Thursday I went to see my doctor to check a stomach bug I'd been having. The bug was just a bug, no big deal, but when my doctor weighed and measured me she found that I hadn't grown since my last appointment almost a month ago. This obviously got her worried and she sent me in for an ultra sound right away.
During the ultrasound they found that my amniotic fluid was a bit low and that the baby's femer bones were about 2 weeks underdeveloped. She said this could be due to one of two things. Either I have just been too active and needed to rest, or my placenta was not doing it's job and giving the baby the nutrients it needed to grow. She put me on bed rest imediately and the next day I went in for a non-stress test.
During the non=stress test, I was hooked up to two monitors on my stomach. One measured any contractions I was having and the other monitored the baby's heart beat. I lied on my right side for 15 minutes, my back for 15 minutes and then my left side all the while holding on to a button that I was supposed to press whenever I felt her move. The point of the test was to check that when the baby was active, her heart rate increased and when she was still it would decrease a little.
Everything went really well and Isabella's heart did really well. This was really good news and means that my placenta is doing it's job and she is receiving enough blood and oxygen through it.
Now, I just stay on bed rest and have another appointment this Thursday. We will do another ultra sound to check if she has grown and that my amniotic fluid levels have gone up. If all goes well we will continue to monitor her weekly with an ultra sound until she's ready to come out.
The worst case senario would be that she hasn't grown and we will most likely look into taking her out via c-section earlier than expected. Just as a precaution, my doctor has given me two doses of a steroid shot to speed up the development of Isabella's lungs, should she come out sooner than later. I will be 35 weeks on Saturday, so I am hoping we can keep her in there until I am full term at 37 weeks.
My doctor is really optimistic and confident that the bed rest should do the trick and that she should start growing normally. James and I hope this is the case as well and for now we are just anxiously awaiting Thursday's appointment.
It's been quite a week. To think I only went in for a stomach bug and we found out all of this. It makes me so thankful that I went in that day and that we are addressing Isabella's lack of growth head on. I have been overwhelmed with the support of our friends and my co-workers here in Mexico City. They have called, brought food, books, movies. They are amazing and have really shown me and James love.
It's hard to be so far from friends and family in San Diego right now, but God provides and He has done that for us where we are.
So I'll end this post with a strong push for Bella to grow. And for now, I'll put all of my energy into resting... sounds like an oxymoron :)
