Baby Update

As some of you may know, and for those who don't...

We had an ultrasound at my 32 week OB appointment. They wanted to check the growth of the baby, seeing that Talon and Kaitlyn were both small for gestational age when they were born. When they did the ultrasound, the baby's growth looked great, and I was only measuring about a week smaller than my week of pregnancy. They did find, however, that my amniotic fluid level was low. They also found a small mass on the baby's liver or possibly the spleen, but they weren't quite sure what it was. When we left the office that day, they were going to send us straight to a perinatologist to have a more in-depth ultrasound. After discussion with multiple doctors, they decided to have me get some blood work done, and come back in a couple of weeks to re-evaluate. They felt like it wasn't something that would interfere with the pregnancy, and this would give them a chance to see if the mass was growing, if the baby was growing well, and they could follow up on my fluid level. So, we went home without any answers and started praying. Praying for God's will, protection over the baby, and peace about the whole situation.

This brings us to today.

We went in for an ultrasound with the perinatologist, Dr. T. The good news is, my fluid level increased from 10 to 16. Yay!! That was a huge answer to prayer. They said if it kept dropping they would put me on bed rest, or even hospitalize me if it got too low. Thankfully that's not a concern at this point. Another answer to prayer is that the baby still appears to be growing great. She's measuring right on schedule for gestational age (even a couple of days ahead), and all of her organ functions seem perfect from what they can tell. They did find the mass that they had seen on the previous ultrasound, and it had grown. From the measurements 2 weeks ago, it was about 2cm by 2cm. This week, it was about 3cm by 3.4cm. They still are unable to tell exactly what it is. Getting a better look at it, it doesn't seem to be part of the liver or spleen. It is below the liver and appears lateral to the stomach. There is question as to whether or not it is compressing the stomach. Dr. T said they went through the long list of possibilities as to what it could be, and it is atypical of anything on the list. Hemangioma? Cyst? Tumor? Teratoma? Who knows.

It does change things a bit concerning where we go from here. Our plan was to deliver at Meridian Park Hospital. This will not be an option now, as we need to be in a place where she can be evaluated by a pediatric team as soon as she's born. So we will be delivering at Emanuel. This means that I also have to find another OB, because mine doesn't deliver there. They are getting the pediatric surgical team and neonatologists involved so they can start planning the scans and likely surgery after she's born. They also plan on inducing me around 37-38 weeks. This gives us about 2 weeks, give or take a little.

We appreciate all of the prayers and support from our family and friends, and are just trusting God at this point that he is going to take care of our little girl. We know he can heal her, but may choose, instead, to take us through this and just give us the peace and strength we need for whatever is to come!