Oh Eon, what a gut wrenching decision to have to make. First, I think you're probably right that you are much more healthy than the average person. And when you think about it, aren't the majority of non-reproductive technology assisted moms of twins older? I know you are older, but again, probably much healthier than the average 41 year old! So when you look at all these stats, I wonder how age and fitness does fit in to the equation.
When I was going through all those studies mentioning sudden and random IUD of one twin, especially past 32 weeks, I started to think, you probably should error on the side of safety. And when I read about the added complications of TTTS, I thought, get them out of there ASAP. But reading all those stats also had the opposite effect- I thought, but all these cases of TTTS have highly different fetal weights and required surgery. Your twins did not require surgery and their weights are nearly identical. So it seems like they aren't really suffering the effects of TTTS. And then I got to thinking, well, what other stats is she beating? Seems like you might fall into the other study category where they determined that up to 37 weeks had safe odds.
Then there is the mode of delivery, too, to think about. The one study said there appeared to be no significant differences in outcomes of elective c vs. vaginal delivery. Of course, these were not TTTS cases. But, the risk of intertwin transfusion appeared to be after the cord was clamped on the first twin, not the labor itself. We do know that labor can be stressful for babies, but it also has many benefits for their health- especially for their lungs, which will be one of the big concerns of delivering early. So again, I wonder whether allowing your body to labor at least for a while would be beneficial even if you had to end up with a c-section toward the end? How did the doctors feel about natural induction methods? Or medical induction methods vs. c-section or is that just out of the question for them? It just seems really interesting to me that one of the biggest concerns with twins is PROM and yet here you are still going, still healthy. Those babies want to keep cooking!
If they are willing to compromise at 36.5ish weeks this does seem pretty good. I've had friends with 36 week babies that hardly seemed premature, if at all. And by next week hopefully they will have both gained another half to full pound each. If it were me, I think I would set up the appointment for next week and in the meantime find out of natural induction techniques during this next week would be safe. Then if you can get your body to go into labor just before the appointment, well, then you might reap those benefits as well. Just a thought...
((HUGS)) mama!
Good luck Nicole! Thank you for updating.
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