I had my 24 week OB appointment last week and all was on track. Belly measurement and fetal heart rate was normal. Only thing that's off is my weight. I gained 9 lbs. since my last OB apt 4 weeks ago. I was supposed to gain only 4 lbs. So that brings my total weight gain so far up to a whopping 25 lbs.! Sheesh! I think for the entire 40 weeks the range I wanted to hit was between 25 and 35 lbs. Looks like I'm going to pass the 35 lb mark too. With 16 weeks to go and the goal of gaining 1 lb/week, I'll be looking at a total gain of 41 lbs! My OB wasn't terribly concerned, just to keep an eye on it. My blood pressure is great though so no risk of preeclampsia or anything with the extra weight gain. My symptoms seem to be hitting me earlier than most women. I was talking about my physical slowdown that seemed to have started a couple weeks ago and my OB agreed that typically women don't experience that until the late 2nd/early 3rd trimester but it is all still normal. And given my petite size, how I feel is understandable as well. Next check will be at 28 weeks on August 7th and I get tested for gestational diabetes. Hope all goes well with that!
We had the fetal echo today. Basically it was an in-depth ultrasound of the baby's heart with a cardiologist in the room. Everything looked great. The heart is/has developed as it should. The cardiologist who performed the echo was an odd fellow, but was interesting. He showed us all the structures of the heart and arteries and listened to it pump in various areas. It was pretty cool! We also had basic fetal growth measurements done as a routine part of our appointment. Baby is measuring a week ahead and has hair! Typically that is not seen for another 4 weeks. So he will be a bushy baby:)
While they were doing the measurements they found that everything is normal except for the 3rd ventricle of the brain. They called it 'prominent' which basically means it is larger than normal. I don't know how much larger as I didn't get the exact measurement but it was large enough for them to recommend a follow-up at 32 weeks in September. UGH!! So we have to wait 8 weeks to see if this is anything to be concerned about. The doctor said that we shouldn't be alarmed, that they see it all the time and as the brain grows, the ventricles often stop swelling. Still - I'm concerned. I did some googling on the subject today but did not find much which is probably a good thing. Don't take any of this as gospel but this is my understanding: the ventricles contain the spinal fluid which flows to and from the spine. There are 4 ventricles in the brain - right & left lateral ventricles, 3rd, and 4th ventricle. They look like big arteries. If there is a blockage to the spinal column, the ventricles swell up because fluid still flows in but can't flow out. The swelling can occur in all or isolated ventricles and can be caused by a number of reasons - cysts or other blockages can develop, neural tube defects (80% of spina bifida cases result in hydrocephalus), uterine infections, structural irregularities, etc. In terms of 'prominent 3rd ventricles' however, mostly what I found is that it could lead to ventriculomegaly (swelling of the other ventricles - namely the lateral ventricles and occurs in 1 in 1000 pregnancies) and then hydrocephalus - which causes increased pressure in the brain leading to developmental delays, disability, and possibly retardation. Surgery would need to be done, placing a shunt in the opening to the spinal column to enlarge it thus allowing the fluid to drain and shrink the ventricles. I have also read though that if the swelling is mild and doesn't progress to hydrocephalus, 90% of the cases will resolve themselves on their own as the head gets bigger. So hopefully that's the case!!
For now just trying to focus on the positive stuff! Doctor said not to worry so that's what I'm gonna do. Everything else with the baby looks great. He is looking pretty cute now!
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