Finally, I Have A Visual

With all this talk about about reverse end diastolic, absent end diastolic, increased resistance, etc., etc., etc., we have been struggling to find a good graphic representation of what we are experiencing. The diagram below shows what a normal blood flow waveform should look like with the systolic going up and the diastolic going down. It is primarily used to determine the velocity at which the blood is flowing and with what pressure it is being exerted. We noticed as early as 17 weeks that neither baby had normal waveforms. Parks currently has blood flow with increased resistance, or reduced end diastolic flow. Since, he is growing well and is active, we find this condition to not be too concerning. We have seen virtually no diastolic flow on Wyatt since approximately 24 weeks. His Doppler images mainly look like the lower left-hand picture, absent end diastolic, with some episodes of the extremely serious reverse end diastolic flow. In this case, the blood has met all the resistance in pressure it can take and has actually reversed its path. This is the reason we are administering IV fluids, and as long as they alleviate this condition, Randi will remain pregnant.

Furthermore, we returned to the perinatologist this afternoon for more of the usual. Everything is looking par for the course with Wyatt. He is holding steady with absent end diastolic flow in the umbilical artery and is showing decreased resistance in his mid-cerebral artery and ductus venosus, in his belly. Parks looks good again, giving us little cause for concern. Randi returns to Labor and Delivery on Thursday, and we are considering putting in a PIC line to give her hands a break from the constant IV's. After that, it's back to the perinatologist for a regular exam on Friday afternoon. If everything looks good, I am going to sneak away to New Orleans for Friday evening and Saturday to go to the Jazz and Heritage Festival. This will be my 11th year in a row. This has been a silent, selfish prayer of mine for awhile. Hopefully, everything will work out. Don't worry about Randi; she has a very good friend coming to spend the night with her.