Well, it's been a long time since I've updated and a lot has happened. I'll just do an over-all general update of what's happened since December and then for anybody that's interested I will give the whole birth story which may be graphic for some readers (but in my opinion rather comical).
Shortly after finding out I was pregnant I started feeling ill, but an icky kind of ill that was different from the morning sickness. I decided to check my blood pressure at one of those kiosks at Meijer and about jumped out of the seat! It was off the charts and shocked me b/c I had checked it a month or so before and it had been a little high but nowhere near these numbers. I checked it at Walmart the next day and it was just as high so I knew I needed to find out what to do. I was seen and treated and put on medication for it and all was good for a few months. Because of the blood pressure I was scheduled for bi-weekly appointments and was referred to a specialist in Grand Rapids just in case the pregnancy turned high risk.
We went for an appointment in Grand Rapids in November and Ben was ranked in the 50th percentile based on the ultrasound measurements. Since everything looked good we were told to come back in 6 weeks. Fast forward to December 21st, another appointment, everything looks good, 6 more weeks. So, when we went down January 31st we figured everything would be good and it'd be another 6 weeks but not the case. Based on the measurements from the ultrasound, growth had slowed and I believe Ben was now in the 14th percentile. The issue wasn't that he had stopped growing, it's that his growth rate had slowed and they wanted to keep an eye on it. This was 29 weeks and we were told that at 32 weeks we were to start with Non-Stress Tests(NST) and weekly appointments with the OB and to schedule another appointment for a growth ultrasound 3 weeks later, which was February 21st.
On February 20th I had my first Non-Stress Test. Ben wasn't reacting how they wanted him to when stimulated and his heart rate would jump up, but they wanted it to stay up for a certain number of seconds and it didn't do that. So they did what they call a Bio-Physical Profile (BPP). It is an ultra-sound that lasts for 1/2hour and in that 1/2 the stenogropher is looking for the baby to do a number of things and each is rated 2 points. 10 points is a perfect score. They are looking for movements, tone of movements, frequency, if they are breathing (diaphram working), heart rate. Ben passed. He was actually super active after the BPP, all the way until 3am.
The next day we went to GR and expected a good report but were shocked to find out that the doctor felt that his growth rate had dropped even more and she was afraid that it was going to fall off the charts. We didn't believe her, we were confused, angry, frustrated and it showed. We had pretty much decided that we were not going to deal with GR anymore. We were going to go for the scheduled growth ultrasound at Carson and if that turned out well then we would cancel the next GR appointment.
What the GR doctor was concerned about, is that with high blood pressure throughout pregnancy, not only could the blood flow to the fetus slow (causing him to not get as much nourishment) but the placenta could give out altogether and eventually separate from the uteris prematurely. The GR doctor suggested that I get a 2 series steroid shot that would help all the organs, especially the lungs develop quickly in the event that he had to be delivered early. I asked if there was any negative side effects for the baby even if he was carried to term. She said there were none. I am glad that I decided to do it! I went Wednesday for the first shot and got the 2nd when I had a NST at Carson City.
My 2nd NST was scheduled for Thursday. Again he was not reacting how they wanted and they scheduled a BPP. He did not do as well and we were told to go directly to GR for fetal monitoring. We went and figured we would be home later that day.
BEGINNING OF BIRTH STORY
We got to Spectum Health around 10am on Thursday February 23rd. They got me all checked in and started running tests. All the tests came back well.
