Friday, June 8, 2007

Baby Drama

I was induced with Dyl at 35 weeks because of low amniotic fluid. This time they started monitoring me at week 28 with non-stress testing twice a week to keep an eye on things. Tuesday, my birthday, I go in for my test only to find there is seriously low fluid. All they can see is cord and baby....but no good pockets of amniotic fluid. They call in the big gun Dr. who has a look and finds the same thing. He keeps saying, "It's too early to have this baby...he's not developed enough..."
So I spent my birthday in a funk. What if he comes too early and has to do some hard time in the NICU? What if his heart or his kidneys aren't functioning properly... Why can't I provide the safe haven I'm supposed to for my babies? They had me come back in on Wednesday for some hardcore doppler ultrasound. Thankfully Michael went with me.... I really needed to have him there. The test was actually really interesting. It was kind of a 3-D ultrasound. The Dr checked the baby's heart, all four chambers working properly... kidney's functioning, no blockage in the bladder, thorough checking of the cord shows good blood supply to the brain. Placenta looked good. It was nice to rule out all of the big worries. But the fluid is still really low considering I have 7 more weeks to go. So now I'll be going in twice a week for non-stress testing & once a week for that intense ultrasound. Each time I have to bring my overnight bag in case something changes, but the Doc thinks as long as baby is getting the blood flow he needs, we can squeeze out a few more weeks so that he's a little more develped and the lungs can mature a bit more. I'll be thankful when all of this is over (not too soon though!) I just want him here as healthy as possible. Thank goodness this is the last baby we plan on having, although he was actually a bit of a surprise himself :) Apparently my body is under the impression that pregnancy is only an 8 month process....

In other news, we had this little sickly bird in our backyard hopping around and hiding in the bushes. The other day I called Mike in to check out this other big bird on our patio. It was a hawk and he started ruffling around in our Hydrangea plants right ouside of our sliding glass door. In an instant he got the little sick bird and flew over to the neighbors yard, perching on stake. I ran (wobbled) upstairs and grabbed the camera for a quick shot.
Haven't been getting much sketching or painting done these days as it's been back and forth to the hospital. Lots of ideas for future paintings rummaging around in my brain, just need to get them onto paper.....

7 comments:

RobSchwager said...

Wishing you all the best of luck with the arrival of the new little one. Hope you'll both be happy and healthy and all will go smoothly in the coming weeks.


We just had a new red shouldered hawk family move into our neighborhood. We have no rear neighbors and a forest preservation and retention pond behind our house.

Aside from the gators in the water, it's pretty cool.

Especially when we see all the storks and now occasionally catch the hawk doing his dive bombs into the water to snag fish.

shaunna said...

Thanks Rob! I'm sure he'll get here healthy, but all this stress along his journey SUCKS!

Man, sounds like you have a real view of nature from your backyard. We don't get that kind of space here in SoCal :(

Hope your new little addition is doin' great!

greg oakes said...

i'm praying for you all, and/or sending thoughts of goodness your way via the universal energy field that connects us all. ;) it's all about a healthy baby, nothing else matters,... artwork can wait! ;) pocket sketchbooks come in handy during times like these. all the best shaunna!! :)

CMR said...

OhMYGOSH! Good luck with the little one Shaunna! I'm hopin for ya.

That hawk is a Kestrel, or Sparrow Hawk by the way. Bird nerd.

shaunna said...

Thanks Greg & Chris! Got thru the start of this week okay. We're actually at 34 weeks right now. So we're over the hump, but it would be nice if he could hibernate in there another week or so. They estimate he weighs in at 4.5 pounds right now. Another little peanut! (Dyl was 5lbs.2oz at birth) Go back to Dr. on Friday.
Also thanks Chris for that info, I want to get a pair of binoculars and become a bird nerd myself. It's becoming a little goal of mine :)

Thanks agian guys!

Dee said...

You have some amazing work! wow, and good luck with the baby! I hope it all goes well.
Cheers when the day comes! ;)

sandy said...

I had the same drama's.. my little Girl Paige was induced at 35 weeks also, due to low fluid. She came out 5 lbs 4 - She's now 11yrs old and you wouldnt know she was so tiny back then at all. Good luck with the new bubby!