So our most recent appointment was a whopper! Everything started off just like normal, weigh-in...CHECK, ultrasound...CHECK, visit with the Dr....CHECK, but during our ultrasound Ginny's eyes were fixated on our little lady for quite some time. According to her measurements, she was only weighing in at 4 lbs 11 oz compared to her brother's staggering 5 lbs 14 oz. (Only a 1/2 pound gain in a month.) She did some calculation and stated that we were seeing a 20% discordance. Now, what the hell is that?? I haven't read about discordance in any of my books!
So off to see the doctor we went, with our eyes practically popping out of our head. He calmly informed us that at this point nothing was wrong with either twinny, and he was actually surprised to be seeing this considering how well everything had been going. (There went the "text book" pregnancy.) Discordance, as it turns out, is just a significant weight variance between the two babies. If it weren't twins they wouldn't be alarmed at all by either weight, but because the boy was measuring a solid pound heavier than her, the red flags were waving in the wind. He was primarily concerned that her umbilical cord wasn't functioning properly. He instructed us that we'd need to have extra monitoring and possibly some non-stress tests. So while I was dreading this appointment for entirely other reasons (pelvic to check for dilation and a Group B strep) those ended up being the least of my concerns. Turns out I am dilated to 2 cm...but whatever...we were off running down the hall to the specialist. Thoughts of being admitted into the hospital that evening and emergency c-section kept dancing in my head. We're not ready for this yet!
After a rather LONG wait in the specialist's office (over an hour to be exact...don't they know this is an emergency?!?!), they did another ultrasound to double check measurements. Obviously this whole ultrasound process has a massive margin of error, because this tech said that while there is some weight variance between the two its not as major as our office had thought. New weight calculations came in with the boy weighing 5 lbs 6 oz and the girl weighing 4 lbs 14 oz. So, ultimately in their opinion, no need to be concerned. Another bonus, this lady could see that they were both practicing their breathing. Insert huge sigh of relief here!
On a side note, my humongous belly is now measuring 42 cm. I understand entirely why women beyond their due date are so bitchy. Your whole body hurts and you can't eat no matter how hungry you are. Hence the slight weight loss this week. If I lose anymore I may get read the riot act next appointment. I think I might have to start utilizing my ice cream shelf more often than my once a week routine.
On another side note, the girl is still VERY breech. Last US looked like she might be trying to head south, but this time her little head is pinned right between my diaphragm & ribs. With that information (and the obvious lack of space for them to roam around) we'll be scheduling my c-section at next week's appointment. Should happen around the 38 week mark...which is sometime the week of April 19th. Keep your fingers crossed that sweet petite packs on a pound or so before then.
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