32 Weeks and Counting…

The last couple weeks have been very busy for us.  Last week Ty and I had a tour of the hospitals where I’ll deliver and where Leah will have surgery and stay until she’s ready to go home.  They are 2 separate hospitals that are across the street from each other and connected by a tunnel.  We started out at the birth center with the operating room where I will be.  Right next to that is the resuscitation room where the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team will stabilize her before taking her to the Children’s Hospital.  Depending on how she’s doing, they may be able to bring her back into my OR so I can see her quickly before they take her.   Ty will go with her to Children’s, which means I’ll be alone in the OR while they finish my surgery.  I will then go to recovery until I am stabilized, and then I’ll go on a stretcher to see her in the NICU… It sounds like an NBC medical drama!!  The pediatric neurosurgeon’s team will be called to come and evaluate her for her back surgery, which is typically on that day or the following.  They will also check her brain ventricles for hydrocephalus and determine if/when she will need a shunt. 

The NICU rooms are all private with a couch and chair so we can spend as much time in there as we want.  The rooms also have wireless internet, so we’ll be able to keep everyone updated on her, and maybe even have Skype dates with her aunts and uncles.  The hospital has a Ronald McDonald House on the same floor as the NICU where Ty and I can hang out, cook meals, make phone calls, watch TV, whatever. 

We also got to meet Dr. Marker, who is the Spina Bifida doctor.  He will come to see her in the hospital after she is born and will care for her throughout her childhood.  He’s been doing this for a long time and comes highly recommended by everyone we talk to.  We are in very good hands! 

This past weekend we went to the Spina Bifida Association of MN picnic and got to meet a lot of other families and kids.  There were some kids who were running around with just leg braces and others who used walkers or who were in wheelchairs.  But aside from that, they were just regular kids… funny, smart, sweet and they all had great personalities!!  We really enjoyed talking to other parents about where they go for their care and what kind of equipment they use and how they do in school.  It was a little overwhelming and it definitely makes it feel very real now, but I feel so fortunate that we’ve started to build a network of other parents we can call for advice or information or just to vent.  Leah even won a door prize!  I picked out a big pink bunny for her.

I’m now going to appointments weekly.  Last week she was really moving around and go another perfect score on the bio-physical profile.  Brain ventricles are keeping the same, no change since last time.  The technician could see her ear and it looks just like mine.  She also can tell that Leah has hair… lots of hair!!  We got to see her wiggle her toes, yawn and stick out her tongue… so cute!!  But, her little tiny pea head is still a little bit of a concern.  It’s still measuring about 3 weeks behind.  Last time her belly was measuring small, though that’s catching up..  She is still small, even though I’m gaining enough.  They aren’t overly worried yet, and her head continues to grow, which is good, but just something that will be watched closely.

This weekend I also finished getting all the essentials for Leah’s room.  My friends here in town threw me an awesome baby shower last week.  I had a great time and got stocked up on blankets, crib sheets, books, toys, bath soaps, swaddlers… I love having other mommy friends!  On Saturday I got a mattress and some diapers and did about 5 loads of laundry.  I know I’ll be sick of doing loads of baby laundry in a few months, but it was so fun folding little tiny socks and baby blankets.  We’re pretty close to having everything ready for her.  In the meantime, I just need to fatten this baby up before she’s born.