Another Bennett Update

Today, we headed to the clinic. I had my 30 week check-up--gained 6 pounds in the last 3 weeks--yikes! Things are going well, though. Baby's moving a TON! He never seems to stop. After my appointment, we headed downstairs to see the endocrinologist for Bennett. Not much to share in terms of what's going to be done, but we got a lot of information. Our next step is to have a growth hormone test done. Before, they checked a hormone that is available 24-7 and it is an indicator of hormone problems, but is dependent on nutrition. The test we will we do in August tests the growth hormone level that is being released from the pituatary gland--which is released in spurts--and makes it difficult to catch at the right moment. We will go in and have Bennett fast for 4 hours. They will hook him up to an IV, give him a medication that will lower his blood pressure slightly, and draw blood at 60 minutes and 90 minutes. We will receive the results about a week later. If things come back in the normal range, great! If not, the next step will be to do an MRI and look at his pituatary gland. If one of the two levels is below 10, we would qualify for growth hormone shots--thank goodness to be covered by insurance (runs roughly $35,000 a year!). But what it would require is a nightly shot until he stops growing--possibly 18 years or so. Like I said, we got a lot of information today and now we just have to wait and see what this next test shows. Hopefully, things will come back fine and in the normal range. If not, then we take it one step at a time--although giving shots every day doesn't sound like much fun. It was reassuring to hear that the side effects are minimal and rarely occur. The shots simply replace something that Bennett's body is not making. As soon as we get results from the test in August, I will make sure to post another update on his status!