NST's Here I Come

I'm back home on the couch, which is better than being back in the hospital, right?  Today's appointment went relatively well.  As seems to be the case with this pregnancy, as soon as we get some level of comfort, things change a bit.  The babies are still growing, but Apple is lagging further behind her brother and the growth curve.  The good news is that her fluid looks pretty good-still decreased compared to Banana, but it is better than it was.  The other worrisome news is that my cervix has shortened a bit, which could mean that the contractions are starting to change my cervix and I could go into labor.  But what's new?  Here are the details:

• Apple now weighs about 3 pounds 7 ounces, so she has only gained about 6 ounces in two weeks.  She was around the 31st percentile for growth two weeks ago and has slipped down to the 19th or 20th percentile.  The main issue driving the estimates continues to be her small abdomen.  She just isn't getting as much nourishment from her placenta as she should be.
• Banana weighs about 4 pounds 9 ounces, so they are over a pound different.  Doesn't sound that big, but it is significant when they weigh so little to begin with.  He gained almost a pound in the last 2 weeks.  Today he measured in around the 40th percentile.  I had written down that he was at 44% two weeks ago, but today they said he was at 41% two weeks ago and that he really hasn't moved on the curve, which is good.
• Both babies had similar doppler measurements (measures blood flow from the placenta through the umbilical cord to the baby).
• The sonographer had an easy time finding a 4cm pocket of fluid for each baby, so that is good.
• Apple is head down and Banana is breach.
• The peri now wants me to have NST's done twice a week.  This is the same thing they did in the hospital where we would have to get a good tracing of both babies on the monitor for 20 minutes at a time.  But it can be done at my OB's office, so I don't have to go to the hospital.

Given how Apple is lagging further behind, unless she has a massive growth spurt in the next two weeks, it looks like we will be delivering then (unless I go into active labor before then).  I will be almost 35 weeks at that point.  I'm not quite sure what our chances are for attempting a vaginal delivery at this point.  The peri made it sound like it would be up to the OB, but that the OB probably wouldn't be comfortable with a vaginal delivery since Banana weighs a pound more than Apple and is on top of her.  I will be asking the OB about this on Monday.  I haven't quite resigned myself to having a c-section yet.

So I give this appointment mixed reviews.  We are obviously in much better shape than we were at the beginning of the month, but not completely out of the woods.  We are still likely looking at some NICU time, but I guess you never know.  At least we did the steroid shots to mature the babies' lungs and we are past the 32 week mark.

Below are some pictures from one of the scans we had in the hospital (on the 7th) that I didn't get around to scanning until now.  The last two pictures (the 3-d ones are from today).  They aren't as good as some of the earlier pictures as the babies are getting a bit big to get really good pictures and they haven't been cooperating all that much.  It is starting to get pretty crowded in there!  The first picture from today (second to last picture below) is Apple with her hand smushed up against her face.  The last picture below is from today and shows Banana's profile pretty much completely hidden by his face.  Both babies had an arm up and we wondered if it was a defensive position because each has a foot or two in their face from the other baby.  Banana's arm looks chunky to me compared to skinny little Apple.  On the screen, it actually looked like Banana was holding his hand to his forehead like he had a headache!