What the Peri Said

I have slipped a week or better behind on the updates. Partly because the vomiting has gotten the better of me again, and partly because it seems like I've been in the doctor's office daily and can't get anything else done.

My first appointment with the perinatologist was just over a week ago. The appointment was split into 2 days, primarily because I was continuing to have bleeding and they wanted to get me in for the u/s earlier. The u/s was fine. All were happy and bouncing around. There was evidence of some fluid collection near my cervix - likely the blood. And it looked like there was still a subchorionic hematoma on one side, that would hopefully just bleed out. I was also told bleeding occurs in almost 100% of triplet pregnancies, for reasons that really aren't known. The good news was that the twins are di-amniotic - meaning although they are sharing a placenta, they each have their own amniotic sacs. This improves their survival rate tremendously.

I have 2 amazing peris - Dr. J and Dr. M. Dr. J went to medical school with Mr. W. He is the procedure guy and does all of the testing. He is methodical and has a quirky sense of humor. Dr. M has been around forever and is considered "the" expert in town. He has an incredible bedside manner and Mr. W has known him for a long time. Dr. M did the consult portion of my appointment the day after the ultrasound.

Admittedly, I was nervous about the consult. About hearing all of the risks again. About hearing how difficult it will be. About how the outcome can be bad. But Dr. M was the face of optimism and confidence. He said their goal is to get me to 32 weeks. (That means the ETA is April 15th!)They would be satisfied with 30 weeks and 34 weeks would be a bonus. He said they are conservative and will put me in the hospital with the slightest hint of a complication. He said I should expect to be in the hospital for the last 2 weeks anyway. He also said I should have a hospital bed delivered to the house around 24 weeks. I must have had a look of fear on my face because then he said, "trust me, you will love it!"

Dr. M talked a lot about planning. Planning for help, planning not to work, planning how to manage around the house and being in bed, about not using the stairs, etc. We had most of that nailed down already and reviewed our game plan with him. He seemed relieved that we were on top of it and that we had thought about all of this ahead of time. Dr. M is hopeful that the bleeding will stop in the next couple of weeks. He said as soon as it does, he would like me to swim every day if I can. He said it's not only good, low impact exercise, but studies show that being in deep water can assist in compression and edema reduction. Apparently that's why you always have to pee when you get out of the pool!!! Who knew?? I am looking forward to swimming all winter, but not the bill for heating our pool! Mr. W and I pondered asking for a swimming rx to see if our insurance would cover the heat bill.......

And then the hard part..... Dr. M wants me to gain between 50 and 75 pounds. Holy.shit. He said I'm off to a slow start and need to kick it up a notch. This one baffles me. I just can't get enough food in me to come close.

It was a crazy, long 2 hour appointment, but Mr. W and I left feeling relieved and confident. And from a purely selfish perspective, since our insurance company has been such an asswipe to us the past year, we are looking forward to sticking them with the bill of 3 preemies in the NICU for a few weeks.