Today's ultrasound (this time conducted by a graduate of the Seattle U ultrasound program) revealed nothing new: blood flows and the amniotic fluid volume index were in the normal range. Her head is still down, face pointing to my body's left side. A few of the blood tests have come back negative, so we still have no clear explanation for BabyJ's small size. Dr. F. popped in around lunchtime to give me her read on the US results, and the doc from the clinic who is officially on rounds today, Dr. Cole, saw me this evening. Dr. C. said that all signs are pointing to a constitutionally small baby, and when I asked why they would induce labor at 37 weeks in this case, she said maybe that wouldn't be necessary (which makes me very relieved). But first, we do need to make sure that BabyJ grows enough to stay on her own 2nd percentile growth curve, and so....
As Tuesday's growth ultrasound grows nearer, I am getting pretty nervous, and the 35 weeks of raging hormones aren't giving me a fighting chance to remain grounded, either. A nurse said to me last week that she knows the women of the ante-partum unit live and die by their ultrasounds, and now I know what she meant. My stress level this afternoon jacked up BabyJ's heartrate and she had her first less than perfect monitor strip. (Interestingly, how this gets fixed is that I just lay there with continual monitoring, occasionally changing positions, until things calm down and look normal again. Unfortunately for me, that took 3.5 hours.) What I need the most is good sleep; rest where I can read and gather information I'll need for labor, delivery, and bringing baby home; and time to work through my stress, which I honestly prefer to do mostly by myself. I promise that if I need you, I'll call or email to ask you for a favor. Otherwise, the best that you can do for me is to keep us all in your thoughts, send us positive energy, and remaining willing to help us out after BabyJ comes home and we become sleep-deprived lunatics (I know THAT'S just around the corner!).
Stay tuned....
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2 comments:
Hi Jenny, thanks for the update. Let me know if you need anything.
Sounds like things are holding steady and the best that anyone can offer you is rest and privacy.
I'm sending you positive energy, Jenny! Love, Liz
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