Saturday, August 7, 2010

I didn't punch any Dr's in the face...

So that is a plus. I had my appointment in Indy yesterday. I was very sad all day and on the lonely ride up there. Once I got in the ultrasound room I just kind of shut down. I didn't care to much about what was on the screen, same old same old. 

The fluid did go up, though no one knows why. (Shock?) So he is making urine. We will find out when he is born if it is "quality" urine and actually filtering or if it is just basically water. 

Then the MFM for the day (who just happened to be the director of the department) came in to chat with me. He said they had not yet received the recommendation from the urologist, but he called about it during our meeting and expected in a few days. He is then going to send me a copy and follow what it says to the letter. Since the urologist said delivery at 36 weeks that is what I am thinking we will do at this point...hoping to get a call on Monday to set up a new c-section date. 

All in all not much has changed, but my attitude is a lot better. I think I will make it another week and a half! 

Thursday, August 5, 2010

And I am paying these people for...what?

Well the final results are in. Drum roll please...Not a single doctor has a clue what is going on with my baby/fluid. 

The "specialists" aka the maternal fetal medicine OB's at St. Vincent think it must be that the kidneys have failed because...well they can't find anything else wrong. The placenta looks normal, it doesn't seem I have ruptured my membranes, and the baby looks happy. So since he already has a kidney issue, this must be the problem.

The urologists and nephrologist say that the kidneys actually don't look that bad. There is no reason they should be working less today than 5 weeks ago. So they don't know what is wrong, but the nephrologist says that the kidney fate (whatever it may be) is sealed at this point and there is no reason to take him out earlier. 

When will we deliver? Don't know. Cincinnati originally said 37 weeks. The Ob's want him as big as possible so 38 weeks (due to previous c-sections) and the urologist said 36 weeks. Today I am 34 weeks and this feels pretty good. Tomorrow would be nice...

Personal side note: I am very unhappy with these findings. I hate everyone I know right now for one reason or another. And if at my appt on Friday they try to tell me 38 weeks I am going to scream in their face and punch them. 

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

And then there is Monday

Yesterday I was expecting to have an ultrasound, see the doctors and probably hang out a bit more on the high risk unit. However, one of the MFM docs came in and said there was no reason for the ultrasound. There wasn't going to be any fluid and we didn't need to look and see that. Then he said the decision is mine on how to proceed. They could keep me in the hospital on bed rest and hooked up to the monitors 24/7 for 4 weeks, but he couldn't promise that even if the cord prolapsed that they could catch it. So that would be more or less pointless. Or I could go home...I am home now :)

Before leaving Indy I did insist on seeing the pediatric urologist and so glad I did. He completely agreed that the only way to save kidney function is to deliver now. Today or tomorrow he is going to look at my ultrasounds and talk with the MFM's. As long as Ian's kidneys are dilated (which they were in the last ultrasound) and the MFM's don't think it will put him at risk to take him early then we should have him here by the end of the week. James and I are very happy about this. We have been trying for days to convince everyone to save his kidneys, but no one was listening. Now we have someone on our side :)

Today I am suppose to go for an NST at my local OB's office. My mother in law is going to watch the kids and hopefully paint some. We are still working to finish the older 2 kids bedroom. It has another good week to go...

Sunday, August 1, 2010

High Risk Unit is no fun!

Lets start with Thursday...My friend Lisha and I headed towards Indy for an ultrasound and to see what the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors had to say about my low fluid. During the ultrasound we find out that the fluid has dropped to 5.3, one of his kidney's has gone cystic, but his bladder is not bigger. Meaning that either my water broke or his kidney's have stopped functioning. I was hooked up to an NST and Ian scored 10 for 10 on his biophysical profile. So I am sent home and told to see my regular OB for an ultrasound on Friday.

Friday...My OB's office calls and said the MFM docs called and they now want me to head to Indy immediately. I call James, he comes home with my mother in law so she can watch the kids and we can go. I get a second call from my OB's office saying, Oh by the way, pack a bag. Most likely they are going to want to keep you. So I frantically pack a few things and off we go. When we get to St. Vincent I received another ultrasound where the fluid was 3.3. They tell me that I will be staying the weekend on the high risk unit for monitoring. When I get upstairs to the unit I am checked to see if my water broke, but it did not. So I am hooked up to the monitor and we wait.

Saturday...Lots of sitting around. I go on the monitor at 6am, 2pm, and 10pm. Other than that I just watch tv or go for walks around the hospital. I did get to talk to the MFM doc for the weekend, he said that he feels better and better about keeping Ian in rather than delivering him early. No need to add preemie issues on top of the issues he already has. Then later I spoke with a neonatalogist who agreed and said he is trying to get ahold of the pediatric urologist (same guy that did Dill's scope) to see if he thinks it will help the kidneys to get Ian out sooner rather than later.

Sunday...James stayed the night at the hospital with me, but he is gone now and I miss my children. We quickly spoke with the MFM doc who still told me to stick around and be monitored, I will receive another ultrasound Monday, we will hear from the pedi urologist and then discuss what to do from there. Also during Ian's last monitoring session he had 1 variable. Where his heart rate dropped, the nurse said they see this a lot when the amniotic fluid is gone because the baby will step on their cord for a bit. However they don't get concerned about just 1, so we will see how he does tonight.

My thoughts...James and I are very concerned. (Did that need to be said?) It seems like the doctors are trying to get him as big as possible so he can be put on dialysis when he comes out. We are wondering if it wouldn't be better to get him out earlier and see if we can keep some kidney function in the one kidney so he doesn't need dialysis. We are frustrated with the doctors decision. My local OB said he would deliver if the fluid got to 2 or 3, he also said he would think getting Ian out earlier would be better for his kidneys. If all the fluid is gone tomorrow and these doctors refuse to do anything I will be calling my doctor to see if they have other thoughts. James is going to call around to a couple different hospitals and see if he can get any kind of second opinion. I want Ian to come out as healthy as possible and will do anything I need to.