It has been a while since I've written in my blog. It is amazing how busy one can get! Between house remodeling, my pregnancy, working & keeping up with Gerritt, there is hardly any time to sit down. Gerritt has completely healed after his penis surgery. However, I've had 3 anxiety-provoking days when I cried my eyes out a few days after the surgery. Gerritt's penis was wrapped up in 2 layers of dressing: Duoderm (white, soft & flexible) on the inside & Tegaderm (clear plastic) on the outside. The instructions said to take the dressing off 5-7 days after surgery. When we tried to do it, it was very difficult. The duoderm has dissolved & formed a dry paste attaching itself firmly to Gerritt's surgical incisions. Every time we tried to remove the dressing, Gerritt cried in pain & tried to kick us. I was able to cut a big piece of it out from the shaft of the penis, however, was too afraid to touch the head, since it was so tender. As a result, most of the dressing on the head of the penis was left on & the penis below it swelled up. It looked like a big balloon, completely unrecognizable. I was really scared Gerritt may loose his penis. I called the doctor on call late in the evening & he said that all of the dressing had to come off. So we've put Gerritt in the tub & let him play with his toys to soak & loosen up the left-over dressing. Then I took it off despite him crying & protesting. It took another 2 days for the swelling to go down. It was so difficult to wait in agony & see whether the penis appearance would improve. Thankfully, it did. I was so relieved & happy! I took Gerritt to his surgical follow-up appointment on February 11th & the doctor was pleased with the results. The bad news is that she could not feel his right testicle even though she attempted to drop it down as part of the surgery. She advised we return for a recheck in 6 months. She thought maybe the testicle was high up because Gerritt was crying & anxious during the check-up. I've been checking Gerritt every time he has a bath & have not been able to feel the right testicle either even when his scrotum is fully relaxed. So maybe another surgery down the road unless the testicle drops on its own before the 6 months is up...
At the end of February I had another visit with my midwife Sally. My platelet count has dropped to 95K so she wanted me to consult with perinatologist again. Also my last OB ultrasound revealed that my cervix was shorter than normal (2 cm instead of 3 cm or above). That finding combined with my recent complaints of feeling pressure in the vagina (similar to the one I had when I was trying to push Gerritt out) worried her as well. So I had another intravaginal ultrasound & a consultation with perinatologist at the Eastside Maternal-Fetal Medicine on 2/27/09. There was nothing to do about my platelets since treatment is required only if they drop below 50K or even lower. The treatment of choice in that case is steroids (prednisone). Steroids help the baby's lungs to mature (in case she is born early) as well as to bring up the platelet count. My cervix was still 2 cm long. The perinatologist advised I cut back on my work to a minimum (no more than 2 days/week) since bedside nursing is so physically demanding. I told her that when I work I spend most of my time on my feet & sometimes I only get 30 minutes for lunch & no breaks. She also recommended I do not lift anything heavy (like patients or Gerritt). She did a fetal fibronectin (fFN) test, which came back negative. fFN is a protein produced during pregnancy, sort of a glue that helps the fetal sack to stay attached to the uterine lining. A presence of fFN in vaginal secretions signals that the "glue" is deteriorating increasing chances of preterm delivery. A negative test, on the other hand, is reassuring, meaning the pregnancy is likely to continue for at least another 2 weeks. Even though the fFN test was negative, the perinatologist wanted me to have a prescription for terbutaline - a tocolytic drug to stop the contractions. She left the choice up to me: I could either start taking it now 4 times daily or take it on as needed basis only when I have uterine contractions. Since I don't like taking drugs unless I really have to, I've decided to wait.
