The Latest

Normally right about now, I would be posting pictures of sweet baby Kaitlyn. However, with all the craziness that happened at the hospital today, I left them behind by accident. Today we went in for a normal, run of the mill, ultrasound. I didn't expect anything but a good outcome. For the most part, Kaitlyn's outcome was very good. She is a healthy 4 pounds 1 ounce so far, and everything seems to be growing just as it should. Strong heart rate, and she is FINALLY head down! Yahoo! I was so excited for this fact because I was starting to realize that in about 8 weeks or less, we will be right on target to meet Kaitlyn....not even thinking it could be less.

It wasn't until they started doing ultrasounds on the baby's umbilical cord that I started to wonder, "is this normal?" They were measuring the blood flow in the cord itself. I wondered what they were watching for. My first thought being that the cord was wrapped around her neck or something worse. The tech's didn't say a word. When the ultrasound was over, and we waited to find out the news about our little baby.

A doctor came in and informed us that everything looked good anatomically with Kaitlyn. I was relieved to hear that. But, they said the fluid was measuring low. I was measuring at a 7, when 11 - 20 is "normal." Then the questions started flying in; did I notice a gush of water, or any trickle or water at any point? Well, I have had something of a trickle, but being pregnant everything seems to "trickle" in the 8th month, and I don't know what is considered normal. They said that they needed to do a pelvic exam and run some tests to find out if I had unknowingly ruptured my membranes. I would also need a non stress test.

I was worried sick. They mentioned that low fluids can cause cord compression. During the non stress test, I was relieved to find that Kaitlyn seemed to be reacting normally to the test. The amniotic fluid test came back negative which I have to assume is what we wanted to hear seeing as I am typing this blog at home and not rushing off to have the baby. I will have non stress tests twice a week with ultrasounds to measure fluid from now until the end of this pregnancy.

Everything at this point is flashing right before my eyes. I realized today that although we seem more prepared than we were around this time Ellie was supposed to be born, that we aren't ready nearly enough. I have a list of things for Shayne to take out of storage, we need to get the girls room ready, baby clothes out, and just get things ready if she comes earlier than planned. I even decided to pack my bags now just in case something unexpected happens during one of these tests.... Now we're saying, "lets just make it at least 5 more weeks Kaitlyn," which is not something I thought I would EVER hear myself say with Ellie being born at 41 weeks!!!

Her birth feels closer than ever. I hope we are ready when she comes. My fingers are crossed for our next visit to Maternal Fetal Medicine on Tuesday for more tests. I hope the numbers go up and our baby Kaitlyn will be back on track. I will keep you posted. In the meantime, I know we will be praying hard for our health, and if you are reading this and have a prayer to spare I hope you will too. So - that's the latest. We'll keep our blog updated as we go along.