Baby #4

This pregnancy has definitely been much more of a challenge than my other three. From the beginning I have been more sick, more tired and had a lot of problems. Starting the day before Christmas Eve I started bleeding. I was very afraid that I was losing the baby. We went in to the doctor Christmas Eve and was able to find the baby's heartbeat. They called it a "threatened miscarriage" and my chances were 50/50 we would be able to keep the baby. I spotted off and on for months but each time I went in to the doctor the heartbeat was good, so we kept hoping. 

     About two weeks ago I started having contractions about every 2 minutes for several hours. We decided to go in to labor and delivery and get checked. They hooked me up to a monitor but the contractions didn't seem to be productive. They continued all of that day and the next. They gave me progesterone and antibiotics- believing that I had an infection that was causing the contractions. 

     The next morning they called and wanted me to come in for an ultrasound in a half an hour. So I went and did the ultrasound. I thought when the tech was doing the ultrasound, all looked well. They were most worried about my cervix from the contractions but that was looking good so I thought all was well. When the doc came in he started talking and listing all that was not normal with my pregnancy and I wasn't sure how to digest all of it. What I heard was I had had a blood clot from the beginning which he could still see evidence of. Because of the location of the clot, my amniotic sac had not attached to the uterine wall like it was supposed to. Where it had not connected properly there was webbing that they feared could lead to Amniotic Band Syndrome ( a syndrome where the strands can wrap around different parts of the baby or the umbilical cord and cut the blood off causing amputations or other problems). He seemed to believe that if that were going to happen, it would have happened by now. Because of this he was checking each limb carefully to make sure there were no problems. While looking at the limbs he found what he believed was bilateral club-feet. While he was checking my cervix he also found that my placenta is low which right now could be a sign of partial-placenta previa. Since it is still early (18 weeks at the time), the placenta can still move as my uterus grows away from the cervix so there's no way to know if that will be a problem or not... And supposedly my fluid is low which he mentioned I may have a slow amniotic leak.

     Well from what I can remember that was most of it. It was quite a lot to take in for one visit being by myself. So trying to relay all of that to Jeff was a challenge. I felt I handled it pretty well at first but as days went on and I started to realize that this was truly a high-risk pregnancy and this baby may not make it, I had a few rough days emotionally. Jeff and my dad gave me a blessing. I remember from the blessing that it was said that the baby had work to do on this earth. From a prior blessing I remember that as I took care of my body the way I felt that my body would be strong and be able to carry the baby. 

    So for now I'm really trying to keep a positive outlook and work on increasing my faith in my Heavenly Father. I know that what will happen will be part of His plan and all I can do is have faith that it will all work out. I have had to really cut down on work and cut down on everything that stresses me out or is physically challenging. I try to limit what I do.  I will admit it's been tough. Slowing life down gives me a lot of time to think and ponder on the baby and how right now it wouldn't be able to survive if my amniotic sac were to rupture (a higher risk because the sac didn't adhere properly). I was told not to do anything jarring, no heavy lifting and just "take it easy."It's been tough to know what that "take it easy" entails. 

    But I will say that I have been so impressed with the support I have received from so many people since this all began. I have had meals brought in even though I told people I was okay and I could handle it. Each time turned out to be a day that I really was grateful for some help and was very touched. I have also had so many people tell me that they are praying for me and I've never understood when people have said they feel people's prayers, but I feel their prayers. I am so humbled to be on this end of many people praying for me. It is powerful and I am grateful for those willing to remember me and the baby and keep us in their prayers. We have another ultrasound on the 15th which I am anxiously looking forward to. I'm looking forward to Jeff being there with me so it's not all being relayed second hand and hopefully he can understand some more medically. I have also and the theme of "Believe in Miracles" come up quite frequently in the past few weeks in my studying and meetings I have been to. So that is my motto with this baby- Believe in a miracle. Having this baby make it full-term is not impossible to Heavenly Father even tho medically it isn't looking that great. I will keep believing for the best and TRY to be patient. Here are a few pics from this pregnancy so far. 

12 weeks

15 weeks

8 week ultrasound 

17 week ultrasound 

Most days I'm feeling better overall- more energy and less discomfort but nights have been awful- can't get comfortable and my hips hurt a LOT. Grateful to be 28 weeks and not wanting Little Man here yet but man, this pregnancy has been a tough one ;).