Baby coming soon!! Update on our Complicated Pregnancy

April 3, 2019 2 Comments

Category: IVF Journey, Motherhood
Tags: 34 weeks, C-section, Pregnancy, Vasa Previa

Time is winding down and we are getting ready to welcome our baby boy this weekend. (Yes, as in only days from now!). Our last appointment today confirmed that it’s no longer safe for him to continue to grow inside of me.

Woah, lots of stuff right?

Let me take you back…

It’s been three months since we learned that I had vasa previa, a dangerous and potentially fatal blood vessel that hovers over my cervix. (You can read the post about this here). Since then we’ve had to devise a plan to tackle it including transferring care to the best MFM specialists at Northwestern Hospital, going in for frequent ultrasounds and adhering to the physical limitations advised by my doctors. We are now eagerly awaiting a C-section as we need to safely remove him as soon as we can. The blood vessel is now only 1cm away from my cervix so our time has officially run out!

Here is the vessel that’s dangerously close to my cervix. They measured it today and it’s only 1cm away.

We initially hoped that the vessel would move away from our baby’s head so he could grow closer to term. We even saw a glimmer of hope at our 28 week appointment when the vessel shifted 1cm but our optimism was just that – positive thinking. It wasn’t enough.

He will now be delivered at 34 weeks and now faces a different set of complications (breathing problems, risk of infection and brain bleeds) so we are doing what we can to prepare and minimize those risks. I underwent my first of two days of steroids today to help improve his lung development but we are still anticipating a 3-6 week stay for him in the NICU. Thankfully, we can prepare in some way for this and logically, I know there are so many perfectly healthy babies who have thrived when born early. We are hopeful he will share the same fate.

But, the truth is I’m scared – I’m scared for him to come out before he’s ready and fully developed but I’m more scared for him to stay in and play the odds with the risks of vasa previa. It feels like there’s no ideal scenario. With that said, I trust my doctors and agree with their rationale to get him out sooner rather than later, so I’m shifting to a “let’s do this!” attitude. I’m ready.

Our baby boy today

I’ve always said since my MS diagnosis that life has a funny sense of humor and often reminds you who’s boss… I like to make calculated decisions and to be in control yet I was diagnosed with an incurable and very unpredictable disease. Ironic, no? I was then tested with an infertility journey and now this pregnancy complication that again reminds me that you really can’t control these outcomes no matter how hard you try. Sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and hope for the best.

So if you’re a religious person, please pray for us this weekend. If you’re not, please send all the positive vibes and happy thoughts that he comes out safely. 💖 This has been one hell of a journey getting to this point but one thing is for sure – we can’t wait to meet our baby boy!