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.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Sunday, April 17, 2011
What's In A Name
Dear Kathryn,
I write these letters to your brother all the time and felt like it was time for you to get your own letter. I've been thinking alot the past few days about what a name means. Your dad and I both have very meaningful family names, and your brother does too. For you, it is the same.
You are named after your grammie Kathryn Ann, who everyone called Kathy. She died a little over two months ago to a long fight with leukemia. She was a spirited, teeny little woman, who was the size of a pixie with the strength of a lion. You are also named Lyn, after three strong, intelligent, and resilient women. One is your aunt mally. She was the baby dreamed of for years, and finally realized by a miracle when your gigi was in her forties. The other two are your gigi and your great grandmother, Linda and Evelyn. One lost a child, and one battled and overcame breast cancer, and in addition, a plethora of challenges and obstacles that taught me, your mom, how to live with grace, strength, and dignity.
As you encounter this fight of your life, before you are even born, I pray that you remember where you came from: a LONG line of strong, capable, smart women, and YOU are just the same.
Right now, despite this fight, you are moving and kicking around inside of me like nothing is wrong, like nothing is phasing you whatsoever. Right now, to me, you are absolutely perfect.
I have faith in you, little girl, and I have faith in my God.
I write these letters to your brother all the time and felt like it was time for you to get your own letter. I've been thinking alot the past few days about what a name means. Your dad and I both have very meaningful family names, and your brother does too. For you, it is the same.
You are named after your grammie Kathryn Ann, who everyone called Kathy. She died a little over two months ago to a long fight with leukemia. She was a spirited, teeny little woman, who was the size of a pixie with the strength of a lion. You are also named Lyn, after three strong, intelligent, and resilient women. One is your aunt mally. She was the baby dreamed of for years, and finally realized by a miracle when your gigi was in her forties. The other two are your gigi and your great grandmother, Linda and Evelyn. One lost a child, and one battled and overcame breast cancer, and in addition, a plethora of challenges and obstacles that taught me, your mom, how to live with grace, strength, and dignity.
As you encounter this fight of your life, before you are even born, I pray that you remember where you came from: a LONG line of strong, capable, smart women, and YOU are just the same.
Right now, despite this fight, you are moving and kicking around inside of me like nothing is wrong, like nothing is phasing you whatsoever. Right now, to me, you are absolutely perfect.
I have faith in you, little girl, and I have faith in my God.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Update
We heard from the specialist this afternoon regarding the preliminary results of the Amnio. There is good news! So far, the preliminary results have come back normal, meaning she does NOT have congenital defects, ie: down’s syndrome, trisomy 18, or trisomy 13, etc. this a great thing and an answer to prayer. Now we will wait until we get the full workup report, which, unfortunately, won’t be available for another 7 days. This report will give us details as to whether it is an infection like Parvo or CMV that is causing her to be sick, or whether they need to perform more testing to determine whether she has extreme anemia or something like that. Basically the full workup report will give us all kinds of good information, but it just takes forever to get.
For now, though, we know she is fine when it comes to her chromosomes and her DNA. We are so very grateful for this information. We still know that she is sick, but now we know that hopefully we can fix it and treat it appropriately in the womb.
Now we would like to ask you to please pray for us for patience, and that she stays put. My amniotic fluid is at such ridiculously high levels that the biggest fear right now is that my water breaks before we have the full report. They really want to know what they are working with before she is born. Because my fluid is so high, the doctors know I am at very high risk for having her prematurely, but we would rather have that not be until after we get the full set of information. In addition, if it is an infection or anemia they would rather treat her in the womb, rather than outside the womb (for instance, they can give her blood transfusions by inserting the appropriate “stuff” through my stomach into her in the womb for the infections and anemia, etc. and have her heal within me rather than add prematurity to that list of things to overcome).
So for now, we’ll continue to wait and hope that her hydrops (the main complication right now, and a serious one) does not get worse, and that her heart continues to keep pace with the stress and pressure she’s under now.
For now, though, we know she is fine when it comes to her chromosomes and her DNA. We are so very grateful for this information. We still know that she is sick, but now we know that hopefully we can fix it and treat it appropriately in the womb.
Now we would like to ask you to please pray for us for patience, and that she stays put. My amniotic fluid is at such ridiculously high levels that the biggest fear right now is that my water breaks before we have the full report. They really want to know what they are working with before she is born. Because my fluid is so high, the doctors know I am at very high risk for having her prematurely, but we would rather have that not be until after we get the full set of information. In addition, if it is an infection or anemia they would rather treat her in the womb, rather than outside the womb (for instance, they can give her blood transfusions by inserting the appropriate “stuff” through my stomach into her in the womb for the infections and anemia, etc. and have her heal within me rather than add prematurity to that list of things to overcome).
So for now, we’ll continue to wait and hope that her hydrops (the main complication right now, and a serious one) does not get worse, and that her heart continues to keep pace with the stress and pressure she’s under now.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Dates
There's a certain significance in dates.
When I was younger, I thought how awful it must have been for my mom when her dad, my granddaddy, died on her birthday.
We got some bad news yesterday about baby Kathryn. Turns out she has non-immune fetal hydrops. There is fluid on her lungs and on her heart, and swelling. The hydrops, though is a complication of a cause, not the cause itself. They did an amnio to determine what's causing it. It could range from fetal anemia to an infection to a chromosomal abnormality.
Regardless of what's causing it, it means something's not right.
This also explains why I have so much amniotic fluid. As my doctor put it, he could see 10,000 women and I would still have more fluid than all of them. I am currently carrying about twenty pounds of amniotic fluid.
Yes we are a little shaken up right now. And every single thought and worst case scenario has played through my head. I feel guilty for thinking this, but I'd almost rather continue imagining the worst case scenario in my head to prepare myself, and hopefully and prayerfully, but graciously and miraculously be surprised.
I spent this morning back at the hospital getting my lungs checked because of the risk of this syndrome, and I'll continue to monitor my blood pressure daily, if not more than once a day.
Our doctors believe my water could break any day due to the huge amount of fluid that I am carrying, and everyone is sort of in a waiting game, waiting until tomorrow, when we know more.
What I do know is that my God is bigger than any problem, and He is the one that makes the plans, not me.
You see, when you first find out you are pregnant, there is a wealth of emotions that come with this discovery, the most of which is the whole new world of possibilities....for your life, your child's life, and the love that you already feel. But then..you wait the entire first trimester, regardless of how healthy your pregnancy is, in anticipation of getting past that 14th week, thinking FOR SURE, that everything means it's fine after that....
Then you think, once I can get to that 20 week anatomy ultrasound, and we see there are no problems, and we find out whether we'll have a son or a daughter, then....THEN it is smooth sailing.
I can't begin to describe to you the agony in learning this late, at 32 weeks, that there is something wrong. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
So please pray for us as we deal with this in our own private way. For me, writing on this blog helps me process it all, so you'll get to have that little window into things. Count yourself lucky :-)
For today, we will celebrate our 4th anniversary, a date and a symbol of our commitment to "For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do we part."
When I was younger, I thought how awful it must have been for my mom when her dad, my granddaddy, died on her birthday.
We got some bad news yesterday about baby Kathryn. Turns out she has non-immune fetal hydrops. There is fluid on her lungs and on her heart, and swelling. The hydrops, though is a complication of a cause, not the cause itself. They did an amnio to determine what's causing it. It could range from fetal anemia to an infection to a chromosomal abnormality.
Regardless of what's causing it, it means something's not right.
This also explains why I have so much amniotic fluid. As my doctor put it, he could see 10,000 women and I would still have more fluid than all of them. I am currently carrying about twenty pounds of amniotic fluid.
Yes we are a little shaken up right now. And every single thought and worst case scenario has played through my head. I feel guilty for thinking this, but I'd almost rather continue imagining the worst case scenario in my head to prepare myself, and hopefully and prayerfully, but graciously and miraculously be surprised.
I spent this morning back at the hospital getting my lungs checked because of the risk of this syndrome, and I'll continue to monitor my blood pressure daily, if not more than once a day.
Our doctors believe my water could break any day due to the huge amount of fluid that I am carrying, and everyone is sort of in a waiting game, waiting until tomorrow, when we know more.
What I do know is that my God is bigger than any problem, and He is the one that makes the plans, not me.
You see, when you first find out you are pregnant, there is a wealth of emotions that come with this discovery, the most of which is the whole new world of possibilities....for your life, your child's life, and the love that you already feel. But then..you wait the entire first trimester, regardless of how healthy your pregnancy is, in anticipation of getting past that 14th week, thinking FOR SURE, that everything means it's fine after that....
Then you think, once I can get to that 20 week anatomy ultrasound, and we see there are no problems, and we find out whether we'll have a son or a daughter, then....THEN it is smooth sailing.
I can't begin to describe to you the agony in learning this late, at 32 weeks, that there is something wrong. I wouldn't wish it on anyone.
So please pray for us as we deal with this in our own private way. For me, writing on this blog helps me process it all, so you'll get to have that little window into things. Count yourself lucky :-)
For today, we will celebrate our 4th anniversary, a date and a symbol of our commitment to "For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until death do we part."
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
cutie pie
I sure do think she looks a lot like her brother...don't you?
On a related note, please keep this cutie pie in your prayers. Lots going on over here, and we're hoping she stays put until June, but are pretty sure that's not going to happen. Let's just say they're watching me close and already have me on meds to stop the contractions.
Good thing she's already measuring almost SIX POUNDS!
Good thing she's already measuring almost SIX POUNDS!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Explosion
Of words, that is.
In the past month, T's vocabulary has completely exploded, and I totally love it.
He's now almost 18 months old, and like the cheesy mother posts I've seen that I swore I would never do, here it goes, and here are his words:
He also now officially has his first sentence, or two word phrase, and can you guess what it is?
"Bye, Beau!"
Then when asked to point to certain objects or pictures, he can point to: gramps; his cousin sarah kate; giraffes; elephants; hyenas; armadillos; gorillas; lions; butterflies; light (as in the light coming from a light bulb); the sun; his socks; his feet; his nose; his ears; his hair; his eyes; and....
his baby sister. :-)
how cute is my kid.
In the past month, T's vocabulary has completely exploded, and I totally love it.
He's now almost 18 months old, and like the cheesy mother posts I've seen that I swore I would never do, here it goes, and here are his words:
- mama
- dada
- beau
- night night
- nana
- more
- no
- dog
- bat
- duck
- bird
- juice
- cheese
- shoes
- cat
- vrrrr, vrrrrr (for cars and trucks & the sound they make)
- gigi
- doc
- yaya (for his paci)
- Hi
- Bye (of which he says with the most adorable southern accent)
He also now officially has his first sentence, or two word phrase, and can you guess what it is?
"Bye, Beau!"
Then when asked to point to certain objects or pictures, he can point to: gramps; his cousin sarah kate; giraffes; elephants; hyenas; armadillos; gorillas; lions; butterflies; light (as in the light coming from a light bulb); the sun; his socks; his feet; his nose; his ears; his hair; his eyes; and....
his baby sister. :-)
how cute is my kid.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Flashback Friday
Last year, these were my little guy's spring school pictures:
And these are his Spring School Pictures from this year.
Can I make him stop growing up, please???
And these are his Spring School Pictures from this year.
Can I make him stop growing up, please???
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