March 3rd started out like any other day up until that point. It was my seventh day of strict bed rest, and my plans for the day included grading papers for school and going to my doctors office for my 4th and final level 2 ultrasound. Throughout the morning I noticed that Charlie wasn't being as active as he usually was and mentioned it to JD. He assured me everything was fine and that I'd be getting to see Charlie shortly. I proceeded to have my mac n cheese for lunch and loaded up to head to the appointment. I was going to this appointment alone since the previous appointments went so well and we figured JD could stay at work for a big meeting.
Once arriving at the office I noticed that I was feeling Charlie move again and felt much better. Eventually, anew girl that I'd never met came to get me for the ultrasound which made me nervous since Mrs. Cheryl had done the rest. We went to a new room and got started. A second technician was in the room because she was learning how to do level 2s. I thought nothing of it and we began.
Pretty soon into the ultrasound the tech asked how much he weighed at his last scan. I explained that he'd been an even 5lbs at his 32/33 week scan. This started a back and forth with the tech about "Are you sure? When was that again? Did we do that scan?" etc. The tech got a certain look on her face that was undeniable. I asked how much we weighed today and she said plainly, "five pounds five ounces" and continued scanning.
The whole tone in the room changed. The other tech had gotten up and was standing right at the screen with the first tech. There was lots of hushed conversation and looks. You could cut the tension in the air with a knife. I knew right away something wasn't right. There should have been more growth than that in 4 weeks. This was the point in the pregnancy where he should have been gaining about half a pound a week. According to that estimate he should be about 8 pounds. Something. Was. Wrong.
After having already had 3 scans I was pretty familiar with what they looked at on these scans. At this point I could tell they were no longer looking at his heart and brain as they usually did. Instead she was doing a lot of measuring. I noticed immediately that all of his gestational age predictions were several weeks BEHIND where they should have been. I was 37 weeks that day and the scans were estimating 32-34 weeks. I knew this wasn't a good sign because those scans had been measuring a week ahead since 18 weeks. Now they were several weeks behind. Again, I didn't have to be a tech to know something wasn't right.
I also noticed that she was spending a lot of time looking at his umbilical cord and watching the blood flow through the cord. This was very different than any of the scans before. She also started watching his chest and focusing on his nose and mouth a lot. I couldn't handle the tension so I asked... "I know you're not really supposed to tell me anything but can I please ask what we are looking at???" She simply said, "We are just doing a biophysical profile and watching how he breaths and moves."
Alarms went off in my head as I had read about these before. I knew that of they were doing this there must have been some concerns. Something. Was. WRONG. I was starting to lose it. Then I saw what I didn't want to see, and convinced myself I didn't see. What was that there near his neck? Why did it have blue and red blood flow patterns like when they were looking at his umbilical cord? We obviously weren't going to talk about it just yet...
The scan was over pretty quickly without even looking at his heart or brain, which, remember, were the whole reasons we were there. I was ushered off to the waiting room where I was used to waiting close to an hour before the MFM doctors were ready to Skype. Because I didn't know what else to do, I text JD, my midwife, and my friend, Sosha, who works at the office. I quickly asked for prayer, explained that Charlie was too small, and said that they looked at the cord a lot. I was freaking out. Teresa, my midwife asked where I was and said she would be right there. I love that woman :)
At this point I was taken to get vital signs, which I had only done once before with these level 2 appointments. I was alarmed when by blood pressure was the highest it has been yet. I don't remember at this point exactly what it was, but it was definitely over the preeclampsia guide of 140/90. Bells. Alarm. Panic
I was sent back to the waiting room. I did the number one thing you aren't supposed to do. I got on Google. I started typing in things like baby too small, pregnant, ultrasound, gestational age is behind, etc. Every single search result said the same thing. IUGR -Intra Uterine Growth Restriction. Right as I was about to dive in to reading, Teresa walked up. She sat with me and discussed what had happened in the scan. She quickly told me she wanted to sit in on the Skype conference call with me since I was there by myself. I didn't know if this was a good sign or not.
Not even 5 minutes later I was called back into the room where we always Skype. The fact that it was only about 15 minutes after the ultrasound alarmed me. It usually took close to an hour for my office to send the scans and then for the MFM doctors in Atlanta to interpret them and get back to me. Not today.
The doctor appeared on the screen and I was relieved to see a familiar face. At each of my appointments before I had met with a different doctor. This was the same one from the third appointment. I knew that she was thorough and to the point. She quickly started by telling me I did have preeclampsia, the first time the word had ever actually been used by any of the doctors throughout the pregnancy. She then jumped right in to saying that the baby was too small and had IUGR. Yup. Google was right. She also said that he wasn't moving enough and seemed to be struggling with "breathing." He only got a 4 out of 8 on his biophysical profile (which measures things like movement, fluid levels, breathing, muscle tone, and heart rate), and anything below 6/8 is concerning. The shock of my life came when she said it was time to have the baby. Today. And soon. She didn't want to keep me any longer and was sending me to the hospital.
Questions flooded my mind - What? The hospital? It's 3 weeks early. JD is in a big meeting. And IUGR? My baby is too small? What? Is he ok?? What about his heart and brain? Are they ok? Am I being induced? Am I having a c section? How am I getting to the hospital? WHAT?!? I immediately texted JD and told him to get to the office right away.
Thankfully since Teresa was in the room she was able to talk to the MFM doctor and work out some details. I went numb and just heard Charlie Brown teacher "wah wah wah." The next thing I knew Teresa told me to call JD and tell him we were having a baby TODAY. She was going to go talk to Dr. Yarborough, my OB, and she would come back to see me with a plan.
Numb. That's all I can say to describe how I was feeling. Then the door opened as Teresa left and my friend Sosha was standing right outside. As soon as she saw my text from earlier and finished with her patient she came to find me. God love that girl. She came right in the room and prayed with me. She had just the right words to say and helped me process what was going on.
Teresa came back and said we were definitely having a baby today. Surely I had time to go home, change, get my bags, and wait for JD, right? WRONG.I was told to drive myself to the hospital and have JD meet me there. Teresa would meet me there in about an hour. The plan was for me to have some tests run once I checked in so that we could decide if I could labor on my own or if we needed a c section. Bottom line- The next time I went home it would be as a new mommy. It was go time.
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