Larger Family Life - A Large Family Blog: twin 12 week scan

Yesterday was the first official scan to check on the twins' development and overall health. After the stress of my pregnancy with Oliver I find myself getting very anxious and worried before scans now. I yearn for the days where I used to look forward to them with such naivety. Then it was simply another chance to look at my baby. Now I worry that they'll find something that will turn our world upside down.

I think I just like to worry.

Being one of the first appointments we thankfully weren't kept waiting for long. Mike had taken the day off and we were all ushered into the room with one of the sonographers (the male) exclaiming to the other (the female), "They've brought the family - come and see!" with such genuine joy it made me smile and made me forget my worry for a few seconds.

The children all found a viewing position around the bed and extra chairs were brought in. Then it began.

As the sonographer found his way to the twins we saw twin 1 dancing and jumping. This would continue throughout the next hour and a half scan. Twin 2 though, stayed terribly, worryingly still. A million thoughts ran through my head. The scan wasn't close enough to detect the flicker of the heartbeat either. I think I'd braced myself for the worst and those few minutes were the longest I'd experienced for a long time until the sonographer finally zoomed in and baby gave a wave and a jump and the heart beat flickered reassuringly. All was well with the world once again.

Quietly, whispering only to each other for the main part of it, the sonographers continued with their job, checking brain, bladder, spine and neck. All measurements painstakingly taken and rechecked. Picture after picture for their records and blood flow and heart rates all taking time to piece together. From one twin to the other, then back again. To their credit, the children behaved wonderfully and to my credit, I didn't fall asleep as I feared I might.

Eventually, more than an hour and half after we first went into the room it was over. Our babies are fine and healthy and everything couldn't be better.

Oh, the relief!

Since our last scan three weeks ago the twins have tripled their sizes. They've gone from this...

Twins at 9 weeks

... to this...

Twins at 12 weeks 3 days

In the last three weeks they've gone from measuring 21.2mm and 20.9mm to a whopping 64.9mm and 60.8mm.

So far, so good. All we're waiting for now is my blood test results which will help to ascertain the risk for Downs syndrome. The results should be back within a day or two, but everything so far indicates that the babies are fine.

So those are the results of the twins' 12 week scan. Relief now gives way to my mind working overtime for all the preparation that needs to happen now. I'll save that post for another time though.

Lucky you! ;-)