High Risk Pregnancy ~ General Discussion and Support

[JennaJayen]

Hi guys, just stopping in briefly. Scan went really well.

Bub was measuring at 13wks! Finally it's grown a bit quicker lol must be all those lollies and chocolate I've been eating lol

Heart rate was 150bpm, so 2bpm less than the 9wk scan, but still all good.

AND.............. it's a little wriggler! It was kicking and wriggling and turning around in circles (not that there is much room in there, which made me a bit worried... its it normal for the sac to be slightly flat and jellybean shaped? Also, I could see the edge of the sac in the picture we got... that seems a bit weird to me!

Anyway, I now know that it is defiantely bub that I have been feeling moving, as while I was having the scan I felt some it's more energetic kicks and wriggles while I was watching them on the screen. It was so amazing! It's been wriggling all morning too, especially just after I finished my brekkie of Nutrigrain lol

MS is almost gone - only had 2 days out the last 5 days where I felt a bit queasy in the mornings and that was yesterday and today. Although, I was watching bondi vet last night and they made a dog throw up to get a g-string that it had eaten out of its stomach and it almost amde me hurl watching that.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

[ButterflyForever]

Hi all

Jenna - glad the scan was good, sounds great, really pleased for you.

Hi to everyone else.

afm - had my 20 week scan last Friday, Bub is good, measuring about 4 days ahead, they put my EDD as the 4th Feb, I have is as the 8th. So will keep it as is anyway.
Decided to keep the sex of Bubs a surprise for the kids, they are so exited discussing what it is going to be. I thought if I told anyone, then they will slip up in front of the kids and let the cat out of the bag.
The depressing news from the scan is that my c-section scar is really thin, so I will be very closely monitored now, may be in hospital early in preg on bedrest and will deliver early, so definitely looks like this Bub will be a premmie.
Upset about the scar because all was looking so well until now. Had a scan at 15 weeks, then at 17 weeks (when the Ob said all was so good that he didn't need to see me so often) then had the emergency scan at 19 weeks when I fell over, the sonographer never even mentioned a problem then.
Just having to try and take it easy at the moment, that is easier said than done with 4 kids at home.
Sorry for the down and depressing post, got another scan tomorrow, so will pop back and say hi then.

take care all

[*Beema*]

Hi!

Jenna Jayen ~ fabulous news on your scan hun, so so happy for you and for the MS reducing, you must be feeling great!!

BF ~ Fabulous news on bubs growth on your scan as well and big for the c-sec scar being thin, hopefully with the close monitoring and rest if you need it they can keep bubs baking for as long as possible. I know how you feel when you think things are going ok, then there is a spanner thrown in the works

Crumpet ~ woooo hooo for getting to 25 weeks and almost 26 weeks!! Your pregnancy seems to be flying to me now!!!



AFM ~ We passed DD's gestation and got through the last week os so ok!

I apologise now for the big update it has been a big afternoon...

Ahhhh so things didn't go to plan today, considering how upbeat and positive I have been the last two days this evening I have been a bit shell shocked....

Some of todays appointment wasn't a real surprise, we have been expecting it, but others not so much... it started when I saw my MW first, she had to check my BP numerous times, before she settled with the reading. Which was 120/80.
We also went through some mroe information on labour and what to expect... but moreso had a big chat about some changes with what dates the hospital will and won't accept, apparently there was a big meeting on Tuesday and everyone is confused as to whether it is now 34 weeks 1 day or 36 weeks or possibly 35 weeks....

When I got in to see my OB we went through what that plan was going to be, we have some specific dates in place and while she is going overseas, she is only going for a portion of her leave, and she will actually come in a deliver bubs if we get to the point when she returns which is a lot earlier than we had originally discussed. She also discssed about doing a cold section next week, if we were 1/2 a week further along she would do it, but doesn't want to push it earlier than 36 weeks unless we need to. So I have an end date now that we won't be going past either way but I won't share when that will be

We then started the scan, Flicker position is transverse breech, basically a crappy position again she did the AFI measurements and they had gone up to 13 which was great news and a positive that will make a big difference further along in the post. She then did the growth scan, and this is where we saw the start of the problems. Flickers growth is now asymetrical, the HC has gone out to measuring 37-38 weeks, the Femur length is still on gestational age, but the AC (abdominal circumference) is now two weeks behind (on the best measurement). EFW is 2400grams is a good weight. About the same size as DD when she was born. But the variations of 32-37/38 weeks is the concern.

The dopplers were stable which is a good positive.

Following the scan is when we sat down and looked at the whole picture..

So while 120/80 is not a bad reading on it's own, but considering it has gone up from 110/60 in just over a week on top of being on a constant high dosage of Nifedipine (which lowers BP) is the problem. I cannot drop or reduce my Nifedipine at all, it could be very dangerous for both of us, risking my BP flying through the roof.

In conjunction with the rise has been a increase in swelling over the past week, I had previously put it down to just normal pregnancy, it may be a side effect of the Nifedipine or if it is combined with the BP it could be a sign of PE (completely unexpected in my case).

Because the AFI had risen and the Dopplers were stable she allowed me to come home, if either of these were not stable or improved I would have been shipped of to hospital this afternoon.

I am going in tomorrow for a series of blood and urine tests not sure if all or any of these will make sense
Blood group and Antibodies (pretty normal)
LVS for C&S
CBP
MBA20
Spot Urine - Pr:Ci Index

Which if all goes to plan we will get the results on Tuesday morning. If anything changes with me between now and Tuesday I have to call her mobile ASAP, we have no buffers no room to move etc. I need to keep a close eye on movements, changes in my contractions, headaches, extra swelling etc.

Tuesday is D Day. We will review the whole picture with all the test results and she will determine what we do, even if we get some good results she may said we may have already gone as far as is safe and Flicker will need to arrive much sooner, it is both of us are being affected now... induction is not an option as we can't stop the Nifedipine, a VB is only possible if my waters break between now and Tuesday and it is deemed safe on presentation for both of us. But it is almost inevitable that it will be a section whether it be sooner or can we continue the meds for a bit longer and get to FT. She is not OS for all of her holidays, and she has booked in a date that we will not be going past, she will come in specifically to do the section even though she is on leave, I won't reveal the dates gotta keep something else a secret other than the sex, but I will let my PIG know on the morning or evening or just before if we know that far ahead.... I will be getting an extra dose of steroids early next week as well to give Flickers lungs an extra boost.

So I am going to have to venture out over the weekend any buy some granny underwear to pack in my bag!

[crumpet]

wow a lot happened for u yesterday hun.....

so ur OB thinks ur at ur limit now??

you have done so well to get flicker this far, but come on let us know the end date!!!

im guessing next week sometime!!

i dont have any advice but just know im thinking of you....

thanks hun, its slowly flying along!! nearly on fortnightly appts now!!

sory girls no other personals my best friend had her bub last night so i gotta go out and get her present and head to the hospital!

[csab]

Morning all,

Jennajayen - So glad your u/s went well.

BF - So sorry about your c/s scar, How many c/s's have you had? This will be my 4th, and TBH no one has mentioned anything about my c/s scar, they havent even looked at it. Was it your ob that checked it or was it by u/s? Take it easy hun. hugs

Crumpet - So glad all is going well with you, and yay for being still under your pre preg weight. Double yay for 26wks hitting you soon. hugs

Beema - Ohh hun, what a day you had yesterday. Its so wonderful that you made it past Little N's date, yet it definately doesnt seem as though they are going to let you go much further. Its so great your almost at 35wks, you should be so proud of yourself. Im hoping all is ok with your BT results etc when you find out on Tuesday, so GL today with it all. Soon little Flicker will be safe and sound in your arms. Look after yourself hun. hugs

AFM - Well have had a few not so good BSL readings, but apart from those ones I think I am doing pretty well with the GD. I am over all the hospital appts, but they are doing really well keeping an eye on things, so as long as it helps bub I dont mind. Have my u/s and OB appt at the hospital on Tuesday, so I am really hoping bub is within the normal ranges and the BPD is too. I dont know but I just dont look forward to the u/s's, I seem to hold my breathe at everyone until I have some good news. Is anyone else feeling that way? Ohh and my thyroid meds have been bumped up to double one day a week, and the rest of the week remains unchanged, to try and get it back within normal ranges. Ohh and 26wks today for me, yet could possibly have bubs in another 12wks not 14wks time so time is definately flying, I am sooo not ready.

[crumpet]

Crumpet - So glad all is going well with you, and yay for being still under your pre preg weight. Double yay for 26wks hitting you soon. hugs

AFM - Well have had a few not so good BSL readings, but apart from those ones I think I am doing pretty well with the GD. I am over all the hospital appts, but they are doing really well keeping an eye on things, so as long as it helps bub I dont mind. Have my u/s and OB appt at the hospital on Tuesday, so I am really hoping bub is within the normal ranges and the BPD is too. I dont know but I just dont look forward to the u/s's, I seem to hold my breathe at everyone until I have some good news. Is anyone else feeling that way? Ohh and my thyroid meds have been bumped up to double one day a week, and the rest of the week remains unchanged, to try and get it back within normal ranges. Ohh and 26wks today for me, yet could possibly have bubs in another 12wks not 14wks time so time is definately flying, I am sooo not ready.

thanks hun!!

glad ur managing ur GD ok, and good luck with ur scan on tuesday hopefully baby is looking good..
happy 26 weeks!!! like u im sitting round 12 weeks left and thats a scary thought!

[*Beema*]

Thanks Crumpet

It is looking that we might have reached our limit, a number of the tests I had done today were tesing my liver and kidney function, checking for infection and a few other things, so the decisions that are made on Tuesday are going to be looking at babies and my own health and she will determine then whether we can continue for a bit longer or not. Either way I am happy with what we have achieved, I am doing a few things for me, aside from finalising some work over the weekend and writing a CS Birth plan and also a plan of attack for breast feeding after delivery.

Ooohh nearly fortnightly appointments, you are just doing fabulously I'm so proud and happy for you, every day is a new experience

Csab ~ Thanks hun, we have achieved so much more than we expected and I know I have done everything I can to keep Flicker baking as long as possible and we have come a hell of a long way and every day has made a difference and what ever we have left whether it be days or a week or two I am happy with what ever the plan of attack is.

I am glad they are keeping a close eye on you, but all the appointments can get very exhausting, wishing you all the best for Tuesday, it's going to be a big day for the both of us, I am hoping that your bubs BPD is looking great

Hope everyone else is doing well
xxoo

[Sally2]

Beema, you have done the most amazing job of baking this little one,what a fantastic gestation to get bubs to, you amazing woman
short post, sitting giving our spunky man a bottle while tummy mummy gets some much needed sleep, looking forward to flickers safe arrival

[crumpet]

Thanks Crumpet

It is looking that we might have reached our limit, a number of the tests I had done today were tesing my liver and kidney function, checking for infection and a few other things, so the decisions that are made on Tuesday are going to be looking at babies and my own health and she will determine then whether we can continue for a bit longer or not. Either way I am happy with what we have achieved, I am doing a few things for me, aside from finalising some work over the weekend and writing a CS Birth plan and also a plan of attack for breast feeding after delivery.

Ooohh nearly fortnightly appointments, you are just doing fabulously I'm so proud and happy for you, every day is a new experience

ill be keeping my fingers crossed for some outstanding test results hun!!
but good idea to make sure u have ur birth plans sorted just incase and u know, even if u have flicker next week ur a SUPERSTAR MUMMY!!!!
ive said it before but u inspire me to get as far as i can with as little issues as possible, and have given me the confidence to think i can get to term, so big thank you hun!!

thank you, its just amazing to think of where we are at, im still stunned to be honest!!

my best friend had a baby girl on thursday and we went in and took pizzas for dinner last night, and it was great for DH and i to spend so much time with a newborn, ive realised i think i was expecting a baby the size of a 3 month old to be coming out!!
i changed molly's nappy and wow newbies are a lot smaller than i thought they were, and then i fed her and i was like a stunned mullet!!!
so i guess its fair to say im a bit nervous now!!even though i know the middies will be able to help us a lot, i didnt think id be to bad. but i think ill be asking for a lot more help than i realised.

was a good eye opener for both DH and I..... dont know who is more terrified!

[maybub]

What a road you've travelled Beema. Sending you all of my love and positive vibes for Tuesday. Will be thinking of you and waiting to hear how everything is going. BIG hugs to you hun, I admire you greatly xx

[*Beema*]

Good afternoon all

Thankyou Maybub

Crumpet ~ I hope that out of all of this that my journey can give others hope, we have been hit by nearly every complication in the book, but have still mananged to keep on going and get this far, a lot of medical intervention and monitoring but it has been worth every second!!!

Awww it must have been lovely to have snuggles with a newborn.... awwwwwww...

csab ~ hope you are going along well hun

Sally2 ~ it was the journey your family travelled that was a huge inspiration for me, if you could all do it we could!

AFm ~ I am back and had some lunch, after being in my OB's office for a couple of hours I needed to eat!

We have reached the end of the road...

My body can't keep going like this, we have no where to go with the meds, on the CTG this morning I was getting 2-3 minutes rest between contractions with all the Nifedipine and Crinome on board

The pockets of fluid we had last week are gone

Growth dropped off further

My BT's from Thursday came back good!

So this is where it all ends....

I have had a top up of steroids this morning, so giving those little lungs an extra boost, especially as bubs won't experience the "squeeze" that DD did.

A C-Sec has been booked, the team of Paeds has been prepped (as there are only two Paeds at NECH who will take on bubs as early and size of Flicker), so both will be tag teaming the care of Flicker and another LO. My Prem Mum buddy who is a week further along will be delivering before me, so it will be lovely in some ways that we are going in together, sad that neither of us have made it to term, but both of us have made it further than our previous prems which is pretty darn special . I am thrilled to have made it to deliver at our private hospital and my OB will be doing the delivery and both babies have been told that they must behave, no transfers

I won't be sharing the day or time, but it is before the week is out ~ so will be keeping you all in suspense

I am feeling a sense of relief now, I have an end date/time and I know how much longer I need to keep going. It has been a long road, but I can't be more proud of what we have achieved, and we should be meeting our take home baby very soon

We have everything in place, I am organised and prepared, I have to keep resting between now and delivery so no running out and about and just take it easy - so nothing new.

I guess that is it, the end of this pregnancy journey is near, making sure I get the last belly shots and spend some special time with DD and DH, and enjoy the squirming little bubba in my belly

I won't be leaving the thread completely I will be here keeping an eye on all of your lovely ladies gorwing some beautiful chubby full term bubbas! Thankyou for being sucha great support for me and I intend to continue to return the same support and positivity!

[csab]

Hi all,

Just wanted to update you all.

Fistly though,

Beema - Have everything crossed for some good results today hun, I hope all went well. Hugs

Crumpet - Congratulations to your friend hun, how is everything else going with you. Im sorry I havent been around much. Hug

Well todays scan was ok, was relieved to see that the BPD had come back within normal ranges, still on the small side, but at least on the graph, I think by looking at it about the 10th percentile, way better than like the 3rd percentile. Huge relief. However this time the bubs abdominal circumference has dropped off the graph. Less than the 5th percentile, and bubs weight is sitting at approx the 6th percentile. Est weight is aprox 788gm. Anyhow they are going to do another scan in 3wks time, to see how bub is growing, and I have been told that if the next few growth scans arent very good, then bub will be delivered sooner rather than later. At the moment they are hoping to push it as close as possible to 35-36wks. Yet it all depends on the next growth scan or two, which will be the deciding factors. Ohhh and bub is still breech, which doesnt make any difference for me due to the c/s. I also mentioned to them about expecting bub to be bigger due to the GD, but they said that it can go either way, even though it isnt as common, yet other things could be factoring into the poor growth such as me neing ANA positive.

[csab]

Beema - We both posted at the same time, well almost. lol.

You should be very proud of yourself hun, you have done an awesome job bringing flicker as far as you have. Yay for getting sooo close to 36wks hun, and it will be such a lovely surprise for us when you announce the safe arrival of flicker. Im am super excited for you. May I ask how big little flicker is estimated at weighing?

[*Beema*]

2.5kg just a tad bigger than his/her bigger sister who was 2350grams at 33 +4 weeks, it just happens to be the minimum that the Paeds were willing to accept, so it will be interesting to see how accurate the scan ends up being, we might be in a bit of trouble with the Paeds if bubs is smaller , but the main Paed is the same DD had and he took her on at 34+1 weeks and 2.1kg

[ButterflyForever]

Beema - just want to say, wishing you all the best of luck tomorrow. You are such a strong lady, through all you have gone through this preg and your little one is lucky to have a Mum like you.

Hi to everyone else,

Will try and catch up tomorrow, just been discharged from hossy, had scar pain and now got shortening cervix as well, joy!!!

[MummyTummy]

Just sneaking in to let you know that Flicker is safely here! A baby girl, arrived this morning, is in SCN on O2, but hoping that will prevent transfer. There are more details in the BA thread I posted!

[csab]

Thanks very much Mummytummy, thats wonderful news on the safe arrival of Beemas little baby girl. Am off now to check out the BA. Thanks again.

[crumpet]

thanks MT!!!


congrats again beema!!! xxxxxx

hi to you other gorgeous girls!!

CSAB- hope ur travelling along ok hunni