Appointment with the Specialist

This afternoon I had my doctor's appointment with the specialist in Mannheim, regarding the fibroid.  Before I give the update I need to brag on Caden.  He did wonderful!  We were away from the house for 4 hours and he did not have any accidents.  We also met Collin for lunch today and he stayed dry the whole time.  He is doing very well with potty training, I am so proud of him!  He fell asleep in the car on the way to Mannheim.  Collin held him while I had my appointment and was afraid he was going to pee on him.  I told him he wouldn't and he just needed to take him to the bathroom once he woke up. When Caden woke up, Collin took him to the potty and he didn't have an accident. Hurray! I know Collin was happy too, he told me earlier that he didn't have a change of clothes for himself! After my doctor's appointment we went to the Christmas market in Mannheim - pictures to come later.  We ate dinner and Caden rode several rides.  I am glad we're taking the chance and potty training - Caden only wears a diaper at night, no pull-ups when we go out, just underwear and pants.  He's also happier not wearing diapers and being a big boy and his Mama is overcoming her fears of potty training. 

Okay, back to the appointment.  Thankfully the fibroid is outside my womb. The doctor said it's about 3cm and he doesn't think it is causing the miscarriages but he also doesn't know for a fact that it is not.  He recommends I have it removed.  However, he also said that I don't have to have it removed if I don't want to.  He said I could try again to have another baby and there may not be any problems.  However, the fibroid most likely will continue to grow.  Collin asked if it will be more difficult to remove if we wait.  The doctor said no and that it is actually easier to remove them when they are bigger.  He said some women have a lot of fibroids and have babies just fine.

If I have the fibroid removed I would have to spend 2 nights in the hospital.  I spent 4 nights in the hospital after Caden was born and I am not a fan.  But it was different with Caden, I had no clue what to do and could not sit down.  So having a surgery that may not be necessary and spending 2 nights away from my family in Germany does not sound like something I want to do.  I have to go back in about two weeks and give more blood samples to my German doctor.  Monday I have an appointment with an OBGYN on base.  I was super lucky to get this appointment.  I'm going to have her check my blood for various things that American doctors check for such as my hormone levels and to see if my blood is clotting and preventing the baby from growing.  I have read quite a bit online that taking Baby Aspirin could help prevent a miscarriage.  So I'm going to talk to the doctor about that as well.

So the good news is I don't have to have it removed.  The bad news, the doctor was still uncertain if the fibroid is causing the miscarriages.  I asked him if he thought it would be okay for us to try a third time to get pregnant before having the surgery.  He said that would be fine and he didn't see any reason why I could not do that.  Finding someone to watch Caden for two days while Collin is at work is almost impossible.  So really it would be better to have the fibroid removed in the States.  Also, German hospitals are not that enjoyable to me.  Of course no hospital really is.  I'll have a follow-up visit with my main doctor in a few weeks after she takes more blood from me.  I have given more blood in Germany than I have in my entire life!  I'm just going to praise God that I don't have cancer and that it is not urgent that I have this surgery at the moment.  The doctor did say that eventually I will probably need to have it removed.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We would love to have another healthy baby.