My pregnancy with Sadie

   Let's go back to the beginning, while she was still inside of me.  I knew from the beginning that something was different with this pregnancy when I compared it to my other 2 pregnancy.  I wasn't gaining weight the same, I wasn't as sick in the 1st trimester like I was with the other 2, so my conclusion was that... I was having a boy.  I was excited.  This has to be the reason, right?  Obviously I was wrong.  My first ultrasound (20 wks) showed that everything was normal (and that I was having a girl) even though the US tech spent a lot of time looking at the heart and they pushed my due date back by 2 weeks cause she was small. But I was reassured everything looked good.
   I went for my 24 week check up and only gained 1/2 a pound (for a total of 7 pounds).  But still the Dr really didn't seem worried.  I trusted him.  I have been seeing him for about 10 yrs.  He would never steer me wrong.  But to put my fears at ease he ordered me another ultrasound.  I was now 28 wks.  The tech again looked a long time at the heart, but said it was fine, just difficult to see cause the baby was not cooperating.  I was fine with that answer, made sense, she was moving a lot.  But then she told me that the baby was measuring 2 1/2 wks small and that was after we had already pushed my due date back by two wks.  So now she was 4 1/2 wks smaller.  I knew there was no way I was a month off on my original due date.
   At my next Dr appt I only gained a 1/2 pound again.  OK, now I am 7 months pregnant, only have gained 7 1/2 pounds and I look like I am maybe 4 mo pregnant.  I knew for sure something was wrong.  My Dr agreed at that point that I should go see a maternal/fetal specialist.  So I went at 30 wks pregnant.  That's when they started to find things wrong with my baby.  Over the next 9 weeks I had 3 more ultrasounds and a heart echo done on the baby in utero (I didn't even know they could that, amazing).  At each US they found something new with my baby.   First it was that I had a two vessel umbilical cord (which they should have seen at my first US) and that she had a hole in her heart.  My heart sank.  What does this mean?  She might need open heart surgery at birth.  So we did an amniocentesis and had an echo done on her heart.  Amniocentesis results came out great.  No genetic birth defects detected.  Phew, she was going to be "normal" except she will be small and have a hole in her heart that can be repaired.  The echo came out good too.  The hole wasn't as bad as they thought.  Fantastic! "Most likely no surgery at birth, but we will have to wait and see how she is handling it, however, we did find that she has interrupted vena cava which shouldn't be a problem either because her body has rerouted her blood to compensate for this interruption.  So as long as her body doesn't reject this new route this will not be a problem either."  What?  How does a body just reroute it's veins.  That's weird.  But somehow it was all working for her. Amazing!
   I then had another US at 36 wks.  Again, they found another abnormality.  This time with her brain.  What?  My heart sank again.  "Part of her brain, the cerebellum, is measuring small, but she can live with this, she just might be a little clumsy".  OK.  So now i am having a small baby, with a hole in her heart and a part of her brain is too small.  What does this all mean?  What can I expect?  "Not sure, just wait and see" is what I was told, again, from the Dr.
  I go in for an US at 38 1/2 weeks.  I was so dreading it.  Every time I go for an US, they find something wrong.  So they scan my belly.  This US was very short compared to the others.  The tech stops and says she will be right back.  The next thing I know the Dr comes in and says she wants to take a look at the baby.  Really?  Could they possibly find anything else wrong.  My heart starts to pound, hard.  She then states that my amniotic fluid is too low and the babies stomach is measuring too small.  So they are thinking the baby is not getting enough nutrients.  Time for Sadie to be born!  October 28, 2011.  I was scared, I was happy, I was nervous, I was "unprepared". I had so many emotions and thoughts going through me.  I began to shake....

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