I think I may be becoming somewhat of a morning person. Having to leave by 630 to get to my appointments has reminded me of how much I love Summer mornings. It reminds me of the early morning runs I took nearly every day last year. And of camping as a kid.
Good times.
But it only applies in the Summer. I'm still holding on to my "not a morning person" status for the dark and cold months.
Things began bright and early at 8am for a full growth ultrasound. I was flying solo today as Hubby had some meetings at work he needed to be in. I was ok, but I know he felt awful that he wasn't there. It was a little weird since he's been at every appointment for all the extra things going on this pregnancy. I did feel bad that he was missing the ultrasound.
Jo-the lovely sonographer we saw when we first transferred to this facility-was the lucky gal who got to peek into my belly today. I was glad it was her-she's a gem! She is so very good at going over every single little detail with me, generous with pictures, and takes her time to make sure we get to see everything.
This morning we got to see all sorts of fun things; We saw forehead movements, an eye open and close, and we saw his little mouth sucking away. Not sure what he was sucking at, but just to see that his body is able to do that brought a huge rush of relief to me. The unknowns of how much his brain has been affected by the pressure from the hydrocephalus are scary, so seeing him do something like making a sucking motion is such a treat! Jo also got a shot from an angle that was kind of a view of his shoulder and the back/side of his head. She stopped at that point and said "look! Do you see that fuzzy line along here? He has hair!"
It was beautiful!
We've never had late pregnancy ultrasounds with any of our other children and I am constantly amazed at just how much can be made out in a plain old 2D ultrasound.
His BPD is measuring just over 8cms, which is average for a baby at about 31wks, so just a few days ahead! His head circumference has increased at a greater level than in the past, which is a little scary, but still within an ok range. HC was measuring about 31cms, which is average for a 34wk fetus, so nearly 4 weeks ahead. He has been staying within a 2-3wks ahead range for the past 12 weeks, so seeing that range increase is a bit worrisome to me, especially when we are SO close to being able to deliver.
Our Perinatologist was absolutely thrilled with his measurements though; she is more concerned about the BPD number than the actual head circumference number, so since his BPD is in a great range, she is still very encouraging about delivery. She keeps mentioning if we get to 35-36wks we can do steroids for his lungs and go ahead and induce, so if his head stays in an ok range for just a little over one more month, we should be ok!
As far as I'm concerned, I'm still as boring as one could hope. In fact as the midwife (that I see each visit for standard pregnancy stuff before I see the Peri) was trying to get all of my information into their new computer system, she had a hard time even finding a label for me. Most high risk pregnancies are high risk because of issues with the mother, not the baby. It was kind of nice to watch her scrolling through a list of hundreds of issues and know that none of them apply to me. I ended up being flagged as "Unspecified Pregnancy Complication", with clarification of baby having hydrocephalus added in the extra fields. Nice.
I am measuring right on, which is wonderful because to be honest, I think I would be beyond uncomfortable if I was still hanging out at 6wks ahead. oy! I only gained one more pound over the past two weeks (I swear their scale must be broken), putting me up a total of 18lbs from my official pre-pregnancy weight, and 24lbs from my first pre-pregnancy weigh in. That works!!
My blood pressure was a whopping 96/58. Go me!
AFter the midwife came the Perinatologist, for a run down of Sam's scan and some info on the MRI. Everything looks fabulous with him. Still the issue of not being able to get a good vent measurement because of his position, but I will take him sitting head down over a clear cut measurement anyday!! We were able to measure one side, which came up at 18mm, but really can't tell how very accurate that is. Dr B was hopeful that we could know on the MRI soon, she mentioned that she is leading committee with Radiology, Neonatology and Perinatology tomorrow morning, so she was hoping to get a chance to go over the scans with them then and get the to Neurology as well and call us by that afternoon. Otherwise we are looking at likely about a week until we hear anything. Ok. I'll plan for the week and hope we hear by then.
At least I've learned to overestimate what I'm told by medical personel, and be pleasantly surprised if I hear back before my estimates.
After that I finally headed down to MRI.
Fun times for a slightly claustrophobic girl with an expanded girth.
And really, could those tubes be any smaller? I really don't think I'm that big of a person-maybe I'm just in denial. I get that my waist has increased what, probably 10 inches at this point?, but still, not that huge. With the brace thing they put over me to help facilitate the scan, I was scraping along the edge of the tube. Yes my hips have spread and I was kind of laying on my side, but still-ack!!
I aimed for keeping my eyes closed and hoped that the music I picked would help me not think about the fact that I was stuck in the middle of a long thin tube.
I could almost hear the music.
So I just kept my eyes closed and willed Sam to hold still so they could get all the pictures they needed from all the right angles and not take too long about it.
Phew!
I survived.
And now we wait again.
Next appointment is in two more weeks, a big fat "yippee!" that I haven't had to bump to weekly monitoring yet. Especially with the nearly hour and a half drive.
Back at 32 weeks and 2 days. July 1st. Crossing that calendar line into July will be a huge relief. June is just too early to have to deliver, but July seems ok.
Holding out for 32 weeks.
Loving the squirmy little boy inside my belly.
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