27 weeks

On Monday, I went to the regular OB for a follow-up visit after our very encouraging ultrasound on June 1. He checked the baby's heartbeat, then spelled out the treatment plan for the rest of the pregnancy. The three risks we still are facing are intrauterine growth restriction, pre-eclampsia and preterm labor. So, this baby will be closely monitored until he is born. We will have growth ultrasounds every four weeks, starting June 21 (28 weeks). And starting at 32 weeks, I will go in weekly for something akin to a non-stress test.

I realized as I drove away from the doctor's office on Monday that I don't even know at which hospital he delivers babies. We haven't discussed any aspects of the labor-and-delivery process with him. I think I arrived here not really expecting that I'd end up delivering this baby, so such questions didn't seem really important at the time. We have so much more hope now. I have a feeling I will be bringing a long list of questions with me to my next appointment. 

25 weeks 2 days

We had our level 2 ultrasound at the specialist's office today. In the past week or so, I had developed this secret hope that after the ultrasound, the doctor would walk in and say something along the lines of, "Your baby seems perfectly healthy." I hardly dared hope it, given our history and the stress of the past two months.

But guess what? THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED.

The day could not have gone better. We were super early because when people in Northern California say, "Traffic," they mean you might have to slow down to 30 for a few minutes. Being from Southern California, we'd given ourselves double the time needed to get there.

The ultrasound tech turned out to be the same guy who told us, in a very direct manner, that Luke had died 11 months ago. Poor guy; I bet he has to deliver lots of bad news like that. He was much more cheerful today. He even made lots of jokes about how immodest our little boy is. 

The ultrasound machine was incredible. Because a spinal problem had been suggested as a cause of our abnormal test results, he spent a ton of time on the spine. The machine could turn the ordinary ultrasound image into what looked like a movable model of the spine. It was incredible.

He saw nothing at all wrong with the brain. I believe his exact comment was: "Great brain." 

We had just one scary moment. He spent a long time looking at the baby's heart (again, amazing imagery), and then asked: "In Ukraine, did they mention any problems with the heart?" After we explained what the doctor had told us (something very hard to understand about the EKG image looking abnormal), he said, "OK, well, I just asked because it looks perfect to me."

And so it went. All good news.

So, it looks like probably there isn't a problem with the baby. (It's hard to be definitive because there's a lot an ultrasound can't see -- but as the doctor said, "No major systemic problems.") Which means that our abnormal test results probably indicate a problem with me -- likely with the placenta. So, we remain at a higher risk of eclampsia, early labor or restricted growth. But the doctor was really reassuring, even about those risks. And the bigger the baby gets, the less dangerous even those risks are.

Next step: Go back to the normal OB in 10 days to figure out what the follow-up plan will be. Until then: Rejoice!