10th Doctor's appt.

Yesterday, Sept. 18th, I had my 10th doctor's appt. We listened to the heartbeat and the pause is still there. However, it did not sound as pronounced as it did before so things could be getting better already. We will have to wait and see.

I still have a bladder infection so I have a prescription for the original pills that I was taking. I will keep alternating prescriptions until the bacteria is gone. The doctor is concerned with the possible development of a kidney infection if I don't keep taking the antibiotics. So for now I will have to continue on.

I also talked with him about the contractions I have been having so he checked me to see if I was dilated or effaced because I had been having contractions earlier that day for at least an hour in the morning and then sporadically throughout the day. The contractions I have start in my lower back and come around to the front and everything up to my diaphragm tightens up and it becomes very uncomfortable. Sometimes they are only in the lower abdomen and crawl up to my diaphragm which tenses up. He said I was not dilated or effaced and I need to watch the contractions to make sure I don't go into labor early.

My next appointment is on October 1st and then I go two weeks after that again. After October 16th I will begin oging every week until I deliver. The time is oging very fast and November will be here before we know it.

Ultrasound pictures

I don't know how well you can see the images. The first picture is of her face which I think you can see part of it that isn't shadowed. I think this picture looks like Cristian's ultrasound picture. People at work thought this picture looks like a little doll face. The second picture has her little foot.

Echo Cardiogram & Ultrasound in Duluth (9th Doctor's Appt.)

Yesterday, Sept. 5th, Josh and I went to Duluth for an ultrasound and echo cardiogram on the baby. The ultrasound showed that everything is developing great and that the baby is weighing in at over 3 pounds with a little over 10 weeks to go. We also were able to find out the sex of the baby and it is a...... GIRL!!!!!! She has hair on her head already and from the picture they gave us looks like Cristian. We even saw on the ultrasound her little ribcage moving as she was doing her practice breathing. That was really neat.

The echo cardiogram went just as well. Her heart is developed with all four chambers. She has an arrhythmia or irregular heartbeat which we had suspected. This is caused by premature atrial contractions which are extra beats that originate in the atria (the upper chambers of the heart) and don't carry over to the ventricular side of the heart (the lower half) causing the heart to pause and start beating over again. These are mostly harmless. She could outgrow this by the time she is born or eventually as she gets older. The doctor's are optimistic about this diagnosis being benign, but they still intend to listen to the heartbeat carefully every visit now to assure that this will not be a problem. I have to watch my caffeine intake by switching to caffeine free soda because the caffeine in regular pop will stimulate the baby's heartbeat causing more irregular rhythms.

8th Doctor's Appt.

Today was my 8th doctor's appointment since I am going every two weeks now. I still have a bladder infection so I am starting to take different antibiotics for that. The measurement of my abdomen was about normal.

When the doctor listened to the heartbeat there was an irregularity in the pulse. It would beat a few times and then pause and repeat. The doctor sent me to the OB Dept. in the hospital for a non stress test. The heartbeat remained unchanged so Josh and I are heading to Duluth tomorrow to see a specialist for an echo cardiogram of the baby's heart. We are hoping that the baby just has an irregular heartbeat or a murmur that it will outgrow. The ultrasound of the baby's heart will tell us what is causing the irregular heartbeat and what we will have to do regarding this situation.