Topher's Pre-Birth Story, Finale

Though things were definitely stressful after that 16 week visit, we started getting positive news from all the tests that were taken. My blood work came back normal, ruling out the possible autoimmune diseases. The quad screen blood test came back with extremely low possibilities for Down syndrome or Trisomy 18. Of course with the previous sonogram findings, they narrowed those risks to about 1 in 200 or so. However, this simply confirmed our decision not to have an amniocentesis, as the risks for miscarriage with that is also 1 in 200. At 20 weeks I went back to both my regular OB and to the specialist group. Dr. Thigpen, our specialist, released us as all of the previous sonogram concerns were no longer even there. The brain cysts were gone, as well as the bright spots in the bowel and the inconsistencies with his growth. The only thing that remained was the calcified spot in his heart, but he didn’t feel this was something to be concerned with. He looked again at the functioning of Topher’s heart, which was still slow but otherwise did not indicate any problems. He didn’t see any reason I wouldn’t be able to have a normal delivery and didn’t see a need to see us again unless our baby’s heart rate dropped below 100 for a consistent period of time. What great news!

At my OB visit, we spoke again about switching to a midwife group and I decided to switch to the UNT Health Midwife group out of Harris hospital downtown. This way if there was a problem with Topher’s heart after delivery, we were right there next to Cook Children’s. So at 24 weeks I began visiting the midwife group. They were fantastic. They are a group of 6 midwives and you visit with each and then deliver with the one on call when you go into labor. Every time I met a new midwife they’d be taken back by Topher’s slow heart rate, but took it right in stride as they had my records. They never seemed to feel I wouldn’t be able to have a natural childbirth, as my fear was a rushed c-section due to the low heart rate. With each visit I felt reassured I made the right decision to switch.

My pregnancy progressed from there with less stress, though it still proved to be a much more difficult pregnancy than my first. Topher moved a LOT more than Liam ever did. I swear he did complete flips until he got so big flipping was much harder to do. But even then he was always shifting. I have to admit this was actually very reassuring, as it helped me know he was okay in there. However, this time around I was having tons of back pain from my herniated disc, likely because I was also chasing around and carrying my 1 year old. I also developed carpel tunnel in my hands experiencing complete numbness at night and sometimes partial numbness in my fingers during the day. I started sleeping in braces to try to minimize this. These pains were in addition to the normal joys of pregnancy including my favorite, getting up to pee every hour through the night! I have to give lots of credit to Will here, as I had to give up bath time with Liam as it became too difficult to bend down and sit on the floor because of my back. Not to mention my ongoing exhaustion. Working full-time and then playing with Liam took all the energy I had. I never would have made it without Will. I’m lucky to have such a supportive husband who is the most caring father to our children.

I continued to work until Feb 25, the Friday before my due date on Monday, Feb 28. With Liam, my water broke two days before his due date and he was born one day early. As this was my second, I was sure I wouldn’t have to wait past my due date for him either. Boy was I wrong! Stay tuned for my next post which will start getting into the fun stuff...Topher’s birth story!

And just for fun, here are some photos of me while pregnant with Topher!