The latest!

For those of you following this blog, thank you!! It really means a lot to know that someone is actually reading these ;)

Today was a busy day and a good day. If you read my last entry you know that I was meeting a lot of different people at the hospital today. It was really great to get all of my questions answered and some surprising reassurance. Originally I had been told that I would absolutely be having the surgery in the main operating room which meant that my husband would not be able to be there for the birth of our little guy. They are now leaning towards having my surgery in the regular obstetrics operating room since the urologist is not necessarily needed. The main difference between the two rooms is simply the space and some different tools in the main OR. It's nice that they're strongly leaning towards the other OR simply because it means that Rob would be allowed to be in the room with me when baby comes. Either way the surgeon did confirm that my incredible midwife can be with me in either OR which is awesome because I'll have a friendly and familiar face with me. I knew God would work that out! :) I'll also get to have a little time with my baby before they do the hysterectomy which made me really happy as well.

They are planning to do an MRI to see if they can get a better picture of the placenta and bladder and whether or not the placenta has adhered to my bladder or not. The results of that will determine what kind of anesthetic I get. It sounds like they are hoping to keep me awake for the entire surgery (bleh lol) but the reasons they would give me a general is if the placenta has adhered to the bladder which would result in a significant to "catastrophic" amount of blood loss (not my words lol), or if the surgery is lasting too long and the spinal epidural will run out (no thanks!!).So please be praying with us that the placenta has not and will not adhere to my bladder - or any organ for that matter!

We also met with the neonatal doctor today and he told us that baby Larson would absolutely have to be in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) for at least 24 hours if not several days because he'll be under 35 weeks old. This is true but he'll be 34 weeks and 6 days. You literally can't get any closer to 35 weeks! I debated fighting to push the surgery to later but my midwife took the time to explain that our due dates are usually accurate within 5 days. Meaning that baby could actually only be 34 & 1 which is a big difference. They'll be monitoring his ability to regulate body temperature, breathe on his own, testing his blood sugar levels, etc. He'll be monitored a lot more closely than if he were just in my room. I was so grateful that she took the time to explain all that to me because it left me feeling much better about his need to be there instead of thinking the hospital was just holding their ground over a technicality. The good news is that the doctor assured us we could give our baby donated milk as long as we were the ones to feed it to baby. They literally won't touch it but they will let us use their fridge and bottles which is great. I'm hoping to be able to be wheeled down to the NICU as soon as possible to nurse him so please be praying that I'll be able to sit up in bed asap (that's the unofficial requirement of being put in a wheelchair after that surgery).

I asked if this type of surgery has a high success rate and while the surgeon said yes, she also warned me that it has a high risk of severe complications as well. They've all been noticeably impressed with my positive attitude and happy go lucky nature and I can only attribute that to my relationship with Jesus. I mean really, what else could it be? They've told me multiple ways that I might die during the surgery, they've told me that I'll feel like I got hit by a mack truck afterwards, they've told me that I won't be able to be with my baby for at least the first 24 hours up to several days or beyond...none of this is good news. Yet I really do feel genuine peace and joy that I get to point to the goodness of my daddy in Heaven yet again. Every major challenge I face is just another opportunity to tell the world how awesome my God is. Did He cause these circumstances? Nope. Is He letting me walk through them? Yes He is, but not on my own. He's carrying me through the storm and there is just no peace like the peace that comes when you ask Him to take your fear from you. If you don't know Him already I urge you to give Him a chance. He is absolutely worth knowing and He cares about you more than you could ever imagine. If you don't know how I'd be happy to help you out. :)

There's just over 4 weeks left until the big day so the count down is on! I'm looking forward to seeing my baby and watching God work out all the details. We all have to face crappy circumstances in life but it's up to us to decide how we're going to deal with those circumstances. I choose joy and I can only do that with the help of Jesus.

His & Yours,
Meggan :)

One night a man had a dream. He dreamed
he was walking along the beach with the LORD.

Across the sky flashed scenes from his life.
For each scene he noticed two sets of
footprints in the sand: one belonging
to him, and the other to the LORD.

When the last scene of his life flashed before him,
he looked back at the footprints in the sand.

He noticed that many times along the path of
his life there was only one set of footprints.

He also noticed that it happened at the very
lowest and saddest times in his life.

This really bothered him and he
questioned the LORD about it:

"LORD, you said that once I decided to follow
you, you'd walk with me all the way.
But I have noticed that during the most
troublesome times in my life,
there is only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why when
I needed you most you would leave me."

The LORD replied:

"My son, my precious child,
I love you and I would never leave you.
During your times of trial and suffering,
when you see only one set of footprints,
it was then that I carried you."