The day had come. It was only hours away until I would be at the University of Iowa hospitals and clinics for my ultrasound, my counseling, my confirmation diagnosis if any.
My appointment was scheduled for 9 am. I was suppose to be there at 8:45 at the latest, oops. I was there at 8:55am. The parking ramp was hard for me to find and it was packed! Then I had to take the elevator to the skywalk, and half way through the building and to a certain elevator then up and to registration. I found it and I was checking in. The pressure just gained and gained. As I previously stated I was pretty sure something was wrong, and my body kept telling me Gastroschisis. Therefore I knew I had prepared myself with enough information to be settled. As I waited for the registration lady to collect all my information, I was just floating on cloud nine because I knew I was going to see my baby today regardless and that in itself is exciting to any mother to be.
She signed me in, put a wrist band on my right wrist and directed me to waiting room 1 it was through the first set of doors and to the left. I waited anxiously. There was one other mom in front of me for the same thing they called her into the counseling room and I knew I was next. What were they going to say, or do? What was I to expect? I just grasped the air and breathed knowing no matter what God would make sure we were alright.
The lady came out from the left said Kendra, and that was my turn. I stood up, smiled and gracefully walked towards her. We went into her office and she asked me questions concerning my family and strads family diagnosis etc. After that she explained to me that I would be doing a level 2 ultrasound and the tech would go over baby and growth. She explained the 3 risks that I was being confronted with. She also advised me that my chances of neural tube defects (Spina bifida) was slim considering we had 3 healthy children prior. Also advised me my hemorrhage I have had along with my bleeding throughout the pregnancy can increase the protein levels in the blood although there was no chance it would make it be this high above the 2.2 cut off. She did advise me that I had a high chance of something being wrong, which I had already knew and I agreed to. She explained the next step was for my ultrasound and after the tech was done she would go meet with the doctors and then after that the doctors and tech and nurses would come in she said a team of about (6-8). She told me not to worry they all come in regardless of the outcome. She then weighed me, took my blood pressure and sent me to the waiting room for my ultrasound.
Again, it was a waiting game. Maybe 10-15 minutes passed and again, Kendra. I again stop up, smiled and gracefully walked towards the new nurse. We walked down a narrow hallway and there were 7 ultrasound rooms. I was walked into ultrasound room 4 and sat into the chair. There was 1 ultrasound tech and a nurse in there. I gracefully laid back into the chair, lifted my shirts and waited for the scan to begin. She just talked to me a bit and explained what she was doing and that if I had questions I could ask and at that time she might be able or not be able to answer my questions. She also asked if I knew gender. I told her no, She asked if I wanted to know. I advised her I did not want to know unless something was wrong so I could prepare for the arrival. She did the ultrasound it took approximately 35 minutes. After she was done she advised she was going to speak with the doctors and they would be back shortly. They left the room, and I already knew the outcome.
10 minutes later, the doctors, nurses and tech came back in. They always want to check baby in movement so again they applied the Doppler to my stomach and watched as baby moved around for approximately 5-10 more minutes. After this the tech was done, and wiped the jelly from my stomach and sat me up in the chair. I already started to tear up as I knew the outcome already. One of the doctors said now at this time we will discuss what we have seen on the ultrasound. She said, your unborn child has a birth defect of "Gastroschisis". I replied instantly, I know I seen it on the ultrasound. She looked at me in amazement. The other doctor said, "Wow, you must have done your research I couldn't be more happy then to have a mother know her stuff." I smiled. Again, the first doctor began to explain the outcome, the future and what would happen. As, she again explained. I acknowledged that I did a lot of research and if my baby could have had something wrong I preferred this. She said yes, it is the "Best of the Worst" outcomes. I agreed, that's exactly how I was feeling. Overwhelmed and tearful. They informed me they would be scheduling me appointments, I would have ultrasounds monthly (unless things changed) and that I would be delivering my baby at that hospital and that I would be having surgeries on my son. They advised me they still wanted me to see my regular OBGYN in Cedar Rapids, as well as see them. Therefore I am closely being monitored.
The tech looked and me and said do you want to know, I said yes so I can prepare please. She said congratulations, It's a BOY! I was so happy, regardless of what I was having I wanted my child to have a special and happy arrival.
I walked to the checkout and scheduled my appoint for 4 weeks out. February 19. I will be back for ultrasound, stress test and to see my high risk OBGYN.
My appointment was scheduled for 9 am. I was suppose to be there at 8:45 at the latest, oops. I was there at 8:55am. The parking ramp was hard for me to find and it was packed! Then I had to take the elevator to the skywalk, and half way through the building and to a certain elevator then up and to registration. I found it and I was checking in. The pressure just gained and gained. As I previously stated I was pretty sure something was wrong, and my body kept telling me Gastroschisis. Therefore I knew I had prepared myself with enough information to be settled. As I waited for the registration lady to collect all my information, I was just floating on cloud nine because I knew I was going to see my baby today regardless and that in itself is exciting to any mother to be.
She signed me in, put a wrist band on my right wrist and directed me to waiting room 1 it was through the first set of doors and to the left. I waited anxiously. There was one other mom in front of me for the same thing they called her into the counseling room and I knew I was next. What were they going to say, or do? What was I to expect? I just grasped the air and breathed knowing no matter what God would make sure we were alright.
The lady came out from the left said Kendra, and that was my turn. I stood up, smiled and gracefully walked towards her. We went into her office and she asked me questions concerning my family and strads family diagnosis etc. After that she explained to me that I would be doing a level 2 ultrasound and the tech would go over baby and growth. She explained the 3 risks that I was being confronted with. She also advised me that my chances of neural tube defects (Spina bifida) was slim considering we had 3 healthy children prior. Also advised me my hemorrhage I have had along with my bleeding throughout the pregnancy can increase the protein levels in the blood although there was no chance it would make it be this high above the 2.2 cut off. She did advise me that I had a high chance of something being wrong, which I had already knew and I agreed to. She explained the next step was for my ultrasound and after the tech was done she would go meet with the doctors and then after that the doctors and tech and nurses would come in she said a team of about (6-8). She told me not to worry they all come in regardless of the outcome. She then weighed me, took my blood pressure and sent me to the waiting room for my ultrasound.
Again, it was a waiting game. Maybe 10-15 minutes passed and again, Kendra. I again stop up, smiled and gracefully walked towards the new nurse. We walked down a narrow hallway and there were 7 ultrasound rooms. I was walked into ultrasound room 4 and sat into the chair. There was 1 ultrasound tech and a nurse in there. I gracefully laid back into the chair, lifted my shirts and waited for the scan to begin. She just talked to me a bit and explained what she was doing and that if I had questions I could ask and at that time she might be able or not be able to answer my questions. She also asked if I knew gender. I told her no, She asked if I wanted to know. I advised her I did not want to know unless something was wrong so I could prepare for the arrival. She did the ultrasound it took approximately 35 minutes. After she was done she advised she was going to speak with the doctors and they would be back shortly. They left the room, and I already knew the outcome.
10 minutes later, the doctors, nurses and tech came back in. They always want to check baby in movement so again they applied the Doppler to my stomach and watched as baby moved around for approximately 5-10 more minutes. After this the tech was done, and wiped the jelly from my stomach and sat me up in the chair. I already started to tear up as I knew the outcome already. One of the doctors said now at this time we will discuss what we have seen on the ultrasound. She said, your unborn child has a birth defect of "Gastroschisis". I replied instantly, I know I seen it on the ultrasound. She looked at me in amazement. The other doctor said, "Wow, you must have done your research I couldn't be more happy then to have a mother know her stuff." I smiled. Again, the first doctor began to explain the outcome, the future and what would happen. As, she again explained. I acknowledged that I did a lot of research and if my baby could have had something wrong I preferred this. She said yes, it is the "Best of the Worst" outcomes. I agreed, that's exactly how I was feeling. Overwhelmed and tearful. They informed me they would be scheduling me appointments, I would have ultrasounds monthly (unless things changed) and that I would be delivering my baby at that hospital and that I would be having surgeries on my son. They advised me they still wanted me to see my regular OBGYN in Cedar Rapids, as well as see them. Therefore I am closely being monitored.
The tech looked and me and said do you want to know, I said yes so I can prepare please. She said congratulations, It's a BOY! I was so happy, regardless of what I was having I wanted my child to have a special and happy arrival.
I walked to the checkout and scheduled my appoint for 4 weeks out. February 19. I will be back for ultrasound, stress test and to see my high risk OBGYN.