Ultrasound Update 33w4d

They were able to get us in pretty early for our ultrasound check this morning. Overall, Baby Z still looks good but she is falling behind on the growth scale. The past several ultrasounds we've had have measured her in the 14th-13th percentile for her gestational age. Today she measured in the 7th percentile. Some of you may remember that when we were first checked in, they said "there's no need to worry unless she falls under the 10th percentile". Well, we are now under the 10th percentile. They are estimating she weighs around 3lbs 8oz at the moment.

As they told us the news, I was thinking that was it -- today was the day they might decide to go ahead and take her. But they checked on the umbilical cord and it is showing that the blood flow is good and she's getting all of the nutrients she needs. We also do a non-stress test every single morning on her and me and her heart rate always looks like she's happy and healthy, so they said they are not worried about her at the moment. However, if in the next week or two she starts to look like she's stressed, they might go ahead and decide it's time to go. But the doctor said as we are getting closer to the end, usually "bigger" people's babies tend to grow on the upswing and "smaller" people's babies tend to grow on the downswing. They consider me small (height/stature) so they do take that into consideration when they're looking at growth (which is why they're not too worried yet). I'm glad they're not concerned yet - that is somewhat of a relief - but to go from the 13th percentile down to the 7th in just three weeks is worrisome to me. And to think, I was 9lbs 2oz when I was born! Goodness!

I still have previa -- it looks about the same as it was last time (just bordering my cervix) but my cervix is still closed. That is good news.

My spleen does look a little more squished but they said they're not worried about it at this point in time. Also good news.

They said they will likely do another ultrasound on us next week to check the blood flow on the umbilical cord just to be sure she's getting all of the nutrients she needs. We will probably schedule a date for 36 weeks sometime this afternoon or tomorrow. Of course, it's subject to change based on any signs of distress on her end. So...we'll continue to wait and see. Thankful that today doesn't appear to be "the day" but was hoping to hear she was still growing on par with what she has been.

When we schedule a date, I will post an edit on this blog entry so check back on this entry later today or tomorrow. Please continue to pray that Baby Z is healthy and getting all that she needs. And please continue to pray that I will have peace about the surgeries. **UPDATE: We are scheduled for Thursday, November 15th at 8:30am. We'll be 36 weeks to the day if we make it that far!**

Thanks to all of you who are praying for us every day! We can't thank you enough.

33w4d

Asked for a pic of the spleen :)

33 Weeks + 1

Well, we made it to my goal (of 33 weeks), but here's hoping we can make it to the next goal -- 36 weeks!

A friend of mine's sister got checked in to the room across the hall from me last night. She was just a few days ahead of me gestation-wise and went into preterm labor yesterday. After trying to stop the labor unsuccessfully, they had to deliver her by C-section quickly this morning. On the bright side, it's nice to see just how quickly the staff here is able to handle an emergency. On the not bright side, it's a stark reminder at how quickly things can go awry. Prayers for her and baby are appreciated --  I suspect since baby came around 34 weeks, she may be in NICU for a little while, and mom wasn't prepared for an emergency C-section, so please pray for her physical and emotional recovery.

Our next ultrasound is Monday morning. If everything is still looking good, they said we'd start talking about scheduling my C-section/splenectomy. And while no one here has mentioned that we may be heading off to have Baby Z on Monday, I am trying to mentally prepare myself just in case it looks like my spleen is in danger and they decide to play it safe rather than sorry. I'm really hoping that they say everything looks good and we can continue forward.

I talked to the Infectious Disease doctor today about the recommendation about medication after they take my spleen. I've read that some doctors prescribe something for a couple of years to boost the immune system for a while and I've read that some doctors do not recommend it. He said he would not recommend it as it could make my body resistant to antibiotics and if/when I do contract something, it may not be as responsive to the medication. He said he may prescribe me something to keep on hand in case I were to come down with something and was unable to get medical attention quickly, just as a backup, but that's it.

In other news, the hospital is shutting off power for 12 hours tomorrow to test emergency power backups and do maintenance. For those of you who panic when you don't hear from me within an hour or two, there's a good chance I will be void of internet tomorrow evening starting at 6pm. Looks like I may be doing a lot of reading and going to the bathroom via flashlight or glow stick. ;)

Other than that, we're still hanging out. The hospital has been crazy busy the past week (must be leading up to full moon) so I am sticking to my bed like glue just in case whatever is "going around" tries to creep into my room. Trying to stay stable, stable, stable!

Here we are!!

33w1d

32 weeks

I apologize that it's been more than a week since I have updated; there just hasn't been much new to report on! :) We have made it to 32 weeks -- Praise The Lord! Baby Z is still active and seems to be doing really well despite a couple of days having to stay on the monitor longer due to her moving a lot and having it look like her heart rate was dipping. Fortunately, after extending the time on the monitor, she looked just fine - I think it was just the position she was in.

The Infectious Disease doctors have given the go-ahead to remove my spleen during the C-section (unless something happens where I am not stable enough to do so). I have been on the Albendazole medication for the parasite long enough where they feel like the risk in removing it is greatly diminished at this point. It sounds like even after the surgeries, though, they would like me to stay on the medication until December 4th, just in case I have another cyst somewhere that hasn't been found or in case I have one that has been too small to detect as of yet. Being on the medication for the full three months should kill off anything that might be hiding, so they want to take the "play it safe" approach, which is fine by me.

The nursery is almost finished! The changing table and the crib and the rocking chair are all set up. There are only a handful of things left that we still need, so if you would like to contribute to any of the remaining items on our registry, the links are in the right column next to this post under "Baby Registries". :)

I am getting more anxious as we approach the end which could be anywhere from now through another four weeks or so. My biggest fears are needles and surgery (and not having any control) so putting all three of those together into one big event is pretty difficult for me. Prayers that I have peace about it by the time we actually get there are greatly appreciated.

Here are some pictures!

Rocking chair and ottoman my sweet coworkers got for us.

Changing table and crib ready to go.

32w1d

Thankful to all of you who are praying for us!

Ultrasound Update

I can't believe I have been in the hospital for six weeks (as of yesterday). I thought originally that I would come in, have them check me out, tell me I am stable and send me home. But six weeks has flown right by ... well, maybe not flown, but it's been a bit of a whirlwind so it doesn't exactly feel like it's been six weeks.

We had another ultrasound this morning to check on everything. All of this info is coming straight from the ultrasound tech as I haven't heard anything official from the doctors, yet (probably will hear from them later this afternoon). Updates from doctor in italics.

It appears I still have a previa. I am not sure if it's still considered complete previa but Baby Z's head is pretty much directly over my cervix along with the previa. Looking at the images of it, I can't believe I haven't been bleeding more frequently or with more intensity (especially with how active she is). I am attributing that entirely on God answering the prayers of so many of you on our behalf - thank you. Update from doctor: I still have previa, but it is no longer complete previa! My previa has migrated some and is still right next to the opening of my cervix, but it is not completely covering my cervix. We can still have a big bleed that sends us off to surgery, but the likelihood of that happening gets less and less as the previa hopefully continues to migrate away from the cervix. Praise the Lord!!

My spleen still looks the same. I watched her measure it and it's pretty much the exact same measurements as last time so that should indicate it's not getting too squished yet. Also an answer to prayer. Doctor confirmed that it is still the same and the cyst may even be a bit smaller, but not significantly smaller - only a few millimeters at most. In addition, the doctors and I have all agreed that we're hoping not to have to rush off to surgery for at least another couple of weeks - after that, I will have been on the parasite medication for 8+ weeks which will have given the medication time to start killing off what is inside the cyst. That will greatly decrease the risk for other organs being contaminated should there be an issue during the removal of the spleen.

Baby Z looks great!! She is still measuring small but she is progressing exactly as she should in regards to what she has been. She is an estimated 2lbs14oz which is a huge relief to me - I was afraid she was significantly smaller than she should be, but the average weight she should be is only about one pound bigger. I'll take it. And in other answers to prayer, this past Sunday was the first time she kicked my ribcage (and I've gotten a few more jabs to the ribs since) but all of her kicking and pushing and moving has been localized to my right side, so nowhere near my spleen (which rests under my left ribcage). I also suspect the previa is probably partially what is keeping her stationed so low in my uterus, which is also a good thing for my spleen. God is showing off in the midst of all of the stuff going on. Doctor didn't give us any information we didn't already know on Baby Z. :)

Here are some pictures from today's ultrasound. Thanks for continuing to pray for us - it is working!!

Baby Z 30w5d

Baby Z 30w5d "I see you"

No News Is Good News

I am so glad that I don't have much to update! So far, there hasn't been any more bleeding - HALLELUJAH! I am still paranoid that it will happen again, but the doctors have all said "maybe you're done" -- I certainly hope so. If we stay stable this week, our next ultrasound is a week from today where we'll check on Baby Z, on the previa, and on the spleen again. All of the nurses I've talked to who used to work the NICU have all told me that 30 weeks is kind of the "magic number" for weeks of gestation where they would always breathe a sigh of relief when a baby was born at that gestation or later - they said those babies have a lot fewer problems than babies born before 30 weeks (and most of them are relaying that from their experience over 10+ years ago in the NICU).

We will be 30 weeks on Thursday. Thankful to be plugging away at the days Baby Z can hold on and develop!

I haven't done a whole lot of bragging on the staff at Mission (just a little here and there) but the nurses and doctors have all been so wonderful. On the days when I had the bleeding and they had to switch me from being under the care of the Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFU) unit to the Labor and Delivery (L&D) unit, I found out that the MFU nurses would keep my monitor up at their desk and watch everything happening even though I was not technically their patient any more. Even since I've been back under the care of MFU since last Wednesday, the nurse I had while under the care of L&D has come by to check on me several times. She was nurse to a lady who was in labor next door to me earlier today and once she'd finished with her, she stopped by just to ask how I was doing and to tell me she was thinking of me while she was helping deliver on the other side of the wall. I realize I am technically just a patient, but I really haven't gotten the feeling that I'm just a patient to any of the staff. They seem to genuinely care about all of us and I'm so thankful.

In addition, I am beyond grateful to be in a country where they value the life of my unborn child. I know all of the Roe vs. Wade debates that are still in the spotlight in this country and how many people still feel like life doesn't begin until birth (and, as such, is not as valuable), but any time I've talked to anyone at Mission Hospital, they've been adamant that they want Baby Z to be in the best health/shape possible and want to delay me having her any earlier than I absolutely have to. I can't imagine being in a country where if I'd had a bleed or had a large splenic cyst that the medical staff may not be as concerned about making sure that my child's interests were also considered in the course of treatment. Sometimes the nurses come in just to give her a quick listen in the afternoons even though I know on my chart it doesn't indicate they have to do that as long as I'm stable. I really feel like everyone here is as concerned for her welfare as Paul and I are.

Not much else to report at the moment, thankfully! Paul thinks he has passed the kidney stone, finally! And we're looking forward to our friends & family baby shower this weekend (at the hospital) assuming there are no more surprises. :) I may be in a wheelchair the whole time, but I am beyond excited to see everyone regardless of the fact that I won't be able to be very "active".

Thanks for all of the prayers! I know how many hundreds are lifting us up (and probably hundreds more that I don't even know about who are lifting us up). Amazes me to have so many people committed to praying for us every day. I can't wait for this little miracle to meet all of you when she gets here.

"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." -John 15:7