28 wk. u/s peri appt - growth questions

We just got back from our 28wk u/s with the peri. I am actually 27wks. 4 days. Everything looked great. The peri put it best, he said "there are many things/indicators that we look for on ultrasounds with twins and yours do not have any of them." Anyway, we were really happy with that, but, I couldn't help but leave the appt. kind of disappointed. We usually go in the morning and today we went at 1:30 and the tech just was not into it.
She rushed through the measurements and although everything looked great their weights were a bit more off eachother than usual. He weighted 2lb. 7 oz. and she weighed only 2 lbs. I believe he is more where they are supposed to be. She said they are only concerned if their weight is more than 20% off and it can be due to mis-measurement.

The good news was that you could see them both practicing breathing and they mentioned it is kind of early for that. I was very proud. Also, you can see the little peach fuzz on our baby boys head.

The bad news is that although both have spent their entire gestation head down, they are now both head up. I have had a lopsided belly and my DH and I kept saying "why won't anyone move to the upper left quadrant of my belly" as it has been competely empty. Well, a couple of days ago I could tell something was going on over there as I felt movement there and I had not before. Sure enough, now, both of their heads are up there. Great - I really hope they have time/room to turn.

The peri said see you in four weeks but I asked if it could be 3wks. My cervix still measured over 4 (4.3) so that was great but I am so active that I start to get nervous around the 3rd week or so and I would like to check their weights again.

I am wondering if anyone has any insight into the weight differential. Being that they have their own placentas it seems odd to me. Their fluid levels are fine also. I gained about 15 lbs. myself in my first trimester but have only gained about 3 lbs. in the past three months. I am very active and walk about 45 minutes daily (sometimes a walk by myself in the a.m. and another with the dog in the p.m.) for exercize in addition to errands, cooking, cleaning etc.. I do; however, work from home at a computer so I am on my bum part of the day for work. The thing is, I feel great - a few braxton hicks in the evening but no hip pain or groin or back pain. I have no idea how many calories I am eating but I definitly do not go hungry and do not have a problem fitting protein into my diet. Do you think that the babies weight differences can be from something I am doing? Would I know if I wasn't getting enough nourishment or was doing too much to feed both of them? That is the only thing I can think of.

Sorry for the long post - it really was a great appt., I am just feeling a bit blue about it for some reason.

Amy

 

Sounds like a great appt!!! Chances are, their weights are different because they have totally different genes and they are just going to be different sizes. Mine were almost a pound and a half apart when they were born at 34w4d. I remember around 28 weeks, the weight difference spiked and I was very worried. But my peri never once said to be concerned. Blood flow was great, fluid levels were great. "Two different kids, two different sets of genes," he would remind me.

I am glad to hear that your pregnancy is going so smoothly. I am wondering if you are just a bit blue because you have to wait another 4 weeks to get checked again. I would have been bummed over that too. Heck, I would be bummed if I had to wait 10 days!!!

 

It does sound like a pretty good appointment, but I understand your worries. At 26 wks. 3 days my girls 'supposedly' had weights of 2 lbs. 2 oz. and 2 lbs. 9 oz. That's an 18% difference (and mine are monochorionic). Well of course it worried me to death, but the measurements were taken very quickly. I think it's so hard to know how accurate the ultrasounds are. That same day they went ahead and checked dopplers on the girls as well as doing BPPs. Both girls passed their BPPs in less than 30 seconds, showing practice breathing as well. The tech mentioned how it was early to see this so that was a great sign...maybe twins do this earlier than singletons? Dopplers were fine too. Well at 28 wks. 4 days our girls estimated weights were 3 lbs. and 2 lbs. 14 oz.....very close in size! If I were you I would try not to worry about the measurements too much at this point. Boys often tend to be a little bigger than girls so that is something to remember also. It sounds like everything else looked great for them. So are they being measured again in 4 weeks or 3 like you asked?

 

I also convinced my doc to do u/s every 3 weeks instead because I felt like it was just too long to go without seeing what was going on in there.
I had an u/s yesterday and the tech went superfast and didn't do all the measurements they normally do but estimated the weights so I don't trust her estimates too much.
Mine still move and the boy (who is at the top) has flipped around and his head is on a different side each time we go. My doc doesn't think he will turn head down though because there isn't much room left in there now.
Isn't it strange that after a good appt, you feel doubtful like it is too good to be true?

 

No, I don't think the weight difference is because of anything you are doing. It could be soo many things including a mismeasurement. Like the others have said they are two babies sharing mom at the same time but that is all. If you had one baby two years from now you wouldn't be worried if s/he had an estimated measurement that was 7oz different than their older sibling. My guess is one baby has just finished a growth spurt and the other hasn't quite gotten there yet, at your next appointment they could be right back together again. If not, that is not necessarily a bad thing. The key is they both continue to grow, not they both continue to grow exactly the same.

If you look at the estimated weights during pregnancy chart you will see the average is about 2 pounds 2 ounces for 27 weeks and 2 pounds 7 ounces for 28 weeks, since you are right in the middle of that gestation it sounds like you are pretty close to right on average, remember that average means as many were below that weight as were above (even if the measurements were not quite right which was have many many examples of).

Isn't the practice breathing soo neat to watch?

Try to relax, stress is not good for you or the babies! It sounds like things are going great!

 

Thanks for your words of wisdom - it truly helps. I do get to go back in 3 weeks. When I asked for a 3 week visit instead of 4, my peri replied - whatever will make you more comfortable, you need to have a relaxing pregnancy. I thought that was a nice quality in a peri.

I just get worried that I am doing too much/not eating enough. I have a history of overexersize/healthy eating that sort of led to a fertility struggle. Even after you "recover" from that type of an exersizing/eating thing, you are never really confident in your own ability to judge "proper" activity and food intake. I came a long long way to get where I am now (with my DH's help and support) in the past four years and I am extremely proud of myself. That being said, everytime I speak with my mother or sister it is always "are you eating enough, what do you weigh, have you asked your doctor if you are doing it right, you shouldn't be doing that..." and I start to doubt myself. I don't believe that doubting oneself is healthy in pregnancy or parenting. Anyway, that's about it so thanks for caring and helping.

Amy