UPDATE

Okay, this is my first post on this blog and it’s hardly how I pictured it. But it could be a lot worse. Here’s the update as of 9:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 19, 2009.

Brooke is still waiting for a room at St. Peters Hospital in New Bruswick. She’s in a room in their “P.E.T.” section but I have no idea what that acronym stands for. All I know is, that is the section of the hospital where they keep pregnant women who have medial issues (sort of an emergency room for expectant moms). They tell me that there’s a room waiting for her, but a this rate, it will be next week before she’s in it.

Today we had an ultrasound and saw, once again, that all the babies are healthy and active. We got more beautiful pictures of Baby A and Baby C, but B was too excited to settle down for long enough to take a good pic. Fortunately, yesterday’s ultrasound gave us possibly our best baby pic, and that was a pic of Baby B.

The ultrasound confirmed how short Brooke’s cervix has gotten, despite two weeks of bedrest. It was measuring at 1.2- 1.3 cm, which is way too short (I’ve learned more than I ever wanted to know about cervixes, vaginas, etc). Baby A’s (the boy) head is right up against it, pushing on the cervix and not exactly helping things out too much.

Here’s my VERY LIMITED understanding of things. If Brooke’s cervix keeps shortening at the rate it currently is shortening, she will go into labor in two weeks. The babies would only be 22 weeks and there would be no chance any of them would survive. Brooke’s OB told us to “wait and see.” Maybe the shortening would subside, she said. But if it didn’t subside on its own, we would lose the babies. Needless to say, this is just not good enough.

So off to St. Peters Hospital we went, knowing that they’re one of the top hospitals in the area for high-risk pregnancies. There we met Dr. Houlihan, who is a really nice, really proactive OB/MFM doc who was all for trying to stop the shortening before it gets worse. Doing so means it’s time for a cerclage (this is how I’m told it’s spelled, but it just looks wrong to me. The word is pronounced CIRC—LODGE).

Dr. Houlihan drew out a very helpful picture to explain to me what putting in a cerclage means. Basically, this will push the amniotic sack back up the cervix and then stitch the cervix so that it doesn’t shorten any more. But this is surgery, so there is a risk. There is a 5% chance that the sack will rupture during surgery and we will lose the babies. We decided that the 5% chance was worth the risk, since the alternative to do nothing would most likely have bad results.

We don’t know exactly when the surgery will take place because they will basically have to squeeze us in between planned surgeries and emergencies. Hopefully, it will be early on Wednesday. Brooke will have to be in the hospital for a couple days afterward, and then on pretty strict bed rest for the duration of the pregnancy, especially for the next two weeks. But if it gives our babies a chance….

A lot of people have contacted us via text, email, facebook, etc. to ask about how we’re doing and what’s the latest. To all of you, thank you. Your concern and your thoughts, prayers, wishes, hugs, and good vibes have been truly appreciated. Please keep them coming. I will post again tomorrow night to update everyone on how the surgery goes and how we make out.

Thank you everyone!

PS: If you need to impress someone, use the work salpingooverectomy. While I’m sure I’m spelling it wrong, it is pronounced SAL-PING-O-UUVER-ECTOMY. It is the doctor term for the removal of an ovary. It’s an unpleasant act but a damn fun word to say!