I saw the perinatologist today for an ultrasound. The placenta may have shifted slightly, but, in the words of the sonographer, a “sliver” is still covering the cervix. I’ll have another ultrasound with them in two weeks to check the position of the placenta, and if it hasn’t cleared the cervix (they don’t seem hopeful of that) we’ll proceed with a scheduled C-section.
Everything looks good with the baby. Garbanzo is measuring at 4 pounds 12 ounces and 3 days ahead of my original due date. The sonographer noted that Garbanzo has long legs. (Agent Murphy used to stretch out his legs and show off on his ultrasounds.) Amniotic fluid level and blood flow through the umbilical cord are good. As the doc put it, “Everything with the baby is beautiful.”
When I see my OB next week, I need to talk with him about whether I should get another round of steroids (2 shots on 2 successive days) for lung maturation. I had a round May 4-5 when I was in the hospital. The perinatologist doesn’t really think I need another round this soon, and apparently the steroids don’t do any good after 34 weeks, so the latest I could get them is next Thursday-Friday. Part of me wonders why we wouldn’t just do another round since it isn’t effective after 34 weeks, but if the lungs don’t show up as mature after that, we can’t go back in time and do the steroids. Anyway, we’ll see what my doc says.
Then, during the 36th week, I’ll see the perinatologist for an amniocentesis the day before my OB wants to do the C-section. This tests the baby’s lung maturity. Apparently they really try to do the procedures just a day apart. I asked why, as opposed to doing the delivery 2 or 3 days later. The perinatologist told me it’s a legal thing, because if they have evidence of lung maturity, don’t deliver the baby right away, and then something happens, they’ll be held accountable — “Why didn’t you just deliver the baby?” Gee, we don’t have any problem with medicine being driven by fear of litigation, do we? Good grief.
In other news, we were glad to learn that Google wants to proceed with Mr. Tldz as a candidate. Unfortunately, the earliest they could schedule him for an in-depth technical phone interview is the 14th. Meanwhile, other applications just grind along. No news on any yet. As best as we could learn from MARTA (our state representative was able to rouse a pretty quick response from them) the position we’re expecting to hear back on this week will still be accessible under the current service modification proposal.