Another amnio for tomorrow

Today my liver enzymes went up yet again. Since they continue to rise the doctor contacted the perinatologist (high risk ob) to see what they suggested. They suggested that they come down and perform another amnio tomorrow to see how the lung development of the little one was. The doctor explained to me that during a stressful pregnancy (high blood pressure, protein in urine) that babies lungs normally develop faster than during a normal pregnancy. She told us that she didn't know for sure if his lungs would be fully developed but that they thought it was time to check them again since my blood work keeps getting a little worse each day. If the lungs are developed then it is possible that they will induce labor sooner than the 36 weeks. The doctor also informed us today that at 35 weeks the baby will be evaluated as to whether or not he will need to spend time in the NICU. She told us that he was measuring 2 weeks early at the last ultrasound and that he is a big baby for his gestational age, which we already knew. She also said that babies which come from moms with preeclampsia (high blood pressure) normally do really well once out of the womb since they are relieved of the stress they have been undergoing. If once they perform the amnio tomorrow and his lungs are not developed then it is just a waiting game on delivery. Once the lab work for the liver enzymes and/or protein in my urine get too bad they will not wait any longer on the lungs to develop and will induce me at that point. This means, according to the doctor, within 7 to 10 days regardless of the amnio Phillip and I will have our little boy here with us! We are very excited. We do not want me to get to the point of being sick from the rising liver enzymes. The effects of high liver enzymes are headache, blurred vision, abdominal pain, and frequent severe vomiting. The doctors do not want my condition to get to the point of having these symptoms and therefore would induce if these conditions begin to exist. Also, letting the condition worsen could also be bad on the placenta and cause the placenta to begin to break away and cause the need for an emergency c-section. The doctors are really against me having a c-section at this time, especially an emergency section. The doctor also told us once they begin the induction process labor will probably last somewhere around 20 hours since I am only 35 weeks. This has been a lot of news to get for today, but it is wonderful knowing that in a few short days our little man will be here with us and we will more than likely going to get to spend Christmas at home with him. Right now we do not have a time that the amnio will be performed but I am hoping they are able to work us in as early as possible. Once they have done the amnio it will take about 2-3 hours for the results to come back and if everything looks good induction could happen as early as tomorrow. We are not getting our hopes up just yet but we can't wait to meet him.

Other than the news of meeting our little one soon today has been a pretty simple day. Mom has stayed with me the last two nights and Phillip is on night duty here with me tonight. Just to let you know the nutrition department did manage to get breakfast and lunch right today but of course they couldn't make it a full day of correct meals. The funny things about dinner was the one item I told them I absolutely did not want was one of the items on the tray. I decided to skip the dinner tray and went down to the cafeteria with mom, dad and Phillip.

Well, I will update again tomorrow when we know more about what the doctors are thinking. The doctor that is on call today goes off tomorrow and my other doctor will be on. It will be nice to get the other doctors opinion on my situation. I really like both doctors but each doctor has her own thoughts and it is nice to get to hear what they each are thinking. Keep praying for us and we will update you tomorrow.