Viability

Our 24 weeks scan was today.  My gut feeling told me that everything was going to be fine, but I was still nervous waiting for it to happen.

Last night I was chatting with Annie online about the logistics of today.  We talked about the babies’ movements.  Apparently they move around and kick a lot when she stops doing something.  They are very active in the morning and after dinner, and they start quieting down at bed time.   Her husband could even see the kicks a couple of days ago.  Somehow reading this moved me to tears.  It was mostly happy tears as I was imagining how they were moving inside of her.  Of course I also felt a sense of loss as our distance prevents me from being there and feeling the movements on her belly when I want to.  Maybe we’ll find a time to go there on a weekend and hang out with her, so we can sit next to her and experience the kicks and the movements as well.

Knowing that they are moving around and are active, I felt pretty good going into today’s scan.  But right before the appointment time, my heart was still pounding.  Annie connected me on the video.  She had the boys with her so she had to hold the phone pointing at the big TV on the wall because no one else could hold it close to the screen.  Because of the distance, I couldn’t really make out what we were seeing and had to rely on her to report to me what the ultrasound technician was saying behind her.  The tech measured the spines of the babies first.  She said at the last scan they were still very little so she wanted to take a better look this time.  Plus both babies were on their tummy so it was easier to visualize the spines today.  Then she measured the heads, the tummies, and the hearts. Baby A has a heart rate of 153, is measuring at 24 weeks 1 day, and weighs 1 lb 7 oz.  Baby B has a heart rate of 151, is measuring at 24 weeks 3 days, and weighs 1 lbs 9 oz.  To me, they seemed to be measuring right on time, but I still needed to talk to the doctor before I could feel totally relieved.

Dr. OB made us wait forever.  Annie must have waited over 45 minutes after the scan to see the doc.  She put me on speaker phone so he could talk to me.  He went over everything with me.  Babies are doing well.  They are 48%ile and 55%ile, which is right on target.  He was joking that this is not like grades at school, where 100 is the best.  The percentile for both babies is great.  He mentioned that they also measured the babies’ breathing.  I forgot what the test was called, but he said something about how well they are breathing and muscle tone.  He said the measurement is from zero to eight, with zero being bad.  Our babies both measured at 8 out of 8.

Dr. OB went on to say that Annie is doing well. There was no protein in her urine and her blood pressure was good.  Cervix was normal and placentas looked great.  All in all, everyone is healthy.  He measured her belly.  She is measuring at 33 weeks if she were carrying one baby.  So with twins, her measurement is normal.  Annie is going to repeat the glucose test for gestational diabetes in a couple of weeks to replicate the normal results from 8 weeks ago.  Dr. OB said that in terms of monitoring, there is no set rules.  The guideline is more strict for expectant moms who show complications such as gestational diabetes or preeclampsia.   If Annie continues to do well, maybe we don’t need to follow the strict guidelines.  But he still likes to be cautious.  So from here on, we’d get a scan every four weeks until 32 weeks.  After 32 weeks, he may have Annie return once a week or twice a week for a non-stress test.  We can revisit this when the time gets closer.  I asked him about the signs of preeclampsia mainly for Annie to hear it so she would note anything that is out of the ordinary in the future.  He explained to me a few things.  I asked him about the aspirin that she’s been taking and how long she needs to continue on.  Since he usually talks a mile a minute, I didn’t catch everything he was saying.  He was basically saying that with such a low dose, we’ll just continue on until the week before the birth.

I have to say, I like Dr. OB much much better than our last substitute OB.  I am so glad that we have picked him as our OB.

Saying that I was relieved after the phone call was an understatement.  I was so excited and totally felt like celebrating.  It is a huge milestone and one that is worth jumping up and down for.  Praise the Lord for watching over Annie and the babies!

I was so glad to be able to share good news with my therapist today.  I happened to have scheduled an appointment with her today after work.  I contacted her a few weeks ago when things were very tough.  She didn’t have time for me until today.  I told her about the whole anxiety attack saga and other things, my feelings and Bob’s feelings, and how I’ve been handling all these things.  It was great to get help from her.  My take home today is, I should set aside time on a regular basis to process my feelings, think about my feelings, and name my feelings.  The surrogacy process is complicated and it requires care for me to take good care of myself emotionally and mentally.  The other take home is, go enjoy ourselves as much as we can before the babies come.

Bob and I celebrated by having our usual deep dish pizza.   During dinner, Annie sent me the 24 weeks bump photo.  She was wearing a long dress that my friend Jo gave her and she had a huge smile on her face.  It was so great to see her smile again.  She even posted this picture on FB and was saying how happy she was for us.

Today I feel super good. I am so grateful for getting to viability.  Praise God for growing these lives inside Annie and allowing her to feel better with her anxiety and her ailments.  I just can’t wait to meet our babies face-to-face on the day of the scheduled C-section. Hopefully they stay put until then.  ❤