HOLY COW!!

Totally unbelieveable!  I was watching an episode of Mystery Diagnosis this evening that I had DVR'd earlier this week.  The very first case on there was about a little boy, a toddler, who had severe trouble breathing.  It turns out he had a CCAM!!  How weird is that?  I just couldn't believe it when they got to the part where they reveal the diagnosis.  I about choked on the Gatorade I was drinking.  Crazy, insane coincidence.  Of course, this little boy didn't have the benefit of having been diagnosed en utero.  He started having breathing issues when he was about 4 mos. old and the pediatrician took an x-ray which showed an air pocket but otherwise nothing.  She continued to diagnose him with respiratory infections every two weeks for the next 4 months or so.  Then they decided that he must have asthma, so the prescription was nebulizer treatments which helped for a while, but soon those stopped working too.  They finally had to take him to the ER one night and the doctor took more xrays and wound up sending those to a pediatric surgeon for another consult.  He scheduled a CT scan and discovered it was a CCAM.  Watching that ordeal and seeing those parents talk about how terrifying it was not knowing what was wrong with their son and why he couldn't breathe just makes me infinitely grateful that our son's CCAM was diagnosed en utero and will be closely monitored.  That poor couple must have been terrified.  So I find myself, tonight, giving thanks that we were lucky enough to have doctors who were cautious and wanted to have a second look when the bright spot first showed up on the 20 w ultrasound. That they then sent me to Maternal Fetal Medicine to see a perinatalogist to confirm the diagnosis.  That they then transferred my care to ensure that IF our son needs to go to the NICU after birth that we are right there next to one of the best NICUs in the state.  That the doctors I see at MFM are so vigilant in monitoring our son that my file there (mind you, I've only been going there since the beginning of September) is housed in a three-ring binder.  And I already know what I'm going to say when it comes to my turn on Thanksgiving to state what I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for today's medical advances that will prevent Chad and I from experiencing abject terror if our son's breathing were to be so critical because no one had caught this CCAM while our son was still growing in the womb.

Meanwhile, I had my triple-threat appointment on Tuesday (I know, I'm just now writing, sorry!): ultrasound, non-stress test, and OB check.  The sonographer was actually able to find the CCAM again (read: the CCAM was never gone, it was just not being found easily on the ultrasound) - this sonographer cranked some setting waaay up (he said that essentially this made it like an MRI or something like that) and he was able to find it.  It hasn't grown (still the same size it was when it was found), so that's good.  The non-stress test went well, and my blood pressure, which had read high the last few times, was finally back down where it should be.  My OB check also went well (at the time I was 35 w 1 d and I measured 35.5 w, so basically right on track), and fun of all fun, since it was my first OB check at MFM I had to have a fun pelvic.  Oh joy.  But everything is good to go (no effacement or dilation yet).  I've recently started to feel the random Braxton Hicks contractions and that's, well, weird.  Also, hooray for me, I've gained 15 lbs. throughout the pregnancy (right within my range of acceptable weight gain).  I'm super excited about this!

Finally, I toured the Birth Center at Memorial today - it's really nice!  Large labor and delivery rooms as well as large rooms in the Mother/Baby Unit.  It was really comforting to get a look at where we'll be spending a few days in just a few very short weeks (please God!).  There's free wi-fi in both the birth center and the mother/baby unit and cell phones are allowed (notification phone calls will be as follows: My parents and Chad's parents - if you'd like notification, you'll have to talk to them about who they contact after they get the call; or you can wait for the facebook status update, lol).  Also, since none of you know the name yet, we'll be posting as soon as we remember/get around to it.  Okay, this seems pretty disjointed to me now, so I'm going to end my entry here before I wind up talking about completely irrelevant topics.