Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Perfectly normal.

Yesterday was my anatomy ultrasound. I was almost even brave enough to go alone, but then thought better of it (like it would be jinxing us), and had Joe come.

Everything looks normal. The baby is still a boy, definitely most obviously a boy.  (Still not any closer on names. Pretty sure this one is going to come down to the last minute. So please don't steal whatever name we finally agree on, Snooki. I actually don't believe in 'stealing' names, but I'm pretty sure anything Snooki would name her baby would ruin it for me, assuming she comes up with something 'normal'.) Anyway, baby boy was VERY active, waving his hands all over, kicking, squirming around, opening and closing his mouth, etc. All the stuff they check was there and apparently looked normal.

The only problem is not actually really a problem except for that I am slightly neurotic. At this point with Olivia, she was measuring a few days behind, but still well within the normal range. Like she was 18w4d and her measurements were like 18w1d, that sort of thing, they weren't concerned at all, until my quad screen came back with high AFP levels and they did another ultrasound (a few days later) and then she was 5 days behind...the MFM told us then that it was still perfectly, totally NORMAL, but since my AFP levels were high and she did not have spina bifida (which is I guess what those levels indicated), they were going to recommend keeping an eye on her for growth because sometimes that can be a red flag that something is not quite right in the placenta. She said from what she could tell, the placenta looked totally normal, but they wanted to keep an eye on it. Four weeks later I had a growth ultrasound (alone because Joe couldn't get off work and I didn't realize it would be a big deal), and she had barely grown at all and was severely growth restricted. By then, I was already having symptoms and had been having them at least a week, and a week later it all fell apart.

Luke spoiled us. He measured small in the VERY early days (like 6 and 7 weeks), by 9 weeks he measured exactly right, and he just grew ahead from there. By this point with Luke, he was measuring over a week early, on all of his measurements. (He is still a bigger kid, in the 95%ile for height and around 50ish%ile for weight.)

So this baby is measuring just about right. A day or two ahead on some of the measurements, a day or two behind on some measurements, all perfectly normal and "right on track" except I've heard that before and it turned out rather sucky so I'm not breathing a sigh of relief anytime soon. I mean, I'm not exactly panicked, maybe Olivia was my tiny baby, and Luke was our big baby, and this will be a "normal sized" baby (and it would be nice not to deal with that gestational diabetes nonsense this time). But yeah, it's a little too similar for my liking at this point. The high risk doctor I have a not-great history with is the one who came in to talk to me when it was done. He was the one who told me we had to deliver Olivia (and the one I argued with), and the one who came in to my hospital room the next day while I was holding her and said, "I see I was right"....I've seen glimpses of him around the MFM office coming/going as I was coming/going but had not seen him medically since. (I think Joe told my OB quite passionately that we never wanted to see him again.) Anyway, he was full of bright smiles and "baby looks perfectly normal" and then he got fake sympathetic and said, "After what happened last time, I'm sure your OB and MFM are watching you like a hawk." (Uh, last time? I guess you are missing a chapter/pregnancy there. I mean, my pregnancy with Luke was no picnic and did have a bit of drama here and there, but nothing to inspire "being watched like a hawk".)  I just ignored that though and tried to tell him how Luke was always bigger and this baby is too close to normal for my liking and he told me I was coming back in 4 weeks and that "you can't complain about normal". Yeah, yeah, yeah. By then, I was ready to get out of there and really didn't want to talk to him any longer.

So basically, everything is still good. Normal quad screen, baby looks good. But, I'll feel a lot better about this after the next growth scan. And if this kid could be a bit of an overachiever and measure a few more days ahead just to ease my mind, that would be really nice.

6 comments:

Kim said...

I'm glad everything went well, but I'm sure the slightest hint of anything being similar to your pregnancy with Olivia can cause a rise in anxiety. Love that he was kicking all around for you!! So sweet:)

Brooke said...

Bah on certain doctors. Ugh.

I cannot imagine that you and Snooki would choose the same name.

I hope that four weeks from now you're breathing a sigh of relief (a temporary one, maybe, but still).

SG said...

Good news but I totally understand your fears. Grow baby boy grow!

Tiffany said...

continuing to keep you in my thoughts and prayers. hoping the remainder of your pregnancy is boring and uneventful.

Cindy said...

How exciting, another baby boy! Sending prayers your way.

Anonymous said...

Snooki chose Lorenzo for her baby boy...

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