Perinatal Appt Update

Went in today and the perinatalogist was really great.

So basically, there's no fluid around the heart, but there is fluid in the chest cavity that is pressing against the lungs and affecting development. They told me to come in next Wednesday to see if there is any change. Sometimes the fluid goes away, most of the time it doesn't. If it hasn't changed or gets worse, my options are to have him go in with a needle and aspirate the fluid out. More aggressive measure is to put a very small tube in the chest to let the fluid drain out that way. Plus an amniocentices (sp?) would be done as well. I think it may be getting worse as the amount of fluid I saw last week wasn't nearly as much as what I saw today. When he gets a good look at my chart (which didn't make it in time for my appt from the OBs office) he will probably see the same thing.

For years, I never wanted to do an amnio because of the slight risk of going into premature labor or dealing with a spontaneous miscarriage. However, if things are lnot ooking better by next week, not only will I be faced with that, but now they will need to go into my baby's chest which means they have to sedate "her" as well so she won't move during the procedure.

If I go into labor, the baby won't survive because it's too early. If I do nothing, it will be a bad outcome anyway. You know it's bad when the Dr asks if a positive or bad finding would play a part in whether I decide to continue on with the pregnancy. Of course I would continue but it just puts it all into perspective.

At least the amnio should give us answers as to why this is happening, but we'd still have to try to fix it. He says the condition is called CHYLOTHORAX. He thinks it's because of a chromosomal defect and it's a lymphomatic issue (not sure if I spelled it correctly). If we need to do surgery, it would be within the next couple of weeks. At least he's fitting me in next week. My appt is Wed. 9/17 at 8:15am and I was told to come at that time whether they could schedule me at that time or not. My regular appt is the same day but later in the afternoon.

I did get some really neat profile shots. I'll post when I get a chance. "She" was moving around so much and only cooperated when he needed to concentrate on the chest area.

Thank you all for your prayers and for checking in on me. I just ask that you continue to pray for this little miracle. I will keep you all posted.