Open House and Other News

It's time to post about John!  He had an open house the other week to celebrate his arrival with the team.  The open house was for other dentists, endodontists, lab technicians and other branches of the dental community, to come and see who and what Dr. Young was all about.  Sadly, once again I could not make it!  I've missed out on some really big things for him, like a a transition course down in Arizona, the open house, and other office gatherings.  Sigh...what do you do?  Growing this baby has proved to be a difficult job!  Thankfully John's mom got the above picture for me.  You can see the senior dentist John works with, his wife and the office manager of the practice.  All of them the nicest people!  John really is so fortunate to be in such a wonderful place.  

(Outside the office, they share the building with an orthodontist upstairs.)

(The waiting area inside the office)

Here are a few pictures of the practice.  These were taken back in February, I haven't been able to update and get new ones!  But, in only 6 months, it's basically remained the same.  I really wanted to get a few shots of John's work area (maybe him working on a patient in the chair), but it will have to wait!  I have the camera and am currently spending about 3 weeks with John's parents in Seattle.  It's been easier for John's mom to watch us here and for me to go to my appointments.  John will have to take pictures another time, for another post!  He loves working at the practice here in Bellingham, and feels like it's a really good fit.  I 'm really happy for him and the exciting times for him ahead, as he builds up the practice and gets into his own groove.  Way to go Dr. Young!  And yes, the patients tell him all the time that he really is so young! Well, in looks anyways, 30 isn't horribly young.  Wouldn't it be nice to age with a baby face?!

To update everyone on pregnancy news, I went in for another appointment this last Wednesday and received similar news.  SCH is measuring 10 cm x 4, with other smaller hemorrhages throughout the placenta.  There is both old and new blood.  The doctors are baffled as to why this is happening and for lack of a better word, he called it a 'funky' placenta.  Not one that a doctor typically sees.  He said there have been positive and negative outcomes with a placenta that looks like this, and that's why we have to keep a close eye on it.  He ordered some genetic testing to rule out any problems with the baby.  Thankfully, everything came back negative.  The ultrasound showed a 'bright spot' on the baby's heart, but because all the tests are negative and the baby is growing on track, they said it's not cause for concern.  It should resolve by the third trimester and have no lasting effects.  The only real concern is the bleeding!!!  Drama, drama is what this pregnancy has been about!  I love seeing him on the ultrasound, he already is the cutest thing to me, besides Caleb of course!

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Today, I went down to Seattle to see a Perinatologist.  Here in Bellingham, they do not have any 'high-risk' pregnancy specialists.  In fact, they do not have a ICU for babies if born before 34 weeks.  I went to Seattle and saw a group of specialists that I had actually seen with Caleb.  If anyone had not known, I had a SCH with Caleb as well.  By the time I saw a perinatologist with him, the doctor told me the size of the SCH was insignificant and that I would most likely carry a full term baby, with no other complications.  I did!  Caleb was born 4 days before his due date.  Sadly, the news from the Peri today was not the same.  

So I will first focus on the good before going into the bad and ugly.  Everyone likes happy news!  In my baby gender poll, two thirds of you said it was a girl, I had thought so too!  At least I had before 14 weeks (3 weeks ago the tech said she thought it was a boy)!  But---the gender is now official (or 98% official they say), and the baby is a BOY!!! Makes things easier for me!   The doctor said the baby looked great, no problems, questions or worries with the baby.   We counted all 5 fingers and toes on each hand and foot.  

(This is a picture of the face, in 2D ultrasound, the images show bones, so don't be scared!  You can see the mouth and eye sockets, and kind of the nose)

I had an ultrasound before my doctor's appointment.  The technician spent 45 minutes taking measurements and looking at the surrounding area.  She said that she wanted to show the results to the doctor and would then be back, to say I was done.  I waited forever for her.  A good 10 minutes and then some went by.  I thought maybe I was confused and had misheard her, maybe I was done after all?  So I toweled off my slimy tummy and was opening the door to leave, when she came back and said no, we're not done.  She wanted to look at a few more things and take more pictures.  Her being gone so long talking to the doctor and coming back to take even more pictures (after 45 minutes worth), I knew something had to be wrong.  Because I've had so many ultrasounds, I can read my anatomy pretty well by now.  I knew she was looking at the placenta and I could see the dark area underneath.  I prayed that it wasn't the hemorrhage, but what else could it be? After another 10-15 minutes worth, I was finally done!  It was then time for the doctor's interpretation of the ultrasound.  I was shown to the exam room and had my blood pressure taken.  The nurse said, 'well, thankfully your blood pressure is really low, one less problem to worry about!'  Knowing the Ultrasound tech refused to give any information (a bad sign of things too) I asked the nurse if the SCH was still there.  She said, 'oh yes, it spans the whole length of the placenta now.'  Having done research on this particular condition, I knew this is the worst possible place it could be.  The SCH had spread considerably.  

(Here is a very basic drawing of the problem, the membrane separates from the uterine wall, leaving a pool of blood, preventing the two from going back together)

The doctor then came in to give me all the ugly news.  I really liked the doctor today, she was fantastic, but it was her job to tell me the facts, and not sugar coat anything.  The SCH now measured over 9 cm x 3.5 cm x 3.5.  It had nearly quadrupled in size from 2 weeks ago.  The doctor at the Bellingham practice had told me to increase my activity, obviously he was wrong and it was way too soon.  In that time, so much bad had happened.  The doctor went in to the 'ugly' part, saying what exactly this meant.  It meant all kinds of potentially horrible things.  The SCH could cause placenta to completely detach, the placenta could die slowly, slowly cutting off nutrients to the baby, the SCH (which is blood in the uterus) could cause the uterus to contract and send me into pre-mature labor (which I did have regular Braxton Hicks contractions for 2 hours the past 2 nights and has scared me to death, thankfully they eventually subside), the contractions could also shorten my cervix (which it has done, but it's not at a dangerous length), also my water could break due to the pressure exerted by the SCH and labor would follow.   The doctor didn't know what would happen in my case, but she did say this is something to be very worried about, that I'm not making a big deal out of something small, this was a major complication (b/c of size & location) that opened the door for many other problems to happen.  She had seen many patients with hemorrhages, but mine was a bad case, a large SCH in a critical area.  Basically there was nothing positive, except the baby looked great at the moment.  The doctor's goal is to get me to 30 weeks.  I know it's in the Lord's hands and I believe miracles can happen, I just hope I can be one of them.  Stay baby stay!  We love you too much already.