32 week visit with Boston

Can't believe we're already at 32 weeks and 4 days...but who's counting? ;)

We had our visit today with both Children's Hospital and The Brigham which went very very well!  Our day started off with a 930am fetal echo.  Little miss Gianna as usual made it rather difficult to see her heart clearly.  They kept poking and prodding and made me walk around to try and get her to move, but I mean can you blame the poor girl...if you're up all night wouldn't you want to sleep during the day! ;) After doing the best they could do the cardiologist came in and told us that from what he could see everything structurally and mechanically with the heart looked good! As for whether or not the VSD is still present is still questionable since they couldn't get the best view, but if it is there it's obviously not very large otherwise they would have seen it.  We don't need another fetal echo until after she is born!  Most likely the day she is born they will be doing one to see if there really is anything going on with her heart.  So the morning started off on a good note!

We were then able to sit down with Linda who has been so wonderful to us!  She was able to answer some of our questions as to how things are going to go etc. More about that later though...

We were able to grab a quick bite to eat and then headed over to the Brigham for our ultrasound and meeting with Dr. Wilkins-Hoag...our high risk OB.  We got some great shots of our little GEM which you'll all be able to see.  She was soooo cute!  I'm so happy they did some 3D pictures for us.  She kept opening and closing her eyes...she did a really big yawn and sucked on her finger!  It was so adorable!  She has some really cute chubby cheeks too! It's too hard to tell how much she weighs right now because their measurements are going to be off because of the omphalocele.  Our printed report said 4lbs, but that could very well be inaccurate so we can't go by that.  At one point Dan said "Oh look she still has her little stuck up snot nose" and as soon as he said that she stuck her tongue out..."How dare you Dad!" lol...oh boy we have our hands full with this one! 

Everything looked wonderful with the ultrasound...there is no concern with her kidneys which they had been worried about previously.  She is growing perfectly and everything looks really good!

Our meeting with Dr. Wilkins-Hoag was short and sweet...we're shooting for March 31st.  If anything changes with Gianna or myself it could be earlier, but that is when it is scheduled for now.  So it will be sometime in the morning on March 31st.  We will deliver, the Children's team will be in delivery with us to do the head to toe check and stabilize the omphalocele, we will see her briefly and I will go off to recovery and most likely she will go to Brigham NICU for a short period of time and then go off to Children's for the remainder of her stay.  Dan will be able to go right over with her and I will be able to join them when I feel well enough.  Dr. Buchmiller said after they stabilize her, do the echo, genetic testing etc. they will start the paint and wait method and we'll have begun our journey towards her recovery!  So they still estimate 3-4months she'll be in there, but it really depends upon her and how well she responds to everything.  Kind of a wait and see situation.

Our last appointment was with Dr. Buchmiller who is such a sweetheart! She came right up to me and smiled at how much Gianna has grown in my stomach and gave me a big hug. :) She's so excited for us and excited to meet her.  We've been nothing but impressed with Children's and the care we've received there!  They made several suggestions about things to bring with us like a disposable camera so the nurses can take pictures when we're not there, a tape recorder with us recorded reading her books so she can hear our voice when we're not there, a picture of us to put by her bed...etc. 

So our next appointment is with Brigham on March 15th...four weeks from today and two weeks left after that!! We'll visit labor and delivery the NICU and go over our plan with them.  All my other appointments will be at Dartmouth here in Nashua which really helps us out! Most likely after she is born we're going to stay at Yachey Way housing which is down the street for probably a week after I'm discharged four nights later. 

So this is where we're at!  No new developments, everything growing well and omphalocele still the same.  Thank you all for your support and prayers...keep them coming!! :)

Love you all and will keep you updated!

Until next time...
K.E.M

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 – "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."


First picture is 20weeks 3D images
Second is our 32week images
Third is 20weeks 3D images