Week 29

August 26 appointment

Last week we had another appointment with the MFM doctor. This one felt more standard as we haven’t had any testing to get back between appointments. We did an ultrasound and got to hear Shiloh’s heartbeat, beautiful and strong (Zachery got to listen in via facetime from the car).

Shiloh is still measuring small, only in the 4% this time. One of our biggest prayer requests right now is for growth for our girl!

This time the doctor pointed out how her brain’s midline is fused near the front (possibly indicating some variant of holoprosencephaly), that her skull shape doesn’t look completely “normal” on one side of her head, and a piece of the back of her brain that may be absent (possibly indicating some variant of Dandy Walker Malformation). The second two things he pointed out at this appointment were new news to us, though it didn’t seem to be a surprise to him. It goes to show how hard it is to understand and grasp everything in this unknown and complicated medical world for us.

We understand that the lack of a (known) genetic disorder significantly increases Shiloh’s chances at surviving at birth, but that is still a very real concern. The doctor told his best guess is that she has a 70% chance at surviving birth, and that we should have a much better idea on what that may look like longer term after we see what types of medical intervention she requires immediately following birth.

This was probably the last appointment at their clinic, since we aren’t seeing anything different developmentally. We don’t mind not driving to Rogers for appointments anymore! Our plan now is to start doing weekly ultrasounds at my OBGYN’s office to keep an eye on blood flow through the umbilical cord. As long as this continues to look normal, we will plan to induce (per our doctor’s recommendations) at 38 or 39 weeks. If the blood flow increases or decreases however, it will mean that Shiloh isn’t getting what she needs in the womb and we will induce sooner. We are praying this isn’t the case as we would love for her to develop in the womb as much as possible and avoid adding “premature” to the list of complications.

Love, the Linns