Mama and I headed to my appointment last Thursday and we stayed most of the afternoon. We started with a comprehensive ultrasound which lasted an entire hour! Their machine is super high-tech so we were able to see so much more of the anatomies than I'm used to seeing. My mom had not been to an ultrasound with me yet so I'm glad she was there to see the babies. :) All day all the doctors kept saying how good it was that we were having "DiDi" twins- (dichorionic-diamniotic) meaning they have two separate sacs and each have their own placenta. Apparently "didi" fraternal twins are the lowest risk and tend to stay pregnant the longest. So whoo hoo for not falling into the highest risk category!!
Next we saw a genetic counselor and she created a fancy little family tree for us. During the ultrasound they measured the nuchal folds, so combined with blood work they can tell us a lot about the genetics of the babies. It's a little trickier in twins, since they share the same blood supply, but Matt is pretty antsy to get those results back. I think as a special ed teacher he is already thinking worst-case scenario and just wants to hear an official "everything is perfect" before breathing a sigh of relief.
Our third appointment was with a nutritionist who went over everything I'm eating and not eating. I got a pass since I've been so incredibly sick this first trimester, but the name of the game once I get past this is GAIN WEIGHT! I'm on a 2400 cal/day meal plan through 20 weeks, at which time I need to have gained 20 pounds. Then the plan goes UP to 2800 cal/day through 28 weeks. Overall they want me to gain between 37-54 pounds. Right now it seems pretty impossible, but Dr Luke's book directly correlates mothers weight gain with length of pregnancy and baby size at birth. The nutritionist even said it could help prevent preecalmpsia and HELLP Syndrome again...say no more! Oh, and I'm supposed to have a milkshake every night before bed. It's a tough job but someones got to do it, haha!
Our last appointment was with a maternal fetal medicine, or high risk pregnancy, doctor. She basically summed up the day for us and made a few more recommendations going forward. She wants me to do my glucose intolerance test earlier, and stressed the importance of weight gain to me. I asked her all my pressing questions about my cervix, pre-e, HELLP, bed rest, etc and she really put me at-ease with all of her answers. I will go back in either 3 or 7 weeks, depending on my nuchal scan results.
Overall I'm really glad I went and got to hear information specific to a multiple pregnancy. I knew I needed to gain weight but not I'm more determined than ever to pack on the pounds. And it never hurts to have more than one doctor taking care of you! I love the new Women's Pavilion and facilities they have down there and Matt and I have even talked about possibly delivering downtown. I think it will just come down to how the babies are doing, how the pregnancy is progressing, and how early delivery happens. If everything is good with me and the babies and we make it pretty far then I will deliver in Katy.
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