We've got a game plan!

Yesterday we had our visit with the OB/GYN and another ultrasound at Group Health at Bellevue. The OB/GYN reiterated much of what we already knew and continued to emphasize how critical it was that we plan on being hospitalized for monitoring. He said that of the two places the perinatologist had privileges, Overlake didn't take patients who would possibly deliver before 28 weeks and Evergreen didn't have a contract with Group Health so the care there wouldn't be covered. So his recommendation was to move forward with a perinatologist and care at University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC).

Side note: That sucks for Sean. When we were thinking it was Evergreen, that would have been right down the road from our house and been a pretty easy commute for him to make back and forth. But UWMC is a trek and a half and will suck up a lot of his time. Plus the parking garage is expensive, so he'll have to find street parking and hope he gets something nearby when he can.

The OB/GYN had to leave pretty quickly to go deliver a baby, but he promised to get moving on setting us up at UWMC and to be in touch. At around 6 pm, a perinatologist from UWMC personally called us and said she had spoken with our OB/GYN and told us she had arranged for an ultrasound at 8 am today and an appointment later in the afternoon with another perinatologist. We were pretty surprised to hear from her that quickly and to be set up for care that quickly!

So we woke up bright and early (Sean called in to work so he could be at the appointments) and headed down to UWMC. This was our 4th ultrasound in 3 weeks, so we're becoming pretty familiar with what we're looking at and why it's important - I think Sean could probably perform them on his own at this point. The babies looked perfectly healthy, no abnormalities in any way, and are measuring just about equally and about a week behind. They look great! We even got a few 3D pictures, but because there are so many limbs flailing around in there that they get in each other's way for a clear shot.

The perinatologist was great. She asked us what we knew already and then treated us like we were smart people when she talked to us. She re-re-re-confirmed what we expected to hear about the course of care with momo twins. She usually leans toward hospitalization around 26-28 weeks (we're currently 22 weeks 1 day) but based on our known risks and outcomes, we felt more comfortable toward 25 weeks, so we're splitting the difference and planning on me being admitted on Monday, April 20th. (Sean calls it my "incarceration".) We'll have an appointment the Thursday before for a Non-stress test (NST - which is monitoring the heart rates and movements for about 20 minutes) and another ultrasound.

Once I'm in the hospital, I'll be monitored several times a day for heart rates and movement and get ultrasounds and other monitoring throughout each week. I'll be able to wear my regular clothing and leave my room when I want. And since I'll be there for so long, it will become my home away from home and I'll probably accumulate a lot of gear. We checked out a few of the rooms and they're pretty small, but it helps me to visualize what I'll need and what I'll have room for.

Most of all it gives us a game plan for all of this. That makes me feel a measure of relief because planning gives me some semblance of control and ability to anticipate what's to come.