29 Weeks and Ultrasound

I am 29 weeks pregnant today and we got to see Alanna. Yes, her name is Alanna Rae. I am SO BEHIND on posting, I feel like there are a million things I have forgotten to blog about!

We chose Alanna Rae because Alanna (A-Lon-na) is my middle name and Rae after my Grandma Whitesell's middle name. There are several meanings that I have found for the name Alanna, but my favorite one is "precious". She is a precious gift, that is for sure.

Our ultrasound went really well today! Dr. Hintz measured my amniotic fluid right away. They measure this by centimeters. There are typically 4 pockets of fluid that surround the baby. In one pocket alone today I had DOUBLE the amount that I had total at the end of my pregnancy with Bennett. Right now it is looking normal and healthy...thank God!

Her limbs are all measuring 4-5 weeks behind. I looked back at Bennett's measurements at around 29 weeks and they were all 5-6 weeks behind. They are very similar little babies. She is estimated to be around 2 pounds right now.

Her brain and heart look great. Dr. Hintz can still see that one of her heart valves is a little bit thicker than on the opposite side, but the blood flow is very good through her heart so he is not concerned at this point.

I didn't get any pictures. I know!!! She is so beautiful too, so pretty. It is my fault for not asking for any, he usually gives me plenty, we were all just so focused on looking at her, I forgot to remind him.

I am continuing to grow, I have just felt so much better this pregnancy than with Bennett. On numerous occasions during a meal, Adam will just look at me and say, "It is so nice to see you eating while you are pregnant! Do you realize you didn't eat very much when you were pregnant with Bennett?" I only gained 10 pounds total during Bennett's pregnancy and I know that I am WELL BEYOND that with Alanna. I think I am as big as I was at 9 months with Bennett as I am right now!

I will go back in 2 weeks for another appointment (I can't believe I'm in the 2 week check-up zone!) and then 2 weeks after that I will have another ultrasound (June 30). She will be here before we know it.

Breathe

On Monday we had an appointment for Bennett at the University of Iowa Hospitals with Dr. Trapane, a genetics doctor. It was his yearly exam with them. They did a skeletal survey, which is basically x-rays of his entire body, in the morning, and then at noon we met with the doctor.

Once again Bennett continues to stump everyone! His bones look completely normal, nothing has changed over the past year. Praise God! They did an upper to lower segment ratio (measure from hip to toe and compare it to his arm span) and it is 1.6 with the average at his age being 1.53. At our last appointment in Iowa City his ratio was 1.9, so he is actually become MORE proportional over time. The doctor also feels that Bennett's upper-arm length looks shorter because he has big biceps:) He is our little muscle-man! They were very happy with the way he is growing. He weighs in at 23 pounds, 11 ounces (7th percentile), 32.5 inches (13th percentile), with a head circumference of 46.5 cm (10th percentile)...a peanut, but such a cute one!

We had a long discussion about the fact that the baby I am carrying now is showing the same signs that Bennett did. Dr. Trapane says that obviously it must be something that is being passed down in a recessive manner through our genes. This means that all of our children have a 25% chance of having whatever this is, and Ethan has a very good chance that he is a carrier of it. Of course, it takes just the right two people to come together to make these genes show themselves, and Adam and I are the right two people. We have the exact same genes that have a change in them that is creating this in our kids. Make sense? The stumper is, we don't know what it is! She says that the majority of children with skeletal dysplasias have a change in their bones that can be seen in x-rays. For example, the hip bones in children with achrondroplasia are actually shaped a little bit differently. THEY SEE NOTHING DIFFERENT IN BENNETT'S BONES!! :) This can change as Bennett continues to grow, but we just wait and watch...we are completely at peace with this.

On Monday, we also had an ultrasound with my OB, Dr. Hintz. This is the longer ultrasound that he typically does at 20-22 weeks. I didn't even know what to think, what to expect. When Bennett was inside of me every ultrasound we went to held grim news, and it only got worse the closer I got to my due date. This was not the case today!!!!!! Praise God!!!!!!!

The fourth ventricle in her brain that was dilated is, "unremarkable", nothing to really comment on anymore. Dr. Hintz said that it isn't even something that he would recognize as abnormal in another baby. It has shrunk down so much from 4 weeks ago.

There is still fluid around her heart, but NOT EVEN NEAR the amount that was there last time. He said the only thing that he can see that may be causing it is that one of the ventricles is a little thicker on one side, causing the blood on that side to flow through slightly faster than on the other side. There is great blood flow through it, so he is not overly concerned. He is going to continue to watch it.

Her arms and legs are measuring around 3-4 weeks behind. However, her bones look nice and straight. Everything else looks to be growing just as it should be. AND, I will only have to deliver in Iowa City if something changes with her heart.

Here are some ultrasound pictures of our precious baby girl that is a special gift from God.




Isn't she just gorgeous! :) Ethan, Bennett and this little sweetie are made just the way God wanted them to be made. I am going to be the proud mom of 3 beautiful children soon. Regardless of how short or tall they are, or what struggles they may face, I know that God has a plan for each of them.

Psalm 139: 1-18

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.

You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.

You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.

Sweet Baby

We had an ultrasound on Monday. We are having a girl! This is very exciting for us, we have really wanted a girl. There are some complications that are going on though, so please pray for her. She is showing the same limb shortening as Bennett did (2-3 weeks behind at this point). Some of her bones are a little bit more curved than they should be. Her heart has fluid surrounding it. One of the ventricles in her brain is dilated.

Please pray for her and for us as we begin this journey again.

We go back for another ultrasound on April 5th. It is a waiting game again.