Monday, February 7, 2011

Doctor's appointment- Week 23

Today, I had another doctor's appointment.  This one was my regular check up to make sure I wasn't showing any signs of pre-term labor.  So far it looks like Isabelle is cooperating and the progesterone shots are doing their job.  At this point, I can tell when I might be over doing it so I now know to spend the rest of the day resting.  Ryan and the boys have been very understanding and helpful when this does happen. With Aiden, I didn't start showing signs of pre-term until 25 weeks so these next few weeks will show if these shots are really going to work for me.
My total weight gain so far is 5 lbs! The nurse wasn't too impressed with my lack of weight gain but I on the other hand, am happy not gaining too much weight as long as the baby is fine.  Of course, I did blame the lack of weight gain on Isabelle since she has not made it too easy for me.  She is very picky and quickly lets me know when she doesn't approve of my food choice.
Doctor E. went over the findings from my last high risk appointment.  (This was a reminder to Ryan and I to make sure we get him to tell us what he sees before we leave the office.)  According to his notes, he had also mentioned that the fluid around Isabelle's neck was no longer visible.  Her chin is no longer noticeably smaller and is now measuring correctly (one of the three things he pointed out that showed Isabelle has DS).  I am not sure what this means but this sounds like a good thing.  Also, her bowels were showing a little bright on the ultrasound.  We did ask at our last appointment about her other organs and we were told that all of her other organs (besides her heart) are showing normal and developing properly.  Now, we need to find out what it means when the bowels are a little bright.  Dr. E. made it sound like it doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong with their development.  Thankfully, we have our high risk appointment next Tuesday so we can get these questions answered and also explain that we would like to know all of his findings before the end of our appointment.  I wouldn't think this is something we would have to say but obviously we do.  Now we know!
Doctor E. also sounded very confident with delivering Isabelle in Sandestin.  She said she will obviously go off the recommendations of the Cardiologist and the high risk doctor but she feels very comfortable that Isabelle will be just fine.  This would make things much more convenient with our family and the boys but we obviously want to do what is best for Isabelle.
So another week down and hopefully quite a few more to go.  We can't wait to meet Isabelle but she needs to stay put for as long as possible.

1 comment:

Jaime said...

Hey just a quick note on the bowels. The echogenic bowel was the marker that showed up on our 20 week ultrasound to suggest DS. It was a level 3 the highest they can be. Well Friday now at 32 weeks, we went for our monthly ultrasound at the perinatal office and the brightness has almost completely disappeared. We were worried for a while because we didn't know if he would require surgery or someting. So just hang in there, they usually do go away!

ps..I really enjoy following your blog, Cant wait forvyour little girl to join you!