Some good news....given the situation

I was scheduled for an appointment tomorrow morning but this morning my doctors office called and asked me to come in today to get my ultrasound done to check on the babies lungs.  I was actually really glad because its been a long and rough week waiting for this.  I'm happy to say that as of right now everything is ok.  The fluid in her lungs has actually decreased a little.  That just means more time for these sweet girls to spend kicking around in my belly!  They sure do kick and move all over because they actually changed sides.  Baby A (who we decided is Ava) is normally on my right side but she is now on my left and Baby B (Teagan) is now on my right.  My dr was shocked!  She didn't think they would be able to move like that.  Well they sure did!  It was good because she was able to get views of their heart that she couldn't get before.  So for now things are going ok.  I'm going to be going to the doctor once a week now though for an ultrasound to check on them and watch that fluid.  I will take the good news for this week though.  Here are a few pictures of Ava.  The picture says Baby B because the girl doing my ultrasound didn't know that they had flipped like they did so she was going off how they are normally positioned.

Not so good news

So today I had another doctors appt to check up on our sweet girls.  Every time I go we have an ultrasound.  They check everything on them.  Check their growth (both are about 1lb 9oz now) check their heart of course, check my cervix and my amniotic fluid.  Cervix is good and long and amniotic fluid is good.  Unfortunately today we found out that one of the babies has fluid in her lungs.  My understanding is that the heart isn't pumping it out the way its suppose to.  I go back next Tuesday for another ultrasound to check the fluid.  If there is more we most likely need to deliver the babies.  If it is the same then it will be watched very carefully.  If it starts to increase then we have to think about delivering them.  My dr is also calling the cardiologist we see to get my appt with him moved up.  For now that is all we know.  This has been a really rough 5 1/2 weeks.  Its very hard to get through and very emotional.  Some days I don't know how I do it but I am managing.  Sweet Brookie and Brayden definitely help.  So does all the support from my amazing family and friends.  Thank you all so much.  It is very much appreciated. 

Belly at 25 weeks 2 days!

Cardiologist

Yesterday we had our first appointment with a pediatric cardiologist named Dr. Stock.  First off...I love him!  He was great.  He just has a very caring, sweet presence about himself.  One of my doctors was there also...she too is great!  He did an ultrasound on the babies heart for about 1 1/2 hours.  Its quite interesting sitting there with 2 doctors, a nurse and ultrasound tech.  It sounded like they were speaking a foreign language to us!  After they were done with the ultrasound we went and talked with the dr (cardiologist)  I feel like I know so much more or I guess I should say I at least understand it all a little better.  He drew what their heart looks like for us and it helped me a lot.  He showed us what a normal heart looks like and what it does when babies are inside and then what it looks like and does once they are born.  Then explained to us what Ava and Teagans heart looks like and what it is doing and what it will do once they are born.  Now, I said I understand it better...in my head...but don't really know how to explain any of it!  I do know that one vessel that pumps blood out to the lungs is significantly smaller than it should be which causes a problem.  Also, they have a whole between the ventricles0  See I have no idea how to explain it.  Maybe after it being explained to me a few times I will get it down :)  I asked him if from what he sees if he thinks their heart may fail inside before they are even born and he said he doesn't think so.  Of course just being conjoined twins there is a risk of that (they say 40-60% are stillborn)  I also asked how long he thinks we will have with them when they are born and he thinks a few days.  That is better than a few minutes or hours and I will take it.  I will take one day.  I just want to be able to hold our sweet girls and for them to feel all the love they can for the short time they will be here with us.  Of course no doctor can really say because its not like this happens all the time and they have all these cases to go by.  So its really just a wait and see thing.  It is nice to have someone who knows what they are talking about look and give their opinion though.  For now I will see the cardiologist again in 4 weeks and I see my doctors every 2 weeks.  Now if we could just get some good pictures of these girls cute little faces!  At least one of them!  Maybe next time...

24 weeks 1 day

We had another appointment today.  We had an ultrasound for about 1 1/2 hours.  Its nice to get to lay there and see our girls.  One baby is always facing my back so we can never see her face.  The other baby we could see her profile pretty good but getting a good 4d picture of her is hard.  Her face was right by her sisters head and also my uterus.  They need to let us see them...at least one of them!  Nothing has changed as far as ultrasound goes.  One baby is 1lb 3oz and one is 1lb 4oz.  These are approximate cuz its harder to measure them of course.  I asked the dr some questions about the babies to just learn a little more.  A lot I don't understand and really don't know how to explain it but I will try my best.  So we know they have 4 chambers of the heart but its not how a normal heart is.  The blood vessels are suppose to cross but theirs do not.  So the blood doesn't pump the way it normally would.  I asked her what the dr from CA had to say about what to expect when they are born.  It is of course impossible to know because its not like they have much to go off of as far as other cases.  He has seen a few cases where the babies survived for a few months.  My dr said as they get bigger and we get closer we might be able to have a better idea of how they will do at birth.  So basically its just one day at a time and a waiting game.  Once they come out its just seeing how they do.  She said that if its obvious nothing can be done for them they will make sure we have as much time with them as we can and not rush them off to the NICU.  We also always have to remember that as they grow bigger inside that it could start to be hard for their heart to keep up. 


After we were done with the ultrasound we met our other doctor for the first time.  He is the one that will be taking care of me and delivering the babies.  We just went over my history and talked about the babies and what will be done.  One doctor we had seen the first time we went had said that once I go into labor nothing would be done to stop it no matter how many weeks I was.  He says the opposite.  He said he will stop it and keep them in as close to term as we can.  We have also been told that when they are born nothing will be done to them but he seemed to say the opposite.  I think that if its obvious nothing they do will help they wouldn't go above and beyond but if they were born early and needed oxygen or whatever it be they would do things like that.  That's my understanding from our conversation today anyway.  Basically I think it just all depends on the situation when they are born.  He also checked my cervix since last week at the hospital they said I was dilated to 1cm and he checked and said I'm not so that is good news.  We also talked about the fact that when they are born they have to cut me up and down.  He said if we decide to ever have more kids and I were to go into labor there is a 8-10% chance the incision could rupture and that freaks me out.  8-10% may not sound high but its enough to scare me.  That is another big decision we need to talk about is the future of ever having more. 


I left the appt today feeling very confused and emotional.  Today is not a good day for me.  I just feel so confused and lost.  I question myself and if I'm making the right decisions.  This situation is horrible and I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  Its the hardest thing I have ever had to go through and the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. 


Tomorrow we have an appointment with a cardiologist.  One of my doctors...the one that specializes in hearts is coming to the appt with is.  I just love her, she is great!  I will update more on that appt tomorrow :)