StressedDad2Be

On a whim I thought I'd see if anyone has added to this thread since I last posted a number of months ago. As had been requested, I'm putting up a few pics of the little munchkin we named Molly. The first was taken at a few hours old. The second was taken at three weeks old. And the last was taken when she was three months old.

Wanted to make one closing post in case anyone stumbled across the thread at some point looking for some re-assurance should they find themselves in the same shoes my wife and I did. My wife's due date was April 13th. After one month of hospital bedrest and two months of home bedrest, she went back to being fully mobile at 36 weeks. April 13th came and went and no baby. On April 14th we thought her water may have broken. Went to the hospital on the morning of the 15th for an ultrasound. Water had not broken but was very low, her doctor admitted her for induction. After 4.5 hours of labor, our daughter arrived (pitocin brought her out)...two days late after months of worry over pre-term delivery. We had a scare during delivery, the epidural caused my wife's blood pressure to drop, and the baby's heart rate fell as well. They both stabilized after some quick action by the docs and nurses (O2 mask and I think ephedrine shots?). We had a much bigger scare the next morning. Our daughter's heart rate was in the 80s-90s and her blood-oxygen levels were low. Full chest X-ray came up fine. She was under an O2 hood for a few hours and a transport team came up from the closest NICU. The neonatologist and NICU nurse observed her for an hour or so and did some tests. My wife and I stayed cribside and did our best to comfort her. Things normalized. They took her off the O2 hood. No problems and we all went back to my wife's room. There was an anomoly in her EKG that the neonatologist insisted we follow up on. We saw a cardiologist last week and whatever potential disorder they were concerned about is not present, EKG came back perfectly normal. Cardiologist chalked everything up to our daughter's body being in a state of flux after the birth and assured us that everything looked just fine. So we're all home now. Other than a recent case of constipation, our little girl is doing great. Dad, signing off

I appreciate the numerous replies I've gotten on my original thread from the nursing professionals on this board. Thanks everyone. I'm very curious to hear some honest replies based on 1st hand experience to the following, hypothetical conversation. You: So there's a mom that was just admitted with pre-term labor? Co-worker: Yes You: How many weeks? Co-worker: She's X weeks along You: Oh, that's not bad at all. We seldom have any problems with preemies born at X weeks, they almost always turn out perfectly fine and can go home with mom right away. You: In fact, as long as they're at least Y weeks along they usually turn out just fine...although they may have a few minor bumps in the road the first week or two (with a short stay in the NICU just to be sure). So, in your opinion, what is X and Y?

Our specialist said the baby looked perfectly healthy, she's just on the small side weight wise...according to the doc. How much of this is due to our combined genetics is hard to say. My wife is 5 feet even and weighed in at 100 pounds pre-conception. I'm 5'8". My dad is and both sets of grandfathers were the same height as me. My mom is and both grandmothers were much shorter than I. The same holds true on my wife's side. Neither of us comes from tall/large framed families, which our specialist inquired about and seemed satisfied with. In addition, my mother-in-law told us yesterday that my wife arrived into the world nearly two weeks over-due and weighing 6 pounds 6 ounces. Extrapolating backwards to 34 weeks...I suppose she could have been as small as our baby is right now. I also found out that one of my cousins on my dad's side was only 5 pounds and change and he was born near term. So, there seems to be precedent in both our families for this...most notably my wife. I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Today marks 1 day shy of 34 weeks, which is great. We had another ultrasound with the specialist last Friday. They're no longer looking at the cervical length given the number of weeks along my wife is currently at. The baby is healthy, but underweight...which is a new concern. They calculated her to weigh 3 pounds 12 ounces, which I belive is the 25th percentile for weight. Five weeks prior she was at the 50th percentile. The doctor said that we don't need to be concerned at this point (of course we are) but we should keep an eye on it, we're scheduled for another ultrasound in 3 weeks. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised, nothing has been easy with this pregnancy from the start...heavy spotting from 8 weeks to 12 weeks, something with the uterus (maybe it was the placenta don't know) not ascending as high it should around 16 weeks (it since has), then the short and funneling cervix at 24 weeks, than two checks for gestational diabetes at 28 weeks (that was later ruled out), and now underweight. I just want this whole ordeal over with...

Another week checked off the calendar. Today makes it 33w0d...or 9 weeks of total bedrest. She has an ultrasound appointment with the high risk specialist on Friday and a routine appointment with her doc today. I suspect that the results of Friday's ultrasound, while important and not to be dismissed, will not be as crucial should it look like her cervix is showing signs of shortening or funneling like it did back at 24 weeks. At her last appointment, the doctor told us should we get to 34 weeks, we could have the delivery at the hospital where she spent a month on bedrest, and which is closest to our home. Her opinion was that at 34 weeks, the non-NICU hospital would be properly equipped and if by chance we did need to transfer we'd address it after delivery. In addition, while my wife was still staying at said hospital the nurse that heads up the L&D wing told us that they'd have no problems delivering a 34 weeker. Until then, Still Stressed, But Not Nearly as Much

I hope I'm not boring anyone by now with weekly updates. We're now at 32w1d and the little one is on a nightly routine of kicking mommy as hard as possible between 9pm and 11pm before tuckering herself out for the night. Not sure if there's fetal response at this point or not to voices on the outside, but she seems to kick less when I'm talking to my wife's stomach. Actually, she did manage to kick me in the face a few nights ago so she may find it annoying for all I know....

A routine doctor's appointment and another week down. Now at 31w2d. Doctor happy with how things are proceeding - she decided against an internal check believing the value of what could be learned wasn't worth the risk of stirring things up. We have an ultrasound scheduled with the high risk specialist in 2 weeks, then (I believe) just normal follow-ups. Still on strict bedrest at home until week...uhh, 35 maybe? 36? Don't recall. Doctor told us she wants my wife up and moving around by then and would clear her to go back to working at her office instead of from bed if she so chose. I think we may be moving into uncharted territory now. Our doctors were all quite optimistic that we'd get to 32 weeks but are no longer willing to say how much further we may go beyond that. The primary doctor isn't ruling out full term based on ultrasound results from two weeks ago but she's no longer willling to commit to X number of weeks going forward. We're a a long way from the stress and fear the night we went in at 24w0d. Not out of the woods yet, but another few weeks and, based on my online research, I think we may be nearly free and clear.

:) 30 weeks, 1 day, and counting... :) Mom-to-be is still upbeat but, understandably, the stress of being on bedrest is starting to take its toll. Being at home has helped us a lot but I'd be going out of my mind by now if I were her. There's only so many DVDs, reading, TV, and web-surfing you can do when you're on your back. Having her mom stay with us has been a Godsend. And I know she misses going to work since she's been doing a fair bit of telecommuting from our bedroom. From the medical journals I've been reading online, 30 weeks was a major milestone with survival rates over 90% and the risk of a major disability beginning to approach that of a term-infant, although minor disabilities apparently are still fairly likely until week 34 as is an NICU stay of some length. On a side note, I would like to send the L&D nurses something to show our appreciation for the personal attention given to both my wife and I during her 5 week stay. Any suggestions? Would a letter copied to the hospital admin be a good idea?

I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to reply to my posts and the kind words over the last few weeks. My wife had a level 2 ultrasound this past Friday with a high risk specialist. In addition to running her own clinic, she's also an associate professor at Drexel University and a doctor with Hahneman in Philadelphia. So she definetly comes with credentials. Anyway, Friday's ultrasound showed cervical length at 3.4 cm with no funneling, even with pressure against my wifes lower belly. This is up from the prior two weeks when it was at 2.7 cm. The doctor indicated to us that she was still concerned about my wife's cervix being a bit fragile as she pointed out a tiny gap about halfway down. Her opinion is that the gap was left over after it closed back up from it's shortest length of 1.7 cm. The plan is to stay on strict bedrest at home and, once we get to 30 weeks, allow her to go downstairs once during the day if she prefers to spend time reclining on our sofa. The doctor was unwilling to give any sort of gut feel for how much longer my wife could go (which I comletely understand), but I'm hoping that her request that we come back in 4 weeks for another ultrasound is an indicator of what she expects. She did say she was generally optimistic. She's also not convinced my wife has the traditional IC. All that said, my wife's normal doctor was very pleased with the latest ultrasound. She called us same day as a follow-up. Her opinion was that we *should* see 32 to 34 weeks and was beginning to think there was a chance she could get to term. Tomorrow is 29 weeks...a long way from 24 but not yet out of the woods. God continues to bless us and I'm starting to think we may have a positive outcome.

Just another update. We had another round of ultrasounds today. Tomorrow is officially 28 weeks so we're not technically there yet. Anyway, the ultrasound measurements came back at 2.8cm, up from 2.7 the previous two weeks. In addition, the doctors saw no signs of funneling at all this time. Her primary doctor stated that she considers things to be in, or very near, the normal range. To date, there have been no contractions. For the first time, her doctor kicked around the idea that there's a chance she may go to full term. Some of the nurses that I quizzed thought there was an outside chance of approaching term as well and all believed we should get to a minimum of 30 weeks. Honestly, I'm just focused on getting to 30 weeks for right now. So, my wife is headed home today for continued strict bedrest. As her mom volunteered to stay with us during the week while I'm at work, that takes a lot of pressure off of us. So that's my update. God has truly blessed us in this matter. I continue to pray for a happy outcome. :)

Just an update. My wife had another ultrasound yesterday. Her cervix was unchanged at 2.75 cm but the doctor did have some concern over a slight increase in the funneling. Apparently it wasn't much but they would have preferred not to see any change at all. She's now at 27 weeks with the last 3 on bedrest. I just hope we can hold on until 32+.

Sorry, I should have made my last comment a bit more clear. The reason the doctor checked her internally at 24 weeks was because my wife had a feeling something was amiss a few days prior. Turns out she was right and her doctor believed her. I've read many stories about doctors (more often men) not listening to their patients when they've had gut feelings about things like this. I've read a number of books that my wife has on pregnancy and they all echo the sentiment, "Listen to your body and instincts." You'd think some of those docs would be inclined to listen as well.

Thanks for the replies. My wife told me she had a nagging feeling there could be something not right. It was chance that she had an appointment a few days later. Her doctor listened to her and did an internal check at the office. We live outside Philadelphia. The hospital she's currently at is not equipped with a NICU but both doctor and nurses have told us that they can get her to one of the ones in Philly very quickly if need be. We inquired about whether we should transfer now, but our doctor and the ones she consulted with at the NICU agreed that our situation wasn't yet at the point where they felt a delivery was imminent enough to justify it.

First, let me just say that over the last few weeks I've developed a profound appreciation for what nurses do on a daily basis. Whatever your are paid is not enough and all of you are deserving of praise for the sorts of situations you face every day. It didn't take long to realize that neither my wife nor I have the sort of mettle needed to be a member of this profession. I hope nobody minds this outsider posting to your forum. Here's our situation. My wife is pregnant with our first. During a routine exam at 24 weeks 0 days, her doctor (who we both really like) discovered she was 1 cm dialated. She was immediately admited to the hospital. Here's what has gone down so far: Day 1: given steroid shot should baby arrive early, strict bedrest starts. Day 2: another shot. Ultrasound revealed cervix at 1.7cm with some funneling Day 4: Ultrasound shows 2.76 cm with minimal funneling Day 7: ultrasound shows 3.1 cm with almost no funneling. Doctor allows my wife to get up for bathroom breaks and to take 3 minute showers. Day 14: ultrasound shows 2.74 cm with minor funneling, wife put back on strict bedrest (only allowed up to for BMs) We are now at 26weeks and 2 days. During this time, there has been no change in dialation, still 1 cm. She has had no contractions other than the occasional Braxton Hicks and those are few and far between. She's pregnant with a girl, which I understand can be a plus. After the last ultrasound, our doctor decided against sending her home until at least week 28. Her opinion at that time (now 3 days ago) was this: "...28 weeks is extremely likely at this point and I think 32 weeks is very do-able." I've done a lot of research and my concerns are what sort of long term problems we can expect depending on how far along we get. My feeling right now is that I don't want to subject a tiny baby to the tortures of heroic, life saving efforts. I guess my question for those in the know is this: - given the info I provided, what's your gut feel for a likely outcome, both number of weeks we can hope to get and the sorts of short and long term problems for our little girl? Thanks so much for your time, Stressed Daddy to B