Is there an ECHO in here? Is there an ECHO in here?

UPDATE: See the post directly below this one (but make sure you read this awesome post, too; you won't want to miss it!) for the contest winners!!!

But first, ECHO news...

I'll say this twice to make sure you catch it:

Stellan's heart was beating in normal, sinus rhythm during our entire hour-and-a-half long ECHO this afternoon.

Stellan's heart was beating in normal, sinus rhythm during our entire hour-and-a-half long ECHO this afternoon!!!


What a mighty God we serve!! What a mighty God we serve!!

This was truly more than we even anticipated that the best outcome of today's tests could have been. Sinus rhythm? Stellan had never before been in prolonged periods of sinus (normal heart rhythm without any skipped or double beats). He has always had an arrhythmia along with his SVT (Supraventricular Tachycardia...rapid heart rate). The hope and goal of the doctors was to get Stellan's heart to slow down and stay slowed down. We were just hoping to see today that Stellan's heart was still beating slowly and that his Hydrops had not gotten too much worse. Getting his heart into sinus rhythm hasn't really ever even been discussed. It was assumed that, at best, Stellan would still have arrhythmia to worry about when he was born. But today his pumper was beating in sinus rhythm to the surprise of everyone! (Well, everyone except God, of course.)

So, at least for now, Stellan's heart is showing no tachycardia and no arrhythmia!! It is beating 100% normally!!

We discovered a bit of medical rationale behind my nausea and lightheadedness and extreme fatigue, too: The Flecainide I am taking for Stellan's heart has raised my resting heart rate. My heart is beating at around 130 beats per minute (That's high for an adult.) and, although I would think that would make my hyper, it actually has the opposite effect: I am tired, dizzy and nauseous all the time. And there isn't much that can be done about it. I am supposed to be on "modified bedrest." The things we do for our children!

Oh, and Stellan's Hydrops? Resolving!!! There was no fluid at all to be seen around his heart or any other organs, and the abdominal fluid that had been present during the last two weeks--and had been holding steady...we were told it takes weeks and weeks for Hydrops to possibly resolve in utero...if it were to get better at all--was about 1/3 less than at his last ECHO!! It was difficult for the technician to even measure the abdominal fluid still present in Stellan, that is how little there is of it left!!!!

You'd think I would learn to not be shocked at God anymore, but I still can't believe this!! I can't believe this!!

Stellan passed his biophysical profile with flying colors and the concern that had been present that perhaps he might not have been growing like he should while his body was so stressed out during the past few weeks was also put to rest: He has actually put on over a pound! Our little fighter weighs in at 2 pounds, 6 ounces now. At just shy of 26 weeks, his body length and weight measures about 28 and 1/2 weeks. And my uterus measures about 34 weeks!!! Part of that is because I have a big baby in there (I mean, relatively speaking), but the biggest factor is the great expanse of amniotic fluid I have. Under normal circumstances, the amount of fluid present would be alarming, but this is a typical finding with babies who develop Hyrdops. In fact, the large amount of fluid has been made even greater by the fact that Stellan has been ridding his body of fluid: He is urinating it all out as it works its way through his system and that increases my amniotic fluid. They will watch the levels closely, but the perinatologist assumes that even that amniotic fluid will eventually level out.

The plan for now, if everything stays as it is (And we are continuing to pray that it will!), is to have weekly ECHOS downtown at the hospital (every Monday from here on out) along with biophysical profiles, non-stress tests and Flecainide level blood draws; to have regular midwife check ups at the clinic near my house (on Wednesdays); and to have an ultrasound, a biophysical profile and blood draw at my house with the OB Home Care folks (every Friday morning). And, assuming we maintain the status quo, the perinatologists will do an amniocentesis at 37 weeks and deliver Stellan via Cesarean section then. That's at the end of October!!!

The long and short of it is: Stellan is getting better. He is getting better!!!

And that deserves an amen! And another...AMEN!!!

Is there an ECHO in here?