05/01/09 OB Appointment and NST

Thirty-three weeks pregnant with twins and counting!  This afternoon's schedule was filled with another routine OB appointment and non-stress test, and I am thankful to say that all is still going well!  Maybe a little too well in the weight gain department--I am a little disappointed to say that somehow I put on another 5 1/2 pounds in the past week, putting my total weight gain at about 41 pounds.  A maximum of 45-50 pounds is recommended for a twin pregnancy, and it seems I am approaching that number a little too quickly!  I'm not having any issues with swelling, though, so I guess that is a good sign.

My weight isn't the only thing going up.  My blood pressure seems to be slowly rising over the past few weeks, as well, running a little high for me but still in a normal range.  The doctor commented that it is normal to see an increase in blood pressure in the latter weeks of a twin pregnancy; and while they will keep an eye on mine if it continues to rise, he isn't at all concerned at this point.

The only measurement that (seemingly) didn't go up this week was my fundal height.  Last week I measured 38 cm and today only 37 cm.  I questioned the doctor about this, and he basically said it's just a matter of which doctor does the measuring.  I'm fairly certain that I did indeed grow this past week, and I think it's unfortunate that because I saw a different doctor than usual I can't really accurately track that growth.  Apparently, it doesn't matter all that much to the doctors, though, since the twins growth is being tracked via ultrasounds and not by fundal height measurements.

Remember yesterday's post?  We think that Baby B has very recently turned into more of a head-down position, and I was hoping to have that confirmed by the doctor today.  However, when I asked if he could tell by feel where the babies are positioned, he simply said it's too hard to tell with twins and didn't even try.  Oh, well....

Overall, the doctor was very optimistic about the way my pregnancy is going.  He said that if there is going to be a problem with a pregnancy it has usually become apparent by this point and that he has no concerns for mine (pregnancy, that is).  Comments like these are, of course, encouraging and empowering; but they also drive me to praise God for my health and that of my babies!

After my OB appointment I spent two hours on the Labor & Delivery floor for the second of a series of weekly non-stress tests.  Just over an hour of that was spent on the monitors (both babies looked great!), and the rest of the time was spent waiting in the triage room for the first available nurse to get me hooked up.  Perhaps God ordained that extended period of waiting, for in the room next to me was a woman 36 weeks pregnant with twins who was about to be wheeled back for an emergency cesarean.  As I overheard the details of her situation, I was able to cry out to God on behalf of her and her babies and then to spend some time in prayer for my own babies.  How thankful I am to have a God who hears my prayers....