved to hear from you and that everything and everyone is doing good right now. I will still be praying for you and the twins!!!

No news on my side yet, maybe today.

[Brink]

If anyone is interested, on November 8th on TLC the show "bringing home baby" focuses on momo twins (which is what we are). I don't know how much they go into the specifics of the risks, but thought you guys might want to check it out. I'm on another chat room that focuses on these types of twins, and one of the moms on there is the person they are doing the story about. I set my tivo and will definitely watch.

Jeggink - anything yet? I can't believe they are making you wait this long!

[jeggink]

FISH results are in (about 4pm, but DS is sick so I am home with him).

The FISH is negative for Downs (T21), T18 and T13 and sex chromosome disorders such as XO (Turners) or XXY. Again, these are preliminary and there are false negatives occasionally. It doesn't rule out other issues that the amnio and ultrasounds may pick up later. My final results should be in early next week or so. Nervous for those!! I also have a level II u/s on Nov 17th to check for structural defects. So a small "woohoo".

Oh, and tentatively, the baby is XX :D.

[Brink]

Jeggink - I know you can't completely jump for joy, but that is great news so far. I can't wait to hear the final results of the amnio next week. Hang in there.....

[first-time mom]

Hello girls. I was lurking and just wanted to say that my thoughts and prayers are with you during your pregnancies. I have a almost 1 yr. old and although I didnt have a high risk pregnancy I had some issues after she was born.

Quick recap: I did have some small stressful situations while pregnant but nothing that deemed me high risk. Spotting when I first found out I was pg, contractions early. But I had her at 38 wks via c-section.

WHen she was 2 days old she was diagnosed with a murmur. We found out she had 2 holes in her heart. At 10 days old she had congestive heart failure. For 8 wks I had to feed her around the clock (she couldt eat much at a time). She was on 3 different meds 2x a day. At 8 wks she had open heart surgery to repair her heart.

She is now a happy healthy 1 yr old (will be on 11/10) Miracles do happen!!! Hold on to your faith and god will carry you through. I will be thinking about you all.

I stressed my whole pregnancy feeling something wasnt right. I do think god only gives us stuff we can handle but I couldnt understand that while it was happening. Good luck to all.......

[jeggink]

first-time mom Welcome!!

Well ladies, some news, not sure if it's bad or good yet. I will re-post from my LJ

Well, not so good news right now, the dr called me.

They found an unbalanced translocation of a chromosome (don't know which one yet) in the amnio culture. So they need our blood to find out if either one of us is carrying this.

If one of us is carrying this, they will be able to figure out if the baby will be OK or not, depends on a lot.

If we are not carrying it, there is a higher chance that the baby has problems.

Until we find out the chromosome number, we don't know much. So DH and I will give blood on Fri and it will take an additional 1-2 weeks for final results for all of us.

Sigh....

A website that I quickly looked up for info.
http://www.genetics.com.au/factsheet/13.htm

"The risk of having a child with problems varies according to the specific chromosomes involved in the translocation. Some translocations that are carried by a parent have up to 20% risk or more of causing a genetic condition in their child, some a risk in the 5-10% range, while others have a relatively low risk of 1% or less of causing a problem. Other translocations seem to imply no risk to the baby, but a woman may have repeated miscarriages before attaining a pregnancy. "

and an exerpt from another:

"Reciprocal translocations

1. are rearrangements between chromosomes that do not necessarily entail loss of genetic material in the “parent” (they appear normal),
2. may be passed on to the offspring such that small pieces of genetic material are either added to or subtracted from the total chromosome complement (an unbalanced translocation) of the offspring. This can be either lethal or very damaging (usually resulting in severe mental retardation and major anomalies),
3. in reality, experience has shown that there is only a 10-15% risk of an unbalanced translocation in offspring independent of whether the mother or father is the carrier"


So, we are in limbo again for a while, sigh. This feels like it will never end!

[Kimmiebride]

Oh jeggink, I am so sorry you have to wait some more to finally have the answers. I am keeping you guys in my thoughts, and hope you can find some peace through the waiting... that just sucks that there's no other way to find out faster. Hoping for the best!
Kimmie

[kmmommy]

jeggink ~ Sorry to hear that. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your baby.

[Sage]

Jeggink- Oh, I was so excited to see your first post about the FISH and then so sad to see your next post. I hope it turns out to not be a serious issue--I can't believe you have to go through more waiting to find out for sure what's going on. It must be so agonizing. Thank you for the good wishes on the twins--we are certainly keeping you and your babe in our prayers, too. Hang in there! I hope these next tests can provide you with some answers, and I hope the results come back to you quickly.

Jenah - It's so good to see you posting in here! How are you doing? I definitely think your girls were watching out for my boys the day of the surgery!

Brink - Thank you for the good thoughts for the twins! Now that I'm on bedrest I've been tivoing every baby show on twins, and I actually saw the title for the momo episode and wondered if that's what it was about. I will definitely be watching.

First-time mom - Welcome! And thanks for the story about your daughter--it is always good to read stories that involve happy endings, and it sounds like you guys are doing great!

As for me, I am still hanging out on bedrest. We saw our peri yesterday for an appointment and he was very encouraging. He said that the boys look so much better than