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!

13 weeks - GIRLS!!

One week after my NT scan, I went back for the follow up to look for baby B.  The scan itself was uneventful and was just a repeat from the week before, so I told Boris he didn't need to come (he had already been missing a lot of work for all these appointments in the middle of the day!).  It was uneventful as expected, and the technician easily found what she needed to see.

Then at the end of the appointment she if I wanted to know the gender Heck yes I wanted to know! Boris and I meant to ask the week before but were distracted by baby B's stubbornness, so I had his approval to find out even though he wasn't there.

She guessed… girls! I called Boris and told him. He was thrilled, as was I. 

I then quickly texted my sister and told her "I CLAIM MIKAYLA'S GIRLY STUFF!!!"

Priorities. We told the rest of the family later that day.


Babies at 13 weeks:

12 weeks - NT Scan

Around 12 weeks you always get an NT (neuro-translucency) scan. It's basically just an ultrasound, only the technician is looking at the fluid in the baby's neck as an indicator for down syndrome.  This was also my first appointment at the maternal fetal medicine unit (where all the high-risk doctors work and where I was told I'd be spending a lot of time). Normally the scan doesn't take very long, but the Kogan babies were not very cooperative.  Apparently baby A likes to sleep directly on top of baby B.  This makes for great pictures of baby A… but not so much for baby B. After 2.5 hours of trying, the technician gave up and scheduled me for another visit in a week.

The plus side was that the perinatologist got to look at the babies and said they were perfect and healthy. Yay!

8 weeks - Mono-Di Twins

At the 6-week doctor's appointment, I was told to come back in two weeks. After that first appointment I started doing research into twins (I remembered that the doc said identical twins, but that was about it), and thoroughly freaked myself out. Turns out identical twins have all sorts of crazy risks. Since I wasn't paying much attention and didn't understand the doctor at the first appointment, I didn't know a lot of the information that I needed to know to gauge just how freaked out I should be.  Do they share a placenta? Do they have their own amniotic sac? Are they conjoined???? Lot's of scary things.

At the 8-week appointment I got another ultrasound and the doctor confirmed that we were expecting Mono-Di twins (monochorionic, diamniotic). That basically just means they share a placenta, but thankfully have their own amniotic sac.  Mono-mono twins that share the same amniotic sac only survive about 50% of the time, and even then they have lots of problems, so we were very pleased to hear that they had their own sac! Turns out the doctor had been concerned at the 6 week appointment because he couldn't see the membrane that you should see in between, but he didn't tell me he was worried until there was nothing to worry about.

Long story short, doctor says mono-di isn't the worst-case scenario, but is still a high-risk pregnancy and is much riskier than the typical di-di (fraternal) twin pregnancy, so I would have to be closely monitored throughout the pregnancy. The plus side is that I get ultrasounds every two weeks so I get to see the babies all the time. Pretty cool perk!

Belly pics

Belly progression:

4 weeks:

 

8 weeks:

 

12 weeks:

 




















16 weeks: 

 




















20 weeks:

 

22 weeks:

6 weeks - Twins!

I finally got a doctor's appointment when I was almost 6 weeks along.  Sadly, I did not know what to expect an thought I might just be getting a blood test and meeting with a nurse, so Boris did not come along.  What a mistake!

When the doctor arrived, he walked in, introduced himself, pulled over the ultrasound device and said "let's see how many there are in there!" Haha… right? So when he told me there were "definitely two in there!" I thought for sure he was joking. He was not!! Once he showed me two little heartbeats I knew it wasn't a joke. I hardly remember the rest of the appointment, it was all a blur.  I then went next door to get my preliminary bloodwork done, and while I was waiting I texted Boris with the news:

4 weeks - Pregnant!!

In early September, the Chandler family went to Dillon beach with the cousins. We all had a great time watching my super adorable niece Mikayla, playing "celebrity," doing puzzles and even playing dachshund-opoly! After dinner one night, my cousin John announced that his wife Becca was pregnant. Holy shit! There's going to be more babies!! Since we all LOVE little Mikayla, we were all beyond thrilled. There is too much competition for Mikayla's attention so we really needed to add some new kiddos to share the love.

The next day I returned to work and about half way through the day I started thinking… something's a little late… isn't it? Boris and I were hoping to start a family too, so I completely distracted myself when I realized I could be pregnant too. I left work early and took a home pregnancy test. Two little lines appeared instantly. Holy crap! I took a second one just to be sure… and sure enough, preggers!

Sadly, leaving early that day meant that I had to wait HOURS before Boris got home from work. It was the longest few hours ever! But I didn't want to share the big news on the phone or online, so I waited. To reveal the news, I bought a "Baby on Board" sticker to give to Boris. He always made fun of them and I told him when we had kids I would make him put one in his car. He opened the gift that night and didn't get it right away… and then figured it out by looking at my "holy shit" face. Yay!