On Monday we went for our first non-stress test appt with the OB. Adam seemed to do pretty well once the Dr woke him up. His heart rate was going up and down just like it is supposed to and I only had on very tiny contraction. My OB said that if he didn't know that I had low amniotic fluid that he would not be able to tell from the results of the test.
Tuesday I had to go have the 3 hr glucose tolerance test done. This was awful!! I couldn't eat or drink 12 hrs prior to the test. Usually at night I get up about every hour and get a drink so I didn't get much sleep the night before the test because I kept having to convince myself to go back to sleep thirsty. I had to drink another orange drink, didn't taste so bad because I was SO thirsty but it made me feel really bad afterwards. I was dizzy, nauseous and really felt like I was going to pass out. It took a lot of will power to keep it down but I knew if it came back up then I would just have to do it all over again. AND I ended up having blood taken 5 times in 3 1/2 hrs, I felt like a human pin cushion.
Turns out I failed the test and now have been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes. It is really beyond me how this happened to me. I will talk to my OB about it next week for likely causes because I just don't feel like I fit the risk factors. I have to go Monday morning and take a 3 hr Diabetes Class. Bet its going to be fun and now I have to poke my finger 4 times a day to check my blood sugar.
Today I went to the MFM dr for my weekly ultrasound. Didn't go so well. My fluid is down to 3.1, so it dropped 1.2 in 6 days. Its still going down at about the same rate as it has been. The ultrasound tech was not able to get Adam to move for her at all during the scan. Usually even if he was sleeping, he wakes up as soon as they start the ultrasound because he hates it, but all the poking and prodding of my belly wouldn't make him move. The tech kept watching different things during the ultrasound so that she could give him a good biophysical profile score. This is a score they give babies to show how they are handling life inside the womb. I don't know the exact score but I know he didn't do well because the Dr had a much different attitude about him than he did last week.
He first started out pretty much by lecturing me about having the diabetes and how I needed to change what and how much I eat. Well if anyone knows me, I have force fed myself to eat this pregnancy because I don't have much of an appetite. Lately I have been eating a lot of fatty/sugary foods to try and fatten Adam up. Looks like all it did was cause another problem for me. Then he goes on to talk about how the life expectancy of Americans is going down because of obesity and diabetes. Great way to talk to a worried, anxious pregnant mother that feels guilty for everything that is happening to her baby anyway... I guess he could have used a little more tact, knowing what I am going through.
Then we got to talking about Adam. He is not growing like he should, he has only gained 6 oz in the last 2 weeks and is now measuring 2 weeks behind. There are multiple reasons why his growth could be slowing and we're not sure the exact cause but no matter what I do, he's not going to be a big baby. He's obviously getting pretty concerned about the situation because his new goal is delivery between 34 and 35 weeks. This would be between Oct 23 and 30th. But he's not sure if we'll even be able to keep him in there for that long. I went today to get the 1st steroid shot that will help mature Adam's lungs and have to get the 2nd one tmrw. He called the MFM dr in St.Petersberg to get them to see me soon. So, as Adam's condition worsens, he seems to be proactive in taking care of the situation.
There were a few good things that came out of the appt today. Adam's chest cavity seems to be of normal size which leads the Dr to believe that his lungs have been able to develop. I was so relived to hear this because if his lungs were too small and underdeveloped, there's nothing any of the dr's could do to help him. He also said that when Adam is born, dialysis won't be urgently needed. When he is born his body will be free from toxins because the placenta has been doing this for him and it will probably take a week before dialysis is needed. This will allow time to stabilize him. He also said that there was not a size restriction on peritoneal dialysis. I had read before that babies had to be 8-9 lbs before dialysis would help, but he said that his size won't matter. This was such a relief.
I think that's about it for now, no more appts until Monday!!
FYI- I will be 30 weeks on Friday Sept 25th.
1 comment:
I am continuing to keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers. It is hard when your fluid gets low because there is not much they can do, but I am praying the steriod shots will continue to help his lungs.
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