Gallbladder Surgery

Wednesday our OB referred me to a surgeon to set up a date to have my gallbladder removed after last week's gallstone attack.  So off we went to visit Dr. Hu today.  I had been having a lot of reservations about the surgery, the thought of going under anesthesia while pregnant was very unsettling to me and I wasn't sure the benefits out weighed the risks.  After talking to Dr. Hu we were relieved to know that she felt the same way.  While they can perform the surgery as long as it is before 22-24 weeks because the uterus is still out of the way enough for them to reach the gallbladder via laparoscopy.  So they won't do the surgery in the third trimester unless it is an emergency.

Anyhow since I am carrying two babies instead of one I am already the size of a singleton pregnancy in its third trimester.  So the surgeon will already have some difficulty reaching the gallbladder.  Additionally since I have only had one attack, I am not overweight or obese, and I'm not in any pain currently she and I decided it would be best to try to wait it out until after delivery.  Of course that is taking a pretty big chance assuming that I won't have another attack.  Though I couldn't bring myself to accept the risk of anesthesia for a surgery unless the surgery was a must needed thing. Dr. Hu went onto say that she would be willing to do the surgery in my third trimester if she had to. So I guess cross your fingers and pray that this was the first and last gallstone attack until after delivery. Or if it is going to start acting up that it does so ASAP while we are still in that safe window of time so they are able to do laparoscopy and not need to do a full incision. 

19 Week Appointment

Yesterday I had a routine OB check up (one of many with a twin pregnancy). I'm in my 19th week (18 weeks 4 days). This appointment was particularly exciting for me as this was the first doctor's appointment that Josh has gotten to attend, since he was deployed the first 3 months of the pregnancy. Both babies sounded great on the doppler, though it does get tricky trying to distinguish who's heartbeat is who's when you have two that move as much as these two! Luckily this appointment also included a sonogram! Hands down one of the best perks to a twin pregnancy is getting to see your little munchkins in sonos all the time! It is so neat to get a little insight to their world in the womb. It is fascinating how you can get little glimpses of each child's personality via these sonograms! Baby A seems to be our center-stage, diva baby. She loves spreading out, getting comfy and taking up as much room as humanly possible all while putting on her best pose for pictures. Poor baby B.....she seems to be a little more submissive as she is crammed into the corner with her legs folded Indian style underneath her bottom with her little arms up and hands trying to protect her head and face from her sister's constant kicking and butt drops. Baby B could probably take some pretty cute photos like her sister, that is if her sister would ever get her butt out of her face....seriously. Every face shot we have of sweet baby B you are lucky if you can identify her lips or nose because all you can see is her sister's tushy right on top of her face. Early sibling rivalry set aside, there is something so special and amazing about getting to watch these close moments between the two and getting to watch them interact and play with each other in utero. You can see the special bond they have already and they are mere weeks old! I will also try to do a much better job of tracking their growth and measurements from appoint to appoint.

Wednesday's baby growth stats:
Baby A- was measuring 18w 6d, 8oz.
Baby B- was measuring 18w 3d, 8 oz.

Positioning- This time Baby A was head down and Baby B was head up. During the last 3D ultrasound on Jan 13th, 2012 both babies were head up.

When measuring length, Baby B is taller and has longer legs than Baby A, and Baby A is a little more stocky than Baby B. I thought that was interesting since "B" appears smaller since she is cramped up in the corner and since they had the same weight. I will post pictures from the sonogram once I figure out how to work everything on this new laptop. I will most likely being doing quite a bit of back dating in attempt to get things jotted down from much earlier in the pregnancy before I lose where I have them written down or the escape my memory forever.

Introduction

    Like I mentioned in my "About Me" I am a mom of soon to be three children! I have a wonderful husband Josh & 3.5 yr old son Hunter. Our family is expecting twin girls, due June 23rd, 2012.  We are all very excited and greatly anticipate their arrival.  I wanted to start a blog in attempts to I journal about the experiences during this pregnancy.  I had really wished I had done a better job documenting all of the wonderful moments and memories I had during my pregnancy with Hunter, so I am finally getting around to starting this for the girls.  In addition to documenting pregnancy progress I thought it would be a fun way to capture and remember all of the wonder family moments, as well as memories and milestones of Hunter's. Everyday seems to fly by too quickly and I feel like I have blinked and my little baby has turned into a little man. So here goes my attempt at capturing many of our family moments....the good...the great...and the not-so-great.