Pregnancy Three: First Meeting with the Specialists

So last Tuesday was an eventful day.

Besides it being my birthday (woo-28! i swear i am still 24. haha),

that was also the day that they could fit me in to see the Fetal Medicine doctor/specialist (Dr. Ball) in Idaho Falls.

(how we announced on social media that baby #3 was coming!)

So you're gonna get the whole day's play-by-play, aight?

Tuesday morning Kevin disappeared,

then returned with donuts for breakfast. 

We were all pretty happy about that.

Then Kevin rushed off again and told me to be ready with the kids at noon.

When he got back he had Bronx hand me my first "clue",

and we began a scavenger hunt for my birthday gifts.

(now, we all know i love my hubby, but i've got to give some major props here to my sis-in-law Lins. because i'm sure she did.....the majority of the work for this. hah!)

Here's what each clue said:

After ending at Kevin's parents house and opening my final present (Kevin's gift),

we hurried and ate lunch,

then went and dropped the kids off around 2,

to play at Katie's house while we drove to the Obstetrix Medical Group in Idaho Falls for my appointment.

This whole time I don't know what I was feeling.

Anticipation?

Eagerness to find out the "unknown"?

Waiting to hear more news and a clear diagnosis?

Nervous?

We checked in and took me back to a room with an ultrasound machine.

A sweet/nice lady came in and did an ultrasound like usual.

She checked everything,

then told us that Dr Ball would be in shortly to review her ultrasound images/frames,

and answer any questions and talk about what is going on with our baby.

So he comes in and starts.

Kevin and I both decide we like him off the bat (personality/mannerisms/professionalism about the whole situation).

He starts doing his own ultrasound and starts pointing out things as he goes.

Then he starts showing us the "scary" issues that aren't the norm.

Her spine.

So her spine lines up and is normal up until the neck where it curves slightly and looks hunchback-ish,

then it goes normal again.

Some weird DNA/chromosome problem?

We don't know until more test are done.

Of course I started asking questions like:

"Will that be super noticeable?"

"Have you seen cases with this same issue?"

"Is there anything I can do to help straighten that spine area right now?"

I already am terrified for the mean nicknames and hard time in school she'll get from peeps if this is super noticeable.

That might sound so trivial,

but I think the main reason I was/am scared to have girls in general is because I know how mean and hurtful they can be!

I dread the teenage years.

Ugh.

And the drama and the...everything. haha (but really, not funny cuz it's real)

Then we started looking inside at her heart and diaphragm,

where the other issues were.

Unlike the guesses that the Season's ultrasound tech and doctor had,

Dr Ball wasn't convinced that her internal issues were being caused by this weird spinal issue.

He was switching back and forth between ultrasound devices,

and finally pointed out what he was looking at.

He said:

"See this side of her? That's her right lung. Now take a look at her left side. Do you see her left lung?"

We didn't really see anything.

So nothing is for sure,

but he thinks that this baby only has one lung,

and that's what's causing the heart to shift into the empty space the lung would usually be in,

also possibly bringing the stomach up by the heart as well.

Which is why everything looked kinda skewed in our other ultrasound.

Dr Ball also mentioned that he's not positive that anything is necessarily wrong with those parts,

but that they just look different because they are not used to seeing them turned and at that view/angle.

So that was good news.

Also good to hear again that her brain and body were growing properly and seemed normal.

We got done with the ultrasound and I cleaned up-wasn't crying at this point-but i could feel myself on the verge of a meltdown.

Then Dr Ball told us:

This pregnancy is definitely considered high risk,

and that we will for sure be having her in Utah so we can be by Primary Children's Hospital.

They are still not 100% sure of what's going on in there,

which is why we will be going to Utah for more tests and seeing more specialists.

I'll most likely be induced so that I can have everyone on hand that needs to be there for her birth,

to help her (surgery?) immediately after.

I don't know why,

but the second he told us that I'd be having the baby in Utah,

I started bawling.

I guess that was just the final word to me that this pregnancy wasn't "normal" or like my other two,

and I had just been secretly hoping to be delivering at Madison,

where I had Bronx...

where I was comfortable...

where I knew the doctors and nurses.

So I ugly cried while the Doctor told us some more details (good thing Kevin was totally composed and could listen to everything he was saying).

I calmed down a little and was able to regain my composure,

but then my main coordinating nurse, Dana, came in,

was super sweet and I started crying all over again.

I didn't want to be crying!

But I couldn't help it.

And for a good long while (well this whole time we've known something was wrong),

I've been blaming myself for this like it was something i've done....ran too much, had strep right before getting pregnant (maybe even on week 1 or 2), not sleeping the right way....

Dr Ball reassured me that it was none of those things that had caused this and did encourage me to keep up my normal running routine.

So that made me feel slightly better.

When we left I did feel like we were in good and caring hands.

Even though it's not my ideal (or anyones!) pregnancy,

I'm still so happy this baby girl is healthy and growing at a good rate.

Another HUGE blessing?

My parents just closed on their brand new home in Lehi,

so going down there will be way easier with a place to stay that's relatively close,

and have some help with Bronx and Tinley.

(taken before it was finished being built, back in May)

Kevin took me out to eat at Red Robin (my choice),

and then we drove back to grab the kids and meet friends(a surprise to me!) for cake and ice cream and games.

The day ended on a great note.

(charles, nancy, brody, kevin, lins, roz, katie)

Here's the update for our Utah happenings:

I got called by the program coordinator down there, Toyna,

and she lined up an MRI for Wednesday August 17th @12:30,

followed by another ultrasound at 3:30.

I'll be meeting the next morning, Thursday @ 8:30, to go over the MRI results with the head doc, Dr. Byrne.

This is all happening at the University Hospital up the road from Primary Children's.

To catch up on what's been happening with this pregnancy:

part 1

part 3