30 Weeks and Odds & Ends

Friday was another ultrasound and visit with Dr Vora. No new organs have slipped outside and become a part of the omphalocele. That is very good news. Bean is measuring 2 pounds 11 ounces. Again, the tech had issues trying to get us pictures of Bean's face b/c the hands are always near the face. This kid just doesn't like to have pictures taken.

The visit with Dr Vora was short and sweet. Nothing new in the u/s meant we didn't have a whole lot to talk about. I did ask about my gestational diabetes test. I asked if no news was good news. Dr Vora said my level was 1.01 and anything under 1.4 is a pass. Good to know I can continue to have Lucky Charms and a big glass of OJ for breakfast.  We also asked about if we should be getting the flu shot. Dr Vora said we both need to get the shot (prior to the birth) and the pertussis vaccine after Bean is born.

We did ask Dr Vora about scheduling the date for the c-section. As long as Bean doesn't decide to come early, we will meet he/she on November 6th.

My next visit will be in two weeks for a non-stress test for Bean.

On to the odds and ends -

Last weekend we made a quick trip to PA for the wedding of Daren's high school and college classmate. We had a bit of a housing shuffle as Daren's mom came down with bronchitis. The wedding was a great time and Daren was able to visit with high school friends. Even rain from Isaac couldn't stop this party.

Sun Yi, named by my best friend Joell, will soon be leaving the family. I bought my 'onda Civic more nine years ago. Sun Yi has been good to me. I've put almost 155,000 miles on my car. My new ride is being built and won't be here for about eight weeks. It will be a race to see which gets here first - my car or Bean.

The nursery has a first coat of paint. The room will be daffodil yellow...and it is really yellow. Daren said this is the last room in the house he is painting. I'll give him a break for about a year before I inform him we need to paint the second bathroom upstairs.

Tomorrow is Daren and my second wedding anniversary. Today is a perfect fall day. September can be a mixed bag in NC. It can either be the start of fall or a continuation of the 90 degree heat of summer. I'm trying to remember if our wedding weekend was hot...all I remember is that rain/mist started to fall during our pictures. The ceremony was delayed about 15 minutes b/c everyone was trying to decide if the ceremony was happening inside or out. I didn't care. All I wanted to do was get married. Two years have passed and we are going strong. Thank you Dottie Davis for introducing me to my future husband.

The growing Streett family will be spending the 2012 holiday season in Cary, NC.  We were supposed to be in PA for Thanksgiving and IA for Christmas. I will finally get to see our neighborhood lit up on Christmas Eve with luminaries. I'm hoping for a white Christmas.

Lots of Doctors

On Friday we had a long appointment at UNC hospital. We were there from 11am until almost 430pm. Thank goodness we had our case worker Maya with us every step of the way to bring us to where we needed to be.

First up was a meeting with one of the pediatric surgeons. Dr Erickson us told about their side of the practice and what their role with be with Bean's omphalocele (om.). She explained a lot of possible options for surgery if certain factors are present. Again, it was a lot of hypotheticals because we won't have a true picture until Bean is born. UNC employs the "paint and wait" procedure. The organs contained within the om. will have a membrane covering. The "paint and wait" is a method of encouraging skin to grow over the om. and also is a way to bind everything.

Our second appointment was with Dr Bose, one of the heads of the NICU. I liked this man a lot. He reminded me of my late Uncle Charlie. Dr Bose said the  NICU staff will be focused on Bean at the time of birth. He also assured me there would be doctors taking care of me and not to be worried by the number of people in the delivery room. Daren has a very important job as well. He needs to make sure I start pumping as soon as possible. If there are any breathing problems, Bean will be put on a ventilator. If there are digestive issues, there will be an IV placed for nutrition. I was fine as we discussed all of the medical details. It was when Dr Bose started bringing up the emotional side it got tough for me. The estimated minimum amount of time for Bean's stay in the NICU will be two weeks. Dr Bose said it would be hard for us to leave the hospital knowing Bean can't go with us. Also, Dr Bose wanted to stress it was nothing I did, ate, drank, or was exposed to which caused the om.

Our third stop was a tour of the NICU which was led by Maya. We will have 24 hour visitation capabilities. Friends and family have the same ability, but they need to be signed in by either Daren or myself. We are limited to only two visitors at a time. The hospital supplies everything while Bean will be in the NICU. We don't need to bring clothes, diapers, bouncy chairs...they have it all available to us. I inquired about needing a larger sized car seat due to the supporting of the om. Maya gave us two suggestions - wait or purchase a car seat and leave it boxed up for potential return. If we need a bed to transport Bean home, it will be provided by the hospital.

By this time it was after 230pm and so we headed for our third anatomy scan. I think this tech was my favorite. She had some spunk and was not happy with Bean's decision to hide from pictures. Everything looked good during the scan. Bean weighs an estimated 1 pound 10 ounces.

Our final stop was meeting with Dr Vora, our high risk OB. Nothing much new. She did ask a lot of questions about my heart condition and how it was initially detected. The estimated date for the c-section will be 39 weeks. That is around the end of the first week of November. I'm heading back to the hospital on Wednesday for the gestational diabetes test and we have another ultrasound scheduled for September 7th.

We snapped a quick 26 week picture before heading out the door for church. So far, I've gained around 16 pounds. I'm still participating in the coaches workouts at UNC and the doctors have said I'm fine to continue.

26 weeks

Second Anatomy Scan

Friday the 13th was Bean's second anatomy scan. The focus of the day was the normal sizing and general anatomy of baby Bean, but also to check on the heart and kidneys since they couldn't get a good look at them in the earlier scan. So, after taking lots of pictures and measurements, the ultrasound tech told us to hang tight and the doctor should be in shortly after taking a look at the images. That wait took much longer than expected, but while waiting we got the call from the geneticist with the results of the second round of chromosome testing - everything came back normal. Good news! Finally, the doctor came into the room and filled us in that the heart and kidneys look good. So, it looks like with any luck the om is the only issue on the table, which the tech did show us during the ultrasound. (This very dry recap was brought to you by Daren).

My advice to all first time moms - go to the bathroom before the start of the u/s. The darn things take forever if the baby doesn't cooperate AND they really push hard with the wand. I'm slightly embarrassed to say I also may have drifted off once or twice during the scan. I think the coaches workout from Thursday was still kicking my tail.

Bean remains our team green surprise.  The tech asked if we were having a boy or a girl. We let her know that we were going the surprise route. She had us turn our heads while taking measurements of the femur so we wouldn't see a vienna sausage or the lack thereof.

This afternoon/evening we filled in our family members with the happenings of the past month. It was hard to tell them we didn't have a whole lot of answers. Many of those answers won't come until Bean is born.

Our next appointment is August 10th. At that point I will be 26 weeks. In the coming days we are to expect a call from one of the hospital's case workers who will be assigned to our case. The case worker will coordinate our NICU visits and meetings with the future surgeons.

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.