January 23, 2007
I am just back from my doctor's appointment this morning. One of the "benefits" of having a high-risk pregnancy is that you get to go to the doctor a lot more frequently. For some people, maybe this is a hassle, but I like the frequent checkups to reassure me that everything is progressing as it should be.
This morning was a bit unusual in that it was a Tuesday appointment, when normally my prenatal visits are on Fridays. This is because it was the fetal EKG, done with the visiting cardiologist from some big-shot downtown hospital that I forget the name of right now. With Stazi I actually had to go downtown to have the EKG done, but times are different now, and the mountain comes to Mohammed. So to speak.
Anyway, a fetal EKG is like a normal ultrasound, except they spend the whole time doing a very detailed and close-up look at the heart, making sure that all ventricles and atria are in their proper places, that a few other anatomical features are correctly located, and that blood flow is moving as it should, among other things. The baby was not super cooperative, but after I rolled over on the table to a not-terribly-comfortable position on my left side, they were able to see everything they were supposed to.
As is typical with the hospital I go to, there was an intern doing the actual exam, with an instructor alongside. This is always entertaining. "No, no, you're not going to see anything there. That's nothing. That's like, placenta or something. OOH! OOH! There you go! Hold it right there! Yeah, just look... no... yes, right straight through the lung. Through the lung, and you've got a great... oops, the baby moved. Okay, have the patient turn to the right."
Intern (to me): "Could you turn to the right?"
It's swell.
Anyway, the hot-shot cardiologist reported that everything looks perfect and beautiful and that there is absolutely nothing wrong with Small Potato's heart. I think I also forgot to post here that we passed the Level II ultrasound a few weeks ago with flying colors, and that my AFP screen came back very good as well. All of these things have been, as you might imagine, a huge relief. I am now letting myself actually envision room assignments, and clothes purchases, and where to locate the diaper pail. (I.e., "far from my room.")
My next appointment is Friday. Normally at this point -- I'm officially 22 weeks along, for those of you who lost track -- I wouldn't have appointments so close together, but this was a special out-of-the-box appointment designed to work around Dr. Hot-Shot Cardiologist's schedule, and Friday is my regular appointment with Dr. Hot-Shot Perinatologist.
In other news, Zeke's fever recurred last night. It reached 103, and then we gave him some Tylenol and it dropped back to 100 or so. We kept him home from preschool again and have been urging him to drink orange juice and water and have soup. He is perking up a little bit, but then I thought that yesterday too, so we'll see how it goes tonight.
Posted at January 23, 2007 11:31 AM
Posted by: carolyn Boyce at January 24, 2007 10:36 AM
Hooray for Small Potato! Deeelicciouss po-ta-to!