Day 36

I can't believe I have been here in the hospital for 36 days!  My water broke 36 days ago and we are still going strong and looking good considering.  Praise the Lord!!!  Fifty-two days to my big goal!

Tuesday, I had another ultrasound done to check on the babies growth and my fluid levels. The baby is growing great!  The head and legs are still measuring perfect and the abdomen is still 2 weeks behind.  They said baby is in the 33 percent tile and the doctor was pleasantly surprised because she expected baby to be smaller.  They guess the baby weights about 1 pound and 8 ounces, but that doesn't include the hernia so baby is even bigger than that, wahoo, I love good news!  I asked how the lungs were looking since that is one of the main concerns and she said that we can't look at the inside development at all (making sure the lungs develop these little pockets that take the air in, 20-24 weeks is when they typically do most of their developing).  She could however tell me that usually at this stage the chest is 1/3 one lung, 1/3 heart and 1/3 the other lung and baby is closer to 1/4 lung, 1/2 heart and 1/4 lung, but she said this is not too bad she has seen very, very small lungs and we are not too far off normal.  We will just have to wait until baby gets here to really know how the lungs are.  God has really taught me to wait on Him, this is something He has been teaching me for years.  I know He is in control, (I love to be in control, and plan everything to the T, but I am not God so I surrender) and He has blessed our family so much, His way is the way I want it, so I wait, with His help.Oh, I almost forgot to say that my fluid level was 3 I believe it's milliliters, and the doctor was very happy to see how active baby is.

They monitor the babies heart rate a few times a day for just about one minute and he/she is usually in the 140's, well the baby has started to do 15 beats excels, which is very good and not usually seen until about 26-28 weeks and baby is doing it at 24 weeks.  The nurse explained that this has to do with brain activity and is very impressive.  I felt to proud.  I know it's silly but, it was just so nice to hear. 

I also spoke with the doctor about the plan for surgery, I wanted to know if I still had to be put into a medical induced coma or go under general anesthesia.  She said at this point because I do have the accreta but it has not invaded any further as far as they can tell (thank you for your prayers, they are being answered!) the plan would be to do a spinal and I would be awake for the delivery and Mark would be able to be in the OR with me.  After the baby is born if they can not remove my placenta and I have to get a hysterectomy then they would put me under and Mark would leave.  So lets just pray my placenta comes off like it should.  I have been really considering finding out if we are having a boy or a girl even though I really prefer the surprise, I was just thinking that if I end up being in an emergency situation and they have to put me out and then I go to ICU I may be out of it for a few days and really not fully understand that we had a son or a daughter and that has made me feel sad, so, I don't know.  If it's not an emergency then I would be able to wait and find out when baby is born like we want to.  So, I don't know.

I get to see Mark and the kids this weekend I am so excited, I miss them so much! 

Grandma will be leaving next week to go back to Kentucky after being here and doing everything for the last month.  She has really blessed us and made it so much easier on my kids and Mark.  She will be very, very missed.  My kids are going to have to come back down to reality though and remember that Grandma may say yes to everything but Mom and Dad don't.  They have been spoiled rotten (and I love it).  

I am really looking forward to school being over so some of the pressures with the kids are lifted.  They are doing so well, they are such good kids but my heart breaks for them because I know it's not easy holding it all together.  Our family is amazing.