Friday Update

Hello and happy Friday!  We've had such a whirlwind and emotionally draining few weeks that I haven't posted one of my regular updates recently.  I've had several people checking in on us and asking about how Abel and I are doing (thank you so much!) that I thought it's time for an update.

• On the pregnancy front:  I'll be 34 weeks on Tuesday, so that's exactly 2 weeks out from D Day.  I go to my regular OB on Monday, and my high risk on Tuesday.  I was supposed to see the urologist who would be in on the surgery sometime soon as well, but I got a call from my doctor yesterday and those plans have changed.  When we first got the diagnosis of placenta accreta a few weeks ago, she said that an OB/GYN oncologist would be in on the surgery.  I had no clue why, you don't ever really want to hear that an oncologist is going to be involved, but she explained it was because they are the most highly skilled surgeons in the gynecology field, and can take over with a very precise hand if it all goes down hill and gets "messy" quickly.  So, she had called the oncologist used at Erlanger for this type of surgery and discussed everything with him, and he'll be doing any bladder work and repair involved during the surgery (they did say he would be putting stents in my ureters, which was still up in the air on Monday), so I don't have to go and meet with the urologist.  I literally trust Dr. Sanders and Dr. Kipi with my life, so I'm sure this was a well thought out decision and that he'll be great.  She gave me his name, and trust me, I've already looked up everything I possibly can about this man.  I told Andy everything about him and he said that it sounds like he's the best in his field, so he feels like it's the right move for my surgery, and has complete faith it'll be a blessing to have him there.  Other than that news, not much has changed since my appointment on Monday.  Abel is as active as ever, I'm still an emotional wreck, and we haven't had any scares that have sent us to the hospital, so that's a blessing!  I'll be back to updating after my appointments next week - sorry if you're sick of hearing about it all!
• We didn't get any sleep last night because poor Cooper hacked his head off all night.  He coughed so hard that he threw up everywhere in the bed that him and Clark were both sleeping in, so it was a long night.  His cough is about constant, so much so that he can hardly get a sentence out because it's so bad.  He doesn't have any other symptoms, besides a slightly runny nose, so I really have no clue what it could be other than bronchitis maybe.  I'm taking him to the doctor in just a little while to hopefully figure out what's going on.  I would be worried about pneumonia, but he doesn't have a fever.  Whatever it is, I hope the doctor gives him something to knock him out tonight... we're all exhausted.
• Clark is doing great going to the potty.  I think we've finally overcome the psychological aspect of everything, and he hasn't had any accidents or screaming fits in a few weeks!  Per the doctor's orders, I give him a child's dose of Miralax every day, and that's helped tremendously.  We're also trying to get him mentally prepared for Abel's arrival (and Cooper too), but I don't think there's really any way to prepare him.  He acts excited now, but I don't think that'll last very long once the baby gets here.  He is such a jealous little thing that I'm really worried about how he's going to handle it.  
• I've been desperately searching for something to help keep my mind off of everything that's happened lately, so I started watching Making a Murderer.  Let me tell ya, it's depressing, but addictive.  I'm almost done with episode 6, and although I'm about positive I know what the longterm outcome for Steven Avery is going to be, I can't wait to see what happens.  I also finished season 4 of Scandal a few weeks ago, so I'm also working my way through the current season of it.  I'll be caught up to live TV soon, so I'm excited!  I've also got a few other shows lined up that I'm going to start soon, so hopefully they'll help keep my mind off things for the next couple of weeks.
• I bought a really nice camera with my Christmas money and was so excited when it arrived.  I pulled it out one day and starting fooling with it, and after just a little bit of time, I decided I hated it.  It was definitely nicer than my camera I have, but wasn't that much different to justify what I paid for it.  It wasn't as user friendly, and every picture I took looked terrible, and I know it shouldn't have, so I ended up sending it back.  I'm just slowly dwindling away my Christmas money now, but I have some things I'm excited about.  I got a new leather Coach bag and wallet (via Craigslist - I didn't want to pay full price), some duck boots I'd had my eyes on forever, a Patagonia pullover, and I'm going to buy a new lens for my current camera.  I'll still have some left over after all of that, so I don't know what I'll do with it... I should probably save it for all the medical bills we're going to have piling up soon!

Alright, I hope everyone has a great weekend.  I'll be back next week with some more long, boring doctor updates!

Abel's Finished Nursery

Abel's nursery was definitely a labor of love.  Andy, my mom, dad, sister, and I all worked on it, and I love the way it turned out!  I still went with the original theme of Indian/Aztec, but I never envisioned using so much black and gold.  It felt like it took forever, but once we got the painting knocked out, it came together pretty quickly.  Almost all of the wall decor came from Hobby Lobby, the teepee came from Bed, Bath, and Beyond, all the furniture was from Cooper and Clark's nurseries, the gold triangles are wall decal stickers that were ordered off of Amazon, the canvases are original photos of mine that I took in Jekyll this summer, the window was old and I had his name added by a friend, and the fringe and tassels on the wall and crib were part of the decor from his shower my mom and sister threw.  I'm so glad it's done, and no matter how long we end up camped out in the hospital with this high risk delivery, I'm thankful his little room is ready for his homecoming.  

Weekly Abel Update

Today I headed to Dr. Sanders for my weekly checkup.  I'll be 33 weeks tomorrow, so if all goes well, we're 3 weeks out from delivery.  That still feels like it's forever away, but I know it'll probably come faster than I'm prepared for.  Anyways, all the initial things (BP, weight, and urine) were good, so that was good.  I had gained a little weight, so my doctor was pleased.  As I was having my blood pressure checked, my nurse told me how much she had been praying for me, so I know God's being bombarded with prayers for us... thank you once again!

As soon as Dr. Sanders walked in she asked how I was holding up and I fell apart.  Today's been a hard day for me for some reason, so I could feel the tears coming before she knocked on the door.  I told her my nerves were just shot and my anxiety was through the roof, and she said she completely understood that.  Thankfully there were no big surprises at today's visit, so we did a lot of surgery talk.  There was no blood in my urine, which she said is a good sign for my bladder, so that was a blessing.  She said the one patient she had that had a placenta percreta (attached to the bladder) had blood in her urine almost the whole pregnancy, so that gave me some relief.

As far as surgery plans and preparation goes, everything is still set for the 16th.  I asked her, once again, if they felt like it's still ok to wait until then if everything is more invasive and involved than they originally thought, but she said she talked to Dr. Kipi this morning and he felt confident on the date, so she said he was the expert and she was following his lead.  I'm fine with that as long as they don't think it can get much worse... I definitely want Abel to bake longer, but I'm scared of things getting worse too.  She said that the told her he had just worked on a bladder in one of these surgeries 3 weeks ago, and all was fine, so that made me feel better too.  She also discussed inserting stents into my ureters to help protect them during the surgery because she said they are at a high risk in this type of surgery, but she said her and Dr. Kipi hadn't made up their minds about that yet.  She kind of lost me there, but I just nodded and said I'm fine with whatever they feel is best.  She also said that Dr. Kipi and her concluded that I would need an absolute miracle for my uterus to not come out, even if the bladder wasn't involved, but I told her I had accepted the fact I would have to have a hysterectomy a few weeks ago when the original diagnosis was given to us.  I asked again about plans for Andy to be back in the surgery, and she said she still feels confident that he'll be able to come back for the c-section, even if the bladder is involved, and then just leave with Abel before they knock me out.  I'm not getting my hopes up too high about that though since the anesthesiologist has the final say.

I asked about a surgery timeframe again if the bladder is involved, and she said it would probably take 4-5 hours, and ICU recovery is still dependent on how much blood I lose.  We talked some more logistics about checking in the hospital the night before, how much we could expect Abel to weigh (she said probably around 5 pounds), and little stuff like that.  She took me back for another scan, told the nurse that the radiologist thinks I have a percreata, and checked my bladder again.  Once again, she said the imaging wasn't great, but she didn't see any penetration into the bladder that was obvious, so that made her feel better.  She said most of the time when the bladder is attached, it adheres pretty solidly and is really hard to detach from the placenta, so I would most likely lose part of my bladder if that's the case.  She said that shouldn't affect me longterm though, so I'm hoping she's right.  She said that she and Dr. Kipi had definitely decided to do my incision vertically above the belly button, and she apologized for this.  I once again told her I don't wear bikinis, so that was fine.  She said this kind of incision would be a harder recovery, plus I'd have drainage tubes for the surgery that would make recovery worse.  So, with those two things, coupled with a c-section, hysterectomy, and any bladder repair needed and other cleanup/repair work needed, she told me to expect a hard recovery.  I know I have no clue what to expect besides what I know from a normal c-section, but I'll endure what I have to to get Abel here safely and let them do whatever they need to to me so I can be with him and my boys.  I'm sure I'll need a lot more help than I did after Cooper or Clark's births, so I'm going to have to just let people help me when I need it and ask for help instead of trying to do everything myself.

Before I left she said she wanted me to go see the urologist that would be in on my surgery so he could read my MRI results and meet me face to face before I'm knocked out.  She said he could answer my questions about my bladder in much more detail, and hopefully give me some peace of mind going into the surgery.  I'm not sure when I'll see him, but I see Dr. Sanders again next Monday, Dr. Kipikasa on Tuesday, so it'd be nice to see him next week while I'm on a roll.

Once again, sorry for the long update.  As always though, I'll keep updating as I find out news and visit doctors (hopefully the worst of the news is behind us and now we're just in preparation mode).  Thank you for praying for us, adding us to prayer lists, and already offering up so much help.  Andy and the boys will probably be very spoiled while I'm down and out because we have so many amazing people in our lives willing to help out so much during this difficult time. 

Abel's Second Shower

Today my sister and mom threw Abel the most adorable little shower for my friends and family.  We had a great turnout, and Abel got a ton of great gifts!  I can honestly say there isn't really one thing I can think of that I just have to run out and buy before his arrival, so that's a huge blessing!  I'm sure we'll have to add some stuff to his collection after he's born, but he's definitely got enough clothes, bath stuff, wipes, and diapers to get him started!  Once again, thank you to everyone who came to his shower today - we're very thankful for your love and friendship!