The Anatomy Scan

The last couple of weeks have been kind of uneventful, in a good way.  I feel like I'm growing bigger, getting a little more uncomfortable, and the babies have seemed to be ok every time we go into the doctor's office.  I still like to projectile vomit; sometimes the anti-nausea medicine is what makes me do it... but once I get it down, I feel good.  We decided easily on the name Aliya Cherene for Baby B.  Jordan and Cheryl won the vote for Baby's A name- Savannah Shae.  A couple of days ago, I was telling Cheryl how relaxed and happy I felt... we wondered if we were in denial and trying not to think about what's going on. 

The last day I have just felt this heavy weight and ominous, dreading our anatomy scan today and not feeling good about it at all.  I thought this 4 weeks in anticipation of it would be hard.  But it turned out, those 4 weeks were the best I had in this whole pregnancy and I didn't want it to be ruined.  These appointments with these high-risk specialists are so stressful and hard to get through.  I always try really hard to remain calm until I can get to the car and start crying but that never happens.  We were both quiet all day and didn't even speak the whole car-ride to the appointment.  Cheryl came picked me up to take me to the appointment after her work.

First, we had a genetic appointment and that was easy.  My family and medical history wasn't really significant and the donor's wasn't either.  We got out early and got a bite to eat. 

Then was the anatomy scan for Baby A, Savannah.  Her heart rate was 157, which is great.  She weighs 6 oz.  Everything about her is completely normal.  Both babies seem pretty low down in my uterus (especially Savannah), and the u/s technician asked if I had been having contractions yet (which I do when I'm on my feet too long or exercise at all), and this worried us a little.  But the dr later tells us later that the positioning of the babies are just fine.

Like last time, the ultrasound technician suddenly grew more quiet when it came to Baby B, Aliya.  Her heart rate was 145, which is still normal.  She confirmed that both babies are girls.  The stomach is now in the correct place on the left.  However, the heart is still on the right side.  She has 2 kidneys and weighs 5 oz.  Her growth measures about 3 days behind Aliya's, which has been the case since the beginning.

Then the u/s technician left to get the dr.  We were left sitting there for a very long time.  A new u/s technician came in (who is certified in cardiac) along with 2 other drs.   I got that same feeling of dread and knowing something was wrong.  The u/s technician took some more scans of the heart and the dr went ahead and continued to tell us... that the heart is abnormal.  He fired off some medical terms like hypoplastic right heart,  a possible double ventrical outlet, a small right side of the heart.  The left side of the heart is rotated over to the side and to the back.  The left ventricle is in the front instead of the back.  I asked if there was a chance that the baby could die before being born; he said "No, that's unlikely" but that I'm still at high risk for something going wrong at some point in the pregnancy - like the baby may stop growing, signs of non-reassuring signs from the fetus, or of Aliya compromising Savannah's wellbeing.  He went over again  options of terminating, which is not something we're considering unless something drastically changes.  He told us that our chance of having a baby with Down's Syndrome is more like 15-20%.  He recommended amniocentesis, which I dont' want to do because of the chance of miscarriage and if one baby miscarries, they both will.  We will not be delivering at Scripps La Jolla, like I was so wanting.  It will now be at UCSD because we need a tertiary level of care, with a high-level NICU and surgeons.  In fact, all of our care is being transferred from my OB that we love to a high-risk specialist for the remainder of this pregnancy.  We were told that this baby has a complex heart defect that will most likely require immediate surgery after the baby is born, and probably multiple surgeries (maybe even a heart transplant from what we see online).  We will not be able to take the baby home from the hospital for quite some time.   Next up is an ECHO cardiogram with our new pediatric cardiac specialist in 2-3 weeks.  We will find out more specifics and also a prognosis of survival.  We also have to consider an amniocentesis and see if that's something we will re-consider. 

A couple of weeks ago, Cheryl found out that her thyroid biopsy came back abnormal (her primary dr found a lump on her thyroid).  The dr is concerned and wants her to take out either half of her thyroid and her entire thyroid.  If she takes out her entire thyroid, she will have to be on hormone medications for the rest of her life.  If she takes out half of her thyroid, there is a chance it could function fine or it may burn out and she'll still have to take out medications.  She's opting to take out half of it and see from there.  The dr is suspicious that it is cancer but wants to do more tests on it once it's out.  Next week, she will get a pre-op appointment and then will probably be scheduled for surgery soon after. 

We've been having quite the health scares lately.  Send us hopes and wishes or whatever else you believe in.  =)
That's all for now!