6 weeks and counting...
Does someone want to fill me in on how I'm only 6 weeks away from having a second baby?!!
Hard to believe how quickly time has gone. I was worried that this last trimester would inch along...but it's going fast, and I'm not sure I'm ready! (Are we ever ready for those little bundles of joy?)
We're up to weekly appointments at the OB's office - and things are looking good. At my last appointment, Kit Kat was weighing in at 4 lbs on the nose, looking good and moving like crazy. The sonographer wasn't able to get a good picture, but I'll be sure to post another picture of little Kit Kat soon. I'll be back in tomorrow, and I'm hoping the big K will cooperate.
Deirdre was with us last week, and she had her heart set on seeing the baby's nose, ears, eyes, and hips (the latter being the most recent body part to be added to her repertoire.) However, we didn't have time to dwell on the lack of photo op, because there was something else afoot with KitKat.
Thankfully, nothing is wrong - and all looks good, but the sonographer detected what's called premature atrial contraction - a condition that causes an irregular heart rhythm. It sounds as though the baby's heart skips a beat, but from what I've read online, it's not that the heart actually skips a beat, (darn, those cliches!), but rather that one heart beat comes too close to the next, so that the following beat is actually forced to pause a split second.
The good news (and thankfully, there's no bad news here at all...) is that the PAC was very intermittent, and the doctor thinks it might even go away before delivery. And if it doesn't, no one seems concerned. We'll know more after this week's appointment, as my weekly non-stress tests were scheduled to begin anyway, and we'll be able to see and hear if the irregularity is still occurring.
Note that a non-stress test, or NST, is performed by strapping a little heart monitor (kind of like an EKG machine) to my belly, and tracking the baby's heartbeat and contractions over the course of about 20 minutes. Sometimes it can be shorter, sometimes longer...but Johnny and I quickly learned that once the NST's begin, a good book or magazine is a necessity. When I was pregnant with Deirdre, they upped the NST's to twice a week...and there's only so much chitchat a husband and wife can have in the presence of doctors, nurses, and the like!
When I asked the cause of the PAC, my doctor chalked it up to immature wiring, or an immature connection - which should right itself as the baby continues to grow and develop. (Please note - this is NOT meant to be a medical explanation for PAC. Please consult your doctor for additional details!)
And when I asked if there was any relation to the congenital heart block we've been checking for (due to lupus antibodies I carry), Deirdre's VSD that was discovered when she was born, but that disappeared at her 6 month cardiologist appointment, or to my mitro valve prolapse condition, my doctor said no. Guess these three members of the Gorman clan just insist on adding a little "hearty" spice to life!
So - that's the big news on the baby front. Check in later in the week or next week for another update. Cross your fingers that Kit Kat's feeling photogenic!
Hard to believe how quickly time has gone. I was worried that this last trimester would inch along...but it's going fast, and I'm not sure I'm ready! (Are we ever ready for those little bundles of joy?)
We're up to weekly appointments at the OB's office - and things are looking good. At my last appointment, Kit Kat was weighing in at 4 lbs on the nose, looking good and moving like crazy. The sonographer wasn't able to get a good picture, but I'll be sure to post another picture of little Kit Kat soon. I'll be back in tomorrow, and I'm hoping the big K will cooperate.
Deirdre was with us last week, and she had her heart set on seeing the baby's nose, ears, eyes, and hips (the latter being the most recent body part to be added to her repertoire.) However, we didn't have time to dwell on the lack of photo op, because there was something else afoot with KitKat.
Thankfully, nothing is wrong - and all looks good, but the sonographer detected what's called premature atrial contraction - a condition that causes an irregular heart rhythm. It sounds as though the baby's heart skips a beat, but from what I've read online, it's not that the heart actually skips a beat, (darn, those cliches!), but rather that one heart beat comes too close to the next, so that the following beat is actually forced to pause a split second.
The good news (and thankfully, there's no bad news here at all...) is that the PAC was very intermittent, and the doctor thinks it might even go away before delivery. And if it doesn't, no one seems concerned. We'll know more after this week's appointment, as my weekly non-stress tests were scheduled to begin anyway, and we'll be able to see and hear if the irregularity is still occurring.
Note that a non-stress test, or NST, is performed by strapping a little heart monitor (kind of like an EKG machine) to my belly, and tracking the baby's heartbeat and contractions over the course of about 20 minutes. Sometimes it can be shorter, sometimes longer...but Johnny and I quickly learned that once the NST's begin, a good book or magazine is a necessity. When I was pregnant with Deirdre, they upped the NST's to twice a week...and there's only so much chitchat a husband and wife can have in the presence of doctors, nurses, and the like!
When I asked the cause of the PAC, my doctor chalked it up to immature wiring, or an immature connection - which should right itself as the baby continues to grow and develop. (Please note - this is NOT meant to be a medical explanation for PAC. Please consult your doctor for additional details!)
And when I asked if there was any relation to the congenital heart block we've been checking for (due to lupus antibodies I carry), Deirdre's VSD that was discovered when she was born, but that disappeared at her 6 month cardiologist appointment, or to my mitro valve prolapse condition, my doctor said no. Guess these three members of the Gorman clan just insist on adding a little "hearty" spice to life!
So - that's the big news on the baby front. Check in later in the week or next week for another update. Cross your fingers that Kit Kat's feeling photogenic!
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