The Second Cardio Appointment

Mom picked me up by school and we went all the way into Minneapolis to Abbott Northwestern for the fetal echo and growth appointment. We had two techs this time, because one of them had just started and was on her second day working with them. I can't remember the new one's name, but the one she was following's name was Paula, and she was from the East coast (which was totally obvious when she said aorta and atria!). They were both very nice, and Paula got a few good pictures of baby.

Baby's profile
You can see her little heart in her chest!

The cardiologist came in and looked at several of the pictures that Paula had taken, and then looked at it "live" with her. We found out that she actually has two different heart rates. I can't remember which was one higher or lower, but the ventricle (on the bottom) and the two atria (on the top) had different heart rates (one was 28 bmp and the other was 128 bmp, if I remember correctly, and I think the bottom ventricle was higher). The cardiologist seemed somewhat concerned, but he said if she can make it to 30 weeks without any more complications, that they would be able to deliver her, if a complication did arise, and still do the surgeries (the shunt to get more blood to her body instead of her lungs, and the pacemaker to fix the irregular heartbeat/rate). However, if more complications arose before that 30 week mark, they wouldn't be able to do anything, but let her, hopefully keep developing inside me. He said that delivering her and doing the surgeries before that 30-week marker, gave her pretty much zero-chance of survival. But after that 30-week mark, her odds were much better. So right now we're praying for no more complications (hopefully for the rest of the pregnancy... and her life... but for sure until that 30-week mark).

After a couple minutes, Dr. Gaziano, as mom described him, a grandfatherly fellow, came in to look at her growth. He said she was just slightly above the 10th percentile, for 24 weeks- 5 days, and called her petite. Mom and I commented, "Well, look at her mother!" And mom explained that pretty much my entire life, I have been in the lower percentiles for height & weight. I also mentioned that according to my charts, I calculated my due date to be June 1, not May 22, and asked if that might have something to do with it. He didn't quite seem to have an answer, but just acknowledged what we said. Then he started telling us that we needed to get my care switched over to their system. I told him that I had already, but I try to schedule my appointments in Woodbury, or United if I have to, and try to avoid venturing into Minneapolis. He was a very nice doctor, but I don't think I would like to see him again for this pregnancy. With all of the complications, I would like to stick with someone a little more sharp. But for any "normal" pregnancy, I think he would be a fine doctor to have.

Once he left, I laid on the ultrasound bed with jelly still on my tummy, and towels covering my tummy, waiting. We thought we were finished, but no one had said anything. They just kind of left us hanging. After about a half-hour or so, mom went out into the hall to find Paula, the ultrasound tech again, to ask if we could leave or if someone else was coming in to see us. She didn't realize that Dr. Gaziano had come and gone, but once we explained that to her, she said we could go. This is the second time that we have been "forgotten about" with Minnesota Perinatal. (The first time the actually forgot we were supposed to see someone else and tried to send us on our way). I know miscommunication happen once in a while, but twice is too much for me!

We Found a Keeper!

Mom went with me to my last appointment on Wednesday. It was a quick ultrasound (which means not much time to look at baby & no 3D's) and an OB appointment. The ultrasound tech (who was the same one who did our very first ultrasound - Krista) was looking at the fluid around her heart that they found last time, and making sure that there wasn't any more fluid building up in other parts of her body (head, lungs/ chest, etc.). They also want to monitor her heart rate closely. Baby checked out pretty well at this appointment. There was the same amount of fluid around her heart, so she didn't gain any more, and there wasn't any fluids in other parts of her body. If there were, then they would be concerned about hydrops. (I wouldn't suggest looking at Google images for hydrops.) Her heart rate was also higher this time (80-90 bpm) than last time (60 bpm), but still not where they would like her to be (120-180 bpm).

Then came in Dr. Ledella! She looked around at the baby also, and found that her umbilical cord has two "cords" inside. Typically, babies are supposed to have one vein and two arteries, but she only has two (one of each). She was very relaxed in the manner in which she told us. She said that typically they would be concerned about a genetic defect or heart defect, but they already know that baby has a heart defect, so they aren't really concerned. Then she chatted with us, and we mentioned how there are lots of people praying for our little one. She said she really believes in the power of prayer, medical technology can do a lot, but miracles happen all the time. She was very personable, and we both liked her a lot. We found a keeper!

They want to see me again in two weeks (next week I see Dr. Gremmels, the cardiologist), and I set up another appointment with Dr. Ledella at a time that Adam will be able to make. I hope he likes her just as much as mom and I did!

No crying after this appointment, in fact, I am much happier! (Which is good for baby!) :)

Another Appointment with "Scary Doctor"

Adam and I had another appointment today, and even though I requested not to be seen by Dr. Danilenko, we still saw her today. The ultrasound technician (Karen) wasn't nearly as skilled at getting good pictures (baby also wasn't cooperating very well... she seemed to have her face cuddled into the placenta and was moving her arms & legs all over the place). But the tech was very good in explaining what she was looking at and measuring. It's amazing that she can look at her grey abdomen and say here are her kidneys and this little spot here is urine. We got one good profile picture of her, but this tech wasn't as comfortable doing 3D u/s, so we didn't get any of those. But we did see her open her mouth and stick out her tongue twice.

Opening mouth to stick out her tongue

(we could actually see the tongue,

but didn't get a good picture of it!)

Another profile (she's getting so big!
No wonder I feel her kicking all the time!)

After she was finished, Dr. Danilenko came in and took another look at her heart. Her heart rate was 60 bpm (where usually it's at 120-180 bpm) and there was some swelling around her heart. She was concerned and started talking about giving me steroids to develop her lungs in case they needed to deliver her early, and went on about a couple other things. She said she would put a call into Dr. Gremmels (the cardiologist that we saw last time) to ask him. But said that she wanted to do another u/s next week, and another OB appointment the following week. Then sent us on our way.

I asked the lady, Wendy, at the front desk though, because I was pretty sure we were supposed to have an OB appointment today. I was right, so we sat in the waiting room for about another half hour waiting for that. The good news is that I gained weight (last time I hadn't), but the bad news is not enough (not even half of what I should have). The nurse (whose name I can't remember, but she was very nice and wore braces - Kris -) seemed to think we could put off seeing a dietitian for now though, since I've had a history of having problems gaining weight, and since the baby seems to be growing alright.

Then Dr. Danilenko came in and she she talked to Dr. Gremmels, who said that delivering early would be bad, because trying to do heart surgery on a preemie is very difficult. He also said that a low heart rate was common, so he wasn't worried about that, but did want to see me in two weeks (instead of three, which is when my next appointment with him was scheduled). She also mentioned (which Dr. Gremmels had already mentioned at our last appointment), that she will probably also need a pacemaker.

We finished the OB appointment by talking about pre-term labor and talking about my due date. The nurse said that Dr. Danilenko is still going by May 22nd. I am still counting as June 1st though. She also asked me a few other questions. Adam was sitting where he could see her computer screen, and saw that she clicked the "could not ask: spouse/ family was present" box for the question, "Do you get abused?" Good thing they weren't looking at my legs where I have two huge bruises from dropping a piece of 3/4 inch plywood (when we were working on the closet), with another permanent bruise from playing paintball in college with Charlie & Tommy!

I seem to have my ups and downs with this pregnancy, but it seems after appointments with Dr. Danilenko I always cry at least once, and I did pretty much as soon as we got in the car. I asked Adam through my tears that if Dr. Gremmels says that a low heart rate is normal with this kind of thing, then we shouldn't be worried. He agreed, which made me feel a little bit better, but I'm still afraid for our little girl. Please keep praying for her! We need her as strong as she can be so that she can make it through all of these surgeries.

Baby's Heartbeat!

We had our first pre-natal appointment today! I was very excited, but not so much at the same time. I hate needles! And I knew I would have to get blood drawn and I was hoping (or not...) to get a flu shot & H1N1 shot. But what we heard before 5 vials of blood and an H1N1 shot, was totally worth it!

I was hoping that we would have an ultrasound done, as I had heard from several people that they had had one done at about 12 weeks. We didn't. But our nurse midwife, Carrie, did bring in a fetal Doppler to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Carrie found our baby's heartbeat right away. It was so fast! Then she moved it around and found my heartbeat. My heartbeat was about 70 beats per minute (bpm) and baby's was about 150 bpm. More than twice as fast! It was such an amazing sound to hear!

I was convinced that our baby is boy, but after I read some folklore on the sex of the baby, I'm not so sure. The site I found said that if the baby's heartbeat is over 140 bpm, then it's a girl. That doesn't totally convince me either though, because the same site also said that if you don't have morning sickness, then it's a boy (and I haven't really been sick at all). So at this point I'm not convinced either way. I will be happy either way, but Adam still is leaning more towards a boy.

Carrie also recommended that we have a level II ultrasound done, because we have some genetic defects that run in the family. From what I could find, a level II ultrasound is a very detailed ultrasound that shows your baby a lot more clearly.

Our due date was calculated to be June 1 (I calculated June 2, we must be pretty close) and our next appointment will be at about 16 weeks.