Monday Update

I had my regular (now twice a week) OB appointment this morning for a non-stress test, and baby Kathryn did great.  She was moving all over the place, especially after they gave me some juice.  In addition, her heart beat remained strong.

This afternoon, I went to see Dr. Owen, a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist at UAB.  He was WONDERFUL, spent so much time checking out Kathryn, her heart, her whole body, and getting as much information as he could.  He did have some interesting things to note: she does NOT have fluid around her heart or in her lungs.  She does, however, have fluid in her chest cavity, otherwise called Pleural Effusion.  This fluid in her chest cavity is causing her lungs to not have the space they need to mature or develop, but that's about the same as when we thought there was fluid directly in her lungs.  In addition, she still has swelling on her scalp.  To make the diagnosis of hydrops, you need fluid in two of five cavities, which she has: fluid in her chest cavity and fluid underneath her skin (scalp). 

We will obviously continue to know more as the week progresses, but he seems to think there may not be anything wrong with her but a possible "glitch" in her lymphatic system.  This means a few things: first, he does not think draining her lungs is the right way to go.  He has seen some babies not handle this procedure well and thinks it's better left to handle at delivery.  Second: he wants to keep Kathryn in there as long as possible because since the complication will come when she tries to breath, right now, she is good where she is.  He does think, however, that we'll be very lucky to make it to 35 weeks (I'm 32 weeks, 2 days right now).  That's what he's shooting for.  He wants to keep her cooking as long as possible, and one thing she will have going for her is her size: she is over the 90th percentile in size right now, so she is a big girl.

He is sending me to a pediatric cardiologist next week to confirm the heart structure and functions.  From what he can tell he sees that the heart is working great and structurally sound, but he wants to make absolutely sure with a specialist in that field.  If that looks good, and amnio results come back negative for anything else, then it very well could be a case of that glitch in the lymphatic system. 

This is how they deal with that: when she is born, he was very honest, she will be sick.  She will most likely be immediately intubated and they will insert tubes into her chest to drain the fluid from her chest.  From there on, he said, it will be touch and go to stabilize her and teach her lungs to breath and develop.  He did say however, that most babies with this type of problem that don't have any other underlying problems can actually pull through this and end up doing well.  That is what we will hope and pray for. 

In addition, please pray that the amnio results that we should get by the end of the week show no underlying problem.  This is the ideal situation.

We can also pray that this problem resolves itself between now and when Kathryn is born.  It has happened before, and is called Spontaneous Resolution of Hydrops.  This would be the ideal, miraculous situation and I think it is entirely possible.  For instance, there is no more fluid around her heart.  And another for instance: last week my amniotic fluid was measuring at 50, and today it measured at 34.  This is huge, and I am a firm believer that it is an answer to prayer.

I am not on bedrest, but he did recommend I develop a couch potato lifestyle (I told him this was not a problem at all :)

They are also going to have me get the steroid shots to develop her lungs in case she comes prematurely, and I'll get those shots tomorrow and Wednesday.

Overall, we know we have a long road ahead, but we'll do whatever we need to do to make sure we have the best treatment available for Kathryn for when God decides it's time to give those lungs a shot.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. 
It works.