This has been a really tough week.

We went for our second sonogram to make sure that all of the body parts were present and accounted for...usually called the 20 week sonogram (although it was much closer to 21 weeks for us with our crazy scheduling!) We had really been reluctant to have any medically invasive testing done--we had opted out of nearly every test there is because we really believe in treating our pregnancy as a normal event until there is cause to believe otherwise. Our 13 weeks sonogram was done initially to take a look at the cervix to check for any incompetency and to make make sure that placenta accreta was not an issue. As excited as we were to see our baby again, it really seemed like unnecessary testing since we had already ascertained that our baby had a head, hands, feet and a heart...we really don't need to know more than that since the results would not affect our plans for continuing the pregnancy. But, because it was a more traditional maternity care facility, we felt obligated to follow the rules and be good little patients. We should have followed our gut instincts, transferred our care to the home birth midwife, and continued to treat our pregnancy as normal. Instead, we went through with the sonogram.

To make a long story short, our last sonogram tech was incredibly helpful and warm (see 13 weeks for details). This new tech was not those things. This tech decided that we had "significantly low amniotic fluid levels" and the OB said we had to go to Buffalo for further testing. One minute our pregnancy is fine, the next, an OB is shipping us off to a teaching hospital for a serious complication. Some additional factors--the sono tech measured the baby and our little LF4 was measuring 22 weeks, 2 days (a tad above my gestational age). The tech could find and measure the baby's kidneys and we watched the baby swallow amniotic fluid and watched the tummy and bladder fill up with that fluid. And most importantly--if this was such a serious complication, why was my appointment to see the Perinatologist in Buffalo for a follow up sonogram scheduled for 8 days later?

Researching at home that night, the more we read about Oligohydramnios, the more we were certain that I did not have any of the conditions which would cause it! I understood that low fluid could be a very serious problem and was not taking it lightly or ignoring it...I just wanted to make sure that I really DID have low fluid before making a costly and inconvenient trip to Buffalo to have a bunch of experts and med students poking and prodding me. None of the baby's measurements indicated that I actually did have low fluid levels, the baby was measuring slightly larger than my actual gestation (low fluid would restrict the growth and make me measure smaller), I wasn't leaking any fluids, the baby's kidneys were detectable and functional. I called the home birth midwife (the one that we planned on transferring to once we found out more about insurance coverage), and she reminded me that sonogram techs are human and subject to mistakes or inadequate training--and the OB is too busy to do anything other than take the word of the sonogram tech. The home birth midwife recommended that I lay down, rest, and drink plenty of fluids until I could get a second opinion. Interesting advice--since the OB told me to just go home and "wait for the results in Buffalo." 

 On Monday morning (4 days after the awful news, 4 days of worry, 4 days before the appointment in Buffalo) I decided that I had had enough. I called my care provider and asked to have a follow up sonogram with another sonogram tech to confirm the initial findings. I figured that if both of them came to the same conclusion, that I would accept the results and follow up in Buffalo, just as a good patient should. However, I felt strongly (maternal instincts!) that the tech just didn't do her job properly. I wanted a second opinion. My care provider informed me that they would absolutely NOT give me another sonogram and that I was not taking my baby's health seriously enough <insert rage here> How was waiting a total of 8 days instead of learning more today taking my baby's health more seriously? What about the dynamics of power in the care provider/patient relationship? They were all-powerful, and I was powerless? Their authority superseded my request for more information or confirmation of the information I had been given? I knew right there and then that even if insurance did not cover the home birth that we would have a giant yard sale or drain my 401K to raise the money to pay out of pocket if we had to. At that moment, I was done with the "you are a bad mother if you don't blindly follow the medical model of maternity care"

I called another local OB/CNM team and informed them of what was going on. They bent over backwards to fit me in that very day and give me the second opinion I had wanted (and deserved). That afternoon we were able to see our beautiful, totally healthy baby surrounded by watery pockets of amniotic fluid. This new OB informed me that there was no way possible that my AFI could be "dangerously low" 4 days ago and "ample" today. The original sonogram tech had simply misread or misinterpreted what she had seen (I hate to say I told you so...but). I was now officially 21 weeks, 5 days, and the baby was measuring 23 weeks, 3 days and in the 59th percentile, all systems were functional and normal!

I hadn't wanted another sonogram, but at least the damage from the inept one had been neutralized and I know that I can carry on with my pregnancy with only the usual amount of worrying!

So, momma's--stand up for what you want. Get the care that you ask for...not the care others say is "adequate." Luckily we only had 4 days of worry and didn't risk a trip in the snow and ice to Buffalo to hear some "expert" tell me what my body already knows! Trust in your body and find a care provider that trust in the process, too!