Pregnancy

Well for the past couple of weeks I have been trying to get caught up on my blog. I feel I have done pretty good considering I had about 6 months of catch up to do. i still have the month of December to catch up on but do to recent events ive decided to update on pregnancy then finish December. besides i don't have access to my pictures right now. i figured i cant blog about our Christmas without pictures. so on to pregnancy.

well this pregnancy has been really different from paiges. last January i had a preconception consultation with my doctor. he informed me that when i did get pregnant things would be different this time around. so i cant be all surprised that things are now so different from paiges. he informed me that due to my previous pregnancy with Aubrey this pregnancy would be more stressful. and it has been that way. i tried not to worry about losing this baby as i did with Aubrey but its been hard not to at all. i did find great comfort with prayer, family support, priesthood blessings and temple attendance. i really liked the doctors that delivered me with Aubrey so we decided to use them again. the plan was for me to stay with this doctors office until i reached 32 weeks then if all was well i would switch doctors to a local doctor in thatcher. i like them but i want to deliver in thatcher where i can be close to home yet that's only possible if my body and baby cooperate.

the doctors still aren't really sure why my membranes prolapsed with Aubrey resulting in my water breaking and having to be induced at 5 months. they say it could be due to me having an incompetent cervix. they aren't fully convinced of this diagnosis though because paiges pregnancy was completely fine. so when i reached 12 weeks with this baby girl they thought i wouldn't need a cerclage. they had said that through recent studies that a cerclage isn't always effective unless you are certain you have an incompetent cervix . an incompetent cervix is when your cervix thins to early in pregnancy without always having contractions. a cerclage is when they stitch your cervix closed so it doesn't spontaneously open. like everything else placing a cerclage doesn't come with out side effects. after praying about the decision of doing a cerclage or not Garet and i felt really good about trusting the doctors and not placing a routine cerclage at 12 weeks . we decided that it would be better to place what they called an emergency cerclage if i needed one.

so when i reached 16 weeks i started having ultrasounds every 2 weeks to measure our baby. the first measurement was right before thanksgiving (i already posted about that visit in my November post) this is when i found out we were having another baby girl. my cervix looked good at this appointment measuring 5cm in length. the normal at 20 weeks is 4cm so i was right on course. at 18 weeks i was about the same. then when they measured me on the 23 of December and i had dropped to 2.4 - 2.1. (they gave the results in a range because your uterus is a dynamic muscle, meaning it can change in a few degrees quickly) well these results really worried me because i had dropped so much in just a little over 2 weeks. after talking to one of the doctors she recommended that we schedule me to place a cerclage. the date was scheduled for the 28th of December. she then sent me home on moderate bed rest with the additional instructions," don't worry. enjoy your Christmas with your family." ha-ha...yea i tried not to worry but that's OK. i was still able to enjoy time with the family. the only thing when i say bed rest to my mother, and sisters that means strict bed rest. they wouldn't let me do anything but lay on my moms couch. they kinda were getting on my nerves with how strict they were being but i knew it was all out of love and concern.

well the Monday after Christmas i was surprised to get a personal call from one of the doctors in the clinic. she is one of the ones i had seen the most. anyways she had seen my scan and wanted to check me again to make sure i hadn't dropped more over the Christmas weekend. she felt that i should have been on strict bed rest. i explained to her about my family and how they wouldn't let me do anything and she was a little re-leaved. she also wanted to make sure i wasn't in labor causing me to thin so much so quickly.

after getting off the phone and thanking my sisters/mom for being so strict with me, garet and i went back to Tucson. they confirmed i wasn't in labor and my scan now showed i went back up to a 3. we all were shocked with these results and contributed this to be an answer to our prayers. the doctors said i didn't need a cerclage any more and i didn't have to be on bed rest. according to what the doctors say and research I'd done myself you don't have to take extra precautions unless it drops below 2.5cm. so we went back to thatcher and i went back to my life. i tried to still take it easy though with taking lots of rests and not being on my feet to long. because all the changes in my cervix in the last week the doctors wanted to recheck me in a week instead of 2. so a week later i went back in and lo and behold....i went back down to 2.4- 2.1cm. this doctor didn't want to do a circlage yet but wanted me to do moderate bed rest/house arrest again. i found it a little harder this time around because i was at home alone with Paige. it was different being at home and not have 24 hour help me like i had at my moms. Paige did great though and has been a champ through all this. we watched a lot of movies and have colored a lot together. a week later i went back in and my cervix was the same so they said ,"great keep doing what your doing and we'll see you back in about a week to check again." so back to the couch i went. we really have had lots of help. dinner and snacks brought in, lunch almost everyday from garets mom and lots of fun play dates for Paige. i feel so blessed to be around so many wonderful, loving people. i have learned a lot of how i need to be better and more serviceable.

for Christmas garet had surprised me with tickets to wicked. i was supper excited but scared that i wouldn't be able to go. after talking to one of the doctors they told me that if my cervix stayed the same i would be able to go but i would have to go in a wheelchair. after laying down for 2 1/2 weeks and my cervix stayed OK we were really optimistic about going. my doctors appointment was at 230 and our show was at 8. my parents were going to go to wicked that night also. they got to Tucson a little early and met us at the doctors office. before checking my cervix they looked at baby first. the sono-grapher took a lot of time and showed us everything. our little girl was so cute. garet thought she looked like Paige. she had what looked like chubby cheeks, defined lips and a cute little button nose. the sono-grapher couldn't believe how pretty she looked in the pictures. he kept making comments. he also had me press on my stomach and touch the baby while he was doing the ultrasound. i could see my fingers indent into my stomach and touch the babies head. it was really neat to see this. after admiring our beautiful little girl they checked my cervix...and guess what....it was 1.7-1.2cm. so again it dropped. from what i had read on line it said that its a critical measurement if it drops below 1.5cm. so when the sono-grapher left to go show doctor i wasn't to surprised when she came back in and said i needed to go to the hospital. she said it was important to get some steroids on board to help the baby's lungs develop. so...instead of going to wicked with my parents we went across the parking lot to the hospital.

i met another doctor there, he was the head doctor of the clinic. he said pretty much the same thing the other doctor had said. i would be admitted to a room, start me on steroids to help baby's lungs, give antibiotic incase i had an infection.(if you have an infection it can make you go into labor and can also cause your cervix to thin) and they would give me Motrin to help calm my uterus. (apparently i have an over active uterus, i don't have contractions...its just active as they put it.)

so got to my room and hung out with garet. the next morning i continued to just hangout. Saturday afternoon i went and had an amniocentesis done...ouch!!!! the doctor wanted to do an amniocentesis to make sure the baby didn't have tan infection. they stick a thin needle about 3-4 inches long into your abdomen, through your uterus, then into your amniotic sac to take a sample of your amniotic fluid for testing. to make sure they don't hurt the baby they monitor the baby during an ultrasound while the insert the needle. thankfully it doesn't take very long or it would have been very painful. but the doctor was really quick. well that test came back negative...yeah!!! then yesterday morning they did another test called a ffn. during this test the take a sample of fluid by your cervix. if it has a specific drainage you have a high risk of going into labor in next 2 weeks. if the drainage is absent then you have a 98% chance you wont go into labor. well that test was negative also...yeah!!!! after all these negative test results and after completing my steroid injections i was sure they would send me home Monday (today). but then the doctors thought that thatcher would be to far.(2 hour drive) they wanted me closer. so they decided to remeasure my cervix today and then repeat the ffn on Wednesday. if my measurements go up, and ffn still negative then i can go back to thatcher. so today surprising....my cervix measured more at 2.1cm. so most likely I'll be able to go home because my ffn should be negative. I'm so happy!! when i get home i will still have to be on strict bed-rest but i think i can deal with that. I'm just grateful for all our friends and family and for all that they've done for us.