Still beating…

We had our OB appointment this morning and it was relatively uneventful. They found a small trace of protein in my urine; however my blood pressure was normal. I also had lost 2 lbs. from one week ago, which is the first time in over a month that I hadn’t gained 3-4 lbs. in one week. So we found that encouraging from a seemingly less fluid retention/swelling perspective.

I am still feeling Molly move around quite a bit and our OB was able to hear her heartbeat on the dopplar. She thought it sounded slow, but it has been slow since I was around 12-13 weeks, so that really isn’t anything new. My fundal height measurement today (Thursday) was 33, up from 31 on Monday, which is big for being 27 weeks 5 days gestation, but our OB thinks it is because the ascites (fluid in Molly’s abdomen) is continuing to increase. I had my fasting blood drawn to see if the gestational diabetes diet is helping, as well as to check other blood levels, but won’t have the results until tomorrow.

The plan going forward is that if we make it to next Wednesday, April 9, we will have an MFM (perinatalogist) consultation and Level II ultrasound (u/s) to check Molly’s growth and find out how the ascites is progressing along with other signs they might be able to see related to her heart failure. If possible we will ask them to check my blood pressure and urine, so we don’t have to also go in to see our OB that day.

The u/s appointment was suppose to be on Tuesday, however the MFM that we have been seeing during this pregnancy won’t be in that day and we would rather wait an extra day and see him than someone else at this point. If we make it that far it will have been 3 weeks since our last comprehensive u/s or echo, so we are looking forward to getting a more updated sense of Molly’s condition that day.

If we make it to next Friday I will have another OB appointment that morning before which I would fast again and they would check my blood level.

So our holding pattern continues… We really don’t know what to think right now. Our heads still tell us that Molly is going to die and that it could happen any time and any day. So we continue to try to make the most of the time we may have left with our baby girl. That said, the longer she survives the more my heart wants to believe that she could make it after all. Bob was able to feel Molly moving around last night, by putting his hand on my belly, for the second time during this pregnancy, which was nice for both of them I believe.

As has been the case for the last two weeks, if at any point I go 24 hours without feeling Molly move, we will call our OB and they will have me come in to see if she has died/if it would be time to deliver her. However, in the meantime, we will continue to take our journey with our daughter one day at a time.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. We will keep you posted. It looks like it is turning into beautiful day weather wise, so I am planning to take Sean to the park this afternoon so we can enjoy it together and he can get some exercise.

May God continue to bless you and your loved ones.