Baby H's Size Update and a Visit from the Neonatologist

During the day yesterday I became very anxious about today’s ultrasound, but last night and this morning, God helped to control my worries and helped me go to the ultrasound knowing He would lead us regardless of the results. Once they got started with the test today, baby H did his breathing very quickly. (This is one the big parts of the test he has to demonstrate in order to “pass”, and last Thursday we had to do the test twice to finally see him breathe.) They looked at his kidneys, bladder, and several other critical body parts, and everything looked fine. They measured the umbilical cord flow, and it had further improved since last Thursday! It is not extremely far off from what is considered “normal” now. This means that baby H is still getting blood flow from me, and that, while the blood flow is still restricted, it is much better than it was one week ago. Once again, this is a HUGE answer to prayer! They measured his size, and they estimate his weight to be 2 lbs. 3 oz. He has now fallen below the growth chart, but the high risk doctor did not seem very surprised by this. They will continue to do this movement ultrasound every Monday and Thursday to monitor his well-being and blood flow, and we will get another update on his size in 2 weeks.

Today, the high risk doctor said that I was doing much better than they had expected me to do and that, when I had come in last week, they were not sure if I could go another week or two. But now things look much improved, and she again emphasized that the hospital bedrest is working. She said she felt there would not be a need to take him this week and that, as of right now, there is still a possibility baby H can stay where he needs to be until 34 weeks.

A neonatologist came by to see me this evening, and she explained what some of the concerns would be with baby H once he is born based on the decreased blood flow. She told us how the risk of certain concerns would decrease at 32 weeks, so hopefully we can continue towards the goal of 34 weeks (or at the least 32 weeks). She also explained how he would need to be fed and how they would take care of his lungs. We know that he will spend some time in the NICU, and it was helpful to have an idea of what would happen once he is in there. She also said we could visit him or call to check on him pretty much anytime. It is good that our time with him will not be restricted, even though he will be in an incubator for awhile. She offered to let Michael and I take a tour of the NICU so that we can have a better idea of what to expect, and we hope to take the tour sometime this week.

Thank you for your prayers! God is continuing to answer them!