Maybe Another Christmas Baby??? 31 weeks 6 days

So today was another doctor's appointment full of surprises. We were at the maternal-fetal medicine specialists for a NST and ultrasound measurement. The NST went fine but the ultrasound results were not so good. The baby came in weighing 2lbs 13ozs up 7ozs from two weeks ago but not enough. When they put the baby's measurements in the computer the femur and cerebellum are measuring only about a week or so behind but the abdomen has fallen to around 4 weeks behind. These new measurements takes the baby from the 20% to 11%. The doctor explained to us that the abdomen measurement shows that the most likely cause of the small size is due to lack of adequate nutrition from the placenta to the baby. The baby's body will send nutrition to the head and larger parts of the body taking it away from the abdomen. The doctor explained that it is like when you diet your stomach shrinks first. So instead of the baby being small symmetrically it is now asymmetrical showing a true problem.

So what does this mean. I will be getting steroid shots in the next couple of days to help the baby's lungs to develop faster. I have to have two shots given 24 hours apart. I will also be having NST twice and week and doppler ultrasounds with amnio fluid checks once a week. One of the NST's will be done at the hospital and the other NST and ultrasounds will be at the specialists office. I will go back to the specialists two weeks from today on Dec. 17th to do another measurement ultrasound. The doctor did say that she anticipates that when she sees us on the 17th there is a good chance we will be discussing taking the baby early and most likely within a few days of that appointment. She is thinking that the baby will continue to decrease it's growth and at that time it will be better for the baby to be nourished outside the womb. This will put the baby at about 34 weeks. She did say that I can be induced and try for a normal delivery with close monitoring of the baby during labor.

So I think the next two weeks are going to fly by as we try to grasp the idea of having another Christmas child. Cecelia's birthday is the 22nd and there is a possibility that I will be in the hospital for her birthday and quite possibility that this baby could be born on her birthday. We are also trying to prepare ourselves for a small baby that will most likely be in the NICU for a bit of time. This will be quite a different experience from the one we had with Cecelia.

So although there is nothing set in stone right now we are trying to be prepared for the possibilities that could be. I do have a doctor's appointment at my regular ob tomorrow afternoon so we may get even more information then.