| Week 37 Aug 4 | Rachel was successfully induced. The process took about 7 hours. She weighed 4lbs (1850g) and was 16.5 inches long. She cried faintly after birth before the doctors wisked her away to the transitional nursery. |
| Week 36 Jul 29 | Final NST was fine. The doctor checked and found my cervix was ripe for induction and there was no need to stay overnight at the hospital. All was set for the induction next week. |
| Week 35 Jul 22 | Met with the Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon. He was very confident about the surgery. Relief to know Rachel's VSD will be in good hands. Weekly NST was fine. Strep-B culture was negative. One less thing to worry about. Will check cervix "ripeness" for induction next week. If not ripe, will need to stay at the hospital overnight to administer a gel to ripen the cervix. |
| Week 34 Jul 15 | Toured the NICU at Columbia Presbyterian. Ultrasound indicated IUGR (intrauterine growth restriction), where growth is under 10%. Doctor suggested induction at 37 weeks. Okayed the earlier induction since one was planned anyway due to the distance from home to the hospital. Induction scheduled for Aug 4. Strep-B culture taken. |
| Week 32 Jul 1 | First ultrasound at Columbia Presbyterian. Indicated shortening of the cervix, a good sign for induction. Met the Doctor and discussed delivery options which will most likely be an induction close to the due the date because of our distance from the hospital. Fetal echo follow up showed no changes. |
| Week 31 Jun 23 | Started on insulin for gestational diabetes. |
| Week 29 Jun 12 | First fetal echo at Columbia Presbyterian. Doctor confirmed the VSD and states most likely will not need surgery immediately after birth. Should be able to deliver close to home and come back for surgery. Decided to deliver at Columbia anyway for peace of mind. Made appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine OB for July 1 (earliest available). |
| Week 28 Jun 5 | Third ultrasound at Westchester Medical. High risk OB looked at the still clenched fists and then dismissed us. Consulted with another doctor. She agreed with our decision to transfer care to Columbia Presbyterian because the pediatric cardiac surgeon at Westchester Medical is not as experienced. Made appointment to see pediatric cardiologist for fetal echo at Columbia Presbyterian for June 12. |
| Week 27 May 23 | Ultrasound indicates fists are still clenched. High risk OB was not in for consultation. Follow up ultrasound in two weeks. The fetal echo follow up confirmed a VSD. No other heart problem seen. Doctor recommended transfering care to Westchester Medical for delivery as surgery may be needed immediately after birth. Follow up Fetal echo in 4 weeks. Started researching on best hospital to perform pediatric heart surgery and Columbia Presbyterian kept coming up as the best in the tri-state area. |
| Week 25 May 15 May 13 May 9 |
3 hour glucose test. Diagnosis was gestational diabetes. Start diabetes diet. 6 meals a day! Fasting+2hour glucose level high Failed glucose challenge. |
| Week 22 Apr 24 | Level II ultrasound at Westchester Medical. Clenched Fists and size difference between left and right ventricle detected. Fetal echo view was limited. Possibility of VSD and/or coartation of the artery. Fetal echo and level 2 u/s followup in 4 weeks. Consultation with high risk OB. Clenched fists is genetic soft marker. No other markers found. Offered amnio, but results will not be available for another two weeks, by which time it'll be illegal to terminate in New York. With the limited information given, the amnio was turned down. Spoke with the regular OB on the next day. The amnio was offered again for "peace of mind". Decided to wait and see in the followup ultrasound and fetal echo. |
| Week 20 Apr 8 | Ultrasound indicates a girl! OB recommended level II ultrasound due to maternal age. |
| Week 17 Mar 19 | Triple screen test results. All negative! Risk for T18 was 1:395 |
| Week 16 Mar 13 | Triple screen test. |
| Week 08 Jan 14 | First pre-natal visit. Blood work results were normal. Vaginal bateria infection. OB prescribed cleocin. Infection cleared up after treatments. |
| Week 07 Jan 7 | Blood work. |
| Week 07 Jan 3 | First ultrasound (vaginal). Dated gestation age at 7 weeks. Expected due date at 08/21/03. |
| Week 04 Dec 15 | Home pregnancy test positive! |