Wrapping Up the Second Trimester

Happy Holidays! Dave and I had a lovely Christmas vacation capped off with another routine appointment at CHOP. Vivienne continues to hold steady. Her growth is excellent (2 lbs. 5 ozs) and no new concerns have surfaced. Viv didn't appreciate the sonogram very much and spent the majority of the session kicking the crap out of the transponder. My stomach looked like it was experiencing a sizable earthquake. It was quite entertaining.

Viv doing her best Elvis impersonation (look at those lips!).

I'm a few days away from entering my third trimester, which is crazy! We have so much to do and only a few more weeks of productivity left. I will have one more routine appointment at CHOP at the end of January. After that I will officially transfer my care and will need to go in weekly for closer monitoring. We plan on relocating on March 1 and hope to have a room at the Camden Ronald McDonald House. You can't reserve rooms, and we may not know if one is available until that day, so it's a very fluid - and somewhat stressful - situation.

In addition to our sonogram, Dave and I met with a psychologist and received a NICU tour. The psychologist was very nice, and I think she will be a valuable resource going forward. It's amazing to me that CHOP is one of only a few hospitals that includes mental health services for parents. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty when dealing with birth defects. Having services available for parents just makes sense, and I'm grateful for such comprehensive care.

The NICU tour was basically what I expected but was enlightening nonetheless. The CHOP NICU is very impressive. It takes up the entire second floor of the hospital and currently houses 92 beds. They hope to increase that to 99 soon. We were able to learn more about the set-up and structure of the unit and were even able to see a baby (presumably with CDH, though we don't know for sure due to HIPPA laws) on an ECMO machine. It was difficult seeing those sweet tiny babies hooked up to so many machines, but the experience was valuable. I'm sure seeing Vivienne in one of those beds will be very difficult, but we are grateful for the great support team at CHOP.

As always, I will continue to update the blog to relay all new information. Hopefully, there aren't many posts in the coming weeks since that would mean all is well and progressing normally. We are anxious about what lies ahead, but remain cautiously optimistic. Mostly, we are excited to meet our little girl!

No News is Good News

She finally gave us a peek at her beautiful face! 

Dave and I traveled to Philadelphia today for our first follow-up appointment at CHOP. On the agenda was a sonogram and a meeting with a social worker. Our day got off to a rocky start as we made our way to the garage at 7:00am only to discover a dead car battery. Luckily, we live across the street from an Enterprise that opens at 7:30, so we were able to hit the road a few minutes late in a rental. Thankfully, the rest of the trip was uneventful.

The sonogram was relatively quick and went well. The doctor informed us that there were no new concerns and that things are basically holding steady. She made sure to emphasize that no news is good news. There were a few positives, though. The first is that our stubborn and active little lady moved her hands (and at one point, her feet!) away from her face long enough to snap a few pictures. Both the technician and the doctor commented on how active Viv is. Speaking as her personal human punching bag, I quickly agreed. She is one strong and sassy lady.

The other two bits of good news were more medical in nature. Viv is measuring right on target and is weighing in at a perfect 1 1/4 pounds. The doctor also noted that my amniotic fluid looks normal. This is significant because a large percentage of CDH cases result in an excess of fluid which can lead to complications and early labor.

Our meeting with the social worker went well and was informative. She will be assigned to us until we are discharged and will help us navigate things like housing, emotional care, bills, etc. We are so grateful for the wonderful team at CHOP. It really makes a difference when you are surrounded by people invested in your care and well-being.

We head back to CHOP at the end of December for another follow-up at 27 weeks.

P.S. - In case you are wondering, we were able to change the car battery this evening (thanks to mobile support provided by dad!).