Week 30

I was super excited about my 30 week appointment on Tuesday, July 30 because of course it meant that I would get to see my baby girl in 4D with the 4D sonogram. She was ADORABLE on the 4D sono. Her eyes were open, and she kept opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out. We were in love! Chip said she looked like she had Claudia Schiffer lips, but he didn't recognize the nose at all. I did, though! She has Lukas's nose! 

30 week sonogram

But then I got a curve ball thrown at me. Lydia was measuring small, in the less than 10 percentile for her due date. She was only 2lbs 1oz. Average weight for the 30 week mark is a little less than 3 pounds. Her head circumference was measuring right on time (so my due date, October 5, was not wrong which would be the simplest explanation for her small size), but her abdomen and legs were about 5/6 weeks behind. 

My doctor, Dr. Brandy Patterson in Tupelo, thought that I could be simply growing a small baby since I was a small baby myself. Or, it could be more serious - that she was not getting the proper nutrients because of a physical problem with my placenta or cord, although in the sonogram that day blood flow through my placenta and cord looked normal. She scheduled me to see a specialist, Dr. Roy Bors-Koefoed (aka Dr. BK), in Memphis the following week. 

My blood pressure at this appointment was higher than normal - 131/89. It had hovered in the 117/77 range my entire pregnancy with one exception. On June 4 it had been 128/85.

At that appointment on July 30, Dr. Patterson started to prepare me for an early delivery. She said that if Lydia was just small, then I should be able to go into labor naturally. But, if there were complications that were preventing her from growing, then she would want to deliver her no later than 37 weeks. Dr. Patterson decided to see me again the following week to do another sonogram to check Lydia's growth progress. She mentioned that at my next appointment on August 6 that I would get my first round (out of two) of betamethsone steroid shots to jump start Lydia's lung development. I was diagnosed with intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR).

At this point I started to get really bummed. I was frustrated by the possibility that my body was not providing sufficiently for my baby. And, I was frustrated about what it meant for labor and delivery. I wanted and had been preparing for a natural labor and vaginal delivery with no drugs. With this complication I knew my chances of being able to go into labor naturally were quickly diminishing. I'd likely be induced at 37 weeks which would be an intervention. 

I tried my best to stay optimistic. Dr. Patterson is super energetic and peppy, so while she gave me all the facts about what might happen, her positive tone and energy really helped me keep a positive outlook on everything. Looking back I wonder if maybe I was overly optimistic and didn't really understand how serious things were about to get.