My fluid check and non-stress test was cancelled on Wednesday due to the snow and ice, so I had my appointments on Thursday. The boys did well for their first non-stress test after the nurse finally figured out how they were laying. I wasn't sure what to expect, but basically they hooked me up to a monitor and they watch both babies heart rates in relation to movement and watched me for contractions. They want the heartrates to increase whenever they move. It was great to just sit and listen to their heartbeats! Baby A had the hiccups, so that was fun to hear and baby B was sleeping. The nurse didn't have enough movement from baby B, so she "buzzed" him to wake him up. As soon as she did that, they both started going crazy in there!! The other good news is that since the buzzing woke them up, it means that they both could hear it. I am learning so much from this pregnancy!!
Next, I went for my fluid check. The fluid looked fine for both babies. Baby B has pushed baby A back out of the way, so he is back to being the presenting twin. They are still both head down. I had an episode of lightheadedness when the nurse was doing the ultrasound, which she assured me was just from laying on my back. The things that babies do to your body!!
I went to see Dr. Lubrano today. My belly is measuring at 37-38 weeks, so I am definitely growing!! Other than that, everything looks great. I am still working and hope to be for as long as possible!
We had two new babies arrive this week! Congratulations to my cousin Anthony and Bridgett on the arrival of Audrina Morgan! Congratulations also to Todd's cousin Chris and Aida on the arrival of their baby boy earlier today. There must be something in the water...
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Monday, January 26, 2009
32 Weeks today!
Well, I am 32 weeks today! I can hardly believe it! I have my ultrasound and non-stress test this Wednesday and doctor appointment this Friday. I will post again after all of those appointments. Here is my picture taken today...my belly is definitely growing!!! As I sit here and type, the boys are moving around like crazy. I think they might be having a wrestling match in there. :)
We had dinner on Friday night at our neighbor's house. They have a 2 1/2 year old son and 7 month old twin girls. They gave us a ton of wonderful advice and were very patient with all of our questions!!! Not to mention, Brody and their son Luke had a great time playing. They will be a very good resource over the next few months! Thanks Matt and Jill!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
January 21st Ultrasound
I had a fluid check and doctor appointment today. The boys fluid still looked good and they continue to be head down. Baby A has pushed baby B out of the way, so he is now the presenting twin.
My doctor appointment also went well. I will begin seeing Dr. Lubrano every week from now on. Also, in addition to the fluid checks each week, I will start non-stress tests. I am just over 31 weeks, so I am hoping they keep baking about 5 more weeks. I am definitely getting more uncomfortable and having a hard time sleeping, but I can wait a few more weeks. I would love them to both be at least 5 lbs!
My doctor appointment also went well. I will begin seeing Dr. Lubrano every week from now on. Also, in addition to the fluid checks each week, I will start non-stress tests. I am just over 31 weeks, so I am hoping they keep baking about 5 more weeks. I am definitely getting more uncomfortable and having a hard time sleeping, but I can wait a few more weeks. I would love them to both be at least 5 lbs!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
January 14th Ultrasound
I had another ultrasound on Wednesday. The first good news was that the babies have done some moving around in there! Both of them are now head down!! They were actually face to face. Baby B is still the "presenting twin", but baby A has moved down as well. After much searching, the fluid looked good for both babies. "A" had a DVP (deepest vertical pocket) of 3.3 cm. It took a little more time to find "B"'s DVP. At first, we could only find a little over 1 cm, but eventually we found 2.2 cm. As long as it is over 2 cm, it is considered in the normal range. So, we are still hanging in there. These boys are extremely active and my belly is growing. I will be 31 weeks on Monday, so we are approaching the end.
Friday, January 9, 2009
The boys are growing...
We had a full ultrasound this past Wednesday, January 7th, where they do all of the measurements and give the approximate weights of the babies. I was 29 weeks along. Baby A weighed in at 3 lb 4oz, which is the 57th percentile for a single baby. Baby B weighed in at 3 lb 2 oz, which is the 53rd percentile. This was great news!
Baby B is still the presenting twin, which means that if I went into labor now, baby B would be born first. This is not an issue, but normally baby A is born first. There is already a power struggle between the two!!
The only real issue right now is that baby B is breech. We need him to flip around or we will have to have a C-section. I am not crazy about that idea, but whatever is best for the boys is fine with me.
Baby B is still the presenting twin, which means that if I went into labor now, baby B would be born first. This is not an issue, but normally baby A is born first. There is already a power struggle between the two!!
The only real issue right now is that baby B is breech. We need him to flip around or we will have to have a C-section. I am not crazy about that idea, but whatever is best for the boys is fine with me.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Christmas 2008
See attached some of my favorite pictures from the Christmas holiday! Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy new year! We will have a lot to celebrate in the upcoming year!
http://picasaweb.google.com/ebenke44/Christmas2008?authkey=V2v2SkYB8TY&feat=directlink
http://picasaweb.google.com/ebenke44/Christmas2008?authkey=V2v2SkYB8TY&feat=directlink
The name game...
As we approach the arrival of these boys, everyone is wondering what the names will be. The verdict is...we haven't decided! We don't have a very good track record when it comes to naming babies. Poor Brody didn't have a name for almost a full day after he was born. We have a much harder time with boys names. So, of course, we have 3 sons!
Our name problems are definitely not from lack of suggestions...my personal favorite was from my brother Jerry. He named them Homer and Gomer. When my nephew Cole heard these names, his input was that he didn't really like Gomer. But apparently Homer is okay!
We have heard everything from Jasper and Casper to Bo and Luke to Robert and Roy (after my grandpa and his twin brother). We are always open to suggestions, because we have not found the perfect names yet. In our house, they are affectionately called Shaggy and Scooby. And I give you one guess who picked those out!!!
Speaking of Brody, he is adjusting to the idea of having 2 baby brothers. His biggest excitement is that he will get to sit in the very back of the Navigator, which he insists on reminding us often. He also tries to help me out by yelling at my stomach telling the babies to stop kicking me and that it is not nice to kick. HMMMM...I wonder where he has heard that one.
Our name problems are definitely not from lack of suggestions...my personal favorite was from my brother Jerry. He named them Homer and Gomer. When my nephew Cole heard these names, his input was that he didn't really like Gomer. But apparently Homer is okay!
We have heard everything from Jasper and Casper to Bo and Luke to Robert and Roy (after my grandpa and his twin brother). We are always open to suggestions, because we have not found the perfect names yet. In our house, they are affectionately called Shaggy and Scooby. And I give you one guess who picked those out!!!
Speaking of Brody, he is adjusting to the idea of having 2 baby brothers. His biggest excitement is that he will get to sit in the very back of the Navigator, which he insists on reminding us often. He also tries to help me out by yelling at my stomach telling the babies to stop kicking me and that it is not nice to kick. HMMMM...I wonder where he has heard that one.
Welcome!
Welcome to the Benke Family Blog! This is my first time blogging, so bear with me. My husband, Todd, and I have a 3 year old son named Brody and I am currently 29 weeks along with twins. Here is the story of how we got this far!
We found out I was pregnant on July 13th. We were thrilled to be expecting our 2nd child...or so we thought! On August 5th, I had some bleeding and of course, thought the worst. I had my HCG levels checked that day and they came back at over 100,000, which for 7 weeks along is a very high level. Todd and I went for an ultrasound on August 6th and sure enough 2 little heartbeats were found right away. After this shocking news, the tech continued on to make sure she couldn't find any additional heartbeats. After a couple of minutes, she was satisfied that there were only 2. Needless to say, Todd and I were both relieved!!
The biggest scare from that ultrasound was the threat that the twins might be mono-mono twins, which means they had no separation between the two of them. This results in an extremely high risk pregnancy. On September 2nd (Jack's 4th birthday!), we went for a 2nd ultrasound. This time they were able to find a membrane separating the two babies. This was fantastic news!
Due to the twin pregnancy and only having 1 placenta, we were scheduled to have ultrasounds every 4 weeks. The biggest thing they are watching is for the babies have equal fluid levels and growing at a similar pace. The existence of only 1 placenta means that the babies are identical, so 2 boys or 2 girls!
My next ultrasound was on October 6th at 16 weeks along. The babies were both growing well and weighed in exactly the same at 5 oz. each. The following one on November 10th put me at 21 weeks. At this ultrasound, baby A weighed in at 1 lb and baby B at 14 oz. They are not concerned about the weight difference until it is more than 20%, so we were in the safe zone. Also at this appointment, we learned we were expecting identical twin boys! This was even more special, because my grandpa is an identical twin. I think he was really excited that they were boys!
After my doctor consulted with the high risk doctor, it was determined that I should be having weekly DVP fluid checks. This is where they find the "deepest vertical pocket" of fluid for each baby. In addition to these weekly ultrasounds, I would still continue to go every 4 weeks for a full ultrasound to check on the babies' measurements. These weekly ultrasounds started on November 26th and will continue until these babies are born.
At my next full ultrasound on December 10th, both babies were back to weighing the same. They were up to 1lb 12oz.
We have started the process of getting all of the baby stuff out and buying some doubles that we think we will need. Thanks to craigslist, we are trying to save some money on the doubles!!
Now we just need to get everything cleaned.
It has been such an exciting, nervous time...and the adventure has only just begun...
We found out I was pregnant on July 13th. We were thrilled to be expecting our 2nd child...or so we thought! On August 5th, I had some bleeding and of course, thought the worst. I had my HCG levels checked that day and they came back at over 100,000, which for 7 weeks along is a very high level. Todd and I went for an ultrasound on August 6th and sure enough 2 little heartbeats were found right away. After this shocking news, the tech continued on to make sure she couldn't find any additional heartbeats. After a couple of minutes, she was satisfied that there were only 2. Needless to say, Todd and I were both relieved!!
The biggest scare from that ultrasound was the threat that the twins might be mono-mono twins, which means they had no separation between the two of them. This results in an extremely high risk pregnancy. On September 2nd (Jack's 4th birthday!), we went for a 2nd ultrasound. This time they were able to find a membrane separating the two babies. This was fantastic news!
Due to the twin pregnancy and only having 1 placenta, we were scheduled to have ultrasounds every 4 weeks. The biggest thing they are watching is for the babies have equal fluid levels and growing at a similar pace. The existence of only 1 placenta means that the babies are identical, so 2 boys or 2 girls!
My next ultrasound was on October 6th at 16 weeks along. The babies were both growing well and weighed in exactly the same at 5 oz. each. The following one on November 10th put me at 21 weeks. At this ultrasound, baby A weighed in at 1 lb and baby B at 14 oz. They are not concerned about the weight difference until it is more than 20%, so we were in the safe zone. Also at this appointment, we learned we were expecting identical twin boys! This was even more special, because my grandpa is an identical twin. I think he was really excited that they were boys!
After my doctor consulted with the high risk doctor, it was determined that I should be having weekly DVP fluid checks. This is where they find the "deepest vertical pocket" of fluid for each baby. In addition to these weekly ultrasounds, I would still continue to go every 4 weeks for a full ultrasound to check on the babies' measurements. These weekly ultrasounds started on November 26th and will continue until these babies are born.
At my next full ultrasound on December 10th, both babies were back to weighing the same. They were up to 1lb 12oz.
We have started the process of getting all of the baby stuff out and buying some doubles that we think we will need. Thanks to craigslist, we are trying to save some money on the doubles!!
Now we just need to get everything cleaned.
It has been such an exciting, nervous time...and the adventure has only just begun...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
