Thursday, April 19, 2007

Questions for the doctor

I'm meeting with a perinatologist at Georgetown today for a second opinion on this whole triplet thing. I had a list of questions that I wanted to ask the doctor, but I'm a moron and I left them at home and have no time to stop by home to get them (It is most assuredly not on the way for me). I'm normally ridiculously organised for doctor's appointments, but this pregnancy-brain thing has really killed that aspect of my personality, it seems.

I'm trying to reconstruct a list of questions to ask, but a lot of my standard questions are questions I would ask if I were seeking longer-term prenatal care from the office. I don't intend to get my prenatal care at Georgetown, so this is a one-time consult for information-gathering purposes only. So far I have the following:

1. My last detailed ultrasound, taken at 8weeks, 5days resulted in the following fetal measurements:

Baby A measured at 8w 5d
Baby B measured at 8w 4d
Baby C measured at 8w 2d
Is the difference in measurements (specifically Baby C) especially troublesome? If so, why? What could it indicate? It is probably that Baby C was the result of a later implantation. Does this affect the outlook at all?

2. What are all my options with regards to this pregnancy? (e.g. reduction, continuing the pregnancy, tests recommended, etc.)

3. Is my height (152 cm) a factor which should play an important role in the decision process?

4. What are the specific risks associated with a reduction procedure? How do these risks compare with the specific risks of expectant management in a triplet pregnancy?

5. To date, the majority of the argument I've heard for reduction is "Triplet pregnancies are harder and riskier than Twin pregnancies." While this is obviously true, is it important that in fact I'm not comparing a triplet pregnancy to a twin pregnancy, but rather a triplet pregnancy to a triplet-reduced-to-twin pregnancy?

6. How much of a role do my specific medical issues play in my outlook if I do not reduce? Specifically, history of hemiplegic migraines, TIA, patent foramen ovale, and recurrent kidney stones/UTIs.

Anyone have any other suggestions of questions to ask?

3 comments:

Chris said...

I have no suggestions, just wanted to stop by and wish you luck at your appointment. I hope this consult solidifies your decision and puts your mind at ease. (or as much ease as possible when faced with the possibility of 3 teenagers someday)

Linda said...

Good questions. I would point out that the difference of 3 days could also be ultrasound error. I know that weights are considered plus/minus 10% so I assume the same margin of error exists in dating.

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