Hang in there, sweet baby...

On Wednesday night I was admitted to the hospital. I hadn't felt the baby moving as much that day, and came in to have them check the baby's heart beat. When they put me on the monitor, they saw that he was having frequent decelerations of his heartrate. After a few ultrasounds, they have been able to determine that his cord is wrapped around his neck at least twice. So, when I have a contraction, or sometimes when he moves, it compresses his cord and makes his heartbeat drop temporarily.

We don't know exactly what's going to happen next. I'm on the monitor almost constantly. He seems to be bouncing back pretty strongly after the decels, which shows that he's not in immediate distress. But the worry is that, if this continues, he'll start to tire out and not bounce back so quickly each time.... if that became the case, it would be better for him to be born, even though he'd be 8-9 weeks early right now. While that sounds terribly early to me, the likelihood of him having any serious long-term problems at this gestational age is very low. Our hospital is one of the best for high-risk pregnancies and premature babies, so it's somewhat comforting knowing we're all in the best of hands.

It seems to be a sure thing that I'll stay here at the hospital until he's born. What's still totally up in the air is when his birth might take place.... tomorrow? In two weeks? Four? The doctors are just taking things one day at a time, observing his heartrate tracing carefully, and doing frequent ultrasounds to monitor his overall well-being. We'll do our best to keep everyone updated. Please keep us all in your thoughts and prayers....