Finally, Some Good News!

So we went to our appointment in Toronto. I. Was. There. For. Six. Hours. It was pretty brutal. I was half starved and half asleep by the time it was over, but ultimately we heard what we wanted to hear. First of all, can I say that they should not make ultrasound rooms so dark and warm and lovely with buzzing machines. They got me up on the table with the preliminary nurse (Dr. Ryan doesn't trust other doctors, so he re-did the entire diagnosis process) and I, with this stranger pressing on my belly, started to fall asleep on the table. And not only did I fall asleep, but I made on of those weird, jolty, falling asleep noises... like "Uh!" and woke myself up, completely embarrassed. It was great. I also fell asleep while waiting for the doctor. I was really tired.

Anyhow, Dr. Ryan came in and spent a good long while checking things out, specifically the umbilical cords because that was the big area of interest. Finally he sat back and said that in his opinion, we should be doing any surgery, because the large twin is so strong and the acardiac (small) twin is so small, as well as the stronger twin doesn't look like he is pumping that much blood into the acardiac anymore. You could see a tiny thread going through the cords, but for the most part, the acardiac umbilical cord was grey. So he wants us to take a wait and watch approach and leave the surgery alone. If I (well, really the baby) can make it until 28 weeks, we'll be in a great position, because if something happened, we could just deliver. So we got the news we'd been hoping for. I have another appointment with Dr. Schemmer when I get back to Utah to confirm the findings and go over everything. Right now our game plan is this:

2 a week monitoring until 24 weeks
3 a week monitoring plus 3 a week non stress tests (30 mins being hooked up to the machines to monitor baby's movement) until 28 weeks
28 weeks I'll be admitted to the hospital until I deliver, Dr. Schemmer will consider me full term at 34 weeks and will deliver then if there hasn't been cause to deliver any earlier.

So as of now I am really happy that we have a plan of action and that somehow, this baby has stopped pumping so much for his brother. I am sure all of the prayers are helping. Keep them coming! We're not through the woods yet, but things are seeming a little more optimistic this week than last week. I am happy that I have such a good team of doctors that are working together to get this little boy to us safely.

Positive thoughts!

Love, Jae