Our latest trip to Philly

We just arrived home after a draining trip to CHOP.  We had appointments at both CHOP and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. We first met with the doctors at CHOP and an ultrasound was performed on Liam. The doctors are concerned about his growth rate. He is growing but as the doctor put it “not fabulously”. Babies with birth defects like spina bifida can have growing challenges. He is measuring on the small side and they want to monitor his growth more closely. The doctors aren’t sure if he will just be smaller, if this is a SB thing, or if there is something else going on.  They requested that we travel back up to Philly for another visit in three weeks so they can monitor him more closely and to measure his growth rate.  The doctors told us that they don’t expect us to have a 10 lbs baby but at the same time he needs to keep growing.

We were also told that they want us in Philly to stay when Allison is 34 weeks along in her pregnancy. They are taking this measure in case his growth is not strong and they can monitor him and do more tests. They didn’t go into much detail about what could/would be done but that they want to carefully monitor him. This means that we would be in Philly for good the last week of September instead of the middle of October, which we originally planned for.  The doctors might have to deliver him sooner than 38 weeks if his growth rate slows down or if the doctors feel his care will be better outside of the womb.

It is hard to believe that we will be away from family and friends and in Philly for who knows how long in 5 short weeks. We are trying to find a place/home for Spence while we are gone and are trying to find a babysitter for Liam once we are home as well. Since we have to go to Philly sooner, Allison will lose some of her 12 weeks off from work at the front end before she gives birth, therefore her time off when Liam is here will be shorter. This puts more pressure on us to find a sitter before we leave.

There are some positives that came out of our trip. Liam’s SB is “stable” according to the doctors at CHOP. The fluid around his brain has not built up and he seems to be still moving his legs around. They also do not appear to be clubbed. We were very happy to hear this. The ultrasound technician said his brain looked almost identical to the ultrasound from our last visit! We both feel at this point they are more concerned with him growing than the SB.  The bigger he is when he is born the shorter his recovery will be in the NICU since he won’t have to be playing catch up.

Allison also met with a cardiologist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, which is located across the street from CHOP.  They performed an ECHO, 2 EKGs, and she had a meeting with the doctor there. The good news is that the cardiologist agrees with Allison’s cardiologist in Roanoke. They both feel that Allison’s heart is healthy and strong and they see no problems with her arrhythmia and delivering, especially since she will have a scheduled c-section.  She hasn’t had any breakthroughs throughout the pregnancy and they doctors just want her to continue taking her medicine and taking care of herself.

We took the small victories of our appointments and are trying to make the best of everything else. The doctors said that Allison is doing everything right and doesn’t need to do anything different and that he just might be a smaller baby. It’s hard to sit back and try not to worry.  At our next appointment in three weeks we will meet with a social worker, who will help us find a place to stay for the duration of our time in Philly.

Our two showers are coming up and we are looking forward to celebrating and relaxing with family and friends.  Ian has worked hard to finish up Liam's nursery and it looks very cute. We hope that he will be able to enjoy sleeping in his own crib very soon after he is born. We are trying to enjoy this somewhat quiet time at home with Spence before everything changes.  As tough as this all is we are keeping our faith and are doing the best that we can. God is good and he is in charge.