Thursday, January 17, 2013

RAI + Pregnancy = ?? (Part 2)

Part 1 and our disclaimer, found HERE.

So after my endocrinologist made me question if the baby was going to have three arms or something, he said he wanted to have the hospital do some calculations and give that information to my OB so someone a little more knowledgeable could figure out what the effects of the RAI would be on the baby.

And then I didn't hear from anyone for like a week.

Phil and I were pretty anxious at this point.  Phil put on his chemist/toxicologist hat and began doing some calculations.  He even found the same guidelines the doctors ended up using regarding risk exposure so fetuses.  Plus Phil called one of his good friends who also happens to be a nuclear pharmacist and asked him a few questions.  After we got done with our own research (which yielded very little on the internet), we felt A LOT better.  And a little mad at my doctor for implying I should consider an abortion.

We finally heard from my OB, who recommended we see a perinatologist, just to make sure everything would be alright.  Technically, I was a "high risk" pregnancy.

We met with the perinatologist who basically said we really didn't need to be too concerned about the radiation exposure to the baby.  WHEW!!  Huge confirmation of what we already suspected.

However, they recommended we have some extra ultrasounds done.  They wanted to make sure the baby didn't have a goiter (enlarged thyroid) forming and that the baby was growing at the proper rate (since radiation exposure can affect growth rates).

And that's where we are now.  These ultrasounds started with the 20 week anatomy scan and we'll continue to have ultrasounds every 4 weeks until Baby Janney makes his debut.  So far, Baby Janney is growing just as he should be, measuring exactly as he should.  He hasn't even been born and he's already being such a good little boy.  :)

I know there are some that believe ultrasounds can be harmful to the baby, but the perinatologist said that isn't true.  Plus I already exposed him to some radiation, so what's a little more, right?

So that's the skinny on that.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask them.  I just wanted to put all of the information about this pregnancy out there.  The complete back story.  It wasn't the ideal situation, but I also wouldn't change it at all.

6 comments:

  1. How scary and exciting all at the same time! So happy everthing is working out for you all and your little Baby Janney!

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  2. so glad that everything is looking great so far. i can't imagine how nerve-wracking the whole situation would be...and i still can't believe the one doc saying that you'd have to have an abortion. what happened to trusting in God's plan???

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  3. I'm so glad to see another person who is doing something against their doctor and doing their own research! My husband and I talked to my (old) doctor about getting pregnant, and how I had to switch medications for my hyperthyroid because one does better for the fetus than the other. I was still on my old one for a few weeks and the doctor told us that if we got pregnant, we'd have to have an abortion right away, the baby would be severely deformed no matter what, if I had a baby to full term it'd end up in the ICU and it would all be our fault. Even though I wasn't pregnant, I left crying and freaking out and didn't want to ever have sex again in case I got pregnant! haha When I got home and did research, I learned that the 'bad' medicine is the recommended one in Europe and that almost all pregnant women with hyperthyroid take it and that it wasn't as bad as my doctor made it sound! So now i barely listen to doctors when they say stuff.

    It's awesome that everything is going smoothly for you now and that results have been great so far! I'm sure you'll have a healthy little baby!

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    1. I was so nervous about taking PTU for Graves disease during pregnancy, but everything turned out to be just fine. My baby is healthy with normal thyroid levels. :)

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  4. Wow! What a scare! Praying that everything turns out fine!

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  5. I can't believe that your doc would suggest an abortion. Ugh, some people!
    So glad things are going well! And I'm loving this post series. So many of my questions have been answered and I feel like I understand it all wayyyyy better now. Thanks for sharing it!

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