26 Week Appointment: 6/6/2012

26 weeks

The day before my scheduled two week appointment I started getting a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions (practice contraction), so I was glad to already have an appointment set up with my doctor. At my appointment they checked for any physical signs of pre-term labor (shortened cervix ect.). My doctor said that everything looked great. She also said that since I am carrying twins, she wouldn't be surprised if the Braxton Hicks contractions continue until the girls are born. Both girls are still growing well. They are big enough now that they will be able to start giving us an idea of their weight at our ultrasound appointments. Isla measured at 1lb 12oz (41% for singleton babies, they don't have charts specifically for twins) and Ava measured at 2lbs 3oz (60% ). This is great news! Our doctor expects that Isla will lag in her growth because of the Trisomy 13, but was happy with both of their progress. My next appointment will be in two weeks and then after that we may be transitioning to weekly appointments.

The further along we get the more closely they will be monitoring the girls, especially Isla for signs of stress. At this point our doctor said that if Ava showed signs of distress she would not recommend delivering Ava this early, because the risks are still too great. The fear is that if something happens to Isla and she passes away before Ava is delivered there is around a 30% something catastrophic would occur in Ava at that moment (a stroke resulting in brain damage, death ect). As we get further along and pass the 30/32 week mark our doctor would strongly consider delivery if Isla appears to be doing poorly. For that reason in the next few weeks I will start going in more regularly for monitoring and non-stress test.

Yesterday's appointments were reassuring, seeing that both girls are still doing well. We are praying that they both continue on the same path and that we get to avoid having to make some of the hard decisions that would come with an early delivery.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support. It has been really nice hearing from so many of you. Thank you! :)

*We did get the results a few weeks ago confirming that Ava and Isla are indeed identical twins.