37+ Weeks

I know, I know. I promised I would post after my doctor's appointment LAST Friday but, there is a very valid reason I didn't...What I would have posted was this...

"The nurse midwife has decided that I need to go back to the ortho on Monday because of the pain in my back and weakness in my legs and implications for delivery. I've scheduled the appointment but I won't really know more then. I'll post again after that..."

Then after the appointment on Monday I would have posted this...

"I'm so frustrated right now I can't see straight. The ortho wouldn't really give me any straight answers about what he thought we should do as far as delivery is concerned but he did say that since my previous injury is degenerative that it's likely I've done more damage throughout the pregnancy. In addition, he said that any concerns I have about laboring are very valid, that I could sustain further injury AND that it's possible an epidural wouldn't be as effective as normal because of the scar tissue in my back. He gave me another cortisone injection on the right side and I'm supposed to go back in 10 days for another on the left."

SO, you can see why I didn't post...There wasn't really any information that I could provide that would satisfy anyone's curiosity, especially mine, and it probably would have just frustrated me further. So what's been happening?

Well, after my appointment with the ortho on Monday I called the OB's office to tell the midwife what I was told. After discussion with her I suggested that perhaps she should call his office and try to consult with him directly as opposed to me being the go between. Luckily for me, she was willing. I didn't hear back from her until Tuesday, at which point she left me a message saying that she had spoken with him and that he supports delivering by c-section and supports delivery earlier than 39 weeks if my pain gets too severe or if my sympotms get worse. Now tell me, why couldn't he just tell me that?

Anyhow, I followed up at the OB's office on Thursday and here's where things get the tiniest bit complicated...My actual OB is out of the office until Thursday the 5th, at the EARLIEST. She was out on vacation and now is apparently out on surgical leave. (Of course it's my luck that this would happen) Anyway, the midwife, who I just love, said that she can't see any reason that the doctor wouldn't agree with the ortho's recommendations but that there is a possibility she won't. I guess in the past she's been a bit unpredictable. Now, what the midwife noted in my chart from her conversation with the ortho was that I wasn't to labor much longer than 2 hours (HA), that I needed to refrain from extensive pushing, and that he's recommended c-sections for patients who's injuries are far less than mine. Seems like a no brainer right? Well we think so but just in case...

Just in case my doctor doesn't come back on the 5th like she's supposed to (because that day I'm 38 weeks) and just in case she doesn't agree to the need for a c-section, the midwife recommended that I consult with another doctor who used to be in my practice. She just recently branched out to private practice but she's also covering for my doctor while she's out. Ultimately, this consult doctor, who I had seen in my practice before she left, agress with the ortho and the midwife and said at my appointment Thursday that had I been 39 weeks instead of 37 she would have taken me over to the hospital that night to deliver. So, we have a back-up which is reassuring.

So...when is she coming? Well, we still don't know an exact date. The consult doctor said that she could send me back to the perinatologist for an amino to determine lung maturity and if they came back mature that she would deliver me right away. I told her I'd rather not have an amnio if I can avoid it, that the midwife was writing a note for work, and that being at home I would better be able to manage my pain. I told her to give me a goal date and that I would make it to that. She said I'm 39 weeks on the 12th so she'd like me to make it till then but she would be comfortable if I made it at least to the 10th. However, if my pain becomes more severe or if my symptoms get worse they would deliver earlier. Additionally, I have an appointment with my doctor this Friday and if she agrees that a c-section is what's best then she will be the one to do it, probably around the same time since they like to do planned c-sections at 39 weeks to reduce the chance of me going into labor on my own. If I do go into labor on my own between now and then it will be a c-section and it will be either the consult doctor or whoever the resident is to deliver Little Miss.

So we don't have an exact date but somewhere between the 10th and 13th (because if I can make it Brett would love for her to be born on Friday the 13th)...I may know more after my appointment this Friday (the 6th) if my doctor is back from her leave.

That's the synopsis...there is probably more that I left out but that's all the important stuff...I'm trying to decide if I am going to follow up with the 2nd cortisone injection this week because the one I got on Monday has been far less effective then the one I got at the beginning of my pregnancy and I'm just not sure that I want to go through the pain of the actual injection if it isn't going to be effective. I'm still going to physical therapy but I think my appointment this week will likely be my last until after I deliver (I don't imagine it's all going to disappear after she's delivered). I'm also considering finding a new ortho in the Fredericksburg area, because it's closer to home but also because I'm not sure how I feel about my ortho anymore after Monday. I am going to need more X-rays and a new MRI and possibly bone scan after delivery and it likely just be easier to have it all done down here.

As promised here's the 37 week belly shot...

I think that's it for now...if I think of anything else I'll let you know...and this time, even if it is frustrating, I will post after my next doctor's appointment...it's hard to believe Marley could be here in as little as 10 days!