Report: 01/30/07 visit to UofU Medical Center

We visited the UofU Medical Center in Salt Lake yesterday for a look-see at the twins 7 days ALS (After Laser Surgery). The results? Pretty good, as long as we operate under the assumption that the absence of bad news = good news. Our "regular" doctor (inasmuch as we can use that term: we've seen the same doctor for consecutive visits only once in the last couple of months) wasn't in, so we just had an ultrasound exam conducted to check on the "big three":

- Heart functions
- Deepest pocket
- Signs of preterm labor

HEART FUNCTIONS

Both tickers were, well, ticking right along. The rates were OK: 150-ish for Micah and 160-ish for Spencer.

DEEPEST POCKET

Measuring the "deepest pocket" (the greatest distance between any part of a twin and the nearest placental wall) is an imprecise science at best: the techs are scoping a 3D space with a 2D instrument, and the kiddos are in constant motion. That said, Micah's deepest pocket (DP) was 10-ish cm (slightly larger than last Wednesday) and Spencer's was 2.5-ish (slightly smaller than last Wednesday). On the face of it, this isn't good data. The twins seem to be moving in the wrong directions as we'd like to see Micah's DP decreasing and Spencer's increasing. Again, though, this measurement is tricky to "get right."

Here's an image that helps illustrate what they're looking for when they assess "deepest pocket." This is an image harvested from the 'net, not one of ours. We have lots, but I haven't had time to scan them and post them. I'll get on that... eventually. :-)



SIGNS OF PRETERM LABOR

The scan for indications that labor might be kicking off early yielded OK results. While one indicator pointed in the wrong direction, it wasn't too significantly bad. And the most blatant indicator--steady, regular contractions--is still absent. That's good.

TIMELINE

We'll be back at the U on Friday for another checkup. Calendar-wise, here's what we're up against:

- Twins delivered at 24 weeks have a better-than-fair chance of survival but also a higher-than-comfortable risk of complications (poor eyesight, respiratory and circulatory troubles, brain damage, etc.). We'll hit 24 weeks on February 4th.
- Twins delivered at 28 weeks have an excellent chance of survival and a minimal risk of complications. We'll reach 28 weeks on March 4th.
- Twins delivered at 32 weeks + are in a great place. We'll hit this magic number on April 1st.