Ultrasound!

September 28 we got to have a full ultrasound again! This one is probably our last before he is born and it was so sweet to see it again.

Our little munchkin is still moving around and is still breech! He seems to love sitting in my pelvis with his feet up by his head. When they tried to get a good look at his hands for me they had trouble because his hands and feet were all right next to each other! He was also doing lots of breathing practice.

Looking at his measurements he is approximately 4lbs 4oz and is measuring quite small. His chest is 8 weeks behind, his belly is around 5-6 weeks behind and his femur and head look around 3-4 weeks behind. He is growing though! They would be concerned about how small his chest cavity is (his heart is big in comparison) except that his abdomen is small too. If only his chest was small they would be worried that he wouldn't have enough room to develop lung tissue.

The amniotic fluid measurement seems to be normal and at one point during the ultrasound he had his eyes open and we could see his eyes! It was kind of creepy :)

It looked like he was blowing us a kiss :)

The cysts in his brain appear to be really small, though they didn't measure them so we don't know if they have gotten smaller or if they appear smaller because his head is bigger. For his brain they were still unable to see the CSP and the ventricals are still dilated but that is nothing new, it just tells us that we are looking at other possible brain issues.

After the ultrasound we met with Dr Jolly again and let her know that we have now decided to do full code, full interventions. This means that they would do anything for him that they would for a normal child (oxygen, CPR, intubation, etc) but at the same time, we still want to follow Matthew's lead. For us this means that we are giving him every chance to fight for life, but if he doesn't want to fight then we will respond accordingly. She didn't even bat an eye. We love that about her! This is against her's and the neonatologist's recommendations but they are totally going with our lead on this without a fight. I think it helps that they have seen us working through this decision and that we are carefully considering the doctors' recommendations before deciding.

He even has tooth buds! They are the white below his nose.

We asked her if she could foresee any NICU doctors or any nurses refusing to do things like chest compressions and she said that no, she doesn't see that happening. They have been and will be told to follow what we want and that we have made these decisions carefully. We are really happy to hear that.

At this point we have an induction and a c-section scheduled for October 16th. What this means is that if I come in and his heart rate is great and he is in position then we will induce, but if either of those are not lined up we will do the c-section. She said (and I agree) that it would be easiest to schedule the c-section and cancel it than to try to schedule a last minute one. They are letting me have two (and possibly three!) support people with me in the OR! Right now that is going to be Jon and our birth photographer with possibly the doula (so that I can have someone with me when/if Matthew leaves the room with the other two). We are really glad that we will be able to have his first few minutes and hours photographed!

Our next few appointments are on the 5th and the 12th for regular check ins with the doctor to monitor blood pressure and whatnot and to make sure we have any questions answered or discussions talked through. After that there is only the induction/c-section! In some ways I hope I go into labor on my own the week of the induction so that I can know that we didn't bring him out to early but in some ways I hope he stays in there because it would be so easy to have everyone there already for the planned induction/c-section! I guess we will just have to wait and see what God and Matthew have in store for us :)