A lesson in Placental Anatomy...

I have a certain circle of friends and we used to spend two weekends a summer at the Apple River Hideaway campground in Somerset, WI (God's favorite state). We tubed, played jarts & football, grilled food, and visited, but we were also listed on the Anheuser-Busch calendar of revenue generating events behind only Ozzfest, the Midwest Regional Softball Championships, and Sturgis. And, in general, when we spent time together staying up until 3 or 4 am was not uncommon and there were often legal and morally questionable acts occurring that... well, you get the picture. For the real adults out there, which does not include me, I'm somewhat kidding. Hopefully, you understand I'm establishing we were simply enjoying our youthful freedom.

Jen and I spent time with this group of friends a few weekends ago and it became clear in immediate and abundant fashion that things are vastly different. There were something between 10-15 children in the house and three (!!) pregnant women. I may be exaggerating about the children, I don't know. One could not possibly keep track of them all. I'm not exaggerating about the women. ALL of these women are due next May (once again - !!), so the evening's subject matter really had one area to go. That is until a few of the guys - I was one of them - escaped to the garage to talk about sport cars, the next sports car we planned to own, the nuances of owning a convertible sports car vs. a coupe sports car, and of course hunting, football, four wheelers and other various man-centric topics. However, there was no hiding from the fact that on the other side of the door leading into the house awaited the reality that we had all grown and taken on massive amounts of responsibility. This responsibility, had you seen us carousing at the Hideaway campground, would have seemed unlikely if not impossible but most of the men in the makeshift man-cave seemed accepting, even pleased, with their fate.

Which weakly leads us to this week's update: Jen received a call from Dr. Mohling the Thursday after the "mango incident". He left a message: "I don't want you to worry, but I've reviewed your ultrasounds from Sunday night and I need to speak with you as soon as possible". - Dramatic pause here - Let's review that message: we have an "I don't want to worry you", immediately followed by an "I've reviewed your ultrasounds and need to speak with you ASAP". Dr Mohling gets an F-minus in bedside manner for that day. Well, after receiving the most fear-inducing phone message since the dawn of modern communications, and playing a bit of phone tag with Dr. Smooth-tongue, Jen finally spoke with him to learn that she has a condition called Placenta Previa. This means that Jen's placenta is covering her cervical opening. This condition usually corrects itself but if it doesn't, the best case scenario is a C-section delivery. It's also less likely to correct itself if it's "complete previa", meaning the placenta completely covers the cervical opening. I'll give you one guess how much of Jen's cervical opening is covered...

The picture below shows exactly what I'm talking about( and click here to see a great site containing info. about Previa and all things baby related). But, a synopsis: only 10% of the women who have the condition mid-term deliver with the condition. The condition can correct itself even if it is discovered in the third trimester, so we get a check in the plus column there.

I've mentioned to several people that I sincerely thought pregnancy would be 9 months of waiting around before shorty #2 makes a good night's sleep exponentially less attainable. Wrong. In all seriousness, it's a very stressful, very long wait. I spaz whenever Jen hiccups. I know my personality leans toward spastic, but there are some real concerns that in my mind justify it. So, that's my frame of mind until May 5th, or until the Doc says that it is a statistical certainty this baby will be born healthy and happy and from the look of the brain cavity will most likely hold some important position in world leadership, a fortune 500 company, or with the Green Bay Packers. Jen's frame of mind is completely dependent on the day. Her health is volatile, to say the least, and she still suffers from occasional headaches and morning sickness, although it's not nearly as severe as the first trimester. Ryan has been adorable. He has added the baby to his exclusive and hot-ticket, post-prayer blessings list. He knows to be careful around mommy's belly and he knows the doctor is going to take his little sister/brother out of mommy's belly. Every time I ask him if he's excited about having a little baby sister (it's easiest to stick with one sex), he says "oh yeah. Mmmmm doctor, mmmmmmmm take out mommy's belly?".

I will post new belly pics & ultrasounds after this Friday's check-up. In the meantime, check out what happens when Curt shoots a high-powered rifle (it's hard to see, but that's blood running down from my left eyebrow). Don't worry though, I fared much better than the deer.


And say a prayer for Jen and Jr. if you have the time, we all appreciate it.