35 Week Ultrasound

We had another ultrasound at the University Hospital in Iowa City on Tuesday the 10th. I think this picture of his foot is very telling of how he sits most of the time. With his foot straight up in my ribs! Always on my right side (my placenta is on my left). It's kind of hard to see, his toes are on the top right and his heel on the left with his leg going straight down. Now onto the results.

His tyroid measured the same as it did 2 weeks ago, which is good news. That means it's not getting bigger, probably because I'm off the PTU now. Since I probably won't be on the PTU again during the pregnancy that should contine to not be an issue.


He is measuring small again. 2 weeks ago at the ultrasound, he was only a week or 2 behind. This time he was 3 or 4 weeks behind. Everyone is very understanding that he probably will be a small baby; because of Doyle and my size and Tucker's size when he was born. However, he didn't grow much at all in 2 weeks which is not good news. It could be a tyroid issue, could be a placenta issue, could be something else.

The other issue is that my fluid is pretty low. This is a new thing, it was fine at the last appointment. Right now I'm measuring a 6, if it gets down to a 5 they will deliver right away.



They are increasing my non-stress tests (NST) to 2 times a week from now on. That's where they hook me up to monitors for 20 minutes while I lay still and read how the baby's heart rate increases and decreases. Then I will see my OB after each NST. Once a week they will be doing ultrasounds to check my fluid level. They also doppler the cord at the same time, that's to check the blood flow from the placenta to the baby. I still have a few questions about all this so that I can understand it better, so if something is confusing to you, just ask and I should be able to answer it after my appointment on Friday! Luckily, they are letting me do all this here, in Cedar Rapids, so it will be nice to not have to drive an hour round trip each time!



I'm pretty stressed out about the whole thing. I'm actually not too worried about the baby being ok. I know that they are keeping a very close eye on him and if it becomes dangerous for him, they will deliver. I am full-term on Saturday, that's 36 weeks. It would be very unlikely for him to have any problems with breathing or other premie related issues once we're term. I am mostly upset for Tucker. He has already been at so many doctor appointments and he does great keeping himself busy, playing with his toys. However, this will increase to about 5 hours a week in doctors offices. That is hard on anyone, let alone a very active 2 year old! Great Grandma is coming down next week on our busy day. She can come to the appointments with me and help keep Tucker occupied and not bored. Papa is going to watch him the next week on my busy day. This will definitely help, but it's still going to be hard on him. I'm also worried about how fast they will deliver if something is wrong. The closest family is 45 mins away and they won't even let Tucker in the hospital building. If things have to go fast, Doyle will have to stay with Tucker until someone can get here. Doyle says there isn't anything we can do about it, so we should just not think about it. Easier said than done for me! I am so thankful that we made it this far. With all the complications so far, no one was sure we would get to term. I am thankful that Tucker is such an easy going kid. He really does great, the nurses are always amazed that he plays so well on his own. Overall, I know we are getting close to the end so I'm trying to enjoy the pregnancy (and my sleep) while I can! I'm sure that whatever happens and however it happens, it will all be forgotten after he's here! Tucker's birth didn't go exactly the way we'd planned, but when we saw he was healthy and held him and cuddled him, it didn't matter at all! I'll continue to keep everyone updated as often as I can. Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers for us.