From Micro-Preemie to Miracle: Term...

Dear Family and Friends,

We made it to term!!! Woohoo! No, no, I’m not delivering today or tomorrow (as far as I know) but at 36 weeks pregnant, our baby boy is now considered safe to deliver at any time. This means that we can now have him at MY hospital. It’s a huge milestone for many obvious reasons. But one not-so-obvious reason is that we have effectively avoided a huge insurance nightmare that would have come from delivering at a competing, out-of-network facility, if he had come anytime before today. After navigating the insurance payment waters with Everett’s bills for the better part of three years, I can’t express to you what a relief it is to know that we will (hopefully) just have the normal copays this time around. Whew!!! And delivering at my own hospital isn’t without perks. I’ve been able to request a specific room, a specific nurse, and they are even allowing me to bring in a birth photographer to capture baby boy’s very first moments of life. We are so excited!

I can honestly say that I had my doubts that we’d make it this far. After my doctors appointment three weeks ago, I was pretty convinced that baby boy was going to come early. My doctor was also pretty convinced too although he didn’t tell me that until last week. So all of us are pleasantly surprised that I’m still pregnant. While we still don’t know what exactly happened to make my cervix change, the week I spent on the couch, followed by two weeks of very minimal activity did the trick. My cervix hasn’t shortened any more and the baby is less engaged than he was three weeks ago. All good things! Of course, none of that really matters now. Any cervical change from this point forward would just be considered normal and a sign of impending labor.

We are still scheduled for the c-section on February 12th at 7am. Zac and I have elected to have a repeat c-section after weighing the risks of trying a natural birth vs another c-section. Our doctor was supportive either way. Both methods of delivery carry their own set of risks, but trying for a natural birth after a previous c-section does carry a 1% increased chance of uterine rupture. While that may not seem like a lot, after having two pregnancies that have fallen into the 1% chance category, those odds seemed a little too large for our personal comfort. I was initially a little disappointed to not be able to truly labor, but a healthy baby is all that really matters in the end.

Yesterday I had a second round of maternity pictures taken with my now term belly. Some of them are very intimate, so we’ve chosen not to show most of them around. But I will say that looking at them has given me a whole new appreciation of the female body and what it is capable of. I realized that I haven’t trusted my body since Everett was born. I think deep down I felt as if it failed us, that it was weak, that it was abnormal, and maybe I’ve even been angry at it. But seeing those photos, seeing what my body has done these past nine months, gave me back some of the confidence that has been missing for a long time. It was a healing experience and one that I would highly recommend to any pregnant woman.

The nursery isn’t quite finished. The essentials are all there; it’s really just down to finishing touches. I’ve been dragging my feet a bit because things still don’t feel “safe.” I don’t know when that will change (probably not until I have a healthy baby boy in my arms), so I’m not getting caught up in the stress. It’ll get done...or it won’t. This entire pregnancy has been an exercise in relinquishing control and maybe now I’ve swung too far the other direction :-) Either way, I’m just not worried about it.

Thank you to all of you who have been praying for us and thinking good thoughts for our family. We are continually humbled by the support we receive from our loving friends and family. We really feel as if we’ve been blessed with a second miracle in this pregnancy making it to term. God is so good and we are thankful for His blessings! We are thankful for all of you too. It’s amazing to think that my next update might very well be a birth announcement. WOW!!!

With Excitement,

The Bollinger Family