A lot has been going on, but nothing exciting (thankfully – that’s good in a vasa previa pregnancy). This is a pretty boring post as a result, but I want to document everything for myself (and for others with vasa previa who want lots of details).
28 week ultrasound
Tuesday (28 weeks) I went into see the specialist. Baby’s growth has gone up from the 38th percentile to the 42nd! Wahoo! His stomach is still measuring a week behind (14th percentile), but I think it was 2 weeks behind before, so only one week is good. I guess they only worry about overall weight when they consider IUGR and the smaller stomach is okay. Neither doctor (specialist or regular OB) seemed concerned. In fact, I won’t have another big ultrasound till week 32 (4 weeks from the last one). Fluid levels look good and the baby was bum down. Both good things!
Unfortunately, it looks like he’s now head down again. Not a huge deal, but it’s better to have a cushy bum near the exposed vessels than a hard head. I have started twice a week nonstress tests (NST), so if his head were to get too close to the vessels and push on them we should be able to catch it.
1-hour glucose test and Tdap
Right after that 28 week ultrasound Tuesday I had an appointment with my regular OB. I had to do the 1-hour glucose test. Yuck, but do-able. I also got a Tdap vaccine. That was unexpected. It’s for whooping cough and most kids have 5 rounds of the DTaP vaccine when they’re little and then adults should occasionally get the booster. I had one when I was pregnant with Emma and I thought I was good for at least 15 years, but apparently you should get one with each pregnancy for the baby. The vaccine crosses the placenta and helps protect the baby from whooping cough until they can start being vaccinated from it themselves (starting at 2 months). Up until the steroid shots, the Tdap vaccine with Emma was the worst shot I’ve had, so I was not happy to find out I’d need to get it again.
First I went and got my blood drawn for the glucose test, then I went in for the Tdap. I hardly felt it! Apparently, after having the steroid shots a few days before, the awful Tdap shot was nothing (besides the sore arm for days later).
3-hour glucose test
Unfortunately, I failed the 1-hour glucose test. Barely. But I still failed. There’s a good chance that it was from having the steroid shots so soon before. They can mess with the blood sugar. Darn.
So today (Monday) I did the 3-hour test. My wonderful mother-in-law watched Logan and Emma for me. They slept over last night since it’s a fasting test and I wanted to wake up first thing and go (Kaylee was at school and then she played at her friends house after). I got to the hospital for the lab work around 8:40. It’s called the 3-hour glucose test, but I was there for 4. First I had to get all checked-in and then they drew my blood to make sure I was ready for the test (from the fast). Once the results of that blood came back I drank the glucose, then waited an hour and they drew my blood at 10:35. Then again at 11:35 and 12:35.
Luckily, Ogden Regional has a private room with a bed for the pregnant women doing this test (and for babies who need their blood drawn… like when Emma had to get some blood tests done). It was lovely! I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was still miserable and I was quite nauseous and starving from it all, but I was able to lie down! I read blogs on my phone and napped off and on while eating ice chips they provided me with. I had to do the 3-hour test with Emma at a different hospital and had to be in the waiting room the whole time. I definitely preferred a bed 
Nonstress Test (NST)
The crazy part of today is that I had an appointment for a nonstress test at 12:45. My last blood draw was at 12:35. Good thing they were both at the same hospital (my regular OB is at the other hospital). As soon as I was done with that I rushed to my van to drive around to the other side of the hospital. I ate a fruit/nut bar on the way.
The NST was pretty uneventful. I chatted with the nurse doing the test. She was nice. She works part-time there, part-time up in labor and delivery, so I asked different questions about the hospital and such.
Usually the NSTs are done while the mom is laying back, but I need to do them while sitting up or standing. Not easy for them. The nurse had to hold the monitor on the whole time because it wasn’t going to stay with the bands while I was sitting up. They monitor the baby’s heart for 20 minutes. Everything looked good! They also did a quick ultrasound to measure the amniotic fluid levels. That’s good, too. That’s when they saw that he’s head down.
I go back Thursday for another NST. I’ll go every Monday and Thursday just to make sure everything is good. I’m sure it will be.
I was finished at 2:30, which means I was at the hospital for almost 6 hours! And I hadn’t eaten anything besides the fruit/nut bar and tons of glucose since 9:30 the night before. Soooo not okay for a pregnant woman. Blah. But it’s over. And my OB called right after I left the hospital to let me know that the results of the 3-hour test were normal, so no gestational diabetes. Wahoo!
Other
Still no name. This is hard! Let us know if you have any ideas.
I’m not feeling as nervous today. It comes and goes. Just wish I was holding my healthy baby boy in my arms right now. It’s hard to be patient.
I’m pretty sure the rest of the updates will be pretty boring, just like this one. At least I hope. I’ll continue to do the twice a week NSTs and then go into the hospital in 3+ weeks and deliver via c-section around 34 weeks. That’s when there will be big news (and cute pictures!).
(BTW, I’m 29 weeks on Wednesday.)
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