Yesterday afternoon we had another doctor’s appointment, just a routine one here in Kalamazoo. As always we had an ultrasound and Evan is growing just like he should be. In fact, in the last week and a half he’s gained 15 ounces! I’ve searched and searched online and I cannot find any decent charts or calculators that would help us predict his birth weight. They say he’s in the 60th percentile, you would think that it would be pretty easy to find a chart that plots that information…maybe you guys will have better luck than me. Obviously the weight can vary quite a bit, but I am still curious. After all, the heart surgeon said “the bigger the better.” We’re hoping for a big ‘ol turkey. 🙂
From here on out we’ll be having an appointment every week to check on his progress. We’ll be able to fill an entire album with pictures before he even gets here. Yay! Maybe one of these days we’ll be able to get a decent 3D picture of him. I thought yesterday was going to be the day, he was head down and face up. When I asked for a 3D picture… the tech said “this is not a 3D room, and the cord is lying over his face anyway.” C’mon baby boy, don’t be shy.
Yesterday your Dad and I got to see you again during an ultrasound. It’s amazing how much you have grown in a month. You used to just take up a little bit of the screen and now your profile takes up the whole thing. The tech estimated that you weighed 2 lbs 4 oz already at 26 weeks. Holy cow. You are going to be a big turkey. I should have anticipated since I’ve already gained 30 lbs… 😐 As long as you promise to go on long walks with me and I’ll wear those get-your-butt-in-shape shoes, let Mommy know what you want to eat and I’ll get it for you. I’m worried you are going to grow up too fast and you won’t be our sweet little boy for long. But I also know that being bigger is good for you and your healing.
You’re doing a great job exercising lately. And your saucy attitude while the tech was trying to look at you was priceless. Hey man, if someone was invading my space I would tell them what’s what too. Yet you’re so shy when we are trying to get a good look at you. Hopefully we can be a touch more cooperative when we have our appointments at U of M. They are the ones who are going to fix your heart and make you feel better. I’m so looking forward to seeing you again. In the meantime, keep letting me know you are here. 🙂
On February 22, 2011 we went in for our first ultrasound. We were so excited to finally get to see the baby that Sarah had been feeling grow inside of her. The ultrasound started as anyone would have expected it to, the technician was pointing out all the structures of the baby, taking measurements, etc. We were amazed at how quickly the technician was able to locate and identify things and cracked a sarcastic joke to her about how there must be very little training required for this.
My hat’s off to those couples that can wait until he/she comes out to learn the gender. We’re soooooo not those people. I would have been very disappointed if we would not have been able to find out the gender that day. As it turned out we were able to tell the sex of our little 9 ounce, 6 inch long baby. It was pretty obvious when the tech pointed at something…as opposed to nothing, it’s a boy!
The technician continued looking, measuring, etc. She kept coming back to the heart at different angles and different positions. She made Sarah go to the bathroom and looked at it again. The room got very quiet, the pointing out of structures stopped and the technician said “I can’t tell you about what I see, the doctor will discuss it with you afterwards.” Our hearts stopped, we hadn’t really noticed anything in the ultrasound, but this was our first baby, we barely knew what we were looking at. The ultrasound finished and we sat awaiting the doctor to tell us something.
The doctor came into the room and told us that the baby’s measurements were good, he’s very active, weight was right on track, heartbeat was good. Then it came… “because he was moving around so much, we were not able to get a good enough look at the heart. There could be a problem but we want to have another ultrasound to make sure. The problem that we are concerned with is called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome.” Then she very briefly explained that it means the left ventricle is underdeveloped and would require surgery, most likely at Mott’s Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor (University of Michigan’s Hopspital). That’s honestly the extent of what she told us. Obviously she did it so we would not freak out since it was not confirmed. Although I understand her position, I wish she would have told us a little more. We did plenty of freaking out after about 10 minutes with our best friend Google. We tried to keep our spirits high and thought surely we could not be the 1 in 3000.
They scheduled another ultrasound with a different technician, different area, and different equipment. Six days later….
