The Perinatologist

Yesterday we had a marathon of appointments (that thankfully went more quickly and ended sooner than we had anticipated) in order to meet with a perinatologist to review and discuss our case history, have the Nuchal Translucency Test done, and have my regular 12week appointment with my OB. What I did not expect was how anxious I would feel walking into the perinatologist's office.

Despite my continued near constant nausea and sore boobs and even constant need to pee, part of me was almost convinced this one's heart had stopped and we were going to lose him or her. Thankfully, the ultrasound was first thing, and the heart was beating beautifully!

Here's a healthy heart rate of 156, yay!

Upon seeing this, I immediately relaxed and just enjoyed watching Baby 2 sleep, suck a thumb, and even get the hiccups during the ultrasound. What really, seriously made me overjoyed was how the ultrasound tech began complaining that Baby 2 was tucked away in a far corner of my uterus, barely reachable by the ultrasound probe. She had me turn from one side to another to try and use gravity to move Baby 2 away from this corner, I then did a set of sit-up-toe-touches as quickly as possibly, and then even had to go empty my bladder to maybe change the angle of my uterus. Baby 2 did not move a bit, and the tech said, 'This is a stubborn one.' I immediately replied with, 'I am okay with that!' She probably didn't appreciate my enthusiasm about her difficulties in getting the proper pictures, but oh my goodness Baby 2 is really paying attention to our plan of action! Being stubborn equals staying in and not wanting to leave my body for as long as possible, and I am completely overjoyed to have that 'problem' as we'll have a planned c-section anyway, and hopefully this means it will be right on time at 36 weeks. That's what I'm choosing to believe.

Here's Baby 2, tucked away :)

The tech told us everything looks totally normal, yay! This ultrasound measures a specific piece of the neck to see if it is too thick or too thin. If outside a specific set of measurements, there is a higher risk the baby has Down Syndrome, but it's never 100% definitive. At this point we could have done all kinds of crazy extensive blood work to go along with the ultrasound, which would also tell us if Baby 2 is normal genetically or not. But for us, as with Korbin, the results don't change a thing about how much we love and want this child with us. With or without Down Syndrome, or an extra thumb digit, we love and cherish Baby 2 and want this one with us just as much. Thankfully the testing has become much less invasive these days, taking the risk of harming the baby out of the equation when deciding if testing is needed. But we still don't need it.

After this ultrasound we met with a perinatologist, who, I have to say, was really great. Here is a medical professional who actually knew the basic details our case and did NOT ask the dreaded question, 'How's your baby doing now?' I can't tell you how many nurses, front desk staff, and MAs have asked me that question since June 1, 2012. So not okay.

Anyway, this part of the appointment left me a bit freaked out. Basically, this doctor pointed out that when I went in for extreme back pain just a week before giving birth to Korbin, my cervix was not checked, and it was dismissed as a pulled muscle. Because of the lack of information from that appointment, we can't rule out a cervical incompetency after all, and that leaves us with a 30-40% chance of needing a cerclage (stitches in the cervix to hold it closed, in which there's still a 20-25% chance they will fail anyway). New studies show bed rest does nothing to stop labor or slow the process, and even hurts the mother with the lack of motion. And if we were to switch to seeing a perinatologist now, we'll probably never see the same doc twice. The monitoring is all the same, reactions to specific info will be the same, but we will lose the comfort of having a regular doc who knows us and can treat as such. At this point, that is really important to us. 

So, we're sticking with regular OB, Dr. Pray, but will switch to a perinatologist if indicated down the road. Thankfully, this doc did say in the end, despite us wanting to stick with my OB, that she expects a normal pregnancy and delivery at 36weeks. I do like that she can leave us with at least something positive after all the scary and emotional dwelling on previous facts and the lack there of during the consult. But, hashing out the details of last time, and the thought that maybe something could have been caught sooner at my back pain appointment, was really difficult and very emotional for me.

After this we met with Dr. Pray and confirmed our action plan. She seemed happy with this as well, and is so positive for us, which I'm just really latching on to right now. Leaving her office I felt a little better, but still had to ask Ry, 'Are we taking a risk in not seeing a perinatologist throughout this pregnancy?' Translate: are we being dumb about this? Whether we see Dr.Pray or a perinatologist, what will happen will happen, and the measures we'll need to take if indicated are all the same, so hopefully not a huge risk at all. And they don't recommend a cerclage right now so either way we're just monitoring often until somethig shows we need further action. Makes me feel somewhat better, but I'm sure I'll continue walking on egg shells until 24 weeks, maybe even 28weeks...or until Baby 2 is home with us...or who knows how long....

Random pic to bring back the positive

At this point, we know Baby 2 is doing great, and maybe even growing fast like Korbin did (he was tall for his gestational age!). This is something I need to focus on and keep in the forefront of my mind, maybe even include in my meditation/chat we have each day. Keep doing great Baby Love 2! We're already a third of the way to our goal (and at the half-way point to when we had Korbin, crazy!!). Let's keep up the good work together!

Because we got a lotta love to give.