23+

We had our visit with the specialist and OB this morning.  The ultrasound shows baby has gained approximately 6 ounces since our last appointment on August 12th; almost doubled the weight!  That's good and a relief to me; although, I've been pretty tired the last couple weeks like I was in the beginning and waking up hungry at 4 or 5am, so I assumed Nugget was growing.  The fluid level is still low (rats!) but is there and amazingly, he said the band of scar tissue I have looks like it has gotten smaller, so that's awesome!!  Hopefully one less thing to worry about for this poor baby.  He didn't put me on any restrictions (just said no marathons...like that would happen on a normal day!), but I am to see my OB twice each week for ultrasounds and him every two weeks.  So, next week I will see Dr. H on Tuesday and Friday for ultrasounds; the following week, I will see Dr. H for an ultrasound (and a lovely glucose test, drinky drinky) on Tuesday and then see Dr. J on Friday for an ultrasound.  Rinse and repeat that cycle until October 7th, when I'll be over 27 weeks; that's how far out we have appointments set for the time being and after that, they will know what they want to do.  Dr. J said the purpose of all these checks is in case baby starts looking like it's in trouble, they can hospitalize me to give me the drugs to help develop the lungs and then they'd think about delivery.  But he (and the rest of us) is hoping baby can stay in far longer than that or at least as long as possible.  On the 7th, he is going to do some special testing; don't ask me what, because it got mumbled to the assistant and that's all I know.  Does it really pay to ask?  It'll probably just make me worry more. 

I am also to monitor movement each day; if I don't feel any throughout the day, I have to pick a 2 hour block of time to count them.  I need to have at least 10 movements in that 2 hours; if I don't, I have to call my OB immediately because that would mean baby might be in trouble.  Speaking of movement, baby was moving like a crazy person after supper last night, all night until bedtime (kicking my bladder...and the only way I know that is because the movement would cause a sudden short urge to urinate, like someone was flicking it!  Hard to describe, but that's my best.), and then again this morning and throughout the ultrasound!  Dr. J was happy to see it; baby was wiggling around a bunch and stretching during the ultrasound.  It was good to see.  :)

After the visit with Dr. J, we saw Dr. H (OB); she went over the findings and asked me a bunch of questions...including, "Are you off work?"  I told her no and she said she wants me off, that sometimes the up and down all day long or running around at work can affect the placenta just enough.  So, looks like I'm not going back to work, at least until October 7th anyway.  She wants to see if this will help the fluid levels and even if it doesn't, she doesn't want me to push it.  My first thought was, "How in the world are we going to pay for what we need to; nevermind the extraneous stuff like Dish we can get rid of and all that...but the mortgage, car, insurance---all on top of all these ultrasounds I'll be getting?"  But obviously, I'll do what I need to for this baby.  We worked hard to get this far; I'm not risking it now.  I spoke with our HR lady this afternoon because I remembered about short term disability but couldn't remember the details about how long it goes for; turns out (whew!), I can take it for a maximum of 26 weeks, or up to 6 weeks after birth.  So if I stay on bedrest the duration of the pregnancy and carry to full term, I'll get about 23 weeks of STD (I know...what an acronym!) because of where I am in the pregnancy now + 6 weeks after birth.  It pays at 2/3 of your weekly salary (thank goodness!!), so it's better than nothing because nothing would be really difficult to manage and our credit cards would be sky high by the time baby got here for sure.  Looks like I'll be meal planning very efficiently from now on.

I have to say, I felt better after Dr. J's assessment than after Dr. H's input, just for the simple fact of worrying about paying for everything; baby is growing and moving like crazy, getting stronger each week.  Last night, the kicks were very distinct and there was no question what was going on in there.  Reminded me of Tweak on South Park, the little caffeine-addicted kid with the herky-jerky movements!!  lol 

 

So that's what I know for now.  Definitely will keep up on the updates each week, since I'll know more about what's actually happening instead of just speculating.  Keep Nugget in your prayers, please.  Thanks for all the support, guys!!  :)