Fetal Echo Follow-Up

Yesterday was our fetal echo follow-up appointment.  Even though everything looked good at our first appointment, we were advised in January to return for a second look around this time in the pregnancy, just to ensure everything was growing and forming normally.

Just like last time, a technician took a bunch of measurements over the course of about 15 minutes and then left the room to show them to the doctor.  I didn't have a view of the monitor this time around and Shep didn't want to look at the monitor because he didn't want to mistakenly see any "below the waist" body parts that might ruin our big surprise, so I stared at the ceiling hoping everything was okay while he played Words With Friends on his phone.

Unlike last time, before the technician left the room she asked me to continue laying on the table with the ultrasound goop on my belly in case the doctor needed to take a closer look.  The paranoid part of me started to get a teensy bit worried at that request -- did that mean something was wrong??  When Dr. Phoon came in a few minutes later he explained that 2 of the measurements the technician had taken were not consistent with one another, and that although both numbers fell within the normal range, they were each on opposite sides of that range.  Hmmm...  So, he wanted to take a look himself just to ensure everything measured up as it should.

Now for the GREAT news...

According to Dr. Phoon, the aortic arch on our baby looks "perfect" and there is no evidence to indicate any obstruction.  Apparently all of the valves are formed early, and then they grow throughout the pregnancy.  Per the doctor, all of the structures of our baby's heart are formed "perfectly" such that even if the baby was born today, the heart would work fine for a newborn.  Phew, talk about a relief!!!

Approximately 1-2% of the population has a bicuspid aortic valve.  However, NYU does over 5,000 pediatric echocardiograms a year and they have not seen bicuspid aortic valves in 1-2% of those children, nor does the occurrence rate in children generally match that of the general population, which leads many researchers and doctors across the world to believe that the condition can develop over the course of one's lifetime.  This certainly seems to make sense, since many people are not diagnosed with this condition until adulthood.  For this reason, the doctor recommended we consider getting our child's heart checked out sometime before school begins, perhaps around 3-4 years old, and to have a low threshold for getting the heart checked out before that time if at any point a pediatrician discovers a murmur in our baby's heart.  But, as long as everything appears fine when the baby is born, and the baby seems generally healthy, there's no reason to be concerned or to consult a pediatric cardiologist upon birth!

The doctor did mention that altough occurrence rates are 10-15% higher if a parent has a bicuspid aortic valve, that still eaves an 85% chance for a normal, healthy heart, so there's plenty of reason to be optimistic that this will be our last visit to the Pediatric & Fetal Echocardiography Lab.  :)

Hello, Third Trimester!!!

I made it!  I'm in my final trimester of pregnancy, and oh-so-excited about getting this far!!!  Technically, if our baby needed to be delivered at this point, there would be a good chance of survival, which gives my high-alert nerves a little bit of relief.  Of course I want "Little Flippy" to stay put and continue to grow until May, but if s/he had to make an early appearance for some reason we would at least have a fighting chance.  For that reason, I celebrate reaching the third trimester!  Cue the streamers...

Since I missed last week's update due to our babymoon getaway, and because this mama-to-be is tired and behind in all of my life to-do lists, I'm going for efficiency and doing a combination entry tonight.  ;)

Source: The Bump

Source: The Bump

According to these guides from The Bump, our baby has grown several inches over the past 2 weeks, which explains the crazy-strong movements I've been feeling in there the past few days!  The maybe-not-so-little one has also likely gained at least a pound of weight, so I'm guessing we're in the 3.5 pound range, if not more, based on the slightly large measurement we saw in Week 27!  Yikes!!!  Grow, baby, grow!!!  {But please not too big that you have trouble making your grand entrance, if you know what I mean...}

My waist has grown a total of 7 inches and I've gained almost 22 pounds to date.  How's that for "not so little"?!  ;)

My nausea, which finally seemed to be on the mend for a few weeks, unfortunately seems to be coming back a bit stronger over the past several days.  Although I didn't get the full "second trimester break" where I felt great, energetic, glowing and all that other good stuff that lucky moms-to-be experience; I did get a little respite during the latter part of my second trimester from the constant nausea and puke burps that defined my first and most of my second trimesters, so that's something!  As long as the queasies don't come back as strong as they were during the first several months of my pregnancy, I think I can hang in there.

In terms of other symptoms:  I've been peeing like crazy, am feeling pretty physically tired a lot of the time, and have definitely been experiencing "placenta brain".  My normally quick-strided NY walk has slowed into a bit of a waddle and I can officially no longer see my feet if I look straight down!  I've had the occasional back twinge or sciatica pain, but I'm thankful {and surprised, considering I'm basically carrying a 20 pound bowling ball strapped to my tummy} that it hasn't been too bad thus far!  I also noticed this weekend that the skin above my belly button is starting to bulge out a bit -- I guess an "outtie" is in my near future!  My actual belly button is so funny-looking.... it's almost totally flat and looks like it was sewn shut!

In terms of exercise, I've been relying on my walk to/from work, but I really, really, really, really want to make time to use the stretching and prenatal exercise DVD my thoughtful hubby bought me back in November for my birthday.  That's my goal for this Sunday!  Walking up the 4 flights of stairs from my train to street level in the mornings on the way to work has gotten considerably harder over the past few weeks, but {knock on wood} I can still do it!

We currently have 14 overdue items on our pregnancy to-do list {which seems to be a permanent issue -- by the time we finally work to check one off, several more have appeared!}, but we will keep plugging away to make progress and eventually, things will either get done... or they won't!  ;)  Regardless of whether we have a doula, pediatrician, night nurse, newborn photographer, birth plan, or a name lined up -- this baby's going to make an appearance when he or she is ready!

Luckily for us, one thing we don't have to do before baby arrives is "throw some values together at the last minute".  {Click the link for a sarcastic/comedic read, courtesy of my hubby and The Onion.}  We thankfully already have some of those.  ;)

Third Trimester, I'm so glad you're here!!!