35 weeks and counting

So yesterday marked 35 weeks! Hard to believe we are getting so close! I feel like she (and I both!) having been growing a lot in the past couple weeks!

We had our appointment today at UVA and it went pretty well. Our plan, as of now, is to have the c-section during week 38 (which would be the week of November 16th). The reason I say, as of now, is because it can change depending on how the next two weeks leading up to it look like. I am going to see my OB (Phemister) for my NST and BPP on Monday and then head back to UVA on Friday for another BPP and ultrasound.  The doctor is concerned about a couple things so is asking I do the testing twice a week. One concern in her weight. She is 3lbs 13 oz as of today (which I am happy because she has gained 8 oz since last Thursday!) But she should be around 5 pounds which puts her in the less than 10th percentile. Another concern is the blood flow from the placenta to the baby. It is still within normal limits but isn't as strong as the doctor would like. So we will keep an eye on all of those twice a week plus she is having me count movements to make sure the baby is moving like it should. If anything changes between now and 38 weeks, they will deliver. The doctor said that I need to have my bag packed and bring it with us each week in case anything changes, they will deliver that day!

We got to meet a new doctor today and we really liked her. She took the time to explain things to us and made us feel comfortable with where we stand with plans and she was honest about the concerns she has with the baby. She also went over the delivery plan with us and what we should expect. They will likely do a c-section and make a "classical" cut, which is a vertical incision as opposed to horizontal because they want to make sure they have enough room to get the baby out without causing anymore damage to the back.  She explained the process from the time we walk into the operating room to what the days after and recovery would be like. She explained everything really well and am glad that we have gotten to speak with someone at UVA that has helped us understand. She didn't really touch on Spina Bifida much...the baby is still breech and face up so they can't see the spine. The ventricles have seemed to have gotten some smaller but today was the first time they could see fluid on the brain.  She expected that to happen either right before delivery or soon after. (Fluid on the brain and the enlarged ventricles are both signs of SB).  There isn't much else that would change at this point in regards to SB so we are planning and ready with the Neurosurgeon and team for Caroline to have the back closure surgery soon after delivery and then a shunt surgery a week or two later.

As of now, this is our game plan. Like the doctor said, it could change from week to week. Really, all we can do is wait! She explained that if things are looking good over the next couple weeks, she may even push it back to 39 weeks (week of Thanksgiving) in order to give the baby's lungs time to fully develop! It may be a tough call to make to determine where is the best place for baby, inside or outside. So we will keep our fingers crossed and keep praying that Caroline will make her arrival when she is ready!  But for now, Jeremy and I have a lot to get done in order to be prepared for any week!

On a side note, we had our baby shower last week and it was absolutely perfect! Our Caroline was showered with so much love and support from family and friends, it truly was amazing! Thank you for all the encouraging words and love along the way! We have come so far since finding out we were going to have a little girl and we wouldn't want to change it for anything! We are excited (and, I'm not going to lie, a little bit scared!) about the next chapter in our lives with Caroline but know it will be full of love!

32 weeks down, less than 8 to go!

Sorry we haven't updated recently. There really hasn't been much of an update from the doctors. I feel right now we are just in the waiting phase until Caroline is born.

We did see a doctor from UVA last week and we have not been impressed with him so we are going to ask to see a different doctor on our followup. We have met with this doctor once before and I am sure he is a very smart doctor but his bedside manner is absolutely terrible.  He came into the room this past visit and was very concerned about her growth and said that she had "fallen off the growth curve" and so I was worried and I told him yes we know she is small, is she not growing? and his response was, "oh, you already know that she is small?" He had not read or even bothered to look at the last TWO office notes from UVA regarding the discussion about her growth. So really, she has grown since the last appointment and yes we know she is on the smaller side. I was really upset that he had us worried about her size when really he just hadn't bothered to look back at the previous office visits and she was still growing and making progress.  Also, he kept telling us "this isn't something to take lightly" about everything. I'm sorry, I know that we may be young and this is our first child but we have in no way taken any of this lightly. Just because we don't cry and get upset at our appointments doesn't mean that we are taking this lightly. It has just been frustrating with him and he dances around answering our questions and just seems very demeaning to us. We will definitely be seeing another doctor on our followup.

Anyways, enough of that complaining! We did see our regular OB, Dr. Phemister last week as well and he has been absolutely wonderful. We have been recommended to have weekly stress tests on Caroline until she is born because of her size. So we had our first test on Friday and of course she passed! We know that she is a little fighter and wants us all to know she is doing just fine in there! I also had my sugar test a couple weeks ago and passed that and had to get a couple of shots. Those shots were no joke, made my arm hurt for DAYS! I thought getting the flu shot was bad! Phemister reassured us that things were looking good. He said she is in the 10th percentile for her weight but he is actually happy with that. We will just keep praying that she keeps growing and making progress over these next few weeks!

They have not set a date for our C-Section yet. We will go back to UVA on November 2nd and they will schedule a date then. They usually schedule around 39 weeks which happens to be Thanksgiving week so I don't know if they will keep it that week or if they will try and wait until my due date or make the appointment even sooner. So she could be here anywhere from the middle of November to the beginning of December!

Last weekend, I had the privilege to sit down and talk with a mother in Lynchburg who has a daughter that has Spina Bifida. I consider this a privilege because being able to talk to someone who has gone through everything that we are going through and can give us insight into raising a child with SB is just amazing. We could spend hours upon days researching and learning on the internet (which we have done!) but there really is no replacement for someone who has actually lived it. She gave us a lot of reassurance that we can do this and we will make it work for us. She talked to me about the whole process from the time she found out her sweet little girl had SB to delivery to being home for the first time all the way until where she is now. Her little girl is 12 and is riding horses and loves dancing! It truly was just amazing to listen to her talk about how, yes, things will be different but they will still be just as good! We will definitely have to make some adjustments but Caroline will still have a wonderfully beautiful life and we will do whatever we can to make sure that she does!

We thank everyone for the love and support! Caroline has no idea how much she is already loved and cared for by so many people! She will definitely be a little on the spoiled side and we are ok with that! We will keep everyone updated over the next few weeks until she makes her big arrival into this world very soon!