Baby Elizabeth has an appointment at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston on November 10, 2004. She is scheduled to have a fetal echocardiogram preformed by Dr. Ayers.
We had a previous echocardiogram done on October 20, 2004 but Dr. Ayers was not happy with the scan because of her limited view of Elizabeth's heart. The doctor was only
able to see half of Elizabeth's heart. The doctor hopes it is just due to the position that the baby was in, she was breech, all balled up and did not want to cooperate. The doctor tried to view
the heart for 45 minutes. Unsuccessful, she sent Thomas and I to eat, walk around and then ordered me to jump up and down to try to get her to "swim" to a different position. But
apparently Elizabeth was comfortable where she was because she refused to move. We pray that at this appointment Elizabeth
is in a good position to view her heart and that we get a great report. Keep her in your prayers for a strong and healthy heart.
Also on the 10th of November we have an appointment with the perinatologist for a regular sonogram to check and see how everything is going in there, how she is growing and such.
11-10-04
I had a fetal echocardiogram done this morning and the cardiologist was MUCH more pleased with what she could see. She could see all of the heart this time, so no worries that the baby only has half of a heart. Praise God!! She said it appeared that the right ventricle could be smaller than the left but it could just be looking like that due to the position of the heart. Or if it really is smaller that it could continue to grow on its own. Her heart is slightly off axis due to her organs being outside, nothing really there to hold it in place. We will go back for another echo in 4-6 weeks. The cardiologist thinks she is a little stinker, very active baby and she does not always want to do what she is suppose to. We then went to our perinatologist and had an Ultrasound. The baby is growing normal, which is great. Her chest of course measures smaller, about 23 weeks or so instead of the 27 weeks that she is, once agian due to the omphalocele, nothing there to make it need to expand. The doctor also found a slight amount of fluid in her abdomen which was not there at the last appointment. He said it is like edema. He is not worried because the amount is small, he said if it was 10 times the amount then we would have to take action. I guess he means delivery. Too early for that! So hopefully the fluid amount will stay the same or will somehow be absorbed. We go back to see him in 4 weeks then will start our every 2 week trips. Please keep her in your prayers, she needs them greatly.
We also found out the cost of the Ronald McDonald House that I plan to stay at part of the time is $15 a day. Please keep us in your prayers that we will be able to afford to stay near our daughter while she gets well.
11-17-04
I had a Gestational Diabetes test this morning. I was starving because I had to fast for the test then got sent to the wrong place to take the test. Finally found the right place 2 hours later. They make you drink a drink that tastes a lot like Orange Soda, so it was not too bad. Then they make you sit there for a hour and then draw blood. Hopefully I pass and do not have Gestational Diabetes. Should get test results soon.
12-06-04
I still have not goten a call about the results of the Gesttational Diabetes test. I think I must have passed because the doctor has not called but I could be wrong. I will find out for sure the 8th.
We have 3 appointments on December the 8th. Our first one is at 10am with Dr. Reiter, the perinatologist. We will do another Ultrasound at this appointment to see how Elizabeth is growing, to check the amniotic fluid, and the fluid amount that is in the omphalocele. Pray that the fluid amounts are normal and have not increased as this is a factor in when a C-Section will be preformed. We will also be trying to get the doctor to set some kind of actual date for the C-Section.
Our second appointment will be at Texas Children's Hospital with Dr. Heidi Karpen at 1pm to discuss the care of Elizabeth, Neonatologist options, likely outcomes, length of stay, etc. We also hope to get a tour of the NICU with her.
Our 3rd appointment will be with the cardiologist, Dr. Ayers. We will have our thrid fetal echocardiogram preformed on Elizabeth at this appointment. We hope to get an even better view of her little heart and an even better report on it. Pray that the cardiologist can see both ventricles and that they are both fine. At the previous appointment she said it appeared that the right one looked smaller than the left but could be due to the position of the heart. We pray that the right one is growing. Also we pray that the hearts position is still in the same place or has shifted to where it belongs, that it is not being pulled more of axis than what it was at the last visit.
Please keep Elizabeth in your continued prayers.
12-08-04
Instead of having three appointments it turned into four. We went and saw our perinatologist first thing. He in a round about way said that I passed my Gestational Diabetes Test, which is great! Made no mention of the baby being under stress or the fluid amount changing. He is not much of a talker. Then we asked him about a date and he was like Jan. 24, 25, 26...somewhere in there. I am thinking "Is he crazy??" We need a date, not 3! So he said to plan, whatever that means to him, to do it on Monday Jan. 24, 2005. Not too long from now!!
Our second appointment was with the neonatologist. She was great! She talked to us about the care of Elizabeth, how long to expect to be there, what to expect in the delivery room, about breast feeding and some other stuff that I can't seem to remember right now. She recommended that we speak with another surgeon. The one we had seen is in a private group, they are hard to get in touch with, just to ask questions or even for them to be there when the baby is born to see about surgery. We got a tour of both of the NICU's with the neonatolgist. Thomas and I were quite impressed with both of the NICU's and the level of care the babies get as well as the level of input or involvement of the parents with their baby.
Our 3rd appointment was with Dr. Ayers the cardiologist. She did the echocardiogram for about an hour. She got some good shots of the Elizabeth's face and of her hand that she printed out for me. We got good pictures of the face but she still could not see her heart the way she wanted. She said she thought she was through, that she was going to go check on the computer and come back. Well I decided she was through, wiped off that belly jelly, sat up and buttoned my pants and got ready to go. She came back and said she was not through so undressed I got again and more belly jelly squirted on me. She put the wand to my tummy and there was Elizabeth's heart clear as a bell!! She was SO excited and was hurrying to take pictures and measurements before the baby decided to flip flop. She took us back in the conference room and told us that everything with her heart looked GREAT! That she was not sure at first because of Elizabeth's position but after she moved she could see it all. The ventricles are the same size! She could finally see the wall between the ventricles and there were no holes there! At the previous appointments she never could see the wall, so she thought there was not one, or there was and just a huge hole in it. But PRAISE GOD!! Her heart is beautiful. It is still slightly off axis but that is normal with nothing holding it there.
Our 4th appointment was with Dr. Cass, the surgeon. The surgeon we talked to is in a group and they all have great experience and someone will be there 24/7 and the whole team comes to the birth. Plus these surgeons go to both levels of the NICU where the first surgeon we talked to only goes to one level. So I think we are switching surgeons. He seemed really nice and knowledgeable. He is not dead set on surgery, so I don't think he will try to cram everything in there if there is not room. Like he said, it is not hurting them to have it out there. Thomas and I feel more comfortable with him and his availability then with the other surgeon.
12-27-04
We had another appointment with Dr. Reiter today. He gave us another ultrasound and checked out Elizabeth. He said she looks fine and everything is going well. We could see her practicing her breathing on the sonogram. It was very neat to watch! He said we are still sticking with Jan. 24th for the C-Section. We have an appointment again on Jan. 3rd. We are starting our once a week trips now.
12-28-04
I had some concerns about the baby today due to light bleeding so I called up the doctor. He wanted me to drive back to Houston so he could give me an exam. Well by the time Thomas could get home and get me and then us both get to Houston the doctor was going to be gone. So he sent me to Labor and Delivery in Beaumont. Off to the hospital we went. Apparently I was really dehydrated and I was having very light contractions. I could not feel them. They did an exam and guess what! I am dilated to a 1cm, 60% effaced, and Elizabeth is at -2 in the birth canal. I guess she is more ready to come out than we are. We have to get packing!! I called my normal doctor and let him know what they said and he put me on bed rest. Hopefully she will stay put until Jan. 24th! We will see what the doc says Jan. 3rd.
