Baby Talk

I had my perinatologist appointment this morning, and Isaac and John came along. It was a very long morning out with a toddler and I was so thankful Isaac took the morning off to help me with John, and to be there to check on our little girl. The ultrasound lasted almost 45 minutes and was incredibly thorough. Dr. Read was very nice and answered all of our questions, and gave us some wonderful pictures of her as we were leaving, which I'll post at the bottom.

As far as the results, there's both good and bad involved. Baby Girl Stegman looks absolutely perfect in every way, shape, and form. He checked and re-checked all of her vital organs, bones, facial structure, etc. and couldn't find a single anomaly or abnormality about her. She's perfectly healthy!

BUT, she's still measuring VERY small, at about the 7th %ile for her gestational age. Usually this is a concern because babies this small tend to have a reason for being this small, but some babies just end up being petite little babies for no apparent reason. The problem still remains that her growth is continuing to slow, however, and that's where all the bad news comes in. About 12 days ago she was (approximately) in the 24th %ile for her gestational age, and now she's at less than a 10%. I have been advised to get a lot more rest (pretty much bedrest), boost up my calorie intake a bunch, take my vitamins, and return to the specialist every 2 weeks for more ultrasound checks. I also have to go see my midwives every week for a non-stress test on the baby, which measures her heartbeat during periods of movement and rest. It's going to be a looong third trimester!

As for prayer, we could really use it! Please pray for our little one to gain weight and continue up the curve, so that we can avoid a premature c-section at all costs. Please pray for me emotionally as well. Many of you might not know this but I am a huge natural childbirth advocate. I never want to deliver in a hospital again, and to be completely honest, a c-section would be devastating for me personally. I will always do what I deem best for the health of my baby, of course, but I still hope and strive for a natural delivery with this baby. I'm going to be doing everything in my power to keep her growing at a constant rate to make her birth into this world much more peaceful than a c-section and NICU stay. Thank you for your prayers, and I'll keep updates coming as we know more details.

That's her hand on the left side of her face by her eye