God is SO good!
His sovereignty, mercy, grace... amazing! We have walked a VERY long first trimester! As we begin our second trimester, we were able to have an ultrasound at our OB's office today and see our little one! I've been really looking forward to this ultrasound and appointment! Our prayer was that all the SCH's (blood clots - some were under the placenta) had reabsorbed! AND, if baby was healthy at this point, the ruptured corpus luteum would no longer be an issue since the placenta provides the needed nourishment. If this ultrasound showed a healthy little one, that would mean the possible deficiency of progesterone would no longer be an issue! So, our prayer going in was a healthy baby AND no more blood clots threatening miscarriage!
"OUR" PLANS:
Going in to today, our hope and prayer was that this baby was healthy and we were no longer an "at risk" pregnancy, such that, after today, we could transfer our primary care to a local midwife that we have found, who we LOVE already! We would proceed with natural prenatal care and plan for either a birth center or home birth with a midwife and possibly a doula. This is my heart and where I am most comfortable. I find that, with this midwife, I always feel heard and respected and a part of the journey. It is just where my heart resonates. After today, we are not certain if this will be possible...
TODAY:
We arrived at our appointment this morning at the ultrasound office one floor up from our OB, only to find out that our doctor was out of the office. We knew he was out yesterday, hence our rescheduled appointment for today. Well, with the tragic weather yesterday in the DFW area, his plane was unable to return him home. Thus, they had called yesterday around 5pm to reschedule - but I had no missed calls nor any messages. We were told they could still do the ultrasound, but we had to reschedule to see the OB next week. I asked what the ultrasound tech would be able to tell me and, of course, it all just depended. I know by now that, if there is something wrong, they will not tell me. We have to wait on the doctor. But, we opted to go ahead.
We had a great ultrasound tech! I explained to her what I was hoping to really take note of (any SCH's??). We got started and immediately she said, "we'll need to do an internal scan. It seems your placenta is partially covering your cervix." Well, I know all about partial placental previas. We had the same thing with Jacob, which is part of the reason the OB back then believed we had the bleeding we had around 11 weeks. We went ahead with the external ultrasound as the technician measured and we got to see amazing pictures of our little one! She said it appeared that all the SCH's had reabsorbed! She didn't see any!! Praise God! An answered prayer! She said that, at this point, if I had an bleeding it would most likely be due to the placenta rubbing against the cervix. Again, something I'm familiar with. The baby has a STRONG heartbeat of 149. The baby was not moving a lot, so she said this was a good at-rest heart beat. Of course, I wonder if the baby wasn't moving enough so will be glad for my appointment on Monday to get reassurance from Dr. Cummings. We also got a wave from our precious little one! Such a cute little hand! And little feet! We could see the spine AND the little heart beating!
At one point, as she was measuring our baby, the technician flipped over to a 4D view! We had decided not to do a 3D/4D, but it was short and the view of our baby was just amazing! So clear! She even printed us a picture of this view!
ONE MORE THING...
2 years ago, when I was pregnant with Jacob, our family went through a lot. At the same time, a dear co-worker had a rough year. We had this saying, "well, one more thing!" as we prayed through that year and offered one another support. I feel like, thus far with this pregnancy, I am having another season of "one more thing"! God is certainly keeping me on my knees and reminded that ONLY HE is sovereign over life - mine or that of my children!
After doing all our measurements and listening to the precious heartbeat, she switched to an internal ultrasound. There is indeed placenta partially covering the cervix. It seems to be more than what we had with Jacob, though the technician said it can still move as the uterus grows between now and 20 weeks. IF the placenta does not move completely away from the cervix, the medical approach is that you cannot deliver vaginally, but we will have to have a planned c-section. I loathe the thought, but my greatest prayer is for a healthy baby.
PLANS... ARE ALWAYS IN GOD'S HANDS
So, I do not know what our labor/delivery/birth will look like. It seems my babies like to implant near their point of exit, lol! So, I don't know if we'll use a midwife and have a birth center or home birth that I dream of, or if we'll be at a hospital but get to deliver vaginally or if we'll have a planned c-section. This is in God's hands. Between now and 20 weeks, my prayer is that this baby stays healthy and continues to grow and thrive AND that the placenta moves away from the cervix! As my best friend, Maren, said - even if the placenta continues to cover part of my cervix and we do end up needing to have a c-section, I'll have a good 18 weeks or so to mourn the loss of my dream birth and allow God to prepare and ready my heart for what the arrival of this little one will be so that I can go into this birth with peace. Right now, it is hard to imagine, but God has met me along this journey each step of the way and I know He will continue to do so. I plan to contact the midwife we've been in touch with to see her thoughts. I imagine we'll continue with Dr. Cummings until 20 weeks at this point. He has a very low c-section rate and is known in this area to be very supportive and successful in guiding women who have VBAC deliveries, so I know he will not recommend a c-section needlessly. We'll be reading, praying, and waiting to see how God leads us on this continued journey!
THANK YOU to all who have prayed alongside us and been so encouraging with this whirlwind of a journey! Jacob and I are SO glad to be home and with Josh! Jacob adores his "Da Da!" And I am working on the word/sign "baby" as I use pictures to show Jacob himself as a baby and talk about the baby brother or sister in Mama's tummy.
PICTURES:
Here are pictures of our precious Bruffey Baby #2:
April 4, 2012
14 weeks
(baby measuring 13 weeks, 6 days - which matches our original guess of when we thought we conceived!)
April 4, 2012
14 weeks
(baby measuring 13 weeks, 6 days - which matches our original guess of when we thought we conceived!)
The ultrasound tech did a quick shot of our little one in 4D for measurements. It was amazing to see!
Sweet baby! Waved his/her little hand!
Aww...love the little pictures! Sounds like you have a fantastic ultrasound tech and doctor. I know it can be really hard to have your dreams of how you are going to have your baby taken away, but Maren is so right! God knows what our little ones need and knows all the unforeseen complications and I am convinced that He arranges things in their best interest (ours too!). Hang in there, Mama! You are doing great!
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