the latest news... it's good! actually, it's GREAT!!

this is long. but i wanted to record it to look back upon some day. it's one of the most significant points in my pregnancy. so i never want to forget exactly how it all went.

well, let me start by saying that at 28 weeks, i had an ultrasound and, a couple days later, a follow-up visit with my ob-gyn to discuss the results. at that visit, he basically prepared me for the "fact" that i would most likely have to have a scheduled c-section before my due date, as my cervix was covered by the placenta by four centimeters. i was prepared for this news, because a couple days earlier, the ultrasound technician was showing me where my placenta and cervix were on the monitor during the procedure... one right on top of the other.

but she is not the final say {or the professional who gives the official diagnosis}. once she performs the sonogram, a separate ultrasound reader/analyzer or diagnosing doctor reads the images. then that doctor gives the results to my doctor. so at that point, three separate people were of the opinion that i would need a c-section in order to deliver safely.

but my doctor told me i could still get one last ultrasound at 32 weeks... just in case the placenta would yet migrate a safe distance away from the cervix. however, he said that with a VERY firm caveat... that is, he did NOT expect a change by this point in the pregnancy... at least not a significant enough of a change to still be able to have a safe, natural, vaginal birth {which i very much want to experience... it is very important to me}. i expressed that i was very disappointed with that outlook, but i sat and listened and gathered as much insight into the situation as calmly as i could. it helped to have a calm, thorough and informative doctor.

i, myself, had come to terms with this as "what is to be", as many had been praying since my 20-week mark that the previa would correct itself by the middle to end of my third trimester. and as i had asked for prayer not only {or not necessarily} that the previa would be "undone", but more that God would give me peace about it all no matter how it turned out {and keep me and the baby safe throughout... i.e. no bleeding or premature labor}, i felt okay with this report.

so i started reading about what to expect with a c-section... the procedure, the risks, the recovery, the things it affects... i just wanted to be informed and know what to expect.

but in doing so, i lost much of that sense of peace, and found myself needing to once again ask for prayer... again, more for my peace of mind, and less for the physical condition to change... but, still, for both. all i could see about c-sections was the negative aspects of it... even if others i know who had them reassured me that they are not as bad as i think. so again, many began to pray. hubby and i prayed almost daily before we went to bed {very precious moments that i will always remember and cherish}.

well, when i went in to see my ob-gyn again yesterday after thursday's 32-week ultrasound, i brought my mom with me. she had asked to come along, because although she has had five children, she never delivered any of them via c-section and has as little experience with them as i do. so she just had a few questions for him, especially knowing she would be the main person who would stay with me to help out during my recovery.

she had been praying fervently and had lots of people at her church praying. she even sent out an e-mail to the family the night before to ask them to pray, which was a blessing to me.

before the doc even got started, i explained to him why my mom was with me. then he said, "well, let's take a look at what your file says here." he looked down at my folder and began to read what the ultrasound doctor's official findings said. he said, "actually, it says here that it is no longer a previa, but rather a low-lying placenta."

he kept talking, but i don't think my mom and i even heard what he was saying for the next several seconds. we both just got the biggest grins on our faces and looked at each other and smiled broadly. and we both immediately knew what each other's smiles meant... "this was God at work... answering our prayer!"

it was almost as if the doctor had forgotten that i was there just less than four weeks earlier with a complete previa. when i came back down from cloud nine, i had to remind him... "are you sure? just four weeks ago, wasn't the placenta said to be covering the cervix completely?" he kind of looked back and forth between me and my chart like "oh, yeah... that."

he went on to express, "yeah, that does seem like quite a bit of a change in such a short amount of time. you just don't see that happen at this stage." again... mom and i looked at each other with an expression that said what words did not need to... "um, yes you do... when there is prayer involved." {*smile*}

still, i had to reiterate my concern... because i had been set up to pretty much accept and expect that my placenta would not move and that i would need a c-section. and so i questioned if either the 28-week or the 32-week sonogram pics might have been read wrong or inaccurately. at first, i felt guilty about this inquisitiveness. i felt like it meant that i had a lack of faith in God... a lack of faith that He could make this happen. but then i realized, no... it was more of a lack of faith in man... we all are flawed. we all make mistakes. "surely, one or the other of these results was a mistake," i thought.

but oh, how i wanted both ultrasound exams to be 100% accurate, because if they both were, and if what my doctor expressed multiple times is true {that you just don't see that much of a change in such a short amount of time this late in a pregnancy}, then God was surely the reason for the change, and he heard the prayers of many.

well, long story slightly shorter... he informed me twice that it looks REALLY good that i will not have to have a c-section, but just in case, i am to still treat my pregnancy as if i have the previa. in other words, err on the side of caution, eliminating certain activities that could cause me to bleed if the previa is in fact still there {in the case that this last ultrasound was not read accurately}. but he said he would look into whether or not one of the results might have been read wrong, as each of the ultrasound readings were done by two different doctors.

in fact, while i was there getting the baby's heart rate stress test, he put in a call to the most recent doctor that read the 32-week sonogram images to verify the results and explained my situation. she told him that she was pretty certain that her findings were accurate. but she said that, just to be safe, she would analyze the 28-week ultrasound, too. if she found that she agreed with the original doctor's findings on that ultrasound {that there had been a complete previa at that point}, she and my ob-gyn would discuss whether or not i should get one last ultrasound to solidify the findings of where i am REALLY at, as those two results were quite different.

needless to say, i was floating around all day and night with gratitude... keeping a bit of cautiousness alive, just in case i am to receive a call with an order to get another ultrasound, and in case the results are closer to what the 28-week findings were.

at this point, the placenta only has to be moved away from the cervix by two centimeters at the least in order for me to avoid having to deliver via c-section. and that would be considered marginal previa. but my last results say it's not even a previa at all now... just low-lying placenta!!!

i was encouraged by many at 20 weeks that this would most likely happen by week 28-30. so when it did not, i had no hope that it would past that point... other than hope in the hand of God doing what He saw best and hope in the prayers of many.

i still can not get over how almost dumfounded my doctor was. i don't mean that in a negative way... as if he was taken unaware by my situation. i just mean it in a really good way... like he was as pleasantly surprised as we were... and i am so moved if what he is saying is true {and as an ob-gyn who has been practicing for 20 years and has seen many, many pregnancies, i believe it is}... that you just don't see that much of a change at this stage. it moves me, because i know that, with God, nothing is impossible. it gives me chills!

i was tickled beyond measure... so tickled, i went out and treated myself to a craving afterwards... my favorite french fries from portillos!! =)

and then i "skipped" around all day with a smile in my heart.

thank you, to all who prayed over these many weeks about this... and for me. even on my most disheartened days, i felt peace that passes all understanding.