Happy Anniversary... and the hopital

I just had to write a quick update on our neck of the woods.  It's mine and Andy's 11th anniversary today!  Our plan was to have our big ultrasound yesterday at three and find out the gender.  Afterward we were going to celebrate news and anniversary with some shopping and eating at Tucanos.  Then have a night to ourselves at home.  I made arrangements with my sister to pick up the girls after school and then keep them till ten Saturday morning.  Well... our plans changed dramatically.

We went in for our ultrasound and right off the tech measured my cervix and said, "When you're done here we'll have you go see the on call doctor."  I said, "I have an appointment with my doctor on Monday.  Do you want me to just wait till then?"  She replied, "No.  We'll have you go see the doctor right after this."  I asked what could be the outcome and so forth and then she said it depended on the doctor but that I may be on bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy but it really depended upon the doctor.  We finished what we could with the ultrasound... I say that because the baby was moving so much the tech couldn't quite get all the measurements needed.  Yes, we found out the gender but we are keeping that between Andy and I for now.

The tech walked me straight back to Dr. Lowder and Andy headed back to work and asked me to call him when I was done.  Dr. Lowder explained that my cervix is really thin and already starting to cone.  This causes preterm labor and could have been the cause of our miscarriage at 16 weeks two years ago.  He sent me straight to the hospital!  So I called Andy twice without an answer.  I texted 911 and then he finally called me back.  I told him I was being admitted to the hospital and when he asked why I started to cry and said to just meet me and I would explain everything.

 I've been on bed rest since and today they will do what is called a cerclage.  Basically they sew my cervix shut and until they do I can't lay flat on my back, sit up, or walk other than to go to the bathroom.  The cerclage will be removed about 36 weeks and Dr. Lowder said that usually patients deliver within a week or two of it being removed.  Right now we are just waiting to know when the surgery will be done, but it's all nerve racking.  We'll know more after the surgery, but the good news is they caught it and the baby is still looking good.  Dr. Lowder said, "I'm so glad they caught it... I'm so glad they caught it.  If it had been another week things could have been really bad."  At his office he had explained the risk of a cerclage, but that if I didn't do it I would most likely lose this baby, too.  He also said that most of the time a cerclage is done about 12 weeks.  I'm 8 weeks past that already! 

We see tender mercies from the Lord as we talk about everything.  I was so sick up till a few weeks ago and because of that I spent so much of my first trimester in bed.  That took pressure off my cervix.  I also stopped watching Owen much sooner than I imagined because of our little scare at week 8 and that allowed me to rest.  If I had been watching him still it would have been hard to lay down so much and I would have been picking up a very big boy.  And of course this is the one that I am most grateful for, but scheduling our ultrasound was also a tender mercy.  If I had scheduled a visit with my doctor and the ultrasound back to back it would have been pushed out another week.  We decided we didn't want to wait to find out the gender so we scheduled our ultrasound for yesterday and a doctor visit for Monday.  I am so glad we were impatient.

Andy and I have been laughing through tears that our insurance plan renews on April 1st... Which means we will pay our deductible and max out of pocket twice this year.  Instead of a quiet evening at home we get to stay in the most expensive hotel in Boise... the hospital!  Don't misunderstand... we are so glad they caught everything and we don't really care about the bills at this point.  We are just so thankful our little baby is safe and they are trying to fix what is wrong with my body.  We are also thankful that I had made previous plans to have my sister take the girls and that they are taken care of as well. 

I'll try and update later, but for now keep baby in your prayers that it stays put for the next 16 to 20 weeks.  And last little note, because I thought this was kind of cute.  My board with all my nurse and room information says "Today's Goals/Plans/Progress: Keep Pregnant".

Thanks for reading.