Catie Cat

On Sept. 18th 2013, we welcomed our second daughter Catherine. I tried for a vbac (at 40weeks & 3 days) and because of my determination (my husband says stubbornness) it took 3 days of intense false labor to break me. I didn’t want to give up on the idea of a vbac, but by the third day after having my water broken 12 hours and not progressing more than a 5 for almost as long I let them know I wanted an epidural. I knew with all the research I had done prior to attempting a vbac that asking for an epidural could be a slippery slope to a second c-section. The epidural helped regulate the contractions but didn’t help me along any. Thanks to my wonderful husband’s advice i told them it was time for a c-section. Because I had worked out all throughout my pregnancy the recovery from this c-section was much easier. We left the hospital on the 20th. I was thrilled with having a shorter time in the hospital because my sister and her family were coming to visit. We left on a Friday. That morning before leaving the hospital our dear pediatrician had asked us to come get her check up on Monday. I thought for a second that it was strange but didn’t think about it long. On Monday morning my mom drove me, my sister, and Catherine to the doctor. On the way I realized I had brought two diaper bags but forgot my purse. My mom was sweet enough to pay our co pay so we wouldn’t be late. In that visit I got some of the worse non informative news. I know that sounds like a contradiction. Our beautiful Catherine looked wonderful except her head was slightly enlarged. The doctor said she needed a cat scan and wanted us to immediately take her to children’s medical. He wasn’t sure what was causing it and therefore didn’t want to alarm us with possibilities. We rushed there and were promptly admitted. We were told that she had pooling of fluid on one side of her brain. There was a small mention of something on the other side but no one would tell us about it. Everyone was scared of scaring us. After lots of tests, lots of worry, lots of tears, and lots of prayer 2 days had pasted in the hospital. We finally encountered a doctor who told us the honest truth. She had a brain tumor. It had to be removed. They gave us several options. Either have surgery ( then told us about 4 ways she could die during surgery), put in a shunt and see how she did, or we could take her home for her to go to sleep. The tumor was pushing up against her spinal cord which meant decide soon because we don’t know how long she has. We chose to give her a chance to fight. God’s will showed He wanted her around to show His power and mercy. She survived and didn’t have any physical or mental problems. It is now 3 1/2 months since that first surgery. She has been a very normal happy 4 month old baby. On schedule with all the normal development stages. Early on a couple like rolling over and cutting her first tooth. 1/28/14 We had her second followup MRI. We went in nervous but expecting another clear report. After waiting 2 hours for the oncologist we started to fear a different report. Our fears were confirmed. Another tumor was growing in the same spot. Thankfully we have more time to prepare since this one is smaller and it has room to grow where the old tumor was. We know God’s Will is perfect. His will is not our own. We of course want nothing more than for her to be completely healed! Taking this day by day and surrounding her with love and comfort. She is an amazing blessing put here by God for a reason. One of which is to teach me more about determination.