15 week 1 day visit

We were back in again at the OB's office for my first visit since entering the second trimester. Throughout this time, we also found out that my original OB doesn't actually do deliveries anymore, which I was very, very sad about, but he recommended two other OBs in his practice. So we met with Dr. Crane today, who is likely the OB that will be delivering the twins especially if we had a scheduled C-section. We got an overall good feel about his expertise, albeit being rushed through our appointment a little.

I had more blood drawn for the alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) test, which we were told, was often done in conjunction with the first trimester screening that we did in week 11. So the test will give us more confirmation that the babies have a low risk of being born with trisomy 21 or 18 as well as check for markers of other diseases like spina bifida in the babies. For some reason, I thought we were already in the clear with a normal result in our first trimester screening... but I guess more confirmatory tests are always a good idea. I was however, relieved when Dr. Crane strongly recommended against doing any further testing (like an amnio) since the first trimester screen showed our risk to be in the lowest range possible.

Other than that, today's visit was short and a bit uneventful. DH and I were hoping for an ultrasound to see how the two little ones are doing, but we were discouraged when we didn't see an ultrasound machine in the room we were in. Instead, Dr. Crane used a pocket-size handheld Doppler to check the heartbeats of the babies. One baby's heartbeat was heard almost immediately, but he took a little time finding the second heartbeat (as you can imagine, LONGEST 10 seconds of my life). But he finally found it; he thought the second baby was just snuggling in a bit deeper towards the back of the uterus. He then took a measuring tape and measured the size of my uterus (fundal height), which he said was normal.

We then discussed a bit about delivery options. Dr. Crane asked if I was even considering a natural birth, and I just told him that I would do whatever option that is safest for the babies. In a nutshell, he said the safest option for twin pregnancies is often a C-section and the safest option for the mother is a natural birth, but the worst possible situation would be to deliver the first baby vaginally and then be forced to deliver the second baby in an emergency C-section. We do have plenty of time to think about this and we can certainly make more informed decisions when we are able to see how the twins are positioned.

Anyway, so far so good! Dr. Crane thought everything is looking great. We're due back in the OB's office in 4 weeks (he wants to see me every 4 weeks before week 20 and then every two weeks from week 20 through birth). No cool pictures today, unfortunately... Guess we'll have to wait for the 20 week appointment at the perinatal clinic in 5 weeks.