Baby Brother Update

We have been really fortunate to have been blessed with good news since my last update on here.  On my January 9th appointment, baby brother had made great growth and looked really great. Here is my update that I put on Facebook about it:

Better news on Baby Brother today!!!

Baby had great growth over the past week. It was almost a week's worth of growth, but not quite. He went up in weight by 6oz (8oz is the normal). Umbilical blood flow, heart rate, breath movements, and amniotic fluid levels all looked good and normal today. Today was the first visit where my specialist was happy to see my results.

Was confirmed to be asymmetrical IUGR, meaning his head is bigger than his body, which is common and normal in IUGR. As far as what's causing it, she would suspect that it is placenta related. The umbilical cord has a side insertion into the placenta and I also have more placental lakes than normal, so while the umbilical blood flow is good, he just seems to not be getting enough nutrients from the placenta. They won't know for sure what's caused it until he's delivered though.

If he continues on growth like this and as long as my non-stress tests are looking good too then they would keep him in as long as they could and I would still be able to have a normal delivery. Criteria for taking him would be low growth intervals, decreased umbilical blood flow, low amniotic fluid levels, or any other signs to show that he's in distress. But as for now, everything is looking great.

We are still in with weekly appointments with both my OB and specialist, but for that I'm grateful. I'm grateful and lucky to have such caring doctors who want to keep such a close eye on this little one. So, one week at a time. Let's hope he keeps it up.

Thank you for the love, prayers, and support so far. We've definitely felt it.

 The following Monday I had my very first Non-stress test scheduled:

Was supposed to have my first non-stress test today, but baby brother was too wiggly to cooperate. They could only get about 3 minutes of continuous heartbeat before he flipped over and moved so much they couldn't track him. Ha! Can't complain about that. Got a biophysical profile done instead and he's still looking good in there. So far so good. Keep it up little guy!

 Here we are at 30 weeks:  75% complete and baby boy Jensen is the size of a head of cabbage.

Got this really neat shot at my perinatologist visit on 1/16/2014.  It's amazing how much detail they can see on these machines now.  I'm thinking that he's looking a lot like his siblings.

Falling in love with this little guy the more and more that I get to see him. He passed his biophysical profile today with flying colors, meaning all is still looking good. We even got a gold star passing from the specialist as we were the first good baby she had seen today. So that's great!! We didn't get a check on growth today, but plan to next week. Hopefully he is still growing at that next appointment. Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support.

 The next week baby brother looked "phenomenal" during his non-stress test.  He had great accelerations and we continued to get even better news at our specialist appointment later that week. 

Well it looks like something's clicked!! Baby brother had great interval growth these past two weeks. Gained 14oz in 2 weeks to 3lbs6oz now. 20th percentile overall for his due date. Biophysical profile went well too and all his levels, readings, and breathing movements looked good. Happy day!! Still up on weekly visits with both docs to make sure he keeps it up. So grateful that things are looking good!

Here is was today (1/23/2014) with his legs up by his face:

 

Here we are at 32 weeks.  Baby boy Jensen has toenails, fingernails, and HAIR (something that we've been able to confirm on all these ultrasound visits with the specialist).  Looks like he could have a pretty full head of it too, so we are anxious to see how much and what color he really has.  He is also the size of a squash. 

Baby brother also did great on his NST this morning and everything is looking good so far. Thank goodness. Hope he keeps it up! - 1/27/2014

 And as of last week: here is our most recent update:

Baby Brother update: Met with the specialist today and had a growth check. While baby brother had adequate growth over the past two weeks and all of the other things they check for on his BPP and NST are still holding steady, he has started to slow down in growth again. He has dropped from overall in the 20th percentile to the 13th and they estimate he weighs 4lbs1oz now (gaining 11oz in 2 weeks). So while it wasn't the absolute best of news, it also wasn't the worst, which is a blessing. He still is looking good and holding strong, so as long as things hold steady they'll keep him in for as long as possible. We are 34 weeks now and he's head down, so we are getting close. Can't wait to meet this little man, except he needs to bake for just a little while longer. Hang in there little guy!

  So overall, good news for awhile, but we are still on close watch. The little guy is such a mover and I'm guessing is going to be keeping us on our toes.  I'm starting to have more fatigue setting in and I've been having horrible pubic symphysis pain.  It comes worst at night in bed and also if I've been sitting on a hard surface for a long time.  So, definitely something I'm looking forward to being done with.  I've also started to reach the stage where I'm just feeling done overall.  Soon enough though he will be here and in my arms, hopefully as a healthy baby.  Can't wait!!