Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Post Surgery Checkup #4 (29 weeks)

29 weeks - 8 weeks to go!

We all walked to the hospital, well Matt pushed me in the wheelchair with a couple little ones on my lap.  We took the girls with us up to the hospital this morning to meet Rachel and Tamara (the MOMS nurse coordinators) at the Fetal Treatment center.  Tamara was out for the day, but the girls met Rachel. 

Sonogram- They let the girls come watch the sonogram with us, which I'm not sure they were very impressed but the older ones enjoyed it.  They were doing measurements today so it took a little longer, and also since I am in a trial, they have to make sure everything they need on the forms is done.  Ruth didn't cooperate too well to get a print out of her face, she kept hiding behind her hands!  It was cute.  We did get a couple, one of her face, one of her profile.  The tech showed me the weight, Ruth is already estimated to weigh 3 lbs 3 oz!   Had to wait til my OB appt to get the rest of the results, but fluid/cervix still good, ventricles were stable, and the the posterior fossa (hind brain herniation) shows some signs of reversal, which is awesome!   The biggest known advantage to having fetal surgery for SB is the reversal of the Chiari II formation, where the hind brain gets sucked down into the spinal column by the pull of the fluid through the opening in her back.  If severe (which Ruth's is not), it can cause brain stem compression, which can lead to breathing and swallowing issues.  Ruth's was minor to begin with, but we are praying for a complete reversal and a normal little brain!  We are also hoping her ventricles stay stable, and she will not need a shunt after birth.  The only other thing they mentioned from the sonogram is they saw no feet/ankle movement.  She does have club feet, which is easily fixed, so we are hoping it is due to that and not nerve damage.

We had a "lunch break" after the sonogram, so K (my oldest) stayed up at the hospital with me to eat while Matt and the rest of the crew went back to the Family House, where my MIL would watch the little ones for the remainder of the afternoon.  Matt then headed back to meet me for the rest of the appts.

BPP/Non-Stress Test  The BPP (bio-physical profile) went well, the testing nurse does a quick sonogram to look for fluid levels, baby movement, baby leg movement, and breathing movements.  She got a really cute shot of her profile, I guess she moved her hands out of the way for this sono. She decided not to show breathing movements, which is not unsual for less than 30 weeks, but they checked again after the non-stress test and she was "breathing" like a champ. The non-stress test is when they hook me up to monitors to watch the baby’s heart rate and contractions.  They want the baby’s heart rate to increase during activity, and she was active enough through this part of the testing to pass.  She scored 10/10 today :-)


OB Appt - went well, we met Dr. Robertson again, I see her for most of the appointments and really like her.  Nothing exciting.  I actually gained about 1 pound. 

Misc stuff:

Matt and the girls arrived last Wednesday, and are staying for two weeks.  It has made my stay up here much more enjoyable.  I will post a separate post about all we have done.

My dad left this past weekend, and my mother-in-law replaced him as my support person for the next 3 weeks.  So glad they both could give up their time to be here with me.  Without all the great support we could not do this!

Remember Nicole?  She had her baby boy last week, and he is doing great!  We've gone up to the hospital a couple times to see him, soo cute and healthy.  I hope we are as lucky as they are!