Two By Two

I am 28 weeks 4 days today.

We had a growth scan today for the girls.

Kaeda is 2 lbs 5 oz (she gained 15 oz in 3 weeks) and Ember is 2 lbs 11 oz (she gained exactly a lb). Their discordance in size is shrinking. It's down to 12% now. Kaeda is having an issue with her doppler flow, the flow from the placenta to her, so we are watching closely as that's a major sign of TTTS but it doesn't appear to be effecting her fluid levels or growth which is great. They said after about another 5 or 6 weeks they'll be more picky about doppler levels and things like that. They also said that they deliver at 37 weeks for Mono/Di twins. Which for me September 13th or before. Which means 66 days to go.

Kaeda was so impressed with the ultrasound that she treated us to a yawn LOL


Ember's profile. She refused to cooperate for most of the ultrasound.

Remember when I used to have all this time to update my blog about every little thing going on in my life?? Yeah it's been a while and I don't forsee that changing any time soon. It's been another 2 weeks since I last updated. I keep saying to myself, I'll update this after tomorrow's appointment or after the appointment on Friday or.. and I never do. So here we go..

Pregnancy/me stuff

I am 27 weeks pregnant today! WOOO HOOO. I'm starting to get to the point in this pregnancy where I'm just never comfortable. My sciatic nerve has been awful this go round and by evening I can't lay down, can't sit, can't move with out searing pain in my back, hips, and legs. Ember is so high in my abdomen that she's making it difficult for me to breathe. Everyone comments on how high I'm carrying these girls... see for yourself....

My appointment with the perinatologist last week told us that my cervix is shortening but it's not dilating which is good. They don't start worrying about the shortening until the measurement is 2.5. Mine is 3.8 So we have a ways to go before it becomes an issue. Other than that, the girls look great, fluid levels look great, placenta looks great, doppler flow looks great. They are still seeing me weekly and I go back this week on Friday. My next OB appointment is Thursday, I should be getting the results of my GTT *Glucose Tolerance Test* then. I'm fully expecting to fail.

In non pregnancy, me news. I signed up to take classes through the University of Phoenix online for my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing degree. My first class starts tomorrow. I completely the orientation last week. If all goes according to plan I'll graduate from the program in February 2012. But we all know how well plans go.

River Related Stuff

We have been working hard to get River evaluated by whomever he needs to be evaluated by in order to figure out his behavior issues. The pediatrician months ago was prepared to diagnose him with ADHD but wanted a 2nd opinion because of his age. We started seeing a therapist at Clay Behavioral (local mental health place) and when she left the business we started seeing a 2nd therapist (his current) who referred him to a psychiatrist for evaluation. We had the evaluation last week and she 100% agrees he is ADHD. Strongly enough so that she was willing to put him on a medication to see if we could help him out. After trying to figure out a medication that is safe for a child his age to take he started it on Friday. Thus far we see little change. Maybe 30 minutes to an hour after the pill kicks in where he is calmer and more able to focus but it doesn't last long. Hopefully that's just a need to increase his dosage as we have started him on the lowest dose. He'll go back to Dr. I in about 3 weeks.

As part of this treatment plan we also signed up for a group called "Family Conservation" run through the same facility. They send someone out to the house once a week for 10-12 weeks to give us ideas on ways we might be able to improve things at home. She looks for ways to help us, referrals we may need, connections she might be able to make, things she think may help. Her first visit was last week and 2nd was today. She said that she, his therapist, and the psychiatrist strongly believe that he may have more going on than just the ADHD and SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) that he's already been diagnosed with. They have referred him to a neuro-developmental specialist who does a comprehensive evaluation of all sorts of different things in order to see what might be going on with him. Unfortunately, this particular group of specialist has up to a 2 year waiting list. They won't even put him on the waiting list until we fill out a packet of paperwork they are going to send us and then turn it back in to them. However through all of this we have received an IEP for River to help with school as well as a recommendation (or 2) that he be placed in an ESE VPK program next year where they will be more equipped to handle him and help him. The last part of his treatment plan involves us getting him a case manager who can help us get him in to all of these things he needs and help us advocate for him. Finally I feel like we're moving in the right direction

100 Days until my due date!

I'm awful at updating.. sorry. (If anyone actually reads this)

I am 25 weeks 3 days now.
I had an OB appointment on Monday. I've gained 31 lbs this pregnancy. They gave me the paper work to go get my GTT (Glucose Tolerance Test) done. I also signed the paperwork for my tubal ligation procedure to be done when the twins are delivered. He wants to see me back on July 1st ( 2 weeks) for my next appointment so hopefully I can remember to go do my glucose test before then.

Then today I had my perinatologist appointment. They do a growth scan every 3 weeks and this was the week. The girls look great. Kaeda is 1 lb 6 oz (she gained 11 oz in 3 weeks) and is in the 44th percentile for her gestational age. Ember is 1 lb 11 oz (she gained 13 oz in 3 weeks) and is in the 61st percentile for her gestational age. There is a 17% discordance between the two of them which is 6% less than it was at the last scan! So Kaeda is catching up a little bit, hopefully she continues to catch up. Everything else (fluid levels, doppler levels) looked great. They want to continue to see me once a week so I go back next Friday for fluid, doppler, and cervix check and of course will have another growth scan the first week in July.

We finally got around to taking the boys for their 2 year and 4 year photos. Normally we take them like the week after their birthday but this year we had just found out we were having twins and I had just graduated from the nursing program so we didn't make it. Then once it got postponed it just kept getting postponed. So today was the day.. 3 months late. Better late than never, right?

Another perinatologist appointment for me today. 22 weeks 1 day. I was surprised to find out when I got there that they were doing the growth scan this appointment instead of next week. Doug missed the appointment because he wanted to go to next weeks. But that's okay. They'll be plenty more I'm sure.

Today's appointment was a growth scan (they scan all the major bones as well the head circumference and abdominal circumference) as well as a fetal echo cardiogram to make sure 1) there are no anomalies since Journey has Pulmonary Valve Stenosis 2) make sure that there wasn't any indication of Down's or complication because of possible Twin to Twin Transfusion. They also checked my cervix and the blood flow through the umbilical cords and fluid levels like usual.

Ember was 14 oz today with a heart rate of 140 and Kaeda was 11 oz with a heart rate of 147. Both girls had great fluid levels and doppler flow through the cords. And their hearts both look anatomically PERFECT. The discordance between their sizes is still there but the good news is that it's not growing at all. They are still measuring consistently the same distance apart and growing at the same rate. With any luck the 3 oz between them will remain the same through out the remainder of the pregnancy and 3oz won't be such a big deal as they get bigger. The best news of the day was that neither girl had ANY markers for Down Syndrome. So we won't be going through with an amniocentesis. We'll keep the thought in the back of our minds just in case one is born with Down's but I honestly don't feel like anything is wrong with my girls.

I have an OB appointment on Thursday at 2pm so I'll get to see them again I'm sure. I'll update again in a week

Now for the pictures....





We were given 2 more pictures of their girly shots but I didn't feel the need to post those LOL

In other news...

River saw his new counselor this week. She is really nice. She seemed to agree with the diagnosis of ADHD and was glad that he's got an appointment set to see the psychiatrist in June for an evaluation. She gave us a behavior chart to try and help him stop one of the behaviors that bothers us most. We're working with him but I'm not expecting any miracles.

We heard from his school's disabilities coordinator. She came out and observed him in class an feels that he would benefit from being referred to the county public school system for further evaluation. She said he is behind on his fine motor skills which is common with kids with ADHD and sensory issues. They have up to 60 school days to evaluate him which means he probably won't get any kind of evaluation done until next school year. School ends June 9th here

Journey had his surgery this morning on his ears. He did beautifully. They gave him Versed before the surgery so he went with them with out too much of a fuss and didn't freak out when he woke up with out us there. He was 29 lbs (50th percentile) and 33 inches (4th percentile on regular charts or 50th on Noonan charts) which is basically right where he tends to hang out so we'll take it. The doctor said there was fluid behind his ears again. *sigh* but that other than that no problems. We go back in July for a follow up with the ENT and audiologist.

Pregnancy wise. I'm 21 weeks 1 day now. I went to the perinatologist yesterday and got some more information about the screening they did that came back positive for possible Down Syndrome. My numbers went from 1:932 chance to 1:86 chance based on the screening. They of course talked to me about the more invasive testing of amniocentesis which I declined with the stipulation that I may change my mind in the future (like once the girls have reached a good age that if they were born they could survive). The ultrasound from yesterday showed that both girls had a good normal amount of fluid (B had a bit more than A) and good blood flow. My cervix was looking good as well. I'll go back next Tuesday for another repeat scan of the same thing (fluid, blood flow, cervical length). Then On June 2nd I'll go in for a genetics ultrasound (Level 3 ultrasound) which should be able to pick up on any other markers for Down Syndrome that girls might have. They will also be measuring the girls' growth progress to make sure they are staying on the same course (aka that Baby A isn't falling further behind)