Today Mark and I went to see Dr. Porter (my specialist). She said they are still seeing the heart problems they had seen in the past. Something that was different today, however, was that the head and femur had not grown in proportion with the rest of the body. This is something they say is a sign of a chromosome abnormality (such as Downs or Trisomy 13/18). She wants me to come back in 3 weeks and she said don’t be surprised if she says that there is still a lag in growth. She suspects this will happen. She said if this continues, there is concern for still-birth at some point. So, to prevent that from happening, she’d want to do an amnio if the growth continues to lag to see if the lungs are developed enough to induce labor. At this point, she said doing an amnio would fulfill the purpose of trying to save the baby’s life (by making sure the lungs were ready for delivery).
It’s kinda crazy … the heart doctor recently said that he wants me to carry full term (so the baby will gain as much weight as possible to prepare for the heart surgery), but now we might be presented with a situation in which the baby has to be induced early to prevent still-birth.
We just don’t know what the future will hold for us or baby Victoria. All seems so very uncertain and nerve-racking at times, but we always have to remember that God is with us every moment.
Please continue to pray for healing for Victoria’s body and wisdom for us and the doctors. I am now 27 weeks and it is seeming we may have to make some decisions earlier than we anticipated.