29 Week Checkup

WE MADE TO ANOTHER WEEK, CAN YOU FEEL THE EXCITEMENT?

Your baby is now like a butternut squash and should be a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. Her muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and her head is growing bigger to make room for her developing brain. To meet her increasing nutritional demands, you'll need plenty of protein, vitamins C, folic acid, and iron. And because her bones are soaking up lots of calcium, be sure to drink your milk (or find another good source of calcium, such as cheese, yogurt, or enriched orange juice). This trimester, about 250 milligrams of calcium are deposited in your baby's hardening skeleton each day.

5 Day Hosptial Stay

MAY 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30th

Well you spent a restful 5 days in the hospital... with Ken and I switching on and off guard duty. The rest of the family did their due diligence too, coming by every day, bringing food and laughs.  The staff at Shea Medical Center North was OVER THE TOP and gave you WORLD-CLASS PATIENT CARE.  I even think we have made a few more life long friends for the Smith Clan and even a few more fans for Honey Bear's.  One of the goals of the doctors and staff at the hospital was for Shamara to eat as much as possible because they wanted to try to get the baby to gain some weight... well we all had to do our part and providing her with as much food as we could.  Dad even brought us for dinner one evening - hot & fresh off the grill baby back ribs and grilled chicken with mac & cheese, greens, cowbro beans and cornbread muffins. And of course you know Mark, on his way to our room with our dinner, he was dropping "goodie bags" off to the nurses stations and doctors along the way (Now do you see why we have new friends?).

During this entire episode, the doctors were baffled by how well the babies test results were coming back because according to them, this wasn't the results they were expecting based on the diagnoises they were working from.  At some point during one of the room visits from Dr. Strong, I had the presence of mind to ask him had he actually seened Shamara's Ultrasound pictures as well as any written reports that had been performed on her by Dr. Nyberg...  he informed me that they hadn't, which was the normal procedure, they usually worked from the ultrasonic doctors recommendation.  So I asked him (trying to make sense of all this in my head) if it wouldn't make more sense for them to actually see everything 1st hand instead of just trying to treat something based on someone else's word.  He agreed with me that it most definitely would, but he said that a lot of the time the ultrasonic doctors don't like to release the pictures.  Okay, so now bells are really ringing in my head...  remember we haven't had even 1 really good visit with Dr. N. ~ so I said to Dr. Strong, well he may not release all of her records to you but he most certainly can't stop me from getting copies.  He just kind of looked at me and said that if I could get those that would be great, and that they would love to actually be able to see for themselves.

Well to sum this part up, I was at Dr. Nyberg's office first thing the next morning and when I left I had copies of every written report as well as every ultrasonic picture they had taken of Shamara up to this point.  I drove across to the hospital and had the nurse make several copies which they began distributing to the team of special doctors that was on Shamara's case.  We meet so many different doctors during her 5 day stay at Shea Medical, and they took such great, loving care of not just Shamara and baby but all of us as well.

Well after the first four days, the doctors decided that Dr. Nyberg had basically over diagnoised Shamara's  issue.  NOW THERE IS AN ISSUE and we are very thankful that it was discovered, and we do realize that had Dr. N. not done what he did, we may not have made the discovery.  So in this we see God's hand and His miracle.

So this is where we are now: There is a placental problem.  There are multiple cysts on one side of the placenta and they believe this is causing the placenta to not work normally which they believe is directly related to why the baby's growth is below average for the gestational age.  Now all that being said HERE IS GOD'S HAND AT WORK ~ the placenta is not 100%  ~ YET ALL tests done on the baby are coming out PERFECT / NORMAL!

• Normal amniotic fluid
• Normal fetal anatomic survey
• Normal biophysical profile score of 8 of 8
• Normal Doppler studies for gestational age
• Fetal heart rate is 160 bpm and shows regular rhythm

 ... to be continued

The CALL BACK!

After we were done with your appointment at Dr. Yosowitz's, we drove back across town (from N Scottdale to Chandler - 30 miles) and decided to stop at Target and then buybuy Baby to complete your baby registers for the upcoming baby showers that are being given for you, Ken & Malaysia.  We got to Chandler, parked at Target, went inside and began the registration process for the registry and your cell phone rings... it's Dr. Y's office (Ms. Kim) telling us that we need to return to the office ASAP.  We all just kind of look at one another and hurry back out to the truck to make the return trip to the office.  Once we arrive, they usher us back into a room and Dr. Y comes in and from the look on his face we all know that we are going to dread hearing what he has to say.

The ultrasound results had come in and it was determined that the cysts they saw were something called  Mesenchymal Placenta Dupplasia - in short although small the baby is perfectly healthy, the fluid around the baby is good, even the biophysical profile scored 8/8 and the doppler & heart rate were normal - the placenta is not good.  Based on this determination Dr. Nyberg's recommendation is that the baby would need to be delivered at 30 weeks (2 weeks from now) and that you needed to be admitted to the hospital where you would stay until Malaysia is born...

It was now after 10am and Dr. Yosowitz wanted us to take you immediately across to Shea Medical Center North and get you admitted.  He left us to have a few precious private moments where we cried and hugged one another trying our best to give the support each of us needed so much.  Next, Ken and I had to find the courage to make the calls to those who love us most and to get a prayer chain going.

We drove across to the hospital and you were admitted...











HERE IS DR. YOSOWITZ GOING OVER THE SITUATION WITH ALL OF US...



NURSE KELLY GETTING READY TO DRAW MORE BLOOD & TO PUT IN YOUR VERY 1st IV





TRANSPORTING YOU TO YOUR REAL ROOM





ALL SETTLED IN!







NICU DOCTOR TELLING US WHAT TO EXPECT IF YOU DO HAVE TO DELIVER EARLY!



STAYING CONNECTED WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD



MOMMY & DAD STAYING CLOSE AT HAND








ALL SETTLED IN FOR THE 1st NIGHT, NAPPING BETWEEN DOCTOR VISITS TO THE ROOM

28 WEEK CHECK UP

Today you are scheduled to do the Glucose Tolerance Testing (GTT) to determine if you suffer from gestational diabetes or glucose intolerance of pregnancy.  This is a normal test done during all pregnancies usually around the 28th week.  You were instructed not eat anything after midnight and you had to drink a special sugar enhanced drink called Glucola - there were different flavors / colors and you chose red.  You had to drink the Glucola one hour before your appointment and had to drink the whole thing within 10 minutes. Yeah, you did it!  You and Ken dropped by to pick me up and we carpooled on over to our 8am appointment with Dr. Y and staff.

It was also your regular 28 week check up and we were to go over the ultrasound that was done on this past
Tuesday.  Your appointment went well, we discussed with Dr. Y the possiblities of having to have a c-section and about your fear of having to have an episiotomy.  They had to draw your blood of course which wasn't one of your favorite experiences.  The ultrasound results from Tuesday were not in yet and so we set up your next appointment in two weeks.  We've reached that point where now your visits are going to be every two weeks instead of four ~ and do you know what that means?  WE ARE GETTING SO CLOSE to your delivery date.  EXCITING!!!!!!

ULTRASOUND # 5

Today we had your 5th ultrasound and other than our little girl still being small, all other measurements where GOOD!  They did see some bubbles / cysts on the placenta but thought that this was something that normally occured in some pregnancies.  We did have to see Dr. N again but we did as Dr. Y instructed and kept our conversation / questions to the bare minimum and saved them for Thursday's appointment with Dr. Y...

OUR NEWEST MOTHER-TO-BE

Shamara, today is Mother's Day 2011 - next year with God's Blessings you will be a MOMMY, this brings such great joy to my heart that tears are forming as I write these words.  You are 26 weeks along now and you are GLOWING...


How your baby's growing:
The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and Ken's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.


If your lower back seems a little achy lately, you can thank both your growing uterus — which shifts your center of gravity, stretches out and weakens your abdominal muscles, and may be pressing on a nerve — as well as hormonal changes that loosen your joints and ligaments. Plus, the extra weight you're carrying means more work for your muscles and increased stress on your joints, which is why you may feel worse at the end of the day. Walking, standing, or sitting for long periods, as well as bending and lifting can all put a strain on your back. A warm bath or hot compress might bring relief. (Some women, though, find cool compresses more comforting.) Try to maintain good posture during the day, avoid activities that require bending and twisting at the same time, take frequent breaks when sitting or standing, and sleep on your side with one or both knees bent with a pillow between your legs, using another pillow (or wedge) to support your abdomen. LOVE MOMMY!

BELLY SHOTS - 25 WEEKS

Ken's cousin and mother wanted some shots of them to use at the Dallas Baby Shower they are planning for Saturday, June 10th and so they got all dolled up and dropped by for me to snap a few pictures. Not bad for an amateur photographer if I say so myself ~ SMILE, You are on Candid Camera!