unsettling news...

Got a call from the dr's office this morning, with my u/s results. I wasn't worried at all - after all, Wood and I saw little woodlet moving and squirming all over the place. Baby is perfectly fine :) However, it seems I have a complete placenta previa. This is when the placenta decides to make it's home smack dab over the cervix. I'm now on some restrictions (no lifting, exercise, etc) and I have a referral for July 2nd for the perinatologist who visits our remote and rather rural location 1x per month.

There is still time for it to "migrate" into a higher position. While the placenta doesn't move, per se, as the uterus stretches, the possibility exisits for it to migrate to a higher position as time goes on. If not, it means a definite C-section several weeks before term. It also carries a higher risk of preterm labor (I already have a history of this), hemmorrage, growth restriction for the baby.

What causes placenta previa? Oh, let's see: Age over 35 - yup. 3 or more previous pregnancies - yup.

So I have a regular OB appt on June 25th, I see the perinatologist on July 2, and we got to Milwaukee on July 13th, for both G's checkup at Children's hospital in the am, and I'm having a Nuchal translucency scan in the pm (they don't do those up here at all - Wood and I just want to be prepared for all contingencies. Some trisomies are associated with heart and other defects, and if we were to find out something like that, we probably wouldn't deliver at the hospital here in the UP.)

Praying that the previa moves up and out of the way, or this could be a complicated pregnancy.

G and A are going to be big sisters.....

A work in progress…….a bit of geography for these hard to look at u/s photos –

Round circle on the right hand side is the yolk sack. Directly under that is the baby’s head, which is about ½ of the body at this point.

If you look closely, you can see the little arms and legs – baby is laying on his/her left side facing forward. Right arm is just below the head,

about halfway down the body to the left. Bumps at the bottom are the legs.

We could see the baby squirming around today, reaching it’s arms towards it’s head. Kinda cool! Heartbeat was 167 beats per minute.

The dynamic due want a boy only.....we'll see!

Morning sickness (actually all day sickness) is starting to subside. However, I'm asleep by 8 or 9pm every night now!

David is home

I received this email last night from the Gockenbachs

"At 8:44pm tonight, David entered eternal life.. He's home, safe and secure in the Father's arms. We miss him already, but are so glad that his suffereing is over. He's been thru more in his 11 yrs than most of us will ever go thru. Yet how full of joy he was and such a blessing to so many. His mission is accomplished, his crown awaits.

Thank you for staying with us on this journey."

Sad news....

I've posted several times about the only other family near us (about 100 miles away) who adopted siblings from Ethiopia shortly after we brought A home. Their son David, was dx'd with leukemia not long after arriving home with his new family. He relapsed while still receiving chemo, and underwent a stem cell transplant late last year. He spent 100 days in the hospital at U of M and it was grueling, to say the least. David, now age 11, has relapsed again. There is very little that can be done medically at this point - he might have a few months. His family is preparing for the unthinkable. David is a wonderful faith filled little boy who has endured more than any child should.

Please keep David and his entire family in your thoughts and prayers.

Here is a link to the family's caringbridge pages http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidgockenbach

tests today

Today I go in for a screening ultrasound (screen for ovarian cancer) and breast MRI, both due to BRCA2 and family history issues (dad died of breast cancer, dx'd at age 45.) I'm actually overdue for the MRI - should have had it in late December, but the dr's office messed that up. I had a mammogram and ultrasound last week, which turned up many what are hopefully cysts - which is unusual for me.

The problem with the MRI is that they usually always find something (or several somethings) that needs to be biopsied. It's a high stress time for a few weeks until I get the biopsy scheduled and all test results back.

The ultrasound to screen for ovarian cancer is just an attempt. There is no good way to screen for this type of cancer. They do this because there it's felt this is better than nothing.

Risk of getting premenopausal (agressive) breast cancer before age 60 = 80%. Risk of OV cancer = 60%. I'll take a better set of genes, thank you.

As for spring --- it's currently 7 degrees outside. Bah, humbug!

Still here....

wow, a long time since an update. Lots going on over the past few months. But spring is finally arriving to the land of ice and snow ... finally.

It's been in the upper 40's to low 50's, which feels so WARM to us. That's about 60+ degrees higher than it was 4-6 weeks ago! I'm so tired of being cold! This winter has been long and harsh. I think we've had about 300 inches of snow so far.

We are down to our last foot or so of snow in our front yard, and the thick ice on our driveway is finally melted down - there is concrete under there! Just a week and a half ago, we had 4+ feet of snow still! The girls have been riding their bikes over the snow and ice on the driveway for the past few days. And forget about them wearing coats - once it hit mid 40's, they complained about being "hot"!

The girls gave up the computer for Lent, and Wood and I gave up TV. I've read 3 books since the start of Lent, and we don't miss TV at all! Not even Wood, who is a news junkie. Actually, he gave up tv for Lent, but I've been following along, as how can I watch TV if he can't? I'm attending daily Mass for Lent, after dropping the girls off at school before I go to work.

Temps are due to drop back down to the 20's, but it's been wonderful while it lasted. We always get at least 1 last substantial snow in April. Last year I think we got about 36" over 4 days, but at least you know that spring is just around the corner at that point. The kids are going stir crazy, as it started snowing very early this year, and we've been housebound a long time. Ever seen the shining????

Update on dad

The assisted living facility has refused to take Dad based on his behavioral problems. They feel like he could be a danger to their other residents. The nursing homes that our case manager faxed info to yesterday would be very expensive since he doesn't have Medicare and apparently has no long-term care coverage under his BCBS policy. She is working with the social worker we met with, to look at adult foster care or a group home. The doctors are continuing to write orders for his discharge, but we are being told not to worry about that because he will not leave until they have a place for him. We are hoping that the paperwork we currently have is enough to keep him in the facility until the court hearing.

I also spoke with the Guardian ad Liteum that was appointed. His He will be visiting Dad either tomorrow or the next day (he has to wait on receiving the paperwork). Apparently, the hospital contacting him. They want to move the hearing date up, but he feels that given the distance the family is apart and everyone's jobs that the original hearing date would be best for us.