fast food society

So I actually got to talk w/ one of my dr's today (I still dont know half of them--they tend to forget to introduce themselves when they come in at 5am) Up until this point they had only been coming in really early in the morning and in my half sleep stupor I wasnt the best at chatting or asking questions (mom and dad I'm sure you can understand--you know how "pleasant" I am in the morning)

But today one of the dr's came in around 10:30 and was actually available to chat/answer questions. So I had my list ready and got some good news and some kind of alarming news. The first thing I wanted to ask about was I had been doing some research on my own and had found a few studies where moms had babys with IUGR and later found out the IUGR was a result of a clotting disorder called MTHFR. So I added that to my list of things that I wanted to know if they were looking into it. When I asked the peri about it he said that it is INCREDIBLY rare and that it is not something they generally look into because it involves taking a substantial amount of blood and the test takes about 3 weeks and is very very expensive plus I didnt really fit any risk factors that would indicate that it could be a possibility (ex: history of stillbirths, passing large clots, etc.) I did mention that I do tend to end up w/ things that are rare (i.e. hyperemesis) but he said that at the time they didnt really see it as something to look into

He said that IUGR baby's can just start to grow and he has seen it happen so there is a hope in that LB will just have grown instantaneously. He said at my last ultrasound LB was around 830grams and that they need him to be at least above 1000grams at my ultrasound next Tues. He said that if he hasnt grown enough or has stopped growing or has lost size that we will start talking about delivering me either that day or sometime soon--kinda intense to think about but Ive decided (upon recieving some good advice) that if they do decide induction is best that I want at least 24 hours notice to process the idea that I will be having a baby (unless it is emergent but it didnt seem like it would be an emergent situation just one where they would want to deliver sooner than later)

I also asked about my chances of having a c-section--I expressed that I had originally really been hoping to try for unmedicated childbirth and that I had been educating myself on that and other birth options and he said that as long as my doppler flows stay good (which they monitor that about twice a week) he said that they would let me try for as regular of a delivery as possible but they would want to closely monitor his heart rate, etc. So basically they would just be watching extra close to ensure that he didnt get too stressed during labor. I am REALLY happy about this--I was preparing myself for a c-section but I still was hoping that I would at least get a chance to try things naturally and hopefully I get that--granted it would probably be difficult considering they will have to be using things to induce me which makes labor more intense but at this point I am really ready to try and as Krissy pointed out to me last night at least I wont be pushing out a huge baby :-) so I have that on my side as well haha

He said that after the baby is born they will probably send my placenta to pathology to see if they can figure out the cause of my IUGR. He said sometimes they never can find a reason other times as soon as the baby is actually here and they can get a good look at things they can see what caused it. He said that sometimes just being on bedrest is enough to just stop my body from competing with my placenta and that I could have just had a not so great placenta with this pregnancy and it isnt something that would happen again--or it could. Story of my life, I feel like everything Ive struggled w/ during this pregnancy is up in the air as to whether or not it would happen again in another pregnancy

I also asked more about the possibility of an amnio he said that they would only be wanting to do an amnio to check for TORCH infections. TORCH is an acronym for Toxoplasmosis, Other (such as syphilis, varicella, mumps, parvovirus, and HIV)Rubella, Cytomegalovirus & Herpes simplex. I can pretty much weed out some of those (being as I know I obviously dont have syphilis, herpes or HIV) lol and I am pretty sure that they did a test in the beginning for rubella and I think I was vacinnated against it (I could be completely wrong about this one) but nonetheless that is the only reason they would even want to do an amnio, not to check for Downs or anything else which I wouldnt have agreed to anyway.

I asked how likely it was that I could have been infected with one of these things and not known it and he said it could have been as simple as something I got infected with early in the pregnancy, gave me flu/cold like symptoms that I brushed off (as any normal person would) that were actually something more serious. I think that this obviously could have happened considering 1. how sick I was in the beginning of my pregnancy in general I wouldnt have noticed feeling crappier than the crappy I already felt, 2. I dont think they ever figured out what I was actually sick w/ in Wisconsin when I got REALLY sick and was hospitalized, I think they thought it was PICC infection but I remember them being surprised at how quickly it went away. So I definitely think some infection could be something to look into.

I also asked more about the chromosomal/genetic issues, specifically Noonan's syndrome as I have some family history with this condition. My peri's dont seem super familiar with this condition but the dr. I saw this morning said that he would look more into it and see if it is even something that can be diagnosed or seen in utero. They seem to think that this is more something with the placenta or fluid or something along those lines vs. genetic and they havent brought up the possiblity of Downs again so I am hopeful that that was just something they had to warn me about vs. an actual possiblity

The most frustrating part about this whole situation is the neverending waiting game--just feeling really helpless and frustrated that there arent more answers--the Dr. said we are a fast food society, we want stuff NOW and it just doesnt happen that way in obstetrics. I am glad they are taking their time and really not rushing into any one course of treatment that could be risky for LB...I just need patience right now...pretty much I always need patience in my life but now in particular haha

So that is what is going on today--I am getting another manicure at 2pm :-) haha I have really enjoyed and appreciated everyone visiting and leaving kind words and THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all the prayers--We know that there are so many people praying for us and LB and I know that God is hearing each and every one of you--I will keep you all updated this week but hopefully things will be pretty boring and I wont have much to update about :-)!