I had my 2 appointments this week. Both went well and the baby passed the tests with flying colors. The baby is apparently on a schedule of being wide awake for the biophysical profile- which is first and then falling fast asleep for the non-stress test. This leads to the ultrasound lasting about 2 minutes because "your baby did great," "no problem getting everything this time," and "I'm sure your baby will get through the NST quickly with all of this movement." Then we go in for the NST (take Monday for example) and the baby sits quietly with a heart rate of between 138-142 which basically makes a ruler line on the paper (not the ups and downs that need to see). So I drink some water, then I lay on my left side, then I switch to my right side, then I drink some more water, then they use a buzzer thing to buzz my stomach (like an alarm clock sound, not an actual buzz), then how about 2 cans of apple juice, then 3 graham crackers, then 2 glasses of ice water, then more buzzing, then more switching sides. Finally 2 hours after getting hooked up, the baby decided that was enough of a nap, woke up did 2 quick accelerations (heart rate goes up from the norm by 15 bpm for approximately 15 seconds) and I was able to get unhooked and head home. Thursday wasn't so long, only an hour. I guess I will just hope the baby keeps this schedule and sleeps everyday once he or she is out from about 9-11, I can dream right?
Not much else going on baby related. My mom has been here to help with the boys for appointments and in case I go into labor. She is actually back in Iowa for the weekend, but Eric's parents are coming in tomorrow to spend the weekend with us. I am excited to report I only have 4 more appointments left before the baby and that two weeks from Sunday, I will be heading to the hospital to have this baby and we'll finally know if it is a girl or a boy. Oliver told me this morning probably a boy so we can have a baseball team. Have a great weekend!!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Thursday, August 23- 35 weeks, 5 days
I haven't updated for a few appointments, but honestly there isn't much to report most of the time. I had an appointment this morning and they did a growth ultrasound. The baby is growing quickly. He or she was measuring ahead at 37 weeks and weighing in at an estimated weight of 7 lbs, 1 oz. The abdominal cavity is measuring at 38 weeks, 3 days which is a good thing considering we want to add a little more inside once the baby comes out. The baby scored a perfect 10 out of 10 between the BPP and the NST. I asked about how long they would let me go and she said no longer than 39 weeks-ish. And then she said let's schedule an induction date- so now I have an end date in mind. September 16th (a Sunday night) I will go in and get admitted and start the induction process. More than likely, if the baby waits that long, he or she would make a grand entrance on September 17th. I will say that I have a bit of a gut feeling that this baby will come earlier, but who knows if that actually means anything. Last night I kept waking up thinking what if my water breaks, but it never did. I think it might be because my mom got into town last night and so now if it happens, we don't have to worry about taking the boys anywhere. I do think I might start a hospital bag and get a few things together so we are prepped.
Have a good night everyone!
Have a good night everyone!
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Pediatric Surgeon Meeting
We met with the pediatric surgeon today. It was not quite what we were expecting, but overall, it was good. He was extremely optimistic in the prognosis of what is going to be happening. He said from looking at the sonograms and information collected, he said it definitely falls under the omphalocele category, but he describes it as more of a herniated umbilical cord/belly button. He definitely made sure we understood that we won't know everything until the baby is actually here and can be examined, but he said it is very possible that the baby will come out, they'll take a look at it and, as he described it, "stick it back in while the baby is in the NICU bed, put some tape over it, and let it heal itself." Obviously this would be amazing to have such a minor procedure done in comparison to the baby having surgery. He did say if they look and think that pushing it in won't work, they will do surgery, but it won't be an emergency by any means.
We asked about the hospital stay, assuming the baby is healthy and other things are fine, and that they are able to put it back in without surgery. The doctor said "3 days." We asked if the baby had to have surgery, how much would that likely change and he said add 2 days. The fact that we are looking at under a week now is amazing. The nurse practitioner who works with the surgeons was quick to say that since the baby will be in the NICU, they are less lenient with letting babies leave if they aren't eating as well. So here is hoping that this baby eats as well as both boys ate and gains quickly so that won't be a concern.
He was making everything sound so minor so I asked if I would still need to have a c-section between 37 and 38 weeks as we have been planning for quite awhile. He said from what he sees, he doesn't think this means I need to have a c-section. He again made us aware that other things can cause need for a c-section, but assuming all else is normal, he doesn't feel I would need to have a c-section based on this issue alone. I am beyond thrilled at this prospect- I am hoping to talk to my doctor at my appointment tomorrow morning and and really hoping they agree and I can skip the whole c-section step.
It is sounding like we will be able to hold the baby immediately (barring any other arising issues), which again sounds wonderful as we were preparing ourselves to not be able to hold the baby for potentially a week or so. They said that I should be able to nurse the baby without any major concerns, but will have to wait probably 12-24 hours before nursing the first time while they assess the baby and decide what procedure will be done and if surgery/anesthesia need to be done.
We asked about being at Carle (our local hospital) or being in Peoria (the children's hospital about 1.5 hours away) and he said Carle is absolutely fine. We were excited to hear that.
This basically changes our whole planning of knowing when the baby will be getting here and what all we were expecting to happen, but we will take this news over knowing the day the baby is coming any day. We are also keeping in our minds how much of a roller coaster this whole process has been and knowing that it could very well take another twist and all of the things we are excited about right now could change. But for know, we are going to enjoy the thought of me not needing a c-section, the baby not needing surgery and coming home within days of delivery.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers - we really appreciate it. Thanks also to all of our friends who have been helping us out immensely by watching the boys while we are at appointments.
We asked about the hospital stay, assuming the baby is healthy and other things are fine, and that they are able to put it back in without surgery. The doctor said "3 days." We asked if the baby had to have surgery, how much would that likely change and he said add 2 days. The fact that we are looking at under a week now is amazing. The nurse practitioner who works with the surgeons was quick to say that since the baby will be in the NICU, they are less lenient with letting babies leave if they aren't eating as well. So here is hoping that this baby eats as well as both boys ate and gains quickly so that won't be a concern.
He was making everything sound so minor so I asked if I would still need to have a c-section between 37 and 38 weeks as we have been planning for quite awhile. He said from what he sees, he doesn't think this means I need to have a c-section. He again made us aware that other things can cause need for a c-section, but assuming all else is normal, he doesn't feel I would need to have a c-section based on this issue alone. I am beyond thrilled at this prospect- I am hoping to talk to my doctor at my appointment tomorrow morning and and really hoping they agree and I can skip the whole c-section step.
It is sounding like we will be able to hold the baby immediately (barring any other arising issues), which again sounds wonderful as we were preparing ourselves to not be able to hold the baby for potentially a week or so. They said that I should be able to nurse the baby without any major concerns, but will have to wait probably 12-24 hours before nursing the first time while they assess the baby and decide what procedure will be done and if surgery/anesthesia need to be done.
We asked about being at Carle (our local hospital) or being in Peoria (the children's hospital about 1.5 hours away) and he said Carle is absolutely fine. We were excited to hear that.
This basically changes our whole planning of knowing when the baby will be getting here and what all we were expecting to happen, but we will take this news over knowing the day the baby is coming any day. We are also keeping in our minds how much of a roller coaster this whole process has been and knowing that it could very well take another twist and all of the things we are excited about right now could change. But for know, we are going to enjoy the thought of me not needing a c-section, the baby not needing surgery and coming home within days of delivery.
Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers - we really appreciate it. Thanks also to all of our friends who have been helping us out immensely by watching the boys while we are at appointments.
Monday, August 13, 2012
2 Appointment Update
I didn't get this updated after last Thursday's appointment and last night I figured I might as well wait until after today's. Both appointments went well. I was out of the office in less than 2 hours each time. Thursday, baby looked fine, did great on the tests again. I was having contractions through the NST, but laying down helped that and I'm still not feeling them at all. They weren't too worried and gave us the go-ahead to head to Indianapolis to visit the children's museum that Saturday.
Today was pretty similar- Eric was able to go which was nice. The baby did great on the tests again. I was apparently not having much for contractions because I never had to lay down and the test was over pretty quickly. The nurse practitioner didn't have any concerns. I asked if I would need any other tests or anything that wasn't on the schedule already and it doesn't sound like I need much- I have to be tested for Group B Strep, but that is normal at 35-36 weeks so I'll do that next week. She said I shouldn't need anymore lab work which is always an exciting thing to hear.
Eric and I are both excited for our appointment on Wednesday to meet with the surgeons and get a better idea on everything. Hopefully by that night we will know where I will be delivering at and hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have a date! We need to write down all of our questions tomorrow night so that we can go in prepared- I know we have talked about lots of them, but it is always best to have a list when we go in. I would say you can probably expect an updated post either Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon with all the details we know.
Have a great day!
Today was pretty similar- Eric was able to go which was nice. The baby did great on the tests again. I was apparently not having much for contractions because I never had to lay down and the test was over pretty quickly. The nurse practitioner didn't have any concerns. I asked if I would need any other tests or anything that wasn't on the schedule already and it doesn't sound like I need much- I have to be tested for Group B Strep, but that is normal at 35-36 weeks so I'll do that next week. She said I shouldn't need anymore lab work which is always an exciting thing to hear.
Eric and I are both excited for our appointment on Wednesday to meet with the surgeons and get a better idea on everything. Hopefully by that night we will know where I will be delivering at and hopefully by the end of the week, we'll have a date! We need to write down all of our questions tomorrow night so that we can go in prepared- I know we have talked about lots of them, but it is always best to have a list when we go in. I would say you can probably expect an updated post either Wednesday night or Thursday afternoon with all the details we know.
Have a great day!
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Monday, August 6
Pretty normal appointment today- I had a lot of waiting time which was no fun, but everything got done. I'm looking forward to next week when Eric will be able to go with me again. During my non-stress test, I was having contractions (nothing I could feel, but the monitor was picking them up). This is seeming to be a normal thing during the NST. I asked the nurse practitioner about it and she mainly said as long as I'm not feeling them, they probably won't be a big deal. Hopefully they continue to have that view and they stay not being a big deal. The baby scored perfect again. The heart rate was 152. Not much else to report today
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Thursday, August 2
I had another appointment this morning. Everything went pretty smoothly. I was excited that I would be out early, I was through my ultrasound and nonstress test by 9:15, but then I had to wait for the doctor until 11. On the plus side, I was able to lie down in a room and get a bit of a nap in- Parker is teething and was up too many times to count last night. Things looked good again today. They said my amniotic fluid level went down a little bit, but she acted like that was normal. The baby scored 10/10 again. He or she was very active during the nonstress test and doing lots of moving. The nurse did ask me during the NST if the contraction pattern was normal and I said I guess I didn't really know, it was only my second one so I didn't really have a normal yet. She didn't seem to concerned, but did have me lie down on my side for the rest of it. She came back in and said that stopped it so I guess that was a good thing. Not much else has changed and I'm not very good about writing stuff down while I'm there- Eric usually does that and since he wasn't able to go today, I didn't really write much down. I think the baby's heartrate was in the 160s today. She said the baby wasn't head down and that it could still move, but that really isn't an issue assuming I am having a c-section. It did make me feel a little better though to remind that even if everything were going perfectly, I could very well end up with a c-section if the baby were to be breech. I'll try to take better notes on Monday and have a little more to report- maybe there will be more changes in the 4 days between now and my next appointment than in the last 3 days. :)
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