24 Weeks 4 Days (7 weeks of bed rest….ughhhhh!)

WEEK 25 HERE WE COME!!!! We made it through yet another grueling doctor’s appointment! Here is the low down: fluids, hearts, and cervix are all stable. The activity level of the babies is great! The doctor always tells us how encouraging it is to see an active fetus.

Ben is still showing intermittently absent end diastolic flow. It has been this way for five weeks now. The doctor told us since everything else looks good on him, not to worry. If he starts to show other signs of stress, that’s when we really will begin to worry. Dr. Crombleholme told us a baby can go weeks to months with absent flow and Ben’s doppler is not even 100% absent, so that was encouraging to hear.

Speaking of Dr. C., we had another very encouraging conversation with him on Friday night. He actually told us he thinks he was either wrong about us having TTTS or it has regressed. To hear him say he was “wrong” was an amazing thing to hear! We won’t know for sure if they have it till they are born, but he said he is amazed that we have made it to week 24 with no procedures. He told us that when he saw us at week 19 he did not imagine we would be doing so well.

He does believe we have IUGR. He told us week 24-28 is typically when an IUGR baby (Ben) begins to struggle. When we were told we have TTTS he said weeks 19-25 are the most critical. Lately, we were starting to feel so happy that we were out of the danger zone, but it looks like we are back to where we started. All we can do for IUGR is the bed rest and diet routine. There are really no procedures available to solve this problem. I just keep praying to God to give all four of us the strength to get through this.

We continue to be very frustrated with our health care providers. It really is a constant battle with the medical care professionals. Dr. C. is currently recommending certain tests but UM does not believe they are necessary. Each doctor has a completely different take on our diagnosis and care. This leaves us feeling confused and frustrated. We continue to believe it is our job to look out for our boys…after all, no one loves them the way we do! For the first time in my life, I am not afraid to question a doctor. We have found several discrepancies along the way that could have gone overlooked if we didn’t take matters into our own hands. A very important lesson we have learned through out this process is that you have to be your own advocate!

So as you can imagine, we are happy to be almost done with week 24! I really don’t think Kevin and I will be able to rest easy till these babies are at home with us. Actually, from what I have heard, there will be no “resting” with twins at home!!! :)

I will post again after our next appointment, which is next Wednesday.