15 week appointment

Today I had my 2nd doctor appointment with the twins. I am currently 15 weeks, 4 days. I had Shad come to the appointment with me, mainly because I just didn't want any more surprises by myself.

It actually turned out to be a normal pregnancy appointment. We got to hear BOTH of the babies heart rates through the doppler, which was again both exactly the same at 171. The nurse confirmed from the ultrasound that the babies are laying side-by-side with the placentas up top, so there is a good chance that they could be delivered vaginally as long as at least one of them turns head down by the end. If the second one is breach they may be able to turn that one after the first one has come out or deliver it breach. This is one thing I was worried about as I am not excited about the prospect of having a C-section. I have delivered all of my other children vaginally and the recovery has been pretty easy.

Our other concern was if we would be able to deliver the babies at the Gibson City hospital at all. They are not a level 3 hospital and so they do not have a NICU. This was concerning to us as I do not want to be stuck at one hospital with my babies rushed off to another. The doctor told us that twins are born at Gibson City all the time and they decide on a case-to-case basis whether they are able to handle it at the hospital or not. If I make it to 36-37 weeks without any foreseeable complications then the babies can be delivered there. If they find that I am in preterm labor or have other complications they will most likely send me down to Carle, which I am not excited about. I really am hoping that we can stay at Gibson City as I enjoy the people and the small facilities so much more, but in the end, I also want healthy babies. Doctor Austman will advise us as to what is best when we get to that point.

The nurse will be calling us tomorrow to schedule our next appointment and anatomy ultrasound where we will find out the babies gender. It will be the week of August 20th sometime. This pregnancy is going by so fast already and with the prospect of them being born early it will go even faster. The doctor said that they will most definitely be born before the end of the year even though my due date is January 10th. Here's hoping they decide to come before or after Christmas and not on Christmas Day.

I’m measuring at about 19 weeks and I’ve gained 17 pounds already which the doctor said is right on target for twins. I'm starting to feel a little bit of movement but sometimes I wonder if it's just my food digesting. Feeling the baby move is one of my favorite parts of pregnancy. I can't imagine what two babies moving around must feel like.