Game Changer

Today, we saw Dr. Zink to check in on little Tate. He is just adorable as can be and has a nice strong heartbeat. Developmentally, he looks great. A little small for his gestational age, but still great. He weighed in at just 1 pound, 11 ounces this afternoon. Cute little thing. :)

Life as we know it, though? Well, its about to change. Sooner than I think anybody thought. I have mentioned his echogenic bowel a few times before. We discovered that the section of bowel we have been watching for some reason or another has stopped functioning properly. There is still noticeable activity in the tissue, so it's not dead completely, but it's not doing its job. It appears Tate has an obstruction, which basically means his stool is collecting at that one spot in his bowel instead of moving through. As more waste accumulates in that area, his bowel is dilating larger and larger.

What this means is that our little man will be joining us much more quickly than we thought he would. We are 26 weeks along today, and they will see us again in two weeks to re-check his progress. By then, I will be in the third trimester and he will have had a little more time to develop. Although it's very doubtful at this point, there is a possibility he will be here in as little as two weeks from now. My mommy gut is telling me sometime between 4-6 weeks. (Holy crap!)  There is no official threshold for the size of the bowel obstruction, but right now, he is at 12 or 13 mm. The risk is that it will grow so large that his bowel could rupture, which would cause him to become septic and he most likely would not survive. So, Dr. Zink said based on all the other factors weighing in, if it gets to about 20 mm, we will have to induce, regardless of how far along we are.

Being as optimistic as I could, I started asking Dr. Zink questions about our delivery options as previously discussed, for when we get to 38 weeks. She just smiled and gently said, "I don't think that is something we even need to worry about." That's when I kinda got the picture that we would not be having a full term baby.

So, here I am. Not quite freaking out, but definitely a ball of nerves, because I know the risks for Tate increase because of his prematurity. And because I still feel utterly unprepared to have a preemie omphalocele baby in the NICU. (Just how, exactly, does one prepare for that, again?!) But still, I know the he is going to be ok, and God is good and has it handled. I may not be able to do anything about the situation, but I can go in as peaceful and full of trust as possible.

So, I'm asking you to pray. Pray for Tate, that his lungs develop rapidly and that he stays strong and grows healthy. Pray that our induction and delivery will go smoothly and will not end up in c-section. Pray that we will be prepared as possible as a family, and we will have wisdom and discernment as parents while we make medical decisions for our tiny son during the first few weeks when we will be physically and emotionally taxed the most. And please pass the word on and all your friends and family to pray, as well.

Thank you for all of the love and support we have received. I will keep everyone posted as we learn more over the coming weeks!