33 Weeks 5 Days - Nine Extra Weeks!!!

As of today, I am the most pregnant I've ever been by a whopping nine weeks! At this gestation in my first pregnancy, My Girl was already alive for 63 days. She had just tipped the scales at 3 lbs and began sprinting on the nasal cannula. In fact, at a corrected or gestational age of 33w 5d, I held my daughter on my shoulder for the very first time (all other holding sessions were either Kangaroo Care/Skin-to-Skin or swaddling) sans vent or CPAP. The photo below depicts a NICU mood as I am watching the monitors to make sure My Girl is able to keep her sats up while in my arms for the first time on cannula, not to mention making sure she is able to handle the position of being on my shoulder.



33w 5d has been a much different experience with Baby Boy. For one, he is still inside, where he belongs. Today his measurements calculated a weight of approximately 4.5 lbs - that's My Girl at the same age PLUS what she weighed at birth (1 lb 6 oz). I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's amazing how much a baby can grow when it doesn't have to focus on staying alive in the process.

My fluid was around 10 today, a little less than last week but still acceptable. My cervix is still closed and shows no signs of funnelling even with fundal pressure. My lower uterine segment was once again evaluated by Dr. Davis himself and confirmed to be fully intact with no visible signs of thinning or separation.

Today Dr. Davis mentioned scheduling my amnio. I was under the impression this would be done at the hospital where I intend to deliver. In fact, I have a consult scheduled for Thursday. Dr. Davis assured me that in the 25 years he has been doing amnios for lung development (which he performs quite regularly) he has never had an issue with nicking the cord, which was my main concern. In fact, he said that other doctors will refer tough amnio situations to him, and said although he can't walk and chew gum at the same time, is really good at navigating a needle into really small spaces.

I asked what were to happen if my membranes ruptured or I went into labor as a result of the amnio. I was surprised to learn he would let me drive back to PA to get to my hospital. Hubby is not so comfy with this idea and I have a feeling if either were to happen, I'd be delivering with Dr. Davis right then and there.

So it looks like we are tentatively scheduled for my amnio in three weeks at 36w 5d gestation. Dr. Davis informed me that he felt Baby Boy's lungs had a 10% chance of being mature enough for delivery but based on the values would be able to predict when he would be mature enough to deliver, waiting anywhere from one to two weeks. So much for the plan I had of delivering at 37w on February 12, 2009!

My plan is still to meet with the local doc as he is specialized in genetics and I have some questions about evaluating the amnio sample for some blood clotting disorders my husband is a carrier of. I already called my pediatric hematologist only to get the run-around from the woman who answered the phone. The doc, if I could have gotten to him directly, would have answered my questions. Why do so many doctors have bitchy "gate-keepers"?

Finally, I met the woman (and her husband) Dr. Davis asked me to call last week. She had her TAC surgery yesterday and looks like she's making a fabulous recovery! She is currently 10 weeks pregnant and I wish her another uneventful 27+ weeks! It is amazing what the TAC can do and I look forward to following her pregnancy.