Today's Appointment - 32 weeks and counting
Today I had an appointment with my regular ob which I knew would be to go over the results from yesterdays appointment. There was no new changes but I did get to ask some more specific questions which have come up in my mind since yesterdays appointment. My doctor confirmed that there is a possibility of having the baby after my next measurement ultrasound on the 17th. She said this would happen if the baby's measurements between the head and femur and the abdomen show a bigger discrepancy. Right now the head and femur are running about a little over a week behind schedule and the abdomen is about 4 weeks behind. So basically if the abdomen measures more than 4 weeks behind at the next appointment we will be looking to having the baby very soon after the appointment. She also wanted me to be prepared that if any of my NST, doppler or amnio fluid checks come back irregular that could also be cause to deliver early. So we are basically on a three to four day grace period in between each appointment. I will be going to St. Mary's on the next two Monday's for NST's and to the high risk office on Thursday's for doppler and amnio fluid checks with a follow up at my regular doctor's office on the 14th after the NST at St. Mary's. Can you follow all those appointments:) I also received the first does of steroids today to help with the baby's lung development due to the chance of it being delivered early. I have to go up the St. Mary's labor and deliver tomorrow around 4pm to get my second and last dose. For those that have not had this steroid treatment I found out today that it is not given in the arm or the leg. Due to the thickness of the serum it is injected in the gluteus:) It did not hurt to get it but I did feel a slight discomfort after the shot was done when I was checking out. I will have to make sure to switch sides for tomorrow. I will have to say that when this is all said and done I may be able to call myself an expert in pregnancy tests and procedures:)
So here are some of the questions that I asked the doctor today and what she said:
Is is safe to try to have a natural/induced birth versus a c-section?
My doctor was very comfortable with the the idea of doing a natural birth since things went well with Cecelia. She said the baby would be monitored closely and if it showed any signs of stress that we would then do the c-section but there was not reason to schedule a c-section right away.
Should I try to breastfeed/pump even though the baby will be small and possibly in the NICU?
She said that any amount of breast milk the baby can get is better than none so pumping even a little would be beneficial. She told me to bring the pump to the hospital so that I can start right away since the baby would most likely not be able to latch on if it is early.
Will the baby most likely be in the NICU if it is born in two weeks?
She said there is a 50/50 chance of it needing to be in the NICU. Babies born between 34-36 weeks often do not need the NICU but some due. It will just depend on how well the baby is doing.
Can we say at this point that the reason for the baby being small is due to a bad placenta?
She said that we can not for sure say this. Although we have ruled out many other reasons there is still the chance that the baby has some sort of genetic disorder, like a metabolic disorder, that is causing the baby to be small. Not all of the disorders show up on amnio tests. We will not know this until the baby is born. If the problem is with the placenta we may not know this for sure either. Sometimes you can tell by looking at the placenta after birth and finding a cause but many times you will never know.
If we do have more children what are the changes of this happening again?
With having Cecelia's pregnancy being normal she would say this is just a random occurrence unless we find out there is something going on with the baby after it is born. She did say that I would be monitored more closely than normal with a third pregnancy, not as much as right now, by doing an early ultrasound to confirm dates and then the normal 20 week with probably a 24 and 28 week to make sure growth is going well.
Do you think I could get a tour of the NICU at the hospital just so I know what it is like in the chance that the baby is there?
Most definitely and she though it would be a good idea also. She said just to talk to the nurses while I am there doing my NST and they will set it up.
I believe that is all the questions, at least that I can remember asking:) I do feel better having some more information but as she said things can change at any one of these appointments.
So here are some of the questions that I asked the doctor today and what she said:
Is is safe to try to have a natural/induced birth versus a c-section?
My doctor was very comfortable with the the idea of doing a natural birth since things went well with Cecelia. She said the baby would be monitored closely and if it showed any signs of stress that we would then do the c-section but there was not reason to schedule a c-section right away.
Should I try to breastfeed/pump even though the baby will be small and possibly in the NICU?
She said that any amount of breast milk the baby can get is better than none so pumping even a little would be beneficial. She told me to bring the pump to the hospital so that I can start right away since the baby would most likely not be able to latch on if it is early.
Will the baby most likely be in the NICU if it is born in two weeks?
She said there is a 50/50 chance of it needing to be in the NICU. Babies born between 34-36 weeks often do not need the NICU but some due. It will just depend on how well the baby is doing.
Can we say at this point that the reason for the baby being small is due to a bad placenta?
She said that we can not for sure say this. Although we have ruled out many other reasons there is still the chance that the baby has some sort of genetic disorder, like a metabolic disorder, that is causing the baby to be small. Not all of the disorders show up on amnio tests. We will not know this until the baby is born. If the problem is with the placenta we may not know this for sure either. Sometimes you can tell by looking at the placenta after birth and finding a cause but many times you will never know.
If we do have more children what are the changes of this happening again?
With having Cecelia's pregnancy being normal she would say this is just a random occurrence unless we find out there is something going on with the baby after it is born. She did say that I would be monitored more closely than normal with a third pregnancy, not as much as right now, by doing an early ultrasound to confirm dates and then the normal 20 week with probably a 24 and 28 week to make sure growth is going well.
Do you think I could get a tour of the NICU at the hospital just so I know what it is like in the chance that the baby is there?
Most definitely and she though it would be a good idea also. She said just to talk to the nurses while I am there doing my NST and they will set it up.
I believe that is all the questions, at least that I can remember asking:) I do feel better having some more information but as she said things can change at any one of these appointments.
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