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17-6-2008 - Michael\'s Pregnancy

My mood while writing this blog: Good

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December 26, 2007
I have known for the past few years that I have several uterine fibroids. I have several that are between the uterine walls, that largest of which is 7cm. I also have a very large one outside of my uterus, connected by a stalk that measures 12 by 17 cm. Needless to say my belly looks pretty big at only 16 weeks! I thought I might not be able to conceive, but we got pregnant as soon as we stopped using BC! Luckily, these kinds of fibroids are less likely to affect a pregnancy than the kind inside of the uterus

At 7 weeks, I thought I miscarried with a lot of red blood, clumps of tissue, and cramps. However, our baby was still healthy! I bled again twice during week 9, and continued spotting brown all the way through week 11. Ultrasounds confirmed the baby was still ok!

I had some extremely light spotting in week 15, but since I had belly pains all week, another ultrasound showed the baby bouncing around and sucking his/her thumb! I thought the pains in my belly might be stretching pains, but they seemed pretty strong. I could not move without hurting! A week later, I am sure it was stretching pain since it has subsided, and my belly is bigger now!

We have a more extensive ultrasound scheduled for Jan 15, which will be 19 weeks. We will find out the gender then!!

January 3, 2008
My stretching pains turned into some pretty intense abdominal pain on Wed. night. I ended up in the ER, and they prescribed percocet. It did not really help. The next day, my OB told me to double the dose, and take advil every 6 hours which is still safe in early pregnancy. She explained to me that the uterus will eventually squish the fibroid, and steal some of its blood supply. This can cause the fibroid to degenerate, and be quite painful, but not dangerous. She also said it could be partially muscular pain, because my giant fibroid and uterus are pushing through the muscles twice as fast as a normal person. The good news is that this will be quite uncomfortable to me, it is not dangerous to the baby. 23 weeks to go!!!

My OB did get me a consult with the maternal fetal medicine group she is affiliated with so they can track my fibroids and the growth of the baby. I am thrilled with the care I am getting from my doctor and her practice!

January 15, 2008
We had an ultrasound today! Baby looks healthy, at least the parts they could see. They told me the fibroids do get in the way of the sound waves, and make the imaging slightly more difficult. Baby showed us a great shot of its butt, tailbone, and spine...but no clues for the gender! We can try again in 3-4 weeks!

February 1, 2008
I have been feeling great for the past couple of weeks. (Knock on wood!!) I joined a pool exercise program that feels so great on my back at the end of the day on my feet! I am feeling my little peanut move, but it is still irregular. We have our next ultrasound scheduled for Feb 15th! We've have decided if the baby does not show off the goods, we will wait until June to know.

February 15, 2008

It's a BOY!!
Michael Joseph

Our ultrasound went well today! I can't wait for my doctor appointment on Tuesday to see how the report reads, and talk to her about what the specialist thinks about me likely needing a c-section. All of the news was good!!

February 22, 2008

My doctor agreed with the specialist that I will most likely need a c-section. She said large fibroids can compromise the uterus as a muscle, which could leave me pushing and pushing with no results. Also, she and the specialist think it will be safe to remove my largest fibroid after a cesarean because it is connected by a stalk. She said I do not have to decide right now, but I trust their recommendations. My husband and I asked 8 million questions, and were satisfied with the answers to all! I really do love my doctor!

Thursday, 27 Mar

I have had a crazy week! On Friday March 21, I went to bed as normal. An hour later, I got up to use the bathroom when my husband came to bed. When I got back into bed, I felt blood gushing out of me. For a second I thought maybe my water broke, but it was heavy, dark red blood. It was the scariest thing I have ever experienced. I called L&D, and they told me I needed to come by ambulance right away. When my husband and I got to the hospital, they rushed us in, and started an ultrasound to find the baby `s heart beat. It took them a minute to find it, so my husband and I squeezed hands like crazy and held our breath. They finally found it, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. The bleeding slowed, and they kept me on IV fluids and the fetal monitor all night. In the morning, the maternal fetal specialist came in to tell me I likely had a placental abruption, which is very hard to pinpoint the cause of unless there is trauma. So, he said I needed to stay in the hospital for several weeks... possibly until delivery. Sunday, they had me do a 24 hour urine collection which had a mild amount of protein. They now diagnosed me with mild preeclampsia as well, and said there is no way they can let me go home. We had an ultrasound on Tuesday, and the baby looks good. His weight was estimated at 3.5 pounds, and he is measuring about 30 weeks. I am thrilled at this point to hear he is a little large in case he comes early. I did get the beta methazone shots to help his lungs develop. I am praying that he makes it until week 34 minimum. Please say a prayer for us, it is all we can do right now. Thank you all so much!

May 17, 2008

Michael is HOME!!! He came home Wed. May 14. We are so happy. He is doing very well. I did not get one bit of sleep his first night home, but my hubs and I have worked out a system that will work for now so we can each get about 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep. The baby is very well behaved, and only cries when hungry or gassy.... for now! We are crossing our fingers that he continues to be so predictable for several more weeks at least.

May 12, 2008

Michael is doing very well! The nurse wants to pull his NG tube today to see how he eats by bottle with no back up. She also will feed him when he wants it instead of on a 3 hour schedule. She thinks he will do better that way! She said when he cries for food before his feeding time, he tires himself out crying and doesn't always finish the bottle. She also told me to bring our car seat in tonight so they can make sure he breathes well while sitting in it for a while. I am so excited, if all of this goes well, he'll be home soon!!

April 30, 2008

All is still going well! Michael is up to 4 lbs, 8 oz, and has been moved to the continuing care nursery, a lesser intensive care part of the NICU. We are waiting for him to be able to breast or bottle feed, which we can hopefully try next week. He does have a couple of episodes everyday where he drops his heart rate, but by the time a nurse can walk 5 steps over to him he has fixed it on his own. The docs say he will grow out of these too. I am still pumping, and get about 5- 6 oz a day. I started taking Reglan last week to increase my supply, and this is an increase from the 3-4 oz a day I was getting. I am not stressing about the breast feeding... just doing what I can!

April 15, 2008

Michael is on the upswing! he gained 50 grams since yesterday, so he is now 3 lbs 8 oz. He got as low as 3 lb 4 oz since delivery. We are so excited about that weight gain! He is eating all breastmilk, and I am pumping every two hours at home. I even get up in the middle of the night! They also started lowering the temp in his little isolette, and he is maintaining his body temp. They think he will be moved to an open bassinet soon. It is all good news! Thank you all so much for your prayers. I know he is doing so well because of the many people who are pulling for him. We appreciate you all sooo much!

Update- April 6, 2008

I had my little boy by emergency C-section after a second episode of severe bleeding. I had been on hospital bedrest for 16 days at that point. The bleeding started at 7:35, and Michael Joseph was born at 8:00 on the button. It was a life changing experience, and I will likely come back to add details of the c-section experience.

My little Michael is in the NICU, and will continue to be for the next several weeks. I am not changing my profile to show that I gave birth, because I plan to track him still by the week of pregnancy he should be in. He was born at 30 weeks 5 days, and I will continue to think of him by corrected gestational age until closer to his due date.

Also, I love the mommies in my gestational group! They are very supportive, opinionated, and funny! I will continue to follow them through their pregnancies, and want to share my little preemie's progress with them. What a great website this is!!

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