A (long) note about Annabel

Thank you so much to all our friends and family who had us in their prayers as we waited on sweet Annabel.  I was technically 2 weeks overdue - according to the doctors calculations (without an early ultrasound).  I didn't think I was that far overdue, but most of all I really wanted her to come on her own terms without an induction. 

As the doctor ordered, the induction was planned for Monday, September 20.  The entire week before, we were praying hard she would come before. The days went by and we kept getting closer to Monday. I was nervous about the induction, but every time I prayed about it, I just had a peace that I shouldn't worry.

Sunday, the day before the induction, I started to have contractions! Nothing too exciting that made me head to the hospital, but enough to get things started. By the time I got to the hospital on Monday (at 8 am) for our 7:30 am induction, I was 3-4 cm dilated and having semi regular contractions.  Even though I did get a bit of pitocin (the lowest amount they could give me), I had such a peace that it was her time to come and we weren't forcing anything to happen. 

After pushing only one and a half times around 2:35 pm, we got to meet our sweet little Annabel.  It all happened so fast, the nurse almost had to deliver her.  They grabbed the first doctor they could find in the hallway. By the time the doctor that was supposed to deliver her arrived, Annabel was already getting checked out by the nurses.  Annabel just happened to be delivered by the same doctor that delivered Dylann. Since he knew exactly how my first delivery wasn't the smoothest one for me, he was able help make this one a lot easier to recover from!! So - THANK YOU for all your prayers. God definitely took care of all of us - down to all the little details.  It couldn't have gone better!

As far as Annabel's little kidney goes - we still need some prayer!  The doctors did a test (VCUG) to determine if she has reflux.  She does.  Out of 5 degrees, she has a level 1 in her right kidney (the one with problems) and a level 3 in her left kidney. We were surprised to learn her left kidney had any issues, but apparently when there is a problem with one kidney, the other one is likely to have a worse degree of reflux for some unknown reason.

After the doctor preformed an ultrasound on her belly, they are almost certain she does have a duplicated or duplex system (a link for more info - if you are interested).  One of the 2 ureters on the right side is connected improperly to the bladder causing it to be enlarged. For the reflux, she is on a daily low dose of antibiotics to help reduce the risk of urinary tract infections. We go back to the pediatric urologist in one month for a check up.

The hardest thing - for now - will be if she gets sick.  If she has even a low grade fever for more than a day, she gets a catheter inserted to make sure she doesn't have a UTI... NO FUN! So I apologize in advance if we are a little overprotective about washing hands and passing her around - at least until she gets a little bigger.

The probable outcome will be surgery sometime between age 8 months to 1 year to re-affix the misplaced ureter to the correct spot.  Although Annabel's reflux probably won't warrant surgery (most kids will grow out of it), he said he can easily fix that if/when he does the surgery for the ureter. 

We are praying hard that as she grows and all her organs get larger, the doctor will find that there is no longer a need to fix the ureter and that she out grows the reflux on her own.

So, thanks again for all the love and prayers... It was definitely felt and appreciated much more than you know!