Week 26 Appointment

On Wednesday John and I went to the 26 week appointment for the amigos - a growth ultrasound. We get an ultrasound every visit, because that's how we check the heart rates; but every four weeks, we get a growth ultrasound. This is when the technician measures each babies' head circumference, belly circumference and femur length. These values are then used to determine the size of each baby, which is expressed in terms of weight and gestational age. Now, just because the babies have different gestational ages doesn't mean they weren't conceived at the same time - they were. It just means that if each was a "standard singleton" this would be the expected gestational age for their size. It's a little confusing, but here's what we found for our guys: (remember, their true age is 25 weeks 6 days)

- Baby A - weighs 2 lb 3 oz with a gestational age of 27 weeks and 2 days

- Baby B - weighs 2 lb 1 oz with a gestational age of 27 weeks

- Baby C - weighs 2 lb 5 oz with a gestational age of 27 weeks and 5 days

Basically, they're all monster big for their age! This is wonderful news - the bigger they are, the better (especially since I'm having a C-section!!) They all measure larger than a singleton at the same gestational age. This may slack off with time, but let's hope it doesn't!

I wrote in the last post about a fetal fibronectin test that predicts preterm delivery, and we got the results that that test was negative. This means that there is a 99% chance that I won't go into labor in the two weeks following the test. We will repeat this test every two weeks from here on out. Everything else was great!

The babies can hear now, so John talks to them a lot. They definitely respond to his voice, which is super-cool. He even got a kick to the head one time he was down there "communing"!

We tried one last time to get 3D ultrasound pictures of babies B and C, who didn't cooperate the first time around. Now that everything is getting so crowded in there, it's hard to get clear pictures. I've attached one photo each of Baby B and C. They're not the clearest, but it's probably the best we're going to get.

Baby B has his foot right up next to his head, on the left as you view the picture.

Baby C has his arm in front of his face. Aren't they adorable!! I can't wait to hold them in my arms - only about 9 more weeks to go!