XX Variety

 Baby on the left gave us a clear verdict on how they looked: "thumbs up!"

The pictures on top are both baby on the right and those on bottom are both baby on the left.  As the perinatologist said, they both appear to be of the XX variety!  I still haven't mastered seeing the "three lines" that everyone talks about, but I don't see what I saw with the boys and with three separate people saying girl-girl, I'm thinking it's official.  The baby on the right was done first by the tech, but she couldn't get a gender shot, but we came back to her after baby on the left and girl she was.

Both babies looked great on anatomy.  They checked more, but things I can remember include: 2 brains measuring right sizes with right spaces, two 3-vessel cords with attachments looking good (to the degree they can see this at this point), two 4-chamber hearts, four kidneys, two bladders, 20 toes, 20 fingers, no clefts, good fluid on both babies and good spines.  The size discrepancy is less than 1% and both currently measure at 5 ounces!  The size discrepancy plus their continued perfect growth for passage of time is a huge thing.

The baby on the right has an anterior placenta and the girl on the left has a posterior placenta and he does not anticipate them fusing together.  One baby's placenta is low enough that he and the tech looked at it extra when they did the transvaginal for cervical length.  The perinatologist is not worried, but did have her make sure and note it because he does want to follow it a bit more closely.

Today was the perinatologist who I prefer (last time, I'd gotten shifted to a different one) and he was much more in line with what I had gotten from the obstetrician in terms of extra monitoring and risks and all of that.  Actually made me feel better having him sound that way rather than bring back my sense of impending doom :-).  As a result, he said he wants to see me back in 2 weeks rather than four for a cervical check.

Speaking of cervical length, it dropped down to 3.8 cm from the 4.5 cm that it was at 12 weeks (we all have agreed that the measurements the OB tech who wasn't used to doing them took at 8 weeks were so inaccurate that we won't even consider it).  To contrast, I was at 4.38 cm last time at 24 weeks and then 3.7 at 28 weeks after four weeks of pre-term labor and having dilated to a 2 or 3 (note: I didn't have a single cervical measurement with Trajan, what simple times!).  3.8 cm is still more than sufficient, but any drop is a little worrisome, so he definitely wanted to followup in 2 weeks.  He isn't adding any restrictions at this time, but did recommend that I try to pay attention to my body and when I feel contractions, take that as a sign to drink and rest rather than just blowing it off and accepting contractions as something that naturally happens in pregnancy.  While it is true that contractions will occur, it's pretty much impossible to tell if they are contractions changing your cervix or not when they happen, so it's best to treat all as significant.

And another plus is the favored perinatologist agreed with the OB that I should be seeing him in particular instead of just whichever one of them is there and so I am scheduled with him for both the 18 week and 20 week scan.

And in further evidence that I'm a genius, I thought to call the OB's nurse after he switched me to biweekly appointments and have her move my appointments there to the odd weeks (i.e. 17, 19) so that I will see someone each week and get confirmation of continued growth and cardiac activity rather than getting double confirmation every two weeks!

Since I seem to be getting what I'm rooting for, I'd like to officially let it be known that I'm rooting for two babies born alive at 36-37 weeks (since this is where they are capping it).  If the universe really wants to keep being nice to me, let's also add them not needing NICU time, having better jaundice recovery than their brothers and maybe even successfully being born as a VBAC with the rupturing that my OB has said she'll do if they're heads down?  And maybe even add not having to spend any time in the hospital other than when they are born (I'm thinking bed rest, but as long as I'm rooting, perhaps they can avoid the one-week GI stay each brother got) and just the typical twin restrictions?  To be clear though, in case the universe decides I'm getting too greedy in my rooting, live-live is still the real thing I'm rooting for.

The perinatologist isn't using A&B at all and I probably shouldn't admit it, but I really like this.  First off, calling them right and left helps me keep track better of who we are looking at.  Right now they are pretty much side-by-side with the baby on the right just a smidge lower and the girl on the right vertex and the one on the left transverse.  Second, it helps downplay the deja vu sense since the perinatologist always labelled them A&B last time. 

I was a bit giddy, smiley this morning after, as they really do look great!

No clue what this one is!

And girl on the left again to close us out!