Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Pregnancy update

Hey all who read and are interested:

Just an update on my pregnancy, I went for an ultrasound last week - no change. The placenta has not moved. They told me one of three things could happen: 1) it could still correct itself. 2) If I have no bleeding or complications, I could go on the home program where a nurse comes to my house frequently and takes blood samples and "checks" me. 3) If I DO have bleeding or complications, I likely will have to go to the hospital and be on bed rest. We're hoping the latter does not happen. So far I haven't had any complications, so we feel very lucky about that. I have to go for another ultrasound in a couple of weeks, and I'll talk to my doctor in a couple weeks as well, so so far we're just....waiting. Perhaps for nothings, perhaps for something, we're not sure.

On a good note, we are mostly done renovating our basement (finally!), we just need baseboards and carpet...and maybe a couch to sit on! I am determined to have carpet picked out and ordered by the end of the week. Here's hoping....

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Pregnancy Ups and Downs

So this last week has been a stress case, but turned out to be a wonderful experience of love from my Heavenly Father.
Start of the story: When I went for my routine ultrasound at 20 weeks they discovered something unusual, my family doctor told me it was something called vasa previa which I had no idea what that meant. She sent me to a specialist OB who does C-sections. I felt like she was jumping the gun a bit, I mean, I was already going to see my regular OB's in a few weeks and she didn't really seem that concerned with the findings of the ultrasound, but just told me no vaginal exams of any kind and no (ahem) loving with my lovey.
I went to see the specialist last week on Monday. She told me that indeed the 20 week ultrasound showed vasa previa. What exactly is that? Well, the placenta had broken into 2 pieces and the two pieces were connected by veins and arteries carrying the babies blood supply. These veins and arteries are not protected by anything, unlike the umbilical cord. Also, these veins and arteries were lying over my cervix. Bad because a) the baby has no way to get out and b) if these rupture or get torn at all, the baby and possibly me would die. Scary. So this specialist says to me that their standard practise for this condition is to admit the mom to hospital on bed rest at 30 weeks and then do an scheduled c-section at 36 weeks. WHAT?!!!? Are you freaking kidding me!? This can NOT be happening. I mean, I have a 2 year old, what the freak happens to him for 6 weeks. Not to mention that means I would be in the hospital for all of November and half of December, in which I'd get to come home a week before Christmas AFTER having a c-section! After telling me this, she also says she wants to send me for another ultrasound as a special place where they have a better machine and they are specialized in looking for things like this. So, after Monday, Spencer and I were having major meltdowns and stress.
On Tuesday the ultrasound place called to say they would like me to come in the next morning. I thought that the fact I was getting in so soon must mean something was majorly wrong with my situation. So of course I say yes and Spencer arranges to be there with me. Tuesday night I got a Priesthood blessing from Spencer and was promised that I would have a happy and healthy baby. That made me feel better, although still nervous about the upcoming weeks and months.
Wednesday morning I was drinking my 2 cups of water (yuck, who drinks 2 cups of water at 8:30am?!) and we made our way to the Maternal Fetal Medicine clinic. After waiting in the waiting room for over 45 minutes after my appointment was suppose to be (seriously people, my BLADDER is FULL!) I had my ultrasound. The girl doing it was very thorough and I got to see alot of the baby. (The place I went to had a tv on the wall in front of you to see everything the tech is doing). Then she looked at my cervix and then Spencer got to come in and look at the baby too. She also got a good look at the private parts and pretty much confirmed that we are having a girl. After the ultrasound a doctor came to talk to us with the results. He said that no in fact I did NOT have vasa previa and that my placenta was in one piece. Not two. We were of course elated! That was the best news we could have heard. He did say however that I do have placenta previa, but that the placenta is only covering 2mm of the cervix. He figures that it will shift on it's own due to the fact that my uterus is still growing and expanding. (the placenta is attached to the uterus, so it doesn't move on it's own, but rather with the uterus). So in la mans terms, I'm not completely out of the woods, and there's still a chance for hospitalization and a c-section, but I have to go for another ultrasound in 3 weeks to see if anything has moved or not.
So....I only had 2 days of extreme worrying, but it was awful! But out of this awfulness came a very special thing. I feel like Spencer and I experienced a miracle, which is so special. The blessing I received the night before was very lovely and I was so thankful that my husband could give it to me. We're hoping and praying for good things in 3 weeks, but I'm not really worried about it. I know that I will have a happy and healthy baby and really, that's all that matters.
Keep you posted.....