High Risk

On Friday afternoon I skipped out of school a few minutes early to get into Boston for our High Risk appt. My parents ended up babysitting Colby on Friday so we didn't have to worry about bringing hime which was great. (He does great at these appointments, but I also know he gets bored.)

The High Risk practice is exactly where we were going last time, but there has been a complete shift in the practice. The whole place has been redone since we were there on June 26th, 2009 and the doctors are completely new.

We were taken in immediately, ironically to the exact same room where we were told "The question is whether to put you in the hospital tonight or wait a few days" and "Babies at 23 weeks means no babies". Not the best way to start.

Then the nurse came in to take our history which is always fun (not really). We told her the story of the boys, and 23 weeks, and bed rest, and 27 weeks, and losing Connor. Then she goes on to ask "What's the name of your living son?" Then she continues on and as she's taking my blood pressure she says "Well, thank goodness you're only having one this time!" One more strike and she would have been out.

Then the doctors come in. We were scheduled to meet with Dr. R, but we ended up meeting with Dr. R, Dr. S, and a medical student. Basically, we were there for 30 minutes. 20 of those minutes were totally devoted to the risks associated with twins and the hightened risk of preterm labor this time around. Real doom-and-gloom stuff. All stuff I had heard before (except I didn't know it was even possible for non-identical twins to have TTTS) but it was just all such a downer. I wanted to cry just sitting there because I felt like they were telling me something was going to go wrong- it was just a matter of figuring out what it would be. Was it going to be IUGR that gets us or Preeclampsia or TTTS or a short cervix? The list was endless.

Then 8 minutes were spent talking about the fact that "While we have LOTS of things we can do for singletons to prevent preterm labor, research shows that there really isn't much we can do in a twin situation." Basically I was told that the progesterone shots I had been told about do zip for twin situations. "Even cerclages, while they can be great for singletons, studies show that they don't do much for twins- and in some cases they even seem to cause earlier labor in twins. BUT keep in mind that these weren't strictly twin studies. Instead these were studies that happened to include some twin pregnancies and it is possible the study group was too small, blah, blah, blah." I was told that, if I were their patients alone, they wouldn't let a cerclage be an option, but since I'm Dr. K's patient, I can get it if I want but keep in mind that it might not do anything.

The last two minutes of our meeting was spent with me staring blankly at them completely at a loss. Here I was going into this appointment thinking that we had some sort of a plan or some sort of option to get me further than 27 weeks but according to them, the best course was "Wait and see" and "We'll put you in the hospital at 24 weeks if we get that far." Johnny asked some good questions that I can't really remember.

What it comes down to is (1) Johnny likes them because they are completely opposite of Dr. K so he feels like they will give us at least another perspective (2) Starting after my cerclage (which I will probably still get because I need to do something and Dr. K thinks it's a good idea) I will be monitored bi-weekly for changes in my cervix and (3) SOB.

On to Early Risk Screening on the 21st. At least I get to see my babies.