Yesterday's Appointment with Dr. Davis

Yesterday I celebrated 30w 5d and Baby Boy has officially had the benefit of an additional six weeks in the womb compared to his sister born at 24w 5d.

At yesterday's appointment, Dr. Davis performed a growth scan and Baby Boy is measuring on target for his gestational age. His approximate weight is 3 lbs 6 oz, a whole two pounds heavier than his sister was at birth. Curious as to how much Our Girl weighed at this stage, I referred to her NICU calendar where I tracked something positive each and every day of her NICU stay. (I still keep a daily calendar of what I consider to be "milestones" or cute things she says or does. In fact, today is the last day of my second Hallmark calendar (started the day of discharge) and I need to decide if I will keep a third year of notes for her. Baby Boy of course will have at least as much as his sister... so I hope and plan to, anyway.)

So the NICU calendar indicated that 30w 5d was day 42 of our NICU stay. Our Girl had just self-extubated the day prior which happened to be Labor Day and was off the vent successfully the third and final try. She was on a CPAP of 7 or 8 and weighed 2 lbs 5 oz. Clearly, the hard work of surviving takes its toll on these micro preemies. Just baking away as nature planned, allows for crucial weight gain and development that is seriously thrown off course when these tiny babies are thrust into the world too soon. It is realizations and comparisons such as these that really break my heart. Although, if you watch the attached video of My Girl singing "Jingle Bells", my thought is that most people would never know her life began the way it did.

While Baby Boy's measurements all average out to his actual gestational age, his tummy was measuring on the small side. What I love about Dr. Davis' techs, is that they just do the testing necessary to confirm that all is okay. Yesterday, this meant that without instructions or asking permission, my tech went ahead and confirmed that blood flow was appropriate and that Baby Boy wasn't compromised in any fashion. This is very reassuring as I love the better safe than sorry approach to medical care and you can't check me or my baby enough! For this reason, I have decided to have Dr. Davis and his team continue to follow my pregnancy on a weekly basis, performing the necessary growth scans, AFIs, NSTs, cervical checks and lower uterine segment screening for any sign of thinning.

It is very true that although my whole day is consumed by a Dr. Davis visit, I have a routine down and the techs in the office all know me and my situation. I feel 100% confident and comfortable with the care I am receiving and with little time left in my pregnancy feel it's in every one's best interest to keep a good thing going.

In other news, my fluid level came up to 10.5 this week. Each week since I was flagged for potentially low levels, my fluid has increased. This is all reassuring. My NST was reactive as well although uterine irritability was detected but I suppose that is nothing new.

I felt bad when as Hubby and I entered Dr. Davis' office to talk, his phone rang and he was clearly discussing with the person on the other end that I was going to be one of his OB patients. Long story short, I explained that I am more comfy delivering closer to home and so our plan for the remainder of the pregnancy is that Dr. Davis will continue to follow me weekly (as mentioned above) and my new group will see me every other week and ultimately perform my amnio and delivery. Gosh, it feels like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders! I have it figured out!

Earlier today, I put a call into the new doc I met on Christmas Eve. She called me back this afternoon and I confirmed that I would love for them to take me on as a patient, all the while co-treating with Dr. Davis. It made me feel so good that she was excited to talk to Dr. Davis not only about my records, but also about Transabdominal Cerclage! She was thrilled to learn of another doctor who performs the surgery! Spread the word!!!

So while I was hesitant to put up two Christmas trees this year because I had visions of being on bed rest or worse, in the hospital or visiting Baby Boy in the NICU, I am happy to report that instead of all the negative thoughts, I am actually able to help Hubby take the trees down! I wouldn't be here, on the eve of the New Year, the eve of 31 weeks, on my feet, helping out without this TAC!!!