Baby Lobster Update

We had our sonogram on Wed. What a miracle to be able to see this beautiful baby growing inside of me! I was most impressed with the side view of our little one showing his/her spine, ribs, etc. To think that this all started with nothing and so perfectly formed in the end guided by God's hands. We got to see a wonderful profile shot, too. Emerald came to the appt with Skip and I (Calvin stayed with a friend, he's still a little too young). She was amazed at seeing baby Lobster on TV. The sono tech laughed at her nickname for the baby, saying that she hadn't heard that one yet. I know, you want to see pics. We have several great sono pics, but haven't had the chance to scan them in yet. Be patient, and we promise to post them soon.

As they were performing the sonogram they did discover a problem. In the umbilical cord there is supposed to be 3 vessels--2 arteries and 1 vein. Our sono tech was only able to find 1 artery and 1 vein. The doc informed us that this could be an indicator of birth defects. This, of course, is not the kind of news you want to hear, and being in normal steph fashion, I started to cry. He didn't want to take any chances, so he sent us to a perinatologist--or a doc that deals with more high-risk pregnancies. Luckily they were able to get us in the next day, thurs., oct 16. Talk about a basket case--I am a crier anyway, and with this crazy hormonal state of pregnancy I think I cried all day long thinking worst-case everything. Skip, my ever calm Skipper (or captain of our family) remained his cautious, calm self.

This new doc did another sono and confirmed that it was a 2 vessel cord, or SUA (single umbilical artery). They spent a great deal of time observing all the major organs of the baby and taking measurements. It was odd laying in the room, as the nurse went thru a checklist w/ the doc. "Stomach present, check--bladder present, check--etc" He spent a great deal of time on the heart, and didn't say check right away. I got so nervous I really thought I was going to faint. If I hadn't been laying down, I'd have asked them to let me. They did eventually see what they wanted to see, though. For now, everything looks healthy and good on little Lobster. Thanks be to God!!! What a wondeful bday present for both Skip and I!!

Many times this condition leads to a healthy child, so please know that is what we are most concentrated on!!

We are going to have to continue visiting the perinatologist for monthly sonograms (yeah, more chances to see our baby) to keep updated with the growth and condition of the baby. In addition we will also be seeing our OB as often or more frequently for normal tests and non-stress tests to make sure the baby is healthy and thriving. They said this condition increases our chances of many things, including still-birth, Down's Syndrome, heart conditions, etc. That sounds awful, but the chances are still way in our favor. We could do an amnio, but the chances of harming the baby are still much greater than the chances of them having any of these problems. We are going to watch the growth of the baby for sure, as one of the problems of a 2 vessel cord also include growth restricition. The perinatologist said that there was never a 0% chance of stillbirth, but with all of us keeping such a close eye on the baby we will try to keep the baby as healthy as we can.

There are still a lot of things we don't know the answers to. This is new to us. As we find out more with future sonograms we will know more. We don't know if I will still deliver at the same place, or if there will be a need to deliver at a hospital with a higher level NICU (just in case). We are very good friends with our pediatrician, so hopefully we can chat with him about possible future issues this may present after birth (heart conditions, kidney issues, urinary issues, etc.). Of course, our ultimate prayer is that Lobster is born a happy, healthy little ___________ (nope we still can't fill in the blank even with 2 sonos this week--still a surprise). We aren't sure if we will be able to go to full-term or if there will be any reason for an early delivery (although we are praying that everything is healthy and fine until the baby is healthy and ready to come meet us).

We will keep you posted and updated as we find out more information. For now we ask for prayers for a healthy Lobster and a healthy me. We will get pics posted as soon as we can scan them in. They are precious pics of our little one and I can't wait to share.