This Week's Appointments

I will probably say this in every post until Keagan is born, but I still can't believe his due date is approaching so quickly! Because of his upcoming arrival, our weekly appointments have focused on my body's progress and Keagan's positioning in addition to his heart rate. That little guy's heart is still strong as ever! At our appointment on Monday, his heart rate was 130. Hearing his heart beat is one of the most amazing sounds in the world - one that I am so thankful for every time we hear it.

Now to back track a little....before the doctor comes in, I always ask who ever is with me what questions we have and tell them any I have so they can help me remember. When I asked Roy and Gramma on Monday, we didn't have ANY....rare. :) When the doctor came in though, Gramma thought of one and I was so glad she did. She asked at what point Keagan should be turning. The doctor's response was "about now...36, 37 weeks." (On Monday, I was two days short of 38 weeks.) Based on previous ultrasounds and on being able to feel Keagan myself, I was pretty certain he hadn't turned. Our doctor felt my belly and couldn't tell his exact positioning, but was able to tell us he wasn't head-down yet. We determined he was probably sideways as I get tons of quicks and pushes on the left side of my belly and ultrasounds have almost always shown his head beside my right hip. The conversation then turned to what would have to happen if that positioning was accurate and unchanged by the time his due date was here. While hearing our doctor talk about how they would try to flip Keagan themselves was quite interesting, it didn't sound nearly as comfortable or like it would be an easy process. He also told us that sometimes the babies just won't move at which point "the other option" (a c-section) would be considered but he said we weren't going to talk about that until it was necessary. Our doctor wanted me to come back in a week so we could have an ultrasound to determine Keagan's exact positioning so that he could then pass that information on to the doctors at the hospital I am delivering at. My body has not progressed at all, likely due to Keagan's sideways position, so the doctors at the hospital would probably have to induce me and try to flip him on the same day so that he wouldn't flip back and make all the efforts go to waste. Due to scheduling with the holiday and our doctor being out, it was going to be next Thursday before we could even get in for this ultrasound so we ended up going today.

Whenever we have an ultrasound, Papaw and Gramma do their best to come to see their grandbaby and today was not any different :) All four of us, well five if you count Keagan, crowded into a little exam room with the doctor. Roy and Papaw were at their crazy antics right up until the doctor walked in, and even though I shake my head and "sh" them, I wouldn't have it any other way because it helps to relax me and keep my mind occupied while we wait. (Love you guys!) Right away, our doctor said "Well, he's not sideways anymore!" What a blessing! Sometime between Monday afternoon and this morning, Keagan had flipped to head down on his own! I never felt him flip, but have noticed he has been kicking me more, probably because he has a little more room now! Our amazing doctor who is always willing to spend as much time with us as needed, took a few minutes to explain how he could determine Keagan was head down. Once he did that, I too could clearly see that Keagan was in the perfect position! Good job baby boy!!! While he hasn't dropped, he is all set to do so. This was a big relief. As we left, I thought that little stinker just wanted us to see him on ultrasound one more time, and ya know what...I am so glad he did! We love getting to see our little guy every chance we can.

Our plan for our appointment next week was to call the hospital and set up an induction. I ended up talking to one of the residents at the hospital today and we have a tentative date for induction - again, absolutely crazy to me that we are at that point! I am going to wait until the date is definite to share it because I don't want some people to miss the update if the date changes. I will share though that we have been told on several occasions that induction could be a long process because Keagan is our first and because he does not have the weight of his skull to help move things along. We are praying that I go into spontaneous labor, which we have been told is a rare situation for moms who are carrying a baby with anencephaly. If you could pray for this as well, we would greatly appreciate. God has been answering many of our little prayers and we know He is totally able to make this happen also.

I don't have any pictures from our ultrasound today, but I do have two special pictures that have been edited by amazing women that I would like to share.

This photo from my Mother's Day photo shoot was edited by Jenn Perkins. Jenn is part of an organization called "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep." https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/ This is a wonderful group of professional photographers who volunteer to provide services to families suffering the loss of a baby. When I learned of this group, it brought me so much joy and peace; to know that we will be able to have professional photographs from the day Keagan is born is an amazing feeling. We will forever cherish the pictures that are provided! I was put into contact with Jenn through our pastor's wife, Crissy. Jenn is hopefully going to be our photographer when Keagan is born. I say hopefully because she is scheduled to be out of town around Keagan's due date. We know that NILMDTS will provide another photographer if Jenn is unavailable, but we are really hoping timing works out because I have enjoyed getting to talk with Jenn and I know she has read about Keagan and she already knows about our family, our thoughts, feelings and of course the immense amount of love we have for our special baby boy :) Thank you to Jenn and all of the other photographers for your amazing gift of your time, talent and love!

This ultrasound picture was edited by Amber Ricker. Amber is one of my friends from college who I have always loved and adored, but her support during our time of need has blown me away. Amber is the one who manages the Facebook page "Prayers for Sweet Baby Keagan." She has a lot going on herself, but she is constantly putting us ahead of her own needs. It amazes me how quickly she posts my updates onto the Facebook page :) After an ultrasound in the beginning of April, I had asked Amber what she thought it looked like Keagan was signing in this picture. Her response was love and conquers. She stayed up that night until after midnight to create this beautiful image of our precious son. She incorporated love and conquers through the saying on the side - "Love Conquers All." How true this is. We know our family can get through anything because of the love that is shared. No matter how difficult the next few weeks may be, we are confident we will eventually be okay because of our love for eachother, our love for baby Keagan and our love for God. Thank you Amber for your creating this picture and for your constant support!