urgent care

So, I started to blog yesterday afternoon during Kai's nap, but took a nap of my own and decided to finish after he went to bed. That is obviously not how our evening went down. Let me back up.

Yesterday morning I had my first appointment with my OB. She delivered Malakai and was excited to see me again. I had been thinking of switching to a nurse midwife for more natural birthing options, but I just love my OB so much that I don't think I could do it. < bunny trail. Anyway, she tried to hear the little bean's heartbeat but couldn't find it. At 8 weeks 5 days, it's still early. She heard Kai somewhat early, but I was 9 weeks 3 days, almost a week further. I wasn't worried and neither was she. However, I had some spotting on Monday (and received a lovely shot of rhogham thanks to my rh- bloodtype) so she offered to request an ultrasound if I wanted. Of course I wanted! Surprisingly they were able to schedule me for an appointment later that afternoon. 

We picked up Ben from work and the three of us headed in. As I lay down on the table I told the tech we had a CD-R for photos and I kid you not she said "well I want to make sure there's something in there first". Considering that my chart has my reason for being there as "threatened miscarriage" (for formality sake) that was the worst possible thing to say. 

Baby bean is doing just fine and Malakai did a great job. He was really curious about everything but didn't freak out at not being able to get down from daddy's arms or anything. 

When we got home I started to feel really sick. Nauseated, heartburn, terrible headache, and sort of dizzy. I gagged a couple times but never vomited (darn this stubborn stomach of mine). It was the worst my "morning" sickness has been. Ben decided to stay home from his class that he has on Wednesday nights for work since I was barely able to look after Malakai. My feeling terrible and Ben staying home ended up being such a huge blessing.

We had planned to put Kai down for bed and finally watch the movie Inception that Ben had grabbed from RedBox earlier. Kai sat on his potty chair before bath time and then when Ben put him in the bath he began to cry. He has done this before on a rare occasion when he isn't in the mood for a bath or to stop what he was doing. Ben rushed his bath, Kai cried the whole time. 

When we got him out he started screaming. We laid him down in his room and I started looking over his whole body asking him where his ouch was.  Then I noticed that he had some swelling in his groin. ( he has a history of issues with this area, none of them have been painful). As I looked at it and gently touched it, the swelling got worse and he got more upset. I started to cry and told Ben to call the pediatrician. I gently got him dressed and we were instructed to take him to urgent care and request an ultrasound. 

If I had been feeling better and Ben had gone to class I would have been without a car. I would have had to go through that terror by myself and then wait for Ben to get to us so we could take him in. Thank the LORD I was feeling so miserable. 

Malakai calmed down on the car ride, but was quiet and clingy as we checked in. Both are not normal traits for him. We sat in the waiting room and he started to perk up. We were probably behind 15 other people, plus if any emergencies came in they went straight to the front. We weren't considered an emergency. Ben took Kai to the changing table in the restroom to check things out and oddly everything was back to normal. So he called the doctor to see if we could come see her tomorrow instead of waiting all night at Urgent Care, which is what we did. 

This morning at 9am we went and saw Dr. B and explained what had happened. She said that last night, because of his undescended testicle that she thought maybe it had twisted in the canal or something. Upon hearing and seeing more details she said she knew exactly what was wrong, Malakai had a hernia. 

She explained to us the following, some of which I knew from his history and some of which was brand new to me (mostly the hernia stuff). 

When baby boys are forming in the womb their testicles are formed in the abdomen and normally travel down canals to their rightful place just before birth. Malakai had a stubborn one that waited to make it's way down. It had come down by the time he was a year, but would often go back up a bit, again, this has never been painful. We were to watch it and if it didn't stay down by his 2nd birthday we'd see a specialist and talk surgery.  With the canal being an opening, it left a space for his bowel/intestine to protrude, which is what we had seen happen last night and is very painful. So, the threat of surgery has now become a reality as they have to close that canal to keep it from happening again and doing other damage. 

Dr. B left the room to call the pediatric surgeon and I began to cry. On the car ride there, this was exactly what I had prayed against. I don't want my son to have surgery, especially at just 20 months of age. It is much much better than if he were still an infant, but it's still scary. I don't like the thought of him going under anesthesia, being cut open, and having to go through recovery. I'm not trying to be dramatic, and this surgery is relatively simple, but it's surgery and I'm scared. 

We were told what to do if the hernia were to flare up again, heaven forbid. Then, we were instructed to call the surgeon within the month to schedule an appointment and move forward from there. I am looking forward to fixing this problem for good, the hernia surgery will also make sure his testicle stays down which keeps the risk of partial sterility away. But I'm still scared for my baby. 

Even still, I want to focus on what I have to be thankful for...

531. seeing our teensy baby bean

532. the way God works things out for our good.

533. our brave + sweet little boy

534. the moments where I do feel well enough to get things done around the house or around town.

535. a husband who puts family first + takes the best care of us. 

536. the freedom to call out to God in times of trouble and the faith to trust him through the heartache.

537. gatorade + the gift of Trader Joe's hard candies to battle nausea from Jamie. 

538. supportive + loving family + friends. 

539. times when Kai plays quietly or independently so I can just observe and rest.

540. nap time.

What are you thankful for this week?

Also, will you pray with us for Malakai's surgery? We are praying for healing, peace, quick recover, and financial provision (our insurance is a very high deductible).