Last Friday, I had my routine 28 week doctor's appointment (actually at 29 weeks because Jack had his 15 month appointment the week before) to check in on Baby Buck. I had intended on taking Jack with me, but my father graciously rescheduled his golf for Thursday so Jack could hang with Papa, which is WAY more fun! At the doctors appointment they found a little blood in my urine, so they swabbed to check for infections and did a cervical length check with the ultrasound. My doctor discovered that the babies head was down (yea!), there was some "funneling" near the cervical opening, and as a result, my cervix had thinned significantly. She took a couple measurements, repeated them, and stated that I would need to go see a high risk doctor. She called them and because they didn't have any available appointments, they decided I should go to the hospital to see the on-call high risk doctor.
I gathered my things, went to the car, called my dad to let him know what had happened and make sure he was ok with Jack for a while longer, called my mom to tell her I'd be missing her craft fair, and called Justin to come meet me at the hospital (not necessarily in that order). I think I cried during every one of those conversations as I was scared, but that's life.
Justin met me at the hospital and together we met Dr. Larma, my new high risk doctor. They monitored me for a couple hours, asked me tons of questions about my history, did another ultrasound to verify the short, 1.8cm cervical length, and Dr. Larma checked me for dilation (1.5cm dilated). His recommendation was to spend the next week at home, no going to work, take it easy and get rest. And worst of all, no more picking up Jack!
We had the weekend to begin adjusting to these new restrictions, and then together with my parents, we decided that Justin should go on the work trip he had scheduled. This meant that my parents would come stay with me, and my Dad would be instrumental in all things Jack. Over the course of the week, either Justin or Papa would have to lift Jack anytime he needed. Car seats, high chair, bed, bath, etc. I spent a lot of time on the floor and walking around holding Jack's hand, but everyday he would come over to me, put his hands in the air, say "UP" and sign "Please". It was so sweet how nicely he would ask, and I couldn't. Breaks my heart to think about. He would cry, and then cry harder when someone else picked him up, but by the end of the week, he was asking less. This made things easier, and sadder at the same time. Believe me when I say I wanted nothing more than to pick Jack up and carry him around for hours and just hold him until my arms were ready to fall off.
My follow-up appointment with the high risk doctor was this Thursday. Justin got back from his road trip early and was able to join me. We met with Dr. Larma again at his office. They performed a full anatomy scan of the baby (everything looked great), and then did the cervical length and dilation check. My cervical length had unfortunately decreased to 1.0cm and I had dilated to 3cm. Upon learning this, it was recommended that I go home, get things in order, then head into the hospital for bed rest. I was told that I should expect to be there at least until 32 weeks. So, that's what we did. We went to my parents house to have lunch and spend some time with Jack, went by the house to gather some things to make my stay as comfortable as possible, and then headed to St. Joseph's.
Although this is exactly what I wanted to avoid, here I lay, and I'm trying to stay optimistic. Although I really want to be at home with Justin and Jack, I truly believe that this is where I'm supposed to be right now, and that all the events that got me here indicated someone is watching over baby and me. An appointment 1 week later than "normal", my father's schedule adjustment to be with Jack, a little blood in my urine, a doctor that checked my cervical length (many wouldn't have), a follow-up appointment at the right time, an early return for my husband from his work trip... I am grateful to be here, mostly to be working toward keeping our baby growing inside as long as possible. I miss Jack so much, and worry all the time about the extreme impact this is having on my husband, my son, my dog and my parents. But I am grateful, and most of all, I am blessed. We all are!
