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November 2016 Moms
banfrog
member
High Risk APRIL Check in
banfrog
member
Hi! How is everyone doing this month?
Weeks:
Appointments/ upcoming appointments:
Rants/Raves/Questions:
Weeks:
Appointments/ upcoming appointments:
Rants/Raves/Questions:
Re: High Risk APRIL Check in
Weeks: 10w4d
Appointments/upcoming appointments: I had my first appt this last Friday and got to see the little bean (because of no LMP to base an EDD on). Baby looked good and I now have an EDD of Nov. 4.
Rants/Raves/Questions: My oldest is excited about this baby. He's informed me that he has to come with me to all my appts. He also decided on a name for the baby (I don't think DH like it though).
Weeks: 8+3
Appointments/Upcoming Appointments:
Had my viability u/s last week. 4/25 I have my NIPT bloodwork done and 5/6 I go in for my 12 weeks u/s. On 5/5 I'm doing a 24 hr urine catch and bringing that in so they have a baseline to monitor for preeclampsia.
Rants/Raves: Last week was a circus. I had started spotting bright red and was sure another loss was imminent. Went in last Monday and they did a pelvic exam and found a fingertip-sized polyp protruding from the opening of my cervix. Good news is that's what was causing the bleeding. Bad news is that it needs to be removed and they really don't want to mess with it while I'm pregnant. So they're monitoring and I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't grow anymore so they're not forced to deal with it now. They had me wait a day for the u/s because the exam had me bleeding a good bit but on Tuesday when I went in the little bean looked perfect. It's such an exciting/terrifying journey, isn't it?
Gavin - 8/27/10
*TW*
Gabriel - 2nd tri loss 5/17/16 Trisomy 18 & 21
Hope - 2nd tri loss 12/7/16 complications from pneumonia
7w2d
Last ultrasound went okay, but the amniotic sac was an odd shape (it's pinched on one side). Good heartbeat though. We go in again next week for another look at the amniotic sac.
Appointments/ upcoming appointments: saw the OB today (finally); I'm staying off work until after my NT ultrasound at 13 weeks (OB agreed with my MD that going back would likely be okay, but for my own mental health and BSC she's cool with me staying off until we see the hemorrhage again...or not hopefully!).
NT ultrasound at 13w.
Rants/Raves/Questions: OB seems nice; there's 2 of them in the practice, so I'll end up seeing them both for appointments but there's 10 OBs at the hospital so there's a 1/5 chance one of the two of them will actually deliver my babes. Super excited that it sounds like basically every OB at the hospital is okay with doing a breech extraction if baby B is transverse or breech as long as baby A is head down and there's a less than 20% discrepancy in their sizes. She's also fairly confident I can make it to 38-39 weeks, so they won't induce before then (and will book a CS is baby A is breech) in that ballpark.
Warning this is so long! And formatted weirdly, apparently, because I guess TB hates me today?
So basically what happened was that we were supposed to go to Puerto Rico in February for one of H's company's co-founders' wedding. It was pretty much a "have to go" situation. Then Zika started popping up and being a whole big THING so I did my due diligence and after reviewing all the info from the CDC and talking it through with my OB/GYN, we decided H would go alone and I'd stay home so that we didn't have to skip any cycles of TTC. (I wasn't totally enthused about going on this long trip in such a short number of days since H wanted to take as few days off as possible. At the time we would have had to TTA the cycle before and then the recommendation would have amounted to at least one cycle after. So it was two cycles we would have had to skip for me to go to a wedding for people I don't really know.)
When H got back, I emailed the doctor again just to check that nothing had really changed. She said it was fine to start TTC as at that point, there had only been one case of sexually transmitted Zika, and they believed it was due to blood in the semen, which is uncommon so it shouldn't have been a problem. So we went on with TTC and did end up conceiving that cycle we would have skipped. Yaayy! It totally paid off, right?!
Well, it turns out that over the last couple weeks (so too late for me to have changed anything), the CDC and researchers have found that it actually IS sexually transmitted and the new recommendation is that if you are a woman who isn't pregnant and your partner goes to an active Zika zone (which PR was at the time), you either abstain or use condoms for at least 8 weeks. So of course, I emailed my doctor earlier this week when everyone started screaming, "Zika's way worse than we thought!" She told me she didn't think it would be a problem, but she'd email the specialists and see whether or not there was any kind of testing I could get done and tell me at my appointment today what she'd found out.
Now, my appointment didn't end up being with her today (for unrelated reasons), but they very nicely asked H questions about his trip, asked me if I'd been sick, etc. and reassured me that they didn't think it would be a problem. By the time we (finally) got home, I had an email from my doctor apologizing for missing the appointment, and letting me know that she hadn't heard back yet. She reassured me that she didn't think it was going to amount to anything, but she'd let me know when she did finally hear back.
So I'm in a good mood, I've seen baby, I've got my next two scans scheduled and life is good. I'm fully expecting MY doctor to call or email me next week and say, "yep, I heard back, it's no big deal, don't worry about Zika."
Except what actually happened is that a couple hours ago, my phone rings, and I hear, "Hi, my name is Dr. _____ (yeah, I totally don't remember her name) with high risk obstetrics." So that was a huge heart plummeting moment. We talked for quite a long time, but what it boils down to is that she still think it will be okay in the end. But she does think that I'm going to qualify for testing. Apparently it has to be cleared by each county's department of public health (and she's in a different county than me so she was sending them my info). I'll probably hear back from them on Monday at this point, and she expects that they'll want me to come in and be tested.
So I'll do a blood draw and it'll take a couple weeks for me to get results back from that. Even if they're negative though, I'll still have to actually go in and do my anatomy scan through the high risk doctor's office instead and get it cleared through her. Then even if it's negative, I'll have to go in during the third tri for another scan with her office where they take a particularly detailed look at the baby's head to make sure everything is okay. And if anything comes back positive at any point for possible Zika or associated birth defects, then we're talking about lots more testing and possible recommendations of termination of the pregnancy, etc. etc.
So... now I'm freaked out. She emailed me after and ended it with, "Hope you have a wonderful weekend and aren't too worried about this." But I kind of am worried about it. A lot. And it's killing me that, you know, we could have just skipped a couple cycles but we didn't because all the information at the time said it was okay not to. I feel like I was unknowingly stupid and selfish. And just BLARGH.
Anyway, so I think I kind of belong here now? I'll have appointments with both my regular OB and the high risk OB, but hopefully everything will be normal through all of them and I'll get the high risk label removed sometime in the 3rd tri?
TTC #2: April 2018 ~~ BFP: May 2018 ~~ EDD: January 2019
I feel like a complete ass for exposing myself so I know how you feel.
TTC #2: April 2018 ~~ BFP: May 2018 ~~ EDD: January 2019
TTC #2: April 2018 ~~ BFP: May 2018 ~~ EDD: January 2019
@TinyAlligator What was the fluke from last pregnancy? Maybe I missed it or you don't want to go into detail. Sorry if either of those are the case I was just wondering.
I've only got one more hurdle to clear for the 1st trimester. My husband is a carrier for 3 genetic disorders so I'm getting screened tomorrow hopefully the results come in fast and and are good so I can relax for a little of this pregnancy.
Doctors along with the public health community are figuring this out as they go along because everything about it is so new. It's so important to realize that the majority of these case of being transmitted in areas with indigenous populations living without mosquito nets, NOT resorts that spray for mosquitos. Every report I've read about an American who has brought back the disease has involved " voluntourism" outside the typical tourist area. It's scary to be treated as high-risk, but try not to let it freak you out as your risks are still very very low!
TTC #2: April 2018 ~~ BFP: May 2018 ~~ EDD: January 2019
Background, in case it helps answer my question, he had an Atrial Septal Defect that was repaired/patched when he was 3. We don't really have a way to know if they determined what caused his heart defect (or if it's a family thing) due to most of his family has passed away already.
@chloe97 Thanks for the info. My docotors really haven't been all that concerned with my risk but there are protocols they have to follow. I'm high risk for other reasons and Zika was just another thing to pile ontop of my nerves.
That's really unfortunate that you don't qualify for the testing. I've been witnessing first hand as hospitals and the CDC figure this out. When my blood work was originally drawn the CDC wasn't sure of the accuracy of the test x amount of weeks after exposure. So my hospital was treating all women even with a negative result as a possible positive. 6 weeks later I get my results and the CDC has changed its protocol and now testing 2-12 weeks after travel is considered within the limit for an accurate test. So my negative was an actual don't even have to question it or think again about it negative!
@TinyAlligator 'Flukes' are the worse. I lost my son to a 'fluke'. Sometimes it freaks me out how much trust Im putting into doctors that yes they know better and nothing else caused my issues it was just that, a fluke. I had cord insertion issues as well though not as severe as yours. They were able to spot it at 20 weeks so hoping you are in the same boat with that. At least there will be some answers along the way.
That matches what I initially thought, but I wasn't sure. Especially as I thought more about it and read about genetic screening and such. My OB is very laid-back and she just said they'll do "extra ultrasounds and probably a fetal echo at some time and maybe some other tests" and that was a good enough answer for me at the time. Tell you what though, the thought of my baby having a heart defect is a lot less scary when my husband is sitting there healthy as can be.
Then I had an ultrasound for both the NT measurements (came back normal!) and cervical measurements (came back well within normal, but "not exactly the longest cervical length ever.") Based on that, the MFM decided not to do a cerclage yet. I go back in two weeks for another ultrasound and cervical exam and he said at the slightest hint of anything moving in a bad direction, he was stitching it up and throwing away the key.
TW
so so far ive been pretty chill, but the next few months is the scary point for me. I'm 11.5 weeks. I had pprom at 14 weeks last time. They don't know why. There's no evidence it was my cervix, so it's hard to say if the risks of a cerclage are worth it. I also had a small SCH early on in that pregnancy and (EXTRA trigger warning), the MFM said it was quite possible that the sch weakened my membranes and that the whole thing has nothing to do with my cervix at all. So I could go through the pregnancy just fine. Or I could wake up in the middle of the night with ruptured membranes and no warning at any point. The next few months are going to be crazy stressful.
MMC 01/26/12
MC 12/25/12, D&C 01/05/13
BFP 03/05/13, EDD 11/12/13. HB 175 @ 9w2d. Its a Girl!
DX with EA/TEF Type C & Tracheomalaysia
MC @ 13wks 01/15/15
BFP 1/11/18, EDD 9/21/18
I had placental issues with both deliveries, plus excessive bleeding, and with a new diagnosis of intrauterine adhesions (Asherman's) it's expected I'm at high risk of placental issues again. I had a fairly rapid labour with my second (5 hours first real contractions to baby, though my membranes ruptured 8 hours before labour began) and that makes me concerned how things'll go a third time around. I won't see my OB until 20w and I expect I'll have some extra scans in my third trimester. I'll be pushing for a scheduled delivery for sure this time around, though I think in these circumstances my OB will be more than happy that I'd prefer as much risk mitigation as possible. The challenge will come with when to schedule it. My daughter was born spontaneously at 37+6, but they usually won't schedule delivery until at least 39 weeks if it's considered maternal request, so it's mostly a matter of seeing if my OB agrees with the general assessment of risk. I expect he will.
Son, K, 9 | Daughter, C, 5 | Daughter, M, expected November 7, 2016