Anxiety Kicks In
2 May 2009We were a little disappointed to find out that our 29 week appointment had to be rescheduled for a week out because our DR had to spend the day in Labor & Delivery. We were looking forward to it because not only would we see the kids, but also the DR would be able to put my mind at ease about a lack of consistent, strong movement I was feeling on the whole left side of my ever expanding belly. Let me back up a little.
We knew the basic placement of the two – the girl is on the right head down, and the boy is on the left head up. The girl is curving a bit more towards the bottom, with the boy higher up. The problem was that over the past few weeks I’ve been feeling all kinds of crazy activity and movement on the right that I could not only feel but see. On the left side I rarely felt something without having my hand in place, and even then it was nothing earth shattering. There was a distinct difference in activity levels between the 2 sides. I was worried but trying not to overreact. I’d read plenty of forum posts stating that sometimes one twin is more active.
On Wednesday, I called Labor and Delivery in the morning, discussed my concerns, and was told to drink some really cold liquids, lay on my side and feel for an hour. They said the babies can feel the cold and should react. If I was still concerned, to call back and they would have me come in an monitor the babies on the heart rate monitor. Well, after the hour was up, I was feeling more activity – although nothing approaching the level of the left side. But I knew that he was alive and kicking, and I knew I had an appointment the next day so I decided to wait it out.
On Thursday my appointment got rescheduled for a week later. The idea that I’d have to wait a week to get any feedback didn’t sit well in my current state of mind.
Friday night I did the cold water test, and maybe felt 6-7 weak movements. After talking it over with Drew I decided it was time to go to Labor and Delivery and get checked out – if only for my own peace of mind. So I went in, and they found both heart beats fairly quickly. They kept me on the monitor for about 20 minutes and the heart beats were strong and normal – indicating no distress or oxygen issues. Then the DR came in with the sonogram machine to check their locations. What we found out was that they are still in the same basic positions that we thought they were in, but the boy on the left is facing towards the right (towards the belly button) and the girl is also facing towards the right (my side). They are spooning each other – although the girl is upside down to the boy. The DR explained that in those positions, I should really only expect movement on the right side since the both of them are facing that way. What a relief.
She went on to further say that the strength and consistency of their heart beats were consistent with babies that were a few weeks older, and she pointed out movement in the diaphrams of both babies which indicates they are “practice breathing”. This practice breathing is not only not always visible, but also not usually seen until about 32 weeks. She said that they are both big and strong and definitely ahead of schedule in their growth. She couldn’t have been happier with what she saw, and as a result so were we!
The appointment went better then expected. Not only did we see the kids, but we found out that the crazy activity I’m feeling on the right is both babies – not just one hyper one, and that the lack of activity on the left is because it’s all body. The icing on the cake was finding out that they are doing really well and advanced for their age.
Time to relax.
on May 2nd, 2009 at 9:40 am
I’m glad your sonogram went well with the Dr. It’s so cute when you write about seeing the “kids”. Thinking back to all that you went through to start your family, what wonderful blessings! So are you able to move around a little more or are you still on bedrest?
on May 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 am
Yes, it was a long road and we got really lucky. It could have gone either way.
I’m still on bedrest. I don’t really expect that to change anytime soon. I may get to do a little more, or maybe less, but I expect to stay on it throughout. Some days I probably do a bit more then I should, but overall I think I do a pretty good job staying horizontal. We’ll see at the DR next week how it worked out…