12 Weeks

I wasn't going to do belly shots with my second pregnancy (or at least not put them on my blog) but I think it's going to be quite interesting to see how this belly compares with the previous belly. So let's indulge, shall we?

On top we we have Colin (and a much fresher set of highlights), and on the bottom we have the twins. Oh yes, this is going to get interesting. I just hope I have some maternity clothes that still fit me in my final days of working. The strange thing is that I haven't gained any weight to speak of. So what is that belly made of??

Last Monday I had my 12-week routine doctor's visit with my normal OB's office. I have to differentiate that between the many visits that I also have at Riverside Hospital with their Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) office of high-risk obstetricians (also known as perinatologists). In about three weeks I will be going BOTH places every two weeks which could work out to one appointment every week or two appointments every other week depending on how the scheduling falls. Riverside will be checking to make sure the twins are growing well that that there is no sign of one twin growing larger than the other (the cause of which is something called Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome). My normal OB's office will be checking my cervix for signs of preterm labor. Starting at 16 weeks. Preterm labor at 16 weeks. Really?

At this appointment I was taken into the ultrasound room. I asked the gal if I was having an ultrasound. She said no but that if she couldn't find a heartbeat (make that two) with the doppler machine, then the doctor was allowed to "cheat" and use the ultrasound machine to find them. So she tried for about 2 minutes and said, "Nope, the only heartbeat I hear is yours!" and left to get the doctor. I was only slightly worried because she only tried for a couple of minutes and seemed to have a defeatist attitude going in. So I got to have an unexpected ultrasound which was nice! Both babies are measuring right at 12 weeks and are exactly the same size. They both had strong heartbeats of 160 bpm. They were both actively moving around which is quite a sight to see, believe me.

So a good report at 12 weeks! See you later first trimester!