Here are some more entries prior to my emergency delivery including my appointments at the Fetal Medicine Unit.

27 weeks & 5 days

We went back to NNUH, a tertiary hospital, for another growth scan. As mentioned in my previous post, the doctor explained to us the chance of the baby not making it. That the restriction of the supply of blood and nutrients to him would be too extreme resulting in his heart stopping beating.

The saddest thing is while we were talking about it, I felt the baby move. I find the situation unreal like it’s really not happening to us. That they are wrong but at the same time that it’s a harsh reality. We are talking about the baby possibly not surviving while I am actually feeling him alive and ‘kicking’ in my womb. That was a very hard moment for me.

Second opinion

A different consultant was available during that scan who in my opinion was gentler than the first doctor we interacted with. He said that the doppler studies showed the blood and nutrients supply to the baby had gotten worse compared to the week before. And although doing weekly growth scans isn’t recommended, he still did and according to his measurements, the baby’s growth has not changed at all. In addition, the flow has shown a little bit of reversal this time which is definitely not the news we liked to hear. 

Because of that, the plan then has changed. We told him about our decision of transitioning to active management which the Doctor has fully agreed to. We want to give our baby a chance. It was obvious then that keeping him longer inside isn’t safe for him anymore. Therefore, we would give him to have a go outside although a bit early as it is his only chance to survive.

The plan

The plan was for me to get my first steroid injection and then another dose the next day. The cesarean section will be booked on a Sunday which is in two days’ time. As I don’t want to be admitted yet, we opted to go home that day and then bring our bags again the next two days until the surgery.

Before going home though, the doctor gave us more instructions. I will have another scan the next day to check the baby and if nothing changed, we will go as planned with the surgery on Sunday. However, if not, the surgery will be performed on Saturday.

Dec 10, 2022

Second steroid injection and Doppler studies

Normally, the Fetal Medicine Unit is closed on a weekend but they opened it for my scan on a Saturday. Dr. Tim, the registrant on duty that day together with an intern, was the doctor performing the scan.

My emotion that day was a pure worry because I was afraid of the scan results plus I haven’t felt the baby move that much. Normally, he would be moving lots in the morning while I am still lying in bed. But not much on that day. I remember the doctor explaining that if fetuses don’t get the proper supply in the uterus, they will get weak. One sign of them being weak is not moving much.

Also, in the doppler studies findings, the flow has changed in just one day. It showed a reversal of the blood flow. Because of this, the doctor has advised us to do the surgery on that day rather than wait the next day.

Preparations were made quickly. I was moved to a room in the delivery suite. Blood was taken, and cannulated with a 16 G needle in my right hand. A second shot of steroid was given to my left bum. This is to help with the baby’s lungs.  Then the Magnesium Sulfate helps protect the baby’s brain.

The effect of the Mg Was crazy. Right away, I felt so hot and just felt like crap. My obs were checked, and CTG was attached to check the baby’s heart rate which according to the Doctor is expected to drop.