Prayers Please

Baby Cronk #2 is a beautiful baby girl!
Here's a profile shot.

Well, we have some good news and some rather frightening news.

The good news...the baby is looking healthy and growing well...and is definitely a girl.
We know these things because we had to have another ultrasound earlier than planned. Unfortunately, Steve had a rather stressful birthday, as I woke up this morning bleeding and had an urgent evaluation including a level 2 ultrasound. I have a small placental abruption. Click here for information from MayoClinic.com about placental abruption.

Basically, it means that part of the placenta has pulled away from the wall of the uterus and is bleeding. This can be a very serious complication of pregnancy and can lead to some scary things, including losing the baby. However, my bleeding has been fairly minimal and the abruption looks to be pretty small on ultrasound. The high-risk OB physician quoted a 90% rate of successful pregnancy outcome with an abruption like this.

I have been put on a modified type of bedrest. Basically, I have to stay home from work for the next week, try to rest, take naps, drink lots of fluids, and not do anything more than light activity. I'm allowed to go to things like journal club, go grocery shopping, or take a very gentle walk to the park, but only as long as I don't exert myself or overdo it. Basically, I'm not allowed to get my heart rate or blood pressure up.

On a positive note, we got lots of ultrasound pictures of our little one today...
She looks perfect. She is growing well. All her beautiful little parts are growing and developing just as they should be. There are no congenital malformations. Heart rate was 146 (just right). Her estimated weight right now is 7 ounces (a little bit more than average for her gestational age). She was more mellow today. Maybe she knew something was up.

Here are some pictures...

Snuggled in with her arms up by her head.

Head to the right and then the beautiful spine curving over to the left of the picture.

Nice shot of her brain with her cute little hand up by her face.Front view of the face. Body is off to the right.Head shot showing a beautiful brain with developing cerebral cortex on each side and the ventricles and midbrain looking perfect.A good shot of the head and neck with more of the spine and the ribs further to the right.Belly shot at 16 weeks and 3 days.

We're at 16 weeks and 5 days today and taking it one day at a time. I'm doing my best to rest up and take care of myself and baby. We have close follow up, with another appointment on Friday and again next Tuesday. We would appreciate prayers for a healthy and uneventful rest of the pregnancy and birth!