Still waiting

Daren called to get the results of the amnio since we were told it would take around seven days. I realize more patient people would wait for the doctors to call us with the results.

The results actually take 1-2 weeks, so we have a few more days for them to come back.  Additionally, it takes two weeks to culture the fluid drawn for the second test. This is currently in process. Daren and I also need to go to the hospital to give a blood sample.

We also learned the doctors need to get a look at Bean's kidneys during the ultrasound on the 13th. I'm just hoping Bean takes time off from doing yoga so we can get a good look at the heart and kidneys.

On a more positive note...the crib has just arrived!!! We should probably pick it up tonight before the next four days of 100 degree temps.

Omphalocele

So far all we knew for sure is that Bean has an omphalocele (om.). We are still waiting for final results of the amnio. I'm trying to educate myself as  much as possible so I can go to my doctor's appointments understanding what the doctors are telling us. I also want to be able to ask educated questions of our care specialists.  I am recommending you don't Google the term om. The images are not pretty.  I'm borrowing much of the following text from The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

An omphalocele is a birth defect known as a ventral wall defect, which involves the abdominal (belly) area of the fetus. Omphalocele causes the abdominal organs to herniate (protrude) into the base of the umbilical cord. 

With omphalocele, the size of the herniation can vary from small (containing only a portion of the small intestine) to very large (containing most of the abdominal organs). A ”giant omphalocele: is seen in approximately 1 in 10,000 births and occurs when the majority of the liver protrudes into the umbilical cord. Herniation of the fetal liver is frequently associated with a small abdominal size and pulmonary hypoplasia (small lungs), two factors that can complicate the postnatal (after delivery) course.

The size of the omphalocele and the degree of liver involvement determine the level and type of treatment.

If the omphalocele is small and does not involve the liver, the baby may be delivered vaginally. After birth, omphalocele surgery, called the primary repair, can help return the exposed abdominal organs to the abdominal cavity and the omphalocele is closed during the procedure.

In the event of a giant fetal omphalocele, a Cesarean delivery is usually required to avoid membrane rupture and trauma to the liver. After delivery, the exposed organs are covered with a sheet of protective material and gradually return to the abdominal cavity with the aid of gravity over a period of several days. Once the organs have been returned to the abdominal cavity, the omphalocele surgery can close the abdomen. Surgery to close the abdominal wall defect may be postponed some six to 12 months to allow the abdominal cavity to enlarge as the baby grows.

Yesterday I spoke with my regular OB doctor. Dr. Evers, going off the notes of the specialist, said it is most likely Bean has a giant om. because the liver is involved.  I have another ultrasound scheduled for July 13th.

Maternity Clothes Fashion Show

Last night I finally got around to trying on the maternity clothes given to me by my older sister and our friend Traci.  I'm not exactly sure how long it took for me to try on everything, but I will say I was exhausted by the end. For my friends yet to have a baby...please don't judge my next statement. Maternity jeans are amazing. I think I like them better than "normal" jeans. Daren's task for this evening after work is to go buy around 40 more hangers. I am finally going to have a closet with options that every girl deserves.

I also took a 19 week picture to share with my family. My fruit size of the week is mango. I'm weighing myself on Friday's and keeping track of the information on the website What to Expect When Expecting. I was only up two ounces. I'm not sure how that is possible since I went and bought two huge bags of candy on Monday morning. Don't worry, I gave the candy away on Tuesday. There is no reason for me to fund my dentist's next vacation.

19 weeks

So far I've gained 5.6 pounds during this pregnancy (8.6 pounds if you count my unexpected weight loss from getting sick over Easter).  I'm still doing the coaches workouts at UNC twice a week. I will admit my recovery time is getting longer and longer. I hope I can keep up with this workouts until at least the start of the 3rd trimester. Plus, these workouts let me eat all the pizza and mexican I want. Feel free to call us if you want company at dinner!!  Oh, and last night I almost killed off the container of Bunny Tracks ice cream. That had better be the last tub Daren brings home.

Dr. Michael Evers

Dr. Evers at UNC is a wonderful doctor. I encourage anyone using UNC as their hospital of choice to try and have Dr. Evers as your OB.

A little background, in May 2008 I had my right ovary removed due to a benign tumor. Dr. Evers was my surgeon.  Prior to the actual surgery, Dr. Evers was unable to give us a lot of information. To paraphrase - I don't know what I will find until I get in there. Dr. Evers said best case scenario, I would only lose my right ovary. There was the chance he would have to take everything but would wait and wake me from from the anesthesia to discuss.

I was released from the hospital after a day and a half. I had very strict guidelines about lifting items, taking stairs, and diet. I also was getting a phone call from Dr. Evers every few days to check on how I was doing. Just amazing follow-up care. I don't think that is normal...

Back to my pregnancy. I started my journey with Dr. Emily Evans-Hoeker in the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility (due to the fact I only have one baby maker left and my heart condition). Around the 10 week mark, Dr. Evans said it was time for me to have a "regular" OB doctor. She asked if I had anyone in mind. We didn't so it became the luck of the draw. We drew Dr. Evers.

I was wondering if Dr. Evers was going to read my chart prior to the appointment and realize our paths had previously crossed. I obviously underestimated this man. He was on top of things and very excited Daren and I were able to conceive. I had two appointments with Dr. Evers prior to my 18 week ultrasound.  Dr. Evers was not going to present at the ultrasound, but scheduled an appointment with us the following week.

Not an hour after we left the hospital after having our hearts ripped out of our chests did I get a phone call from Dr. Evers. Also shocked by the findings, Dr. Evers wanted to know how we were doing. This man cares for his patients. Dr. Evers let us know the new findings were not in his wheel house and we would probably have a change in doctors.  Dr. Evers stressed he was not pushing us away.

I called Dr. Evers on Tuesday to find out if I should keep or cancel my appointment for Friday afternoon. I also mentioned the preliminary findings of the amnio in my voicemail.  I just received a call back from Dr. Evers this afternoon. I did not at all feel rushed as I talked on the phone. I passed along everything I had learned from Daren's phone call with the geneticist on Tuesday. We also discussed some of the steps moving forward.

When ending the call I told Dr. Evers he was not finished with me. He will be my OB of choice for any future children we have.

Waiting Game

The doctors were to call Daren's cell phone with the news. We didn't hear anything on Monday.

Tuesday morning came and went. At 2pm, if Daren hadn't heard anything, he was going to call the geneticist to try and get some news. I bugged him around 2:30 and Daren said he would make the call. Here is some of the content of our conversation by instant messenger -


darenstreett 3:06 pm
ok, prelim results are back (95% accurate) showing normal - no extra chromosomes
final results in about a week

Shelly Green 3:06 pm
a week from friday
or another 7 days

darenstreett 3:07 pm
from friday I think

darenstreett 3:09 pm
there is a more thorough chromosome test that they can do if this one comes back clean

Shelly Green 3:09 pm
why
tests something else?

darenstreett 3:10 pm
this was just looking for extra chromosomes (like the extra 13 and 18 guys)
the other thing that he mentioned (like the beckwith weideman syndrome) might not be found
really, the biggest other concern though is probably the heart
make sense?

Shelly Green 3:12 pm
so i can be happy
but not really

We are cautiously optimistic. We still have a lot of unknowns out there including the state of Bean's heart. I don't know when we have to head back for additional tests and more scans. The unknown hangs very heavy on our hearts and this is why we are waiting to share the news with family and friends until we know more. Right now our prayers need to be enough.

Anatomy Scan

On Friday, June 15th, Daren and I went to UNC to have the 18 week anatomy scan. One of the main focuses of the scan was going to be Bean's heart.  The doctors wanted to know if Bean has the same heart issues as I do. Nothing seemed odd during the scan.  Bean was practicing yoga in the womb so the tech was unable to get a good shot of the heart.  The scan took about 40 minutes and the tech left to go show the pictures to the doctor. After the tech left the room, I made the comment on how tech must see some real highs with the expecting parents as well as some big lows. 

After about twenty minutes of waiting, three doctors came into the room. Once I heard the words, we found an abnormality with the scans, the rest of the appointment became a blur. I again got gooped up for the ultrasound wand. We were shown pictures of Bean's abdomen. Bean has what is called an omphalocele.

An omphalocele is a birth defect, which is an abnormality that occurs before birth as a fetus is forming in its mother’s uterus. Some of the abdominal organs protrude through an opening in the abdominal muscles in the area of the umbilical cord.

Next the doctors discussed the possibility of there being additional issues. An omphalocele can be an isolated birth defect. However, 50% of the cases also have a chromosome abnormality. The doctor started throwing out all different chromosome numbers which could be affected. 

Early in the pregnancy Daren and I agreed we would not do testing to find out if our baby had down syndrome. We knew a positive diagnosis wouldn't change the love we have for our child.  The doctors were telling us the amniocentesis was the method of testing for the chromosome abnormalities. They also mentioned there is a 1:200-500 of miscarrying after the amnio. Through my nonstop tears I shook my head that I didn't want the amnio.

The doctors let us know we would be well supported by the hospital staff at UNC as we went along this journey. We would have a case worker assigned to our case. An ultrasound every 4 weeks and we would be transferred from general OB to high risk sector of the OB department.  After meeting with the geneticist Daren and I agreed to doing the amnio. There was another method of testing which involved blood work, but results would take 2-3 times as long as the amnio. Additionally, if the blood work showed positive results an amnio would be ordered to confirm.

During the amnio I stared at the ceiling as the tears continued to flow. I don't know if Daren was watching me or watching the monitor as the needle was inserted to collect the amniotic fluid.  Daren was to be contacted first thing the following week with the results. 

We finally were able to leave the hospital at 1pm. So much had happened since we arrived at 10:30.  I wanted to go back to work in the hopes staying busy would keep my mind off the latest news. I know I was not productive in the office. Stupidly, I started to Google all of the details I could remember. Seeing those pictures didn't help the wait we had to endure.

Introductions

Venturing into the blog world is a scary thing. Please bare with me as I attempt to put down into words the pregnancy and life of Bean Streett. Before I get to Bean (the nickname for the growing baby in my belly), I want to introduce Bean's loving parents and how they met.

Daren and Shelly met back in the summer of 2005 on a coed softball team. Daren was already a member of the softball team. Shelly got thrown into the mix because the team was short a girl for one of the games. That first meeting was fairly typical - girl impresses all with her amazing skills on the softball field and boy shows how he is lacking in skills of throwing horseshoes. That was it for the first meeting. A softball game and a quick trip to a hole in the wall bar to drink beers and throw horseshoes.

The second meeting occurred on October 16th.  Shelly again got asked to sub for the team in late October for the championship game of the league. The team won and Shelly and Daren have been together ever since.

On February 15, 2010, Daren asked Shelly to be his wife. The proposal included a bag of calla lily bulbs and a gorgeous diamond ring.  While Shelly was excitedly looking at all of the calla lily bulbs Daren pulled out the ring. Shelly of course said yes and the couple started to plan for a wedding on September 11, 2010.

On March 20, 2012, after taking five pregnancy tests, Shelly contacted her doctor at UNC to see if they could do blood work to check if she was pregnant. Only three hours after the blood was drawn did the doctor report back with the positive results. Shelly and Daren's first viewing of Bean occurred the next day when the ultrasound read that little Bean was around six weeks old.  This put the due date for baby Bean at November 15, 2012.