Reassured

First let me tell you that I did not have an ultrasound today, nor did I insist on one at the end of the appointment.

The meeting went a lot like this:

Krista: Hi nice to see you, hope your babies are well. I had some spotting this weekend.
Dr. Maternity Leave: Oh Krista that must have been terrifying. Was it red blood or dark brown?
Krista: Dark brown or light brown, and not a lot and no cramping (or very mild cramping) and some coffee coloured CM.
Dr. Maternity Leave: Let me tell you some of the reasons why that might have happened and why it does not mean something is wrong.

Then she took out the previous ultrasound pictures and the ultrasound report and showed me that at the last ultrasound (Oct 31) I had a sub-? Hemorrhage close to one of the gestational sacks. She says that all this means is that when one of the embryo's "dug in" to the uterine wall it hit a vein or a capillary and caused a little bleed. If the spotting I had was brown and with no cramping she feels that hemorrhage may just have drained a little.

She also said it is possible I was "overdoing it" and should be resting more. I explained that I really wasn't overdoing it and I was actually taking it very easy. She said that I don't have to do much with twins to cause a little bleeding. She said that it is more common to spot with twins because for the first trimester they continue to implant or anchor and with two it is twice as likely to hit a vein or capillary. She said the fact that the spotting only occurred in the evening suggested I might have done too much during the day. Although I didn't do a whole lot, Thursday was my first court day since becoming pregnant and Friday I had a big mediation meeting with the Office of the Children's Lawyer. It was the two most stressful work days I have had since becoming pregnant. I agree to be more careful about stress and rest. She said that while they want me to get exercise it is not about getting cardiovascular activity as much as just maintaining movement. She said to treat my body as if it belonged to an arthritic old lady. To take more breaks, be more careful with twisting and quick movements and to take lots of breaks. Rick was at the appointment and although she didn't actually come out and say it, the message was heard loud and clear by both of us "Rick should take on most activities and I should be very aware that carrying two babies was harder on the body than carrying one."

Then she read me the riot act about twin pregnancy. Basically she said I do not have much room for two babies and that from 24-32 weeks will be really rough. She said that I should expect to be on bedrest or modified activities or even hospitalized. She said that while it is possible for babies to survive when born between 24-32 weeks, they usually have serious consequences (blindness, deafness, brain damage) and they will try everything to get me past 32 weeks.

Despite the spotting and riot act, it really was a good appointment and I realized how much I like her as a doctor and how much I will miss her.

Oh, and she agreed that it would be cruel and unusual punishment to make me wait until December for another ultrasound. She smiled and winked at us and said that with twins she prefers to monitor at 5, 7, 9 and 11 weeks to check for appropriate growth. Since she only works one day a week (her baby was born the middle of September) she asked if we could wait until next Monday, when I will be 9 weeks 4 day. I agreed.

So ultrasound next Monday but in the meantime I feel ALOT better.

I guess I'm just a needy patient!