Our Little Princess: Weekly Update

March 25
This week my doctor is in Florida (lucky!) so, I saw the midwife that shares an office with him.  Dr. Yoder.  She was very nice and very willing to answer my laundry list of questions.  I must be honest, I didn't like her when I first met her a few weeks ago, but my opinion has completely changed after today.  She was fantastic at putting my mind at ease. 

I had an actual ultrasound today (where they measure and check everything).  My weekly ultrasounds are usually just quick, make sure her heart is still beating, checks.  She was a little uncooperative toady, which made getting the measurements difficult.  So, after having me roll over and poke her they decided to pull out "the buzzer".  I had never seen this done before, its basically a thing they put on your belly and it makes a sound like an alarm clock.  This unfortunately scares the baby quite a bit, but it wakes them up so they can see them moving.  She wasn't too happy about us buzzing her, but we were able to get what we needed. She is weighing in at 3 lbs 12 oz!  She is in the 45th percentile for weight.  The ultrasound tech said everything looks perfect.  Everything measures right on track.  Her heart beat is normal, no murmur or anything like that.  No fluid around her heart.  I asked about the blood flow in her heart and that is what a fetal echo cardiogram measures, so she didn't know.  We do have a second echo scheduled for April 10 which should answer a lot more questions about delivery and surgery.

Dr. Yoder walks in today and says "your baby is looking beautiful.  Dr. Wheeler keeps expecting something to happen (like me go into labor) and she keeps surprising us, which is great news." She then asked if I had any questions or concerns and I just laughed because I had so many. 

I started by saying, we don't know much about what the plan is.  We actually don't have a plan, I asked if that was because we don't really know what to expect.  She said that was precisly why we don't have a plan.  We can't really make a plan because we are waiting for little miss to tell us when she is ready.  She said we wont make it full term (but then again they didn't think I would make it past 21 weeks).  She said Dr. Wheeler wants to keep me pregnant as long as we can.  She is doing great inside so why would we mess with that.  They are waiting for the baby to tell them when she will do better outside, but for right now she is "as happy as a clam".  She also said every day that I keep her inside gives her that much of a better chance outside, and right now (according to the doctor) I am taking great care of her, which is wonderful to hear :). 

I asked if we were going to plan on doing a c-section because thats what I had with Jack and she said most likely because it would be the least amount of stress on her heart.  She also said no doctor is going to want to talk VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) with her having heart problems. 

I asked what does this mean for her after she is born, birth defects, lots of surgery, etc.  She wasn't quite sure, but said birth defects, as of something you could physically see, were pretty much out of the question because we probably would have seen that on the ultrasounds by now.  And everything looks perfect there.

I wanted to know more about delivery because as of right now we have not made the decision as to where I will deliver.  I didn't even know what to do if I did go into labor.  She said, well if I go into labor just go to Lutheran hospital (here in Fort Wayne) and if they would need to transfer us they would.  She said her guess is they will probably have us deliver at Riley hospital in Indianapolis.  This will be a decision for Dr. Wheeler and the pediatric surgeons, which will be made after the fetal echo. 

This brought up the question: what if we do deliver in Indi, how does that work?  Would I just hang out in a hotel room down there until I went into labor?  She said no, they would pick a date which would be early enough that I wouldn't (hopefully) go into labor, but late enough that they were confident she would be ok. 

She asked me if Dr. Wheeler has asked me to stop going to work and I told her I was a stay at home mom with a 2 year old, very active little boy.  Her face told me that she was a happy about me not working, but a little cautious about me having to keep up with Jack.  I asked her if she thought bed rest was necessary and she said, "well not confined to the bed, but I want you to find reasons to sit down and put your feet up.  You need to make sure Jack is napping, or at least has quiet time so you can have that time to relax.  You need to hold off on doing too much cleaning and running errands and remember that if your house is a little messy its not the end of the world, because you are trying to do what is best for our little baby.  Just keep the dust down and keep that bathrooms clean enough to where you aren't afraid to use them (said with a laugh).  It wouldn't be a bad thing to find reasons for Jack to go play with friends so you can relax.  We are trying to keep you pregnant as long as we can, so don't over do it."  She told me to watch for contractions and told me how to know if I need to call the doctor or not.  So, to me this does kind of sound like modified bed rest, without that "label" of being on bed rest, but maybe that just me thinking that. 


We started the steroids to mature her lungs today.  I will go in tomorrow for another shot.  I don't know how many doses of this they will want to do (I forgot to ask).  Still getting the weekly progesterone shots because they are working beautifully. 

Several of you have asked for more details on a funneling cervix and here is what I found on birth.com.au:

A very rare complication that can happen during the middle phase of pregnancy (or the 2nd trimester) involves the woman's cervix spontaneously and painlessly opening, usually very rapidly and unpredictably, with minimal or no uterine contractions. This leads to a late miscarriage, if the pregnancy is between 12 to 20 weeks, or a very premature birth if the pregnancy is between 20 to 28 weeks (occasionally it can occur as late as the first few weeks of the 3rd trimester, up to 32 weeks) (I AM 31 WEEKS 2 DAYS RIGHT NOW). The medical term for this complication is 'cervical incompetence' or the woman having an 'incompetent cervix' (not a very desirable description). It is thought that 20 - 25 % of babies born between 12 and 28 weeks do so because of this condition.

I also had the question what causes a cervix to funnel and this same article said one of the causes could be trauma to the cervix.  This brought up the question in my mind did my c-section with Jack and my D&C operation in between Jack and this pregnancy cause this?  Well I asked Dr. Yoder today and she said "I would not jump to that conclusion in my mind at all, a funneling cervix could simply be a sign that you have had a child before, that is all".  I also asked her if a funneling cervix could mean that I am not allowed to have more children and she said no.  Two weights lifted off me there.

So, she said Dr. Wheeler will be back on Monday and she will leave him a list of questions for him to answer for me.  She said the reason we haven't been told much is because they don't know much, but they will keep me in the loop as the plan unfolds.  I feel much better about "making a plan" after this appointment. 

Well, we went to the temple on the 16th and the Lord told me, very clearly, everything is going to be ok.  I know this could mean so many different scenarios, but it was so nice to get that loving reminder from Him that he knows what I am going through.  I know that He is in this with us and it is truly amazing what he can do (and has already done for us).  Thank you everyone for your continued support and love, it has really made this experience that much easier to deal with.  Love you all!