Tuesday, September 9, 2008

39 week appointment: Echoes of September Past

I heard it too. The irregular heartbeat. buh-buh-buh-----buh-buh-buh---- I know it's not supposed to skip like that. She had me hop off the table and get dressed.

"We have three pieces of news. None great. All unrelated. One: You're retaining a lot of fluid. Two: While the baby's head is on your cervix, it's very high. This makes a c-section highly likely, though it makes a prolapsed cord unlikely. Three: The heartbeat is irregular."

She kept talking. I waited until she was done. I tried not to cry. But it didn't work. I cried anyway. I reminded her that those same words had been spoken to us last year, at a different stage with a different pregnancy, and it didn't end well. She said it's usually nothing -- 90% of the time it's nothing, never heard again. She had me get back on the table. We heard it again. She got a cool, damp paper towel to wipe my face and made an appointment for an immediate ultrasound. I called P. Off we went.

The ultrasound showed very chubby cheeks, a very active baby, and "occasional to frequent arrhythmia." The baby was too big and too squished for them to get a good view of the heart. But they saw nothing to cause concern. 99% of the time they see this, it's nothing and goes away before birth or shortly after. So now we wait. No more work. Call if there's any change in movement, even if it seems insignificant. NST tomorrow. Waiting. September is for waiting.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

My thoughts are with you. Waiting is absolutely the worst. Focus on that 90%.

maresi said...

remember what you told me about being able to think clearly when faced with such strong emotions... it's near to impossible. I will be praying for only the best news in the days to come. peace and calm, k.

Sara said...

Thinking of you, k, and hoping this turns out to be nothing at all. :)

Meghan said...

I haven't had a chance to post about it yet, but at our 2nd night in the hospital, they noticed and arrhymthia. Poor little baby was hooked up to all these monitors, the call went out to NICU, and I sat in the nursery in tears (great for all the other new moms and dads to see). Turns out she is fine, they said the same thing, she was born a little early 38 weeks, 5 days. By the time we were discharged, they couldn't find any trace of it. We went to the peds office and she got the all clear again.

I won't tell you not to worry though, I turned into a crazy person at the hospital, alternating between tears and demanding to see different doctors. I'll be thinking of you all

HereWeGoAJen said...

Argh! I am so sorry. I will hope that it is nothing at all.

Nicky said...

It sucks that so much is up in the air for you right now. Sounds like the odds are heavily in your favor to end up perfect in the end, but man, waiting things out really does suck. I'll be thinking about you.

Loren said...

My stomach dropped for you when I read this post. Only because I can only imagine how sick I would feel in your shoes at that moment.
But I really, really think your baby is going to be just fine- I know so many whose baby's have had heart murmers or arrhythmias and they have been just fine.
Maybe since they know your baby is probably going to be born via C section they will just schedule that this week?
90%. 90%.90% ...

Katie said...

Oh, I am so sorry to hear this. I will be praying for you.

The only thing that I can say is that a c-section isn't that bad. I promise. In fact, I think that my recovery was easier than some of my girlfriends who had vag births. So, if it does come to that, it really isn't awful. I know that's the least of your worries right now, but if I can do anything to lessen your stress, you let me know.

Geohde said...

I hope everything goes well for you.

J

Lisa said...

K, hoping that everything is OK. Focus on the 90%. Keeping you in my thoughts.

Amanda said...

I'm thinking of you, P, and Lou. I hope the NST went well and am anxiously awaiting an update. (((hugs)))

Mama Bunny said...

It sounds like your doctor and the folks who ran the U/S are very positive - hang on to that as you go through these next few days. When will they decide on whether to do a C-section? Are they going to let you go to 40 before anything is done?

Heidi said...

Crossing my fingers, toes, everything I've got for you. You're in my thoughts.

Celebrate Woo-Woo said...

Hang in there. The odds are definitely stacked in your favor.

My littlest boy had an irregular heartbeat in utero. Skipped a beat every so often. Disappeared by the time he was born, though. And, I did my own research when I heard the news; very rare for it to be something other than a beginning of life anomaly.