I feel as though I'm on a roller coaster

So, yesterday I saw the OB to discuss what the ultrasound findings meant as far as having a c-section. He was not very optimistic based on what he saw on the ultrasound. With vasa previa, the baby's blood is involved and labor can be very dangerous, if not disastrous, in that situation. He was mentioning scheduling a c-section at week 35 or 36. I went home to process the information, certainly not wanting to endanger my baby's life, but not being excited about surgery, but being done with this pregnancy sooner was appealing. I was also instructed to schedule another level II ultrasound at the hospital so the maternal/fetal medicine specialist could look at what was going on.

By coincidence (if you believe in such things), I was able to get an appointment at 8:50 this morning. I really liked the specialist (unlike the previous 'dire-warning-let's-jump-to-the-worst-case-scenario' doctor I saw there the last time). He was very low-key and non- alarmist. According to what the specialist saw, I don't have vasa previa. The cord or vessels or whatever they were looking at seems to be my blood and not the baby's. Baby A's head also seems to be below the veins which would mean it is unlikely for the cord to prolapse. All this to say, the specialist seemed to think there was no reason I couldn't deliver the babies naturally. He would just want to have someone do an ultrasound to check the cord placement once I start labor. So now I'm feeling relieved that everything seems to be fine, I won't have to have surgery, but who knows for how long I'll be pregnant. (According to measurement, the babies are 5 pounds and 5 pounds 2 ounces. That's a gain of 5 oz and 7 oz since last Thursday.)

Another thing the specialist did was to completely relieve any worry about Baby B's kidneys. With the amount of dilation she has, it seems the most intervention she would need after birth is antibiotics to protect against infection if the kidneys are still having difficulty draining. When a specialist says that something doesn't need to be worried about, you know you don't need to worry.

With the recent pregnancy drama, the one year anniversary of K.'s adoption has been completely overlooked. It's hard to believe it's been a whole year since we were in Vietnam. It's the feeling that he has always been part of our family, yet didn't we just travel to bring him home. I know I've blogged before about how well he's doing and how different he is from the scared little boy we brought home. It's probably a good thing he is going to be a big brother soon. For the first 9 months or so, there was very little he could do wrong in the eyes of his brothers and sisters. Even if it was a bit naughty or rude, they were willing to overlook it because he was so darn cute. But, that honeymoon is ending and their patience for him getting into their stuff or hitting or spitting at them (something J. and I have always tried to curb), is seeming a lot less cute. I was beginning to be afraid that K. would turn into the quintessential youngest brat, despite J.s and my best efforts. At least now he'll have some competition.

One last item of news which isn't earth shattering but will complicate how our home runs in the next couple of weeks is that our grain mill motor broke this morning. (We grind our own wheat and use the flour for all our baking. Yeah, I know, not something everyone does, but it sure tastes good.) Now I have to box it up and send it to the repair center. The only bright spot is that it is covered by a lifetime warranty...too bad they don't do loaners.