Week 32 Ultrasounds

Here are some pictures from Friday's appointment at the perinatologist. We were able to finally get a couple good shots of Wyatt, who turned back chest up instead of facing Randi's spine. You can really see Parks cheeks getting some baby fat on them now. We'll be seeing the real thing soon.

If you've been reading, you know that Randi was in the hospital yesterday for additional fluids and scans after a sub par evaluation on Friday. When that doctor scans, he typically takes samples in three different places in the umbilical cord. He told us on Friday that there is one spot in the cord, near Wyatt's head, where we keep seeing the reverse end diastolic flow. On his first two samples on Saturday afternoon, he found no reverse blood flow and a return to consistent absent end diastolic flow. In the one spot where we saw continuous reverse flow on Friday, there was very good (for Wyatt) diastolic blood flow that looked more like Parks'. Wyatt's S/D ratio, systolic to diastolic ratio, on that sample was seven. With absent and reverse blood flow, there is no S/D ratio because dividing by zero is zero, but even when we have some diastolic flow the ratios were in the 30's and 40's, and we may have even seen one in the 90's once. The lower the number the better, for example, Parks ratio was four. It was the first time we had seen a very good sample since the first of April and even before that. When the doctor saw it, he was speechless, he really didn't know what to think of it. We are certain it was/is nothing short of a miracle. Our prayer is still 34 weeks. At that point, we will setup a date for the C-section. Randi returns tomorrow to the perinatologist for doppler scans and we will do growth scans again on Thursday. I assume she'll be in the hospital either Tuesday or Wednesday for more fluids. We are still praying that Wyatt has made it to 2 lbs.

32 Weeks Today!!!

I had every intention of posting yesterday, but some of my aunt's sweet friends decided to throw me a small impromptu baby shower and I didn't get home until late. Our peri appointment was quite disappointing. After receiving fluids just 24 hours prior, there were places in Wyatt's cord where it was already complete reverse end diastolic flow (that's the really bad stuff). We had not seen it that bad since the first time I went in for fluids, almost a month ago. So, as I type this I am back in the hospital receiving more fluids and the doctor is coming up on his day off to do more dopplers and see if the fluids are still temporarily correcting the blood flow. Even though yesterday's news was a bummer, we did decide that Todd should go ahead to JazzFest, as there's not anything he can do here and we felt confident I wouldn't deliver before this evening when he returns. My good friend, who just happens to be pregnant with triplets, is sitting here beside me to keep me company. It's like the blind leading the blind.

The peri was pretty downtrodden yesterday, especially compared to how optimistic we all were feeling on Tuesday. Todd and I were both very disappointed as we were starting to really believe we could make it to 34 weeks. We know the God is completely in control and He knows at what point these babies are safer outside than inside, and if it's before 34 weeks then that's fine. In the meantime, we are still praying for at least another week if not two.

More to come this afternoon...

One Down, One To Go

We went to the OB this morning for our 32 week appointment. The OB really didn't think that we would still be pregnant when we scheduled this appointment, so we showed her. Everything there was pretty cut and dry. Even though she will be the one delivering the boys, we really feel like we have more of a relationship with the perinatologist. They are also at different hospitals across town, so there is a little bit of tension that preexists anyways. Randi's belly is measuring 36 weeks in size, but neither of us feels that she looks like shes about to "pop."

We have another appointment with the perinatologist this afternoon. I thought I would go ahead and post now, in between doctor's visits, because I am going to be scrambling to get out of town if everything looks good with Randi. I'll leave this afternoon, meet up my friends that are already down there for a 3 a.m. show tonight, go to the fairgrounds on Saturday all day, and come home later that evening. It's not the extended weekend I am used to, but I am completely thankful that I am getting to go at all.

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.