For those that don’t know my whole story…I will go ahead and share here.
Going into this pregnancy…we knew I would be considered high risk due to having pre-eclampsia with Olivia diagnosed at 27 weeks and delivering her at 36 weeks due to it. This time, I have felt pretty sick from the day I found out I was pregnant…nausea, headaches, achiness, etc for the last 30 weeks, seriously. I had my BIG u/s (anatomy ultrasound) at 19 weeks where they discovered she was in the 8th percentile and that I had what is called marginal cord insertion. This means that the umbilical cord is attached to the placenta at the side edge, rather than the center. The #1 thing it causes is IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction) bc it doesn’t supply the nutrition a normal cord/placenta combo would. So they knew at 19 weeks, she was being effected by this. They proceeded to do monthly growth scans….at 22 weeks they found she was in the 14th percentile and her tummy was looking larger, which is good, bc when the head grows faster than the tummy, you know they are being compromised. So at that point, they found I had low amniotic fluid, which can also be due to an unreliable placenta/cord combo. But my dr didn’t seem too concerned…just scheduled some AFI screenings (fluid checks) and we started those every 2 weeks. My fluid remained fairly low but didn’t seem to decrease, so they just kept an eye on it.
Then, 26 weeks…she measured in the 24th percentile and we were so thrilled! So obviously still tiny and suffering in some ways, but still totally thriving and her percentages were going up! I was so relieved, I thought we were doing much better. Then, the day after Thanksgiving, I had a 3D ultrasound for fun with my husband and Olivia…and the tech said my baby seemed WAY too small and although I should have been 30 weeks, this baby looked more like a 27-28 week old and that I needed to inform my dr that she should be checked again. I told her I had another growth scan in 2 days and she said “good luck”….I was like, oh awesome.
So I show up on Tuesday morning (12/1) for my growth scan and I was so nervous bc I knew what the 3D tech said. But I also knew she was just a 3D tech and maybe she was wrong. However, the second the tech at my dr started the u/s, she said “has this baby always been tiny?”. I told her yes, but at my last scan, she was in the 24th percentile. Well, low and behold…she measured her in the 3rd percentile. And when I was walking out of the office, she said “try not to worry, she will be strong”…then she hugged me! I had an hour wait before I saw my dr and I went to my car and sobbed hysterical for an hour.
I went up to my appt and immediately my dr looked at me and said “well, we got this far….now you need to head over to perinatal for a more advanced ultrasound”. I asked if maybe they would find her bigger and she might be ok…she pretty much told me the chances of a major difference were slim, but she might be bigger than their tech got. I prayed that would be true. However, the perinatologist found her to be in the 1st percentile. They also found that my placenta is what is called “bi-lobed”, which means it has 2 portions that are separate but connected by a thin membrane. The cord is attached at the thin membrane area, which totally SUCKS and actually makes it a velamentous insertion rather than marginal, which is more concerning!!! The perinatologist came and talked to me, told me that although she was VERY small and they couldn’t let her get any smaller, she was still diverting nutrients to the right areas. Her head had grown, which meant she had compensated for the circumstances. They also said she had good bloodflow between her placenta/cord and in the brain. So this was positive. They said I immediately needed the steroids for her lungs bc they had no clue how much longer we would make it with her in me. And she was officially diagnosed with IUGR at that moment. They admitted me to L&D then and started the steroids, monitored me for 24 hours and started a 24 hr urine collection.
So on top of those issues, I have been spilling protein, my bp has been elevated and they have been monitoring my bloodwork. The peritnatologist basically guarantees me that pre-e will set in bc it doesn’t reverse itself and I have 2 of the components neccesary, plus a history of it. So they are waiting for one of 2 things…one, she stops thriving, which can happen at any minute and two, pre-e sets in completely. So far, neither has happened and my bloodwork remains good and my bloodpressure is actually lower than it was a couple weeks ago.
I was discharged the following night after my final round of steroids and sent home on strict bedrest…they are attempting to get as much bloodflow to my uterus as possible, therefore getting the most possible bloodflow to Marlowe. I immediately began 2x weekly NST (non stress test) and AFI screenings to check my amniotic fluid level. I was sent to L&D again on Friday (12/4) morning bc she didn’t perform well on NST and they weren’t liking her heartrate accelerations while being monitored. I was there for about 3 hours while they ran more bloodwork and monitored her more. The dr that was on call from the office in L&D ended up doing a biophysical-profile on her bc she still wasn’t doing well on the NST. That was just an ultrasound that checked all of her movement, respirations and brain. He felt she was strong enough for me to go home and come back first thing Monday morning for more monitoring. My bloodwork still came back ok.
So Monday morning I came to L&D to be monitored again…discussed with my dr that I had been having some decreased fetal movement at home, which didn’t make her feel very confident. She did “OK” on her NST, but nothing to impressive and the bio-profile took too long to see a rise and fall in her chest. She sent me home on strict kick count watch and I was supposed to come back on Thursday. Low and behold she called me at home around 5pm and said she wasn’t feeling comfortable with me at home, that she wanted me back on Wednesday for more monitoring and the possibility of being admitted til I deliver. Although I should have been prepared, I wasn’t. I showed up ready for monitoring, no bags packed and thinking I would be sent home again.
Well, once again….Marlowe was “unimpressive” on NST, my amniotic fluid levels dropped 4cm since Monday’s screening and nobody felt safe letting me return home, with the fear of a still birth looming over us. I cried and they hesitantly allowed me to go home, say goodbye to Olivia (can’t see her while I am here) and pack my own bags….with the promise to return quickly. I did all those things as fast as I could and brought myself back to L&D for admission til my next growth scan on Tuesday 12/15. The hope is that we make it to that point w/o delivering her. With constant monitoring we are safer here and can hopefully weasel out a few more days/weeks without risking her life.
So, here in L&D is where I will likely remain until Marlowe makes her entrance into the world. We are 31 weeks 3 days now…praying for more! Here are my lovely accommodations:
show hide 3 comments