21.5 week scan - good news!

A few weeks after our detailed scan, we went back for a follow-up to check on the babies and make sure there aren't any developing problems.  As you may remember from my previous posts, I was a little concerned about a few things, mainly the "marginal cord insertion" diagnosis for one of the babies.  

By the time we went back for the follow-up appointment, I had plenty of time to research the risks, and had sufficiently freaked myself out (warning to all pregnant women: do not read the internet. This is doubly true with twins.  Even more so with mono-di twins. Stay away!). Luckily at the follow-up scan I got to ask the doctor about it again, and actually understand her answer this time.  She explained that while yes, one of the babies has a marginal cord insertion (simply meaning the cord doesn't insert into the middle of the placenta), that is almost always the case with mono-di twins.  After all, they can't BOTH have perfectly centered cord locations... there's only space for one! So while our little one has a cord that is not centered and is closer to the edge of the placenta, she explained that the cord is still firmly implanted in the placenta and she isn't worried about it at all. Yes, it's true that the baby may not get enough nutrients and may be smaller as a result. But that's just one of a million problems that could come up, and the risk is only slightly higher with this cord location. So we don't really need to worry until that baby starts developing abnormally.

The other issue I was worried about last time was cervical length, because last time I measured at 2.9cm - a number that is low. The smaller the number, the closer you could be to labor, so at 22 weeks, they want that number to be over 3.0.  Technically 2.9 is still in the "normal" range, but it's not a number the doctor liked to see last time, which is one of the things she wanted to come back to see me about.  When that number reaches zero, the babies make an appearance, so I was worried about it shortening too fast (something that happens a lot with twins in general). This time I somehow measured at 3.5cm, a nice healthy number. Hurray! 

Doc said I'm allowed to exercise (something that was starting to make me nervous) and travel, and I basically have nothing to worry about. I'm now starting to worry about the "standard" pregnant woman concerns - like, holy crap how will I handle labor? Will I definitely have a c-section? How can I care for these kids - I know nothing! What if I break them?!?!

Anyway here are some pics from the ultrasound - getting less and less interesting unfortunately. Poor baby B never gets a good shot... baby sis always has to photobomb with a hand or foot.