We had three doctor appointments today- and my head is spinning!
First up was our high risk dr (Dr Dobak)for a biophysical profile and a non stress test (NST). The biophysical just checks his heart rate, his cord blood flow, and intestinal dilation. Then the NST checks his movement in relation to heart rate and any contractions I'm having. Everything was good today! Heart rate, movement, and flow were great and the intestines haven't swelled any more. The dr told us the baby is scoring very well. They grade the baby on various measurements they take at each visit and rate him out of 1000 points. So far baby is at 995 which is excellent news!! It doesn't really indicate how well his intestines are going to do after he's born, it just tracks how well he's maturing and thriving. Still lots up in the air until he gets out and we can see what's going on with his intestines. I lucked out in not having to get steroid shots for his lung development today too! We made it out of the "danger zone" so if I was to give birth now his lungs will be well enough along that he'll be ok.
Then we went to see the Florida OB, Dr Duke. We discussed C-section birth plan questions with her and she checked me for any progress. I'm 1 cm dilated and 50% effaced!! She said we should bring our bags to each appointment from now on in case they ask us to stay. We're getting close!!
Lastly, we finally got to meet the pediatric surgeon, Dr Lewis, today. She gave us some very real information about what she's seen at the NICU there. Some of it was what we expected, but she also told us some of the things that can go wrong (in very small percentages). She explained the process of feeding the intestines back into the abdomen and how the surgery will go, as well as things to look for in case there's complications and how the feedings will go. She told us it takes about a week or so to get the intestines back in and then 2-3 weeks before we know if the intestines work properly. All during this time, he's getting TPN which is nutrition through a PIC line into his system (not into his stomach). So the whole time his tummy won't know he's being fed but he's getting nutrients.:(
After we get some good bowel movements with no problems, they will start feeding him a few cc's of what I've been pumping. If he keeps digesting well enough, then they ramp up to where he can do full feeds. Once we get to full feeds with no problems we can go home! It'll be so important he gets what I pump because babies with gastro that get only formula have a 50% higher chance of parts of their intestines dying permanently which can be a huge problem. So I'll be pump pump pumping away!!
The thing that's so confusing for us is that one dr suggests we try to go for 39 weeks, another says she's never had a gastro baby go to 39 weeks so be ready for an earlier delivery, and the third suggested we set a definate surgery date not too far off to be sure all of the doctors we want there are ready (instead of rushing in at 2am for example). A lot to think about! Whew!
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