Today we had another appointment. Surprising, I know. It was for an ultrasound and a 'work up'. What that basically means it that the practice I've been going to finally switched all of my care from my regular OB to strictly their practice. They did the ultrasound then a normal OB appointment where they weighed me, took my blood pressure, etc etc. Today Dr. Lanouette did our ultrasound, then we meet Dr. McLean, who did our OB appointment. Now we have meet all four of the doctors at the office. When their we will see who ever is available for that day. Also the doctors have a weekly meeting and discuss the patients so everyone is up to date. They have a picture of us to go along with our chart to make sure they know who they are discussing. Also, they are going to make and send a chart over to UCD and keep it up to date just in case I need to go in early and they are not on shift at UCD, the doctors at UCD will know my history and be prepared.
First, her growth is still slow and decreasing. They can't get an exact number of how many weeks/days she is behind since one of the measurements is around the abdomen, and that number is off since her intestines are not inside her abdomen. But the measurement for her leg was about 25 weeks, and her head was about 27 weeks. The tech said that she is about 1 lb 11 oz. I was just excited to finally hear an estimated size sine we haven't been told anything as of yet. I've looked a little online, and for 28 weeks 'normal' weight is about 2.2 - 2.8 lbs. So if she really is 1.11 lbs, that's not too far off. Small yes, but with all things considering not to far behind.
Now, the new issue they found involves her umbilical cord and blood flow. Like I said, I am not 100% sure on what they mean and what they are talking about, but I will do my best to explain.
They noticed that the blood flow in her umbilical cord is restricted when she is trying to take blood in from the placenta. They way the doctor explained it was that imagine Anabelle is down lower then the placenta; the blood flow is normal and can move easily down to her. However when she is even or she is higher then the placenta is gets harder for the blood to flow from the placenta to her. This can cause her heart to work harder, and also can account for her being smaller. The doctor said that her heart still looks fine and doesn't look like it's working harder, but they want to track it just to make sure it doesn't get worse. I know that's jumbled and confusing. Sorry.. but that's as far as I understand and the best I can try to explain.
Also, they are going to start Fetal Non-Stress tests at 30 weeks. They do them twice a week, every week. So we have 6 doctor appointments in January! With the Non-Stress tests, they just strap a few bands with monitors around my belly and check her heart rate and movements. They said they can last anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours. If within the first hour they don't see everything they need to see, then they'll have me walk around or move positions, then try again. And if after the 2nd hour they still don't see what they are looking for, they'll send me over to UCD to get checked out.
I also asked if we will deliver early because the surgeons were telling us different dates of when they like to deliver. Dr. McLean said that they do consult periodically with the surgeons. Last time they talked they decided that babies with gastrocentesis should be delivered between 36 - 37 weeks. I told her that the surgeon said they like the babies to be as close to term to avoid the extra complications associated with preterm babies, and she said they will talk again with the surgeons and develop a plan for us.
I am finally doing my titers again to check the antibody levels as well as doing the glucose screen and a cystic fibrosis screening. They also started us on a fetal movement diary to make sure her movement is keeping up. The doctor said her limbs arn't moving, and I am feeling her head and body move. We were able to see her moving during the ultrasound though. Oh! And Dr. Lanouette said that she is very low already, but so were Amelia and Allison.
Ok, I think that covers today's appointment! We start our Non-Stress tests (NST) on the 9th. We'll continue to keep you all updated.
Hope everyone had an amazing Christmas, and hope you all have a safe and happy New Year's!
With love,
The Polks
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