41 weeks +5 days......The journey continues.....
~A foggy day at Fort Pickens...~
Well hmmph...Autumn has certainly decided to make her appearance when she is ready. While we have been anxious, both Chris and I knew from our Bradley Method classes that 42 weeks is technically considered overdue, not 40, and that 41 weeks + 1 day is the average gestation period of a baby. She's already striving for above average, I must say I like her style. In order to save my sanity, I have stayed off the radar a bit while Chris and I just tried to resume life as normal this past week or so. I realized that we needed to give some type of update so no one thought we were somehow hiding Autumn from the world, which we still technically are, but she's safe and sound inside my belly and has decided to extend her stay in what is lovingly refereed to as 'Hotel Uterus'.
The best news that we received this week at the Non-Stress Test (NST) on Tuesday was that there is no medical reason for an induction therefore it is not at all necessary at this point. The NST measures the babies heartbeat in response to contractions and her own activity and required me to just be hooked up to an external fetal hearttrate monitor for about 30 minutes while she kicked away. I felt as if a huge weight was lifted off of me. Her kick count is still doing awesome and her heartrate in response to the few contractions I had during the test was still beating like a champ. Friday we had another NST performed as well as an ultrasound and same results. Her heartrate is great, amniotic fluid levels are all completely normal, placenta is still feeding her like it's supposed to and my blood pressure is still where it should be this late in the pregnancy.
I have had this funny feeling that my due date has even been slightly off and, in fact, even with technology it is still possible that the date can be off by at least a week a lot of resources say, and so the Doctor confirmed that performed the ultrasound. He mentioned that because my first ultrasound wasn't until after approximately 12 weeks, that the measurements might not be as accurate. He also mentioned that they should have booked my first ultrasound around 8 weeks in order to have better accuracy. I have been blessed that the past two Doctors I have seen on Eglin at my NST appts. have been on board with my due date 'theory' and that they say as long as she's not stressed in there, to keep on with my daily activities. We go in for another NST this coming Tuesday (Jan. 3nd), where I would 'technically' be 42 weeks pregnant, that is 'if' she doesn't decide to come before now and then. :-)
How am I feeling?
I have not felt like I was 40 weeks pregnant really until this week. She has definitely dropped more (although she is still fairly active) and I am still able to head out on my 3-4 mile treks. I am up constantly in the night now more than ever to use the bathroom, there is definitely a lot more pressure down there and I have begun to feel that the time is getting closer just by listening to my body, not solely relying on what 'week' I am in as strange as that may sound. Chris and I focused on really stepping back from everything and just being a couple this week which has truly helped us not only connect but enjoying these last few days together as just the two of us. We've gone to the movies, walked on the beach, and just sat and chatted about things other than Autumn arriving to help us keep our minds on things. We were far to focused on anticipating her last week and definitely switched to a more relaxed approach. This whole baby growing thing has been a big learning process for us already.
Our Miracle Dog
And just when we think we can catch a break, Toga begins to have issues with her back bum leg. For those that don't know her story, I'll give a brief synopsis. We adopted her when we first moved here from my mom who fosters dogs for the Emerald Coast Golden Retriever Society. She had quite the personality and we couldn't resist making her a part of the family. Chris especially loved her spunk and her 'can-do' attitude. Her previous owner took hardly any care of her, let her wonder around the neighborhood for food, never gave her medication (which led to her getting heartworm disease-and then recovering from it- a total of three times) and eventually because he never had her fenced in, she was hit by a car and they had to take an inch of bone out which gave her minimal mobility on her back right leg. She has always dragged the leg slightly when walking and at times hardly uses it. In fact, she has always sprinted with 3 legs, ate on 3 legs and for the most part only used the other leg for balance.
Chris and I took her to the vet on Thursday where she was sedated and then x-rayed to determine what needed to be done. Dr. E was appalled by the x-ray results. He said that whomever did her hip surgery, where her entire ball joint was taken out, did a botch job. He showed us where there was bone on bone contact where there shouldn't be, intense friction between the bones, stress fractures, bone fragments and scar tissue buildup that he hadn't seen that bad before. He also noted that she had a BB pellet in that leg as well. I had heard from her story that the neighbor kids had taunted her but didn't realize they actually shot at her. I read that because dogs are pack animals, they learn to tolerate pain extremely well because if they don't, they fear they might get kicked out of the pack. Chris and I were amazed that she could hide the pain that she was obviously feeling, but Dr. E mentioned that we needed to make some type of decision to get her out of the pain that she could have been feeling for a very long time. He recommended an FHO surgery in which he would go in and clean up her hip area in hopes of removing all the bone fragments and scar tissue and give her increased, though not perfect mobility in that leg. The part that really got to us was that there was also the possibility that he couldn't perform the surgery properly and that we needed to be prepared that her leg would be amputated. We were optimistic though and knew that whatever the outcome of the surgery, she would be just fine.
When Chris dropped her off at the vet on Thursday, he ran into Dr. E in the parking lot as he was just coming into work. He mentioned he had done a lot of thinking about the surgery, examining the x-rays, and really felt that it was going to be just too complicated to really get into that hip and be able to dig out the bone fragments and scar tissue. He said that truly what was most likely going to happen was that they were going to need to amputate it. Again, we had prepared ourselves for it and knew that she was going to be just fine without it, but that didn't make it any easier for us when we first saw her post surgery.
It hit both Chris and I really hard when we saw her so drugged and confused. Chris picked her up around 2:30 Thursday afternoon after dropping her off around 7:30am. They had her in and out in no time which was remarkable actually. We underestimated our reaction to our decision making and instantly began doubting ourselves wondering if we made the right decision, the timing of the decision and how Toga would actually cope with 'officially' having only 3 legs.
That first day was tough for several reasons. Chris's parents came into town that afternoon around 4 pm and we both were not our happy selves after just picking up Toga. We were ecstatic that they were here and could join us in (hopefully!) celebrating the birth of Autumn and New Years, and yet we had just picked up our dog who had her leg amputated and was completely reliant on us for all of her needs. We couldn't have asked for a better support team through that first day though because everyone, including Chris's grandparents and parents, really came together to help her through those 24 hours of grogginess. They pampered her with love, treats and plenty of scratching and massaging. They talked to her like they had known her forever and really helped keep her spirits up. We can't thank them enough for helping us be optimistic about her recovery and focusing on her getting better.
The first night was extremely rough because Chris and I were paranoid that she was going to injure her suture. She needed to be carried out to go to the bathroom each time and monitored for any biting on her suture. She needed to be hand fed and given water and it really broke our hearts to see her face because we could see the confusion that she had. Funny thing is, at 41+ weeks pregnant, I am used to sleeping in 30 minute increments as I am constantly up to use the bathroom. So it was no different that I was constantly awake making sure Toga was OK and comfortable. Our biggest concern was our floors which now that the carpet was gone are extremely slippery. We put a yoga mat out in front of her dog bed for traction just in case she tried to move. We weren't anticipating anything within the first day. And then she fooled us, proving that we didn't need to be so sympathetic towards her. At 4:30 am, she stood up on 3 legs completely on her own. I thought I was seeing things because it was still dark but then I gently tapped Chris and told him to glance over at her. She got up, drank some water and then patiently waited for us to come over to her. As early as it was and as sleepless of a night it was for us both, we were absolutely thrilled to see that progress already. We rewarded her and just gave her a ton of loving. From then on out, the rest is history and she is now, 3 days post surgery, functioning completely on her own from eating, drinking, going to the bathroom and even fetching. She truly is our miracle dog and has taught us that she can and will overcome anything that life throws at her. A life lesson that Chris and I will continue to be inspired by.
~We hate her haircut but it will grow back soon!~
~Lola's been such a sweet little sister through all of this and totally taunting Toga to get up and moving to play with the ball~
These last few days have been nothing short of chaotic and eventful, but we know life no differently. We have truthfully enjoyed every day we have gotten to spend with Chris's parents and grandparents (despite there being no little one yet) and will continue to live day-by-day in anticipation of her arrival, but also in taking these next few days to show them around the Emerald Coast and just be tourists for awhile. After all, we are still counting down our last few days as 'just the two of us' and want to continue to cherish those precious moments we have. Life is certainly about to change, the next question is when???????
~Chris and his mom and dad~
~After 3 years, finally reunited with one of my best friends from highschool, Vanessa. We may go months and months without talking, but it never fails we always pick up where we left off. There's a possibility she gets stationed here in a year which would be amazing! Until then, best of luck to her as she finishes at the Defense Language Institute in Monterrey, CA learning none other than to be an Arabic Linguist. She's going to rock at it.~
