Category: The Life of Lara

Had the scan this morning (still waiting to see the doctor afterward). Growth is ahead of dates, heart is fine, everything is good – except the amniotic fluid levels. Normal AFI is about 15, mine was 1.7.

And it looks like we have another penis!

Since all this began, Ive been taking my temperature 4 times a day, and had instructions to trot myself off to hospital if it went above 37.5.

So on Tuesday afternoon, I started to feel a bit headachy, perhaps like I was getting a cold, and my temp went up to 37.6. I decided not to panic, and kept monitoring it for the next hour or so until Mark got home (Inigo was having a sleepover with Nanna and Gonad). When Mark came home, my temp was still 37.6, so I rang the hospital early pregnancy clinic, who told me to ring labour and delivery ward, and they told me to come in, but to have dinner first.

So after dinner and a shower, Mark drove me in to the hospital, where we promptly got lost. And while wandering around near the intensive care ward, we found my specialist who was on her way home, and had varied from her usual route, to meet up with us quite fortuitously. She personally guided us to the right place, and briefed the midwife in charge about my case.

Long story short, they werent worried too much about my temp, it was stable, so they sent me home with some anti-biotics (2 days before I was going to go on them anyway, I am doing one week on, three weeks off until the baby is born). But due to a few babies needing caesarians while we were there, it was almost 2am before we were able to leave the hospital.

Not a very exciting story, but I realise that people do tend to freak when they see the H word in a post 🙂

Todays visit was pretty routine, no visit to the vampires because they took blood on Tuesday night, and mum came with me, so she got to meet my lovely doctor.

And next week is my 20ish week scan.

A delivery man brought this gorgeous box of handmade and single origin chocolate this morning. Just the thing to wake up to after a night in hospital.

Thanks Tina, I shall be toasting your good health for days!

Most people around this stage of pregnancy have a morphology scan, to check the babies development and that everything is on track.

Since I have very little amniotic fluid, which makes it very hard to see the baby in any detail, my scan has been delayed until I am about 23 weeks. Which means we wont have any idea about gender at least until then, and possibly not even then.

Which is driving me batshit crazy, of course, but that is the least of my worries 🙂

Will report back after the 23rd of September.

Existere asks an excellent question – what happens if the baby arrives before 26 weeks?

I have heard of babies surviving and thriving when born as early as 22 weeks. Obviously, the chances arent good, but they improve with every week. At 26 weeks gestation, NICU is government mandated, that is, all babies born after 26 weeks get the care they need.

Before 22 weeks, no hospital will take extra-ordinary measures to prolong life.

So what happens between 22 and 26 weeks? The parents have to decide.

Around 23 weeks, well meet with a neonatologist who will give us a tour of the NICU, and discuss various outcomes with us. At that point we are supposed to write a birth plan, with our care decisions outlined. Obviously, they arent going to recommend NICU for this baby before 23 weeks. And I suppose well make up our minds once we have more information.

That being said, we have lung maturity as the great unknown. If this baby is born at 36 weeks, it might still not have enough lung development to be able to survive, its all a big gamble. But if the lungs are ok, what other issues might we be dealing with before 26 weeks, I just dont know, and I am not up to doing the research just now.

So while I wont want to be caring for a profoundly disabled child when I am 80, I am also going to find it impossibly difficult to just give up on this life I have fought so hard for. And each day, each week, will only make that decision harder.

Yesterday marked twenty weeks, and five weeks without measurable amniotic fluid.

Although this baby and I still have a long road to travel before he or she is home safe, I feel that this is a significant milestone, and I am thrilled to be here.

Now, for the next part of the journey, the road to viability. Another three weeks before we tour the NICU and meet a neonatologist, five weeks before I go to hospital as an inpatient, and six weeks for viability. Although many babies survive earlier gestations, things are harder for twins, which is why I have been told the minimum is 26 weeks.

We are still thinking about names. Both babies will need a name, no matter how this goes.

And tomorrow, mum and dad return from Thailand, so Bev and Ted can have a bit of a rest for a while!

We still have a heartbeat. This is starting to get torturous.