After waiting a week it was time for our second appointment to the doctors office to check up on home-skillet. I have been feeling well and even started weening myself off of the pain medicine that I was given. There had been some bad days of feeling pain in-between but overall, I was feeling really well.
We came into the appointment and little man had more pictures taken and was being checked up on his growth. He has two kidneys, a good working heart, a liver, in fact, everything that they were looking at for baby boy looked really good. This was something that we were very happy to hear about. Although, surprise! Baby boy was not in a good position to see how his back is healing up. As of the appointment, the baby's back and behind was lower while his head is up on the right side of my belly-button and his feet are up on the left, next to his head, which I cannot imagine is very comfortable. He is currently weighing, at 26 weeks 1lb. 12oz. :)
One area that we thought was a little cause for concern was that the ventricles in the baby's brain have increased since our last visit. Before I had stated that an average baby boy can have ventricles measuring around 10 millimeters or 1.0 centimeters. At our first post-op appointment he was measuring at 12 and 13 millimeters but, at this appointment he was measuring around 15 and 16 millimeters, which is the largest measurement we have seen. This made me very nervous because our hope was that this number would decrease and not increase. However, there was good news attached to this.
First, we are only 2 weeks out of surgery! This was a major surgery and it may take some time to see how everything is healing and it will take weeks to see changes in his brain. Second, his cerebellum has been healing wonderfully. In a normal baby, the cerebellum should be shaped like a dumbbell weight. With most children born with Spina Bifida, the cerebellum is shaped more like a banana because it's being pulled due to the nerves pulling on the brain. Our doctor noticed that within the last two weeks his cerebellum has been fading from the banana shape and is leaning more toward the dumbbell, which is a good sign!
Our doctor explained that even though his ventricles may have risen they could go back down and it was something that they will watch, and to remind us again that he had just had major surgery two weeks prior. The doctor explained to us that over time his brain may go back to the place it should be so that the spinal fluid can move around the back of the brain, which would decrease the fluid in the ventricles. So at this point we just have to wait and see every week what his ventricles look like and how he is healing up.
Although it feels like a slow process, (I think because I'm cooped up in bed all day) it's good that it's slow because it means that he is still growing and not wanting to come out too early. At this point we just want him to heal and stay in the belly as long as possible to get all of the growing he needs to.
That's all we know at this point... until I get my weekly day out at our next appointment!
We came into the appointment and little man had more pictures taken and was being checked up on his growth. He has two kidneys, a good working heart, a liver, in fact, everything that they were looking at for baby boy looked really good. This was something that we were very happy to hear about. Although, surprise! Baby boy was not in a good position to see how his back is healing up. As of the appointment, the baby's back and behind was lower while his head is up on the right side of my belly-button and his feet are up on the left, next to his head, which I cannot imagine is very comfortable. He is currently weighing, at 26 weeks 1lb. 12oz. :)
One area that we thought was a little cause for concern was that the ventricles in the baby's brain have increased since our last visit. Before I had stated that an average baby boy can have ventricles measuring around 10 millimeters or 1.0 centimeters. At our first post-op appointment he was measuring at 12 and 13 millimeters but, at this appointment he was measuring around 15 and 16 millimeters, which is the largest measurement we have seen. This made me very nervous because our hope was that this number would decrease and not increase. However, there was good news attached to this.
First, we are only 2 weeks out of surgery! This was a major surgery and it may take some time to see how everything is healing and it will take weeks to see changes in his brain. Second, his cerebellum has been healing wonderfully. In a normal baby, the cerebellum should be shaped like a dumbbell weight. With most children born with Spina Bifida, the cerebellum is shaped more like a banana because it's being pulled due to the nerves pulling on the brain. Our doctor noticed that within the last two weeks his cerebellum has been fading from the banana shape and is leaning more toward the dumbbell, which is a good sign!
Our doctor explained that even though his ventricles may have risen they could go back down and it was something that they will watch, and to remind us again that he had just had major surgery two weeks prior. The doctor explained to us that over time his brain may go back to the place it should be so that the spinal fluid can move around the back of the brain, which would decrease the fluid in the ventricles. So at this point we just have to wait and see every week what his ventricles look like and how he is healing up.
Although it feels like a slow process, (I think because I'm cooped up in bed all day) it's good that it's slow because it means that he is still growing and not wanting to come out too early. At this point we just want him to heal and stay in the belly as long as possible to get all of the growing he needs to.
That's all we know at this point... until I get my weekly day out at our next appointment!
Comments
Post a Comment