Wednesday, April 30, 2008

32 Weeks!

We made it to 32 weeks! We're so thankful, and it looks like now we might even be able to go to 35. And if we're still good at 35, maybe 37??? We're praising the Lord for taking such good care of Eli.

All that said, the past few days have been eventful! On Friday I had a sonogram that showed that Eli only had one week's growth in two weeks' time. This is a concern, because it shows that he's not getting the blood flow that he needs to grow correctly. The doctor was still pleased with everything else- the baby is active and has a good, reactive heart rate and is otherwise really healthy.

On Saturday my blood pressure sky-rocketed, and I got this awful headache, which is a bad symptom to get. We eventually called my doctor on Sunday, and he got me on a low-dose blood pressure medicine, which normalized my pressures and took away the headache. And he told me he wanted me to see a specialist to get a second opinion.

So on Monday I saw my normal doctor to get all the normal tests done to make sure that I was still okay and the baby was still okay. And then yesterday we went to a maternal-fetal medicine specialist. We kind of expected bad news- like "You're going to have this baby today" kind of news. But we actually got really good news! The baby, though small, still falls within the normal range, and the blood flow test showed that the medicine is helping and that Eli is getting all the blood flow he needs now. The specialist recommended just continuing what we've been doing since the baby looks really healthy and my pressures are okay as long as I'm lying down.

My doctor was thrilled with the results, and so we'll just keep doing what we've been doing- bed rest and pleny of doctor's visits and hospital tests- for as long as possible. We're praying now for 35 weeks, and 37 would be a miracle! As good as that is, though, I can't stand the thought of all that time on bed rest! :) It will all be worth it, though, once we hold our healthy baby.

This has been an emotionally draining time for us, but we have felt so supported by prayer and by the care of our family and friends. Thank you so much.

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