Waugh-Nut Life: Important Appointment at 11 Weeks 6 Days

Well, Chris and I had a really important (at least it seemed that way to me) appointment with my high risk doctor this past Wednesday. It was an important one for me because I had not been to see any doctor in 2 1/2 weeks (NOT doing that again), and they were also testing each of the babies for abnormalities. Normally, this is a two-part test with an ultrasound and testing my blood, but with Quads, they cannot test my blood because if it came back positive, they would not be able to link it to any of the four babies individually. So, my test was solely an ultrasound where they measured the size of this tiny little sac of fluid behind each baby's neck, checked to make sure each of them had nasal bones growing, and took a picture of the cross-section of each baby's head. I was having a pretty rough week leading up to the appointment- lots and lots of stress and anxiety. The morning of the appointment I went to get a manicure and pedicure to take my mind off of it all (not to mention it is getting harder and harder to reach my toes and they were in need of some serious TLC!).
Of course the entourage was with me for the appointment! Chris, my mom Karla, and Chris' parents Dan and Lori all attended- good thing this place has big ultrasound rooms! My mom again took a copious amount of notes- really helpful when I am writing these posts. I love that Chris is always there because he is always a jokester and he puts my mind at ease! I laid back, and the ultrasound tech went to work. As soon as she came in I told her how very very nervous I was and she literally turned the machine on and within 5 seconds said, "I see four heartbeats!" What a relief- we made it over the 12 week hurdle! Then I looked up to the television screen that shows the ultrasound and I could not believe my eyes. Those little tiny nuggets I had seen before (and that I shared with you all in my first post with the ultrasound pictures) were HUGE! No wonder I am growing at such a rapid pace.
The ultrasound tech then went to work getting each of their measurements- no small feat. We had to measure length, heart rate, the little fluid sacs behind each of their necks, the cross section of their heads, find the nasal bone, and then check the legs and arms of each one! Not to mention that when measuring each of these things, they take the average of three measurements and each baby had to be laying a certain way without their typical gymnastics routine movements. We were in for the long haul. It actually ended up taking less time than expected or scheduled, and the babies each behaved perfectly! It is a mother's touch, what can I say. =)
Well, let me get down to it. They are all PERFECT! Here are some highlights:
-Each baby is measuring at the size it should be or larger. Again, great since they will be born so early!
-Each baby's fluid sac behind it's neck is measuring perfectly, and each has the nasal bones growing- important for the abnormality testing.
-All of the heart rates are within the normal range.
-Each baby is about 5.5cm long (around 2 inches). It is amazing to me how much detail you can see even though they are "technically" still so small.
-Each baby (and especially baby C) likes to do gymnastics routines in my belly. I can't imagine how this is going to feel once I start to actually feel their movements- can't wait!
-Each baby definitely has its own placenta! This is something we were worried about for Baby B and Baby C, but we confirmed they are all separate on Wednesday which is very good news! Also, this means there are no identical babies (actually, there are no twins at all). So after trying for so long we successfully fertilized four separate eggs in one month. Seriously, what are the odds?! The doctor said less than the odds of getting struck by lightening randomly. Can I get a lottery ticket over here?!
After the ultrasound, a marketing person for OSU came in my room and asked if I would mind being on a video about multiples that they were shooting that day. Pretty much it would consist of them taping my conversation with my doctor and then me having another (short) ultrasound so they could get some footage of that. At this point I was in such a good mood, how could I possibly say no! Plus, I am all for learning and helping others along this journey. So, the babies made their first movie debut!
The discussion with my doctor wasn't too crazy at that appointment- she was just catching up on what had been happening since the last time I was in and asking questions about my ER visits. We did determine, however, that I am going to go see the cardiologist to get some testing and see if there are any medications that can help regulate my heart. She also told me I should go swimming because it will help my body feel much better- no complaining here!
I had a different ultrasound tech for my second round for the movie, and she shared with us some ways that you can start to tell the gender of the babies early on before everything is developed. Supposedly these methods are correct about 80-85% of the time. It has something to do with whether the pelvic bones are pointing or forming "up or down." Needless to say, she gave us some early predictions, although Baby A and Baby C were moving around so much (I guess they were as happy as I was to get the good news), that it was harder to predict for them. We are going to keep this news close to home until we get more definitive results around the 16-18 week mark, but I would love to hear everyone's predictions!!!
So there you have it! After I got home that night (I think it was about a 3 1/2 hour appointment), I shared the news with all of you and posted my first blog post. HOLY COW! I would have never expected to get so much support. It has been wonderful, and it is so great to know that all of our friends and family and even people that do not know us personally are behind us 100%. Thank you all so much, it means more to us than you know!
I will leave you with some of the amazing ultrasound pictures. Stay tuned for how our actual life has been turned upside down since the news and what we have been doing to prepare! I will also share how the bambinos lovingly got the "Waugh-Nuts" nickname.