Starting after week sixteen of my pregnancy, we began seeing Dr. Jazayeri, our MFM, every other week and then Dr. West in the weeks in between. At the appointments with Dr. J, we get a full ultrasound, with measurements to document how big the babies are. At 16 weeks, the babies were about 5-6oz, 18 weeks, 8oz and at 20 weeks, A & B (the identicals) were at 11 oz and C at 12oz. It is amazing that they grow so fast.

One other thing that we are concerned about are twin to twin transfusion syndrome, or TTTS. It effects about 10-15% of identical twins who share a placenta, basically, one of the twin gets the blood from the placenta, the other twin becomes small, anemic and loses amniotic fluid. The recipient twin becomes large, with too much fluid and there is stress on the heart. Luckily, Dr. J has said he hasn't seen any signs of TTTS yet, but it can start happening at any point, so we are praying we continue to get a good report at every ultrasound.

I had started to feel some fluttering in my abdomen at about 14 weeks or so, but at about 20 weeks, I started feeling movements more consistently and now, as I write at 20 wks, 6 days, I can pretty much tell who is moving when. Baby A, is near my cervix and is head down, Baby B is on my left side, head up, and Baby C is on my right side, head up. Every time I feel them move it makes me so happy that they are still doing well, as I am a bit claustrophobic, it kind of scares me to think that they are all packed in to my tummy. Of course, I know right now they have plenty of room, it is really going to start to get crowded in a few weeks.

I think all pregnant women have some discomfort in the pregnancies and unfortunately, I am no exception. Not only am I measuring approximately 10 weeks ahead (so I am almost 2.5 months bigger than a woman carrying one child), I have gained about 37 lb's and my back is rebelling, making it difficult to carry out any task for long without having to lay down because my back is seizing up. Last Friday evening, my OB had me go to he hospital to get monitored by labor and delivery to make sure I wasn't having contractions and thank goodness, I absolutely was not having any contractions. Not a lot of fun, but I am glad that the babies are still doing well.