Weekly Visits with OBGYN

On March 27th we had another appt with Dr. M where we gave him an update of yesterday's appt with the perinatologist. With Kinley having a CDH, a few things will change regarding our relationship with Dr. M. First, Dr. M. will no longer be able to deliver our baby. Since Kinley will require special ventilators, Kathy will have to deliver at St. Luke's on The Plaza. This does not mean that our appts with Dr. M will end. Actually we will be seeing him more often. The second change is that Dr. M. has requested that we move our visits with him to weekly, instead of monthly. Most expecting mothers do not begin their weekly visits until the last month of their pregnancy. During these weekly visits Kinley will have a bio-physical done. A bio-physical is a sonogram where the baby is checked/tested on four different areas. The first is overall movement where they are simply watching the baby for movement within the womb. The second check/test is the baby's heart rate to see if it is within normal parameters. The third part is checking to see if the baby is practicing breathing. To do this they watch the baby's diaphragm to make sure it is contracting. The fourth and final check is a measurement on the amniotic fluid surrounding the baby. The reason for this check is that CDH babies tend to have difficulty swallowing the amniotic fluid, due to their intestines being out of place, and this can lead to excess amniotic fluid around the baby which can lead to an early delivery. A measurement of 5 is considered a very low level of amniotic fluid while a measurement of 25 is considered very high. Each of the four areas checked receives a score of 0, 1 or 2 for a maximum of 8. An 8 out of 8 is what we will be shooting for each visit. Any score lower than 8 will require more analysis of the baby to determine if she is doing okay.

For any mothers expecting a baby with CDH: It helps to drink some juice before a bio-physical to ensure that your baby is active.

Since we did not begin our blog until very near Kinley's due date, we feel that it would be easiest to update everyone at once. So far, through May 16th, all of Kinley's bio-physicals have come back 8 out of 8 and Kathy has been averaging around a 19 on amniotic fluid levels.