Baby Ticker

Thirty-One Week Appointment

Bernard @ June 17, 2005, 10:10 pm -- [Week 31, Day 4]

We had our 31 week appointment this week. Before the appointment we were making guesses about the orientation of the twins. At our last appointment, the one on Agnes’ right was in breech position (butt down), and the one on Agnes’ left was head down. Agnes’ guess was that the one on the left had flipped over because she could feel a firm, orange-sized mass in the upper left-hand part of her belly, which she thought was the left one’s head.

When the doctor did the ultrasound, we found that the twin on the right was still in breech position. The one of the left had not flipped over. Instead, it had kind of migrated up and was lying across the top of Agnes’ belly. It’s such a strange position for it to be in. What we’re really hoping for now is for the one on the right to flip over. If it doesn’t by the time we reach August, we’ll be scheduling a C-section.

The two have been gaining weight nicely. Twin A (the one on the left) is about 3 lbs, 6 oz. Twin B is about 3 lbs, 12 oz. Together they make up a little over seven pounds of baby! At this point in the pregnancy, Agnes has reached about the size you would expect for a single full-term baby.

We took care of some other minor things during this appointment. We asked who else might be there for the delivery aside from our OB. It turns out that she alternates with the other doctor in their office, so it may be a good idea for us to meet him. Agnes got a renewed prescription for her pre-natal vitamins. And with a cervix examination, it looks like there were still no signs that it was “thinning”, a change the cervix goes through as the uterus is getting ready to deliver.

Since the end of April, our visits with the OB have been every two weeks. After our next appointment (the thirty-three week appointment), we’ll be moving to a schedule of every week. During that week, we’ll also start doing what is called a non-stress test to see how the babies are doing. If their vitals look decent, then we’ll just let the pregnancy continue. If there are certain warning signs, then it may be worth delivering them early.