Madeline Rose's Birth

Madeline Rose Richter

November 22, 2010

9:01 am

9 lbs 4 oz

20.5 inches

Home Stretch

My c-section is scheduled to happen less than two weeks from now.  Here are some updates from the last few weeks:

• I am huge.  I'm not kidding.
• All my non-stress tests have been fine, though Baby Girl tends to want to sleep through them...which makes for some long tests since the point is to monitor her movement.
• All the recent ultrasounds have been encouraging.  While there was a period of 5-6 weeks over the summer when her limbs didn't show any measurable growth, she has shown growth over the last month.  Her arms and legs are proportionate to each other and are about 6-7 weeks behind what's considered "normal."
• On the other end of the spectrum, her head and abdomen are huge.  Off the charts.  They are both measuring at least four weeks ahead of "normal."  But this shouldn't affect the delivery because they already determined I'm having a c-section.
• Dr. M. is hopeful that if there is something abnormal going on, it is mild and won't involve lots of medical issues.  Still no signs of hydrocephaly, and the thorax and abdomen are fine.  We even got to see her practice breathing last time.
• Unlike her big brother, it looks like Baby Girl will be coming into this world with a lot of hair on her head.
• I have officially crossed over into the "I have too much amniotic fluid" category, common in gestational diabetics.  No one seems too concerned right now.
• Have I mentioned how big I am?  I have been getting the "Looks like any day now!" comments from strangers for the last month.  I know this is pretty common for lots of pregnant women, and it happened my first time around...but not this much.  People look scared when the see me coming, like I'm going to steamroll them.  Some people just stare at my stomach in shock without ever making eye contact.  This mostly happens with Germans, they stare a lot more than Americans and aren't at all self-conscious about it.
• The most recent ultrasound was last Friday, and they estimated Baby Girl to weigh a little over eight pounds.  Scary to think how big she'll be in two weeks.

Having ultrasounds every week is a double-edged sword.  It's kind of stressful waiting for results every time, but it's awesome to get to see her every week.  Here are the latest images of Baby Girl and her chubby cheeks.

We are really looking forward to meeting her soon!  Mike and I took a brief tour of the labor & delivery wing and the mom & baby wing at the hospital last week.  The car seat has been installed.  I'm putting the finishing touches on the nursery.  We are about as ready as we're going to be.  I have yet another non-stress test today, tomorrow I meet with one of my surgeons, and Friday there's another ultrasound.  The waiting is the hardest part...

Halloween!

A couple of months ago, I was complaining to my sister that it's really hard to find good Halloween costumes at our base store.  She told me she had seen a great Yoda costume and would mail it to me from the states.  Ben was a little persnickety about last year's costume, so we didn't know what to expect this time.  He loved it...

...and even loved the hat!  We drove to the base where Mike works.  They had a trunk-or-treat event that started right after Ben's nap.

We were thrilled to get there and immediately see the daughters of friends of ours who asked to take him around to get candy.  Ben does love the ladies.

Ben also loves the candy.

We also ran into Ben's friend from kindergarten.  These two are adorable together.  They are always so excited to see each other.

Going to all the trunks to get the treats with Daddy.

Getting this kid to look at the camera is an impossible mission (for me, anyway).

There were two fire trucks across the parking lot, and "Sparky" was super nice to Ben.

Couldn't resist hugging the fire dog.

Also couldn't resist the bouncy house.  Shortly after this, he started to lose steam.  We got back in the car and drove off base to head home when a friend called to tell us to come back.

We had left as the results of the costume contest were being announced, and Ben won Best Costume for his age group!  So we headed back on base to get his prize...a Winnie the Pooh Halloween DVD!

Here he's showing off his prize to our friends.

Ben was tired but so happy to have his new movie and lots of candy.  And he never once tried to take off his costume, not even the hat.  Thanks, Aunt Katie!

Letter Blocks

From earlier this month...a rare moment where Ben let me get a video of him singing and playing.  He has many versions of the alphabet song, depending on which letters he likes that day.  Apologies for the cat tail.

Lollipop

Ben has a sweet tooth.  Yesterday I asked him what he wanted for breakfast: cereal or banana.  He asked for cookies.  Then popsicles.  He thought this was hilarious.  But he's kinda serious.  Dum-dum lollipops are great for him because he rarely takes more than a few licks, but it satisfies him.  On this day, he picked out a blue lollipop and it turned his tongue blue immediately.  When I tried to get a picture of him sticking out his tongue, he refused...but he did try to get me to take a lick.

So then Daddy tried to get a picture, at which point Ben became obsessed with the camera (this is why we have never tried to get professional photos).

When he's not begging for treats, Ben likes to play with all the coins I have in little baskets in the kitchen.  So when Mike decided it was time to roll some of them up, Ben was all over it.  He was very patient and precise.  And also dumped several rolls right after filling them.  Daddy was patient, too (mostly).

They just couldn't get enough of coin sorting, so the next day they moved on to Euro coins.  Mike said that Ben wasn't smiling because he was concentrating so hard.

Nana & Pap sent us a care package with a bunch of fun stuff for Ben.  When he set his eyes on his new snow boots, it was love at first sight.

Two tired people.  Mike made me post this one, despite the fact that I look like a giant grape.  Those books we were reading are also from Nana & Pap.

If you're looking for an update on the pregnancy, there's not much new to report.  I had my first non-stress test earlier this week and that was fine.  I had another ultrasound yesterday that pretty much showed the same measurements as last week.  The doctor spent a lot of time looking at the thoracic cavity, and she said the lungs are good.  She'll continue to evaluate me every week.  In the meantime, we're getting the nursery ready and trying to get Ben on the road to being potty-trained sometime before he graduates high school.

A Concerning Ultrasound

There are certain words a pregnant woman does not want to hear during an ultrasound by a high-risk doctor.  Words like "very concerning" and "genetic abnormality."  But that's what I got yesterday.  I went to my appointment, a little anxious about how my recent diagnosis of gestational diabetes is affecting the baby.  That wasn't what the doctor was worried about.  I seem to be doing fine so far with my glucose, and though I've had an increase in amniotic fluid it's still within the normal range.  But when Dr. M. started to take measurements of body parts, she started talking quietly with the ultrasound tech.

At my last ultrasound a little over a month ago, Dr. M. commented on how Baby Girl has a large head and small legs.  It was just an observation at the time.  Neither is surprising: Ben had a big head in utero, and shortness runs in my family.  But when Dr. M. measured the legs again yesterday, she said they had not grown much in the last month.  That, in combination with the large head, points to a possible problem.

Dr. M. said it could just be that we'll have a short kid.  But there is a significant chance that Baby Girl has a genetic abnormality that is affecting her bones.  First on the list of possibilities is dwarfism (achondroplasia).  Dr. M. explained that  we wouldn't necessarily see it in our family history since so many cases result from spontaneous genetic mutation.  She also asked if we had any family history of "soft bones" because that disease could also present itself in this way.  

She said that genetic testing can be done to attempt to determine exactly what is going on, but it would be best to wait until after delivery - nothing can be done about it in the meantime anyway.  I was already scheduled to go in for regular non-stress tests starting next week; now I'll also be having weekly ultrasounds with Dr. M. so she can continue to monitor Baby Girl's growth and keep an eye on her.  Because we don't know what's going on with her, there's a chance she'll have to be delivered early, depending on what all the monitoring shows.  But assuming nothing distressing happens, she'll be delivered by c-section on Nov. 22nd.  Dr. M. said that attempting to deliver her naturally could be quite damaging if she has skeletal problems.

Thankfully, Mike was at the appointment with me.  When he asked Dr. M. if he needed to change his work plans to stay in town for the next 6 weeks until delivery, she put it this way: There's a chance that Baby Girl will have to come out early, and there's a chance she could be very sick when she's born, so the closer to home Mike can be, the better.  He is in the process of talking with his squadron leaders right now to see what they can do.  So far they have been very supportive.  (Mike goes on the road a lot, and fall is a busy season...he was supposed to go on tour in a different part of Europe and then go to the states for training at the end of the month.)

Dr. M. explained that if there is an abnormality, it is only physical and doesn't involve any kind of mental retardation.  She emphasized that there is nothing we could have done to prevent this, that these things just happen.  She also emphasized that she does not have a definite diagnosis yet but we need to be prepared and watchful.  And while a baby with short legs might just be short (or start out that way), the fact the her legs don't appear to have grown in many weeks is a big red flag.

I think I was kind of in shock hearing all this at the appointment.  Mike was of sound enough mind to take the rest of the workday off to stay at home.  Which was good, because the first thing I did when we got home was to google "dwarfism" - not the best thing to do.  I started reading about all the different types, including a fatal one (which our baby does NOT have) and the different physical ailments that come along with that diagnosis.  I was not at all reassured by reading about sleep apnea in infants and hearing loss.  But I did learn some things, and have come up with questions for when I see Dr. M. next week.

The good news is that much of the ultrasound was fine.  Besides the head and leg measurements, the other body parts are normal: spine, heart, kidneys, and most importantly there's no hydrocephaly (fluid on the brain).  And when Dr. M. went to scan the face (which was a tough one last time) she got some great shots.

 

 

So now we wait.  My first non-stress test is on Tuesday, and then I'll have another ultrasound that Friday.  And I won't be Googling any more medical terms between now and then.

The "J" is Silent

 Benjamin has become very independent.  He wants to do everything himself.  He tells us this by saying "Benamin" when he wants us to let him do something without our help.  For example, one night he wanted to pick out his own pajamas.  He chose his monkey pants and his Elmo sweatshirt (not a typical part of his nighttime wardrobe).  This morning he insisted on walking down the stairs without holding my hand.  That wouldn't bother me except that he slipped on the stairs yesterday and would have fallen if I hadn't been helping him.

We've been getting all Ben's old baby stuff out of storage to put in the nursery and around the house.  Ben remembers every single thing.  He loves sitting (and standing) in his baby bathtub.

One of my shower gifts was a Boppy pillow.  Ben thinks it's for him.

My boys.  Ben absolutely loves his Lightning McQueen pajamas, and anything related to the movie Cars...but he's also recently discovered Toy Story and Toy Story 2, so Buzz Lightyear has become another favorite.

This week Ben found my tea chest.  He thought it would be great fun to take every teabag out of its paper wrapper and throw away all of the wrappers.  To distract him from trying that again, I let him open a new box of tea and remove the teabags...which weren't in wrappers to begin with.

One of the first really chilly mornings here, a week or so ago.  Fall here is really pretty.