Yesterday, I had my 24 week appointment with Dr. Tatum. Everything looked great! The babies hearts were beating at a healthy rhythm and my growth was crazy. For the next part I'm going to get a little scientific but not to worry I will try to explain everything fully, so that you can understand what I'm talking about in future posts.
Starting at 20 weeks, Dr. Tatum takes a Fundal height measurement; which is a measurement from the top of the uterus to the top of the pubic bone in centimeters. This gives your doctor a pretty good idea that you are having good fetal growth and development. In a pregnancy with just one baby, you typically measure within 1 to 3 cm of your gestational age, meaning since I'm 24 weeks my fundal height measurement should be around 24 cm. However, since I have twins that measurement is a little off! At 20 weeks, I was measuring in at 24 cm. Now that I am 24 weeks, I am measuring 29 cm!!! So I'm actually measuring what someone having a single baby measures 5 weeks later in their pregnancy....no wonder the bellly grows soo much each week!!!
I went to the specialist last week. She ran the Fetal Fibronectin test and I got a BIG FAT NEGATIVE..WHOOP!!! A negative result means that they are 99.5% sure that I will not go into Pre-term labor in the next 2-4 weeks. This test has been used only for the last 5 years and a negative result is very accurate and it allows the docs to breathe a breath of fresh air for the time being. They said this becomes very beneficial in a multiple pregnancy, because you are growing so rapidly it is sometimes hard to determine if the pulling and stretching you are feeling is actually growth or labor.
The specialist also checked my cervix and said that it "was beautiful", which is a good thing I suppose ;-) I go see the specialist again at 26 weeks (October 5) and she is going to do a full growth assessment sono to make sure Maddox and Lukas are growing at the same rate. They carefully monitor to make sure one of the babies isn't getting larger than the other.
Dr. Tatum has now increased my appointments to 1 every 2 weeks and I will see him again on (October 7).
As for any other new happenings, I got to visit my Papaw in Arkansas for 5 days and had a wonderful time playing cards, dominos, and every other game you can think of with all my Great Aunts and Uncles. They are sharks let me tell you!
Tonight our friend, Missy is going to attempt to take some Maternity pictures(
http://www.melissaellenphotography.com/). I have no doubt in her photographic capabilities, but I do tend to feel sorry for her, cuz I'm sooooo picky when it comes to having my picture taken, especially when I have a 10 lb watermelon under my shirt :-)
Again, I will leave you with my 24 week picture...
