Monday, July 28, 2008

It is scheduled

I will be undergoing the aforementioned transabdominal cerclage (TAC) procedure on Friday at 1:30pm. It actually wasn't that hard of a call to make after I decided that I just cannot ignore all the good outcomes that my doctor has had with dozens of triplet/quad pregnancies. Plus, I figure that if I didn't go through with it and the babies came too early to have a chance at a normal life (or even at life, period), I would always wonder whether things would have turned out differently if I'd had the TAC.

Something else that made my decision a little easier was the opportunity I had to talk with a wonderful triplet mom named Linda (thanks for the contact, Christine!). She had the procedure done a few years ago with the same doctor and was able to answer a lot of my questions (most of which seemed too trivial to ask the doctor himself). I am all about studying up and having all the information beforehand, so my chat with Linda really set my mind at ease. And hearing about her once-tiny babies and how well they're doing three years on was really encouraging. I hope that a couple of years from now I can share my successful quad pregnancy story with a newbie!

In other news, I had my 12-week appointment with the doctor this morning. I got a full first-trimester screening, which means I got to look at my babies for a whole half-hour! For those keeping track, they now range from 5.5 to 6 centimeters in length (crown to rump). The ultrasound tech was excited when she stumbled upon the view below, which shows all four of them in one shot. She says not to expect it to ever happen again:



Part of the screening involved measuring the skin folds on the back of the babies' necks. To do this, the tech had to get a profile shot of each baby. To my delight, while she was measuring the distance between the neck muscles and skin, I got to get a good look at the faces of each of my babies. I think that Baby A looks just like Ted:


And Baby B looks like my brother did when he was little:



Babies C and D were harder to pin down, looks-wise, but it will be interesting to see if my first impressions of the other two babies turn out to be accurate. It's so exciting to see them looking more and more like little individuals!

My next ultrasound will be right before they wheel me into surgery, and then I'll have another one a few minutes after the procedure to reassure me that they all made it through okay. I will probably be too out of it to post, but Ted assures me that he will take advantage of his contributor status in order to let everyone know how things went. If all goes as planned, I'll be back in posting form by early next week!

8 comments:

Joy said...

Hey guys! You don't know me, but I am in your multiple moms group and have been following your blog. From the sound of your post, I think you are seeing Dr. S at St. Vincent and I just want to tell you that as a past patient of his you are in WONDERFUL hands. I love that man and credit him with getting me so far in my pregnacy. We will be thinking of all 6 of you on Friday!

Anonymous said...

This must be scary for you, but you are in very good hands. Don't hesitate to email the group if you want to talk to some more people about the procedure. I'm glad talking to Linda was helpful. I met her when we were both in the hospital - she is great. I'll be thinking of you Friday... I'm sure you're not looking forward to a hospital stay but on the up side, getting a preview of what it's like should help make you more comfortable when you go back to have the babies! The staff is wonderful (especially the high-risk staff) and I always felt very well cared for.

-Christine

Suzy said...

Thanks for the reassuring words, Joy and Christine!

Anonymous said...

Wow, Suzy, I will be thinking of you and Ted and all your little ones on Friday. I love reading your blog and am so excited for you guys!

The Murray Crew said...

Suzy -
I'm cheering you on like a perky, double-ponytailed,pom-pom throwing, middle school cheerleader.
Friday is going to be here and gone in no time and you'll have A BIG MILESTONE behind you in this pregnancy.
Let me know if there's anything (besides chanting cheers) that I can be doing for you!

The Murray Crew
www.murraycrew.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

Ted & Suzy --
I wrote it on the calendar! We will be praying for you & the babies, as well as all the doctors & nurses involved. I wish we were in the area so I could bring you a meal after the surgery, but I'm praying that many will come to your help over these next months!! :o) Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." -- janelle (for the Rupp clan)

Lori said...

Just want to let you know that we'll be praying for you all on Fri and hope it all goes smoothly. I found out yesterday that a friend of ours from church - their niece had quads just last year and had them at St. Vincents. Small world, huh?! :-)They too had the same procedure you're about to have and all went perfectly. They have 4 healthy baby boys now. :-) So, tell Ted to keep us updated on how it all goes and know that we all will be praying for you and the babies during that hour!! :-)

Suzy said...

Heh, I think the niece you're talking about just might be Jen from the murraycrew.blogspot.com who posted a comment a couple of slots above you! Small world, indeed. :)

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