20 Week Anatomy Scan

On Thursday we had our much anticipated anatomy scan.  I have to say, it was awesome being able to see Isabella for so long on the screen.  She was quite the squirmy little thing, and the tech commented several times on how she just wouldn't sit still to which Jon said "Yup, sounds just like her mama!"

So here are her stats from the scan:

HR: 156
Weight: approximately 13 oz

Positioning: breech

Amniotic Fluid: sufficient amount

Organs: all organs are accounted for and in proper positioning : )

 

Cute little foot...she was totally backing away from the probe and hiding here, but her little foot kept poking forward!

Sorry for this poor quality- camera phone picture of a picture- but just in case there was any doubt that the genetic screening got the gender wrong...it's still a girl!  The arrow is pointing to her lady parts.

After they did the anatomy scan, we got to switch over to a 3D US to see her for a bit. I have to say it was a bit more underwhelming than I was expecting. Mostly because fetuses at 20 weeks gestation still are a bit scary looking to me. 

I'm not sure why NOBODY told me about this! I certainly can't be the first Mama out there who has taken one look at their 3D 20 week old fetus and thought "Oh boy, I'm certainly glad there's 20 weeks left to work on all that!" But I kept my mouth shut in the moment.

It wasn't until afterwards when we were waiting to meet with our OB that I brought it up to Jon, and he said "Oh I'm glad you said that! I thought she looked crazy and lumpy! That gets normal eventually right!?"

Good thing we were on the same page : )  So with that warning, here they are.

I will say, despite the lumpiness of her, it is so amazing that you can see something so little in such detail.  Medicine and technology are just amazing...not that I'm biased or anything : )

Despite all the fun, towards the beginning of the US, the tech asked me "Has Dr. Alexander talked to you about your placenta before?"  Umm...nope!  And of course when I asked if there was something abnormal, she said that she couldn't talk about it.  Nice.

Then at one point towards the end, she said, "This is her head..and no, that's not a lot of hair, that's just the placenta overlying the top of her head."  So of course my brain goes straight to "OMG I'm going to have a baby with a placenta burried into her head and face...can that even happen!?

As we were waiting for the doctor, I told Jon that I was going to put my phone away so I couldn't google "Baby with Placenta Face." *Yes, all nurse practitioner training and rational thinking flies out the window when something is threatening to be wrong with your baby...I am very aware of this!*

It's a good thing I didn't google that, partly because that's not actually a thing, but more importantly because that is not the case here at all.

However, I do have Complete Placenta Previa.  I remembered learning about this back in undergrad but that was a long time ago.  So all I could remember was that there were about 4 things that could happen with the placenta, and previa was not one of the better ones of the bad options. 

I will do a separate post on the topic, but in very brief it's where the placenta is lying completely on top of the cervix. 

What does this mean for me?? 1.) Complete pelvic rest (AKA: no sex at all for the remainder of the
                                                       pregnancy)
                                                 2.) Scheduled (hopefully not sooner and emergent) c-section sometime
                                                       between 37 and 39 weeks generally
                                                 3.) Taking it easy- I can still do the eliptical lightly or swim, but  no                                                        running, lifting weights, straining, heavy cleaning, etc.
                                                 4.) And best of all...no more extended shifts/night shifts!! Woo hoo...
                                                      won't complain about that one at all!

It also means that I'm at high risk for bleeding which will mean bedrest most likely at some point (hopefully much later on).  And it means that with the risk of bleeding, I have to/get to stop taking my lovenox shot every day!  So it's a little tricky balancing out the risks of the Placenta Previa with my clotting disorders, but the risk of massive hemorrhage are greater than clots at this point, so no lovenox for me. Yay!

While this was a lot of information to take in during one visit, we are excited about how well Isabella is doing.  And the new diagnosis means we get to see her at least every month from here on out.  I've never been one to turn down another ultrasound : ) 

And to make sure I leave this post on a positive note, what better way than a few more pics of our Little Lerma!


Look at that cute little arm and hand rubbing her eye!

A very brief moment of chillin' on her back!