Life Is Good: Final Ultrasound

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Final Ultrasound

I had an ultrasound this morning. The last one with the Perinatologist.

Baby looks great! 3.5 pounds (smaller than I was hoping). Head very low (my bladder testifies to that). Lots of hair. Face up. Chubby cheeks. Plenty of fluid. Good heart rate and blood flow through the cord. I don't know what I'll do if I actually have a chubby baby with hair. I told my OB I was trying to break all records...more than 36 weeks and over 6 pounds! He laughed. :)

Cervix is shorter. 0.6. Not that much shorter and at least everything is on the correct side of the stitch. Dr. did an exam (oh my...it's been awhile since I've had one of those). Stitch is in place and holding well. I'm not dilating.

Overall it was a good visit and a great way to start my day and start bringing an end to hospital bedrest. Not that I'm counting but...10 days 13+ hours until I'm out of here!

Now about the picture...
He's very, very low and without much room so his face is smashed up against my uterus. That being said we were only able to get a good 1/2-shot of his little face. I think his mouth is partly open. His arm is tucked up against his cheek with his fingers pointing down as if posing for an "aren't I cute?!" moment.

Oh...and one more thing...

Dear Madison,
I promise he'll be cuter in real life!
Love, Aunt Julie

2 comments:

mimi and Grampy said...: DEAR AUNT JULIE,i think he will look like ryan i think the name evan is cute. MADISON; May 18, 2010 at 4:22 PM
Janelle said...: Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is a cutie! He's such a poser...already waiting for all the pictures he'll have taken. :) Coming to see you soon. I promise.; May 19, 2010 at 2:45 PM

Post a Comment

Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander