Colorado Children's Hospital - Day Five

We went in for an ultrasound this morning, I was so nervous. At this point we really didn't know what was going to happen - no fluid around baby again could mean my water had actually broken, and that we would wait for labor or even need to induce depending on the circumstances. 

Baby looked great. His heart beat was a strong 140. The night before it had been in the 190s, which they were worried about. I believe his high heart rate was due to him feeling my stress of believing we had lost him at the time. Baby's bladder was still decompressed, but did have a little urine in it - which is what they expected to see. The best part was that he was swimming in more fluid than he ever has - still extremely low levels, but enough that we could actually find a few pockets. So, for now everything is ok - baby has the fluid he needs, and it is getting out into the uterus most likely through the incision holes. 

The surgeon came in to talk with us. He said typically the incision in the belly will heal first, while the bladder takes a while longer because it is continuously contracting. Once the bladder incision heals and becomes large again they will assess attempting surgery again. 

He also told us that they are going to change the technique of placing the stent. Instead of using a 1.2 cm stent - they will use one that is only 6 mm so that they can pass it through the same instrument they use to both make the incision and that the camera is in, rather than having to take it out. I assumed this is how they did it before but I guess they had to actually use a different device to place the stent. So, even if the bladder does decompress using the 6 mm stent, they will be able to fill it back up and place the stent in one shot, eliminating a step (the one that made surgery unsuccessful last time) altogether. 

I actually feel really good about the 6mm stent - it seems big enough to do the job, and puts a hole half the size in our little man. It is a little frustrating that it is not how the surgery was initially attempted, but I have full faith and trust in our doctors and surgeons and know that they are doing everything that they can to make this successful. Because this is the first time it has been done, it is only understandable that there have been little hiccups. 

It was so good to leave the hospital with good news today - especially since we won't be back again until Monday morning. If everything goes well and according to plan (which seems like a real funny joke now) we will reattempting surgery next Thursday or Friday.

We are so grateful for the miracles, great and small, that we have been experiencing through this journey. We feel your prayers and thank you for them, it is the faith of those around us that are helping us keep ours strong. We know that regardless of when or how long baby comes into our life, that he has already been a great blessing to us.