19 Week Anatomy Scan (Twins)

So yesterday marked 19 weeks 1 day for these little babies growing inside.  This week the average singleton baby weighs approximately 8oz (.5 lb) and measures about 6".  They are comparing their sizes to Mangoes this week🥭🤷🏼‍♀️.  Not sure if that's accurate...I better check out the size of Mangoes again🤣.

Twins, I've been told, don't grow quite as fast as singleton babies, due to room and sharing resources...but these babies are measuring right on...well maybe a little ahead of track! 🤣. 

We had our 19 week anatomy scan for both of the babies yesterday, (I was told it would be approximately an hour per baby, so to come prepared with snacks 🤤).  Although I didn't need snacks, I did need some water so I'm glad my sister was there to help a sister in need!

We started the scan with Baby A.  Who is currently breech, bum down and facing my back.  She was (is) very active, and in very close quarters with her brother (Baby B).  It made the ultrasound very challenging to understand what was what🤣.  At one time we had two circles up on the screen, that the tech froze to do some measuring, but only on one of the circles.  So I had to ask, what he was measuring and then of course, what the other circle was that he was leaving out?!  He said oh, the circle on the right is Baby A's abdomen, I'm measuring the circumference.   The circle on the left is Baby Bs head and we aren't going to focus on him right now 🤣🤣🤷🏼‍♀️.  It made me giggle.  This is definitely a first for me.  Although I've been through SEVERAL pregnancies and ultrasounds...never before have there been two! Haha it was such a cool experience!

Baby A's weighing in at approximately 9oz, heart rate was cruising in the 160s, she loves to have her hands by her face, and seemed to be drinking or sucking a lot!  She's very active and has an adorable little profile, just like her bigger sisters did (still do)!  

After an in-depth scan and multiple measurements of Baby girl A, we moved on to Baby B.   Who wasn't patiently waiting, he made several impromptu appearances in his sister's pictures and scans.  He was also sitting breech, in a similar position to his sister.  4 weeks ago they were both laying transverse or horizontally one on top of the other...this week however they are now side by side, bum down. 🤷🏼‍♀️😁

Baby B, weighed in at approximately 10oz, had a heart rate in the 140s, was non stop moving, and appeared to be sucking his thumb🥰.  The ultrasound tech commented on how active they both were, so I'm getting that they are used to more chill babies 🤣😜.  (Sorry Shavonne...hope this isn't an indicator of how they will be outside of the womb😜🤞🥰.)

After the anatomy and profile scans our tech provided us some 3d and 4d scans of each baby.  Since they were moving so much, it wasn't super easy for him.  The picture of Baby A is a little wonky and you have to put on your squinty eyes to make out some of her features...but Baby B had a pretty clear picture of his little nose and eyes.  When my sister pulled up a picture of his late paternal grandfather, you could see the resemblance!  I'll post the scans 👇 below.

Baby A ☝🏼

Baby B☝🏼

After our scans we were told the doctor wanted to speak with us and go over the scans, which was kind of odd, because we heard he was in delivery and we would be seeing the NP instead 🤔.

After a lengthy wait in the exam room, Dr. F. finally arrived.  He told us that the anatomy scans on both babies looked great, but there was one item that was noted for Baby A.  She has a "two vessel umbilical cord". He went on to explain that typically when there are only 2 vessels vs 3, there are common anatomical issues that are also present, typically impacting the heart or kidneys.  He assured us however that those organs currently, look great and show no indication of not being normal or functioning incorrectly!  If you're interested in learning a little more about a 2 vessel umbilical cord here's a link that I found helpful.

2 Vessel Cord Explained

So what's next?  We continue to monitor babies for growth every 4 weeks by ultrasound.  Nothing special needs to be done or changed.  I do however have my glucose appointment scheduled in 4 weeks🥲.  Which is so much sooner than I ever did it for any of my single pregnancies.  The doctor mentioned that twins require twice the amount of extra insulin to be produced so there is a good chance I might come up short and be gestational diabetic.  I'm sure my age and size don't help either 🥴😭.  But here's to hoping my body can overcome the extra need for insulin and I can keep my diet as is!🤞❤️. So far this pregnancy I've gained a total of 5 pounds (3 being in this last month).  So, I'm grateful for a body that's been so accommodating to it's new occupants and nourishing them so well!  Let's hope everything continues to stay on track 🤞🏼!

How I feel:  I'm still recovering from that cold/flu over the holidays.  Don't feel bad, just a lingering runny nose and cough, boo.  Headaches have not been a huge issue this week, thank goodness!  Unfortunately I started to develop heart burn after eating some salsa at 2pm on New Year's day and after still dealing with it's effects at 9pm that night decided I'm never eating spicy food again😭.  That was brutal.  So after mentioning it to the doctor yesterday, I was given the green light to take Pepcid maximum strength.  (Took one last night and it totally worked!)  So happy...lets hope the headaches and the heartburn stay away! 🙏🏼😁

Babies are super active and I can feel them throughout the day and night constantly.  It's hard to make out which ones which since they are so close together 😜🤩. Since they are still small, they don't pack too big of a punch yet (🙏🏼) so they don't keep me up at night or make it hard to relax or breathe just yet.

Well that's the update I have for this week! ❤️