"Micah's Fight"
You can follow us on Facebook by liking Micah's Fight. (www.facebook.com/MicahsFight). The page will have quick updates or thoughts in between blog posts. I will of course continue to write this blog as it is incredibly cathartic and I've had such great feedback- thank you.
Although I have never used Twitter- it looks like I've found a way to link Facebook and Twitter so that if the bird is your preferred social network, you can still follow along. @MicahsFight (www.twitter.com/MicahsFight).
Thank you again for all of your continued support, gifts, cards, calls, etc. We couldn't do this without all of you. Even those who just follow along silently- it means so much to know that we have people out there supporting us.
Dr. Appointment
Our OB is very close to our house so I bring Justin as it's typically a quick appointment. My doctor advised that Matt make it a priority to attend every appointment since we could learn at any time that his heart has stopped. Our appointments at the specialist are much longer and it's best we find a sitter for Justin. The way we have it worked out now, we visit each office every four weeks for now. Eventually my OB appointments will switch to every two weeks, and then every week. The way we have it now, we will have an appointment every two weeks and alternate between offices. This is very manageable and I don't feel like I'm always in the office, or always waiting for the next appointment.
We are so lucky to have Matt's base office being so close to home. It allows him to come to our appointments without spending much time away from work. With his iPhone- he's never really NOT working anyway. This new position Matt was offered six months ago was such a blessing as it allows more flexibility for our current situation than the other would have allowed. Matt headed into work and then met Justin and I at the office at 9am.
We were seen right away- and everything with me looked great. We also heard Micah's heart rate immediately which was a nice change from when he liked to hide from the doppler and give his parents gray hair. We also heard him moving around on the doppler. It sounded like someone tapping on a microphone. After he moved around for a bit, his heart rate went up which is what it's supposed to do. If we had never had an ultrasound we wouldn't have known anything was wrong with him. Matt and I are very thankful that we did learn so early, so we can spend this time being thankful for each day we have with him knowing it could be the last day.
Another part of the appointment is where they measure your fundal height. This is basically measuring the height of the uterus from outside of the body. Your uterus grows along with the baby and the fundal height measurement gives a pretty accurate assessment of the growth of the baby without an ultrasound. The doctor decided to measure my fundal height since my uterus seems visibly higher on the outside than it should at this point in my pregnancy. Sure enough, I am measuring three weeks ahead. This is a pretty significant amount and couple be explained by only one of two things. One- the baby is measuring three weeks ahead, or two- I have a high level of amniotic fluid.
There are a few things we know about Trisomy 18 that come into play here. Of course there are always exceptions, but generally, babies that survive to full term are very small and weigh typically only four to five pounds. High levels of amniotic fluid are very common with T18 and other genetic disorders. My (non-medical) understanding of complications with high levels of amniotic fluid are that the baby is not recycling the fluid as quickly as it should. Additionally, as pregnancy progresses it becomes extremely uncomfortable and painful for the mother and can trick her body into thinking she is further along than she is. This could lead to preterm labor and puts many mothers on bed rest as it can lead to complications for the mother's health as well. Right now, my blood pressure is still great so hopefully it will stay that way and I will continue to stay healthy.
Until we have an ultrasound we won't know the reason for my belly measuring so far ahead. Until I have definite answers, I try not to let myself stress out too much. I like to do a bit of research on my own, but know that stress can only harm myself and my baby. There are an indefinite number of things I can allow myself to stress about with this. I refuse to let what can potentially be unnecessary worry harm myself of my baby- both physically and emotionally.
We have another appointment in two weeks where we will have another ultrasound and learn how Micah is doing. We'll also learn what is causing my belly to measure so far ahead. Lastly, because of my scary trip to Labor and Delivery a couple weeks ago where I was having regular contractions every two to three minutes, my doctor requested that my cervical length be measured by ultrasound to see if I am currently at risk for preterm labor. Prayers that everything goes as smoothly as it can, and that there is a miracle and Micah is measuring big and it's not excessive amount of amniotic fluid.