Grace and Hope

Grace and Hope
Wait for God. Wait with hope. Hope now; hope always! Pslam 131:3

Friday, September 16, 2011

28 Weeks…Third Trimester…Hallelujah!

Here we are, in the third trimester at 28 weeks—Thank you Lord! Granted, we are not actually through the pivotal 28 week mark until Friday of next week, but knowing that we are beginning the week is enough to celebrate with a cupcake if you ask me! Jay and I are going to celebrate with a cupcake every 2 weeks since each two-week window is huge for development and long-term outcomes. Once this week is over, the survival rate for 28 week infants is 100% and the chances of long-term physical or neurological impairments is only 10%. Got to keep inching towards November….one week at a time!
This week I had an outing to the doctor for a regular scheduled visit. Wow, it is amazing that in two weeks you can actually notice new construction and changes to the scenery! Also, I think I forgot how hot it is outside—I have been living the “dog life” and have two fans on me at all times! The babies are so beautiful and precious, it is the highlight of my week to see them on ultrasound. Most people just get “measured” at their appointments and only get ultrasounds about 3 times during their pregnancy, but with our pregnancy being high-risk, we get to see our girls every visit. Our babies are growing…I can tell because Baby B is just now able to reach my ribs with her little feet. Baby A is having some payback time from earlier in the pregnancy and has flipped and now has the advantage of giving Baby B a “gentle nudge” in the head with her bicycle kicks. I just hope it feels softer on Baby B than it does on my bladder!!! The funny part is I can pretty much pin-point in the week when Baby A flipped—granted, she isn’t huge, but she only has half the real estate to do her acrobatics and it was like going down a big hill on a roller coaster, but just on one side of my belly, with a little extra fluttering involved. I think I can write all day about my babies, but I won’t bore you with the minutia! As of Wednesday this week (27 5/7 weeks) Baby A was 2 pounds and 2 ounces. Baby B was 2 pounds and 1 ounce. They are measuring one week behind in growth, which is consistent from our last appointment and still is within normal range for twins…I think we can all presume that I was never going to have record-shattering size babies!!  Baby A is now head up and feet down (breech position) and the doctor was able to get a fantastic 3-D image of her face this week. I can’t help but stare at her beauty all day long. Meet Baby A below….you can see a picture of her face and then one of her left ear. I’m not really sure where she got her nose from since Jay and I have distinct noses and she doesn’t have either one of our noses, but I’m sure as she grows she will look more like us! We tried to capture Baby B too, but with her being head down (vertex) and face pointing towards my spine, it was impossible to get an image. I look forward to my next two-week appointment to see the girls again.
Our babies are working on growing….an average baby is now about 2 ¼ to 2 ½ pounds at this point (ours are a little closer to being just shy of 2 ¼ pounds) and are about 15 inches long…or the size of a churro! At this point in development, they are able to dream…they better be dreaming about meeting us in November and not a day earlier! They are able to wink, cough, and have improved sucking and breathing. The rods and cones in their eyes are now developed which means they can detect different levels of brightness (even in the womb!) and have pigmentation in their eyes, although at this point, it will be either blue or brown until about 9 months of age. They also have beautiful eyelashes to flutter when they are winking or blinking! Baby A also looks like she is sporting some eyebrows too!! Enough of me rambling—let’s get to the good part—the pictures!! See you next week.

28 weeks

We are happy to introduce to you Baby A:


(Baby A left ear and profile)
Looks like our babies have a reputation that preceeds them!

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