So I am now 34 weeks pregnant. 6 short weeks til my due date. We went to our normal appointment this week and for the second appointment in a row my fundus is measuring small. At our 32 week appointment I was measuring 31 weeks, which wasn't too big of a deal because it was just a week difference. But this week i'm still measuring 31 weeks. They sent me over to do a growth ultrasound and looks like Jonah is slowing down as far as growth. His head is at 34 weeks (not surprising with the big-head gene coming from my side) but his bones and stomach are measuring 30-31 weeks. They said its called IUGR. Intrauterine growth restriction. My placenta has stopped sending nourishment to the baby and he is using his backup food (kind of like when you don't eat for a week and you break down fat to nourish your body) to help his brain and heart develop but it is stunting his body's growth. They are not sure if it's because of the placement of the umbilical cord (on the edge of the placenta wall) or if the placenta is just giving up. Either way, it's scary. Right now his heart-rate and movements are excellent so they weren't super concerned but they want to monitor us twice a week until deliver. If for any reason in the next few weeks they find that he still hasn't grown since this visit or his heart is in distress he'll be making an early appearance. They are hoping he will grow and I can make it to 39 weeks still but they said if he's still small at 37 weeks, he's coming out.
Whole lot of information huh? They said they were just being overly cautious at this point because he's still in the 16th percentile for growth and they usually don't do any non-stress tests until they are in the 10th percentile, but they said we are in the gray area and they just want to be careful.
Side Note: This is the same maternal fetal medicine Dr. that rushed us out of 20 week appointment with Coen because it was lunchtime. So, I have some trust issues with this guy. I hate when Dr's try to talk to you like a person, without talking to you like a person and use weird metaphors to help you understand that don't make any sense and then follows up their bs statement with "Right nurse...." and when I look at the nurse she has no idea what he's talking about either and says, "that's right." Get outta here dude.
Anyway, obviously we want to do what's best for our lil guy, but our wallets will not be happy. Going twice a week for these non-stress tests can be up to $200 a visit. I still need to talk to my actual Dr (the one I like) about what he thinks about it. Maybe we can go once a week or have the tests done in his office since i'll be going in once a week anyway at 36 weeks. Mike was pretty frreaked about it. Financially and for the baby. I know we have big headed, short babies, but this seems like a little bit more than just that.
So for the next few weeks I need to just take it easy. Lay on my side for bout 4-5 hours a day and increase my calories. If that doesn't help than it most likely because of the cord and there is nothing we can do about that.
All of those annoying "You're so tiny," comments are starting to make sense now.
Staying hopeful and I guess fattening myself up to make sure he's getting enough to eat.
BTW-These non-stress tests are crazy. They basically strap you up to the same monitor that they would when you are in labor to watch the heart-rate and contractions. They want the baby to be active and awake so they friggin buzz your stomach with this lil noisey vibrating thing. Its supposed to be similar to having an alarm go off next to your head. My kid literally tries to jump out of my stomach. Poor kid. Just grow would ya?!
