We had an appointment with my obstetrician, Dr. Benoit, here in Kelowna a few weeks ago. I have learned, at this point to take everything the doctors say with a grain of salt, as we have been told so many conflicting things throughout this pregnancy. Although the perinatologists at Women's Hospital did not voice any concerns about having me deliver in Kelowna, and did not suggest any reason that this baby would come prematurely, Dr. Benoit seemed to think otherwise. He told us that he has never seen a TTTS complication this early in pregnancy and seemed to indicate that he thought it naive to think that the rest of this pregnancy would go without complication. He also voiced his concerns about delivering this baby in Kelowna. Since he is thought to be the best OB in Kelowna, I guess we will be coming to Vancouver to deliver Sayde. I, myself, remain confident that Sayde will be able to go until close to full term. With my luck, she will probably be two weeks late. Dr. Benoit's main concern is that the baby will reach a point where she will no longer be growing sufficiently and will need to be taken early. A preterm baby who already has known complications was more than he felt comfortable with, given the resources here.
I am suppose to be followed for ultrasounds every two weeks to monitor Sayde's growth and development. This morning I went for my first ultrasound in a month (every 2 weeks from here on in). This time I only had to drive a few blocks. A wonderful friend joined me as Brendon had to work. I now dread ultrasounds and don't wish to be alone to experience any more hurt and pain.
As I suspected the tech had no background on my pregnancy prior to the scan. I asked her right away what she knew, because I wanted to avoid an awkward and uncomfortable situation. From what she knew, it was still a viable twin pregnancy. I quickly corrected her and gave her the coles notes of my complicated situation. It sure made a difference in the mood in the room. For the first time she talked openly throughout the scan about what she saw and asked me questions as well. Sayde was relatively quite throughout the scan, but her heart rate was at it's normal 155bpm. The tech was concerned about her lack of movement, until she finally started her regular boxing match with my bladder. She has now moved into a transverse position with her bum on the left and her head on the right - sprawling across my upper abdomen. This leaves her arms and legs in the perfect position to pound on my bladder and pelvis. It took awhile to get her into a good position to get all of the necessary measurements, but she finally cooperated. We were only able to get a frontal view of her face this time, which I always find a little creepy.
I asked to have the radiologist come in and give me any insights he had immediately after the scan. As I anticipated, he said that were it not for my report and the fact that there was one non-viable fetus, he would have viewed this as a normal single pregnancy. This was what the radiologist at Women's hospital had told us may happen. He said that the isolated head circumference measurement did appear to be on the small side compared to the rest of the baby's growth, however, without Sayde's history, he would not have otherwise flagged this as a concern. He did indicate that the head circumference measurement were under the 10th percentile. This was my biggest concern as, given the previous measurements, it may indicated a continued lag in the growth and development of the brain. For now we can feel happy that the fluid levels, body growth and other organ development appear normal. As Dr. Pugash from Women's Hospital indicated, most other radiologist would not be able to picked up on the very subtle changes that she identified. It makes me wonder how things may have been different if we hadn't been sent to Women's. After all, the radiologist in Vernon tried to comfort me by telling me that I still seemed to have on normally developing baby. Hopefully, the signs remain subtle and the subsequent effects on Sayde remain minimal. My continued hope and prayer is that this little girl's brain keeps on growing.
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