Last week, I took my 1 hour glucose test that you usually get at 28 weeks (I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow) and I got a call from the dr.'s office on Friday saying that my numbers were pretty high...So, tomorrow morning I have to take the 3 hour glucose test...As if that weren't bad enough, I have to fast for 16 hours!! AH! So far, I've been fasting for 1 1/2 hours. Why is it when food is cut off from you, you go into a panic!! haha! It's kind of funny...no eating for 16 hours??!!! Especially for a pregnant woman! ha! Luckily I can drink water...gee, thanks. :-)
So, in the meantime I have been trying to distract myself. Currently I am watching Bridzillas. Have you ever watched that show?! It's like a train wreck! I can't believe that women actually act like this when they are getting married. Lord knows I was a perfect, peaceful, patient bride! ha! :-) I've also been registering for my baby shower online. I've forgotten all of the things it takes to take care of a baby! It gets me really excited though for our little man to get here!! It still feels surreal sometimes that we are having another baby!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Our pride and joy :-)
Daniel just finished his swimming lessons! He had them for two weeks. He started out in the 1st level, but I moved him up to the 2nd level on the 3rd day because I could tell he was ready to move on. I'm glad I did that. He was challenged and had a lot of fun. He puts his head all the way under the water to look for "treasure" and is doing so well! If you can't tell...I am one proud mama!! He is so cute during swimming lessons, always looking back at me and Mitch to make sure we are looking and gives the occasional thumbs up. Too cute!! I thought I'd post some pics of him during swimming lessons.
He's almost getting to the age when I try to take a picture in front of other kids he's like "oh mom! hurry up!"
He was so excited to go down the slide today!! He went 3 times!
First time down, he survived!
mid-slide!
Here he is with his certificate!
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
San Francisco Trip **CAUTION** LONG BLOG!! :-)
We left bright and early Sunday morning to get an early start. We wanted to be able to make it to San Fran and be able to find the hospital before it got dark. The drive wasn't bad at all. It took about 6 hours. I know that seems long, but after we got over the pass after Reno, everything started to get really pretty. The pine trees over the pass were so pretty. It's crazy how just 3 hours away (home) the landscape is totally different. We stopped at Chipotle in Roseville, CA for lunch....if any of you know Mitch and I really well, you know that Chipotle is our weekness...mmmm...fresh Mexican food! After that, we got back on the road and made it to our hotel outside of San Francisco. Our hotel was in Oakland :-/ I know what you're thinking: shootings, police, sirens, etc....well we definitely heard our share of sirens, but thankfully no shootings! ha! I was trying to save us money by staying out of the city, but I quickly learned an extra $50 is worth feeling safe! Our hotel was actually really nice, it was just in a creepy area.
We went and found the hospital on Sunday afternoon. It took us about an hour to go 25 miles...there was a toll for the bay bridge which we weren't prepared for. I thought I'd have enough quarters to make $5, but I didn't, so the toll booth operator told us to just give him all our change! haha!! He was probably thinking, "typical tourists". We found the hospital. We had to go through a couple "interesting" neighborhoods...at least our drive was somewhat entertaining! After we found the hospital we went downtown to pay another $10 for parking just to eat dinner. There were a bunch of surprise expenses like parking and toll fees on this trip. After dinner, I was completely tired. Being pregnant, I can't walk as far as I used to. Mitch kept saying sorry because he often would start walking ahead of me because I can't walk as fast either! It was a good excuse to hold hands so we could stay together :-) We mentioned to each other that it felt like forever since we have held hands so much! haha
The next morning we made sure to get up at 5:30 and eat and leave before 7:00 because of the traffice. I am so glad we left so early! Once we got to the toll on the bay bridge, we were at a SLOW crawl for about 30 minutes before we even got passed the toll operator. The drivers in San Fran are crazy!! It's like their blinkers don't work as well as their ability to be curteous! We made it to the hospital around 8:15 and had time to grab some Starbucks at the hospital before our first appt at 9:15. The hospital is in such a beautiful area. TONS of trees!! We loved the area.
Our first appt was an ultrasound that lasted about 1 1/2 hours. It started to get really uncomfortable. Laying there having someone push around something on my stomach for a while got me feeling kind of nauseous. Also, I had to crank my neck the whole time to see little man on the screen. Talk about uncomfortable!! We did get to see a great pic of his face. Definitely not as boney as before, his cheeks looked a little bit chubbier! So cute. He's an estimated 2.2lbs. Mitch and both thought that his lesion looked bigger than before, but the radiologist was telling us that she had it zoomed in so it probably looked bigger because of that. His lesion is a bit higher than we originally thought. Originally we thought it was around L4-L5, but now it's L3-L4 (L stands for lumbar). It's higher than we thought, so there is a greater chance for more nerve damage than we thought. His feet looked great. Club feet is very common in babies with SB. Even though club feet are totally fixable, it's just one more thing to worry about. So, we are praising God for that!
Once we were done with that appt we went and ate lunch. We weren't sure if we would have time for the rest of the day to eat, so we thought that we would take advantage of that spare time we had. The hospital has a food court type of place with Jamba Juice, a pizza place, mexican food, Subway, and Panda Express. it was nice because now we know that it won't just be "hospital food" once we are there for a while.
After eating lunch we went to see the pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Gupta. Believe it or not, we only waited about 5 minutes for him to come talk to us! He explained spina bifida more thoroughly with us and the complications and effects that we will face once our little man is here. He will be performing the "closure" surgery. He said that surgery is about 2 hours long. It really depends on the width and length of the lesion, he may have to call a plastic surgeon to come in and assist with a skin patch. If it is too wide they can't stretch his skin too far so they'll have to put some kind of patch in. What's difficult right now is everything is "wait and see"...Dr. Gupta couldn't tell us exactly how much nerve damage there will be. The higher up the lesion, the more damage. So, he could have strong hips, but his thighs and calves and shins may be really weak, along with his ankles and feet. Another complication is bowel and bladder. They NICU will be cathing him at first and we'll see how that goes. A lot of kids with SB grow up having to cath themselves. The thing to remember is that it is normal for them. They don't know any different. The reason for cathing is because they lack that muscle to release urine. It's not like they don't have control and are always wetting themselves, it's the fact that they lack the function of knowing when to empty their bladder. So, cathing every few hours prevents infections. The whole bowel thing, I'm not sure about yet. I think they can do that on their own, but they need help as far as getting that moving. (hopefully that's not too much information!). Dr. Gupta also talked to us about physical therapy and the possibility of him needing a shunt. About 3 weeks ago his fluid levels between his ventricles was 11-12, now they are 14mm. When we first heard this, we were disapointed, but Dr. Gupta made a good point, of course the levels are going to increase because he is growing and his head is growing, so they will naturally increase. Whether he will need a shunt is all wait and see after he is born. Dr. Gupta was pretty informative, although we wish we could have left with more definite answers, which he just can't give us right now.
After that appt. we went and met with a social worker. Her name is Stephanie. Boy, was she a hoot. She is a Jewish lady with a little bit of a New York accent. She wears round dark rimmed glasses and has a bob. She is just like a movie character! She was so incredibly nice and so comforting. She definitely has the personality for the job! She said that she is going to be our right-hand lady when we are there to deliver. She gave us a tour of the NICU. You should see the babies in there! They were SO tiny and fragile. So cute. It was so crazy to think that our son will be there. She showed us the O.R. room where I'll have the c-section. It was cold and sterile in there. Definitely not trying to win a decorating contest there! It was a little overwhelming to see that. I am nervous about having a c-section already and that room made it a tad worse. We saw the room where the baby will be checked out by a slew of nurses/dr.'s.
We also met with the neonatologist then as well. He is going to be one of the people checking little man out right after he is born. They will put some medicine on his opening and wrap it good so it can't get infected. The sac is only covered by what they called "wet tissue paper". Very fragile.
After meeting with them, we went and spoke with the perinatologist. She informed us about the delivery and what to expect. We set a date to come in on 10/3, get an amniocentisis and check for lung maturity. If he is mature enough, we will delivery that afternoon. If not, I will be put on steriods that day and then next morning and deliver 10/4. Then on 10/5, little man will have his back closure surgery. From there we just fly by the seat of our pants!
All in all, the appts went well. I guess we were a little disapointed at the end of the day, because of course we want every question answered with details, but with SB you just can't get that while your pregnant. They say being pregnant is the worst part and let me tell you...it is! Now, just thinking, we have to wait 10 weeks still! I know it will fly by, but it just seems like SO FAR away!
God gave a us a peace while we were there though. We know that we are going to be in good hands there and that little man will be taken really good care of as well. God is in control and His plans are far better than the plans that we can make. It's so comforting to rest in His comfort and knowing that He will carry us through this time.
We will continue to be monitered by ultrasound every 4 weeks in Reno by the perinatologist that discovered the SB. Also, regular OB visits to my local dr.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. One big concern now is going into labor early. If I go into labor here, they'll have to come get me by helicopter ($$$) and fly me to San Fran. If I labor too long here, I'll have to deliver here and they'll come get the baby and fly him to San Fran...while I stay here until discharge, talk about heartbreaking! So, we really need prayer that we could make it to San Fran before delivery. Also that God would continue to give us peace and that we wouldn't worry about things we don't have control over (everything!).
Thank you for praying for us. It gives us so much strength and encouragement to know that people are praying for us.
We'll continue to keep you updated as we progress!!
We went and found the hospital on Sunday afternoon. It took us about an hour to go 25 miles...there was a toll for the bay bridge which we weren't prepared for. I thought I'd have enough quarters to make $5, but I didn't, so the toll booth operator told us to just give him all our change! haha!! He was probably thinking, "typical tourists". We found the hospital. We had to go through a couple "interesting" neighborhoods...at least our drive was somewhat entertaining! After we found the hospital we went downtown to pay another $10 for parking just to eat dinner. There were a bunch of surprise expenses like parking and toll fees on this trip. After dinner, I was completely tired. Being pregnant, I can't walk as far as I used to. Mitch kept saying sorry because he often would start walking ahead of me because I can't walk as fast either! It was a good excuse to hold hands so we could stay together :-) We mentioned to each other that it felt like forever since we have held hands so much! haha
The next morning we made sure to get up at 5:30 and eat and leave before 7:00 because of the traffice. I am so glad we left so early! Once we got to the toll on the bay bridge, we were at a SLOW crawl for about 30 minutes before we even got passed the toll operator. The drivers in San Fran are crazy!! It's like their blinkers don't work as well as their ability to be curteous! We made it to the hospital around 8:15 and had time to grab some Starbucks at the hospital before our first appt at 9:15. The hospital is in such a beautiful area. TONS of trees!! We loved the area.
Our first appt was an ultrasound that lasted about 1 1/2 hours. It started to get really uncomfortable. Laying there having someone push around something on my stomach for a while got me feeling kind of nauseous. Also, I had to crank my neck the whole time to see little man on the screen. Talk about uncomfortable!! We did get to see a great pic of his face. Definitely not as boney as before, his cheeks looked a little bit chubbier! So cute. He's an estimated 2.2lbs. Mitch and both thought that his lesion looked bigger than before, but the radiologist was telling us that she had it zoomed in so it probably looked bigger because of that. His lesion is a bit higher than we originally thought. Originally we thought it was around L4-L5, but now it's L3-L4 (L stands for lumbar). It's higher than we thought, so there is a greater chance for more nerve damage than we thought. His feet looked great. Club feet is very common in babies with SB. Even though club feet are totally fixable, it's just one more thing to worry about. So, we are praising God for that!
Once we were done with that appt we went and ate lunch. We weren't sure if we would have time for the rest of the day to eat, so we thought that we would take advantage of that spare time we had. The hospital has a food court type of place with Jamba Juice, a pizza place, mexican food, Subway, and Panda Express. it was nice because now we know that it won't just be "hospital food" once we are there for a while.
After eating lunch we went to see the pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Gupta. Believe it or not, we only waited about 5 minutes for him to come talk to us! He explained spina bifida more thoroughly with us and the complications and effects that we will face once our little man is here. He will be performing the "closure" surgery. He said that surgery is about 2 hours long. It really depends on the width and length of the lesion, he may have to call a plastic surgeon to come in and assist with a skin patch. If it is too wide they can't stretch his skin too far so they'll have to put some kind of patch in. What's difficult right now is everything is "wait and see"...Dr. Gupta couldn't tell us exactly how much nerve damage there will be. The higher up the lesion, the more damage. So, he could have strong hips, but his thighs and calves and shins may be really weak, along with his ankles and feet. Another complication is bowel and bladder. They NICU will be cathing him at first and we'll see how that goes. A lot of kids with SB grow up having to cath themselves. The thing to remember is that it is normal for them. They don't know any different. The reason for cathing is because they lack that muscle to release urine. It's not like they don't have control and are always wetting themselves, it's the fact that they lack the function of knowing when to empty their bladder. So, cathing every few hours prevents infections. The whole bowel thing, I'm not sure about yet. I think they can do that on their own, but they need help as far as getting that moving. (hopefully that's not too much information!). Dr. Gupta also talked to us about physical therapy and the possibility of him needing a shunt. About 3 weeks ago his fluid levels between his ventricles was 11-12, now they are 14mm. When we first heard this, we were disapointed, but Dr. Gupta made a good point, of course the levels are going to increase because he is growing and his head is growing, so they will naturally increase. Whether he will need a shunt is all wait and see after he is born. Dr. Gupta was pretty informative, although we wish we could have left with more definite answers, which he just can't give us right now.
After that appt. we went and met with a social worker. Her name is Stephanie. Boy, was she a hoot. She is a Jewish lady with a little bit of a New York accent. She wears round dark rimmed glasses and has a bob. She is just like a movie character! She was so incredibly nice and so comforting. She definitely has the personality for the job! She said that she is going to be our right-hand lady when we are there to deliver. She gave us a tour of the NICU. You should see the babies in there! They were SO tiny and fragile. So cute. It was so crazy to think that our son will be there. She showed us the O.R. room where I'll have the c-section. It was cold and sterile in there. Definitely not trying to win a decorating contest there! It was a little overwhelming to see that. I am nervous about having a c-section already and that room made it a tad worse. We saw the room where the baby will be checked out by a slew of nurses/dr.'s.
We also met with the neonatologist then as well. He is going to be one of the people checking little man out right after he is born. They will put some medicine on his opening and wrap it good so it can't get infected. The sac is only covered by what they called "wet tissue paper". Very fragile.
After meeting with them, we went and spoke with the perinatologist. She informed us about the delivery and what to expect. We set a date to come in on 10/3, get an amniocentisis and check for lung maturity. If he is mature enough, we will delivery that afternoon. If not, I will be put on steriods that day and then next morning and deliver 10/4. Then on 10/5, little man will have his back closure surgery. From there we just fly by the seat of our pants!
All in all, the appts went well. I guess we were a little disapointed at the end of the day, because of course we want every question answered with details, but with SB you just can't get that while your pregnant. They say being pregnant is the worst part and let me tell you...it is! Now, just thinking, we have to wait 10 weeks still! I know it will fly by, but it just seems like SO FAR away!
God gave a us a peace while we were there though. We know that we are going to be in good hands there and that little man will be taken really good care of as well. God is in control and His plans are far better than the plans that we can make. It's so comforting to rest in His comfort and knowing that He will carry us through this time.
We will continue to be monitered by ultrasound every 4 weeks in Reno by the perinatologist that discovered the SB. Also, regular OB visits to my local dr.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers. One big concern now is going into labor early. If I go into labor here, they'll have to come get me by helicopter ($$$) and fly me to San Fran. If I labor too long here, I'll have to deliver here and they'll come get the baby and fly him to San Fran...while I stay here until discharge, talk about heartbreaking! So, we really need prayer that we could make it to San Fran before delivery. Also that God would continue to give us peace and that we wouldn't worry about things we don't have control over (everything!).
Thank you for praying for us. It gives us so much strength and encouragement to know that people are praying for us.
We'll continue to keep you updated as we progress!!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Yes, I'm actually updating!
Believe it or not, I didn't forget about my blog! Truth is I kept wanting to update, but there was always so much going on that I felt I kept getting farther and farther behind and I would have so much to make up for! I finally realized that I needed to just do it now and start fresh. Plus, there is SO MUCH to talk about.
I guess the last time I updated was in January...really, January? Yikes! They should have some blogging rule that if you don't update often enough they shut you down! I signed into my account today and I wanted to change my background and stuff. In the midst of that, somehow, I think I deleted my followers?? I don't know if I did, but I can't find who's following me....not that there was a lot, but I didn't want anyone thinking that I had done that on purpose!
Wow, let's try to go back to January...We celebrated Daniel's birthday on the 17 of January with a bowling party. He'd been asking for a bowling birthday party for weeks, maybe months, so we were so thrilled to have that for him. He had a blast, although I remember him having an aweful cough/cold.
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I guess the last time I updated was in January...really, January? Yikes! They should have some blogging rule that if you don't update often enough they shut you down! I signed into my account today and I wanted to change my background and stuff. In the midst of that, somehow, I think I deleted my followers?? I don't know if I did, but I can't find who's following me....not that there was a lot, but I didn't want anyone thinking that I had done that on purpose!
Wow, let's try to go back to January...We celebrated Daniel's birthday on the 17 of January with a bowling party. He'd been asking for a bowling birthday party for weeks, maybe months, so we were so thrilled to have that for him. He had a blast, although I remember him having an aweful cough/cold.
He's about the cutest 4 year old bowler I've ever seen!
Here he is with his best buds Carson and Austin
Cake time! I don't mess around with trying to be creative with cakes...too much pressure, so I let the store do it for me :-) This year it was a Madagascar theme.
The day after Daniel's birthday, Mitch and I took a trip to Reno to visit a fertility specialist. We had been trying for 2.5 years to have our second child and thought that maybe it was time to go to the specialist. Well, one month after going to the fertility specialist we found out WE ARE PREGNANT!! It took a while for it all to sink in and accept that, yes, we were actually pregnant. I had forgotten what it felt like to be pregnant. It had been almost 5 years afterall! Well, the beginning of the pregnancy was totally different than when I was pregnant with Daniel. I was nauseaus all the time in the beginning. I mean, I didn't want to eat anything! Pancakes seemed to be my saving grace in the beginning. We kept the pregnancy quiet for the first trimester because we just wanted to be safe and make sure this baby "sticks"! Just today I was looking through my profile belly pictures and can't believe how much I have grown!
March 28, 2011 ---12 weeks
April 17, 2011 --- 15 weeks
April 29, 2011 --- 17.5 weeks
June 26, 2011 --- 25 weeks
Those are all of my belly pictures so far. As you can tell, I forget to take them and before you know it, a good 10 weeks goes by and I haven't taken any!
Another reason that I wanted to get back to my blogging and making sure I update is because we've had life changing things happening in the last couple weeks.
On June 29, Mitch and I went to Reno on what we thought was going to be a fun trip that included an appt. with a fetal imaging specialist to get "better measurements" on the baby's head...well, we were in for quite the shocker. We got to the dr. and when the woman took us to the room we were having our ultrasound said, "ok, we're going to see what's wrong today"...um, excuse me?! What's wrong?! From that moment on we knew that this wasn't going to be a fun appt. The specialist doing the ultrasound told us that women don't get referred to this clinic w/o there being some type of problem/concern. We were scared. We just couldn't believe that there could possibly be something wrong with our child that we've waited so long for. They proceeded to tell us the life-changing news. Our baby boy has Spina Bifida. At the time, we of course had heard of that term before, but had NO CLUE what it was. It's one of those things that you don't research for fun. So, beyond being blindsided and overwhelmed, we were trying to think of any possible questions to ask. The dr. took us to her office and sat us down and asked us "Do you prefer San Francisco or Salt Lake"...and in my mind I was thinking "this must be really serious, we can't even get care in our home state". Not having a clue where to go, we just told the dr. that we didn't care, we just wanted the best care. So, here is the type of Spina Bifida that he has: myelomeningocele. Myelomeningocele is the most common type of spina bifida. It is a neural tube defect where the bones of the spine do not completely form, resulting in an incomplete spinal canal. This causes the spinal cord and meninges (the tissues covering the spinal cord) to stick out of the child's back. So, basically he has a "sack" coming out of the bottom of his back with spinal cord/fluid that isn't covered by skin. Also, this results in the circulation of the spinal fluid to be poor and often causes excess fluid on the brain. The normal amount in the area we are concerned about is 0-10mm, and he has (as of 6/27) is 11-12. So, he is right out of the normal range, but not in the normal range. This form of spina bifida has many side affects also that we are concerned about. His "lesion" or opening is around L4-L5, which is good from what we are told. The lower down the spine the better and less chance for brain damage and more physical damage than there is now. The dr. told us that his prognosis is good. The nurse told me that he'll probably have to walk with braces or with a little walker when he first learns how to walk. But, no one can be sure until little man gets here.
So, here's the plan. We are being referred to University of California San Francisco Medical Center (UCSF). We are actually going there this coming Sunday (July 17) for our appt on Monday (July 18). We will meet with the prenatal neurosurgeon who will answer a lot of our unanswered questions. We will also meet with the neotagolist. We will be touring the NICU and meeting the staff there to get more comfortable. So far we know that I will be delivering by c-section 2-3 weeks early than my original due date (Oct. 10), so that puts us in San Fran the last 2 weeks of September. 24-48 hours after delivery, little man will have his closure surgery. From there, he will be monitered for hydrocephalus (excess fluid on the brain). If that happens he will need to get a shunt put in to relieve that. The dr. in Reno said to plan on being in San Fran for up to a month after delivery, all depending on how he does and how his recovery is going.
So, now we are in a stand still. Trying to be patient. Waiting on the Lord. Trusting in His promises and trying to be faithful to Him. Like Daniel told me the other day "Pappy told me that Jesus is better than doctors", trusting in God to get us through this time. God has so many lessons to teach us through this. So far I have learned that no matter what happens in my life, I have to be thankful, in every circumstance, praising God for His blessings and His love for us. This baby is such a blessing to us and I feel like we know him already. Trust me, my optimism fades from time to time. The first week after finding out, I couldn't sleep very well and would just wake up early, emotional, and feeling hopeless. The more time that goes by, the more I seek God, I feel more at peace and more hopeful each day. It's just such a shocker to hear news like that! There are several scriptures that I have been leaning on and meditating on for comfort and strength: Proverbs 3:5,6 ; James 1:2-6 ; Psalm 18, 30-32; Matthew 6:25-35
There are so many things to worry about right now, the health of the baby, my health, finances, Daniel, etc. etc. But, I know that the Lord is in control and that His ways are perfect. Why worry? (easier said than done!). Please keep us in your prayers during the next couple months and then after delivery for the baby. We need all the prayers we can get! I'll be sure to update the blog as I know I wouldn't want to be left hanging either!
I thought before I sign off, I'd post some pics of the last few months highlights....enjoy!
My Nana, Mom and Me - 3 generations
Daniel on Easter, can you say handsome?!
He gives the best looks. He's proud of his Easter egg.
AWANA awards ceremony - Daniel's first year of Cubbies completed! God is good!
Daniel's preschool graduation - with his teachers
This is what happens when you let Daniel pick out his jammies!
That's what's been going on in our life in the past few months. Like I said, I will be updating this a lot more frequently, hopefully weekly. Hopefully you were able to read all of this, I just realized how long this got!!
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