Yes, yes, yes, I know I am behind and need to get you caught up. So sorry, life is busy. I'll try to get updates from the previous 2 appointments done today, starting with the appointment we had at 17 weeks 2 days.
For the basics, both babies looked good, and both babies were still boys. Everything with L is also looking good. Her BP is good, she feels good, everything is great. Both babies were measuring 17 weeks 4 days and were weight 8 oz each. We've got one whole pound of baby now!! Baby A had a heart rate of 153 and Baby B's was 136, which is pretty close to their HR at the last appointment.
The ultrasonographer looked at all the important parts and everything looks good on both babies. The both had beautiful hearts with 4 chambers, their brains looked good, no sign of a cleft lip or palate, femur measuring good, could see the stomachs, kidneys, and bladders. I then heard the u/s tech say she was looking at the cord insertions. I asked her if they were inserted into the correct place on the placentas. She said that wasn't what she was looking at, she was checking where they cords inserted into the babies. (and it looked good. No sign of an omphalocele.)
So when Dr. G came in, she confirmed everything the u/s tech already told us; that everything looked great. I then asked her about the cord insertion and if they could tell where they were inserted into the placenta. After we discussed why I had a concern, she pulled out the ultrasound machine again, and explained everything to me and made sure I understood and felt comfortable with our babies cords. But as she is doing it, as she is using the same machine we had used at every appointment, as she just flipped a switch and turned on the color, I had to fight to not lose it. It was that simple, just the flip of a switch. That's all it took to check their cords. That's all if would have taken for Reid, the flip of a switch. I even said that exact thing to Dr. G, and her response was the same response we have heard from every other doctor we have talked to. The doctor we are seeing right now is a perinatologist, the high risk doctor. They have, as Dr. G called them, the Cadillac of ultrasound machines. Most regular OBs do not have a machine that fancy; meaning most don't have the switch to flip, don't have the color doppler. And most women only go see the perinatologist once during their pregnancy, for the NT scan, and then its too early to detect a velamentous cord. Basically, it all boils down to money. The chance of woman having a VC is low, the fancy machines cost too much, a regular OB isn't going to spend that kind of money to try and diagnose something that occurs in 1.1% of pregnancies. But what about the .9%, what about those babies? Do we just write them off? Do we just say, oh well, your not worth the money? It just makes me angry. To see how easily Reid's dramatic birth could have been prevented. All they had to do was flip a freaking switch!
Dr. G did tell me it was ok to cross velamentous cords and vasa previa off my list of worries. And I told her I would do so happily!
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