Friday, October 28 Appt.
We had another in depth u/s yesterday morning and then an appointment with Dr. Moore in the afternoon. Things continue to appear as stable as we can be at this point which is such a huge praise. The ultrasounds aren't super fun and are hard to look at because they aren't pretty and are focused on everything that looks bad and extremely abnormal but to see the little heart ticking away and the baby practicing breathing is a very big joy within itself and a relief. Nicole met with the first perinatologist by herself after the u/s and then Jeff was able to come with to the appointment with Dr. Moore in the afternoon. The kids had a fun time playing with Grandma & Grandpa Wilde all day which is so nice when they don't even really recognize we are gone.
The baby's femur and humerus are a little on the smaller side but still growing. The baby's head is growing on track which is another huge thing to be grateful for. There didn't appear to be any extra fluid in the brain at this time, one of the ventricles actually looked small but Dr. Moore was not concerned at this point about that. We continue to have a small pericardial effusion (small amount of fluid around the heart) but no pleural effusions (fluid around the lung cavity) at this time which was in question last time. The diaphragm (part of the body that separates the chest cavity and abdominal cavity) has a lot of pressure put on it and is getting pushed up pretty high into the chest which is one of our big prayer request that it doesn't put so much pressure that the heart lungs start to get crushed and the baby starts to go into distress. As of yesterday though the heart rate continues to be in normal range and the rest of the heart appears to still be beating strong. The baby also continues to be an active little one which is encouraging. Dr. Moore continues to talk to his colleagues and they all continue to agree in saying we really need the lungs to be the best we can be so our goal will be a c-section on December 12 which is 39 weeks. The baby will be having many drains and at least one surgery to fix the urinary tract rupture after being born but to do this we first and foremost need the lung function and then we need the other organs to be developed as much as possible too. Unfortunately we won't know what the actual lung function is until after the baby is born so we continue to just put our trust in what God's plan is for Baby Wilde and count it truly a blessing every day we still have the baby here with us. We will be admitted a couple days before to get the steroid shots. Normally this can be done as an outpatient but with the gestational diabetes we will need to be admitted for close monitoring and managing of blood sugars those two days.
Until that time we have an appointment with the pediatric nephrologist (kidney doctor) on Thursday, another appointment with Dr. Moore on Friday, Nicole will start the non-stress tests the following week, which will be two times a week for an hour each time, and then we will have weekly appointments with Dr. Moore until delivery. These tests will monitor the heart rate tracing which will be important to see if the pressure is starting to put the baby in distress and would therefore require us to deliver earlier. We will also be getting in contact with a pediatric urologist at some point in the next 6 weeks just to make a connection with them so if we would happen to get to the point of surgery they would be the ones to do it. The baby's weight is overall measuring quiet large but that's due to the fluid in the abdomen and density of the kidneys. The poor diabetes educator's jaw about dropped when she saw how much the estimate weight is until we explained why. Her first response until we explained was,"Wow! We have a very chubby baby here!". I'm sure she was thinking we would be in the world record book at this rate :). In reality if the baby continues to grow on track we are looking at a dry weight (weight not including the fluid) baby of around 7 lbs.
Thank you all for your abundance of love, prayers, and support. The couple of days leading up to the appointments and the day of appointments are always stressful and have fear of the unknown but with God's loving arms surrounding us and the continued strong support network from our parents, family, friends, and many people we don't even know we have been given an underlying peace and joy even in the depths of it.
With love,
Jeff & Nicole
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6
The baby's femur and humerus are a little on the smaller side but still growing. The baby's head is growing on track which is another huge thing to be grateful for. There didn't appear to be any extra fluid in the brain at this time, one of the ventricles actually looked small but Dr. Moore was not concerned at this point about that. We continue to have a small pericardial effusion (small amount of fluid around the heart) but no pleural effusions (fluid around the lung cavity) at this time which was in question last time. The diaphragm (part of the body that separates the chest cavity and abdominal cavity) has a lot of pressure put on it and is getting pushed up pretty high into the chest which is one of our big prayer request that it doesn't put so much pressure that the heart lungs start to get crushed and the baby starts to go into distress. As of yesterday though the heart rate continues to be in normal range and the rest of the heart appears to still be beating strong. The baby also continues to be an active little one which is encouraging. Dr. Moore continues to talk to his colleagues and they all continue to agree in saying we really need the lungs to be the best we can be so our goal will be a c-section on December 12 which is 39 weeks. The baby will be having many drains and at least one surgery to fix the urinary tract rupture after being born but to do this we first and foremost need the lung function and then we need the other organs to be developed as much as possible too. Unfortunately we won't know what the actual lung function is until after the baby is born so we continue to just put our trust in what God's plan is for Baby Wilde and count it truly a blessing every day we still have the baby here with us. We will be admitted a couple days before to get the steroid shots. Normally this can be done as an outpatient but with the gestational diabetes we will need to be admitted for close monitoring and managing of blood sugars those two days.
Until that time we have an appointment with the pediatric nephrologist (kidney doctor) on Thursday, another appointment with Dr. Moore on Friday, Nicole will start the non-stress tests the following week, which will be two times a week for an hour each time, and then we will have weekly appointments with Dr. Moore until delivery. These tests will monitor the heart rate tracing which will be important to see if the pressure is starting to put the baby in distress and would therefore require us to deliver earlier. We will also be getting in contact with a pediatric urologist at some point in the next 6 weeks just to make a connection with them so if we would happen to get to the point of surgery they would be the ones to do it. The baby's weight is overall measuring quiet large but that's due to the fluid in the abdomen and density of the kidneys. The poor diabetes educator's jaw about dropped when she saw how much the estimate weight is until we explained why. Her first response until we explained was,"Wow! We have a very chubby baby here!". I'm sure she was thinking we would be in the world record book at this rate :). In reality if the baby continues to grow on track we are looking at a dry weight (weight not including the fluid) baby of around 7 lbs.
Thank you all for your abundance of love, prayers, and support. The couple of days leading up to the appointments and the day of appointments are always stressful and have fear of the unknown but with God's loving arms surrounding us and the continued strong support network from our parents, family, friends, and many people we don't even know we have been given an underlying peace and joy even in the depths of it.
With love,
Jeff & Nicole
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. ~Proverbs 3:5-6
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