Doctor Update 2/13/08

I've decided it's time for another doctor update. February is the month of doctors visits for me. I see Dr Fagnant (my OB) once a week now, Fridays are the days. Even though February is only 29 days long, I really lucked out and get to see him 5 times in February. I also saw Dr Gonzales (perinatologist) last week, and I saw Dr Chander (cardiologist) today. And I had an echo done last week in preparation for seeing Dr Chander. Lots of doctors. So here is the news:

I'm still doing quite well. No heart failure as of yet. I haven't noticed any shortness of breath. I have noticed more swelling in my legs, but we are all fairly certain that is due to the pregnancy and not a heart issue. The echo looks good, about the same really. Last time I had an echo done (back in May or June), it was determined that I have a 40% left ventricle ejection fraction. This is the number that everyone has been so concerned about. At this echo, that number went up to 45%. Granted, there could be some margin of error, but still. I'm doing just as well as, if not better than, I was last year before I was pregnant. I'd say that's pretty good.

We also talked a little bit about how labor is going to go. All along it's kind of been up in the air, everyone seems to have the attitude of, "Let's just wait and see how things are going. Let's get to next month and then see what's going on." And that is how it has to be, since no one could predict how my body would react to all that extra blood. But we're creeping up on "full-term." (I'm 32 weeks today!) So Dr Gonzales told me that I would pretty much have to get an epidural (and I told him that I would pretty much have required it anyway - make me as numb as you can!), and that it's almost a guarantee that I'd need to have an assisted delivery (the forceps or the vacuum). Just something to be prepared for. They'll have a heart monitor on me, and they'll keep a close eye on how things are going. If they have to do a C-section, then so be it. It all depends on how I do (this seems to be the theme of the pregnancy, doesn't it?). He mentioned that during the 2nd stage of labor (you know, the pushing part) your cardiac output goes way up, and we we have to see if my heart can actually do that. If not, then there is a risk of pulmonary edema, among other things, which is bad, so they'll get the baby out however they can. But for all we know, everything could go just fine (kind of like how everything has gone thus far). He wants me to meet with an anesthesiologist, just so that they can be familiar with my situation. But I don't really know how that meeting would go. . . I really think it would be better if the doctor just met with them/talked to them on the phone. Or even better, if they had my records and birth plan there at the hospital. Seeing as there are a lot of anesthesiologists, and who knows who will be on-call that day.

Anyway, there are the answers we've got so far. I've got a whole list of questions to ask at the OB this week, so I'll probably do another update after that. This was a really long post, sorry bout that. If you made it this far, good job! Go get yourself a cookie, you deserve it!