BPP #1

Back to the perinatologist today. Hooray for Fridays in the 980 Building.

I absolutely love that office, but they are usually running about 30 minutes behind. Today, we were the first appointment after lunch, and let me tell you-- we were in and out in less time than we usually spend in the waiting room! Quick and easy.

Parker was up to all sorts of antics today-- his practice breathing was spectacular, he was dancing all over the place, but the funniest part was to watch his mouth. Thanks to the wonders of 4D Ultrasounds, we were able to watch him blinking, opening and closing his mouth, and PICKING HIS NOSE.

Manners, P-Nut. He did give us a sweet little smile with his chubby little cheeks.



The ultrasound tech was cracking up laughing at him the whole time. Mike and I enjoyed getting to see him so clearly. So often we find ourselves wondering what on earth is going through his mind in there. It's abundantly clear that he is aware of his surroundings-- he is sensitive to light, sound, and pressure. Poor little guy got startled the other day-- Mike leaned down to my belly and said, "HEY!" rather suddenly. I swear to goodness my whole body got knocked off to one side as Parker jumped away from where Mike's mouth was. Geez, Dad.

We did have one brief raincloud during our scan today-- we are used to seeing, during the scan of his abdomen, a big black blob of stomach where it should not be. Today, the big black blob had seemingly split into two small black blobs, and the tech was unsure if it was an odd angle on the stomach or if it was gall bladder. She mentioned briefly that it could be liver.

Liver in chest= bad.

The perinatologist came in to scan it herself, and after much poking, prodding, and blood flow analysis they determined that it is most likely just stomach. There was some talk of the liver possibly migrating slowly to the left, towards the hernia. It's not in the chest cavity yet, but it might be on its way. We are praying that for each subsequent scan, his liver doesn't move any farther. It's not a squishy organ like stomach and intestines, and it can cause damage if it gets too far out of place. Liver in the chest cavity significantly decreases the chances that his hernia repair can be done without a patch.

Apart from that, Parker did great. We go for a non-stress test Tuesday, and another biophysical profile on Friday.

You might be asking what a biophysical profile is. Being a high risk pregnancy has yielded all sorts of fascinating new obstetric knowledge, so allow me to pass this tidbit along:



Mmhmm. Have fun reading that. The basic version is that there are 5 areas they measure-- practice breathing, movement of the baby, muscle tone as exhibited by movement, heart rate in relationship to movement, and amniotic fluid. If an area is observed, you get 2 points. If it is not, you get 0. 8-10 total, you pass.

Today Parker got an 8, simply because the heart rate portion is often done during the non-stress test (longer duration of heart rate monitoring), which will be done on Tuesdays. So long as he is passing his biophysicals and performing well on his non-stress tests, he should be set to stay in there and grow.

I did have a sense of urgency today that I need to be driving around with our hospital bag at this stage. At any given moment on a Tuesday or Friday, I could be told to go straight to the hospital. I should get on that!!!