20w1d
We're slowly closing in on the 26th week mark. Just a few more appointments with the high risk group before we get the final nod that the little guy's heart is just fine.
I had my next high risk appointment on Wednesday. Although I love the practice, I'm not always thrilled to have to drive into the city, park in the parking garage (usually at least on the 6th floor), and make my way through the hallways and buildings to get over to the office. I literally add about 15 minutes of parking and walking time to my schedule to ensure that I arrive at the appointment on time. The plus of being in the hospital (versus the new office they opened up near my husband's office) is that they don't charge me my specialty copay there. Go figure.
Well, my appointment was scheduled for 1pm on Wednesday. My son's been sniffling all week, so dropping him off at my Mother-in-Law's house I just wanted to get there, back, and get him home for a nap. My husband, the saint that he is, has made just about every appointment with both children. To my knowledge, he missed one regular in-and-out appointment with my primary group earlier on in this pregnancy. Otherwise, he's been there by side to hear everything (and see everything) first hand.
He had an unexpected meeting about 45 minutes away that morning, and he cut it pretty close to get to the hospital. He arrived around 1:15 to join me in the waiting room...where we stayed until 1:30. This is the first time I haven't been taken in within 5 minutes of arriving. We were just hoping it wasn't another marathon appointment this time. The doctor I saw two weeks ago indicated that they wouldn't need to do an ultrasound at every visit - rather every other - so this was the "off" week.
As we were being escorted down the hall, the woman confirmed that we were there for another ultrasound. I of course replied that I thought it was every other visit...so she went and checked. Sure enough, they wanted another ultrasound. No big deal, who doesn't love watching their child??
Luckily she didn't have to get 10,000 measurements this time around - she did get the heart rate, check out the leg and arm bone lengths, measured the tummy, took a look at the kidneys, bladder, and confirmed that it was in fact a boy. She made a comment that although the child was a "flasher," he wasn't cooperating when it came to getting the skull and brain measurements. That took nearly 10 minutes of her pressing hard with the ultrasound scanner on my stomach. I can usually tolerate the discomfort, but Wednesday I was having a nice bout of tummy trouble and wasn't up for any further disturbances.
Once she captured all of the measurements, she calculated the baby's due date (just at 20 weeks, so we're on track) and the baby's weight - 11oz. Hmm. Is that on track? As she left to get the doctor, I mentioned to my husband that I thought that it was heavy compared to what the week-by-week book was saying.
The doctor came in and introduced himself - there's just 3 high risk OBs in the practice, so I was bound to meet them all at some point. Each one is nicer than the next. He took about 5 minutes explaining to me what he had learned about Sjogren's and pregnancy at the conference he attended this week. Sounds like for those whose baby develops heart block (whether full or partial) aren't really helped by the steroids that they usually administer is a partial or complete heart block is detected. That's unfortunate, but it did sounds like they were trying some type of immunoglobulin for those expectant mothers whose babies have a high likelihood of heart block. We'll have to wait and see if that works any better. Lucky for me, I don't need either at this time.
The doctor checked out the baby's heart rate (over 150bpm) and did the usual measurements of the heart beat and basically told us what we've heard for several weeks - everything looks great, there's a very very slim chance anything will develop, and they think it will be smooth sailing from here on out.
I did ask the doctor whether all of the measurements were within the normal range, and he said yes. I pushed and asked specifically about the weight, as I recalled it being higher than the normal range dictated in the book I'm reading. He once again confirmed that it was normal, and inquired how big my first son was. When I replied 10lbs 7oz, his jaw literally dropped and he asked me if I was 50 weeks pregnant when I delivered. I said no, I was 11 days over due, to which he asked whether it was a vaginal delivery. I said no, it was a scheduled section and explained that they knew he was going to be big - most likely high 9lb range - and as he hadn't dropped, wasn't in position, and I was not dilating, that a c-section was the best option. He agreed, and commented that that was a HHUUUGGGEEEE baby.
On our way out, I commented to my husband that it was a big strange for an OB to be SO shocked about a baby's birth weight. I mean, he delivers babies...or at least oversees many pregnant women each day. He was REALLY shocked. However, upon thinking about it, perhaps most of his patients...being older, with multiples, or medical conditions, don't have high birth weight babies. I know multiples are generally lower birth weight (and are delivered a little early), and potentially given the nature of a high risk OB practice many of the other patients are lucky to go full term.
Let's start a pool to see how much this baby is going to weigh...