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Friday, January 22, 2016

Finally, answers, but still waiting...

I went back in on Tuesday, 1/19/16, for another ultrasound. The fluid levels were better, but the baby's bladder was really large again. After talking, we decided that the best option at this point was to go to Denver for the stent procedure. Because the fluid is still at normal levels (and seems to be getting better), they're not really concerned about lung development at this point. Right now, we're trying to alleviate the pressure on baby's kidneys to try to prevent more damage.

Since then, life has been a whirlwind of stress, phone calls, more phone calls, trying to plan, talking to four different doctor's offices, in addition to several different departments at Tricare, relaying information to family, planning for someone to come stay with my older kids, and literally, just a LOT of stress.

After the referral was sent from Perinatal to OB (on base), they had to send it to my PCM (off base) to be sent in and approved, because Tricare won't pay travel expenses unless the referral comes from the PCM... So I had to wait until Wednesday morning to get in to her office for her to send the referral in, and waited, and waited, and waited, for it to go through. I was on the phone with everyone I could have been, trying to speed up the process. Finally, late Thursday afternoon, everything went through and was approved. This has probably been some of the most stressful few days of my life.

My intake appointment with the Fetal Care Center in Denver (really, Aurora), is scheduled for Monday. Three days from now. I have appointments and meetings starting at 8:00am, spaced every couple of hours throughout the day, with the last one scheduled at 3:45pm. We will literally be there all. day. long. They'll be doing a fetal echo-cardiogram, to make sure the baby's heart is developing properly. Then I'll have an MRI of the baby, so they can get more clear imaging. Then I'll go in for an in-depth ultrasound for more measurements, etc... After that, we'll meet with a social worker, and at the end of the day, we'll have a meeting with the surgical team to decide on the course of action.

Then, on Tuesday, we'll have the stent procedure done. From what I've seen in research, and the perinatologist here understands, it's a relatively non-invasive procedure. They insert a (pretty wide) hollow needle through my abdomen, into the baby's bladder. They'll push a tube (surgical mesh, I believe) through the needle, and that will go from the baby's bladder, through his abdomen, to drain the urine into the amniotic sac. It's done under only local anesthesia, and apparently doesn't take very long. It's technically an outpatient procedure, but they'll admit me and keep me overnight for observation. On Wednesday, they'll do more imaging to make sure everything is ok, and I'll be released to go home.

My sister in law is flying out from Nevada to stay with the kids while we're gone, and my parents are going to drive down to Denver to be with us.

We're praying that everything goes smoothly, for us, here at home for our sister in law and the kids, with travel, with everything.

I feel a lot more calm than I expected I would. I finally broke down yesterday, when it seemed like even after several days of trying, nothing was going to work out, but it all did, and we're pretty much set to go. Other than that, the few days after we found out about the baby's condition, and an occasional moment here and there, I've been a lot more level-headed and collected than I expected to be.

There is still a chance that things may not work out in our favor. I have to acknowledge that. I do know that it's not my fault that this is happening, and that I have no control over any of this, and I'm doing my best to let go of the guilt and the thought that my body is failing me... I know that whatever happens, is what is supposed to happen, regardless of what that is.

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