Feeling Good...

We had a full day of appointments at the University of Minnesota today.  Our day began with an OB visit for me.  I had been going to another clinic for my OB care, but they'd like to take over now that we're in the home stretch. I failed my first glucose test and had to do the three hour test on Friday.  We were relieved that I passed and we don't have to worry about that. 

Then, we had an ultrasound done.  The mass has continued to shrink.  Our last ultrasound was a week ago and we could see that it looked smaller today.  The heart looks SO much bigger.  We're truly blessed that after being scrunched for so long it was able to keep functioning properly.  On the right side of the chest cavity, we're also starting to see more of the lung. The CRV was at 1.02 today!  We haven't gotten any new photos lately so I was hoping for one today, but baby didn't want to cooperate.  She was hiding behind her hands AND feet today.  Maybe next week...

Dr. Nyholm also took us up to labor and delivery for a quick tour.  Apparently, over the past few days there were lots of babies born and all of their normal rooms were unavailable so we saw a room that they only use for overflow.  She talked us through what will happen after baby Zins is born.  She feels that we will be able to let nature take its course and deliver naturally when the baby is ready to come.  Unless something goes wrong with the delivery, she expects that I will be able to hold her and have skin-to-skin time after she's born.  I was relieved to hear this because I've been imaging her being swept out of the room right away.  Then, the NICU staff will do their thing and we'll have a bit more time with her before she's taken to the NICU.  Even though it means a lot of people in the delivery room, we were once again reassured that she will have every person and piece of equipment that she may need in the room as she enters the world.

Our last appointment was with the pediatric surgeon.  One of the first questions he asked us was if we knew if the baby was a boy or a girl.  When we told him it was a girl, he commented that girls always do better in these situations. : )

We went into the appointment thinking she'd probably need surgery within the first few days of her life.  While that might still end up being the case, we're feeling more optimistic that won't happen. When we first learned our diagnosis, the best case scenario was that the removal of the mass would happen using a minimally invasive surgery during the toddler years.  He was optimistic that could still be the case. After babies with a CCAM are born, their masses usually continue to shrink.  As long as she is able to breath (even if she's using one lung), her heart is not affected, and she doesn't have problems with respiratory infections, they will leave the mass in. The surgeon said we'll become good friends and she'll be monitored closely by him.  

Once again, we were so impressed with the doctors at the U of M.  When arranging our visit, they were sure that doctors we had seen at the Maple Grove clinic were on duty so we'd see familiar faces.  Then, Dr. Nyholm took time to give us the tour.  We were also super impressed with the surgeon.  We're in such good hands.

Our journey has been a roller coaster ride.  The first trimester started out great and we were excited to share our news.  The second trimester was filled with so much fear and worry.  The third trimester has started out with good news and we're feeling optimistic.  We're praying it continues.

We can't thank you enough for all of your prayers.  God is so good!

Much love,

Scott & Sarah