In which we beat the odds

I don't think anyone expected to see the boys doing better today. We were all very prepared to be making a trip to Houston this week and even the ultrasound tech we saw today talked about when we went, not if. But the boys are doing better. Well, Cooper is the baby we were concerned about and Cooper is doing better. He has a visible bladder today and better blood flow to his brain than before. He is still well within normal size difference from Lincoln and while he is still very stuck in his smaller amount of fluid with their separating membrane right along his body, he is able to move it with his hands and feet and get an okay sized pocket of fluid.

I'm pretty sure that line you see just above his hand here is the membrane in question. Last week it was very difficult to see because it was so tightly saran wrapped to his face and body. This week it was much easier to find. I still haven't even processed the feeling I got when she started the scan and the first words she said were "There's baby 1's bladder". I went into that room prepared to be told one or both of my boys was worse or even passed away. I'm not foolish enough to think one can ever be prepared for those words but I was going to be ready for it. I was in the mental and emotional place I needed to be to hear the worst and instead was told the opposite.

 Because their imbalance no longer causes abnormal blood flow we aren't in stage III. Because we were able to clearly see Cooper's bladder we aren't in stage II. Somehow, against everyone's expectations and the odds, we have gone back to stage I TTTS where we just watch and see. The doctor in Houston wants us to keep our appointments on Mondays each week so that if there is a change we can be seen down there the same week but for now we're just going to wait and see what these little miracle boys do.

I am so thankful for all of you who have spent even a second of thought or in prayer over these boys! I know I've said it before but I truly believe these boys can feel all your energy focused on them being healthy and strong. If we still end up having to go for surgery, even just this one more week gives us all better chances. It gives them a better chance of a successful laser ablation. It gives us at least that one week less of trying to fight any preterm labor. And it gets us one week closer to these babies being viable in the outside world.

So now we wait another week and hope to hear that their fluid has balanced out. The excess of fluid around Lincoln still puts extra stress on his heart and body but he hasn't shown any sign of that stress yet. Many recipient babies have much more fluid than he currently has and it can build quickly so we definitely aren't going to sleep easy but will for sure get more sleep than we did last night.

I am excited to spend my week continuing to clean every part of my house and start wrapping Christmas presents. I had resigned myself to using gift bags for everything and I still might use more than usual because wrapping A's birthday presents the other night was quite the ordeal! Let's just say I am not getting more graceful as the days pass.