19 Weeks
After my original anatomy scan, I got a call from the midwife on staff explaining some possible complications that they had seen, and she let me know that they were sending me to a high risk doctor at Tufts to get another scan. Better machinery and more experienced/specialized doctors would get us some additional information that they needed.
It got me a little nervous, and of course googling all the possible bad outcomes (some of which she'd already told me over the phone), but I was glad for the availability of a high risk doctor so close to home. Unfortunately they wanted to see me in the middle of our annual vacation to Maine, and I was told that I really shouldn't wait, especially since if I skipped this one they might not be able to get me in until October. Womp womp.
So off I went at 6 am one morning to try and beat traffic, driving two hours back into Boston (only a few block away from where I work!). My mom came along for company and moral support, and also came in handy as another set of eyes to navigate the large hospital campus! Somehow we managed not to get lost!
Once we were there, they gave me another complete anatomy scan! Checked every limb, every organ, making sure everything looked okay. Baby was super stubborn and every time they'd flip me on my side to see something, the baby would roll the other way, blocking the view. We played this game for almost half an hour while the tech was looking at the heart. She spent so much time on the heart I was sure something was wrong and had prepared myself to hear that from the doctor. But baby was perfect, if a bit uncooperative.
They also spent a long time looking at blood vessels and connections and taking measurements that they needed for what they're concerned with. We ended up getting some of the best news we could have. It's not as bad as they thought, or it could have been, but it's still considered high risk. It's riskier than my last pregnancy due to some additional things going on, but there is no immediate concern or anything we can do to prevent stuff that may happen.
I was given a lecture again about restricting activity, lifting, and not overdoing it and making sure I rest as much as possible with a one year old. I've also been scheduled for multiple follow ups, as I'll be closely monitored by both my doctor and the high risk doctor at Tufts throughout this pregnancy. Right now we're in a cross fingers that everything goes well and it's a normal pregnancy, but be ready for potential big problems that could appear, at which case plan B might quickly go into effect. Anything from bed rest to hospitalization to baby coming early.
So while it's still a lot to think about, and things could change at any time, both me and baby are doing as well as we can be right now!
And as an added bonus, we now have more pictures of baby, which we were lacking before. Even if some of them are super odd/creepy and made my mom and I go "Why would they print that!?"
