Update

Well, what a mess.  I had my surgery consult visit yesterday, and plans were made to have surgery on Tuesday.  I was feeling pretty good, all things considered.  The surgeon said he knew what he was doing, he talked to my OB and they decided I could have something stronger than Tylenol after surgery (which was a big concern for the surgeon).  So after meeting with the surgeon, I went to admin, got myself ready to be admitted Tuesday.  Then I headed over to med-surg to talk with the anesthesiologist...this is where thing got screwed up.  He said he didn't feel comfortable doing it because there was a risk, albeit small, of preterm labor.  The hospital at Fort Irwin is not equipped to handle a preterm baby, so if that happened, the baby would be in danger and would have to be life-flighted on a helicopter, without me, to Loma Linda, which is 2 hours away by car.  Obviously this is a major concern for everyone involved.  But things were still a go.  Later that day, as I was getting ready to leave for my Mom's for the weekend, the surgeon called and wanted to meet with me.  We discussed the issues about anesthesiology and together decided it would be in everyone's best interest to wait a few weeks.  He said according to recent literature, digital sensory nerves have a high success rate for surgery up to 6 weeks without any significant decrease in prognosis.  We faced a hard decision, but with the fear of regret if something should happen to the baby, we decided to postpone surgery.   He is referring me to Loma Linda University because they have an NICU there and a hand specialist.  The difficulty now is waiting for the approval, and then trying to get in to see the doctor before it is too late.  Among my many concerns, one of the greatest is that I won't be able to use my hand at all for 6 weeks after surgery.  This will overlap into the time when my baby is born, so I won't be able to pick her up, put her in a car seat, get her dressed or change her diapers, etc.  The minor inconveniences include I can't open a sippy cup, can't take a shower, can't push a stoller, take care of an active two year old....you get the idea.  Too bad this accident didn't happen in the future when I could afford to hire a full time personal assistant!  Any volunteers???  So at this point it's a wait and see, and we will of course keep everyone posted.   Whatever is decided, it most certainly will be a really rough time these next few months.  I appreciate all of your concern and prayers.