Sam's growth within, part 4: Coming around again

After one more visit to the high-risk OB, the cystic hygroma was shrinking, and the concern about fetal hydrops was starting to lift. They released us from the high-risk clinic back to my original OB! Hubby and I breathed a collective sigh of relief--maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. We picked up on preparations we had previously put on hold. We shopped for baby furniture and set up a registry. We went home to RI for my dad's wedding and told all the extended family about our pregnancy. We also chose a name for our little boy, who had previously been referred to as Tiny Dancer (since I was taking belly dancing lessons so he had no choice but to dance too), and Pele (like the soccer legend...because he was such a strong kicker). We decided to name him Samuel, which means "God has heard." We felt that God heard our prayers and kept Sam healthy. We also looked long and hard at the 3D images the U/S tech gave us, and decided that of the four boy names we had on our "short list" he was most definitely a Sam.

We went for the next OB appointment as scheduled, and they did another ultrasound to check on Sam. "I've got good news and bad news" she said. (Come on! Really?!?!?!) "The good news is that the hygroma hasn't grown again. The bad news is that the blood pressure in the umbilical cord is not appropriate. The ratio between the top and bottom numbers is too low." I had no idea that this could happen, or was a problem. She explained to me that it isn't a problem, YET. If the ratio continues to grow smaller it could actually invert, which means that no blood is flowing to the baby. (Imagine if your blood pressure, instead of being 130/80, was 80/130.) So guess where we were headed? Back to high-risk OB. (For someone who is healthy aside from a weight issue, no risky behaviors, and having very little in the way of pregnancy symptoms, this "high-risk" label was killing me.)

I consulted Dr. Google again. I should have learned my lesson from last time, but actually this time it helped. The major symptoms I found of this "altered S:D ratio" were growth restriction and inactivity. Was Sam having that? No, and HELL NO.

The following month we were back at high-risk. I don't know who (or maybe it is Who?) to thank for this, but this time we would be patients of Giant Tool's partner! I am going to call him Teddy Bear (his name is not Ted, but he looks like a teddy bear, and has a much more "huggable" personality). Our S:D ratio continued to improve, but given our history, Teddy Bear continued to order full U/S each time. The hygroma continued to look good, shrinking a little each time, and no organ involvement. They did notice, however, that Sam's little heart was a little different than most babies' hearts. Another day, another referral...

Looking back now, I see that God was watching out for us and especially for Sam throughout his pregnancy. When we pray that things will happen to show God's glory, this is what we are talking about. The first U/S tech thought she saw a CP cyst which was not there a week later. If she hadn't seen that, no referral to high-risk. No referral to high-risk would have meant no monthly U/S, no discovery of the umbilical cord issue, no referral BACK to high-risk, no discovery of the potential heart issue, no change in the birth plan (which you'll learn all about in the coming days). God is good...all the time. Even when we can't possibly see how.