Due Date: Come and Gone!

We had a sonogram yesterday, Friday, June 15th, our due date. This is a standard procedure at the 40-week mark, and it's called a BPP (biophysical profile) to monitor fetal heart rate continuously for 20+ minutes, check the reflexes of the baby, measure amniotic fluid levels, etc.

According to measurements taken yesterday, the Bean is already 8 pounds, 8 ounces! The baby gains almost half a pound each week now.

The due date is the midpoint of the last 4 weeks of the pregnancy. Roughly 5% of pregnant women deliver on their due date according to Dr. Holden, and the rest come earlier or later. Senan (Emma's son) was born 5 days after his due date, Ben and I came after our due dates, and Bean is carrying on in the Renda tradition of being late.

It's funny to think I actually look forward to cramps and backaches. My parents and Michael ask "How are you feeling?" and I say "perfectly fine, unfortunately", and we all laugh. Ready to have the baby out now.

We saw the Bean's face and head even though it's down low. The radiologist said the Bean was making chewing/sucking motions. I hope that bodes well for breastfeeding attempts after the birth.

I find it emotional and difficult to look at our ultrasounds. We saw outlines of the external features, and the skeletal structure underneath, and he/she still looks like ET (!). I love the baby already whatever he'll/she'll look like, so I just want the radiologist to look on my behalf and tell me/us everything is ok. She said everything looked fine.

It is easy to get anxious at ultrasounds. Even though we had genetic testing and blood tests early in the pregnancy, there are a million other developmental issues that can happen along the way that can't be tested for in advance, that are unrelated to age and are out of the parents control (including things like cleft palate) so you find yourself shoving these worries to the back of your mind, hoping for the best, and watching the face of the radiologist very closely to insure he/she doesn't get a concerned look...

Last night, my parents and Michael and I walked to a restaurant in North Park Slope called the Chip Shop -- it's modeled directly on the UK Chip Shops and features meat pies, fish and chips, curry and chips, chips & butty, bangers & mash and more. We had great fish and chips and Michael tried a fried Mars Bar, which is a candy bar deep fried in batter (a donut!) covered in powder sugar. Heart attack on a plate. It reminded me of living in England.

We walked home and I had cramps for the rest of the evening, so we all went to bed optimistic that this might be real labor starting, but I fell asleep around midnight and woke up 8 hours later, so obviously it wasn't...

Today is my father's birthday! We were hoping the Bean would be born today, but unless something dramatic happens this afternoon, probably not. Mom made lamb chops for dinner, we had birthday cake and gave Dad a few presents. I'll post a picture here soon from our party of four (+1).

Above are two pictures from the two recent sonograms we've had - it shows the outline of Bean's head (June 15th), and one of Bean's feet (May 30th).

Weekly check-up & Sonogram (May 30th)

Weight: Same as last week
Vitals: 120/70
Fetal heartbeat: 143-147 bpm (good)
Test result: Strep B - Negative (good!)

Michael and I met Dr. Eileen DeMarco today. She's nice -- very business-like. Felt the baby, confirmed head is down, said 'medium-sized' -- in the 7 pound range. Did an internal inspection -- said I'm starting to efface, but not dilated significantly. She mentioned she's on call on Fridays (June 15th is a Friday) but not the weekend of the 16th-17th, so it is a lottery in terms of which doctor will be on call when it's time to deliver.

The only thing on my mind was lack of movement. The Bean has been active every day for the past several weeks at many points throughout the day and night so that I've had no second thoughts about tracking fetal movement. Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the day outdoors doing errands, and felt movement only twice, and none at night when I went to bed. This morning was very quiet -- no movement.

Dr. DeMarco said it's likely everything is ok, but indicated we should get a sonogram to check measurements and amniotic fluid levels to be safe. It's fairly routine to have a sonogram around week 38.

We were asked to stay and get the sonogram today, so Michael and I went to lunch and came back. The same radiologist who did our 19-week sonogram performed today's scan. Because the baby is big now, it was not easy to understand what was on the screen, and we couldn't tell what we were seeing. The radiologist said the baby looks fine: heartbeat, proportions and fluid levels all good and weight is 7 pounds 2 ounces based on the measurements! There was a good shot of a foot, so she printed that out for us to take home. I'll post it here once Michael gets home and we can scan it. She said we'll be fine and encouraged me to give the Bean a poke once in awhile if he/she has been dormant for a long time.

One thing I noticed: the radiologist referred to the Bean as 'him'!

19-Week Sonogram: The Bean is Jumping (Fri Jan 19)

We went for the 19-week ultrasound today at 1:30 pm. This is a standard test prescribed for all pregnancies to measure the development of the internal organs and bone structure of the baby.

We saw the spinal cord, bones in the arms, legs, hands and feet (10 toes), the four chambers of the heart (!), etc. The baby's arms were bent and hands were in front of its face a lot during the screening, so it was difficult to see the face. This is the second sonogram at which the radiologists commented that the baby is very active and so was difficult to measure! She asked if I had eaten just before the appointment (I hadn't). She also mentioned she felt a hardness on my left side and asked if I have a cyst or have had one in the past (I said no). She said it was nothing to worry about. I will investigate after the baby is born.

An ultrasound technician looked at the Bean from all angles, took measurements and said everything looked normal. The Chief Radiologist on staff followed up to check measurements and agreed that everything looks good. In total, we spent an hour in the ultrasound getting screened. The radiologist said the baby is still on track for a delivery date of June 15th (size-wise).

From the radiologist's point of view, everything is developing normally so they are not recommending the need for any follow-up. Since we elected not to find out the sex of the baby, the radiologists hid the screen for part of the examination.

Now that the baby is getting bigger and I've seen it moving, I'm more aware of having a baby inside (vs what had felt mostly like an unpredictable medical condition). Things have progressed smoothly so far, my bump is noticeable, and I'm more conscious now that everything I eat is feeding two of us.

CVS Test (Thursday, 7 December 2006)

I returned to the Columbia-Presbyterian offices to get the CVS test. The first step was a level II sonogram. The radiologist was a woman who has worked with Dr. Wapner for years and was very easy-going. Because she was upbeat and calm, it helped me relax. She showed me the baby on-screen, and we saw legs and arms moving! She took measurements, confirmed we were at 12 weeks and 5 days, and performed Nuchal Fold measurements http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/pregnancy/prenatalhealth/118.html saying the baby looked normal and there were no indications of Down Syndrome. She gave me two copies of sonogram pictures.

The Bean still looks like ET.

After approximately 20 minutes, Dr. Wapner came in, and they agreed that the transabdominal version of CVS would be safest in my case, based on where the baby was located within my uterus (the alternative is trans-vaginal). Dr. Wapner looks like Dr. Who – tall with a lot of curly hair. He used a transducer to insert the needle, and in less than 60 seconds, was finished withdrawing material. We talked movies while he performed the test, and he recommended I see “The Queen” starring Helen Mirren, because of the years I lived in Windsor, England, near the castle.

The use of a topical anesthesia is not used for this procedure. At least half of women who have undergone CVS in the past indicated the pain caused by an anesthesia shot was not worth mitigating the pain of the second bigger needle used for the procedure. With my general phobia of needles, I was onboard with using as few needles as possible and willing to have more pain if it meant getting through the procedure as quickly as possible.

When the test was done, Dr. Wapner said the procedure could not have gone more smoothly and indicated I'd have no problems as a result of getting the test. Preliminary results will be available early next week, and final results within 10 days.

Because my blood type (Rh) is A negative and Michael may have a positive blood type (we don't know his), I was given a shot of Rhogam (1) in the rear end before leaving the office, and will now get a Rhogam shot around week 26 and once more after delivery. In this case, I received Rhogam during pregnancy because the CVS procedure (like Amniocentesis) introduces the slight risk that the baby's blood or DNA could interact with mine, and cause my blood to create antibodies against the baby's blood (if the baby has a positive blood type).

I got dressed and felt surprisingly steady on my feet. Took the subway home, laid on the couch, ordered pizza for dinner and watched TV. Slept soundly for the first time this week!

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(1) Rhogam: Rh0 immunoglobulin, also called anti-Rh or anti-D immunoglobulin. An injectable blood product used to protect an Rh-positive fetus from antibodies by its Rh-negative mother. The idea underlying Rhogam is if anti-Rh antibody is given soon after delivery, it blocks the sensitization of the mother and prevents Rh disease from occurring in the woman's next Rh-positive child. Rhogam is now given routinely to Rh-negative women after pregnancies in which they carried Rh-positive fetuses to prevent the mother's immune system from reacting to the Rh-positive blood of any subsequent fetus. Rhogam was developed in the 1960s by Dr. Vincent J. Freda (1927-2003), professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia University.

Source: MedicalNet.com http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11961

A Due Date and Nickname for Baby! (Friday, 17 November 2006)

Today we visited a radiologist to get the trans-vaginal ultrasound. Trans-vaginal scans are usually prescribed for early pregnancies or to diagnose ectopic pregnancies, tumors or cysts.

After inserting a large probe (easier than expected), we all watched the screen. The screen looked like a TV with bad reception -- a lot of snow. At least one or two minutes ticked by and neither the Doctor nor nurse showed any expression or said anything as they watched, so I started to worry.

Me: "Is it ectopic?"

Dr. S: “Are we LOOKING for an ectopic pregnancy??”

Me: "I don't think so..."

Dr. S: “Women these days! They get pregnant, read books and horror stories on the internet, and before they’ve had their first formal doctor visit, they’ve prepared themselves for every disaster! Millions of women get pregnant every year. It’s a perfectly normal process and there is no reason to assume the worst!”

Moments later a picture came into view and we were surprised to see what looked a black bubble with a 'bean' inside that had a large head and four appendages – little arms and legs! Dr. S said “There is the baby, and there is the heart beating!”. I felt such overwhelming relief that there was really a baby there, I started to cry and found it difficult to continue looking at the screen. This was the first time since we discovered I'm pregnant that we could see the baby and hear it, so it is starting to feel real.

Dr. Subramanyam activated a ruler on the screen to take measurements of the fetus, and indicated we were 10 weeks along. The due date is listed as June 15, 2007.

This surprise ranks second only to discovering the pregnancy last week. Within a few seconds of receiving this news, we realize I have been pregnant since slightly before our wedding in September. Immediately, I started reeling through the things I'd done since September and October that I wouldn't have done if I'd known I was pregnant: drank at the wedding, drank a bit over the honeymoon, took a fair amount of flu medicine/decongestant in Sydney in order to clear my ears for the flights back to the U.S....etc. These got filed in my head as things to raise with a doctor as soon as we find one.

The doctor gave us a print of the sonogram. Our first baby picture!
Nickname for baby is ‘Bean’ (aka 'the bean'), and 'it' looks like E.T.

Pictures: me at 10 weeks; sonogram of the Bean at 10 weeks