Lily & Leo

Things worth having are worth waiting for.

We had our meeting at the hospital a few weeks ago with the head staff from NICU, Neonatologist, Perinatologist, L&D, Social Worker, Geneticist, my OBGYN, and baby nursing staff.  They went over possible and realistic care for Leo for after he’s born and they said that 41/42 babies with tetrasomy 18p have feeding issues.  So realistically he will be in NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) shortly after he is born, and will probably be there for 4-6 weeks.  They will be able to do a cranium ultrasound, heart ultrasound, abdomen ultrasound and chromosome blood test in our room, before he goes to NICU.  They also gave us a tour of NICU and it looks very homely and they even have a camera above his bed that will be having live streaming feed of him at all times so we can just go online and see what he’s up to 24/7!  The meeting was very informative and help make us feel more confident that he will be in the best hands after birth.

This is the back side of Leo, and between his head and body, you can see all that fuzz, which is his hair!

We had another growth ultrasound a week later and he measures at 4lbs 10 oz! He’s growing even though I’m not and I actually lost a pound but it’s ok since his weight is the only thing that matters! His stomach is still a little small but that’s ok. His heart still has the same issues, his right chamber looks a little bigger than the left so they think it could be due to the dilated size of one of the pulmonary blood vessels or one of the valves. The doctor is referring us to see a pediatric cardiologist and we will meet with one to take a closer look at Leo’s heart. I had my obgyn appointment afterwards and everything seems to be ok for the most part except for my weight lost and belly size got a tad bit smaller but that’s ok. Oh and at the u/s they measured his heart rate range 115-119bmp which is at the low side. As long as it’s above 110bmp then it’s ok, but if it goes below then they might have to deliver early because it means baby isn’t getting enough oxygen and blood flow. However, shortly afterwards at my OBGYN appt, they measured his heart rate to be 140bmp…so who knows what’s going on.  Maybe Leo decided to sleep durng the ultrasound and wake up for my doctor’s appointment haha.

Also, my OBGYN said if I make it past 35 wks (so 1 more week at this point), if I get frequent contractions again, then they won’t try to stop the contractions and I’ll most likely just go into labor and deliver, but it sounds like chances of him surviving at that point is better than if he were to be born a premie now. It’s still risky but the longer he stays in the belly, the better, so giving birth 2 weeks from that point is still a lot better than if I were to give birth a month ago. So that’s good to know. So all in all, not too much changed, and we just have to see the pediatric cardiologist and see what they find. I’m also going to be going into the hospital twice a week (monday and thursday) for fetal diagnostics where they strap me in for an hour and monitor the baby’s heart rate and my contractions, and then do a quick ultrasound now and then only to measure the amniotic fluids. I have my next u/s in a month, beginning of June, and my next obgyn appt is in two wks and then every week after that. Also, the ultrasound showed that he has a lot of hair already!! Probably like a cm of hair already! He’s probably gonna have a full head of hair like Lily did!

Leo 34 Weeks Gestation (3D Image!)

Fast forward a week, I got a call from the pediatric cardiologist today and I’ll have an Eco u/s on Monday after my fetal diagnostic. But at the u/s, they’re going to take a much closer look at his heart and determine if he will need surgery or not. If he does then I can’t deliver at Hoag and I’ll have to do it at the Long Beach Memorial Hospital since that’s where all the pediatric cardiologist specialists are, so that would be a little disappointing since I really wanted to be at Hoag, but it would be even more scary and worrisome since that means he will need surgery, but at least he will be in the best hands. Hopefully though he won’t need surgery but I’ll find out on Monday. Also, the other thing is the severity of his neurological issues and developmental delays; we won’t know how severe that will be until he’s born and we just have to watch him and see. But for now, we can just hope his heart will be ok and that things stay minor. Fingers crossed!

Later I had the first fetal diagnostics and the nurse said everything seems to look ok so far, but the doctor still has to go over the results but I think everything’s fine at the moment. His heart rate is still on the low end but it’s still within the normal range for now. I just have to make sure I relax and not do anything to bring on more contractions.  I had the eco u/s with the pediatric cardiologist afterwards and there might be a lil hole in the bottom chamber of his heart but pulmonary vessel the valve size irregularities and stuff is ok and he said there is nothing to be concerned about for now.  So that means we can plan to still delivery at Hoag and Leo won’t have to go into immediate survey after he’s born, so that’s wonderful! We will still need to do an Eco u/s when he is born but for now it’s ok!  He is such a little fighter, making me so proud of him already!  All these unknown situations and the whole waiting game is very nerve wreckng and the health and happiness of my Leo is constantly on my mind and is one of my many focuses in my daily routine.  It’s hard to be positive, stress free, and happy when I’m constantly worrying about this, but I just have to keep on truckin’ along in hopes of knowing he will be in my arms soon.

On another note, here’s my latest crafting adventure for my Lily pad, a crocheted musical unicorn that plays the song Somewhere Over the Rainbow!  I had it all finished and it was sitting on Lily’s little couch waiting for her when she got home from school, and she noticed it right away and asked if it was for her!  I said yes of course and that I made it for her, and showed her how to pull the tail for the music to play.  When she heard the music, it got her even more excited and she said “oh thank you mommy!!”  and gave me a hug and kiss!  Spending all that time and putting in all my love into this little projects for her is all made worth it by her sweet reactions.  She would hug the unicorn while watching her shows and randomly she would give it piggyback rides too and then make me do it and tell me she wants to take a picture of me doing so haha!  She loves to pull the string to play the music.  Such a genius invention, the pull string music box! I’m so glad she likes!

This past Sunday night, we went into the hospital because my OBGYN told me that if my contractions are about 10 mins apart then I should go in.  So that’s what happened and I went in, but the doctors there didn’t seem to be too concerned and sent me back home.  I had my fetal diagnostics the next morning and was monitored for half an hour and got 3 contractions as well but it seemed to be fine, which is a good thing since I’m so close to 37 weeks (full term).  I’m almost there, just hang in a little longer Leo!  Tonight I had another scare where the contractions almost got down to every 5 minutes, and I was so uncomfortable and in pain that at one point I was shaking and crying from it all.  Lily saw I as hurting and ran to me and said “mommy you are hurting? It’s ok, do you want a bandaid?  It will make you feel better!”  I told her I’m ok and she gave me a sweet hug and kiss.  I love her to pieces!  I decided to lay down to see if th contractions like get better but after ten minutes my acid reflux got the best of me and I ran for the bathroom and threw up pretty much everything I ate today.  Oh the glamour of pregnancy!  Luckily though, the contractions calmed down and I’m going to tough it out for the night.  I have my fetal diagnostics again in the morning along with my OBGYN appointment afterwards so I will see what happens then.  (Tomorrow I’ll be 9 months with my little prince Leo.  I will update this later with my 9 month baby bump photo on I find time to take a photo this weekend, so stay tuned!)

Update: (5/23/2015) As of this past Thursday, I am 2 cm dilated and 70% effaced.  My belly measures 33cm, a little small but it’s ok.  I’ve also gained a total of 7 lbs… Progress right?  Haha.  My fetal diagnostics went well and baby is looking good in terms of heart beat!  I still have contractions but not enough for them to be concerned.  My amniotic fluids measured at 21 which is good, anything between 8-25 is normal.  So Leo just hang in there a little longer!

9 Months Baby Bump

“No one will ever know the strength of my love for you.  After all, you [and your sister] are the only one who know what my heart sounds like from the inside.”

Journey to meet Leo continues…