Wow ... another two weeks have passed us by - 26 weeks tomorrow and I cant believe it!
We will have two weeks in between the next appt at 28 weeks, and then the doctor visits will start to be weekly once we hit June. Did I just say JUNE?! Where on earth has the time gone! I am not excited about trying to get in and out of Boston on a weekly basis, mostly given the discomfort of sitting in the car for 4 hours (back and forth). However, as always, I am very thankful for Dr. Acker and staff at Brigham and Womans. I couldn't be in better hands, not everyone gets to be the only patient to the Chief of OB!
Today's appt went very well. I found out I passed the 3 hour glucose test! Woot woot!! So nice to know that is one thing off the list of worries, I can eat what I want, when I want :-). Speaking of food, I only gained a few more lbs, for a totally weight gain of 10 lbs in 26 weeks. We also found out that the mono-di twins (identical) still show NO signs of twin twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). Dr Acker reassured us that TTTS is very unlikely to be an problem at this point. Even if it does show up in the next few weeks, he doesn't think we will have to take any actions to correct it. The best news of the day is that the babies are all off to a good start for measurements and weights. Baby A (Amelia) is 2.4lbs, Baby B (Scarlett) is 2.0lbs , and Baby C (Jameson) is 2.5lbs. Of course these are all approximate weights and we wont know until they actually join us, but this is a good start to know they are in a similar range of one another. It will be more and more important as the weeks pass that the babies grow together and one doesnt get bigger or lag behind the others.
The biggest part of the day, was the NICU tour with Dr. Van Marter. It was an eye opening experience, to say the least. I found myself in an "out of body" feeling. When we first went to the 6th floor to see the NICU unit, we sat in a "family room" to discuss any questions we might have. The doctor gave us a brief (45 minute, ha) overview of what we can generally expect with preemie babies. A preemie baby is categorized as any baby born before 37 weeks gestation, no matter how many in utero. Given the triplets, we will be delivered by csection no later than 35 weeks, we will be guaranteed NICU time of at least 18 hours. It will likely be at least 5 days for them to evaluate each baby's "maturity". There are SO many variables that will decipher how long or how much time they will need to be there, of course the deciding factor will be most dependant on how many weeks they are born at. The biggest comfort I got in the day, was hearing that this NICU has 40-60 babies at any given time, and that they are cared for by a staff of 180 nurses, residents, doctors, fellows and attendings, mostly Harvard grads. My babies will surely be in the care of some of the most brilliant people in the country, I am not sure there could be anything more comforting than that!
When we actually got to get an inside tour of the NICU unit, First, we got to visit with a 26 week old 2lb singleton baby boy who was born early. It was amazing to be starring at tiny human baby the size of my babies right now, on the outside of the womb. It was nothing short of breath taking to see all the tubes and and attachments helping these babies along. The next "bed side" visit was with a set of identical twin girls who had TTTS and born at 26 weeks, one was 1 lb and her sister was 2 lbs. At this point I had a hard time keeping it together - it all became a little too real. Seeing that itty bitty baby fight for her shot at life, at only ONE pound!! Of course we wrapped it up by seeing a 35 week old baby to help us see how far they come only a few short weeks later.
Overall it was an incredible day! And I would be missing the most important detail if I didn't tell you that we were so fortunate to be joined by my Mum and Dad throughout the day. They were surely a comforting factor to have by our side. They did an amazing job keeping us level headed and focusing on the positives of the day! THANKS MUM AND DAD, LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!
Our MFM - "The great" Dr. David Acker
Doctor we met with for NICU tour - Dr. Van Marter
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