When My Soul Melts: This Week's Appointments

Thursday, January 19, 2017

This Week's Appointments

We had two appointments on Tuesday (both of which Ted was able to attend with me): Verity’s ultrasound followed by my first OB visit with one of the doctors who may very well be there for her birth. Dr. T was actually the one who called me back in September when the amnio test results confirmed the Trisomy 18 diagnosis, and he is very much like I pictured him—a grandfatherly, (extremely) chatty gentleman who is personable, kind, and compassionate. It was a bit hard to get a word in edgewise with all of his various stories, but overall, I like him, and we were able to give him a copy of our birth plan as well as two research articles that I want to be sure our doctors read ahead of time. This afternoon he has a meeting with other doctors on our team, during which they will be discussing our case, and I requested that he share the birth plan and articles with everyone involved. Prayers that this actually happens would be welcomed…

Anyway—the appointment itself was uneventful but allowed us to verbally emphasize our wishes concerning supporting Verity at birth based on her physical needs and not simply her diagnosis alone. Then, since we were his last appointment of the day, Dr. T took us to the Labor & Delivery floor, as we had not yet figured out exactly where we need to go when the time comes. I feel much better just knowing how to navigate all the corridors and elevators, lol. A nurse gave us a quick tour of the area and answered some questions; she was going to peruse our birth plan as well before giving it back to Dr. T to make copies of to place in my chart and pass around.

The ultrasound showed that Verity continues to grow, holding firmly to that 4^th percentile, but at least she IS gaining. They estimate her to be about 4 pounds, 1 ounce, which honestly doesn’t sound so scary, especially since I have seen much lower birth weights in both Trisomy AND healthy babies who are born prematurely! This alone gives me peace going forward; even if I were to go into labor this week, for example (not that there are indications that will happen!), she would stand a much better chance than if things started rolling a month ago. I think we were kind of expecting early labor based on what we learned initially, but after reading that a third of T18 babies actually come post-term, I’m actually starting to assume that will be our story. I know one should never assume, but somehow it seems almost more likely than not, even though I can’t explain why I feel that way. Not that I WANT to be pregnant that long, and perhaps it’s a bit of a denial of reality, trying to delay the inevitable transition that MUST be made no matter when it happens.

At any rate, Verity gave us some lovely views of her little face, showing poochy cheeks and growing hair. She is as active as ever, and her “practice breathing” in utero (diaphragm moving up and down) makes me wonder if she will be one of the fortunate T18 babies who actually DON’T need respiratory help. I have no idea on that score…perhaps a question to ask my Trisomy community, but really I don’t know if anyone can tell us anything about that or not.