Thursday, November 6, 2008

Latest Doctor Visits

We went on Monday to Jackson for two appointments on early Tuesday morning. It was nice to get away for the night and go to dinner. At 8 o'clock that morning was a followup ultrasound for Jackson's brain.

The good news: the ventricle size had not progressed anymore and is measuring the same as all the other times. Meaning we don't have to go back for anymore ultrasounds with the high risk MDs. It is bittersweet. We are so happy he is okay, but we loved the ultrasounds and the staff there! The ultrasounds were usually about 45 minutes long with the staff just playing and trying to get a perfect picture of his face for us. They are wonderful! We did get a 3D or 4D (not sure which) picture of his profile. He was not wanting to say "cheese" and look at the camera!

The bad news: he is breech! One reason why we couldn't get a good picture of his face. He is face down with his head underneath my right ribs. That explains the reappearance in the last week or so of heartburn and shortness of breath. Two weeks ago when we went to the doctor, he was already engaged into my pelvis and I was 80% effaced (my cervix was thinned 80%). Not the best news. Obviously now he is not putting any pressure on my cervix. At 10:45 we had my OB visit. She didn't check me this time, so updates on effacement or dilation. However, we did have to talk about what to expect if he didn't turn positions on his own. If he doesn't turn by week 37, we will go in that week (the week of Dec. 2nd) for a procedure called External Version. Thanks to my nursing school friend, Bailey, who works at UMC labor and delivery (where we will deliver), I have all the info about it. We will go in to the L&D floor and to an OR for the procedure. I will get an epidural since it is supposed to be very uncomfortable. There are 3 doctors present. They will give a medication to relax the uterus. Then they will try to turn him manually guided by ultrasound. If anything goes wrong (like his heart rate drops) or he just won't turn, they will go ahead with a C-section right then hence why we are in the OR. Hopefully, this will all be avoided by him turning in the next 4 weeks on his own. They should have sent us home with a portable ultrasound machine because I am constantly feeling on my belly and playing "Guess The Body Part."

Here is the 3D or 4D picture. It is not great quality, because it is photo taken with my phone and emailed to me. The scanner is upstairs in the newly moved office, so I can't scan the original. Maybe Jonathan will scan it later and upload it.
OH YEAH! During the ultrasound, the doctor was talking about how much hair he has! He must take after his daddy!

2 comments:

Laura Merrill said...

Heather! I am so excited. I love to blog stalk. Hope you are doing well! I would love to come visit next time i am in Greenville. Take care!

Anonymous said...

Hey Heather and Jonathan...Glad to hear baby and mommy are doing well. Hopefully baby Jackson will turn on his own. Aaron was breech until week 35 then he turned on his own. I remember so well because I almost lost my lunch when it happened. I can't believe all these little boys! Maybe Kristen will have the 1st girl!