Roller Coaster Ride!

Brady was able to join me at hydrotherapy! I am 34 weeks and 5 days. Being pregnant and displaced from my family should excuse a few crazy emotional roller coaster rides, right? Well, I've been on the roller coaster for a few days. It all started with a high on Friday afternoon when a friend from high school came up from the Springs to visit, followed by a good friend from home! That night my doctor actually came in and spent about 2 hours with me...chatting, showing me a new knit stitch, and just hanging out. Cool doc, huh? :) Saturday morning passed quickly with pool therapy followed by the arrival of Andy and Brady for a visit! I hadn't seen Brady for 2 weeks, and Andy since the day I was checked into the hospital. I was so excited for them to be here. They stayed at the Ronald McDonald house about 2 blocks away. It worked out really well as they could walk back and forth as needed. I was missing Luke though...he still had a cough and couldn't come down.

On the down slope...Sunday was sad when Andy and Brady left, but the ride came up when another friend came by (bearing pizza and wings!...my doctor said I could cheat for the Superbowl!) and watched the Superbowl with me. Monday morning came and I was antsy to get out of the room. I made sure I got on the monitor in time to go to the pool...but that plan was nixed when my nurse kept me on the monitor extra long...I had a few contractions and she wanted to make sure they stopped. What a bummer! That was a low part of the roller coaster ride. But I came back up when I got a phone call from a friend saying she was dropping off Chick-fil-a for me! And shortly after that I had visit from another friend. About a half hour after that friend left, the ultrasound tech surprised me and said they bumped up my scan by a few days and she was ready for me. Well okay! Ultrasounds are always exciting....so I ignored the wheel chair set out for me and walked to the ultrasound room. Don't get too excited, its actually closer than the kitchen I'm allowed to walk to. :)

The ultrasound went really well...baby is growing right on target still. Thats good news and indicates that we are doing a good job managing the diabetes and will hopefully be good news for the baby's lung development as well. Baby measured approximately 5 lbs. 2 oz. After the scan, the high-risk doctor that delivered Luke came in and spent some good time talking with me. I was able to describe Luke's birth to him and finally thank him in person for saving me from a c-section! I was very excited to be able to do that. We talked at length about the debate revolving around my delivery date. Another high-risk doc was wanting to wait even longer...and this doctor thought that was a bad idea. After the high of seeing and hearing the baby again, I hit a new low as I went back to my room and tried to process the differing opinions. I prayed, and prayed some more. Slept poorly that night. Woke up and spent some time investigating on the internet which did not help my stress level. I talked things out with my nurse and she made sure my doc knew I wanted to talk things out with her. She came to see me at lunch time today and we hashed out the whole plan...why certain dates were picked, how certain attending docs were picked, what procedures were in place for baby and for me, etc. She determined to follow the original plan and we are set to deliver by c-section on the 23rd. I will also have an amniocentesis the day before to make sure Baby is ready to go. I do feel better now that we have settled again on a date. Lord willing, two weeks from today we will meet this special little one! I think I have officially exited the roller coaster and am feeling a little more stable :)

I know that as the date approaches, it is inevitable that my stress will increase. The truth is that this is not going to be your average c-section delivery. The combination of rare conditions I have is attracting the attention of multiple doctors around here. Some have already asked my doctor if they can be present at delivery since many have never seen these conditions before. Please continue to pray that I can keep my eyes and mind focused on my Savior...more and more as we go through these next two weeks.