?'s following today's NST and growth u/s update

ladies I need some feedback. Today I had my first weekly NST and my monthly ultrasound growth update. The results were generally positive but I would like to know what other mamas here think. I know these are commonly addressed ?'s so forgive my redundency in asking.

so for NST, that was fine--my ? is what is the point of them?

For the u/s, twinA is 3lbs and 9oz and twinB is4lbs. They said they have to "watch this" to be sure the size discrepency does not increase. Does that size difference indicate any problem as it is now? Would fraternals be more likely to have different weights?

Last quesiton is twinA is breech. At 31w6days, can he still flip? I was really saddened to hear that part, although i know in the end it does not matter too much, would still prefer a shot at a vaginal birth.

 

My mother is a nurse practitioner and she says they like to see the heart rates and how they accelerate, it lets them know something about the strength of their beating hearts and general well being!?!
I've been contracting and the thing that the NST's tell us how far apart contractions are, severe they are, helps me recognize them (sometimes I can't even feel them!), and see a slight progression. Gives me a chance to get to know the staff that could be delivering my baby, and ask lots of questions!

I have been there and had to get shots to stop the contractions but towards the end now it just gives me a hour of time off my feet with nothing to do!

 

There is still time for them to flip. :good: Good luck, I hope it happens for you!!

I had fraternals and their weights were very close in the beginning and towards the end they started drifting apart, with my dd ending up showing a lb bigger then her brother (but he was born 2lbs bigger) and the doctor was not concerned about it. But if your doctors aren't sure if they are ID or not, that may be why they want to watch them.

 

As the PP said, the reason for the NST is to show that as your baby moves, the heart rate accelerates for a certain period of time and certain acceleration. It shows the doctor that the baby is reacting to movement as he/she should. As for the growth difference, my twins are di/di so they do not share a placenta, growth issues like that were not a problem for us. However, if your babies share a placenta, the doctor might be more concerned. As for A flipping, I think there is still time. I just felt B roll in my tummy and he is being evicted tomorrow.

 

My OBs did BPPs (biophysical profiles) rather than NSTs so I can't answer those questions. As for the growth discordance, if I'm remembering right twins should be no more than about 20% apart in weight; if it's more than that they have to make sure there are no problems. My boys measured about a pound apart at one of the later ultrasounds, but at birth they were only 3 oz different. Growth scans are less accurate in later pregnancy b/c the crowded conditions with multiples make it difficult to get good measurements!

And as for your breech baby, my Baby B managed to flip back and forth between vertex and breech at least 5 times from week 31 on, so there is hope! He was breech in the end (even though he was vertex the night before) but my OB and I had discussed this and agreed he would do a breech extraction in that case. (Research supports that option, although many OBs will go straight to a C-section because they're not all trained in breech extractions anymore.) It went fine and he was out just 7 minutes after his brother!

 

I don't think you should worry at all about the difference in growth. The difference between my two babies fluctuated quite a bit throughout my pregnancy - up to almost a full pound at one point! I think what worries them more is if they are measuring below the 10th percentile, and it doesn't sound like this is the case with your babes.

Like PP, I get regular biophysical profiles instead of NST, so I can't help you there. They do the biohysical to check amniotic fluid levels, practice breathing by babies (chest wall), general movement, and they make sure that the placenta is still working well.

I think the babies can switch quite late! Baby A has always been head down, but B was breech up to about week 32 when he flipped. After that he flipped back and forth, although for the past two weeks (35 and 36) he has remained head down too.

Hope that helps!