Thursday, January 8, 2009

Give Us A Hand!


That's exactly what Baby A and Baby B did for us yesterday at our first appointment with our new OB/GYN. We were nervous before we got there - would we like her? Would we like how her practice did things? After having such a great experience with our fertility dr, we had high expectations about what we wanted in our new dr especially since they would be the ones bringing our babies into the world. We got an immediate good vibe by getting ROCKSTAR parking right outside the front door of the building. It was a rainy, cold evening and the whole lot was packed. Then as we were headed back to our dr's office, there were pictures on the wall that 100% resembled the flower centerpieces at our Bridal Shower. We took this to be another good sign. Finally we met dr H. She was fabulous. She is so sweet, so attentive, very thorough and took the time to answer every question we had (on our long list) without making us feel rushed or stupid. Another important thing we noticed was that she spoke to each of us in equal amounts - not to just J because she is the patient. She made us both feel equally important and involved. One thing we learned is that we will definitely be having a cesearan as (our) dr's malpractice insurance will no longer cover vaginal births with multiples. We had previously read that 50% of multiples end up with a c-section because both babies are not facing the right way so we weren't shocked at the news (it was just a different reason). We will be scheduled for the c-section during our 38th week which is when twins are considered full term. Hopefully we will make it as she followed this statement by saying that the average for twin delivery is 36 weeks. As for our schedule with dr H, we will see her every 4 weeks up to 20 weeks, every 2 weeks up to 28 weeks and then every week after that.

On Monday our fertility dr said we could stop the progesterone supps. With it having been our lifeline for so many weeks now, we were terrified. We weened off to just 1 a day and after getting a second thumbs up from dr H to stopping them, we are now officially without our security blanket. That is just two less things that J has to remember to do during the day. In the mornings we both had reminders on our work calendars and at night we would leave a small light in our kitchen on until it was done. It is weird how you can forget after so many weeks but strangely it happens.

After the initial office conversation, we all headed to the ultrasound room. Here she did a pelvic check (upon which she said "Boy your uterus sure is growing!") and then a sonogram. Our first non-vaginal sonogram! CRAZY! J thinks it felt kind of weird - not like she would have expected it to feel. You would think it would just feel like something rubbing against your belly but to J it was different. Maybe it was because of the slight pressure that was also used on her growing uterus or the jelly or something but she didn't really love it. Probably just something new to get used to. What we DID love was what we saw on the ultrasound screen! Two waving, moving babies! At one point Baby B (who was sleeping the last time we saw him/her) was completely stretched out - what LONG legs this lil guy has! He/She definitely takes after his moms :) They both had great heartbeats and we got a few more pictures. We can't believe how distinct the hands are at this point. M saw a foot last week and said that it also looked very distinct. They are really like two very small babies!! Here are a few pictures of our friendly babies waving to us and our new dr.



Our dr suggested and we fully agreed that we should have many of our scans done over at the MFM Specialist. She said she recommends it for any pregnancy but especially for multiples. We were glad she was on board with this 100% as we wanted the extra reassurances from a specialist along the way. We are not yet sure how often we will be seeing the MFM specialist but we do know we'll be in for the NT Scan this week or next and then back around 18 weeks for the next growth scan.

When we got home, we read through the paperwork and brochures that were given to us (along with a lot of free samples!). The brochures were mostly about giving birth and the hospital procedures. As we sat in our guest bedroom, which will soon become our nursery, it dawned on us that we had suddenly switched from reading about getting pregnant to reading about giving birth. It was a surreal realization that we'll remember for a long time. We think we are finally beginning to accept the fact that we really are pregnant and staying pregnant this time.

8 comments:

A said...

Wow! What a great experience with your new doctor. It will be nice to have the peace of mind that you feel safe and secure with your doctor.

nutella said...

Wow, sounds like a wonderful visit all around. And fantastic images!! Hi babies!

Sarah Catherine Robinson said...

This is one of the COOLEST things I've ever seen ! ! Congratulations ladies . . . I can't wait to meet alphabet soup:)

xoxo,
S

Becky Le Cochon said...

I can't wait to talk to the belly!!!!!
hehehehe

Pufferfish said...

I can't wait to see you two this Sunday and hear more details! Sounds like things are going great! I'm going to nickname them ABBA.

Anonymous said...

I can't wait to see you four on Sunday either! I love D's ABBA nickname! So glad that everything is looking so great.

Mommy and Mamita said...

I'm glad you liked Dr. H and that she treated you well. Can't wait to see you this weekend.

Heather said...

wow... this is so awesome. I wish you guys lived closer and being on the maternity floor that I work on.. boo.. THe babies look so great!! They look so excited to see their mommies!