Well I've settled into Nashua at SNHMC. They have given me the penthouse suite here. It's the largest room in the ward reserved for long term patients. So I will continue my bed rest routine until this child is born. I've made it to 28 weeks and now the short term goal is for 30 weeks. Everyday I stay pregnant is approximately three days less in ICU.
I had another routine ultra sound today to check to growth progress of the baby as well as the fluid levels. He is about 2 pounds and 13 ounces. A couple ounces short of 3 pounds. He's grown about an 1/2 pound in 13 days. He is still big for this age development which is great. All the organs and the measurements look good. The doctors here are very pleased with his development. My fluid measurement today was 7.8 AFI which was slightly lower than 2 weeks ago. The transport and the evaluations jostled the baby enough to cause me to leak a little faster yesterday and today. I expect that to slow down again now that things have quieted down. Today's number is low, but isn't critically low. Even though the baby doesn't need fluid right now to grow, having as much fluid as i do will help strengthen his lungs. He will use the fluid to practice breathing and swallowing. This is why babies get the hiccups. Most of the fluid is produced by the baby. Since it looks like I keep an amount around 8 AFI when the baby's head isn't subjected to a lot of movement, we are assuming his kidneys are doing what they are suppose to be doing. Yeah! Keep making that baby pee.
(Note from Ben: AFI is Amniotic Fluid Index. It is calculated by dividing the uterus into 4 quadrants. With ultrasound measure the largest side of each pocket of fluid. Add up all the quadrants and you have the AFI.)
Rachel has come to visit me the last two afternoons and it's been great. She is happy to see me and doesn't seem too nervous about being in the room anymore. We've been taking turns tracing hands and feet onto paper with colored pencils. She gets quite a kick out of "tracing" my feet; her tracings rivals the foot size of Big Foot. I can tell Ben's stress level has been relieved now that he see me everyday and get here in under 30 minutes if I need him too. Oh, the food is better here too, I just wish I could have taken the bed from Dartmouth.
1 comment:
What a story you're going to be able to tell this child (I just can't call him Fish Face). I'm glad you're enjoying the new scenery and more visits from your girl. Take lots of pictures of her there so she can tease her brother about getting all the attention right from the very beginning.
Beth
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