It's Over

Before Surgery

The surgery went well.

I asked the dr beforehand about what happens if the filter caught clots while it was in there and he said they'd know because when they tried to close it, it wouldn't close and then they'd leave it in forever. Well, as you can tell, that didn't happen. I woke up just as they were finishing up and I know I was still a little out of it because I asked the same question a number of times (where there any clots and can I see the filter?) and I could have sworn they told me to leave the orange iodine on for 96 hours, but that's not true. So before they took me out of the OR, they showed me the filter and it was probably roughly about 3 inches long, metal wires like an umbrella, with no wire mesh. It had quite a few small clots stuck to the wires and I asked if I could keep it to which they said no, I'm not sure why though, do you think they recycle those things? Ewww...

After Surgery

Then the nurse asked me to sit up and my pillow fell down and this is what was underneath. Yuck.

So it appears that everything's fine. It hurts to move my neck, or swallow, yawn etc and the seatbelt in the van hits my neck in exactly the spot of the incision. I'm not supposed to lift anything over 20 lbs for the next week, not like I'd do that anyway with my back. By the way, my back is feeling MUCH better! I'm not taking any pain pills anymore, even at night, and I'm not taking too many tylenol during the day. Don't get me wrong, it still hurts, but nothing like before.

Surgery is Tomorrow

And I have to admit, I'm a little scared. From what the nurses and dr's are acting like, it seems that removing an ivc filter is a routine procedure. I mean, it's outpatient for heaven's sake! The part that gets me though is that they don't do any testing beforehand (like an ultrasound) to see if the filter has actually caught any clots. If it has, then the clots should come out with the filter, but I've been hearing of some exceptions and well, I seem to be the special exception these days. I'm going to talk to the dr about it tomorrow in pre-op and hopefully he'll reassure me. Last time, when they were going to put the filter in as I was laying in the pre-op room, I said to the nurses and the anesthesiologist, 'Please don't kill me.' I'm still not sure if I was joking or serious, probably both.

Today I made a long list of my username/passwords for all the cites Tony would need in case I died and which bills get paid out of what etc. I also got to go scouring the filing cabinet for my living will and medical power of attorney to make a copy to bring along to the surgery...I kind of feel like I'm preparing for my demise. Although, there's a whole lot more I should do if that's the case! Anyhow, the girls are out with my parents because the nurse said I shouldn't watch them for 24 hours after the surgery. I just got back from dropping them off and while I was on the porch saying goodbye to Embry she wouldn't say she loved me. Then once I got in the car she started yelling, 'bye mommy! I love you!' and waving...so cute! Then apparently Nola will only eat our vegetable baby foods if I'm the one feeding her, weird, but true. She gagged a ton the other day when Tony tried to feed her summer vegetables and my mom keeps telling me she doesn't like the green beans, but she eats both of them just fine for me!

Anyhow, wish me luck and I'll try to post afterward to say how it all went!

23W5D Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound this morning and it was great! The placenta has moved up more so it's pretty far from my cervix and they couldn't find the remaining clot, so either it broke up or was reabsorbed into my body. Looks like we're in the clear for now, woohoo!!! Nola looks great too. She's measuring right on target and her heartbeat was around 138bpm. The tech took a few 3D shots and I think she's going to look a lot like Embry. The tech said you can't see if a baby has dimples on 3D ultrasounds, so we'll be eagerly awaiting her arrival to see all her cute little features. Mmm, I love her so much. The tech also made sure to point out her 'hamburger bun, patty, and bun' which I thought was rather humorous. Nola was putting her foot in and out of her mouth most of the time, it was so cute to watch. I have an appt with my OB next week, but I think I'll be calling her sooner to see if she thinks we can stop the pelvic rest now that things look good. She said last time that it'd be over if the bleeding stopped and the clot dissapeared, so things are looking up in that department.

23 Weeks (1 day)

23 Weeks
Taken 7/22/10

I'm actually posting 'real' belly shots for the first time this pregnancy. I hadn't because, well, I've got stretch marks and then some more on top of the old ones and it just isn't pretty. Now I figure, who really cares? Nobody except me, I'm sure, so whatever.

I'm 23 weeks along and feeling Nola move a ton. She jumps around, punches, kicks, etc all the time. You can even see it from the outside now, it's great. Tony's felt her move a number of times and watched it from the outside too. It's so exciting to be constantly reminded that she's growing, developing, and still alive in there.

I stopped bleeding about a week ago. I was hesitant to say anything because I figured it would just start up again, but it hasn't. I'm thinking this is probably a good thing, but it also means the remaining clot isn't passing, but it might just be reabsorbed into my body. Our ultrasound is on Tuesday and I'm looking forward to seeing if the clot has grown, shrunk, stayed the same, or gone away. I'm guessing the placenta will just keep moving away from the cervix, so I hope I'm right about that.

Embry: sleeping in her big girl room is going great! She even got into bed all my herself the other night without me plopping her down in there. We need to move her bed so there's more wall space and then I'd like to move the bookshelf out of the nursery and into her room and paint it pink. I've been working on potty training her the past couple of days...it's umm interesting. She had started telling us when she'd poop and pee about a week ago, so I figured now was as good of a time as any to see if we could make some progress. She hasn't peed in the potty at all yet, only on the floor, but she did poop in the potty once. It was more of an accident than anything, but I still made a huge deal of it and gave her m&m's. She looked at me, made a weird face, said poopy and I quick threw her on the potty and out it came. She was actually a bit shocked I think. Then she warmed up once I started clapping and cheering, etc. She tells me when she's going or when she just went, but not beforehand...I guess that's the whole point of potty training.