This Week's Appointments Feb. 20-24

This is our weekly appointment thread for the week of Feb. 20-24. Please reply here and let us know any appointments you have this week. Don't forget to come back and update us on how the appointment went. Good luck at all appointments.

 

We have another growth ultrasound on Thursday (32 w, 1d). I'm anxious to see what their weights are since the last US two weeks ago showed a 21% difference. They're di-di, though, and my OB said that both weights were in the normal range, so I'm trying not to worry too much.

 

Back from the ultrasound and follow-up. Twin B gained almost a pound to 3 lbs, 9 oz, and now the weight difference is down to 12%. Twin A moved down to the 66th percentile (4 lbs, 1 oz) and B is at 41st percentile. The OB I saw said everything looked great and that I don't need another ultrasound until four weeks from now.

I'm convinced that the US weights depend so much on the US tech. I had one today who was very careful and did some measurements twice. I watched her curser and the slightest movement in measuring the head or femur results in a difference of a week in gestational time. I mentioned this to the OB who said in her opinion, she is much more accurate at estimating weights for singletons by just feeling the uterus instead of having an US done.

She also said there's no reason for me to have NSTs scheduled at this time. I have an appt in two weeks for a pre-natal exam, so I'll confirm then as I thought that most women with twins had NSTs toward the end.

Hope everyone else had good appointments this week!

 

Oh, I forgot to say that Twin A is breech She could still turn, but it's looking more and more likely that I'll have a c-section. I'm a little bummed, but in the end I just want them to come out healthy.

 

hi Jen, glad the growth ultrasound went great. Mine was similar at 32 weeks--they were so happy with the growth they didn't want to see me for 4 more weeks and said, "we'll either see you at 36 weeks or you'll go into labour!" eeek!

I think the measurements really do depend on the tech. We've had the same tech each time and she is very careful and will often measure twice.

Sorry about Twin A being breech. Mine are both still breech and it does not look like anyone is going to turn. It's been a bit depressing (and painful with 2 heads in my rib cage).

 

I am having weekly NSTs and they SUCK. Avoid them if you can as I'm not even sure what they are supposed to be predictive of (and, in fact, when I asked the nurse what they were predictive of she did not have a good answer), but mine have been nothing but a pain in the *** because of my anterior placenta and problems with getting good heart traces (due to the equipment not the babies) on both babies for the length of time they're looking for.

I think as long as the babies are moving regularly throughout the day an NST isn't warranted. Mine move just fine, but my clinic does weekly NSTs for twins starting at 32 weeks. It's supposed to be a 20-minute trace, but because Twin B is right under the placenta, I always end up being there for over an hour. I find them more stressful than reassuring.

 

J - thanks for the background on the NSTs. I was kind of fuzzy on what they actually are. Sorry to hear that they are stressful for you - maybe eventually your clinic will get tired of having their patients go through that hour+ ordeal every week and stop requiring them unless there's a potential problem.

I think you are around 34 weeks, right? (I remember that you are two weeks ahead of me) Good luck in the final, final stretch! What's the latest your OB will let you go if you don't go into labor? I was told 38-39, though likely closer to 38 (and I am pushing for 38).

 

Hi Jen, I'm 35 weeks.

From what I read, the NSTs are supposed to be predictive of whether the babies are getting enough oxygen through the umbilical cord, but I don't really understand the criteria or how predictive it is. They basically look for the baby to be "reactive" which means they want to see the baby's heart rate increase after they make a movement. So I push a button every time a baby moves and then they hope to see the HR increase on the trace. My babies both are reactive every time they move, but apparently each baby has to have two HR increases that are at least 15 beats per minute higher within a 20 minute span and mine don't always do that (but will have lots that are about 13-14 beats higher). Combined with the equipment just not being able to get a good read on baby B under the placentas, it takes forever.

So they start the 20-minute clock over repeatedly and that's what takes so long... it's annoying. I finally asked the nurse last week what they did if a baby didn't do what they expected and she said, "Oh, then we just do an ultrasound and check umbilical cord flow" and I was like, "well, I've been here 75 minutes, you're telling me the babies are fine, can I just go or have an ultrasound, please????"