I Swear That Man Is Going to Make Me Crazy! (Updated with Picture Link)

Sigh.

I was feeling, dare I say, confident? not as worried? at least okay about today's appointment.

The good:

Gestation - 34 weeks, 3 days

We didn't check the cervix! Holy cow. I got to have a "simple" big girl ultrasound for once. Yeah for less goop! Now that I am at a "safe" gestation, they no longer need to check it. Hot dog!

BPP was 8 out of 8. Got to watch the baby practice breathing and sucking. Very cute.

Fluid was still in the normal range--slightly more than it was last time. I am glad because I...um...well, just say that I have to wear panty liners all the time now. Ahem. It is hard to be sure what you are oozing at this point, and the cerclage makes the discharge worse.

Weight was estimated at 6 pounds 5 ounces! The tech said to expect at least 2 pounds more by 36 weeks and at least a pound a week after that. Hm, now that I think about it, that just means he'll gain a pound a week. Whatever. Baby Lo is BIG.

The bad--okay, let's call it the "I wish it would go away":

Mild pyelectasis was still noted in the right kidney. There was slightly more fluid in the right kidney than there was last ultrasound. Still just watching it. I go back in two weeks to check on it again.

The ugly - This is still just ugly:

They still spotted premature atrial contractions (PACs) on today's u/s. They are not as pronounced as they were at the last u/s, but even subtle PACs are still PACs.

His heart rate was around 136 beats per minute. The irregularity did look different this week, so there is a possibility it is already trying to resolve. The problem is that it is still there, and they think it should be gone by now.

That has earned us a detailed u/s of his heart by the fetal cardiologist next week. The doctor only comes in on Wednesdays (ugh) so she is triple booked. I was told to expect to wait. (double ugh)

Doom again said that it would likely be fine. The tech did note that there was NO fluid around his heart and that the chambers and even the beat looked fine visually (the irregular beat just shows up when you listen to it), so that is good. The u/s next week is just to double check that all is well, he said. That is all well and good, but I still don't trust the man. His reassurances are not that comforting to me.

I am trying to remind myself that the information I've found online has said it will likely be fine. (For like 98% of babies it will be fine. It is that 1-2% that worries me. You know how we LOVE to meet a challenge. Sigh.)

I just wish that for once I didn't have to think about all of this medical crap and could just relax a bit.

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Here's answers some of your questions:

1. when is your last day teaching?? Shooting for March 12 (last day of trimester), but it won't bother me to go at any point now. I have an OB appointment on the 9th, so I'll ask for a note then.

2. can we please have an updated week 34 photo? Here it is. :-) Is it just me or is the baby on the low side?

3. do you have a delivery plan - will they induce at a certain point or just let you take out the cerc and see how it goes from there? They take the cerclage out at 36 weeks. I will have a c-section regardless. We strongly believe that I won't dilate from the scar tissue the cerclage creates. I'd rather not labor and then have to have a c-section anyway, so I am just heading straight to the section.

4. what are you going to name this child?? He still has no name. I do like Jackson, but there has been a consistent quiet response from the male unit of this partnership. My guess is that he isn't thrilled with the name, hence the non response. There hasn't been much talk about the names. Isn't that horrible?!

Got any others?