Dr. Rinehart

I am so thankful for the opportunity to carry this little angel and get excited every time I feel her moving around. We had a doctor’s appointment this past Tuesday and the doctor asked if I had any concerns. I told him if I had one it would be that I don’t think she is as active as she should be. Once we turned on the sonogram machine it was obvious that I just must not be paying attention. She had her feet going in bicycle motion and her hands were back and forth between her mouth and the back of her neck (relaxing pose.) the doctor then told me that the fact you can only “feel” her a couple of times a day and that she isn’t flapping around all the time is a sign of intelligence. This put my mind at ease for an hour or so but I really wanted (and still want) to feel her at all time. This will come soon enough he told me but for now it is a great sign that she is showing muscle control with her body and is able to move her legs and arms without moving the entire body.

This led into the emotional moment of the doctors appointment… Because we did the early testing for CF we are being monitored by our OB as well as a specialist. Dr. Rinehart (he is awesome!!)Who is the one that did our CVS test and has been monitoring Sloan’s development and my body’s reaction to the pregnancy since the test. After he did his doctor thing he looked at Jorde and me and let us know that things couldn’t look any better! He said “she is perfect.” At that, tears began to form but I was determined to let him continue to tell us how “perfect” she was without him stopping short because I got emotional. He went on to tell us that she is in the 78th percentile as far as growth, her intestines look great (something we are very concerned with due to her having CF), her smarts are already proving to be there, and she will, in every way, be a normal, healthy baby girl that just happens to have CF.

In our first meeting with Dr. Rinehart I was petrified. I knew there was a risk of miscarriage and I knew that we had a 1 in 4 shot of our daughter’s test results showing positive for CF. The day before the test I called up his office to find out what would happen if the doctor got in the room and I decided that I couldn’t go through with the test. I was absolutely terrified of losing this precious baby that I had already fallen so deeply in love with.They assured me it would be no problem. The moment Dr. Rinehart came in the room my worries were lessened. He had the best bedside manner (something you just don’t get enough of these days) and explained EXACTLY what he was going to do, how long it would take, and why it was important that I stay still. He went over the likelihood of a miscarriage with us and then gave us the option to proceed. I am so glad we did. I see these kinds of medical advances as blessings. We were given the option to prepare ourselves for our future before our future got here. It is a great gift that we are able to give to our daughter and I am not sure that I would have gone through with the procedure if I had walked into any other doctor’s office.

The follow up visit after the results were back and we had a few weeks to digest the information he came into the room to find a giggly me, excited to see my baby girl. He put his hands on my shoulder and smiled. I knew exactly what he was saying to me. He was telling me what every other person has been saying to me with such love, concern, and support. “I’m so sorry.” While I am appreciative of the sympathy I do not want it to define my pregnancy, my marriage, or my child’s future. He read me like a book and recognized, just like everyone has, that we were going to make the most of this. His hand on my shoulder was the comfort that I needed in that moment and reassured me that we were in the right hands. I am so grateful for all of the doctors that we have come to know and will continue to get to know during this journey and the journeys to come.

Baby girl at 21 weeks and 2 days