18 Week Anatomy Scan

We had a fantastic appointment today! 

First up was the anatomy scan ultrasound, where they looked at each baby's organs and bones in detail to make sure everything looked the way it should.  Both babies look perfect and healthy!  They both weighed about 10 oz, and were measuring about a week ahead.  And, turns out the tech at the 12 week appointment was correct - they are both definitely BOYS!

My IPs were so thrilled that everything looked great and that they can eagerly await the arrival of two perfect blue bundles in the next 4 months or so.  They were able to get a nice 4D picture of Baby B's face, but they couldn't get one of Baby A because Baby B was in the way.

The only downside was that because of Baby B's position, the tech was not able to get all of the measurements she needed of his heart.  She said from what she could see it looked great and she was sure there would be no problems, but they always like to be able to make sure with measurements.  So we will have another ultrasound at our next regular OB appointment to check up on it and make sure everything is looking good.

They also used the ultrasound to measure the length of my cervix.  This is something they will do routinely throughout the pregnancy with twins, since there is such an increased risk of preterm labor.  If my cervix gets too short, I will likely be put on activity restrictions or even bedrest.  So the longer the better!  The tech said that anything over 4cm is great, and at around 2.5 they start to get concerned about preterm labor.  My cervix was measuring closer to 5cm, so nothing to worry about at this point!  That made me very happy, it was something I was a little worried about.  I haven't had any contractions or anything, but from reading other blogs of surros carrying twins, I know it can be a cause for bedrest very early in the pregnancy and I want to avoid that.

Then we met with the new OB that I saw for the first time a couple weeks ago.  I was a little nervous about it because my IPs had felt so left out with the last doctor we saw.  But this new one was fantastic!  He really took the time to make my IPs feel included and that all of their questions were answered.  If anything, he paid more attention to them than to me, which is fine by me.  As long as everything is going fine with my body, I'm happy...they are the expectant first time parents and should be treated as such!

This doctor is very pro-vaginal delivery, as long as Baby A is head down at delivery.  He also seems a little more laid back than the other doctor.  Instead of doing an ultrasound at every appointment, he just wants us to have the one next appointment so they can be sure about Baby B's heart, and then one closer to delivery to determine the babies' positions and to give the IPs a sneak peek of what their babies will look like.  Otherwise (assuming all is well), the appointment schedule will proceed just the same as my previous singleton pregnancy.  He also assured me that he is not planning on taking any vacation between now and when the babies come, which makes me happy.

Since I will be out of town 4 weeks from now (I had to squeeze my "summer" vacation in before we get to viability), our next appointment is in 3 weeks, on April 25.  I'm looking forward to seeing my IPs and their SONS(!) again at that time.  I might even go out and do a teensy bit of baby shopping between now and then as well!