Baby Girl #4!

January 23 brought our first OB appointment at Mayo.  It was a very busy day of appointments!  We started with a general screening by the nurse which was filled with a gazillion questions about my medical history.  After that we went to an appointment with the geneticists who did exactly the same thing.  At one point Patrick asked her if she wanted to know how his childhood pets died too. :-)  It was that intense.  But, she was doing her job and I am thankful for that.  It is best to be thorough in these situations.  It was concluded that she had no idea why I had a CM and didn't see any reason that it would affect Pajamie.  Basically, it was just my shitty luck!  

After that meeting, we had a level two ultrasound for 45 minutes.  Every single inch of Pajamie was reviewed and measured.  I had never had an ultrasound this far in to a pregnancy before.  It was absolutely unreal how clear everything was to see.  It was amazing.  The ultrasound tech told us everything was "beautifully perfect."  

Finally, we finished with a meeting with our maternal fetal medicine specialist where much of the day was just repeated to us.  We talked briefly about C-section versus vaginal delivery.  She was on board with having a vaginal delivery.  She didn't see any cause for worry to my health or safety.  She thought I would withstand it just fine.  She also mentioned getting my tubes tied.  What?  This was something that had never entered my world of thought.  Patrick and I were pretty set on this being our last child when we started to try to get pregnant and became even more sure of that especially after my stroke.  But to have someone suggest a definitive end to there ever being another chance was shocking to me.  Almost hurtful for some reason.  I am not sure why.

To jump ahead to the present for a minute:  Patrick and I have decided to deliver via C-section.  I feel strong and really want to deliver vaginally, but if anything were to happen during a vaginal birth I would always wonder if it would have if I had a C-section instead.  The environment is so easily controlled during a C-section and delivery is quick.  I cannot take the chance, no matter how small or unlikely it is, to put Pajamie or myself in harms way.

I have also decided to get my tubes tied.  It is not safe, with my condition, to put my body under the stress of another pregnancy.  Plus, four little blessings are more than enough to fill Patrick and I up with love.  It would be easy to have the procedure done while I am already having a C-section.  I do not want Patrick to go through a procedure when it is already so easy for me to do it.

Facebook post from January 23, 2014

We got some great 3D pictures of Pajamie at our Mayo consultation yesterday. We were super impressed with their staff and feel very blessed to be able to deliver her there in April.