Update and Decisions

Last Friday was quite an entertaining day! We had our high-risk doctors visit first thing in the morning to recheck the fluid that was around the baby's heart. It was still there and the doctor was concerned about it so he called the Cardiologist to see what he wanted to do. While we were still there the High-risk doctor said that if we were 38 weeks along it would be a cut and dry decision to go and deliver. Before I even left the office the cardiologist office called to make an appointment to fit me in later in the afternoon. So I left the office under the impression that this was not good and we would possibly be having a baby sooner rather than later! I am so glad I waited to call people (mostly my parents) until after the cardiologist appointment because I would have had them coming down the next day. :) At the cardiologist they did the ultrasound of the baby's heart and they weren't finding any pockets of fluid. There is a very thin layer of fluid between the baby's heart and the outside lining (pericardial lining???) and the doctor explained it that when the baby's heart contracts and you take a still picture of it (which is what the high-risk doctor does) it looks like a pocket of fluid has built up, but as the heart expands it spreads it out and everything they were seeing at the Cardiologist was within normal limits of what could possibly be there. It didn't sound like there should be fluid there, but apparently there is a small amount that is considered to be normal. So he was greatly relieved and said we were good to go until I went into labor. So I went from thinking we were having a baby within a week to having 3 1/2 plus weeks left. It was a rather crazy day! I had Leigh meet me over there because I didn't want to have to decide when to have this baby by myself, but it turned out to be unnecessary, which was good. So we went to a BBQ restaurant for dinner since our anniversary was the next day. It was a nice relaxing end to our hectic day.

Our OB visit was Tuesday, and it went well. Leigh went with me because he hadn't met the dr. before and we went planning to ask him to make a decision regarding the delivery. The cardiologist was still saying natural was fine, but the high-risk doctor was recommending a cesarean. So our OB looked things over and he called the high-risk doctor and due to concerns about the baby's heart rate dropping during labor and delivery, and not getting enough oxygen to the brain, he also recommended a cesarean.

So, our C-section is scheduled for July 3rd (39 weeks) at 9:30 a.m. I don't really want a C-section, but I am comfortable with the decision and understand the concerns involved, etc. It's also kind of nice to have an end date. I've gone past my due date with all the others and that last week seems to last forever! :)

We went to the high-risk doctor this morning and everything looked the same. He said things were stable and we'd see him next week.

While we were at the high-risk doctor, he apologized for having us come in every week, and mentioned that I've probably been to the doctor more for this little girls pregnancy than I was with all the others combined. I agreed that I probably have. After thinking back over the past 17/18 weeks and all the ups and downs and puzzlings and questions and such, I feel very thankful for our baby and the problems that she has. I know it's still wait and see how she does once she's born, but it could be much, much worse. Our ups and downs have been minor compared to some of the life or death ups and downs that a lot of couples experience with their little ones along with constant monitoring, hospitalizations, bedrest, etc. I'm also very thankful for both the doctors that have been keeping a close eye on our baby. The high-risk doctor is a little over cautious I think, but I would much rather that, than him not call the cardiologist and something be really wrong.

God has been so good to us, and we feel very blessed.

Looking forward to meeting our little girl in TWELVE days!!!

Funny sayings

The kids often have quite entertaining conversations and such. A lot of times I listen from another room and giggle to myself because they're so funny. The other day, Leigh and Josiah had an entertaining conversation:
Leigh (in the kids bathroom): "Who put all this water on the floor?"
Josiah walks in: "Not me"
Leigh: "Did Luke put all this water on the floor?"
Josiah: "No."
Leigh: " Did Emily put all this water on the floor?"
Josiah: "No."
Leigh: "Did YOU put all this water on the floor?"
Josiah: "No, Timothy did it."
(Note: Timothy has to climb onto the counter to get to the sink and turn it on and then he gets stuck and doesn't think he can get down, so he hollers until someone rescues him. He hadn't been on the counter that night.)
Leigh: "Did you SEE Timothy put water on the floor?"
Josiah: "No."
Leigh: "Then how do know that he did it?"
Josiah: " Because the GROWN UPS wouldn't do that!"
Leigh: " Who are the grown ups?"
Josiah: "You and Mommy, and Luke and Emily and me. That's the grown-ups."
Leigh went on to explain who the grown-ups were and had Josiah help him clean up the water. It was hilarious. It's funny to me how Josiah thinks he's so much bigger than Timothy. Kids are funny!!

A FUN DAY!

We had a very fun day on Monday. First off I went to the high-risk doctor and that went fine. The appointment was for 8:00am so I asked Leigh if he minded staying with the kids and going into work late, and he was fine with that. The high-risk doctor is 5-10min from our house and it was a quick appointment, so I was home by 8:30, which was nice. I had the kids pick up the living room and family room and then they got their swimsuits on and took them to a splash pad park thing not far from the house. There was one other day I was going to take them, but we drove by and it was packed with kids, so I thought if we went in the morning there wouldn't be too many other people. There were a couple other kids there when we got there, but by the time we left the parking lot was full and that little place was hopping! They seemed to have a great time! Timothy played on the little playground area while the others played in the water, and it wasn't until the end and I made him get in that he finally got wet and enjoyed the water part too.

After the water park we came home, they got baths, ate lunch, and then we watched a movie together. After that it was nap time and then supper time. After supper I took Luke and Emily to the library's summer reading program kick off. THAT was quite entertaining! They held it on the front lawn and had a DJ playing loud annoying music, a photo booth, a goody bag and then they had the kids hula hooping, doing the limbo and the chicken dance!! It was hysterical. Luke and Emily had  a great time because they got to learn how to hula hoop! Anyways, when it was almost over we went inside to check out some more books. I kept waiting for them to do something more organized, but it was basically just playing! Emily was really cute getting her books. It was only the second time we had been to this library, but she knew right where the books were that she wanted to check out and had them ready to go in under five minutes. Luke was still picking out his first one! :) This library is the Plantation library and isn't far from our house, so I'm hoping that we'll get to it more often since it's not out of the way.
Over all the kids seemed to really enjoy themselves!

Monday Update

At our high-risk doctor visit on Monday, he just did a biophysical profile and checked the little bit of fluid that was around the baby's heart. It had stayed the same, it hadn't increased or anything, so that was good. It actually measured a teensy bit less. Her breathing movements, amniotic fluid, etc were all good, so she seems to be tolerating everything just fine!! It was a good visit and quick! We go back to him on Friday and if everything looks the same, it'll just be weekly visits like planned before the fluid thing. That's all!! :)

"Quick" update

We went to the high risk doctor on Wed, May 29th, and the baby's heart rate was in the 80's and so he wanted us to get into the cardiologist within 48 hrs, so we went to the cardiologist on Thursday and it was confirmed that our baby girl now has Complete Heart Block. We went back to both doctors a week after to see how she was handling the lower heart rate, which was this Thurs. and Friday. At the Cardiologist on Thursday, everything looked good, but on Friday at the high-risk doctor, there was a little bit of fluid around her heart ( which is Not good and can be a sign that she might be going into heart failure, in which case we would deliver early) so we go to see him again on Monday (June10) and then on Friday of this week.  The high-risk doctor also does a Biophysical Profile and she has gotten a perfect score on everything they look at with that - breathing movements, tone, amniotic fluid, and wiggling - so that's good. We will also be seeing the high-risk doctor every week from now on. The cardiologist on Thursday said he was okay with a natural delivery, the high-risk doctor, however, does not seem okay with a natural delivery and thinks we should do a cesarean due to the lower heart rate and the natural heart rate drops that occur in labor and concerns with the baby not getting enough oxygen to the brain during labor and delivery. So we'll see what they decide and hope they end up on the same page, whichever way it is! My OB seems okay to go whichever way the cardiologist and high-risk doctor recommend.
We went on a tour of the Labor and Delivery floors as well as the NICU and PICU at the hospital today, so we have a slight clue of where to go and where everything is located. L&D and the NICU are on the 2nd floor, the PICU is on the 4th floor ( and only certain elevators go there) and postpartum is on the 8th floor!
We're praying the fluid either stays the same or goes away and that she will continue to be stable until it's time for her to be born. Trusting in the fact that God's ways are best and He knows every step of the way.

Projects

So, Emily's been needing some new dresses and skirts to play in, she has a few she's about outgrown. I've been hesitating to put them away because they're her favorite, and then she has a couple that have just had it that are only allowed to be worn around the house. So she needed a few things to wear out and about and to church on Wed. I got ambitious and made her four dresses, two skirts and one pair of shorts. I figured if I'm going to bother cutting one out, I might as well cut out a few more!

 I added the pink ribbon, just to add a little something. I thought it turned out cute!





We went to Jo-Anns and she picked out the purple butterfly material and we bought the jean material. The turquoise I had found on sale for a super good price in the fall and the green was some that I think my mother gave me, as well as the blue for the skirt. The other skirt was a lightweight jean material from a little I had left from another project.

The green dress was a variation. The underarms ended up a little too big, so I had to take them up a little, but the sleeves were cute!

 

For the jean dress, I added some daisy buttons to it, just to brighten it up a little!

 

 

 

While I was at it and had ribbon, I made some hairbows to match some of her dresses and I made little ones for the baby!

 



 

 



The daisy one goes with the jean dress, and the pink one goes with the turquoise dress, (of course they'll go with other outfits, too) the patriotic one was just because I had cute star buttons and red and white ribbon!!

 

 

For the bows I followed the pattern at this blog  http://www.theribbonretreat.com/blog/ribbon-flower-bow.html  .  They were super easy, and I thought they turned out cute. 

Changes

Kids are funny! And it's amazing how fast they grow up and change. Some of Luke's changes started last summer, when he started going to the orthodontist. He had to get an expander to increase the width of the top of his mouth because his teeth were super crowded and they sat a little bit inside the bottom teeth. He didn't get the actual appliance until Nov/Dec and then we turned it twice a week with a little key until a couple weeks ago, when he got a reverse headgear! The reverse headgear is to help slow down the lower jaw growth ( because it grows faster than the top part). Part of me wondered if we were starting all of this too early, but I can see how he definitely needs it. We're in what they call the first phase of creating space and then we won't do anything for a year or two and then start the second phase which would consist of braces and straightening, etc. I can tell when he talks and spells things that his lower jaw juts out too far. It's all very interesting.

with his reverse headgear

 

 

 Before the expander

 

 

After the expander, you can see how there's a little more space between his teeth. He did lose one of his teeth (on his right) which makes it look like more space on that side.

 

 

The other change that he and Emily both had were that they both got glasses!! Luke was VERY excited about glasses, and it turned out Emily actually needed them more than he did!

 

I think they both look cute with them!!


On another note, today was our last day of school!!!!!!!!!!! We went to the library and got everyone library cards for the first time! (except for Timothy) We made pizza and dessert and watched a movie while we ate supper, AND Leigh got to come home early from work because it's a holiday weekend and they sent everyone home! So it turned out to be a very fun last day of school!!