Specialist

Yet another eventful week here in the Hoover household!

On Monday I got a call from Mt. Sinai hospital in Toronto.  My OB had sent a referral and they were booking an appointment for me to come in on Wednesday.  I hadn't yet had the follow up appointment with my doc about the ultrasound the previous Thursday so I was surprised!  We booked the appointment and I called my doc's office to find out what's up.  I guess my OB was concerned about the sizes of our girls and it appeared that one had more amniotic fluid surrounding her than the other, and the other one appeared to have an empty bladder...these are early signs of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (you can read more about TTTS here: http://www.tttsfoundation.org/)

TTTS, if left untreated is 80% fatal for both fetuses, so it's very important to have an ultrasound by a specialist to determine if treatment is needed. TTTS can only happen in identical twins that share a placenta.  The treatment I would likely have had is a laser ablation surgery, where they use a laser to burn any blood vessels between the two babies, which would hopefully cause the babies to even out their growth and them to get nutrients from the placenta rather than giving and taking from the other twin.  The only hospital in Ontario to offer this surgery is Mount Sinai, with Dr. Ryan performing the surgery.  I met Dr. Ryan today, he went over the technician's notes and ultrasound pictures and he confirmed the results.

So, what are the results?  There are NO SIGNS of TTTS at all!!!  Our little girls look very healthy, strong, growing completely normally!!!  The ultrasound took over 2 hours, and was incredibly thorough.  She listened to vessels in the brain, heart, checked the kidneys, bladders, bones, chambers of their hearts, everything!  Everything was perfect!  Another positive was that both of the umbilical cords attach near the centre of the placenta, which is a good sign that TTTS is unlikely to develop!  We are SO relieved and thankful, words can't express it!  I'm not sure where things went wrong with my previous ultrasounds.  The only thing I can really guess is that since I have a different technician every time, things are measured slightly differently by each tech, so things can seem to be wrong when they're really not.

I know so many of you are pulling for us, and we're so thankful for your positive thoughts, they mean so much!  Thank you!  I didn't get any ultrasound pictures today (sorry!), but there will be more next Thursday!

Size Matters

Today is HOT and I'm sure feeling it!  28 degrees celsius!  Looking forward to our move where we'll have central air! lol.  I'm really not complaining though, since I'll take the heat over the cold and snow ANY DAY.  I've been feeling quite a bit more movement in the past week or so, and if I look at my belly at the right time I can see it moving which is so neat!  The girls also seem to enjoy using my bladder as a soccer ball, which is not so neat lol.  The older kids are so excited about the girls coming, Nolan has been saying "goodnight" to the babies and Evelyn has been talking about all the things she'll teach them.  I'm so proud of my wonderful kids!

I was a bit concerned after the follow up from my previous ultrasound.  At the appointment my Doctor told me that it appears that baby A is measuring about 20% smaller than baby B.  Now, that said, they weren't able to get all of baby A's measurements at that time since she just wasn't cooperating for all of them, but he said we'd be keeping a close eye on their sizes.  He said just one measurement can really throw off the anticipated size as a whole, so I'm hoping that after today's ultrasound they'll have gotten what they need and it'll show more even growth.  Apparently they are both still within "normal" range size wise for their gestation, so that's a good thing. He also said that it doesn't appear to be a problem with the placenta, and it could easily be that baby A is just a smaller baby.  I'll be looking forward to the follow up for this ultrasound to see what's going on.

That said, I've been feeling pretty good recently and thinking I might have a bit more of an appetite than I've had until now.  I have hip, back and groin pain but I guess that's just part of the deal this time around.  I've been doing a good bit of knitting in preparation for the girls coming, and I just can't wait to see them wearing my creations.  I'll be sure to post pictures of them wearing them.

Baby Girl A, getting so big!

So, an ultrasound means PICTURES!  Here they are!  Got a really good one of baby girl A this time and not such a great one of baby girl B, but they were very bouncy and moving all over the place.

Baby Girl B, facing down

And The Verdict Is......

That's right!  We'll be having two beautiful baby girls!!!
Today was the very thorough ultrasound.  It took about 2.5 HOURS!  Considering my back is still sore from the spinal block it was no easy task to lay there while the technician took her many measurements.  Of course she couldn't tell me much about what she found but things seemed to be good and I'm looking forward to the follow up doctor appointment to discuss it.

Of course I called Chris immediately after the appointment and he was a little surprised because he had guessed boys..but also very happy.  The kids came home from school and as soon as they saw me they were asking what the babies are! lol.  Evelyn of course was thrilled about them being girls, and Nolan is happy too.  He was hoping for boys...obviously...but even this morning he said if they're girls he'll be happy too.  I think once he sees how cool it is to be the only boy in mix he'll be happy.  They're both going to be wonderful older siblings!

Baby Girl A, just chillin'

Some other news, we got a house nearby and we're moving at the end of July!  It's very exciting as the house is 4 bedrooms which we will definitely need!  It's going to be a crazy summer, with both the current kids playing softball this year on alternate evenings, and Chris playing on Sundays...plus the house needs some renos (thankfully Chris is a carpenter!).  Lots going on, but all great and positive so we're looking forward to the changes.

Baby Girl B, sucking her thumb!

Now for the pictures! I know you're all waiting :).

Both their little heads, look about the same size!

Worries and Woes

What a stressful few days I've had.

As I posted last time, I've been feeling some wonderful movement from the babies and it's been so exciting...until about 4 days ago when I wasn't feeling ANYTHING.  Of course, being a neurotic pregnant woman I was thinking the worst.  The first day went by, and I figured I just wasn't paying attention..then the second day, still nothing really distinguishable...then the third day and still nothing!  So, last night Chris went out and got me a large iced cap from Tim Hortons AND a mini Blizzard from Dairy Queen.  Now, if they're not gonna move after that I don't know what would get them moving!

SO, I finish the ice cream (which was delicious by the way, Strawberry Cheesequake..yum!) and I finish the iced cap, and a few minutes later I laid down and waited for them to start bouncing around.  Well...they STILL didn't prove that they were still there!

This morning I just couldn't stand it any more and I called my OB's office.  They got back to me in a few minutes and asked if I could come in for 1:30pm.  Excellent...but worried.  I posted on a local mom's twin board on Facebook about my worries and a peer support person (Stacey!) asked if I'd like her to come along...just in case the news wasn't good so I wouldn't be alone.  How wonderful!  What amazing people there are in the world, willing to help a complete stranger!  I have to say, she proved to me that there really are caring people still in the world, sometimes they show up just when you need them.

I got to the appointment and the receptionist and nurse got me in right away...I was one of the last patients of the day and I just love both of those ladies, they're so great.  Blood pressure was perfect and again I'd lost another 1.5lbs...so that's 6lbs total lost so far.  I try to eat, I swear I do!

Stacey came with me and we chatted while we waited for Dr. Potts in the exam room.  The Dr. came in and we chatted a bit about the lack of movement and then he got the dopplar and we listened for the first baby.  What a relief to hear that little "Woosh Woosh" heartbeat!  Also the static sounds of baby moving around (that I couldn't feel!). He checked baby 2 and thank goodness all was the same, great heartbeat and some definite static sounds of baby moving about!!  I was so relieved, as was Stacey and the doctor!  He gave me the option of going for an ultrasound tomorrow...but I do have the gender scan booked for next Thursday and since he felt everything was ok, I trust his judgement and I'll wait until then.  As much as I love seeing the little beans, I don't like wasting the system's resources.

Of course I feel silly for being as worried as I was, but as the nurse at the office said, they would rather people worry and get things checked than just not give a damn.  They all assured me that they're there to support and to not feel bad about checking up when something doesn't feel right.  I feel SO lucky to have such great care!

OH and Chris said that the babies are definitely grounded when they come out for worrying their mama so much!  Now I can relax and be VERY excited for the gender scan next Thursday!!!