Regular Scheduled Check-Up

May 7, 2008- 24 weeks 2 days

I am still going for my regularly scheduled checkups with Dr. Feuerbacher. He was initially going to help deliver my baby at St. Francis but that is long since passed. It is imperative that I deliver at a Level III tertiary facility. That means that they have all the equipment necessary when the baby is born. As soon as she is born they are going to put a tube down her trachea and intibate her so she doesn't swallow any air into her stomach with her first breath. Then they will put a nasogastric tube in her nose to remove any air or stomach contents so her little stomach will stay as small as possible to give the lungs as much room as possible to inflate (since that is the biggest concern with CDH, the lung development).

Everything went well at the regular appointment. My urine test looked good, no UTI. Her heart rate was 146 which is about what it usually is. She runs between 138-147, which is in the normal range. Dr. Feuerbacher measured my belly, which is really growing. I am measuring about 25 which is right on track for how far along I am. I feel like my stomach his HUGE but everyone assures me that I am not and that I look so cute. I am starting to see it more and more, although it seems like at about 22 weeks I woke up on morning and had a volleyball in my stomach that wasn't there the night before! Still gaining weight, of course. I feel like i am going to Weight Watchers to weigh in every time I go to the doctor, but haven't done bad so far. Definitely not going to stay under my goal of 20 lbs, since I have gained 16 lbs already!! Oh well as long as the baby is growing, I will deal with the weigh after she is born!

I go back to see Dr. Feuerbacher in 4 weeks, and it is at that appointment that I will have to do my glucose tolerance test. Basically I have to drink the nastiest orange drink on an empty stomach to determine if I have Gestational Diabetes, which could lead to preterm labor which we don't want. We need her to stay in the oven as long as possible to give her little lungs every chance to grow as they can, but don't want to wait too long that I go into labor in Maryville, oh the tight rope we walk. Not too early, not too late. Still contemplating plans of bing induced a few weeks early at St. Luke's just to ensure it is a controlled environment and no suprises, but we will find out at a later date.