WE PASSED

After a few days of stubbornness our little man decided to play along today by passing his Biophysical Profile (BPP) with an 8 out of 8! We had the same ultrasound tech yesterday and today so she was rooting for us and doing everything we could to ensure we had at perfect score today.

Breathing

It was great to watch how excited the tech got when he passed the breathing portion. I was watching for breathing contractions very closely and the tech shouted “he just past his breathing portion.” YAY!

Tone/Flexing

JD keeps his little hands up in his face protecting his moneymaker so we needed to poke and prod in order to get him to open his hands for a few moments. After a few words of encouragement he opened his hands very quickly as if you say “happy, now leave me alone please.”

Amniotic Fluid

The fluid was slightly lower than yesterday but the tech was great because she checked at the beginning of the BPP only to check again at the end to see if any more pockets had opened up. And they did. We increased slightly by the end of the test. Still low but we were able to pass that portion, so thumbs up.

Movement

Surprisingly, this was one of our harder portions today. This kid just refuses to make things easy on us. He is still moving but with less emphasis as the past few months. As long as I feel some movement I feel fine so I just wait to feel those great little kicks and flutters. JD already loves his brother tons because he responds most to Connor’s voice. Before I left for my appointment today I asked Connor to talk to JD so he would be ready for lots of movement. It was a sweet moment.

Overall it was a great day. I also had an appointment with my regular OB who was very pleased with the results. A big shout out goes to Dr. G (my regular OB) and Dr. GB (the high risk doctor) as they talk regularly. From the time I walked the two blocks from Prentice to my next doctor’s appointment the tech had already faxed my results to Dr. GB who had already called Dr. G to give her the news. These doctors work so well together and keep each other in the loop better than we do. They run a tight ship between all the offices, which I greatly appreciate.

There was one thing I was slightly nervous about which I did not mention yesterday. Anyone who knows me knows I am very organized and tend to have a plan as I prepare for big events. Well, I am not far enough down my timeline yet so I was very worried I might be admitted to the hospital for monitoring WITHOUT deep cleaning my bathroom. Seriously, this caused some anxiety, as there is no one who can clean a bathroom better than me with the BIG exception of my mother. I will never be at her level but not even a maid can clean a bathroom as well as she can. So the idea I would leave my bathroom without a deep clean made me upset. However, thanks to my wonderful parents who watched Connor for a few extra hours today I was able to clean and organize my bathroom to prepare for my absence. Now I just need good maintenance every few days to make sure it stays fabulous by the time we leave. Now I can breathe.

Tomorrow morning we have another Fetal Echo but no Biophysical due to our success today. The heart looks good at each ultrasound so we hope to see the same pattern tomorrow. Our next BPP is on Monday, 3/26 so we will hope for another passing grade. Nate and I plan to pack our bag for each appointment incase we are admitted for monitoring. Actually, we figure the more prepared we are the less likely JD will come early – we learned that from Connor who extended his stay 2 weeks.

Thanks to my mom who joined me today for my appointments as Nate was out of town in meetings all day. I am sure her direct link to the big man helped during our test.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers and texts and calls today. Everything is working to keep this little man pushing forward.

Finally, Happy World Down Syndrome Day to all our little buddies who make each day a joy.