It's not about what God has done to me, but what he has done for Adam...

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

A Marathon of Dr appts

I haven't posted anything new lately because not too much has been happening. I have been seeing my OB Dr every Monday for an appt, including a non-stress test. Then on Wed and Fri, I go to the hospital for non-stress tests. On Monday and Friday, I see the MFM here in town for an ultrasound that includes a biophysical profile. All of these appts have been going just as expected and Adam seems to be doing fine without having any fluid.

I will be 33 weeks this Friday, Oct. 16th. Right now, Adam's estimated weight is 3 lbs 15 oz. He is measuring about a week behind, but a few weeks ago he was 2 weeks behind. This is only an estimate but he has really been putting on weight in the past few weeks, hopefully it will continue like this.

Yesterday was such a long day and I hope to never have to repeat it! We drove to St.Pete, had 3 Dr appts and a tour of labor and delivery in the hospital where I will be delivering and then drove back home. Luckily, Allison was exhausted from a fun day with her great grandparents and was asleep by 7:30! So I was able to get some much needed rest.

The first appt we had was with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Dr in St.Pete. The Dr we saw was very nice and didn't remind us how bad Adam's prognosis really is. I really appreciated that because by this point, we know what we are looking at and I hate being reminded of this constantly. We had an ultrasound which was pretty much the same as all the other ultrasounds have been except they found a pocket of fluid that nobody else has been measuring, so the level was a little more than we expected. I think she said it was 1.9. All the other ultrasounds have been between 0.5-0.7. I'm not sure if this is possibly a new pocket or one that nobody else has seen because she looked for it really low, underneath Adam's little butt. After the ultrasound we just went over some details about the c-section and they gave me the orders to bring to the hospital. I don't have to go back there now. I will just see the Dr on Adam's birthday.

Next we met with a lady from the hospital who gave us a tour of the labor and delivery department. It wasn't really that educational, but it was nice to see where I will be staying. Maybe it will help me be a little more comfortable when the big day comes. I also pre-registered for the hospital, so that's one less thing to worry about when I go in.

The next appt was with the cardiologist. They did a fetal echo, and it took forever! The ultrasound tech said that Adam was in the worst position possible to get a good look at his heart. They didn't find anything new. We are still just looking at a bicuspid aortic valve and possible aortic coarctation. The one thing that does concern me, is that the Dr said that they would be able to do heart surgery if Adam had adequate kidney function. But we know he's not going to and every time I asked if he was on dialysis if he would still be able to have the surgery, the Dr kind of talked in circles to avoid answering my question. So, I am really confused. We don't know how severe the coarctation is and it might be so minor that he doesn't need surgery until he's about a year old. But if it does need repaired right away, I don't see how they can allow a baby to die of a heart defect in order to save his non-functioning kidneys. Doesn't make sense to me. But I am going to let it go and not stress out about it. We will have to see how everything turns out when he's born. The cardiologist in Miami didn't even see the problem so I'm hoping its not that bad and can wait.

The last appt we had was with the urologist. He didn't really have much to say that we didn't already know. He seems to think that the blockage probably is a posterior urethra valve, an extra flap inside the urethra that is blocking the flow of urine. This is what the Dr in Miami thought also. He went over the plan for whats going to happen after Adam is born. Nothing is going to be STAT and can be handled as routine.

I am very happy that I made it through yesterday. I went for a non-stress test today and Adam did great. NO appts tmrw!!! Yay!! Then 2 more on Friday....Praying that everything either stays how it is now and Adam makes it just like this until delivery or it gets better and God chooses to heal my baby!

4 comments:

Bren said...

April, you and Adam are in my thoughts and prayers!

Wodzisz Family said...

I am praying that God will heal Adam or at least increase his kidney function. That will definitely help with the fluid level and make him more comfortable too.

You are in my thoughts and prayers.

Unknown said...

Let's all hope and pray for the latter....that God heals Adam ♥

carebear said...

Hi April.
My name is Karen and I am mommy to Matthew, a 16 month old on hemodialysis waiting for a transplant.
My son was born at 31 weeks and since then has undergone 14 surgeries, including 4 fetal surgeries. It's a sad thing, but you will have to fight for your child. Most doctors see our kids as a lost case. Make him see he is treating a person, that you are in this for the long haul. One thing you need to do for your precious son is to fight for steroid shots. I truly think they saved my babies lungs. Kidneys can be fixed, lungs can't. Protect them at all cost. Make life a little harder on these doctors, so your son's life is a little easier on the outside.
I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Let me know if you need anything!!
Hugs,
Karen