Baby updates

Yesterday I had the follow-up ultrasound. The tech indicated to me that she could not see the cyst, and that she thought the placenta had moved out of the way, but could not tell for sure because the baby's head was in the way. She said the little guy weighs about 1 lb 15 oz. I asked her if she thought that was too small because my pregnancy book says the baby should be about 2.5 lbs by the end of this week. She said that was in the range and not a problem. Three hours later I got a call from my doctor's office saying that the baby is measuring too small, and they want me to come in the next day (today) for another ultrasound.

So today I went in for more testing. They did a non-stress test where they measure the baby's heart rate for 20 minutes. That came back normal. Then they did an ultrasound to look at the blood flow through the umbilical cord, measure the level of amniotic fluid around the baby, and get the heart rate (again). All of these things look normal. Then I met with a doctor to go over everything. He said that the concern with our baby is that he is a couple of ounces shy of the 10th percentile for this far into the pregnancy, and that his abdomen is the body part that is measuring the smallest. If he was getting lots of nutrients, his body would store them in his liver, which would then make his abdomen bigger. So the concern with a small abdomen is that he may not be getting enough nutrients. There are 3 possible causes of this:

1. The due date is wrong. This is our theory. The date based upon my cycles would be July 22nd, and he is measuring normal for that due date.

2. He is just a genetically small baby. This seems unlikely given how tall Jason and I are!

3. He has asymmetric fetal growth restriction. The most likely cause for us would be that there is something wrong with the placenta (worst case the baby would be stillborn if the placenta does not last the whole pregnancy). This is the assumption that the doctors are operating under, just to be on the safe side.

So, I will be going to the ultrasound office weekly for the rest of the pregnancy to make sure everything still looks normal. This is really kind of frustrating since we really just think this is an issue with the due date. But of course it's not something you would want to take a chance on if it does happen to be #3.

I have an appointment with my OB on Friday, which is when I will have the glucose test and they will test blood levels. I will obviously be asking more questions about all of this at that point. The good news is that I don't think the cyst or the placenta location are issues anymore! And, I get to see the baby lots of times. Praying that all of this is just hoops we have to jump through and that it just amounts to weekly assurances that everything is fine.

We'll keep you posted on the baby. In the meantime, here's an ultrasound photo of him from today! The picture was a lot clearer on the screen, and it looked like a twin of Josiah was looking right at me!

Week 27

We are nearing the end of week 27 - in the 3rd trimester and feeling good. Monday is the follow-up ultrasound, and then Friday (a week from tomorrow) is my next doctor's appointment. I'll post again as soon as we know something about the placenta and the cyst. Not too concerned about either one at this point. Just enjoying feeling good, getting out with Josiah in the great weather, and still being able to sleep on my back. Oh and lots of baby movement. Sometimes my belly moves like a wave on the ocean. He may turn out to be a surfer.

Jason bought himself a cowboy hat (so then Josiah stole his baseball hat). This hat puts him yet another step closer to becoming a farmer. In spite of myself I do like it. Maybe I will turn out to be a good farmer after all.

Things are slowly progressing with selling our house in Kansas City. The appraisal came back fine and the foundation people should begin work soon. We signed the closing docs and had them notarized and sent back in, so we are all set for the buyers to close on the 27th.

The house buying is also coming along. This week I have been calling to set up utilities here and cancel the ones at our old house. Trying to sort through all the little details, but it is all starting to seem more real!

Here's a video of Josiah singing the alphabet song. He misses the letters TUV on this video, but he really can sing the whole thing the right way. I just thought it was cute this way for blog purposes. He learned this version (complete with hammer action) from Alpha Pig on the TV show 'Super Why!' (although he calls it 'Super Wide'). Thank you public television!

Enjoy!

Week 24

I went to the doctor yesterday for my week 24 appointment. It was just a quick checkup, but everything looks good! In a month I will have a follow-up ultrasound to check on the cyst and also the placement of the placenta. That's also when I will have the iron test and the glucose test. Seriously, if they want to spike my blood sugar, I could just eat some ice cream. Why do I have to drink that nasty sugar drink? There are other (much tastier) high-sugar alternatives. I should become a doctor just to change that.

We are loving this weather! And we have met some new friends that we've gotten to hang out with a couple of times and enjoy the weather with. Josiah loves having some playmates again. And I of course love having day time adult interaction that is not with a realtor, insurance agent, or foundation repair person.

Speaking of house stuff, we are officially under contract for the house in the previous post! We are hoping to have inspections soon, but barring a bad inspection report, we should close on our new house the day after our old house! In the meantime, lots of details to iron out, but we're just trying to take things one step at a time. I'll try to keep this updated as things progress!

Thanks for all your prayers!

Frustration and hope

We are in the process of selling our house. It has been painful and frustrating. We are very thankful to be selling it so that we can move on with our lives, but we are taking a huge hit. Basically at the end of the day, when I figure up all the costs from owning our house for the past almost 8 years, then subtract out any savings from having the house (i.e. tax deductions), we could have lived in a luxury 2 bed 2 bath apartment over that same time frame, had $100 extra in monthly spending money, and been in the same spot we are today. Less all the sweat, headaches, backaches, and frustration from all the remodeling we have done over that time frame. It is super depressing. The basic reason is that there are foundation issues. I'm sure God is trying to teach us something through all of this, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is. Maybe just a lesson in dealing with frustration. I don't think I'm a very good student.

On the bright side, we are selling our house. And soon will be buying a new house! We hope to work out the timing so that we can have our things moved straight from the old house to the new one. We are meeting with our realtor here in Springfield tonight to sign an offer. The house is 20 minutes outside of the city on 30 acres. Jason will be farming before you know it!

Please pray with us that the sale of our house goes through with no more glitches, that we are able to come to an agreement on the new house, and that the timing of everything works out. And pray for grace and peace over us in the meantime in dealing with all the annoying details!

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life." Phillipians 4:6-7 (Message translation)

Week 21

Per a special request, here's my belly at week 21:

I think it looks much bigger in real life. Maybe that is just because I have to look down to see it.

Grow, baby, grow!

Doctor's update

Heard from the doctor - the placenta is only partially blocking my cervix, so the doctor is hopeful that it will completely move out of the way. Yay! We'll do another ultrasound to check in 8 weeks.

She also told me that they noticed a choroid plexus cyst (CPC) on the baby's brain. She said these are very common and usually go away on their own with no issues or complications. She said that in 0.2% (that's 0.002) of cases it could be linked to chromosomal abnormalities. But generally nothing to worry about is what we've been told. I am not very concerned about this, but would love you to join us in praying that it goes away with no problems.

You can read more about CPCs here and here.

Some highlights:

• Between 1 and 3 percent of all fetuses will manifest a CPC at 16 to 24 weeks of pregnancy
• Regardless of their number, shape or size, choroid plexus cysts are not harmful to the baby
• Nearly always go away by the third trimester of pregnancy
• The fetal brain may create these cysts as a normal part of development

Praying for a healthy rest of this pregnancy with no more ER visits or abnormal ultrasound discoveries!

It's a boy!!

Meet baby Regehr #2! Despite what I thought were accurate calculations, they tell me based upon the 2 ultrasounds I have had now, that we are 20 weeks into our pregnancy (we thought it was week 18). They confirmed the due date of July 12 (original due date was July 22). Half way there! It is hard to believe. The little guy keeps kicking me to remind me that it's true. They tell us he weighs about 12 oz. right now, and that must be all leg muscle. :)

That makes 2 strapping boys to work on Jason's future farm! Since he found out about the baby, Josiah has been telling us it's a boy, or that he really wants a boy. The first thing he said when the ultrasound tech said "it's a boy" was "I wanted it to be a girl!". Little stinker. He also has been saying he wants the baby's name to be either Watson or Jackrabbit. But in the ultrasound room, he thought Alien would be a better name. I guess the pics do look extra-terrestrial, but I think most of that influence came from the Toy Story movies.
When I was in the ER about 3 weeks ago, they said that my placenta was low. So that is something they checked again yesterday at the ultrasound. I won't get the official results until tomorrow, but if the placenta is too low, they will plan on doing a c-section to deliver this baby. Placenta previa I believe is the medical term, although no one has told us that yet. I asked the tech if the placenta could still move...she said it is possible but unlikely. I have mixed feelings about c-section. Mostly I'd rather not do surgery and just naturally have the baby when he is ready. But, there is something very alluring about scheduling your delivery, with no contractions or pushing involved. I'm sure God will work things out either way. I'll keep you posted on the outcome!

Baby R2 says hi!