Ultrasound Results

I mentioned before that I had an ultrasound scheduled for this past Saturday to check on little Evan's growth. At my last two appointments, my belly measurements have been behind about 2 weeks. The doctor thought it was due to Evan's position, but sent me for an ultrasound just in case.

Generally speaking, the ultrasound technician won't tell you anything, but I was blessed with a particularly chatty one this time, and she shared plenty of information with me! Evan is measuring pretty much right on schedule (30 weeks, 0 days, and I was 30 weeks 1 day at the time). He is approx. 3 pounds 9 ounces, and is head-down. So things are looking good with him, and the small belly measurements must have been a fluke since the ultrasound is showing that he is growing fine.

On the screen, I could see him opening and closing his mouth and he had both hands in front of his face, rubbing his eyes. I got a few pictures to pass on to Kirsten, but they aren't the best. The technician said they were blurry because he is facing my back, so it's hard to get a good view of him. My husband thinks he looks like he is wearing glasses in one of them, haha!

Baby Evan has hair!!

I forgot to say, we found out during the 4d u/s that Evan already has hair!! How cute!!

4d ultrasound

Today we went for a 4d ultrasound so we could all take a peek at baby Evan. It was pretty cool to be able to see what's going on in there!! It was hard to get lots of really good pictures because he had both legs wrapped up in front of his face, in what looked like a very uncomfortable position! It may explain though why Jenn is measuring small because he is all curled up and squished!

Seeing our little man was well worth the effort to get the ultrasound done. Thanks to Jenn and her family for sharing this special event with us.

Nursery update

I finally received the wall art for Evan's nursery and put it up yesterday. I am really happy with the results!

Thoughts on vbac vs. repeat C-section

Kirsten and I had an ob appointment this morning, and as promised the doctor was able to give us some research-based facts about vaginal birth after cesarean (vbac). While Kirsten likes to point out that any birth carries risk to both the carrier and the baby, I think being in a situation like gestational surrogacy where you have the life of someone else's child in your hands, it makes these decisions (whether or not to vbac or do a repeat C-section) so much more weighty.

I know that if this were my own pregnancy, I would choose a vbac for myself. But in this situation, I have more than my own family to think about; I have Kirsten and her family involved as well. Yes, I had a horrible first C-section experience (I'm sure not as horrible as some!), and I am not certain that I am done having kids of my own, so if I choose a C-section this time, it pretty much means I will always have a C-section in the hereafter. But a C-section would be worth it if it was the right thing for both Evan and I.

The problem with that logic is that no one can predict what the best thing for both Evan and I will be. The ob we are seeing now admits that there are risks to trying for a vbac, but he feels that it isn't "dangerous" and that the risks aren't significant enough for him to recommend a C-section.

The fact remains that there are risks. Today he gave me some paperwork on the risks of a vbac in women who have less than 24 months between deliveries (I have 20 months between). Some of the points that stuck out to me are as follows:

1) For women whose labors begin spontaneously, uterine rupture (the main concern with vbac) is reported to be less than 1% and the risks are similar to or less than the risk of any other unpredictable complication of labor and delivery (cord prolapse was 1.9 people out of 1000, fetal distress was 39 people out of 1000, placental abruption was 5.5 people out of 1000, and uterine rupture was from 0.9 to 8.0 people out of 1000).

2) With access to a rapid cesarean (18 minutes or less), babies and mothers usually do very well. If the cesarean is rapid, fetal death from uterine rupture is extremely rare.

3) Many facilities have recently determined that they don't have the capability to respond fast enough in the case of uterine rupture and are denying women the chance to vbac. Caregivers who support vbacs say that the focus should be on improving access to quality of care for women who want a vbac, not on discouraging them because of negative outcomes publicized in high profile malpractice law suits.

Kirsten and Chris appear to be on board with me trying a vbac, but I certainly have some things to think about before the big day.

In other news, my stomach is measuring a little behind so the doctor is sending me for an ultrasound to measure the baby. He thinks I am only measuring behind because the baby is lying sideways right now though, so he didn't seem too concerned. I'll go next Saturday for the u/s.

29 weeks!

Today Jenn is just 1 week away from 30 weeks. It's so exciting, we are in the home stretch and it won't be long before we get to finally meet baby Evan. We have a follow up appointment with the doctor who was doing some research on the amount of healing time sensible between a C-section and normal birth, let's hope he has the information we want to hear.

It's been four weeks since the last belly pic, I think it's time for an update Jenn!

Bye bye crib bumper

It's official the crib bumper is coming out before baby Evan enters his crib. I was pretty sure I had already made that decision after Natasha directed me towards the possible dangers of crib bumpers, but after seeing a picture today of a friends baby who managed to detach the crib bumper and sleep on the other side of it next to the bars I am one thousand percent sure it's coming out. We didn't use bumpers with the twins as they were already too old when we bought them home, so I had no clue they were a problem. I wish stores would stop selling them as such a *normal* crib product, I think it's really time they pulled them from the shelves, it's just not worth the risk.

I will be keeping the bumper, just to look pretty, until baby Evan starts sleeping in the crib and then it's going in the trash. I'm not even going to pass it onto charity so that way I can't give someone else the chance of making the mistake I almost made.

There is so much to learn and even being the parent of three year old twins can't teach me all I need to know about the baby stage. I am so lucky to have friends to give me the help I need!

It was so cool!

Last night I spent the evening at Jenn's house. It's the first time we've been together and had some calm quiet time on our own without any little people around or other noise. Jenn was relaxed and I felt baby Evan move for the first time, it was so cool (and a little strange!!) I have no idea if I was feeling kicking or punching, or something else, but whatever he was doing in there I appreciated the movement.

Thanks for indulging me Jenn, you and baby Evan have left me smiling!

So I took my 3 hour glucose test today...

and, it appears that I passed! I'm sure we will hear more from the doctor concerning the results, but I checked my numbers online and it appears for each threshold (the threshold is different for each hour that passes by), I am under the limit, so I think I passed. :) What a relief!

For those curious about what the 3 hour test is like, it goes like this: You fast for 12 hours prior and then go to the lab for a blood draw. That is your fasting draw. They make you drink 100g of glucose "soda" and then on the hour for the next three hours you have a new blood draw. You may not eat until all four blood draws are completed. Yes, my arms look like I am a druggie, lol, but I passed, and that is all that matters!

Less than 10 weeks!!

Baby Evan is 28 weeks today, it's less than 10 weeks until Jenn is considered "full term". It's both exciting and overwhelming at the same time!

I feel queasy already

In order to attempt adoptive breastfeeding you need to supplement with herbs to ensure a good supply. Today I received my gigantic herb order and I am feeling queasy already! I have to take three of each three times a day, and yes each capsule is indeed as huge as it looks in this picture (think horse pill).

Just looking at them throws me back to the days of acupuncture during IVF cycles when my doctor directed me to take a bazillion foul smelling herbs each day then too.

I haven't dared open the top yet for fear of what smell will offend my nostrils.

I REALLY REALLY hope adoptive breastfeeding works and Evan thinks this was all worth the effort. Somehow infertility never really goes away, does it?

Evan's hangout

Evan's nursery is pretty much done at least in the room, the drawers and closets are a different story but I'll get to those later.

Here are some pictures of our little man's room;

Can't change our minds on his name now!!

I have one more thing left to do, I think I am going to change the art squares above the changing table to some wall word art which says;

"Every good and perfect gift is from above" James 1:17

I Failed!

I went in for the 1 hour glucose test last weekend, and my test results show that I failed it. The norm is under 130, and mine was 139. SO, I am supposed to go back and do a three hour fasting test this weekend. I hope I pass, gestational diabetes would not be the best thing for the baby, myself, or my hopes for a vbac!

The best we could hope for!

I think our second opinion appointment went really well. The doctor said a vbac was a risk, but not much more risk that a C-section, so that's pretty encouraging. He didn't seem phased at all by the idea of a vbac and as a doctor with a good 25 years of experience in births I'm pretty happy to trust his judgement. We have transferred our next appointment to him and he is going to look up the timing between a C-section birth and a vbac with regards to the integrity of the C-section scar and let us know his thoughts at the next appointment.

I liked this doctor, he was laid back, but friendly, informative and caring. I am confident that without foreseeing any other issues before the birth of baby Evan, Jenn is going to do really well to try for a natural delivery.

Upcoming Appt.

As Kirsten pointed out in her last entry, we have our second opinion appointment tomorrow, at which time I am hoping the doctor will say that I would make a good candidate for a vbac. I wanted to address what Kirsten said about how if they had known I would have to face a C-section they would have waited longer or not done it at all.

I don't agree with that at all! I went into this surrogacy knowing that a C-section is a good possibility. And in fact, I went into my first surrogacy knowing that since we were transferring two embryos a C-section was likely if twins were to result. On top of that, I knew that if I wanted more kids after I had the C-section, I would face the possibility of a C-section then too. So, the fact that I am facing that possibility now, is really of no consequence. It's always a possibility no matter the situation.

The reason why it shocked me a little when our ob said she would recommend one for me was because 1) my old ob said I was a great candidate for a vbac, as long as I waited 18 months (this pregnancy would land me at 20/21 months), and 2) it was a singleton, and the possibility of a C-section seems to me to be lower with one baby, rather than two.

I won't lie; my C-section experience was horrible in more ways than one. BUT, in the process, I brought two little kiddos into the world and helped my friends start a family. That makes it worth it. And the same goes for this surrogacy; a C-section is worth it to bring Evan into the world and see the joy he will bring to Kirsten and her family. Assuming a C-section is the safest thing to do, then it's worth it to me. So to say that we never should have transferred or should have waited longer, makes no sense to me. The timing was right for all concerned, at least that's what I think! :)