It seems as B day get closer I am geting more and more manic. I am reading all the time. It feels like I have exhausted all "medical" texts so I am starting to read other peoples blogs who have gone through this. One of the changes it has made is that I will now include the days till birth and the days after birth in all my headings. (Makes it a lot easier to see progress.) Amanda is exhausted. like any normal pregnancy she hurts and has trouble finding any comfortable position in which to rest. Bayta being bigger than our other two children doesn't help either. It is hard to watch her struggle to get everything done when she is in pain.
I enjoy writing to this blog... it seems to help me keep my thoughts in order. I hope that someday it provides comfort to another family who is going through the same things we are. I plan on showing and talking about nearly every issue Amanda will let me. Some of the pictures will be graphic and will be labeled accordingly. I still need to get a program to lower the resolution of my iphone so that my pictures will post to this blog.
Amanda is really scared about the C section. It does not help that the OB doing it will probably be a complete stranger. On Friday in St. Louis she was told when we checked in that the doctor would be checking her internally. She had no idea if it was going to be a boy or a girl doctor (she prefers girls) and was very uncomfortable. She has told me several times that she is glad we are in St. Louis (something I really pushed for early on) but it feels pretty when the decision causes her discomfort.
We got to meet Tiffany Morris in person at the hospital. She is one of the first MOO's (Mothers Of Omphaloceles) that actually called me... to tell me everything would be ok and to offer support and counsel. She is an amazing person who has a beautiful little girl who has trhived despite having this condition. Tiffany lives in Arkansas and drives her baby all the way to St. Louis just to get care. She introduced us to Dr. Warner the Dr. we hope will be preforming surgery on Bayta. It just happened that we were all at Barnes on Friday so she came and sat with us. Amanda and I missed out because we had an appointment but she stayed and talked to my parents who came up to get a "lay of the land." She had a six hour drive with a two year old and she waited patiently for us to finish our appointment. So much of our situation has been negative... but Tiffany has really been one who puts our faith back in the kindness of people. Amanda and I both hope to help be Sherpa's for others who are making this journey.
We also had a bit of fun. We stopped at the Magic House in St. Louis. The boys both had a wonderful time and it was totally worth not getting home until midnight. Amanda and the boys slept in the car. The whole time I thought... "who in the world made me responsible for this lot?" It is an awesome responsibility being a father... I hope when I am done that the boys judge me worthy... my father and mother were spot on perfect at parenting... I hope I am half as good.
The other thing that happened to me again at Barnes Childrens hospital is that on the way outwe passed a boy who was on an oversized tricycle (clearly his mian means of motivation) followed by a gaggle of parents and family... I live in such a sheltered world that I have no idea what condition he had. even with the cycle his motions were somewhat jerky and his head had been shaved and he had what appeared to be occular implants coming out of his scull to his ears... What really registered to me is that despite all that he was going through there was a smile on his face like he had just won the lottery. No offense Pastor Bruce, but sometimes God drops me a sermon that hits me right between the eyes... that was one of those moments. Hug your kids and people who you care about and smile... because we are all truly blessed.
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Hey Darick! Tell Amanda that my C-Section was my first. It was actually nice having something scheduled and going through no pain (like when I had Baylee and labor pains). They do it so quick that you don't even know that they are doing anything. The kid (yes, I said KID) that did mine was younger than me and looked 15. The staff in Little Rock at UAMS were very nice and I actually laughed through my delivery. Just knowing that she was okay afterwards put my mind at ease.
ReplyDeleteKeep your head up and your faith strong. That is all we can do at this point! :)
See ya'll on the 19th! I can't wait to (hopefully) meet that sweet girl of yours!
Hugs - Tiff