Jackson looks good!

We had our one-week post-surgery appointment yesterday. The specialist says that Jackson is doing very well and she is pleased with his progress. You can imagine how ecstatic we were!

He doesn't have any fluid around his heart and his brain looks good, he's grown an ounce and the amniotic fluid around him has decreased to a normal level. We go back once a week for five more weeks to check on him.

Don't mind that he looks like he's puking up his breakfast. I'm sure that's just background noise!

Jackson pictures

Here are a couple of pictures of Jackson. The first is his hand in the womb during surgery. It looks a lot like his daddy's hand! The second is a 3D image from our ultrasound before surgery. He is definitely a boy! He rubs his eyes a lot.





















Tomorrow we have the one week post-op ultrasound with the specialist here in SA. I can't wait to see him and find out how he's doing. We got brave the other night and listened to his heartbeat on the doppler at home and that was such a relief. It also confirmed that those movements I'm feeling are probably him!

I want to thank everybody for your messages and e-mails. Some days I feel better than others and some days I don't feel like communicating, but I appreciate all of your thoughts. I can't wait until Jackson can meet everybody who has been pulling for him.

Update

We had the laser surgery Thursday and the doctor was able to sever the blood connections between the boys. When I woke up, both boys were still alive inside me. But when the doctor did the ultrasound Friday morning, we were told that Jameson (the donor twin) had passed away.

Friday afternoon we saw a pediatric cardiologist who evaluated Jackson's heart, and although he had had a lot of stress on his heart, the cardiologist says it is structurally and functionally sound and we shouldn't have any problems with his heart.

We're very sad about Jameson but trying to focus on what we can do for Jackson - stay positive, I'm on strict bedrest, trying to eat a lot of protein to help him grow. He will most likely be a preemie and have some time in the NICU.

I have some pictures of both of them that were taken in the womb during surgery. I will post those eventually, once I am allowed to walk down the hall.

A couple of face pictures

Profile of Baby A. He's very active since he has a lot of amniotic fluid to splash around in.














Can you see Baby B's skull?

And now for the bad news

The OB discovered at our 20 week appointment that the boys have twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome.

Here's a shortened explanation from the Texas Fetal Center:

What is Twin-Twin Transfusion Syndrome and how does one get it?
In TTTS, the smaller twin (often called the donor twin) does not get enough blood while the larger twin (often called the recipient twin) becomes overloaded with too much blood.

In an attempt to reduce its blood volume, the recipient twin will increase the urine it makes. This will eventually result in the twin having a very large bladder on ultrasound, as well as too much amniotic fluid around this twin. This is known as polyhydramnios.

At the same time, the donor twin will produce less than the usual amount of urine. The amniotic fluid around the donor twin will become very low or absent. This is known as oligohydramnios.

As the disease progresses, the donor will produce so little urine that its bladder may not be seen on ultrasound. The twin will become wrapped by its amniotic membrane (known as a “stuck” twin). Often the polyhydramnios of the recipient twin is the first thing noticed by the patient due a sudden increase in the size of the uterus. Clothes may become tight fitting over a short period of time. At other times the differences in the amniotic fluid volumes between the twins is only noted at the time of a routine ultrasound.

Our OB immediately made us an appointment with a maternal fetal medicine specialist, who we saw today. The babies have about 30% difference in weight and the donor baby - the one who is smaller - has almost no amniotic fluid.

We'll be meeting with a super specialist who can do a laser surgery that can potentially correct the problem on Thursday morning in Houston. If he says I am a candidate for the laser surgery (I think the criteria has something to do with the amount of fluid in each baby's sac), I will have surgery that day and be in the hospital probably until Saturday.

We'll keep updating the blog as we find out more info. Tomorrow I will try to post some of the pictures from today's specialist visit - the babies look like Skeletor in some of the pictures!

And the babies are...

BOYS! Not only that but they are identical.

Here are some new pictures:















Baby B
























Baby A

New nursery idea

I think this is it. The color is probably less aqua than it looks on the computer, though.


Quick neutral safari nursery by paisleyduke

Vernix schmernix

So today I learned that the monkeys are covered in that whitish goo called vernix that protects their skin from the amniotic fluid and helps slide them out during labor. However, I am pretty sure that half of my babies' vernix is actually rice pudding. Rice pudding happened to be one of the only foods I could stomach during the first trimester and I ate it every day, sometimes twice.

18 weeks 1 day

Baby room ideas

Two weeks to go until we know the sexes of the monkeys. I can't wait to find out what they are so we can get to work on their room.

Here are some ideas for boys, girls, and a boy & a girl:


Baby boy monkey nursery by paisleyduke


Baby girl pink, black & white room by paisleyduke


Boy/girl twins nursery by paisleyduke