Friday, March 18th, 2011

Trouble. This girl is trouble.

My ultrasound was alright, I could tell that fluid levels were fine (around 10cm) and dopplers looked awesome and normal. Then, she didn't cooperate with the NST, and it took an hour to get her to perform for us, but in the last five minutes they saw the accelerations they wanted.

I decided to get lunch in between my NST and MFM appointments, because last time I had to wait forever to be seen. The nurse did my weight (up 20lbs since the beginning...*gasp*) and urine (negative on protein and glucose). Then I went to the clinic room. R, the mfm nurse came in and did my vitals. Blood pressure was lower than normal 90/65, when I average 110/70, but hey! at least it's not going up. Fundal height was measuring three weeks behind, but there is no surprise there. My gd test came back normal, yay!
We chatted a bit about my history, and then the doctor came in. Ah, another amazing doctor! I wish they all were so nice, and that they all cared as much. My faith has been restored.

Ellie's growth trajectory is not keeping up with the normal curve. Most of her measurements are okay, but her abdominal circumference keeps dropping.
BPD was 1%
HC was 15% (or maybe it was 11... I can't remember)
AC was 2%
FL was 11%
She's measuring over 2.3 weeks behind, whereas at our last growth appointment she was 1.9 weeks behind. Still, she did grow some. They estimate her weight to be 800 grams, which isn't actually that bad, apparently. The doctor said that as long as she keeps eking out some growth, and AFI, dopplers and NSTs are stable, she stays in. She stressed that Ellie herself is still very premature, and would most likely only do as well as a 25 weeker at this point, so I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that she stays in. She said it would be unlikely to make it past 32 weeks, but we're going to do everything we can to get to that point. She said that it is highly unlikely that she will catch up at this point, based on three growth scans showing a lagging trend. If she gets to 36 weeks (the absolute max they will let us go) she'll be under 5lbs. Tiny!
Because my parents live very close to the hospital (thank goodness), they decided not to admit me, instead they put me into their antenatal homecare program. Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays a nurse will come to the house to do NSTs. Then Tuesdays and Fridays I will have AFI and doppler scans done at the hospital. Every other Friday I will also have all the growth measurements done.
They gave me my activity level guide:
-minimum of 8 hours rest at night, 3x3hours (9 hours total) periods of lying on side or sitting/reclining as tolerated
-Walking for short periods only (less than ten minutes, eg. to the Gift shop, caferia - Ha, that's kind of funny)
-no stairs ->sort of complicated in a house with lots of stairs.
- Active toddler should have alternate caregiver during visits, except for short periods.
-Yes to shower/bath and, prescribed bed rest activities.
*I am so, so glad I can have the antenatal home care, I think I'd lose my mind if I had to be back in the hospital, especially since they want me to get to 32 weeks. Crazy thinking that it's only a month away.
So, some good, and some not great. I hope she doesn't fall further behind in the weeks to come!