Brains & Brawn

Our son is making major headway (literally) with lots of brain and nerve development these past few weeks. He’s also strong enough to grasp a finger now! I’m still in the 7th month (31st week now), so I still have a squash in my belly.

I felt Rock having hiccups for the first time last night! It scared me at first because I thought it was his heart pounding, but realized after a few minutes of the repetitive jolts that it was more likely my first experience with him having hiccups! That was a MUCH more fun reality than the original concern.

We started the new regimen of twice-a-week appointments on Tuesday (I have the 2nd appointment Friday). We will continue that schedule until Rock arrives. Tuesday we had a growth ultrasound and NST, and then met with the doctor to discuss the results of both. Rock’s heartbeat was 137 bpm and they measured his weight at 2lbs 13oz. When they measured his body (belly, femur, etc) he measured in the 22nd percentile this week (at my 28 week appointment with the specialist, he measured in the 33rd percentile). This decrease worried me, but the doctor said that difference is a matter of millimeters in their measurements, so they weren’t concerned. They will only be concerned if the next growth ultrasound (in 2-3 weeks) shows a decreasing trend too. (He told me a baby isn’t considered ‘small’ until they’re in the 10th percentile and they’re diagnosed with a growth problem if they’re in the 5th percentile.)

My fluid level was back at its lowest measurement of 6 AFI. But during the ultrasound, the tech took a Doppler reading of the blood flow in the umbilical cord to measure the flow to the baby, and those results were really good. And the NST results showed Rock’s heart responding well for the 2nd time now. So all-in-all, even though things appeared more negative than before (with lower fluid and smaller baby measurements), the doctor explained that none of those would cause them to deliver our son at 30 weeks gestation.

Sooo…I get to stay pregnant for another week (at least)!

I asked a lot of questions and here are some of the interesting facts I was told:
- If the doctors felt the need to deliver Rock early, I would be given steroid shots in advance to help speed up his lung and last minute development.
- If I go into labor around/after 35 weeks, the doctors will not stop the process.
- If Rock is fine and might make it to his due date, the doctors will not let me go past 39 weeks (no matter what). He explained that when they are doing twice-a-week testing this early, they will always deliver the baby by 39 weeks. So Rock will be here by approximately November 11th (at the latest).
- Every week the doctors base the decision to deliver early on Risk and Reward. Right now, at 30-31 weeks, there are a lot more risks than rewards. But later, at 37 weeks (for example) there are a lot more rewards than risk, so they might be more inclined to induce delivery.