15 week ultrasound

Around 15 weeks I got another ultrasound, and was told by the high-risk specialist that I'd be seeing him every two weeks for the foreseeable future, and even more often later on. On the bright side, I get to see the babies every two weeks, which I love (although I love it less now that I know my insurance only covers 90% and they charge double for a second fetus!).

In terms of risks, I'll give the high-level explanation for the twin inexperienced folks reading this:

As I've mentioned before, we have mono-di twins, which means they share a placenta but have their own amniotic sac. Fraternal twins and some identical twins have their own placenta, which means they don't have some of the risks that we have (although they have all the standard twin risks of having two babies stuck into one teeny person).  Our main concern is twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome (TTTS), which is when the babies receive uneven amounts of blood (one baby gets too much and one doesn't get enough).  This happens in about 15% of twins sharing a placenta, so it's not an insignificant risk. There are a few new technologies that might be able to correct the issue, but usually the solution is to just deliver the babies (if they are viable) or just wait to see if they make it. Sometimes you have one big 6 pound baby and one little 1 pound baby. Very sad to see, and very scary because there's nothing you can do to prevent it.  

The other risks are a little more standard -- premature labor is super common (and in fact 36 weeks is considered "full term," as opposed to the standard 40), and there are lots of other risks that I won't go into, mostly because I don't fully understand them.

Anyway, at 15 weeks I got my next ultrasound, and was told again that the babies are healthy and beautiful, and also that there are no indications of early TTTS. Yay! They measure almost the exact same size, which is perfect! Here are some awesome photos of the babies at the 15 week ultrasound. Aren't they adorable? Don't get attached to these cute photos, apparently it's almost impossible to capture both in one shot after 15 or 16 weeks - they get too big!