Yep, that's our new due date. 06/06/12.
You may be wondering why...well, here it goes. First, everything is fine still. We had another BPP and doppler this morning and everything looked great. No worries there. Take a deep breath, everyone.
As some of you may know, IUGR is a strange beast. Lots of people with IUGR have answers for discrepency in size - like preeclampsia in the mother, infections in mama or baby, chromosomal disorders, etc etc. Lots of different things can cause problems. Still, in a lot of cases, no cause can ever be determined and so that makes it difficult to know how to proceed. In some cases, the baby is just plain small. To quote Ben, "That's the way God made it."
We are still crossing the line between baby is just plain small and baby has an issue that we just don't know about. Almost all the literature in IUGR states that if baby is doing well (passing all BPP's, growing, blood flow looks good), you may proceed to between 37-39 weeks gestation. Well, that's confusing if you can get that far...because how far should you go? Should you go to 37 weeks and just take the baby out then (and deal with the baby OUTSIDE of the womb, perhaps in the NICU or other nursery type setting)? Or should you wait until 39 in hopes that nothing bad happens INSIDE the womb (like death...)? See, it's confusing.
Last week was our growth scan. Obviously the baby grew (or else she would already be out of me). She grew 3 weeks worth of growth and was measuring something like 32 weeks 6 days - (4 lbs 2 oz). That is a 3 week growth in 3 weeks; however, it wasn't enough to keep her on the 3rd percentile and she dropped percentiles to the 1st percentile.
We have two different sets of doctors that we see. We see an OB (Dr. Horton) and have seen him regularly since 16 weeks gestation. It's been awesome to have the same doctor every single time (highly unusual for the type of practice Emory is set up to be). We also see MFM (maternal fetal medicine) specialists, who are consultants (more specialized) to an OB. They are the doom and gloom OB's. They tell you your baby is going to die or that they will be messed up or whatever. They aren't the happy OB's. And that's ok - there is a need for that for sure.
Well, the MFM's at Emory are in the conservative camp. Get the baby out sooner than risk stillbirth. The OB's are not quite that conservative - if everything looks good, keep baby inside. Obviously, this puts us in a tough position. We were previously scheduled for delivery for June 13th (which would have been exactly 39 weeks), but today that MFM fellow (who was out of vacation last week at our growth scan and we had a different one that day) was shocked and basically told us we were "playing with fire" by delaying delivery. The MFM told us to go home and decided what we wanted to do (which I think is stupid....how can Brad and I make this decision?!?). So, we got good ole Dr. Horton to come and see us and we basically talked it over and split the difference. He could see we were anxious about it. We have never called him and not been problem patients except for this one time today. It was apparent that this is the right thing to do and we were all happy about it.
So 6/6/12. Mark your calendars. Here comes another Mitchell!
Showing posts with label IUGR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IUGR. Show all posts
Friday, June 01, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
35 weeks 1 day!
Perfect score!
Nothing else is new. Next Friday is our growth scan. If the baby drops another percentile point, then the likelihood of delivering is well....imminent. She was at the 3rd% in weight last growth scan, weighing in at 3 lbs 1 oz. You must remember that she dropped from 5th% to 3rd% last time as well. So, in order to stay at the 3rd%, we want her to weight 4 lbs 8 oz. In order to get up back up to the 5th, she needs to be 4 lbs 12 oz. That's a whole lot of growing!
Nothing else is new. Next Friday is our growth scan. If the baby drops another percentile point, then the likelihood of delivering is well....imminent. She was at the 3rd% in weight last growth scan, weighing in at 3 lbs 1 oz. You must remember that she dropped from 5th% to 3rd% last time as well. So, in order to stay at the 3rd%, we want her to weight 4 lbs 8 oz. In order to get up back up to the 5th, she needs to be 4 lbs 12 oz. That's a whole lot of growing!
Thursday, May 03, 2012
No baby today!
I say things like it is - and there is no baby coming out of me today. Woo hoo! 33 weeks 1 day pregnant. Woo hoo!
We had our growth scan today (always nerve wracking) and she grew. Yay!! Not as much as between 27 and 30 weeks, but she still grew. At 30 weeks 1 day, the baby was averaging 27 weeks 1 day - so she was exactly 3 weeks behind on her growth. Today, at 33 weeks 1 day, she was averaging 29 weeks 3 days. Her weight is 3 lbs 1 oz (1377 grams), and that is also ok (not great, but ok). She was the 5th percentile for weight before, and now she is the 3rd percentile. Our doctor (the MFM fellow) was good with everything. All the dopplers and everything else looked good, so she is pleased. Keep on keeping on.
Obviously, there is not much to do in regards to the growth. At this point, she is just a really small baby. Perhaps when she is born we will have more answers (and perhaps more questions) in regards to her growth and size. At 36 weeks, for us to get back to the 5th percentile in weight, she'll need to weigh around 4 lbs 12 oz, which is a lot of growth in 3 weeks. So we'll see. Luckily, our next growth scan is AFTER Brad's boards (1 day after, but it's still after), so it looks like we will make it to then.
Yay!! No baby!!
We had our growth scan today (always nerve wracking) and she grew. Yay!! Not as much as between 27 and 30 weeks, but she still grew. At 30 weeks 1 day, the baby was averaging 27 weeks 1 day - so she was exactly 3 weeks behind on her growth. Today, at 33 weeks 1 day, she was averaging 29 weeks 3 days. Her weight is 3 lbs 1 oz (1377 grams), and that is also ok (not great, but ok). She was the 5th percentile for weight before, and now she is the 3rd percentile. Our doctor (the MFM fellow) was good with everything. All the dopplers and everything else looked good, so she is pleased. Keep on keeping on.
Obviously, there is not much to do in regards to the growth. At this point, she is just a really small baby. Perhaps when she is born we will have more answers (and perhaps more questions) in regards to her growth and size. At 36 weeks, for us to get back to the 5th percentile in weight, she'll need to weigh around 4 lbs 12 oz, which is a lot of growth in 3 weeks. So we'll see. Luckily, our next growth scan is AFTER Brad's boards (1 day after, but it's still after), so it looks like we will make it to then.
Yay!! No baby!!
Monday, April 30, 2012
32 weeks 5 days!
Can you believe it? Almost 33 weeks! I am so excited to say that I am going to make it over the 33 week mark. I have no idea if that is some sort of magic number in development, but to me it's a magic number. Woo hoo!
Today was another BPP and it was great. Perfect score! Baby likes to move alot and once again, she is breech. There must be some sort of physiologic issue with me or my uterus because all my babies prefer the breech position. I think of all the ultrasounds I've had, she's only been head down maybe 3 times. Oh well.
I also got my first installment of my steroid shots to help the lungs develop, just in case we do deliver this week after the growth scan. I was expecting her to give me the shot in my arm, but the nurse said that she was pulling the curtain for me. I was like, "what???" She gave it to me in my bootie!! Apparently, she thought my arms were too skinny for the IM shot. Boo. Brad is going to give me my second shot tomorrow. The MFM was super nice and is letting him do it, instead of me driving up to Emory again. I bet he's looking forward to giving me a shot there. :-P
That is it for now. Til another day.
Today was another BPP and it was great. Perfect score! Baby likes to move alot and once again, she is breech. There must be some sort of physiologic issue with me or my uterus because all my babies prefer the breech position. I think of all the ultrasounds I've had, she's only been head down maybe 3 times. Oh well.
I also got my first installment of my steroid shots to help the lungs develop, just in case we do deliver this week after the growth scan. I was expecting her to give me the shot in my arm, but the nurse said that she was pulling the curtain for me. I was like, "what???" She gave it to me in my bootie!! Apparently, she thought my arms were too skinny for the IM shot. Boo. Brad is going to give me my second shot tomorrow. The MFM was super nice and is letting him do it, instead of me driving up to Emory again. I bet he's looking forward to giving me a shot there. :-P
That is it for now. Til another day.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Still looking good!
I didn't realize that I actually had some readers on this blog, but when I didn't post anything yesterday, I got a couple of emails wondering what was up. I promise, if something really important happens, you will get an email. You will hear about it. Facebook. Email. Blog. Phone call. Something. I promise!
Yesterday's BPP was perfect yet again. 8/8. Next week is our big growth scan. This will once again determine whether or not we will continue on with the pregnancy. I really do feel like I have grown, so I'm not particularly worried. I am having trouble bending over and getting up and down, so I know my belly is getting bigger. I am anxious to know "how much" she has grown. I would love for her to have caught up, that that's talking about like 6 weeks worth of growth in 3 weeks, which I don't think is possible, but I can still hope for it, right? ;-) Realistically, we just want her to stay on her growth curve - 5th%.
I am getting steroid shots on Monday and Tuesday to help develop the baby's lungs more - just in case we do deliver next week. It's kind of a one time thing (like you can only do it once during pregnancy), so the doctors had to decide when was the best time and this is when it was decided. We actually convinced the MFM fellow to let Brad give it to me at home so I don't have to go in three times next week. I'm sure Brad is looking forward to shooting me up.
One sad bit of news is that the MFM fellow we have been seeing every Monday and Thursday is changing rotations starting next week (such is the life of a resident and fellow), so we're going to get someone new. I really liked our fellow and am sad we'll have to change. I had the other fellow that is coming on next week in the very very beginning of pregnancy (like at the 6 week ultrasound where nobody thought the baby was going to make it), so I have met her before. I doubt she remembers us, but at least I have seen her before, you know?
Ok, that's it. Other than that, Ben is skipping his naps and being a big mess of a 3 year old. Sadie had her 18 month check up and has quite the spunky side (especially when it comes to her brother). We had our carpets cleaned yesterday, so we are now going to start getting ready for the baby. Yikes!
Yesterday's BPP was perfect yet again. 8/8. Next week is our big growth scan. This will once again determine whether or not we will continue on with the pregnancy. I really do feel like I have grown, so I'm not particularly worried. I am having trouble bending over and getting up and down, so I know my belly is getting bigger. I am anxious to know "how much" she has grown. I would love for her to have caught up, that that's talking about like 6 weeks worth of growth in 3 weeks, which I don't think is possible, but I can still hope for it, right? ;-) Realistically, we just want her to stay on her growth curve - 5th%.
I am getting steroid shots on Monday and Tuesday to help develop the baby's lungs more - just in case we do deliver next week. It's kind of a one time thing (like you can only do it once during pregnancy), so the doctors had to decide when was the best time and this is when it was decided. We actually convinced the MFM fellow to let Brad give it to me at home so I don't have to go in three times next week. I'm sure Brad is looking forward to shooting me up.
One sad bit of news is that the MFM fellow we have been seeing every Monday and Thursday is changing rotations starting next week (such is the life of a resident and fellow), so we're going to get someone new. I really liked our fellow and am sad we'll have to change. I had the other fellow that is coming on next week in the very very beginning of pregnancy (like at the 6 week ultrasound where nobody thought the baby was going to make it), so I have met her before. I doubt she remembers us, but at least I have seen her before, you know?
Ok, that's it. Other than that, Ben is skipping his naps and being a big mess of a 3 year old. Sadie had her 18 month check up and has quite the spunky side (especially when it comes to her brother). We had our carpets cleaned yesterday, so we are now going to start getting ready for the baby. Yikes!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Another great BPP!
I feel like I'm just repeating myself over and over again, but it is totally awesome to be able to do so. Baby got another perfect score this morning and we were done with the scan in less than 5 minutes. Now if it didn't take 45 minutes to go 4 miles this morning on the interstate...:-P
For all you out there who are counting, I am 30 weeks and 5 days today. I have had 13 ultrasounds so far this pregnancy (and I refused one in the beginning just because I wanted to leave the office and didn't really feel like being a teaching patient at the moment for the med student). Here's hoping for at least 14 more ultrasounds.
For all you out there who are counting, I am 30 weeks and 5 days today. I have had 13 ultrasounds so far this pregnancy (and I refused one in the beginning just because I wanted to leave the office and didn't really feel like being a teaching patient at the moment for the med student). Here's hoping for at least 14 more ultrasounds.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
God is so good!
No baby today! I can't tell you how excited Brad and I are to not have a 30 week baby, but today's scans were great. We had another growth scan (they only do those every 3 weeks) and our baby grew 3 weeks and 1 day in 3 weeks! She reached the 2 pound mark (910 grams to be exact), which is what I was secretly hoping for at today's scan. Some of her little body parts grew more than others, which is fine. She is still hovering around the 5th% or less in everything, but that is fine for now as long as she doesn't drop off and continues to grow. She is still considered "symmetrically growth restricted," but for now she still looks just "constitutionally small" (i.e. just a really small baby). Nothing to be concerned about really, except for her petite size. Of course, we won't know for sure until the day she is born, but right now we are quite positive about the outcome.
For now, we will continue with what we are doing - going in twice a week for biophysical profiles, every other week to the OB, and every three weeks to do a growth scan. Once we hit 33 weeks, I will get steroid shots to help her lungs develop, and at 37 weeks we will deliver (of course assuming that we haven't already delivered).
I know I am hoping and praying for a lot, but for the next growth scan we would like to see her continue to grow symmetrically within the time allotted (3 weeks in 3 weeks) and I would love to see her at 3 lbs. So pray for that!! I feel like we can get there, that we can get all the way to 37 weeks.
Thank you everyone!!
For now, we will continue with what we are doing - going in twice a week for biophysical profiles, every other week to the OB, and every three weeks to do a growth scan. Once we hit 33 weeks, I will get steroid shots to help her lungs develop, and at 37 weeks we will deliver (of course assuming that we haven't already delivered).
I know I am hoping and praying for a lot, but for the next growth scan we would like to see her continue to grow symmetrically within the time allotted (3 weeks in 3 weeks) and I would love to see her at 3 lbs. So pray for that!! I feel like we can get there, that we can get all the way to 37 weeks.
Thank you everyone!!
Monday, April 09, 2012
29 weeks 5 days
Had another biophysical profile this morning. Little miss gave us a little anxiety because she did not want to show us that she could breathe. We had to sit there for quite awhile until she finally took her little practice breath. She was moving and heart beating and blood flowing, but she was just not practicing her breathing for us. Finally, she did. The fellow explained that for the most part, women don't even start on biophysical profiles until they are 32 weeks pregnant (we are just one of the few that got to start at 28 weeks...) because babies don't regularly practice breathing until then. Before 32 weeks, they just do it more in intervals, so no biggie.
Honestly, these biophysical profiles are not the barrier in the pregnancy. I am not expecting to go in and fail one of these tests and deliver the same day. Maybe I am being naive, but I just don't think that will happen. They sure are an inconvenience though.
Thursday is our growth scan. That is, in my opinion, the barrier. If little miss has not grown, I do fully expect to have the baby soon (if not that same day).
All in all, a great appointment. Pray to keep this baby inside and to continue growing.
Honestly, these biophysical profiles are not the barrier in the pregnancy. I am not expecting to go in and fail one of these tests and deliver the same day. Maybe I am being naive, but I just don't think that will happen. They sure are an inconvenience though.
Thursday is our growth scan. That is, in my opinion, the barrier. If little miss has not grown, I do fully expect to have the baby soon (if not that same day).
All in all, a great appointment. Pray to keep this baby inside and to continue growing.
Thursday, April 05, 2012
29 weeks 1 day - Perfect Score!
Had another biophysical profile exam with dopplers today. Perfect score!
Maybe I'm getting cocky, but I'm beginning to think that we're going to go all the way with perfect scores to the very end of pregnancy. I'm sure my OB wouldn't want me thinking that...I'm probably setting myself up for failure,but I think what I think. ;-) Next week will surely be telling because we have our next growth scan next Thursday. If she hasn't grown, then we've got problems. I think I look bigger and I feel bigger, so hopefully that means the baby is getting bigger. I'm secretly hoping that the baby will be about 2 lbs next week (pretty unlikely given the previous measurements), but I can always hope. :-) Just for reference, the average 30 weeker is about 3 lb 7 oz.
One exciting thing that happened today is the ultrasound tech switched over to 3D for a brief minute and I got to see our baby's face. Well, at least half of it. Her right arm was covering up her right eye and side of her face. We didn't print out the picture today, but if I have the same tech next week, she said she would do it again next week. Sneaky sneaky. Honestly, it was really neat to see her in 3D. The part of her I saw was just a perfect little thing - a real baby! I'm really thankful that the tech did that for me as it was unexpectedly nice.
That's all for now. Hope everybody has a wonderful Easter!
Maybe I'm getting cocky, but I'm beginning to think that we're going to go all the way with perfect scores to the very end of pregnancy. I'm sure my OB wouldn't want me thinking that...I'm probably setting myself up for failure,but I think what I think. ;-) Next week will surely be telling because we have our next growth scan next Thursday. If she hasn't grown, then we've got problems. I think I look bigger and I feel bigger, so hopefully that means the baby is getting bigger. I'm secretly hoping that the baby will be about 2 lbs next week (pretty unlikely given the previous measurements), but I can always hope. :-) Just for reference, the average 30 weeker is about 3 lb 7 oz.
One exciting thing that happened today is the ultrasound tech switched over to 3D for a brief minute and I got to see our baby's face. Well, at least half of it. Her right arm was covering up her right eye and side of her face. We didn't print out the picture today, but if I have the same tech next week, she said she would do it again next week. Sneaky sneaky. Honestly, it was really neat to see her in 3D. The part of her I saw was just a perfect little thing - a real baby! I'm really thankful that the tech did that for me as it was unexpectedly nice.
That's all for now. Hope everybody has a wonderful Easter!
Monday, April 02, 2012
28 weeks 5 days Biophysical Profile
Yep yep....baby is still inside. Perfect score once again. I've got 3 more biophysical profile tests before my next growth scan (which is next Thursday). Hopefully, she will have made "significant progress" (whatever that means). :-)
I got to speak with the MFM fellow again today. Nothing new to report. If all goes well and keeps on progressing, I'll get the steroid shots (for the baby's lung development) at 33 weeks. And, we'll probably induce around 37 weeks. And that will be AFTER Brad's board exams...
It's really weird to think that this doctor is just one year ahead of Brad in training. She finishes up her fellowship next June (which is the same time that Brad finishes), but she started in 2006, which is one year before Brad started internship. It's just strange to think that the person that is in charge (well technically she's a consultant, she's not "in charge," but still) of my care is just one year older than me.
I got to speak with the MFM fellow again today. Nothing new to report. If all goes well and keeps on progressing, I'll get the steroid shots (for the baby's lung development) at 33 weeks. And, we'll probably induce around 37 weeks. And that will be AFTER Brad's board exams...
It's really weird to think that this doctor is just one year ahead of Brad in training. She finishes up her fellowship next June (which is the same time that Brad finishes), but she started in 2006, which is one year before Brad started internship. It's just strange to think that the person that is in charge (well technically she's a consultant, she's not "in charge," but still) of my care is just one year older than me.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
27 weeks 1 day growth scan and biophysical profile test
This morning we went to see the MFM specialist at Emory for our growth scan and biophysical profile. We are super pleased with her growth and weight (although it would be nice if she was bigger). She currently weighs 587 grams (1 lb 4 oz) and is averaging 24 weeks. An average 27 week baby weighs 1055 grams (2 lb 5 oz), so obviously she is very small (less than the 5th%). One way to look at it is that she is about 3 weeks and 1 day behind on her growth. Her growth was almost 3 weeks behind at 24 weeks, so we haven't lost too much time between 24 and 27 weeks. We will continue to do growth scans every 3 weeks, so we're hoping for big growth (inside the womb!!) in the next three weeks.
The next thing they did was the biophysical profile test. The biophysical test is an ultrasound basically consisting of five parts. Each of the five components — body movements, muscle tone, breathing movements, amniotic fluid, and heartbeat — is assigned a score of either 0 (abnormal) or 2 (normal). These scores are added up for a total score ranging from 0 to 10. In general, a total score of 8 or 10 is normal, 6 is considered borderline, and below 6 is worrisome. If everything is perfect on the ultrasound part, you don't have to do the heartrate evaluation. Our numbers were perfect, so we didn't have to sit around longer for the heart rate evaluation, so 8/8 for us! Woo hoo!
We want to keep up this growth and numbers on our biophysical profile tests. I thought we would have a break from doctors for a couple of weeks, but it looks like we'll be doing a weekly biophysical profile test next week and then we will start twice weekly (every Monday and Thursday) after that.
Of course, we want to keep her inside until 37 weeks, so let's hope for the best. Also an important date to keep in mind is that Brad takes his radiology board exam sometime the week of May 21st. I will be 36 weeks pregnant then (hopefully!). We really would like to have the baby AFTER his exam! :
The next thing they did was the biophysical profile test. The biophysical test is an ultrasound basically consisting of five parts. Each of the five components — body movements, muscle tone, breathing movements, amniotic fluid, and heartbeat — is assigned a score of either 0 (abnormal) or 2 (normal). These scores are added up for a total score ranging from 0 to 10. In general, a total score of 8 or 10 is normal, 6 is considered borderline, and below 6 is worrisome. If everything is perfect on the ultrasound part, you don't have to do the heartrate evaluation. Our numbers were perfect, so we didn't have to sit around longer for the heart rate evaluation, so 8/8 for us! Woo hoo!
We want to keep up this growth and numbers on our biophysical profile tests. I thought we would have a break from doctors for a couple of weeks, but it looks like we'll be doing a weekly biophysical profile test next week and then we will start twice weekly (every Monday and Thursday) after that.
Of course, we want to keep her inside until 37 weeks, so let's hope for the best. Also an important date to keep in mind is that Brad takes his radiology board exam sometime the week of May 21st. I will be 36 weeks pregnant then (hopefully!). We really would like to have the baby AFTER his exam! :
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