Mono/Di mama's I NEED HELP ASAP!

Hello,

I have posted here at times but mostly I lurk and cheer and pray for you ladies from the sidelines!

But now I have a bit of a dilemma and I think you ladies maybe the only ones who can help me decide!

I am currently 35 weeks and 5 days pregnant with Mono/Di twins. I do not know the sex as I like surprises!

And lord knows this pregnancy has been full of plenty of surprises. I’ve had a very difficult pregnancy unfortunately, but the babies have been growing fabulously and look really good. I have had Hyperemis Gravadarum the whole time, for the past four months I have had Pelvic separation to the point where they have given me a walker, and been dealing with malnutrition and dehydration the whole time… This last week I have had so much trouble keeping anything down. I have been to have IV's at least 7 times! And I am in an excruciating amount of pain.

And to top it all off, I failed the one hour glucose, :angry: and was unable to keep the drink down for the three hour so I will have to get a glucometer and test myself for a week to figure out if I have Gestational Diabetes or not.

But my one comfort has been that the babies are growing well! :banana: BUT At the last growth scan there was a sudden large difference in their weights… Typically it is about 4 to 6oz difference but suddenly at the last one they are more than a pound different.

One is 5 lb 11 oz and the other is 4 lbs 9 oz. :blink:

According to the doctors, their fluids are good and they look good. But you know what it’s like when you are the mama… My worry is out of control! Especially since I know that there is some concern of acute TTTS in the last weeks. My doctor is not even concerned about that and says that as long as the fluid is good they are fine.

Anyway long story short, my doctor has given me an option to get “tapped” on Friday, and if the lungs look good, we can have the babies on Wednesday at 36 weeks and 5 days. My regular doctor will not be delivering me it will be a younger doctor who is competent but just younger and not as experienced. I'm sure she will be fine but I would be lying to say it didn't cross my mind.

Or I can wait for the planned date of November 6th, with my regular doctor when I am 37 weeks and 6 days.

I don’t know what to do.

I am hoping some mamas of moni/di twins will weigh in with their opinions and help me figure out what the right thing to do is.

I’ve always heard that it’s best to let the babies “cook” as long as possible! But now my doctors are saying that I could just go earlier and be fine also… Mostly because they are trying to get me out of some of this pain and misery I have been having.


So what do you gals think! Should I go earlier or just stick it out?

Oh and I have to call the doctor by 5 today and tell her my decision! GOOD LORD!

FYI: I had my now 2 and a half year old daughter by c-section but was hoping for a VBAC. But baby A is breech, and due to the pelvic separation my doctor is going to do a c-section. I have received the advice to go with the c-section from several doctors and my physical therapists. So no matter what I will have some kind of interventions.

 

I'm sure you'll get opinions on both sides of the fence, but I can only share with you what I believe. I have mono/di girls and my docs (OB and Peri) will not let me get to 35 weeks. In addition to TTTS there is another risk of sudden loss of one or both twins past 35 weeks. It's a newer study and a lot of doctors don't know or believe in it yet, but mine do. My local hospital has great results with 34 weekers when given the lung shots at 32/33 weeks and delivered between 34 and 35 weeks. You've obviously done a remarkable job cooking them this long. :bow2: It's such a personal decision, but if you do decide to go ahead and deliver early, don't let anyone make you feel bad about your decision. You know your body and as my docs have explained it to me, the risks of TTTS and this other complication outweigh the risks of premature birth at the 34/35 week mark.

Please keep us posted on your decision. Either way, you and your babies are in my prayers!

 

:hug:

 

First of all :hug: :hug: :hug: to you
You have been through some pretty incredible things so far. My sister with her singelton had similar pelvic issues and I'll tell you, she waited to deliver her son at full term and honestly coulnd't walk for weeks after his birth. It was a long drawn out labor and delivery and her body was already so distorted the doctors certainly did her an injustice.

Go with your gut - if you feel it is time, then you don't have to be a hero and push it longer - as long as your babies are healthy, and they sound wonderful, you are doing the right thing....

 

WOW! congratulations and my Peri wouldn't let me go past 36 weeks. I had elective C at 35 and 2 and they were six lbs each. Had an amnio at 35 weeks and we were mature. I was having boys too so that's pretty amazing!

Anyway, they are mature now and would come home w/ you, I'm sure. I'd have them now as the risk for TTTS goes WAY up now.

Good luck whatever you decide. I know lots of women on here go longer and it turns out okay. I myself, would never.

 

I don't "know" but if it were me I'd take them early :grouphug:

 

It's such a tricky thing... yes, it's always better in theory to keep them in as long as possible... my boys had to stay in the NICU while I went home which was very tough...and my doc also suggested the csection at 35 wks b/c of the physical discomfort i was in (which was nothing compared to what you must be going through) ... but ultimately we discovered that Baby A had torticollis (which led to plagiocephaly) due to severe uterine constraint... so it might have been even worse had they been able to grow and reside in less space for a few more weeks... I know you have to make the decision in a few hours so I would turn to prayer and go with your gut... please keep us posted on what happens... you will make the right decision :hug:

 

I say after all you have been through way-to-go on getting this far!! Other then that I dont know. I just think it's awsome how much work you have already done.

 

I had mono/di twins. There wasn't a question about not letting me go past a certain point. I had a c-sect at 37 wks 5 days but only because I developed PUPS. I think my ob would have let me go to 40 if I could have. Granted I had no problems except at the end. I did BEG and CRY for her to take them at 36 weeks and she said NO. I am glad she did! I had 2 very healthy babes that had no NICU time. Please don't think I am judging and like I said, if I had a difficult pregnancy I might would have had a different perspective.

GL to you and :hug:

FWIW, mine were 6.7 6.3

 

QUOTE(brandycaviness @ Oct 22 2008, 04:18 PM) [snapback]1037482[/snapback]
Please don't think I am judging and like I said, if I had a difficult pregnancy I might would have had a different perspective.

GL to you and :hug:

FWIW, mine were 6.7 6.3



I don't think you are judging AT ALL!! I want as many different opinions as possible!

Please keep them coming! I just called and the answering service picked up so I think I just bought myself some more time! Well I hope so!



ALSO

Did anyone get the tap to check lung maturity? And for those who delivered how close were your babies weights to the ultrasound estimates?

THANK YOU ALL SOOO MUCH!!! :hug:

 

I delivered at 35 weeks and 5 days! I went into labour on my own, so I had no choice, but the babies had no NICU time, were healthy, and we came home 5 days after they were born (I think my doc was giving me a little break before sending me home)... What I can tell you is that they definitely did have TTTS, as one was beet red, and the other was ghostly white... Talon (beet red) was 7 lb. 6 oz. and Takoda was 5 lb. 15 oz... We always knew that there was a size discordanance (sp?)... If I were you, I would go for the early delivery... You have been through a lot, and if the docs are assured that the babies are good to come out, then don't prolong the misery... Good luck!

 

My boys were born at 35w 1d via a scheduled c-section.

I was really anxious the entire pregnancy - towards my 30th week there started to be some size discordance according to the u/s - and I was fortunate as my MFM was monitoring me with NST's 2xweek and U/S 1xweek from 26 weeks on. She felt that the babies were doing really well but she also took my own "gut" feelings seriously. I just really didn't want to go past 35 weeks - it felt wrong for my babies. I don't know why. It was just this sick feeling I had. Anyway, she agreed at one of my 34 week appts. to do a lung maturity amnio when I was 35+1 and if the babies' lungs were mature, she said she would take them that day.

We arrived at 7:00 a.m. packed and ready for the c/s - just in case their lungs were mature - she did the amnio and then sent me to Labor and Delivery for an NST while we waited for the results of the amnio. While in Labor and Delivery - Baby B's heartrate was in the 90's for chunks of time which she didn't really like. The resident came in and said their lungs were mature and that my MFM would be there in 2 hours for the c/s unless Baby B's heartrate didn't come up and stay up and then I'd be going for a c/s immediately with one of her colleagues.

Baby B cooperated and I had the c-section. Baby A had some fluid in his lungs from the c-section and Baby B was just fine. Their policy was that all babies born less than 37 weeks went into the Special Care Nursery. They were there for 1 week. The first 48 hours they kept them there b/c they had them on antibiotics as Baby A was sluggish and they wanted to make sure he didn't have an infection (he didn't - it was just a result of fluid from the c/s). The remaining 5 days they treated them for jaundice with the bili blankets and they let me "room-in" (the Special Care Nursery had a hotel-like room that parents could stay in) until they were discharged so that I could work on bfing with them, have access to the lactation consultants, and get them gaining weight. I actually really enjoyed my time there with the babies and the nurses. I felt really prepared to bring them home. They weighed in at 5lbs 7oz and 5lbs 11oz - so the weight discordance obviously wasn't an issue. They were larger by about 8oz than the most recent u/s estimate.

I'm in favor of an early than normal delivery for mono-di twins. In my case, I just felt it was necessary and I was SO relieved that my MFM listened to my concerns and that their lungs were mature. I'd say go with what your gut is telling you! Good luck!

 

QUOTE(ivfbound078 @ Oct 22 2008, 03:04 PM) [snapback]1037307[/snapback]
WOW! congratulations and my Peri wouldn't let me go past 36 weeks. I had elective C at 35 and 2 and they were six lbs each. Had an amnio at 35 weeks and we were mature. I was having boys too so that's pretty amazing!

Anyway, they are mature now and would come home w/ you, I'm sure. I'd have them now as the risk for TTTS goes WAY up now.

Good luck whatever you decide. I know lots of women on here go longer and it turns out okay. I myself, would never.


Mine were b/g frats so not the same situation at all but mine were born at 31w 4d. They were 4.8 and 4.0 and in the NICU for 21 and 31 days. If I were faced with your circumstances I would definitely do as Meredith said and have them now. NICU is not the worst thing that can happen to babies.

Good luck and great job keeping them cooking so long.

 

mine are mono/di. we had planned on going to 38 weeks, but at my 36 week appt (36w2d to be exact) my doc suggested we induce at 37 weeks. my girls didn't grow much that last week, and that may be why. they were born 7lb and 6lb1oz

 

If you have to have a c-section anyway, I would go ahead and have the babies. 36 weeks isn't too early for twins and the babies will be fine. There's a small chance they'll need some NICU or nursery time but the chances of anything serious being wrong are pretty tiny at this point.

 

I would deliver now. Good luck!!!!!!!

 

I was just kind of wondering about an update and what you decided to do? Thinking of you! Nana

 

I think if I were you I would just go ahead and have them now. :hug: