The picture is from week 26, but we're really updating for week 27 too. We went and met our new OB today, Dr. Ivey. He's really nice and gave us a lot of time and answered a lot of questions in greater detail from things we've seen on the ultrasound. In addition to the two arteries being combined in the heart, there's a small hole in the septum of her heart, between her ventricles. Like with the arteries, it's hard to say how Bailey's heart will react with this once she's outside of me. He also said that even though it looks like there are calcium deposits in her kidneys, they look like they are producing urine, which is a good thing. We also got to hear her heartbeat again (it sounds good to me, but like I know what I'm talking about....), and I did my glucose test. The actual liquid I had to drink wasn't that bad, kind of like orange soda, but after sitting there for an hour waiting to get my blood drawn, my blood sugar crashed on the way to lunch and I felt HORRIBLE. We got lunch pretty quickly and thankfully I felt so much better after that. Bailey didn't seem to mind the test because she's been giving me some of her strongest kicks ever since I got home.
Dr. Ivey also went through the multitude of things we have to think about as we make our birth plan. He didn't want us to make any decisions today, because we're still going to be getting a lot of new information in the next couple weeks, but wanted us aware of everything. One of the major decisions that we have to make is doing a c-section, induced regular birth, or naturally going into labor with a regular birth. There are pros and cons to each situation that we need to weigh, but we're leaning towards induced regular birth. That way we have a schedule, we know which doctors will be at the hospital, and hopefully my water won't break in the middle of a classroom of 8th graders (that's not really a factor, but seriously, that would be interesting....). Another set of decisions has to do with interventions we would want to have for Bailey based on what we know and will continue to find out as things move along. We're not sure at all what we're going to do with that yet, but we do know we want her to be completely comfortable.
We have an fetal echo coming up next week with the top pediatric cardiologist at Texas Children's to get a better idea of what's going on with her heart, and to see if it's a "hypoplastic" heart (basically means the side that sends out oxygenated blood to the body hasn't developed properly). The week after that we have a follow up with Dr. Ivey and we'll have another ultrasound. It's been such a blessing to be a part of TX Children's Fetal Center because our nurse coordinator has been getting us appointments with some of the top doctor's in Houston, which means they're also some of the top in the country.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support!!
First... you look FANTASTIC! Second, not that you asked for my opinion, but that usually doesn't stop me... We induced and ended up with a c-section. Both experiences were fine. I was scared when the docs came in and said, "ok, we'll have her out in 20 minutes... we're doing a c-section." But, it wasn't bad at all. A few days to recover and I was moving around fine. Annabelle had a few minor breathing issues which needed some special care and I was thankful that all of the appropriate docs were in the room to tend to her. All in all it was a good experience. I have total faith that you and James will make the right decision for you and Bailey. Thinking of all three of you!! xoxoxo Ash
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