Friday, January 16, 2009

pregnancy update

i realize that i have not given much information regarding how my pregnancy is going since this post when it was all gloom and doom (well, it wasn't complete gloom and doom, but i was pretty concerned about the placenta previa and the thought of a mandatory c-section). i blame the move and craziness of christmas and visitors and, and, and...you get the idea!

 

anyway, many of you have asked how the whole pregnancy thing is going, so i thought i should probably update you since i've only got 3 more weeks left of pregnancy (thank goodness).

 

on our drive from oregon to new mexico i started to bleed some. as soon as we arrived in albuquerque i called a doctor and got in asap. they were a bit concerned so they scheduled a second ultrasound to see what was going on with the placenta. luckily, the bleeding subsided and has not resumed since!

 

the same day i had my second ultrasound, i also had my glucose tolerance test. while waiting for the results from the blood test i went in for the ultrasound. they saw that the placenta had moved a little bit and was not a complete previa, but a partial to low lying previa. that was good news.

 

however, they thought that the umbilical cord was inserted low on the placenta near the cervix. this is known as vasa previa and is significantly worse for the baby than placenta previa. they couldn't tell for sure, so i left that ultrasound a bit concerned. if that wasn't enough i was borderline diabetic. wonderful!

 

the best part of the ultrasound was that i left with this:

baby4

i understand that some of you may think that these pictures are kind of creepy (namely my sister!), but it was the first time i had seen one of our babies in 3-d and i think it's pretty cool! the placenta was covering the top of the head (the technician cut some of it out of the picture and that is why the head is not all there) and that is why it looks kinda weird. i think the baby is kinda cute, much cuter than the "alien babies" that the 2-d ultrasound pictures show! (this was at 28 weeks)

 

so, with thanksgiving and christmas approaching, i decided i needed to know if i truly had gestational diabetes or not. i wanted to be able to eat all those fabulous holiday goodies if i could. so, i did that horrible 3 hour glucose test and i thought i was going to pass out by the end of it. what a relief, when i got the call the day before thanksgiving telling me my levels were perfectly normal, not even close to the high range! so, i celebrated for the next month and a half and ate lots and lots of sugary, yummy goodness! probably not the best decision, but i did it anyway!

 

while my parents were here for christmas, i had my third ultrasound to check the location of the placenta and the insertion of the umbilical cord. in order to be able to deliver vaginally, the placenta needs to be a minimum of 2 cm away from the cervix. when measured, my placenta was 4 cm away! yippee! i was cleared for a normal delivery, barring any unforeseen complications. what they thought may have been an insertion of the cord down by the cervix was just a loop of cord because they found the true insertion towards the middle of the placenta!

 

now, i am happily seeing a midwife, instead of a doctor at the high risk clinic.

 

this whole crazy mess has been very interesting for us! we have seen many miracles and had many, many  prayers answered (thanks to all of your prayers that were offered on our behalf! they really have been felt and answered!). it seems like it has just been one thing after another. once one complication was cleared, a new one seemed to surface only to go away just as another complication would arise! it has helped us to really turn to the Lord and draw closer to Him. as we have seen our faith increase through these trials mitch and i have been drawn closer to each other and have seen a strengthening of our relationship!

 

we truly feel blessed! we know that we are being watched over and seasoned or refined. however, at the same time we are a bit worried about what all of this may be preparing us for in the future!?? but whatever comes, i guess we have been prepared, right?

 

now, we just wait for the payoff when we get to hold our beautiful baby in our arms.....

 

21 comments:

Grace said...

Mahina, your little baby looks beautiful! I think these 3-D pictures are so cool and so more real looking. I love how you can see the baby's face and even the type of nose your baby has. So cute. I hope the next few weeks go well for you and that your baby will be just fine. My sister had the same condition you had with bleeding and all. Take care

Grace

shauna said...

That is all great news. What a blessing. I too, wish I could have seen my babies in 3D, it is so amazing. Almost as amazing as seeing them for the first time when they are born! Can't wait for those pics.

Sarah said...

What great news!! I"m so happy for you!

Malia said...

Yay! Its coming .... very soon!!! Can't wait to meet New Baby Mason!

Bridget said...

I just heard this news from Elizabeth at our girls night out tonight. So happy for you! We miss you though.

The 3D pictures are very cool.

Erika said...

Did I miss a post where you said the sex? You referred to "our baby" and "the baby" but I didn't see a "he" or "she" in the post...

So glad that all the scary things aren't true & you get to see a midwife!!

janine said...

i am so thrilled that everything is working out with the pregnancy and your house!!! congrats! good luck with everything coming up...we'll be checking in to see how things go!

Grace said...

i'm a bit slow but was the blue wording in some of your post saying something about the sex? i wondered that :)

Tonya said...

I think the 3-D ultrasounds are so cool! My guess is it's a boy, but what do I know? You really have had some crazy trials with this baby. Thanks for being so open about it and sharing your testimony. It truly does help strengthen me to read it.

Kara said...

What a blessing! The ultrasound is SO COOL. How neat to see what the baby looks like before being born. I wish I'd had that kind of ultrasound. Hope the rest of your pregnancy goes smoothly. And sleep well because you know that will disappear as soon as it's born!

Amanda D said...

I never had a 3d ultrasound. So interesting! I'm glad to hear that things are going well. Good luck with the next three weeks!

Sara said...

I got some 3-D images of our next little baby too and they're on the fridge now so everyone can see what he's going to look like. So cool! Glad to hear that your complications seem to disappearing. I had a low-lying placenta too and was THRILLED when they finally told me it had moved up and was more than 4 cm from the cervix.

Good luck with the next 3 weeks. Maybe you'll get lucky and have yours early. I'm being induced this Wed. and I am counting down the days... (This is our LAST saturday with only 3 kids - yikes!)

calibosmom said...

Whew! I was a little nervous there. I can't imagine what you were going through. Glad to hear eveything is finally going well. Come on BABY!!!

Mandy said...

Yeah your almost done. I love the 3D I did it with Mikaila and loved it I was so excited to see what she looked like. Honestly by the pic I think it's a boy...hummm... I'm so happy for you I know how much you don't want a c section. So relieved to hear everything is going okay... miss you

Melissa-Mc said...

You are in my prayers. I am so excited for you!! I am dying to find out the gender of this beautiful baby.

Elizabeth Dimit said...

Your baby is beautiful! I am so happy that your house is sold and that you can see a midwife. When I walked through your house the other day to close the garage after selling the couches to that couple, I reflected that this would probably be the last time I would ever be in there. Sniff, sniff! :-0

ashley said...

3 more weeks? that is great news! and i am sure you will be happy to have this pregnancy be history- sounds a little too eventful!

jessica said...

Oh YAY!!!! I am so happy for you! I hope the next few weeks fly by...sending love and prayers your way!

Amanda said...

Whew! I'm so glad things are looking better! I hope they continue to do so. I'll definitely be praying for you!

Lauren in GA said...

I am so happy for you that things are looking so, so great!!!

I think those 3-D ultrasounds are so amazing. It is amazing all of the things they can see.

Congrats, again!

Michal said...

i'm so glad to hear that everything is going to turn out the way you'd hoped. what a blessing. just remember if for some reason you do end up having a c-section, that it is a pain, but still so worth it and will have no effect on your baby's life. i struggled a little bit when henry turned out to be my second c-section--i had prayed so much for a vbac and i couldn't understand why my prayer wasn't answered. but here i sit, anticipating my 5th c-section. i still don't understand why that is my lot, but it's a small price to pay to add a sweet baby to our family.