Another 'Boring' Appointment - 28w3d

We like these - the boring ones where they tell us that nothings changed and that there are no 'new' fears to be added to our already 'interesting' situation.

This morning (at 28weeks and 3 days) we once again had an ultrasound and a follow up meeting with Maternal Fetal Medicine (the peri's).  We once again met with Dr. Butler who I think has become our favourite of the peri's that we've seen. Not that anyone else has been sub-par, but he's been soooo good about going above and beyond to ensure we feel like we have the whole story.  Even going so far as to pull up the ultrasound photos and review them with us and ask if we have any questions about anything.

So, as of today, nothing's changed with baby Payton.   Her growth is good and there's no extra amniotic fluid - one of the potential complications with CDH potentially signaling that she's not swallowing normally which would potentially indicate a digestive tract problem and with all her digestive system pushed up in the wrong direction, this is something that can occur.  Of course, the not swallowing part can be fixed (or rather, if she doesn't swallow it won't impact her too much physically), the problem arises when the amniotic sac expands and fills past its capacity possibly causing premature rupture of the membranes PROM - this of course being a topic we're well versed on.

Still, as we advance futher and further in the pregnancy, the risk of PROM due to increased amniotic fluid becomes less of an issue (ie rupturing at 36 weeks won't be the end of the world, as long as I make it to the hospital in time).

We are still dealing with Placental Previa though we found out today that begining around 27 weeks, the bottom of the uterus is the portion that 'really' begins to stretch (up till now, the top of the uterus has been the biggest portion stretched) so we have a really good chance of the Placental Previa correcting itself over the next few weeks (which will allow for a really good chance of a vaginal birth - better for baby and the little lung volume she has, and also better for mom as the recovery time will be easier allowing for earlier time spent hovering in the NICU).

We have also hit the point where they want us to come in every two weeks for ultrasounds and follow up appointments.  I'm assuming because this is the portion of the pregnancy when anything can happen much quicker than would be seen previously.  There's no upside to monitoring in determining Payton's survival rates (as mentioned, that was best determined during the crucial lung development stage between 18-24 weeks).  But, there are things that can be done this late in the pregnancy that may/can prolong the pregnancy for an extra crucial few weeks if they do crop up.

In the next few weeks we'll also begin doing non-stress tests with Payton.  I'm not sure what this entails exactly as our previous high risk pregnancy never developed this far, and the one pregnancy that did was textbook perfect - no sress test required.

Alas, we are starting to enter into the point of the pregnancy where our medical updates will be more frequent though hopefully just as boring as today's have been.

For now, I continue to read other CDH babies stories to learn about the NICU and what our expectations will entail once we reach that stage in our journey.