22 weeks!!! Each week that goes by is a milestone. It's pretty incredible to think that we're already nearing the time when the babies are viable. Almost 30 percent of babies born at 23 weeks of pregnancy survive, while about 50 to 60 percent of babies born at 24 weeks, about 75 percent born at 25 weeks, and more than 90 percent born at 27 to 28 weeks, survive. Find out more here. Obviously, we're trying to let them cook much longer than all that, but it's still reassuring and pretty darn amazing.
For those dedicated readers, we had our heart scan to follow up on this. We saw a cardiologist who performed a fetal echocardiogram on Friday. After waiting over an hour (even though they said the entire appointment would be less than an hour) in a tiny room, which combined with the stress of the impending test, etc. did not make me a happy camper, the doc did an intense look at the babies' heart. He looked at all the valves, the atriums and ventricles and whole lot more stuff that I don't remember from 9th grade biology. Just like in high school, the discussion of all these details caused me to snooze a little. Well that and pretty much anytime I'm horizontal for any period of time I tend to take advantage. The full sum of the appointment is that everything that he can see at this point looks to be normal. There are some things that he can't see at this point, but he thinks they look good and was fairly encouraging that we won't have any heart issues with the kiddos. Yay!
I went back to my primary doc today. He still found the umbilical cord attachment described here. So, he printed a couple pics that I took over to the perinatologist (the other doc I've mentioned before). I dropped them off so that she could see what he found since she was unable to find the attachment. He still thinks we shouldn't worry about it and he doesn't recommend surgery to fix it. We'll be back to see her next week and since she now has the pics, we'll get her opinion as well.
Having the two docs with very different approaches has been really good in some ways and less ideal in others. I like hearing the views of both a very conservative doc and a more laid back doc. Gives me some perspective as we navigate some of these issues. Also helps me realize that there is a lot of art to this science. Since we're probably somewhere in the middle, it's nice to hear the conservative perspective with the assurance of the laid back one. Unfortunately, there's some confusion as to who's quarterbacking all this and coordinating to be sure that the right tests are done and information is communicated freely is complicated. I'm learning that I shouldn't assume anything. All that being said, I think all my doctors so far have been great and I have full faith in them.
The kiddos are still kicking like crazy, which D loves. I think the hubby being able to feel the babies kick is what makes this whole thing seem more real to him--whereas I've gotten all kinds of reminders of the reality of being pregnant for awhile now (fatigue, heartburn, aches, it's pretty hard to ignore it all). The giant belly is somewhat convincing, but feeling the babies move around and be alive has been a fun experience for him. I love the look on D's face when he gets to feel the little guys moving around. It's the look of delight and discovery that you often see on kids, but rarely on adults. I adore that guy.
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