Monday, November 2, 2009

All is well

Today was a marathon day of appointments, starting with a non-stress test at 8:30 a.m. and ending with an OB appointment that was supposed to be at 2:30, but they were running 90 minutes late. In between those, we had a fetal echocardiogram, and an ultrasound to check on the baby's growth, and basically everything went well. The details are as follows:

Non-Stress Test: The baby was very active this morning, so it went fast. He's still practice breathing, amniotic fluid still looks good. They were a little concerned that I had a few contractions (again not perceptible by me), but weren't worried enough to send me to labor and delivery again.

Fetal Echocardiogram: The big thing they were checking here was to see if a structure in his heart called the ductus arteriosus was still open. It's still open, and that's good, because if it weren't, he would be in immediate distress after birth and would probably have to be delivered by C-section. Everything else looked basically the same, and they said there's no reason why we can't have a natural birth. He won't have another echo until right after he's born.

They also told us a little bit more about exactly what will happen when the baby is born. Basically, we'll have a few minutes with him, and then he'll be whisked away and an umbilical IV will be placed to administer the drugs he'll need to maintain his circulation prior to surgery. I was a little surprised to learn that he won't be given anything at all to eat for his first couple of days, but apparently they do that because otherwise there is a risk of the bowel dying due to poor circulation.

Growth ultrasound: The baby is growing normally, and is presently 5 lbs, 8 oz. Interestingly, that is exactly the cutoff for "low birth weight" in most of the medical literature, so I'm glad it's looking like he'll be at least that. They also measured my cervix today even though they weren't planning to, and according to ultrasound, which is the most accurate way to measure, my cervix is still about 1.5 cm and CLOSED, which is the same as it's been for about a month now, and better than what they told me in labor and delivery last week! So, that was good news, that these imperceptible contractions don't seem to be doing anything.

OB appointment: This one was pretty boring, as it basically just consisted of me telling our OB what happened at all our other appointments today.

And that is pretty much it for big appointments! I will still be going in for bi-weekly non-stress tests, and have another OB appointment in 2 weeks, but we are done with fetal echos and ultrasounds, and now we just wait for this baby to come out.

7 comments:

  1. Here's to another month of those "All is Well" blogs. We continue to wish for all good tests and all good outcomes. It sounds as if Baby is doing his part.
    Sending love,
    Nancy

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  2. yay! here's hoping you get to deliver naturally, I truly believe that trip down the birth canal can make a difference to these heart babies, with the compression that gets all that fluid out of the lungs. Not too much longer now, ya feelin ready? :)

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  3. Jen, that is great news! I'm so happy for you! I didn't know the PDA could close before birth. That's a scary thought. I always thought that process occurred after birth, within hours or days.
    They wanted me to deliver naturally also, but that didn't work out. I hope they are able to give you a few minutes with your son before they have to start working on him. I wasn't given that opportunity [mainly due to the c-section, I believe], although they did invite my husband over to check him out while they cleaned him up and did what they needed to do. I only got to see him for a few short precious minutes while he was being baptized before they took him away to Nationwide. Then it was 2 more days before I got to see him again. That sucked. But I'm more than making up for all that lost time now :-)
    I'm hoping that all continues to go smoothly for you and The Baby.

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  4. Lisa, they said that we should be able to spend "a few" minutes with him after he's born before they whisk him away, but I keep thinking about how hard that's going to be to hand him over. Luckily, he will be staying in the same hospital as us (and probably even on the same floor at first in the NICU) so hopefully we won't have to have as much separation from him as you did from Gabe. By the way, I hope Gabe has a smooth recovery from his cath today, and I'm so glad it sounds like it went pretty smoothly!

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  5. Oh Jen, you have no idea how hard it is going to be to give him back once you've held him in your arms. I'm glad that the 2 of you will be staying in the same hospital. That will definitely make it a lot easier for you to spend time together.
    Thanks for your well wishes for Gabe. He's had a lot of sedation/anesthesia this week and that always rocks his little world for a few days. He seems to be feeling much better now. You'll have to come by the House - I've posted some pictures of the procedure.
    I also added your blog to my blogroll - I hope that's okay!

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