Update III

The MRI on the 19th of January was super informative, and I’m extremely grateful that I got one. The results showed the severity of her hydrocephalus. With her ventricles in the 30-40mm range. They should both be under 10mm. Even though that’s bigger than our last Dr’s visit, they measure the ventricles differently in an MRI compared to an ultrasound, so they very well could have remained the same. I’m hoping they stabilized.

After the MRI was completed, Joshua and I met with a neurologist at Seattle Children’s, and she was very informative, kind, and smart. She explained that she couldn’t find any malformation or blockage in her brain. There’s no cyst or tumor blocking the ventricles from draining. She was also happy that all of her brain is developed, it’s just severely squished. She also couldn’t find anything else wrong with her body. Her determination is that the hydrocephalus is caused by aqueduct stenosis, the narrowing of the aqueduct of Sylvius (the 3rd ventricle) which blocks the flow of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) to the ventricular system. It’s just how her brain developed. There was nothing I did, and nothing she did, that could have caused or stopped this from happening. The 3rd ventricle just developed funky, with possible webbing on the inside, preventing the fluid to fully drain.

The only scary thing I heard was that there was so much pressure building up in her small little head, that it found a way to pop a hole and escape from the top of her brain. This is cause for concern, because anytime there’s an opening in the brain, it brings along a 20% chance of seizures.

She explained possible outcomes for her, and predicted a 90% chance of mild to moderate developmental delays. I’m thankful for all the various therapies they have for children. I never knew about occupational, physical, and speech therapies for infants. I’m hoping to get her on a plan that we’re all comfortable with.

I have an appointment with Dr. Cheng at UW tomorrow (when I’m 34 weeks) to have an ultrasound to determine when Jocelyn should be born. It’ll also be dependent on the surgeons at Seattle Children’s, and when they’re willing to operate on her. I’m hoping and praying it’s the best date for both of us. I personally want her to be here as soon as possible.

Speaking of when she should be born, I had a scary week! Last Thursday I started to have strong, extremely painful contractions every 4-5 minutes. After an hour of them not going away, I texted Joshua to come and take me to the hospital. I checked into St. Peter’s, even though I’m supposed to deliver at UW, because it was the closest hospital. They ran every test imaginable to try and figure out why they were happening, and every one came back negative. They filled me with 2 liters of fluid in an IV, thinking it could have been caused by dehydration, but that didn’t stop them either. They checked me twice, but both times I didn’t dilate at all. They were stumped as to why I was having consistent contractions without going into active labor, so they called UW and told us to head up there. We took the drive up to Seattle, they did the same tests, and also couldn’t explain why it was happening. The best they could say was, “pregnancy sucks, we don’t know why your uterus is angry. This should pass within a couple of days, but if it doesn’t, head back up here.” So I spent Thursday through Saturday dealing with contractions and a huge amount of lower back pain and pelvic pressure. Thankfully, today I feel much better. The contractions are coming around every hour, and the pressure isn’t quite as bad.

I’m hoping what happened to me can sway a decision on when Jocelyn should be born. She’s been head down for over a month. Maybe it’s just so big, and my torso is so tiny, that my body is thinking it should get prepped for labor. And here I thought I wouldn’t have to deal with the pains of labor because of having a scheduled c-section. Boy was I wrong!

I’m hoping to feel more prepared after the visit tomorrow. It’ll help us figure out when we should kick everything into high gear to prepare for her arrival.