Maternal Fetal #2

We had our second visit to Maternal Fetal today.  I get so excited for these visits but so nervous too!  Part of me feels like I'm just waiting for something bad to happen.  But I know that's no way to go through this pregnancy or life in general.  This appointment definitely helped ease my mind.  :)  We saw Dr. Gross today.  They did a very detailed sono w/ dopplers to monitor the blood flow (due to my Rh negativity).  She spent what felt like forever on her brain and heart.  It's so hard sometimes because you can't see the screen very well  (even if I could, I don't know what the heck I'm looking at).  And the sono techs just tell you in general where they are, but they leave it to the doctor to say much of anything.  But Dr. Gross came in after and said that all looks good!!  The cysts that they saw previously are gone.  :)  He explained that while those can be a soft marker, the heart is considered a hard marker.  And her heart looked perfect!  He reported:  heart normal, kidneys normal, umbilical cord flow normal, amniotic fluid normal, measurements all normal!  What a huge relief!  She's already a big part of our family and I just want her to be healthy and get here safely!

Her heartbeat was 144.  I'm 22w1d and she's measuring 23w1d (which Dr. Gross said is perfectly normal).  Her arms and legs are measuring long (24w) so he thinks she'll be tall.  She's already weighing in at a whopping 1 lb. 5 oz.!!  Grow baby grow!  ;)

They also checked my cervix while I was there.  One of the "risks" due to my uterus shape is preterm labor.  During their routine questions, we discussed that I've been having occasional contractions (nothing regular at all) (and have been since the first trimester).  I've also had some "pressure".  Both I assumed were no big deal.  She agreed that it's likely normal but they decided to go ahead and check my cervix length while I was there.  It measured at over 4 cm., so very good!  I was surprised, but Dr. Gross is sending in an order to my regular OB to have a cervix check every 4 weeks for the remainder of my pregnancy.  He said I'm not "super high-risk"  :), but preterm labor can come on with women who have no risk at all, so he'd feel best if it was checked due to my slightly elevated risk.  I won't complain though!  I can have it done at my regular checkups and it will be nice just to make sure that there are no issues. 

She wasn't very cooperative during the 3D/4D pics, but here's what we were able to get today!

She's still a girl - whew!

Hard to tell, but she's got her leg all the way up to her face.  She's grabbing her foot w/ her left hand and pressing her lips to her knee!  She's a flexible little one!

Dr. Gross also got a picture at the end of her yawning!  It's kind of hard to tell, but it's her mouth wide open.  The top part of her face is cut off, but you can see her full mouth open with her little chin at the bottom.  :)  He seemed almost excited to capture the shot.  The serious doctor in him though was quick to point out that it was also good because it shows that her lips are normal w/ no cleft lip/palate.  Thanks Dr.!

Baby Bland #2

September 26th was our first visit to Maternal Fetal (the perinatologist) - 16 weeks and 1 day.  I'm considered high-risk again for this pregnancy due to my uterus shape (arcuate) and Rh negativity.  The uterus shape can lead to miscarriage or pre-term labor and the Rh factor can lead to Rh disease in the baby.  Lucas is positive as was Carson.  That leads to my body producing antibodies that essentially try to fight off the baby.  While I was pregnant with Carson, I did test positive for antibodies.  They will monitor my antibody levels through blood tests each month to make sure everything's going okay.  They don't think it should cause a problem with this pregnancy.  The visit went well and we found out that we're having a GIRL!  I didn't really have a feeling one way or the other, but when she said it, I was still so surprised.  I guess deep down I just expected another boy.  At first, I was a bit overwhelmed/nervous with the thought of raising a little girl!  But I'm getting more and more excited!  I think Carson will be a wonderful big brother.

During the ultrasound, they did find two choroid plexus cysts on baby girl's brain.  It's a "soft marker" for Downs and Trisomy 18.  Of course, hearing those words, especially after what Mandy and Bob went through, is a bit paralyzing.  But I also know that Carson had the exact same thing and he is perfectly healthy!  I just have to hope for the best and try not to think about it.  The doctor said not to worry at all and there are no other markers.  She looks perfectly healthy.  From what the doctor said, they're actually very common and most just go away before the 3rd trimester.  We'll go back in 6 weeks for another sono and then we might go every couple of weeks for a bit, just to monitor the blood flow a couple of times. 

The one thing that I'm reminded of this pregnancy is how SCARY it is.  I tend to be a worrier and, while I try really hard not be paranoid about things, every once in a while, I can't help but think about all the things that can go wrong.  After what we all went through losing Tyler, it's just terrifying.  But I know that there's nothing that I can do and I have to have a little faith.  Just praying that she arrives healthy.  :)  If we're lucky enough to get her here safely, I think that we're done.  :)  I don't think I can do the morning sickness or constant worry again.  LOL. 

But here she is and we cannot wait to meet her!!

Looks like she may have big feet like her big brother!!

Thankfully, I've been pretty busy the past couple months so there isn't as much time to think about things.  But I think I worry more now that I can feel her all the time (I'm 21 weeks as I write this - started feeling her between 16 & 17 wks).  And it doesn't help that I read Baby Center message boards and read all the horrible things that can happen.  Lucas yells at me all the time about that.  I see or read things and get all upset.  Same reason that I'm forever banned from Animal Planet.  :)  But anyway, I FINALLY got the results of our quad marker test (I won't go into that story), but it came back "normal", so that helps me breathe another sigh of relief.  I know without a doubt that we will love her no matter what, but I just want her to survive and be healthy.

We decided on a name shortly after finding out the gender.  We scrubbed the list we had when we were pregnant with Carson.  We narrowed it down to a few and went back and forth with emails while at work and settled on it  pretty quickly.  Almost so quickly that it made me second guess it, but......And we were going to keep her name a surprise like we did with Carson.  But we're kind of feeling that we want to get to know her as much as we can, as early as we can.  So we're happy to announce that AVERY GRACE is expected to arrive on March 11th!