Monday, August 31, 2009
NST
I met briefly with Dr. Wu and he went over the ECV procedure next week and then what the plan is after that. If I don't end up having an emergency c-section next week then they will either induce or do a planned c-section the week of the 20th. So, we'll see. I'm just really happy I made it this far...I'll be 37 weeks by next Monday, which will make me full term. :-)
-- Post From My iPhone
Just Heartbroken
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
ECV it is!
Anyway, Dr. Wu said he brought up my options during their meeting and they didn't think I should try the Moxibustion. They felt it was risky because they really don't know enough about it. So, they thought the best option was to try the ECV and go from there. If anything goes wrong during the procedure, they will be prepared to do an emergency c-section. If it doesn't work and the baby doesn't want to move then they will schedule a c-section at around 39 weeks. If it does work (which is about 58% of the time), then they will just wait for me to go into labor. They scheduled me to go in on Sept. 9th for the procedure and I'm a little nervous about the whole thing. I've heard that it can be somewhat painful. I am just hoping it works and it's nice and quick!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Turn, Baby, Turn!
I had an NST on Wednesday and Friday of last week and both were good. I had one contraction during the test on Friday but it was very small. The nurse wasn't concerned at all.
Yesterday I headed up to UCSF for my weekly appointments. First, I had the ultrasound. Sometimes I hate getting ultrasounds...they always make me nervous. The technicians seem to have this look on their face, probably a look of concentration but I mistake it for a look of concern. I'm always afraid they see something wrong but I know I can't ask them because they're not doctors and can't tell me anything anyway. So, I lay there for 45 minutes just watching them do their work and pray that there's no bad news forthcoming. At any rate, I guess it was just a look of concentration because there was nothing new to report from the ultrasound. I did, however, find out that the baby is now 5lbs, 2 oz. which, I was told, is normal for his age.
I had some time after my appointment, so I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to OB for my NST. The baby seemed to be asleep for the first 5 minutes of the NST, which didn‘t make the nurses very happy. They woke him up by putting a loud buzzer (which they call a baby alarm) on my tummy and set it off. He jumped when he heard the noise, which made me jump. He moved a little bit after that but then settled back down. The nurses then gave me chocolate, which they claim stimulates movement but that just gave him the hiccups. The nurses did seem a little concerned, as did I. With the membrane separation, there's a chance the umbilical cord can get pinched and that's why they want me to get NST's so often. They showed the results to Dr. Wu and he said there was enough movement and his heart rate was fine but I should continue to get the NSTs three times a week as a precaution.
After my NST I met with Dr. Wu. He said that the baby is developing normally and he looks good. He was concerned that the baby is still breech. Because of the membrane separation, my fluids are a little low and the baby is running out of room to turn. He gave me three options to consider. The first is to just schedule a C-section, probably at 39 weeks. The second is to try to turn the baby by trying an external cephalic version (ECV), which involves manually turning the baby around externally. He said there's a risk that this might break my water (again because of the membrane separation) and they'd have to do an emergency c-section anyway. There's also a risk that it might lower the baby's heart rate and, again, they'd have to do an emergency c-section. If it is successful, then they would monitor me for some time and then send me home and wait for me to go into labor. The third option is to try Moxibustion – an acupuncture technique using the herb moxa. Moxibustion is a traditional Chinese technique used to encourage a breech baby to turn around. Moxa sticks or cones are burnt close to the skin at the acupuncture points on top of the fifth toes. The heat from burning moxa sticks can stimulate the baby's movements and encourage it to turn. It sounds weird but he said it's been known to work about 70% of the time. He said he will bring it up during their weekly meeting this morning to get everyone else’s opinion and give me a call later today to let me know what they thought.
Monday, August 17, 2009
34 Week Ultrasound
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Glad to be Back Home!
The night following the procedure I did have some regular contractions but they weren't too concerned because I wasn't able to feel them. They also gave me regular doses of Nifedipine which is used to stop/prevent contractions.
I had an ultrasound yesterday morning and Dr. Lee called me with the results. He told me the LHR would go down after the balloon was removed and indeed it had. It's now at 0.9. He said they were happy with the results and that everything went well, but I wasn't as pleased with the news. I was hoping for a higher number or at least the same. At any rate, it is higher than when we started this whole journey. So, we've done everything we can do to give him the best chance possible. It's up to him now. All we can do is hope that I go full term and that he's a strong little guy. Both Robert and I were preemies and we fought to stay alive those first few weeks of life...I just hope that our little boy inherits that same will to live.
Monday, August 10, 2009
The Balloon is Out
-- Post From My iPhone
Thursday, August 6, 2009
All Set for Monday
-- Post From My iPhone