Twenty-Seven Weeks: Single Umblical Artery and other stuff

Slacking! Slacking, slacking, slacking! I know.

It seems like before I found out the gender of this little lady, writing a blog entry about the pregnancy or the baby helped occupy my time while I daydreamed about planning a nursery, looking at baby clothes, and all the other things you can't do when you don't know the gender.  When I found out it was a girl, all bets were off. Now when the boys go to bed (the time that I do all my blog posts), if I'm not busy cleaning something or editing photos, I was putting the nursery together (done thankfully), browsing baby girl clothes online, and basically just NOT blogging.

SO since the last baby related update, we went to our 20 week ultrasound. I had another ultrasound at my OB's office around 16 weeks because I wasn't sure if I had had some spotting earlier that week (week 16) and since I was there for my regular 16 week appointment anyway, they did a quick ultrasound and all was well.  We had just seen the baby at 16 weeks, so I wasn't expecting that much had changed at the 20 week ultrasound, but of course anytime you can see the baby is exciting, especially since this was the full anatomy exam and they give you all the details about all the body parts.  We brought Sharon, Colt's mom and Terri, my mom to the ultrasound with us to watch the show and help with the boys who were also in attendance.  They went through all of the measurements and she said everything was looking awesome. Then she got to the cord. She started zooming in, and backing out and zooming in again. Then she put on the blood flow setting to see how the blood was moving.  I asked if there was anything wrong because I thought it was strange that it was taking so long. She said that it appeared that the baby had single umbilical artery. I didn't know what that meant at the time, but she said that I would probably just get a few more ultrasounds out of it.  When I went to talk to the doctor after my ultrasound, I didn't know what questions to ask so I didn't have much to say.  She assured me that it was not a HUGE deal, but said that as the umbilical cord forms at the same time as the heart and kidneys, that sometimes they can also have problems also. There is also a small chance that she could have some chromosomal problems. I left the appointment feeling ok. I didn't cry. I didn't feel devastated. I felt a little nervous but I was more nervous to tell my family and Colt's family. I didn't want people to worry.

When I came home I started doing some research. Don't "google" anything to do with health issues. Just don't. Ever. I am a very logical person and I tend to analyze people and the reasons that they do what they do. I knew that logically, for the most part, the only people that are going to post something on a message board concerning a certain topic are people that had a really bad or really great experience with something. In the case of health issues, most of the people that are posting are people that have had worst case scenarios because if you came out with a good outcome, you would just go on with your life and not take the time to write about it in a message board.  I tried to keep that in mind as I read the posts, but it is difficult to keep a level head after reading post after post of complications people were dealing with as a result of single umbilical artery.  From what I understand, it is one of the most common umbilical cord problems, but still only occurs in around 1% of pregnancies.  It wasn't until recently when ultrasound technology became so advanced that they even diagnosed it in pregnancy. They used to see it after the baby was born if they inspected the umbilical cord. So LOGICALLY there could have been many more babies with this condition that they just didn't know about. As I said earlier, the most common complication associated with this condition is with the heart and kidneys. It is also associated with low birth weight, and in small percentages it can be associated with chromosomal problems (although the research on that is showing less and less of an association).  After talking to the doctor, they set me up with an appointment at the Perinatal doctor's office for a Level 2 ultrasound.  They said that this was going to determine whether or not there were any complications and to see what he recommended.

We had to wait 3 1/2 weeks for our appointment! It felt like forever. Our 20 week ultrasound at the regular OB's office was right before Christmas, so we had to get through the holidays and the new year before we got our appointment with the Perinatal doctor.  The night before that appointment I was very nervous. Colt brought me home some pink roses from the store. I kept two of the rose buds and put them in a shadow box with some pink shoes in her room. The morning of the appointment I was even more nervous. I still hadn't cried in the whole 3 or 4 weeks. I was just anxious to move on. I felt in my heart that she was ok and I just wanted the doctor to tell me that.  Our appointment was at 8:15am, which for anyone that knows us, might as well be the middle of the night. Still sleepy time. Haha! They led us back to the dark ultrasound room. I got on the table, prepared for whatever they were going to tell us. There was a radio playing somewhat loud in the room. The ultrasound tech wasn't very friendly. I kept asking questions, even though some of them were just me talking to myself out loud. She didn't seem to like that very much.  During a break when she left the room for a second, I asked Colt if he felt like she was aggravated with me, and he nicely told me that I was asking too many questions. I nicely told him that for what we were paying for that appointment, I would ask any and every question that popped into my little head (ie: "Is that her hand?" "Does that look ok?" "What kind of car do you drive?" "What is your home address?"---HAHA).  Turns out she was just hyper focused and warmed up slightly after the ultrasound was done. She said, "Act surprised, but she looks great!"  The doctor came in a few minutes later and reaffirmed what she had said. It appears that Bellamy has an isolated case of single umbilical artery. That means that for some reason, the second artery never developed but there was no "reason" behind it. They don't know why, but they do know that for some reason it seems to be more common in females.  I kept saying, "So it looks like everything is normal," and other variations of that same sentence over and over again. I just wanted to make sure there was nothing he was leaving out.  He said from now on, we will have an ultrasound every 4 weeks at my regular OB's office to check on her growth because with this condition, babies can tend to slow down in their growth the further into pregnancy that they get because the baby demands more food, and there is only one artery working. So far, at that point she was in the 50th percentile for growth and doing great! I go for my 28 week ultrasound next week. 

Looking back I suppose that was another reason I didn't do a lot of blogging over the last few weeks. I didn't want to send out a false alarm or panic. I also didn't want to make it seem perfectly rosy, and then there be a problem.  The doctor said that after that ultrasound, the chances of her having any problems is less than 2%.  I'm good with that. The good news is, I know that our family can get through anything because we have God and each other. No matter what the outcome is, we're ok!

Since then, we have started and finished the nursery. Beckett and Cash are sharing Cash's room (now "the boys' room"). We got them bunk beds. They started off with Cash on the top twin bunk, and Beckett sleeping on the bottom, full bunk.  About three nights in, Cash decided to sleep on the bottom with Beckett. They have been sleeping together everynight and napping together everyday. I think it has brought them even closer. Tonight they were up until AFTER MIDNIGHT talking and telling each other stories. I LOVE listening to them. Sometimes Colt and I will mute the TV and sit quietly just to listen to their stories and conversations. I can't remember if I have discussed this before or not, but we have decided on homeschooling. We have been working on learning the alphabet letters and letter sounds, and both of the boys are picking it up so quickly! Beckett knows so many of his letters already from the games I made up for the boys to learn them, and he's only 2 1/2! I'm so proud of them, and SO excited for this adventure.

There isn't a lot more to do in terms of preparation for Bellamy's arrival. I'm going to wash the car seat cover soon, and start to wash the baby gear (pack-n-play, rock-n-play sleeper, swing, etc.) I'm glad it has all survived this long! I have to narrow down the hospital outfits I want to bring. :)

This pregnancy continues to be different in many ways to both of my others, although I still don't think its a girl/boy thing necessarily since my pregnancies with the boys were different.  I have noticed in the last few days that my arm gets this feeling like I have a pinched nerve. It starts to feel like its going a little bit numb.  I called the doctor to ask about it and she said that circulation issues are common in pregnancy and not to worry unless it becomes painful. I haven't felt it in several days so I'm not worried about it.  I think I have gained somewhere between 15 and 17 lbs. by now. Lets call it 16 lbs. I'm hoping to keep it under 30 total. We'lllll see. Haha! She seems to be VERY low right now. I have been seeing my chiropractor for the pinched nerve in my lower back, and even he commented on how low she was. Maybe its a 3rd baby thing? Who knows. 

That's all I can think of for now. Anxiously awaiting her healthy arrival! Keep us in your prayers! Talk to you soon!