MPKU Journey!

A technical Glitch.

 

Technology is not always right.

 

November 16th we had an ultrasound in kamloops to see how baby was doing. We thought it went very well. We saw our baby wave , grab its toes, blink, yawn, stretch and more. On November 17th we got a call that baby was measuring to small. That baby’s head was small and body was small. That baby was in the 13th percentile for growth. That baby’s head was under 10 and the body was 18-20 % . Which brings down the over all measurements to the 13th percentile.

We were told That we needed weekly ultrasound to monitor growth and if baby didn’t continue to grow baby would have to be delivered early and would be at risk for brain damage if born before 32 weeks. Best case, I just grow small babies , worst case if baby stopped growing it could be stillborn or delivered early and have side effects from premature birth. if baby needed to be delivered id be sent to Vancouver for a C-section.

My whole world was turned upside down and I cried for 3 days straight. I have been doing everything in my power to make sure my baby is healthy. My PKU has been beyond excellent. Our anatomy scan in October, showed no health concerns and everything was fine. I could not wrap my head around in a few short weeks , things had changed. I was trying to find a reason and needed answers. We met with our OBGYN and midwife. The ultrasound tech thought there was some restiveness in the cord getting nutrition to the baby. I blamed myself. our OBGYN sent the scan results to high risk pregnancy clinic in Vancouver for assessment and asked for them to see us again.

Yesterday we had our repeat scan done in Vancouver at BC Women’s High risk center, where we had our anatomy scan done.
We then met again with the maternal fetal medicine specialist.

There is NOTHING wrong with our baby , Our bay is perfectly healthy. Baby is growing just fine. baby is right on target with weight and size. Baby’s head is a perfect size. Baby’s body is perfectly proportionate. Baby is in the 30th percentile for growth and there is no issues with growth, nutrition and no risk of any damage or health concerns. Baby already weights 2.5 lbs.

Our baby is perfect and we are so beyond relieved and excited again. Baby rolled and moved and kicked and was grabbing its toes. Heart beat was again 153 beats per minute. I am pretty sure I know what baby’s gender I but promised not to tell! it has not been confirmed by a doctor as we don’t want to know. We will find out when baby is born!

At our scan in kamloops baby was already head down, but now is breached. Well it was yesterday during the scan. Pretty sure I felt baby roll and flip during the night last night!! It was very painful and uncomfortable and woke me up.

I am so angry with the kamloops ultrasound for putting us through that and messing up so badly!! I am refusing any more scans in kamloops unless medically necessary. We do have a routine scan at 32 weeks ( January 5th) in Vancouver we will attend . That will be our only scan after this and last scan till baby is born .

My birth plan is still in place and I am still able to deliver in kamloops!

Our baby is beautiful and I can’t want to hold him or her in my arms and smoother baby with love and kisses.

Yesterday I officially started the third trimester! at 28 weeks it was day one of month 7 !!

Baby Rickett is officially due February 23rd 2016

Big Thank you to everyone who supported me through this and was their for me. It means alot.

Managing the diet

How much PHE ?

I have been meaning for a while to write a post dedicated to the amazing new website “howmuchphe.org” but havent been quit able to find the right words.

Many moons ago I wrote a blog post describing Virginia Schuettes PKU Food list binder as the holy bible for PKU. Now I can say, how much phe, which is essentially an online version of the food list binder is the holy grail!

As many of my regular readers know, Prior to becoming pregnant, I was fairly liberal with my diet. I did not really eat things I could not eat. I didn’t cheat with meat or high protein foods. But i was not exactly strict.

I “eyeballed” my portions and measurements. I used rough ” cup ” serving sizes and did not use my scale. I did not keep a food log or write down in such details what I was eating day to day.

I did however eat things like Rice, Avocado sushi, yam sushi, vegetable sushi, hash browns, potatoes, corn, and sometimes white wonder bread as toast. I even tried maple brown sugar oatmeal a few times.

Over the years I tried numerous times to rein in my eating habits, either on a health kick to lose weight , or attempt the preconception diet so i can prove to cole that I could do it at all. I used the food list book and a trusty old notebook.

Since becoming pregnant I bought a new notebook and began tracking immediately after that first positive pregnancy test.  i had the adobe digital additions copy of the latest food list but had not been able to afford the annual cost of how much phe yet. Prior to becoming pregnant i saw no need to justify paying for it since I knew i would not use it as its attended or as often to justify the price.  As soon as I had a little extra cash after becoming pregnant i went and got  a pre paid credit card and signed up as soon as I could.

At first i was using it just to look up the nutritional information such as phe and calories to record the values in my notebook. I had really forgotten what the mg of phe was for the things i was eating. I feel like these past few months I have been learning the whole diet all over again. Talk about Crash course. All of a sudden I was having to do math again, hitting my targets every day. Not to high and not to low. Balancing calories and PHe together was a new learning lesson for me as well.   Changing portion sizes to fit the phe i needed. IT is a juggling act and I have a newfound appreciation for parents who do this for their children every single day.  It has been adjustment for me. I am so use to eating whatever I want as long as it was low protein so my portion sizes were quite large. I remember in the first trimester being worried id be hungry when i saw what the real portion sizes were but morning sickness helped with that .

The first few weeks of relearning the diet where a lot less intimidating thanks to how much phe and the facebook community. I spent days learning the ins and outs of the site. I feel in love with how easy it was to navigate and use. i only wished it was more like myfitnesspal where you can record right on the site.. only to discovered a few weeks later that was in the works! I jumped at the chance to be apart of the beta testing group.  It was another adjustment to give up my notebook, though I continued to use it during the beta testing just to be sure.  Since how much phe has gone live with the tracking changes My life has been so much easier!!

Now I can keep a daily log of my food, record my PHE levels, my weight, height and notes. I can also export it to my email and forward it directly to my clinic. I have it saved as a web app on all my devices and set to automatically logged in. So as long as I have wifi I can access it any time. I can use my data on my phone and access it when I am out to. This has come in super handy at the grocery store when I am looking up nutritional info on a new food or something I want to try.

How much phe is seriously user friendly and has additon of the fb group for added support and direct contact to Sarah for trouble shooting. The colours are very easy on the eyes and the lay out really flows.

When you login you have the main search page , after you have enabled tracking your site opens up to your favorites page. So foods you use frequently are right there.  When you open up the food you see the name of the food and the nutritional info down the main page. On the Right you can calculate by weight, portion and PHE.  Enter in your prefered method. I have used all of them. I usually calculated by grams of weight but at the end of the day when i am planning my dinner ahead and I have so many points left that i need to make up, I will choose the food I want and enter in how much PHE i need to eat and it does the math for me. To do the math you use the green  calculator  button. I am so relieved it does the math for you. I really really hate math and am just terrible at it. I have never understood it . It’s a foreign language to me. I don’t even know all my multiplications tables and I never learnt to divide. Admittedly I still count on my fingers or use a calculator and i am never confident that its correct so this feature takes the stress right out for me.

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The orange arrows is the refresh button to erase your data and refresh to defult values.

The fork and knife is how you record it to your daily log.

When you log in for the first time you can set up your profile and change your personal settings.  You have the option to track as a parent or caregiver. This is so great for family members especially grandparents. You can have multiple profiles so if you have 1 or more children with PKU you need to track for you can keep them easily separate.

You then choose your default way to calculate, and enter in your daily intake goals. Set how you track your levels  ( mg/dl ) or (mm/L ) , if you are on Kuvan, If you record Tyrsoine levels. The next tab is for diet. Set your PHE target, Calories, and protein equivalent. This is what you see now at the top of your screen every day when you log in. As you record your meals and each food or formula the talley changes and also shows you what remains for that day.

Mostly I just use my favorites but occasionally I come across a food not listed or need to add in extras like tyrosine. So you have a fast track option ( the lightening bolt) This lets you quickly add something if you know the PHE and calories. For me  I use it to enter in my tyrosine.  0 grams protein, 0 calories, 5 grams tyrosine twice a day so this shows my clinic and me that i have already had it or if i missed a day. ( not that I have) I have also used the quick add button to enter in jumbo freezies ( phe free only calories) and becel margarine. In the note section i describe what the quick add is for .

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Other features to familiarize yourself with is, the search, settings, about , and account features.  Under the account tab is where you will find a graph of your values. Intake, Blood levels, weight, height , notes and exporting.

To export you simply select the date range you are looking for, and then select the information you want to export . When the file is ready it is emailed to you and then you can save it in document form to your computer, print it off for your records or forward the email to your clinic.

When you get use to it and you use it enough, you will find it is so simple to use. Not at all overwhelming, fast , convenient and takes the stress out of compliance for adults like me.

I highly recommend How much phe to anyone. I really feel it is totally worth the price to and have no issue paying the annual cost. It really is quit small for the big picture. Also it is for a good cause. The funds help continue the hard work of the how much phe team. It helps them produce the site, and also to evaluate foods, research nutritional information and work with companies to get the info and provide it for us.

I think everyone can benefit from using this website , it has seriously impacted my PKU life and has made managing my levels and diet much easier and doable. I had so much fear prior to becoming pregnant about being able to be compliant and diligent and stick to a restricted died, How much phe , I feel has made it totally possible and almost easy. I am fully confident I am doing my very best for me and my baby and that I might not have been so sucessful without this great tool . Seriously every household should subscribe . Specially children and women with PKU.   I am so appreciative and thank you to the How much phe team and producers .  Gracious does not even describe. If I could afford to i’d buy it for all my pku friends who are pregnant or on the preconception diet as I feel it is that important.  I will continue to use this tool for the duration of my pregnancy and breastfeeding and into the future to help stay on diet and healthy.

Thank you How much PHE!  I have read many articles that stress the importance of a multi prong approach to treatment of PKU. The low protein diet / medical foods, Formula, and pharmaceuticals like KUVAN. I think it should be expanded to include how much phe. As the more tools in the tool the box, the easier to manage and achieve optimal quality of life!

IF you are interested in checking it out, please visit the site and http://www.howmuchphe.org and if you have any questions please feel free to ask me . You can also join the Howmuchphe fb group for great support and direct access to the team who runs it. They have very quick responses to!

MPKU Journey!

Bumpies !

bumpie_week_7_flag  7 weeks pregnant ( Trimester 1 )

bumpie_week_9_flag 9 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_10_flag 10 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_11_flag 11 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_12_flag 12 weeks pregnant

Trimester 2 :

bumpie_week_13_flag 13 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_14_flag 14 weeks pregnant

2015-09-09 00.10.57  15 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_16_flag 16 weeks pregnant

unnamed (1) 17 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_18_flag 18 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_19_flag 19 weeks pregnant

bumpie_week_20_flag 2o weeks pregnant

21 weeks 21 weeks pregnant

22 weeks 22 weeks pregnant

23 weeks 23 weeks pregnant

24 weeks 24 weeks / 6 months.  Taken on Sunday November 1st!

4 more weeks till 3rd trimester!

Following the old wives tales, Girls carry high. Boys Carry low.

Also old wives tales, girls have a high HB 140 and above. mostly 160s

Boys are below 140. usually 115-120

How do you think I am carrying?

Babys heart beat has been 155 for months. The last 2 where the lowest at 141 and 146.

Levels, Managing the diet, MPKU Journey!, That's my PKU life

Battle of the Blood Dots.

2015-11-02 10.39.59

Regularly a person with PKU has their blood phe levels tested once a month . When I was trying really hard to be on track with y diet and keep my levels below 10 I did them once a week. I felt it made me more accountable to staying on diet. I found when I did them once a month I was more liberal and would eat better for the 3 days leading up to my blood dot then i would the rest of the month. By doing them once a week it discouraged me from cheating or eating liberally. Though I was more more liberal before I got pregnant. I was still considered on diet as I drank all my formula, and had phe levels below 10. However I did not weigh or measure my intake and I did not keep a food log or track calories. Now that I am pregnant I am doing blood dot cards monday , wednesday, and fridays. I drive them up to the hospital for them to be couriered to Vancouver’s newborn screening laboratory at BC Children’s hospital. Results are ran ASAP thanks to the pink sticker on my cards that classifies me as a maternal PKU patient and then results are emailed to me. The turnaround is usually 3 days.

A post on one of my PKU facebook groups this morning prompted me to share a blog post dedicated to these blood draws.

Up until I as 13, my blood was checked at a Lifelabs office through a venous draw from my arm. When I was 13 my clinic switched to blood dots and an annual venous blood draw.

I was taught to take my blood at home from my finger. I was instructed to always fast before a blood draw as this gives a true blood levels and is a bit more elevated then it would be after eating. So a true representation un affected by eating.

I warm my hands before hand. I have found through trial and error that a full shower before hand does the trick. I buy my lancets from the pharmacy in bulk. When I was younger we had a pen that we placed these tiny lancets in now we have a trigger that is the whole thing in one. I prefer the Accu- chek lancets. They have a 3 depth setting. I usually only use the second which is the default. Here is a photo of my lancets:

2015-11-02 10.52.32 2015-11-02 10.53.07

I poke my finger on the inner side of the pad facing me. I have circled the spot in this photo to help explain:

2015-11-02 10.55.17

I was taught to not touch the card with my finger but I sometimes do accidently and it has not effected my test. I was shown to “milk” my finger and gently push around the puncture and let the blood flow . It takes more then one drop to fill a circle. I will press on my finger till I fill the circle before moving onto the next one. Though my finger does not touch the paper, I do dab the drop of blood against the card to help it along. usually 2 or 3 drops will fill a circle nicely. If I don’t warm up my hands first , then I end up not getting enough blood and it dries up before i fill a circle and I have to re poke my finger. I usually alternate what fingers I use to help avoid calluses but I tend to use my index the finger the most.

It takes a few minutes at most and is painless. The real pain is driving them up to the hospital but in the end so worth it.

Blood phe levels here are 2-`10 mg/ dl  for adults  and 2 to 6 mg/ dl for pregnancy. We measure in mg/ dl scale. I can’t quite remember the conversation right now. I know its either divide by 60 or by 90. I will have to look it up in past blog posts. Unless someone cares to comment and refresh my memory?

When I am not pregnant , levels take a week to 10 days to get results back. I look forward to the day we have a home testing device !!

I hope this helps those of you who has, and as always please feel free to ask me any questions , I am always happy to help!

MPKU Journey!

Breakfast of Champions- My 2nd Trimester Maternal PKU Diet

I have been getting asked alot , what do you eat? Specially now that you are pregnant. OR I get asked, how are your levels so low and so stable? So I decided to share a preview of what a day looks like on the MPKU diet for me.

Well my go to breakfast in the first trimester was a bowl of the low protein fruity banana mulipa hot cereal. 100 grams is 70 mg phe. Since my morning sickness has switched to mid afternoon/ evening sickness I can now tolerate a big hearty breakfast and my favorite thing to eat every single morning is a low protein cambrooke eggz omelette and country sunrise mushroom burger mix made in the form of sausages. Salt, pepper and maple syrup drizzled on top!  2 bettermilk flavoured with MIO, and my morning vitamins. 1 iron pill , 1 folic acid pill, 1 omega 3 pill and 1 docusate stool softener to fend off constipation. When my tolerance was lower I only had one serving of eggz ( 16 grams of mix and 2 oz coconut milk) but now that I am at 425 I have doubled my eggz recipe to make a bigger omelette. I now use 32 grams ( 1/2 cup ) egz mix and 4 oz coconut milk. I stuff it with mushrooms, onions, garlic , cambrooke mozzarella cheese shreds and tomatoes.

Here is a photo of todays breakfast. The double eggz omelet, 26 grams mushrooms, 30 grams onions and 3 grams garlic. Plus the 2 “sausages” and my 2 bettermilk. For a total of 146 mg phe and 751 calories.

2015-11-02 09.15.332015-11-02 18.26.28

For lunch I will probably have cambrooke mini pizza pockets and fruit, 1 bettermilk , 2 scoops Phenyl ade amino acid blend and mio.

Dinner is usually a pasta salad. 70 grams of my favorite low protein Aproten pasta. 2 tbsp miracle whip to bind it together and then fill it with vegetables. Onions, Garlic, Mushrooms, Tomatoes, Peppers, Apples,  sauteed in a fry pan with margarine and spices. If I am to low for PHe  I will add a few grams of frozen  corn to add some extra PHE.

That is pretty much what I eat day to day and it has been working very well for me.

MPKU Journey!

6 months / 24 weeks

24 weeks

Yesterday I turned 24 weeks or 6 months pregnant. My last level was 1.8 mg/ dl . So my tolerance has been increased to 425 mg phe. It is a real adjustment for me. I am nervous and scared about how much my levels will go up at the new tolerance , in my mind, it takes to long to get my levels back. My team increased my tolerance on thursday. I did a blood dot saturday ( i forgot to on friday) and then again today. The hospital lab does not courier tests on friday so I need to go up to the hospital today to drop both off and then it will take to wednesday to get the levels. So it would be 6 days at the new tolerance levels back. I thought I would be excited about being able to eat more, but I have fear until I see that my levels are still under 3. I know range is 2 to 6 here , but i feel better when i see the levels under 3.  For months now my levels have been in the 2 range and that makes me feel more confident and better that I am doing my best. When I see my levels come back week after week around 2 i know i am doing my the best for my baby and my baby is benefiting from my hard work.

I have had my tyrosine increased to 5 grams twice daily. My goal is under 2200 calories. I lost 10 lbs in the first trimester and have just started gaining it back. I am up 5 lbs since the loose but havent added any weight.

I am still doing blood dots 3 days a week, my clinic said I could do them less since I am so stable but i need to do them 3 times  a week for my own peace of mind. I feel better knowing that i would catch any changes sooner.

My nausea is back and it is really bad. Specially at night time. I have been relying on the Dilactin more than I have wanted to. it is the only way I can get any sleep . My back pain is a lot worse and I am in therapy 3 days a week. 2 days of physio, and 1 massage a week, but I have always started swimming and walking again. I am on medical leave already. A lot sooner then I wanted to. I am disappointed in myself for not making my goal of working through december. But I was injured at work and attacked by an aggressive resident so my team decided that it was not worth the risk. I have enough hours and seniority to have a full paid medical leave before my mat leave and it won’t take away from mat leave. I am on medical leave till my baby is born, then I start my mat leave.

I can feel my belly stretching and I feel baby moving at least 2 times a day. He or she is active when i wake up in the morning and as I lay in bed at night. I get random little kicks during the day. it is very reassuring , specially in the weeks between appointments.

This week is the gestational diabetes screening test. I am nervous but feel confident that I dont have diabetes. My OB said if I had any sings i would be measuring big or a head. I am right on track and my weight gain has been very slow. I have also been following my diet and calories very strictly. I am still scared though. The last thing i want is diabetes on top of PKU.

I am also having my blood type re taken this week as I have the RH factor and my blood is negative , where as coles is positive. So they are re screening before they start the Rogram shots at 2 8 weeks.

We have a 26 week ultrasound on november 16th. Our next OBGYN appt is on my Sister Nicoles birthday November 23rd. Our next midwife appt is December 2nd and that’s when i will get my first shot.

We have our 32 week part 2 anatomy scan of the brain at the Vancouver Women’s high risk pregnancy clinic and 3rd trimester PKU appt on January 5th. We also start prenatal classes in January.

I have been reading as much as I can this past week, especially on breastfeeding. If i can breastfeed I would really love to be able to breastfeed exclusively to 6 months. I heard the first 6 weeks are the most painful and a lot of women give up before then. if you can make it past the pain and difficulties in the first few weeks , making it to my goal would be achievable. i am trying to educate myself as much as possible and prepare myself .

For the most part things are going very well!  I can’t believe i am already in my 6th month!  that means in around 3 months give or take we will be meeting baby Rickett to be!

Managing the diet, MPKU Journey!

Study of Low Blood PHE levels in PKU pregnancy.

This is a very informative article shared by my friend Carrie Hall to our Fb group.

Maternal phenylketonuria: low phenylalaninemia might increase the risk of intrauterine growth retardation

By; Raphaël Teissier & Emmanuel Nowak & Murielle Assoun & Karine Mention & Aline Cano & Alain Fouilhoux & François Feillet & Hélène Ogier & Emmanuel Oger & Loïc de Parscau & On behalf of the AFDPHE (Association Française pour le Dépistage et la Prévention des Handicaps de l’Enfant)

Presented in 2012 ( 3 years ago)

Link to study :

https://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_download.php?id=923115184434553&eid=ASvuUhwN3XS0LPhu4fpjqTUit7Ujlm1xjLpvt7DOe7zSbYKhknNs4ReMuzROS0wfFd8&inline=1&ext=1445019346&hash=AStUoRm5pDE6fCa8

or

https://attachment.fbsbx.com/file_download.php?id=923115184434553&eid=ASvuUhwN3XS0LPhu4fpjqTUit7Ujlm1xjLpvt7DOe7zSbYKhknNs4ReMuzROS0wfFd8&inline=1&ext=1445019346&hash=AStUoRm5pDE6fCa8

Please feel free to share!

if the link does not work, please continue below , I have copied pasted the article to this post. This is not written by me. I do not own this piece. I simply am sharing it for education purposes.

Maternal phenylketonuria: low phenylalaninemia might increase the risk of intrauterine growth retardation Raphaël Teissier & Emmanuel Nowak & Murielle Assoun & Karine Mention & Aline Cano & Alain Fouilhoux & François Feillet & Hélène Ogier & Emmanuel Oger & Loïc de Parscau & On behalf of the AFDPHE (Association Française pour le Dépistage et la Prévention des Handicaps de l’Enfant) Received: 6 September 2011 /Revised: 13 April 2012 /Accepted: 16 April 2012 # SSIEM and Springer 2012

Abstract Background Malformations and mental retardation in the offspring of women with Phenylketonuria (PKU) can be prevented by maintaining maternal blood Phenylalanine (PHE) within a target range (120–300 μmol/L) through a PHE-restricted diet. In a former French study, a high and unexpected proportion of intra uterine growth retardation (IUGR) has been reported. Guidelines have been proposed to all French centres caring for maternal PKU since 2002. Objective To confirm IUGR and investigate its causes. The other goals were to assess the follow-up of these pregnancies based on the new guidelines and the pertinence of these recommendations. Design Clinical, biological and ultrasound data of all pregnancies in PKU women in France, from 2002 to 2007 were retrospectively analyzed. Results Data from 115 pregnancies in 86 women with PKU were collected. Ninety percent of women had been informed of the risk of maternal PKU in the absence of a strict diet during pregnancy, 88 % of women had started a diet before conception, and 45 % of infants were born small for gestational age (birth length and/or weight ≤−2 SD). PHE intakes were lower in the group with IUGR from the fifth to the eighth month of pregnancy and duration of time spent at <120 μmol/L during pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of IUGR. Conclusion Hyperphenylalaninemia (HPA) is not the only risk factor for IUGR; PHE lower than 120 μmol/L could also be associated with the IUGR occurence. Even if the monitoring of these pregnancies has been improved since the initiation of guidelines, we would like to stress on the importance of the dietary aspect of the disease. Communicated by: Verena Peters R. Teissier (*) : L. de Parscau Department of Pediatrics, Brest University Hospital, CHRU Morvan, 2 avenue Foch, 29200 Brest, France e-mail: raphael.teissier@chu-brest.fr E. Nowak : E. Oger INSERM CIC 05-02, Brest University Hospital, Brest, France M. Assoun : H. Ogier PKU group of the AFDPHE, Paris, France K. Mention PKU group of the AFDPHE, Lille, France A. Cano PKU group of the AFDPHE, Marseille, France A. Fouilhoux PKU group of the AFDPHE, Lyon, France F. Feillet PKU group of the AFDPHE, Nancy, France L. de Parscau PKU group of the AFDPHE, Brest, France J Inherit Metab Dis DOI 10.1007/s10545-012-9491-0 Introduction Phenylketonuria (PKU; OMIM #261600) is an inherited metabolic disease caused by a defect of the phenylalanine (PHE) hydroxylase. Untreated, it leads to PHE accumulation which is toxic for brain and results in severe learning disability and behavioural problems. Neonatal screening has contributed to the decrease of mental retardation. As a result, the girls with PKU treated by a low PHE intake diet become healthy women and potential mothers. In 1980, Lenke and Levy (1980) reported a high proportion of congenital abnormalities in the offspring born to mother with PKU: congenital heart disease (CHD), mental retardation, facial dysmorphism and intra uterine growth r-etardation (IUGR). Frequency of these malformations was correlated with the maternal blood PHE levels during pregnancy. North American and English studies (Koch et al. 2003; Lee et al. 2005) have demonstrated the efficacy of PHE restricted diet during pregnancy to prevent PKU embryopathy. In France, a former study (Feillet et al. 2004) confirmed these data but highlighted an important proportion of IUGR in the offspring of PKU women despite a PHE-restricted diet. In order to further investigate this observation and to make the monitoring easier, specific guidelines were proposed and diffused to all French centres caring for PKU. The main goal of the study was to confirm IUGR and to investigate its causes. We also aimed to assess monitoring of these pregnancies according to the new guidelines and thus, to investigate the relevance of these recommendations. Patients and methods Patients All known French PKU women, pregnant between January 2002 and December 2007, were included, regardless of their pregnancy outcome. Methods Guidelines communicated to all regional centres in 2001 recommended: – collect of thorough, preconception (2–3 months) data on girls and women with PKU, – control of PHE blood concentration at least weekly with target values between 120 and 300 μmol/L – careful diet monitoring – control of biological nutritional parameters and at least three ultrasound scans during the pregnancy – monthly follow-up – careful newborn examination. A retrospective study of all known pregnancies in France was performed by reviewing medical and dietary records. Medical data included maternal PKU history, onset of PHE restricted diet initiation (pre or post-conception), biological and dietary monitoring, ultrasound scans results, blood PHE concentrations, and birth measurements of newborns. All data were entered into a data base (excel spreadsheet). Data entry was checked for reliability through a data base doubling. PHE indexes The pregnancy and foetus outcomes are related to the maternal plasma PHE during pregnancy. The mean plasma PHE is the most widely used parameter for analysis. However it may not be accurate enough to detect both PHE excess and deficiency. To estimate more precisely the control of PHE levels during pregnancy, we calculated 3 monitoring indexes of excess (IE) or deficiency (ID) for rates above 300 μmol/L and below 120 μmol/L: – I.E-1 and I.D-1: Area under the curve (AUC) with a baseline at 300 μmol/L or Area Above the curve (AAC) with a baseline at 120 μmol/L – I.E-2 and I.D-2: Mean of PHE >300 μmol/L and Mean of PHE <120 μmol/L – I.E-3 and I.D-3: time spent above 300 μmol/L or under 120 μmol/L. In order to study the relationship between PHE excess or deficiency during pregnancy and the occurrence of IUGR, we selected pregnancies (Fig. 1) for which we had birth measurements and an extended PHE rates followed up to one month before delivery. Once these 55 “well documented” pregnancies identified, we calculated the quartiles (Q25, Q50, and Q75) for both I.E-3 and I.D-3 indexes. Then we divided pregnancies into four classes according to the quartiles for I.E-3 (time spent above 300 μmol/L) and I.D-3 (time spent under 120 μmol/L) (Table 1): – Class 1: pregnancies with a high I.E-3 (IE3>Q75) and high I.D-3 (ID3>Q7 5) (both PHE excess and deficiency) – Class 2: pregnancies with a high I.E-3 (IE3>Q75) but not I.D-3 (ID3≤Q75) (PHE excess) – Class 3: non-high IE3 (IE3≤Q75) but high ID3 (ID3> Q75) (PHE deficiency) – Class 4: pregnancies with non-high I.E-3 (IE3≤Q75) and non-high I.D-3 (ID3≤Q75) (well maintained PHE level; reference pregnancies). J Inherit Metab Dis Statistical analysis Means/median were expressed±1 standard deviation (SD) or with range [minimum-maximum]. Fisher’s exact or Khi² tests were used to compare frequencies between groups. Group means/median were compared by using Wilcoxon, Mann Whitney tests or by Student’st-test, when appropriate. Correlations between different data were investigated using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Statistical analyses were performed using SAS® software package. A p-value ≤0.05 was considered as significant. Results Cohort description 1. PKU mothers profile From January 2002 to December 2007, data from 115 pregnancies in 86 women with PKU were collected. Sixty four (79 %) had a classical PKU, 14 (17 %) a mild PKU and three (4 %) a non-PKU HPA. The phenotype was unknown for five women. Mean weight, height and body mass index (BMI) were not different from the French general population (Charles et al 2009): respectively 59±11 kg, 160.5±5.5 cm and 23±4 kg/m². The birth weight of the offspring was not correlated to the mother’s BMI. Ninety one percent of women with PKU had been informed of the risk of maternal PKU (69/76). Data were not available for ten women. The educational level of mothers with PKU was not different from the general population (INSEE 2007). No pregnancy was reported in patients lost to follow-up, undiagnosed before pregnancy or in teenage girls (mean age 28 years [18.8-39.1]). 2. Pregnancy outcome From 2002 to 2007, 115 pregnancies led to the birth of 91 newborns (Fig. 1). When documented birth measurements were compared to Usher and McLean’s data (Usher and McLean 1969); results showed a low birth weight (≤ −2 SD) in 17 % of the newborns, a low birth length (≤ −2 SD) in 40 % and a microcephaly (≤ −2 SD) in 37 %. According to the International Small for Gestational Age Advisory Board Consensus Development Conference Statement (birth 2002-2007 Maternal PKU 115 pregnancies 91 newborns Elective abortion n = 8 Therapeutic abortion n = 5 Spontaneous abortion n = 5 Intra Uterine Fetal death n = 1 Unknown outcome n = 5 New borns with birth measurements n = 86 Birth weight – 2 SD n = 15/86 Birth length – 2 SD n = 29/72 Microcephaly n = 23/62 IUGR n = 34/75 Birth measurements and PHE monitoring n = 55 Class 1 n = 4 Class 2 n = 18 Class 3 n = 14 Class 4 n = 19 ≤ ≤ Fig. 1 Maternal PKU: Pregnancy outcome in France from 2002 to 2007 and screening process for IUGR/no IUGR comparison. a Four were imputable to maternal PKU and one to congenital toxoplasmosis. b corpus callosum agenesis. c number of cases/ number of documented patients. Class 1, 2, 3 and 4 are explicited in Table 1 Table 1 distribution of patients according to their indices of PHE excess or deficiency and by IUGR I.Excess-3 I.Deficiency-3 IUGR Total Classes 0 1 1 : high IE3 0 (0 %) 4 (100 %) 4 high ID3 2 : high IE3 8 (44 %) 10 (66 %) 18 non high ID3 3: non high IE3 8 (57 %) 6 (43 %) 14 high ID3 4 : non high IE3 17 (89 %) 2 (11 %) 19 non high ID3 Total 33 22 55 IUGR is expressed in number of newborns with birth measurement corresponding to IUGR J Inherit Metab Dis length and/or weight ≤ −2 SD) (Lee et al 2003), 45 % of newborns (n034/75) had an IUGR. This incidence was the same (46 %, n012/26) for the “well controlled” (PHE levels during pregnancy < 300 μmol/L) pregnancies. The main feature of the IUGR was a low birth length (mean −2.7 SD), present in 29 cases out of 34. Only one third of them had an associated low birth weight and two third a microcephaly. To study the correlation between maternal weight gain and the occurrence of IUGR, we calculated the ratio “weight gain during pregnancy/ideal weight gain during pregnancy” by prepregnancy BMI (Carmichael et al 1997; Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US) Committee to Reexamine IOM Pregnancy Weight Guidelines 2009) and compared this ratio between pregnancies with IUGR (ratio00.71) and pregnancies without (ratio00.72). This difference was not statistically significant. We also compared this ratio between pregnancies with Phe deficiency (class 3) (ratio00.64) and reference pregnancies (class 4) (ratio00.85). This difference was not statistically significant. Two cases of CHD were reported and led to a therapeutic abortion. The corpus callosum agenesis reported in one patient is not a common feature of PKU embryopathy and might be independent of maternal PKU. 3. Dietary monitoring At the first follow-up visit with the intention for pregnancy, 73 % women did not follow any diet, 13.5 % had a mild diet (no diet but controlled PHE intake) and 13.5 % followed a strict diet (data available for 105 pregnancies). A pre-conception diet was started in 88 % of documented pregnancies (n078/89) and a well maintained PHE level (120<[PHE]<300 μmol/L) was obtained in 75 % of documented pregnancies (n065/87). The median delay to normalize the maternal blood PHE after the diet onset was 28 days. It was not significantly correlated to mother’s educational level. The maternal median PHE intake at the diet onset was 350 mg/d [180–2400] and increased from the fourth month of pregnancy. From the first to the ninth month of pregnancy, median protein intake increased from 60 to 70 g/d and energy intake from 2000 from 2500 kcal/d. Protein intake was close to the recommended level for French pregnant woman (110 % in average) (Abadie et al 2001). 4. Blood PHE levels PHE concentrations were measured once or twice a week before conception and during pregnancy. Target range was 120–300 μmol/L. Using the same thresholds as the Maternal Phenylketonuria Collaborative Study (Rouse et al 1997), mean PHE during pregnancy was less than 360 μmol/L in 83 % of pregnancies, between 361 and 600 μmol/L in 10 %, between 601 and 900 μmol/L in 3.5 % and more than 900 μmol/L in 3.5 %. To assess the control of HPA, three indexes were calculated: the mean of PHE excess (IE-2) and the time spent above 300 μmol.L-1/time of follow-up (IE-3) were well correlated to the AUC with a baseline at 300 μmol/L (IE-1): r00.98; [0.96 to 0.99] and r00.97; [0.95 to 0.98] respectively. Likewise three indexes looking for a PHE deficiency were calculated; the mean of PHE deficiency (ID-2) and the time spent under 120 μmol.L-1/time of follow-up (ID-3) were well correlated to AAC with a baseline at 120 μmol/L (ID-1): r00.99; [ 0.98 to 1] and r00.96; [0.94 to 0.98] respectively. 5. Biological monitoring Guidelines recommended assessing blood nutritional parameters before conception and at each trimester of pregnancy. Most of them were in the normal ranges (Table 2). Carnitine was low but remained stable. Among Table 2 Follow-up of plasma nutritional parameters at the three trimesters (T1, T2, T3) of pregnancy in a group of PKU women; results are mean of 20 to 49 measurements depending on parameters T1 T2 T3 p Reference intervals Carnitine (μmol/L) 27.4 24.5 27.9 NS 33.8 – 77.5* Protein (g/L) 72.8 68.8 65.5 < 0.001 65 – 75 Serum alkaline phosphatase (UI/L) 55.4 66 103 < 0.001 30 – 100 Haemoglobin (g/dL) 12.3 11.7 11.3 < 0.001 > 10.6 * Iron (μmol/L) 27.9 29.7 28.3 NS 9 – 29* Ferritin (μg/L) 60.3 45.4 20.3 < 0.001 15 * Vitamin A (μmol/L) 0.89 0.76 0.58 NS 0.35 – 1.75 Vitamin E (μmol/L) 311 404 462 < 0.001 186-372 Vitamin B 12 (pmol/L) 300 262 215 < 0.001 111 – 295 Vitamin D (nmol/L) 69 83 99 < 0.05 37 – 100 Folate (nmol/L) 40 46 40 NS 0.90 – 45 Calcium (mmol/ L) 2.35 2.28 2.29 0.002 2.25 – 2.5 Phosphorus (mmol/L) 1.14 1.07 1.14 NS 0.8 – 1.35 Zinc (μmol/L) 13.2 10.3 10.4 < 0.001 9.2 – 20 Copper (μmol/L) 21.2 26.9 30.7 < 0.001 11 – 31 Magnesium (mmol/L) 0.83 0.8 0.79 NS 0.75 – 1 Selenium (μmol/L) 0.77 0.74 0.74 NS 0.76 – 1.52 Cholesterol (mmol/L) 3.67 4.55 5.59 < 0.05 6.7±0.79 * Triglyceride (mmol/L) 0.91 1.58 1.81 < 0.01 3.4±0.7* T1: first trimester of pregnancy. T2: second trimester of pregnancy. T3: third trimester of pregnancy. Reference intervals for normal adults (SI Units and Conversion Factors (available from: http://www.hhsc.ca/ body.cfm?id01571. Accessed 12/11/2010)) or for women at third trimester of pregnancy* (Cho and Cha 2005; Dubucquoi et al 2005) J Inherit Metab Dis the trace elements, only selenium was slightly low. Ferritin and haemoglobin decreased significantly but remained within the normal range for pregnant women. Physiological hemodilution in the second part of pregnancy may explain some of the decrease of biological parameters. IUGR vs. no IUGR comparison 1. Dietary monitoring To explain IURG incidence, we compared dietary intake between pregnancies with IUGR and pregnancies without. Protein and energy intake were not statistically different between these two populations. Likewise energy and protein intake, we compared amino acid intake between the two populations. There was not a significant difference between the 2 groups. Median PHE intake was lower in the IUGR group from the fifth to the eighth month of pregnancy whereas it was similar during the first half of pregnancy (Fig. 2). Birth length was significantly correlated to PHE intake from the fifth to the eight month (p≤0.05). Weight and head circumference were significantly correlated with the PHE intake from the sixth to the ninth month (p≤0.05). 2. Blood PHE levels a. Control of PHE and IUGR In regard with our target range (120–300 μmol/L) and after selection of “well documented” pregnancies (n055), an IUGR was identified in 42 % (n012/26) of pregnancies for which the rates of PHE during pregnancy were<300 μmol/L. b. Control of PHE excess Birth length, weight and head circumference were inversely correlated with mean PHE excess (> 300 μmol/L) during pregnancy (respectively R0−0.35; p00.006, R0−0.33; p00.004 and R0−0.3; p00.04). Comparing the frequency of IUGR between class 2 (PHE excess) and class 4 (good PHE control) (Table 1), there were significantly more IUGR in the group which spent more time above 300 μmol/L (class 2) (p00.005). c. Control of PHE deficiency Comparing the frequency of IUGR between class 3 (PHE deficiency) and class 4 (well maintained PHE level) (Table 1), there were significantly more IUGR in the group which spent more time below 120 μmol/L (class 3) (p00.04). There was no correlation between indexes of PHE deficiency and the studied birth parameters. Discussion Guideline compliance was not observed in all pregnancies, thus our results must be interpreted with caution. However, it gives a nationwide picture of maternal PKU management during 6 years. Compared to the former study dealing with maternal PKU in France before 2001 (Feillet et al 2004), the main improvements are: a better information of the patients (91 % versus 63 %), a higher pre-conception diet (88 % versus 42 %) and less cardiac malformations of offspring (0.8 % versus 5.2 %). The latter may be due to the dietary balance achieved before conception (Levy et al 2001; Maillot et al 2008). Early onset of low PHE diet is one of the major factors of foetal prognosis. Information of PKU young girls and women is all the more crucial that they use contraception less often than general female population (Waisbren et al 1995). No pregnancy was reported in patients undiagnosed with PKU before pregnancy. Nevertheless, awareness on maternal PKU related complications needs to be raised among the related health care specialists. We would like to stress that the French neonatal screening program did not start before the 1970s. The most striking data was the high proportion of IUGR (45 %), mainly with regard to the birth length. This confirms on a large scale, the report of IUGR with normal psychomotor development after a good monitoring during pregnancy in the former French study (Feillet et al 2004). The Maternal Phenylketonuria International Study and the report from the United Kingdom Registry showed that normal maternal blood PHE during pregnancy was associated with better birth parameters (length, weight and head circumference) (Koch et al 2003; Lee et al 2005). However, in Koch et al study, birth weight among the offspring of non-PKU HPA mothers on diet has been reported to be lower than that of the untreated group (Koch et al 2000). These results suggest that the maternal blood PHE is not the only risk factor for IUGR; other maternal nutritional 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 123456789 months of pregnancy median PHE mg/day with IUGR without IUGR total Fig. 2 Median PHE intakes (mg/day) during pregnancy in the total group (♦), group with IUGR (●) and group without IUGR (▲). Stars indicate when median Phe intakes are significantly different between pregnancies with IUGR and pregnancies without IUGR J Inherit Metab Dis parameters might be involved when PHE levels are well maintained. Comparison with literature is not easy because definitions of IUGR and reference data are not universal. The Maternal Phenylketonuria Collaborative Study (MPKUCS) reported no cases of IUGR in the best controlled group (PHE<360 μmol/L) and only less than 30 % in the group with the highest mean levels of maternal PHE (> 900 μmol/L) (Rouse et al 1997). In our study, a good control of mean PHE level was achieved due to a PHE level, lower than 360 μmol/L in 83 % of the pregnancies. Birth length, weight and head circumference were inversely correlated to indexes of maternal HPA which is known to be an important risk factor for “maternal PKU embryopathy syndrome”. However an IUGR was found in 46 % of our “well controlled” pregnancies (mean PHE <300 μmol/L). Different references for birth anthropometry [Niklasson in MPKUCS (Niklasson et al 1991) and Usher McLean (Usher and McLean 1969) in our study] cannot explain such a discrepancy. Several arguments support the hypothesis that a PHE deficiency could result in an IUGR. Firstly, IUGR could be due to a lower PHE intake during the second part of pregnancy even though we can not exclude that it could also be due to a more severe PKU with lower PHE tolerance. Secondly, birth measurements are positively correlated with the PHE intake during the second part of the pregnancy. And finally, a longer time spent below 120 μmol/l during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of IUGR. Moreover, this hypothesis is supported by data in animals (Bhasin et al 2009). Bhasin et al showed that a low-protein diet reduces circulating essential amino acids and leads to intrauterine growth restriction. Therefore, it seems important to maintain essential amino acids, including phenylalanine, at adequate levels during pregnancy. The term “PHE deficiency” must be used with caution. Even though our reported Phe plasma concentrations are below the thresholds (120 μmol/L) recommended by different authors, they are not abnormally low compared to normal plasma PHE levels in adults (Hagenfeldt et al 1984). To date, there is no consensus on using lower (60 to 120 μmol/L) and higher (180 to 360 μmol/L) Phe thresholds tolerated during pregnancy. In our study, we used the threshold 120–300 μmol/L used for the first French study by Feillet et al (Feillet et al 2004) in order to compare different results between the two studies, in particular for pregnancies outcome. The lower threshold was not really different from the other studies. Even though English guidelines recommended 60 μmol/L (Report of Medical Research Council Working Party on Phenylketonuria 1993), most English published studies used the threshold of 100 μmol/L (Maillot et al 2008). Moreover, the threshold used by the Maternal Phenylketonuira Collaborative Study (MPKUCS) was also 120 μmol/L. Data on Tyrosine supplementation were insufficient to be analyzed. Even, PKU might result in Tyrosine deficiency which becomes an essential amino acid in this disease, there is no clinical consensus on Tyrosine supplementation in PKU patients (Webster and Wildgoose 2010) and guidelines remain controversial in regard with maternal PKU (Rohr et al 1998; Van Spronsen et al 2001). Meanwhile, fasting perhaps post prandial plasma Tyrosine could be measured during pregnancy to guide the potential use of a supplementation, preventing both Tyrosine excess and deficiency as has been suggested in PKU patients by Van Spronsen (Van Spronsen et al 1996). However, the observation of IUGR in several pregnancies without HPA or other conventional causes of IUGR suggest a multifactorial mechanism. Even though we can not definitely prove that PHE levels lower than 120 μmol/L are responsible for IUGR, management of maternal PKU should not only be focused on HPA prevention but also on PHE deficiency, especially in the second and third trimesters. IUGR is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension, thus it should be a major concern in maternal PKU management (Godfrey and Barker 2000). Even though no other risk factors could be demonstrated here, dietary parameters may be associated with IUGR risk. Following specific diet recommendations for PHE and Tyrosine intakes may prevent dietary deficiencies responsible for IUGR. Furthermore, for a better understanding of the correlation of PKU pregnancy outcomes with PKU pregnancy conditions, we suggest a thorough follow-up of the PKU offspring. Acknowledgments We would like to thank all the doctors for their involvement in this French maternal PKU study: Angers (Dr Berthelot), Bordeaux (Dr Barat), Lille (Dr Dobbelaere, Dr Mention), Lyon (Dr Dubreuil, Dr Fouilhoux, Dr Guffon), Marseille (Dr Cano, Dr Maurin), Nancy (Dr Feillet), Paris (Dr Abadie, Dr Bilette de Villemeur, Dr De Lonlay, Dr Narcy, Dr Ogier, Dr Touati), Rennes (Dr Journel, Dr Odent, Dr Pasquier), Rouen (Dr Dumesnil), Saint-Étienne (Dr Gay), Toulouse (Dr Coustols-Valat); and the«French Association for the Diagnosis and Prevention of Child Handicap» for his support. We are indebted to the dietician. We also thank Brest University Hospital’s Medical Writer (Zarrin Alavi, MSc). Conflict of interest None.

Levels, Managing the diet, MPKU Journey!

Tyrosine and why we need it.

What is Tyrosine?

In anyone who does not have PKU. Phenylalanine is broken down by the enzyme we don’t have and is converted to Tyrosine. Tyrosine is an amino acid. Tyrosine or 4-hydroxyphenylalanine, is one of the 22 amino acids that are used by cells to synthesize proteins. It is a non-essential amino acid ( Source Wikapedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrosine.

Tyrosine is incorporated into all proteins and is a precursor of thyroxine, melanin, and the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine.. ( source : The American Journal of Nutrition)

Tyrosine is found in foods with high amounts of Phenylalanine such as meat, dairy, seeds, soy , beans, avocados, and bananas.

As someone with PKU I do not produce tyrosine .

What does Tyrosine do?

A number of studies have found tyrosine to be useful during conditions of stress, cold, fatigue, prolonged work and sleep deprivation, with reductions in stress hormone levels  and improvements in cognitive and physical performance .  ( Source Wikapedia)

Tyrosine and Maternal PKU

Occasionally in pregnant women with PKU , tyrosine is added to formula for growth and development of the fetus. Having PKU limits the amount of tyrosine in my body and We do not get enough from our formula and low protein diet to accommodate pregnancy. If you have PKU and are not pregnant you do not need to supplement.  For PKU pregnancy Tyrosine is recommended to be between 33 and 61 in the second trimester.

Tyrosine levels fluctuate during the day and fasting vs non fasting that is why there is a range.  During the first trimester I did not require supplementation.  Now as I progress through 2nd trimester I am having to add tyrosine powder to my formula.  I started off with 5 grams daily divided up between the day. Then my levels dropped again. My clinic does not make the decision to change my tyrosine supplementation or phe tolerance based on one level so we wait to see one or 2 more before increasing. I am now up to 8 grams of tyrosine a day and my last phe level was 2.7 and tyrosine 47. Both perfectly in range.  We expect to increase my phe and tyrosine dosage again soon. Specially in 3rd trimester.

Low tyrosine and low blood phe levels can cause slow growth or growth retardation, So Raising tyrosine concentrations in blood may increase the amount of tyrosine and decrease the amount of phenylalanine transported across the blood-brain barrier. So this is beneficial to the PKU brain and developing baby.

Essentially, because I don’t have enough Tyrosine in my body due to my PKU, neither does the baby. The baby needs the tyrosine to grow. I cannot provide it from the foods I eat.  Though I get enough for myself in my formula. I need extra to sustain a growing fetus.  Tyrosine crossed the placenta at a high rate then what is used and needed in my body. So when my blood phe levels are tested we are also looking at tyrosine to monitor levels and insure its not to low or not to high. High tyrosine levels can also be toxic.

Side effects of high levels of Tyrosine is not yet well known.

I am currently researching this topic and have sent a request to my clinic to further provide education and information for you. I hope this post has been helpful and I hope to expand on it again in the near future.

MPKU Journey!

Baby’s First Photos, Anatomy scan & Echo, New Due date and pregnancy update.

2015-10-13 12.24.002015-10-13 12.24.08 2015-10-13 12.24.122015-10-13 12.24.172015-10-13 12.23.44 2015-10-13 12.23.122015-10-13 12.23.51 2015-10-13 12.23.55     2015-10-13 14.59.26

Yesterday we were blessed with the first glimpse of our beautiful baby!  We had our anatomy scan and echo at BC Children’s women’s hospital at the high risk pregnancy clinic.  It feels so very real now.  Our ultrasound was at 11 am.  The technician was very detailed and walked us through the scan. They had a big TV in the room so cole and I could watch. It was the black and white 2d scan. We saw babys spine, hands , fingers, toes, legs. We watched them measure the belly, the femur and humerus. They took photos of the brain and heart. We heard the heartbeat again. This time it was 141 bpm. The lowest it has been. its been 155 pretty steady.  We saw baby move, wave and suck it hands.  it was a little bit creepy and looked like an Alien, all skeletal.  The Technician asked us if we wanted to find out the gender, We told her know, and i asked her if she already knew.  . She said she did not and was about to try to look but she would now avoid that area for us. So she did not check. When we filled out the form at the beginning it asked if we wanted the gender reported to our medical team and we chose not too.

She took photos of all the organs they could see including the kidneys and lungs and brain. After the technician took all the images she needed they called in the cardiologist to perform the Echo. The cardiologist surprised us and turned on the 3d scan! I was blown away and my heart instantly melted. I was finally seeing my baby. Not just a skeleton, but little ears, eyes, hands, everything. So detailed. The image turned right on over baby’s face. I could not believe that this was the little face that in a few months i will be cuddling and kissing. It all of a sudden was very real. The 3D images are incredible. Our baby is so cute! I just kept staring at that little nose.  The cardiologist said ” aww look at him, he is adorable”  she said she did not actually know it was a boy , she just doesn’t like to call baby an “it” She assured us she really did not know what baby was but in my heart I do think baby is a boy. That has been my instinct since day 1.

The cardiologist let us watch for a little bit.  We watched baby grab its hands, suck on its hands. Wave and move around.  She told us everything looks wonderful and right on track. Baby’s heart is actually no bigger than a thumbnail right now but everything is there and in the right spot.  No deformities, no abnormalities. all 4 chambers and beating strong.  The brain is developing right on track.  Everything is right on track.  She printed out the photos for us and told us how happy they are with the way things are progressing.

We finished up with the scan and then we went to lunch . We met with my childhood dietitian Alette. Who I love and adore. I was excited to show her baby’s photos and catch up. We met at second cup in the hospital lobby. Walking through those halls and meeting with her sure brought back memories. Good and bad.  Alette saved my life. I don’t know who I would be without her guidance and intervention in my life when I needed her most.  I didn’t really understand the impact she had until I was much older. It was a brief meet up as we had to run to meet the maternal fetal medicine specialist right after lunch.

Our MFM doctor is a lovely lady she seems very nice. I am very lucky that all the member of my team seem very kind. I have lucked out with my OBGYN and midwife and feel very comfortable with all the members of my team and confident my baby is getting the best care. Our MFM did give me a bit of a scare and me emotions got a best of me and I cried. It turns out my dates are a few days off. I am actually Due February 25th and I am 21 weeks tomorrow. I had me at 21 weeks 3 days today. So when she made the calculations to see how along I was when I got my levels down. Her app made an error and told her i was 9 weeks . This is where I freaked out , as I have always been told if we didn’t get my levels down before 6 weeks the baby could have damage. Cole and I knew that had to be wrong and I cried. We re did the math and we did get the levels down before 5 weeks . So I was very relieved. The MFM recommended we do another scan at 32 weeks as currently the brain is flat, which it is suppose to be. The brain is constantly developing and changing and developing the cavities and crevices we are familiar with, even way after birth so another scan at 32 weeks would just show us that it’s continuing to develop correctly. I shouldn’t need any more scans than that , unless it would help me psychologically I can request one at 26 weeks so it’s not as long as in between as these last 2 where.

The reason my dates where off, as when I had our dating ultrasound baby was less than 7 weeks along and they cannot accurately date baby’s development.  This is the scan and how many weeks they can accurately measure.

After our MFM appt , we had our 2nd trimester PKU appt. With a surprise visit with Oliver at the clinic. I am always happy to see Oliver! So that was an extra added bonus.

After our appt started I had my vitals taken by the nurse, my blood pressure has greatly improved and was 130/ 80 and pulse 84. I am 158.5 cm tall, or 5 ft 2 3/4  lol.  My weight has not changed. I lost 10 lbs prior to getting pregnant and another 9 in the first trimester and I am starting to go back up I have only gone up 4 lbs from my lowest weight at the end of 1st trimester .

Then we saw Dr . Sirrs who was very happy. She said normally she has to come in and ” kick butt” but no but kicking needed with me! We talked abit about post pregnancy care and making sure I am maintaining my levels while breastfeeding and after the birth , during sleep deprivation and staying healthy.  I was given some samples of pre made formulas that don’t require me to mix, Incase I wanted to take some from when I am in the hospital and for ease after when we are home. She recommended having pre made foods and dishes and asked cole to help me prepare a stock so I don’t need to worry about meal prep and cooking after.

Next was Jen so we could go over my levels and blood work with me and we chatted.

My last level from October 8th was 1.8 so hopefully my tolerance will start going up. My tyrosine levels are fluctuating which is normal in pregnancy.So my dose that I add to my formula has been adjusted to 8 grams a day.  I am having 5 bettermilk now, 2 in the morning with 4 grams tyrsoine, 1 bettermilk in the afternoon with 2 scoops amino acid blend, then 2 bettermilk in the afternoon and another 4 grams tyrosine.

I am still doing blood PHE levels 3 days a week, unless i am working at nights then I do them twice weekly. My second trimester blood work from October 5th came back . My Albumin Lipids are 34. range is 35 to 50.

My Cholesterol levels are 4.47 . Range is under 5.20

Triglyceride is a bit elevated as it usually always is. Mine are 2.02 , range is under 1.70

my HDL is 1.55 . Range is lower than 1.70

My LDL is 1.99 . Range is above 1.336

Chol/ HDL Ratio is 2.88 and Chol ( Non HDL) is 2.92 also both  right in range.

My Ferritin levels are at 21. So finally in range. A year ago it was trace. Unreadable, then it went to 5, and then 15 and now 21 so it is slowly improving .  Iron Deficiency is under 15. I am continuing with iron supplements.

White blood cells is 9.9  . Range is 3.1 to 9.7

Red Blood cells is 4.2 . Range is 3.7 to 5.0

Hemoglobin is 131 . Range is 118-151

Hemocratrit is 0.40 . Range is 0.33 to 0.45

MCV is 95.2 Range is 84.0 to 98.0

MCH 31.5  Range is 28.3 to 33.5

MCHC is 331 Range is 329 to 352

RDW is 13.1 Range is 12.0 to 15

Platelets is 251 . Range is 147- 375

Neutrophils is 6.7 so a bit high. Range is 1.2 to 6.0

Lymphocytes is 2.5 Range is 0.6 to 3.1

Monocytes is 0.6 Range is 0.1 to 0.9

Eosinophils is 0.1 and Range is 0.0 to 0.5

Basophils is 0.1 and Range is 0.0 to 0.2

All in all  , Everything is great. I am measuring right on target.  This is feeling more and more real now. Specially since I have been feeling baby move since the beginning of October now. Baby is more active at night.

After all our appointments we ended the day by stopping in to visit my dear friend Claudia and I was able to make dinner at her place so I didn’t need to be hungry or stop and eat something along the way. We had a lovely visit . Claudia always makes me smile and laugh. She is a bright light!

Mentally I am doing so much better. These appointments helped reassure me and answered all my questions and elevated my fears.  Physically I am in so much pain in my back.  I am having trouble sleeping and getting comfortable . My back is in agony. It is hard to do much and walk or be on my feet for too long.  The car ride to and from coast was excruciating and I was so glad to get home last night and sleep in my own bed.  it was a very long day, but exciting and I can’t wait to meet our little boy or girl in february!! I know all my hard work is paying off and how truly blessed we are!

Thank you again to everyone who has been following our journey and taking the time to read these very long posts!  I hope our MPKU journey inspires you all and you never give up on your dreams, as dreams are wishes that the heart makes!

Happy reading and have a wonderful week!