Twin Pregnancy Blog - Aug 17 2010 - Week 11 - "OSCAR"

My wife is clearly showing a bump by now. Today, we went in for an OSCAR test (stands for One-Stop-Clinical-Assessment-of-Risk and it's for accessing the risk of the child having Down's Syndrome). See here for some info on what's actually done. Currently just awaiting results of a blood test. But so far, everything else checked out just fine. (Update: blood tests checked out fine too. The twins are classified as low risk for Down's; probability is 1 in 10,000)


Each baby is now over 5cm long. That's nearly twice as large as they were 2 weeks ago! (We're advised by the doctor that their size is pretty good.) They were very energetic during the ultrasound. They kept waving their hands and feet, twisting and turning their bodies! We were able to make out their spinal cords, brains, and other various organs. Their hearts were beating strong at about 190 bpm which we're told is normal. Their heart rate will slow down as they grow.


Funny moment of the day!
The doctor used the ultrasound transducer to look at one twin before going on to the next. When he shifted to the next twin, that twin was positioned such that he wasn't able to get a clear picture. But suddenly as if on cue,  the baby twisted and positioned itself perfectly for the ultrasound. That twin is going to be quite the photogenic one!


On a more serious note, we now have to plan for where we're going to have the babies delivered. We've made a booking at a private hospital. But we're advised by 2 separate doctors that we should make reservations as a public hospital as well. This is because the facilities as a public hospital is better equipped to handle twins. And if the twins are delivered premature (which will happen more often than not with multiples) at a private hospital, it's going to cost a fortune...yikes!