Dr's making me crazy, what do you think?

Question

I had another ultrasound today and my last Dr's appt before my c-section that is scheduled for the 9th. While checking the babies the sonographer kind of sucked. She was really quiet and didn't explain alot. Just kept saying that they are so big now it is hard to see alot. I am pregnant with twins, and I have had a sonogram once a week for a while now. So I was aware of that. But, this time she took my son's heart rate three times, and I saw it pop up on screen and it was really low. It said 69 the first time. I asked her, "Was that the heart rate?" and she said, "It couldn't be." And twice more she tried to get it, and it was around the same. Then she checked a little lower and it was 147, which is good. But by this time with her not explaining things as she is going, I am kind of freaked. These are my first babies.

Right after I go to my Dr's office. I am seeing the nurse practitioner, because she was the only one that had an appointment available. That is great because I really like her. But her assistant comes in and tells me that my son and my daughter's fluid levels were low and that the nurse practitioner was on the phone with the Dr on call to check and see if they wanted to move the c-section up due to the low fluid levels. The dr on call was not my dr. She said if I were her patient she would say yes, move it up. But she wanted to get with my dr. My dr said he thought we could wait. Both babies are doing their practice breathing and they are moving alot. He said they are still doing everything happy babies do, and he thinks it would be healthier for them to stay with me another week. But I am kind of worried. I guess I just need to vent. If anyone has any advice or similar situations....I would appriciate whatever. Thanks

Answer 1

I think trust your body to know what's best. They are fine.  

Answer 2

How far along are you? It sounds scary. I would be upset with that US Tech! She sounded very unprofessional. Good luck to you. I'll send you positive thoughts and happy energy.

Answer 3

I think she has accomplished what she set out to do ... yes, she has made you *officially* crazy! =]

.. I'm kidding, of course. I just thought you could use a smile right now.

As for the heartbeats, that is SO TOTALLY NORMAL!! I was in a car accident at 29 weeks pregnant (which tore my water bag) and I was flight lifted to a Hospital 3 hrs. away (where they had an NICU, in case I were to go into premature labor.)

Anyway, I was there for 5 days and my son was on the monitor 24/7 for 5 days straight. His heart rate would do the SAME thing! It's just the position .. when the baby changes position the heart rate will drop on the monitor.

Since your babies are just as active as normal, don't worry! Everything sounds totally normal ..

Relax! and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy. Once those babies are out, you will NEVER feel their little kicks in your tummy again. Enjoy it now, it will be over soon =]

PS -- as for the fluid levels, DRINK LOTS OF WATER!!!

When my water bag leaked, I went from 20cm. down to 5cm! that is why I was flight lifted ..

After the 5 days in the Hospital (on IV) and drinking LOTS of water, my levels got back up to 17 cm!

I took my baby boy to FULL TERM! (he was actually born 1 week LATE! @ 41 weeks.)

Drink that water!! They get their water from YOU and when they get that water, they pee it out, which increases the water in their bag.

Answer 4

The most reliable indicator by far that your babies are fine is that they are moving and kicking regularly during the day (with periods of rest and sleep also). Since your babies are moving a lot, it is likely that they're having fun in there while you're worrying yourself unduly.

Picking up the baby's heart rate during an ante-natal appointment with a sonicaid or on an ultrasound isn't a very useful diagnostic test as it is so unreliable and doesn;t really give any useful information. Its just for fun really. Mothers come in to the clinic and want to hear their babies' heart beat but it shouldn't be something you worry yourself about.

One of the answerers above is correct in saying that the 69 reading is probably your heart rate. This happens all the time as one of the largest arteries in your body runs right past your babies. As long as the 147 came up at some point during the appointment, that is fine.

If you were having a natural birth, your babies' heart rate and electrical activcity of the heart would be continuously monitored over hours during the birth using a CTG, which is like an ECG for babies inside the womb. This helps doctors to decide if a baby is getting into trouble. However, as you are having a planned c-section for twins, this probably won;t be used even if you go into spontaneous labour as the results would not change the management (because worrying CTG results lead to c-section anyway).

Twin pregancies often suffer from low amniotic fluid levels. This is simply because there isn't as much room in your womb for all the babies and fluid to float around together. If your doctor is happy to continue the pregnancy for another week then it's likely that everything will be fine and the last week could help the babies to get a bit bigger and take on some more of the natural immune factors that you pass to them etc. A lot of the charts for fluid levels are based on singleton pregnancies so your levels might be normal for a twin pregnancy.

Goodluck!

Answer 5

I think that the initial heartbeat was your heartbeat. 69 sounds right for you and 147 sounds right for the baby. About fluid level. it's hard to say because it may be a little on the low side but not enough to cause any problems. The sonographer could be new as well and her pictures may not have been the greatest. If you are concerned call tom and make another appointment to discuss the findings