Optimism

So we are coming down to the wire here.  Two weeks from today Ethan will be making his grand entrance into the world.  TWO WEEKS.  September 30.

The plan is to go in the night before (the 29th) at 6pm and start the process with a medication that I can't remember the name of. On Monday morning they will start giving me pitocin and Ethan will be born at some point during the day.  The cath lab at the hospital has been blocked out the entire day for us.  No one else can even schedule anything on that day.  And the doctor who will be doing the procedure on Ethan has given his cell phone number to pretty much everyone in labor and delivery so he can be updated.  It makes me feel good to know that we are so well taken care of.  Dr. B told us at our last appointment that they are constantly thinking about and talking about our case.  He said that he knows we have spent many many hours at his office and at the hospital the past few months, but for every hour we've been there, there has been hours and hours of discussion and research "behind the scenes."  We are so blessed.

Friday we had another round of appointments.  I first went and saw my OB.  They did the normal checks and set of questions.  Things are going well with my pregnancy.  I am currently 38 weeks. (FULL TERM!) Baby Ethan is growing well, has a good heart rate, and moves around all. the. time.  My blood pressure is good.  And I haven't dilated at all yet... YAY!  I know I would be super paranoid if I had.  (I already am a tad bit paranoid about going into labor early.)  I know lots of women can be dilated a little bit for weeks, but that is not something I want to worry about.

Then we had our cardiology appointment.  Ethan was moving around so much during his fetal echo that the sonographer was having a hard time measuring the pressure in his decompressing vein (the most important part).  Think about trying to thread a needle while riding a roller coaster... that's what she was trying to do.  She did manage to get a couple good reads on his vein though.  One at 5, and one at 4.  That is the same and even a tiny bit lower than last month.  YAY!!!!!!!  When we talked to Dr. B he said that there is reason to be optimistic.  It is good to be realistic, but there are a few things Ethan is showing us that give us hope.  First is this decompressing vein.  I've mentioned before that this vein is a miracle for us.  Without this vein there is really no way for blood to get out of his left atrium.  This vein gives him a chance.  Right now it's not perfect, but they are optimistic that after he is born they can take him to the cath lab to stent this vein and open it up a little more.  This will hopefully give the blood in his left atrium a good route to escape.  The other reason to be optimistic is how well Ethan has been doing in utero.  Each time they see us they take all different kinds of measurements to see if he is in distress or going into distress (blood pressure, heart rate, umbilical blood flow, etc.) and so far they have seen no signs that he is in distress at all.  Plus, he moves around like a crazy person 24/7, which is great for my peace of mind.  These things give us hope that we will have a little more time with him after he is born.

As always, thank you for your prayers.  I KNOW that they are helping Ethan, us, our families, and his wonderful team of doctors.  Thank you for your kind words and encouragement... that really helps keep us going.  We love you all!!