36 Weeks!

I've officially hit the "I'm uncomfortable, and not a peppy pregnant lady." stage of this pregnancy. I'm swelling, Milo has bruised my insides, and reflux has hit SO hard this week (thankfully omeprazole is helping!). I'm constantly needing help with things like putting dishes away, or getting up, etc. 

Of course, there's a flip side to these feelings. I do feel guilty even mentioning the aches/pains because many T13 pregnancies do not get this far, and I should feel more gratitude that we are as far as we are. I feel like many of these feelings are so complex because of the constant reminders that there's still so much to be grateful for, but also, acknowledging the last weeks of pregnancy are SO hard, regardless of the prenatal diagnosis.

Last weekend, I found a survival study on T13 babies in the Cincinnati area and found that Milo has some good things going for him such as his gestation length, and his size. There was correlation between the longer they were in utero and the larger they are, the more likely they were to survive through birth and anywhere between a week to a year afterward. I'm hoping to do more digging into facilities that may support T13 babies, and get a list compiled. We are also working with an organization called Willow Story which is helping us with this task as well. 

Yesterday, we had our appointment with Maternal Fetal Medicine in Wausau, and Milo had a Bio-Physical Profile (BPP) done. A BPP assesses the following: amniotic fluid levels, fetal breathing movements, gross body movements, and fetal tone. Each category gets 2 points, with a total of 8 points possible. Milo got all 8 yesterday! We got to see him opening and closing his mouth, and it almost looked like he was trying to suck on his hands. Then today, we had our next NST, which was a bit redundant because the BPP gives more insight into what's going on internally than the NST, but he also rocked his NST. I was having some contractions about every 5 minutes, but they are more of the Braxton Hicks type. We were redoing Oliver's bedroom today, so I'm sure I just overdid it this afternoon. Each appointment, I'm reminded that moving our care back home was the right choice. Our doctors are so impressed with Milo's defying of the statistics that come with T13, and we leave appointments feeling cautiously optimistic, as opposed to leaving with another bereavement resource. 

Overall, our little guy is doing great! He continues to be strong and active. Like I mentioned, I have a bruised area from where his feet kick. 

Next week, we will also get a growth scan in addition to our BPP so we can get an idea of where he's at. I definitely feel like he's running out of womb!  

The plus side of the scans yesterday is that we got more pictures! :) 

It's hard to tell, but you can see his eyes/nose. The blob in front is his hand that kept blocking the view. 

Here's a profile! You can see his foot up in the upper left. 

Another view of his profile (ish) and the foot right up by his face. 

Milo James, you are so loved. Keep growing (but not too fast), and showing the world that a diagnosis isn't one-size-fits-all.