Winnie Palmer experience
Yesterday I had my Winnie Palmer appointment. Sticks that we have to pay to park every time we go down there. It is a beautiful facility though. First we met with the genetics counselor. He was freakishly knowledgeable and all but I didn't really like it. You basically sit in the room and answer questions about family history and he goes over the odds of certain risks. I think legally they also have to tell moms of multiples the options for testing such an amnio to screen for certain thinks such as MR but their are risks associated with that such as infection (esp since they have to do the needle three times at least...). I am gonna pass on that one. They can check for that stuff (not as accurately tho) on ultrasounds by measuring the circumference of the neck and spinal cord. We left the genetics counselor more informed I guess and maybe with a little bit more peace of mind but it wasn't a wower. I also have a special ed degree so all of the discussions related to Trisomy 18, Downs, etc was old school to me. However, it was a genetics refresher where they went over charts of genes and DNA. Okay really, I went to public school in the hood so it wasn't a refresher- that part was new! I went in there fine but then I feel like I left with worry. That's not so cool.
From there we went to this other unit for the ultrasound. I think I was expecting a tour (of the NICU and what not) and information on classes and I got none of that. :( Their ultrasound machine was cool. Charles was so excited as they scanned each baby that the nurse had to tell him to settle down! He was able to see each scan before I could. The nurse did the cool scans (pics soon - my IT guy is scanning them for me). Then came in the high risk specialist. His last name is the same as my schools coach. I have been anxiously awaiting to meet a 'high risk' doc and then I met him and wasn't wowed! Man! I'll see if they have someone else there next time. He was more like "cool, there is nothing wrong with you, see you on July 1st." No Q&A session. Nothing. What a jip. The nurse was cooler. She 'suspects' that she might have seen two penises and Baby C was being modest so no guess on that one. They should be able to tell us on July 1st though. In the ultrasounds though- it was crazy!!! One of the babies was on his/her back and then decided to completely flip and lay on the belly. So we got to see that action. All of them were doing fine. The heart rates were way calmer this time (last time they were elevated since I was freaking out). If there is a possibility of bed rest, the earliest odds would be mid-late August but that is worst case scenario. So that is the abridged version of the Winnie Palmer experience. Not what I was hoping for but it was fine.
Then later that evening I had my first moms of multiples meeting. I hate traveling at night by myself down
I-4 but I made it. I was expecting like maybe 15 people but there was 50-65 women there. Majority of them are moms of twins. I did meet three triplet moms (one quad mom was there too). There was one named Nicole who I really, really liked. I hope they match her up as my Big Sister. Either way, we exchanged emails and I already wrote her this morning. Hopefully her husband can be a big brother to Chaz! The 1st hour of the meeting was for new prospective members which was the best part of the meeting. That is where you really learn all of the cool stuff and people bust out their pictures. At first I was worried b/c I was talking with this one group and they mentioned how orange juice, combos pretzel snacks, and pop tarts made them sooo sick. Ummmm, that is my exact first snack! Then they all reminisced about how much weight they lost the 1st trimester b/c they were always sick........um, I had nothing so that caused a few glares! I could go on and on. The one triplet mom made it to 32 weeks and 2 days and the other one was 29 weeks. They recommend I sign up for the marvelous multiples class so I called this morning and it is Aug 20-Sept 10th and they didn't want to take me b/c it is so late in the game. Whaaaaat!?!?!? Would have been nice if someone told me about that 2 months ago! Grrrr. Oh, I did know two people from campus that were at the meeting.
So that is my update in a nutshell. Not as cool as I was expecting but it will have to do. More soon!
From there we went to this other unit for the ultrasound. I think I was expecting a tour (of the NICU and what not) and information on classes and I got none of that. :( Their ultrasound machine was cool. Charles was so excited as they scanned each baby that the nurse had to tell him to settle down! He was able to see each scan before I could. The nurse did the cool scans (pics soon - my IT guy is scanning them for me). Then came in the high risk specialist. His last name is the same as my schools coach. I have been anxiously awaiting to meet a 'high risk' doc and then I met him and wasn't wowed! Man! I'll see if they have someone else there next time. He was more like "cool, there is nothing wrong with you, see you on July 1st." No Q&A session. Nothing. What a jip. The nurse was cooler. She 'suspects' that she might have seen two penises and Baby C was being modest so no guess on that one. They should be able to tell us on July 1st though. In the ultrasounds though- it was crazy!!! One of the babies was on his/her back and then decided to completely flip and lay on the belly. So we got to see that action. All of them were doing fine. The heart rates were way calmer this time (last time they were elevated since I was freaking out). If there is a possibility of bed rest, the earliest odds would be mid-late August but that is worst case scenario. So that is the abridged version of the Winnie Palmer experience. Not what I was hoping for but it was fine.
Then later that evening I had my first moms of multiples meeting. I hate traveling at night by myself down
I-4 but I made it. I was expecting like maybe 15 people but there was 50-65 women there. Majority of them are moms of twins. I did meet three triplet moms (one quad mom was there too). There was one named Nicole who I really, really liked. I hope they match her up as my Big Sister. Either way, we exchanged emails and I already wrote her this morning. Hopefully her husband can be a big brother to Chaz! The 1st hour of the meeting was for new prospective members which was the best part of the meeting. That is where you really learn all of the cool stuff and people bust out their pictures. At first I was worried b/c I was talking with this one group and they mentioned how orange juice, combos pretzel snacks, and pop tarts made them sooo sick. Ummmm, that is my exact first snack! Then they all reminisced about how much weight they lost the 1st trimester b/c they were always sick........um, I had nothing so that caused a few glares! I could go on and on. The one triplet mom made it to 32 weeks and 2 days and the other one was 29 weeks. They recommend I sign up for the marvelous multiples class so I called this morning and it is Aug 20-Sept 10th and they didn't want to take me b/c it is so late in the game. Whaaaaat!?!?!? Would have been nice if someone told me about that 2 months ago! Grrrr. Oh, I did know two people from campus that were at the meeting.
So that is my update in a nutshell. Not as cool as I was expecting but it will have to do. More soon!
posted by Dr.Jeeeol | 9:50 AM
2 Comments:
I'm so relieved to hear things are going so well. Also glad you seem to be lucky enough to be escaping "morning" sickness. My least queasy pregnancy was my twins, odd as it seems;>
Cool experience! I'm glad you don't want to do the amino thing--unfortunately I know a mom who lost her baby because of a complication with the amino testing. 50-65 moms at that meeting--WOAH!!! And they have "Big Sisters?" Is it like a sorority? I can't wait to find out the sexes of the Norburn gang!
-Simone
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