Dare I say, Good News?

22 weeks + 3 days, 5 weeks 5 days post rupture

Appointment today at the fetal medicine clinic with Dr. K. The hospital associated clinic that I go to is divided in the following ways. It has a maternal medicine clinic where I see Dr. S. It has a fetal medicine clinic where I see Dr. K, and it has an ultrasound clinic across the hall that is a separate entity, but that does all types of OB ultrasounds (NT scans, Anatomy scans etc). So far in this pregnancy I've seen Dr. S. at his clinic (maternal medicine), and I've seen Dr. K. on his days acting as the physician at the ultrasound clinic, but I hadn't yet seen Dr. K. at the fetal medicine clinic.

Anyway, the reason this is important is because I really like the fetal medicine clinic. Anyone who is booked there has an ultrasound automatically at every visit. Their notes are done on computer so at the end of the appointment you can ask for a print out of all the measurements they took during your scan. The ultrasounds are done by nurses (rather than techs) who are really nice and actually TALK to you during the scan and tell you what they are seeing. PLUS if you're REALLY lucky you get the room where there is a screen for mom to watch the ultrasound in real time while they do it (I lucked out today!). Although this was the clinic that first discovered my placental abnormality with Aidan, where we first knew things would likely not be okay (bad memories), out of all the places I go for care, I like it the most.

Anyway, I was really nervous again going into this appointment. I'm terrified every time I leave the safety of my house that I'll leak and it really sucks when it happens in a public place. I usually just want to get these appointments over with.

We were called in and the nurse doing my scan was really nice. She went over all my medical history and actually asked how this was affecting us mentally. ie: How was Brian going to work? How was my family coping? What were our concerns? We FINALLY felt able to tell someone "Look, I'm terrified to go into labour at home and that I won't make it to the hospital in time. My blood pressure dropped significantly last time and as much as I want this baby to be okay, I REALLY need me to be okay". She was really nice about it and I felt heard. Then she did my scan.

While my placenta still looks grossly abnormal, it's doing it's job nicely. Baby is getting normal blood flow through it's cord and to it's brain. My uterine arteries are getting normal flow to the placenta. The baby's head and abdomen are both more 'oval' shaped than normal, but contain all normal structures and are growth appropriate when the circumference is measured rather than the diameter (if you measure the diameter they look at the narrow part, not giving a good picture of how big the baby actually is).

She was able to see the heart in better detail than at my anatomy scan and confirmed that from what she could visualize the heart looked normal. Best part was that she was impressed with my fluid level and my AFI was 11!!! That is NORMAL! I have been retaining fluid. It's not just my imagination. Next she checked my cervix which I was worried about going in, since the tech last time told me it was 2.5cm (down from 3.2cm at 16 weeks). The nurse looked and said "it's almost 4cm long, and closed"!!! YEAH! That's the longest it's been measured this pregnancy so I hope it's accurate. She tried really hard to see the sex, but Acorn's legs were firmly folded close and he (or she) wouldn't let us get a shot. As much as it would be nice to know, I honestly was too happy about my fluid and cervix to care.

After we got all this good news it was on to Dr. K's office. As per my ultrasound photos he thinks that there is quite a bit of normal tissue anchoring my placenta to the uterine wall and that is why I'm not bleeding like I did with Aidan. This normal tissue is also keeping my uterus 'quiet' so that I'm not having too many contractions (although I am having a few, occasionally, usually if my bladder is full or if the baby is moving a lot). He felt the baby and I are doing as well as can be expected given my placental condition, but was considerate to the fact that I am very anxious being at home given my prior history and my current situation. So the plan is to admit me to hospital next Thursday, when (by dates) I will be 24 weeks! Although I'm still nervous about getting to that point, I'm feeling better that a plan is in place and that hopefully soon I will feel safer. I think Brian is happy with this too. It's been so stressful for him, being afraid he's going to have to rush me to the hospital at any time. We also got all the consent signed for the BioBank collection of the placenta. So that's in place too.

Now it's just waiting. Hopefully no more leaking, no infection, no bleeding, no contractions and keep Acorn growing. Just gotta keep everything status quo. It feels good to have some hope, something to shoot for, but nerve racking too. We've been down this road before...the waiting to be admitted to wait for our baby to grow...and we didn't make it. Is this the calm before the storm? Or an indication of good things to come?

Please, please, please...

Anyone been admitted to hospital for long periods of time? Can you think of things I should pack? Also, thank you everyone who has been keeping up with me and leaving me comments. I love hearing from all of you. It helps me not feel so alone.