Thursday, December 30, 2010

6 months old

I am so far behind on blogging it is crazy. Wyatt and work have been keeping me so busy I just not had time to sit down and write. Which is sad because I love writing. So here is a quick update on my little baby boo!

Wyatt is 6 months old ... almost 7 months old now. He is rolling every where and creeps around the floor. It is not exactly crawling because he is on his belly not his knees. But he gets to anything he wants to get to and a whole lot that he isn't suppose to be getting to. I am so happy to see him playing with toys. I would be a little more happy if he wasn't launching them across the room half the time. Wyatt loves his jumparoo. He can jump and play with the toys on the tray for hours.

While Wyatt is still mostly just on milk he has started solid foods. He isn't the biggest fan but slowly he is accepting more and more food. Wyatt LOVES the mashed potatoes at one of our favorite restaurants. We usually run out before he gets full. I am looking forward to giving him finger foods soon. I think he will do well. Everything else ends up in his mouth. Why not a little food every now and then. I continue to pump breast milk for Wyatt but I do not make much. A bought of the flu recently made a bad situation worse. So I only pump a few ounces a day. It is very frustrating that my body is weaning long before I am ready to. But I am happy that I have given Wyatt almost 7 months of breast milk. Even if it is largely supplemented now with formula. I will continue to pump until my body gives up completely or Wyatt turns one year old. Which ever comes first.

We have had some rotten illnesses lately. It sucks pretty bad when Wyatt is sick. He just lays there and whines non stop. Very exhausting and frustrating. I wish I could explain to him that sleeping will make him better. Moaning at the top of his lungs not so much. But of course he doesn't understand that.

So we are doing well. Wyatt is growing and developing well. His weight is on the low end but Bryan was the same way. I am sure Wyatt will catch up too. Until his next appointment at 9 months I will just have to fatten the baby bear up.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Update on Wyatt's metabolic disorder

Ethan called and talked to the geneticist this morning. We have been waiting for several weeks for the test results from the skin sample (Wyatt's foreskin) that they were using to do more extensive testing. The blood tests that they were doing were not giving them a clear answer. The man who made the test for the newborn screening said Wyatt does not have VLCAD. But they wanted to do more testing. The tests came back negative. Wyatt MIGHT be a carrier of VLCAD like Ethan and I are. But he does not seem to have the disorder. The doctors of course still won't give us an absolute. I personally don't think they want to admit they were wrong. Wyatt appears to be healthy and maybe the newborn screening test was to sensitive and needs to be adjusted. I would never want another family to go through what we have been through.

The good news is we have been given the ok to treat Wyatt like a normal baby. I no longer have to wake him up to eat ever 4 hours at night! They still don't want him to go longer then 8 hours with out feeding. I can't imagine him going that long during the day at this age. And 8 hours straight at night would be a blessing! I can't wait to let Wyatt sleep as long as he wants! I am sure I will be nervous tonight and maybe not sleep so great. I have no idea how long Wyatt will actually sleep. He is so used to getting up every 4 hours to eat he might wake up on his own out of habit. But I broke the eating every 2 hours habit. So hopefully he will eventually start sleeping longer now that I can let him sleep. I look forward to being more rested!

Another perk is we no longer have to test his glucose. We were not doing it often. Only if we were worried about him or if he accidentally went longer then 4 hours with out eating. His blood sugars have been great. So the doctor gave us the ok to stop completely. Of course if we are worried that Wyatt is showing signs of low glucose we can still test him. If for no other reason then to make us feel better. But we don't HAVE to anymore.

The geneticist told us we still should be careful if he gets sick. Illness can be a trigger that could cause him to have some kind of metabolic disorder flare up and get really sick. If Wyatt is not keeping anything down or has not been able to eat for more then 8 hours we are suppose to call his office. He would prefer we call him instead of our family med doctor because he obviously knows more about metabolic disorders. He will instruct us where to go and what to do to help Wyatt. But he wants the ER to be our absolute last resort for Wyatt. He admitted that the ER handled Wyatt's situation HORRIBLY and Pediatrics wasn't much better. The Dr. does not want us to end up in the same miserable situation. So if Wyatt is sick enough to contact a doctor he wants to be that doctor. He will be available to us at all times. I trust him when he says that because he was when Wyatt was in the hospital. He called every 2 hours from his home all night long. He fought for us to go home with Wyatt when the other doctors wanted to keep him jacked up on glucose water. It is nice to know that we have some one in our corner.

The geneticist said he is having a conference this afternoon. There will be a bunch of doctors from the Mayo Clinic there to discuss Wyatt. It is weird to think there is an entire conference happening today because of our little Wy Wy. I hope that our story can teach other doctors and help any family that might some day be in our position. Hopefully they will never have to go through the hell we went through.

Thank you to every one for your prayers and positive thoughts. They truly helped Wyatt and got us through a tough time. I reaffirmed two truths. The power of prayer and the power of mother's milk are amazing and healing! Thank you!

Monday, August 9, 2010

2 months & 12 years

Bryan and Wyatt had their well child visits today. It went very well and both boys are healthy. They both had to have shots. No fun! And they both got weight and measured and poked and prodded. I am glad it is over and that they are both doing great.

Wyatt went first. He is 9 weeks old today. Wyatt weighed 11 pounds 3 ounces. He is 21 inches long and his head is 15 inches around. The doctor said he is short but gaining weight very well. That is a good sign considering we still do not know for sure what is going on with the metabolic disorder. Bryan was pretty short when he was little too. And look at him now! Wyatt is growing steadily and the doctor says that is more important then where he technically falls on the growth chart. All things I have heard before when Bryan was a baby but still nice to hear again for reassurance.

The doctor checked Wyatt over and said that every thing looked good. There is no longer a click in his hip. He has a swollen lymph node but it is no big deal. I asked him if he thought Wyatt's right testicle was descending yet. It has been hanging out pretty high but I knew it was there. He said that it was down. WHAT?! I told him it was not down when we left the house to come to the appointment. Well isn't that a nifty trick? The doctor laughed and told Wyatt he had pretty good timing! I swear they live to prove you wrong!

I asked about the reflux too. He said it was pretty normal in babies. He is not worried about Wyatt puking some of his feedings up as that is also pretty common. We should just continue to do the things we are doing (keeping him upright during and after feedings, burping him really well, the gas drops as needed) and he will out grown it very soon. Wyatt's digestive system should start maturing more in the next few weeks and the reflux will likely go away on it's own before we know it. I hope it is soon ... I am sick of getting puked on. LOL

I asked how long Wyatt can go with out pooping and the doctor said 5 or 6 days is not uncommon. We can try a little juice after a few days but otherwise don't worry about it. Being that Wyatt drinks breast milk only if his BMs become hard and pebble like then I should give him a call. But otherwise he should be good.

The doctor asked several questions about different milestones Wyatt should be meeting. He was doing them all which is always a relief. The doctor asked if Wyatt laughs yet. I said not really but I have heard him giggle a few times while he was asleep. He asked if Wyatt was smiling when he laughed and I said yes. The doctor said then that counts! Wyatt must have been having a really good dream. LOL He says that Wyatt should start doing it while awake in the next few weeks. But even him laughing in his sleep was a good sign. Good to know!

Bryan was up next and was fairly simple. He is 5 feet 1 inch tall and 140 pounds. That puts him in the 75% for height and 97% for weight. The doctor said while the percentages look a little scary he does not think Bryan is over weight in anyway . Because of his height it kind of counter balances his weight. Yes he is heavier then most kids his age but he is also a LOT taller then they are too. And visually he could see that Bryan is not at all over weight. So he felt there was no concern. Bryan has hit puberty a bit early and it shows in his measurements. It was hilarious to look back through his records and see how he was in the 8% for height and 23% for weight when he was 2 years old. 10 years later he is a moose! HA HA HA

I thought it was pretty funny to watch the doctor doing similar movements to check Bryan's hips as he does with Wyatt. Makes you realize just how long Bryan's legs have gotten. I always feel bad for the kid during the hernia check. The first look of terror comes when the doctor tells him to drop his shorts. Then again when he tells Bryan to turn his head and cough. LOL

The doctor asked him a bunch of questions. Does he play any sports? How much TV does he watch? How much time does he play video games? I mentioned that we live on a farm and that Bryan does help with the chores. The doctor was happy to hear that and said farm kids tend to be pretty active kids. So he was happy with that even though Bryan shows no interest in sports. I have a geek not a jock. I am fine with that. Especially since my geek could probably bench press most of the jocks his age ... he he he!

They both got shots. Bryan got 3 and barely flinched when he got his. He made it look far easier then it was for Wyatt. Poor baby! Wyatt also had 3 shots but boy howdy did he scream! The first one went in and he didn't react right away. You saw this slow realization of pain, his face turned red and then WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!! The boy was NOT happy. The nurse said "And that was only the first one!" She rushed through the other 2 so I could pick him up to calm him down. I felt awful for the poor kid but also couldn't stop laughing. He would wail in this funny siren like increasing and then decreasing and then increasing again pattern. He was pretty ticked off for a while after that. I am glad he doesn't need any more shots until 4 months. I wonder if he will be more or less dramatic at that point. LOL

So the boys are good. Wyatt goes back again in 2 months and Bryan goes back in 6 months for a second dose of the Hep A vaccine. We are still waiting for more info on the VLCAD situation. There doesn't seem to be anything new in Wyatt's records and the geneticist has not called us back yet. So we will have to continue to make sure that Wyatt does not go past 4 hours with out eating. But then he wakes up every 3-4 hours anyway so it is not a stretch and not like I am waking a sleeping baby or anything. Hopefully we will know more soon. Hopefully it will be nothing and we can put that whole mess behind us soon.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

6 week postpartum check up

I had my 6 week postpartum check up today. I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks! I remember when OB called my room in the maternity ward the day Wyatt was born. I could not believe they were already scheduling my check up. It seemed SO very far away. And now it is here and gone! LOL Time goes by crazy fast when you get no sleep. HA HA HA

Everything went very well. I brought Wyatt with me. The nurses oohed and aaaahed over him. One commented on how the 6 week check ups were always her favorite part because she got to see all the cute little babies. Wyatt of course would not be ignored. He ate while I waited for the midwife to come in. Wyatt "talked" during the entire exam. The midwife held him for me while I changed back into my clothes. As soon as we were done and started heading back to the car he passed out fast asleep. LOL Wyatt my little attention piggie! If you are willing to hold him and snuggle him then you will be his best friend.

They made me fill out a survey for postpartum depression. I must have passed because they never said another word about it. I was honest and admitted to the midwife that I still struggle with anxiety from time to time because of Wyatt's stay in pediatrics during his first week. She said that was perfectly normal considering what happened. As long as the anxiety was not keeping me from normal activities or allowing Wyatt to participate in normal activities then it was fine. But of course if it ever got to be to overwhelming then I should call them or Gyn or my regular doctor and let them know. I have my bad days of course and I am utterly exhausted most of the time. But over all I feel great and am very happy to have my little Wy Wy. So I think I am doing well.

My c-section incision has healed well. I still have a very small opening between my ab muscles right below my belly button. She said a few crunches every day should heal that up in no time. She did a pelvic exam and said my uterus is back to normal. During the pelvic exam she commented on how strong my stomach muscles were. She laughed about just telling me to do crunches every day and then having a little trouble finding my uterus through all my muscles. HA HA HA YEAH ME! My weight is down 25 pounds from my pre pregnancy weight. She was shocked to see that not only did I not gain any weight while pregnant but I am also skinner now then I was when I found out I was pregnant with him. That is always fun!

I have had some pain in my breasts. She checked them both for signs of infection or clogged milk ducts and found none. She thinks the pain is simply my breasts refilling with milk and should go away as my breasts adjust to being milk makers. That is a relief. I did not think I had any infection but was still worried about the pain. She praised me for being an exclusive pumper. That was wonderful to hear. Some people can be very judgmental about not breastfeeding even if you are pumping. She said it is easier to do one or the other. Either breastfeed or formula feed. But to pump AND bottle feed takes a lot of time and dedication. She said a lot of woman do not stick with it. I told her I was dead set on pumping for his first year and then feeding him from my freezer stash that I plan on building up until that is gone some time during his second year. She said that was a great idea and made me feel really good about my decision. It is nice to be complemented and recognized for your hard work sometimes.

I got the ok to return to my normal pre pregnancy life. I can lift and work and other fun past times. *wink* *wink* I loaded Wyatt back up into his car seat and we headed back out to my car. I got us all settled back in and was about to leave when I realized that I had forgotten to get my doctor note to return to work. Crap! So I unload and head back up to OB. I tell the nurse at the desk that I needed a note. She got a little snotty with me and acted like I had just asked her for a kidney. She also seemed very surprised that I needed a note. *shrugs* I didn't think that was an odd request but what do I know. The nurse said that all of the midwifes were in a staff meeting and I would be unable to get my note then. I could wait and come back later. Ummm ... no ... I am paying for parking as long as I am here. So I asked her if I could call back later with the HR fax number and have some one fax my note for me instead. Again she acted like I now needed her other kidney. UGH! So I guess that will be fine.

So everything is well. I don't have to go back to the doctor any time soon. The boys have check ups in August. But other then that it is life back to normal!

Monday, July 12, 2010

5 weeks old

Wyatt is now 5 weeks old! He is 9 pounds even and 20 1/2 inches long. He is doing well and getting so big already! I can't believe he has started to out grow his newborn clothes. I know that is a good thing. Especially since we are still waiting to find out the results of that final test for metabolic disorders of what ever kind me MIGHT have. It can't be bad since he is growing so well.

Wyatt has had some trouble with reflux. It can be kinda rough sometimes. He screamed this afternoon for I don't even know how long because his belly hurt. I did my best to get all the bubblies out and try and make him better. But it took a while and a lot of walking and patting and bouncing up and down to get enough of the gas out. Then he slept like an angel! We have been feeding him sitting up, keeping him sitting up for 30 minutes afterward, letting him sleep in his bouncy chair (it keeps him upright) and using gas drops when he gets really fussy like he did this afternoon. It all seems to be helping. Wyatt hasn't thrown up in days. The fussing is getting less and less and he is sleeping much better at night. WOOHOO! I can't wait for him to out grow this. I want to avoid prescription medications if we can. So far I think we will be able to.

Wyatt is developing well. He is holding his head up more and more. I don't put him on his belly us much as I should. But he does push up from my shoulder while burping him. When I do put him on his belly on the floor he tends to stick his butt in the air instead. LOL Wrong end buddy ... wrong end. Bryan was playing with him today while he was sitting in my lap. Wyatt was watching Bryan and was able to track Bryan's face from side to side several times. I was pretty impressed that not only was he able to focus on Bryan's face so well but to keep moving just his eyes back and forth over and over again. Good job little man!

Wyatt has always been a noisy baby. (As I write this he is laying in my lap groaning) He just "talks" a lot. Wyatt is always grunting and groaning and making this weird noise that reminds me of the T-rex from the Jurrasic Park movie. LOL He is just starting to coo during the last week. He only makes short little sounds. But he is starting to make them. That is good. This morning he made one of those short cooing sounds and I mimicked him. His eyes got big and he did it again. We will just have to keep talking to each other. I can't wait for the full on cooing. I remember how cute it was when Bryan did it. I can't wait!!!

I am still pumping breast milk. Wyatt will occasionally breast feed. It is getting more and more frequent. But he will only do it for a few minutes. Then he gets mad and screams until I give him the bottle. He does not have a lot of patience to wait for my milk to let down. So he quickly gets frustrated and fusses. He can be a bit opinionated so if he is fussy and my milk isn't letting down fast enough in his mind then all hell breaks loose and nursing is a bust. If I try early in the morning around 6 am when he is the most alert and calm then it works better. Also around 10 pm when he is settling down for the night. But other then that he just gets mad and refuses the breast. But I am pumping 3-4 times a day and making 30 ounces. That is enough to feed him every day and freeze a little bit. My pump is awesome and I can get it done in 15 minutes or so. I plan on continuing to pump breast milk and bottle feed Wyatt until he is a year old. 1 month down 11 months to go!

Everything is going well and Wyatt is great. I could not be more happy and feel more blessed. I am exhausted but totally in love with my little man. Being home with all my boys every day is amazing. There is nothing I love more then being a wife and a mother. An amazing dream come true.
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Monday, June 21, 2010

Tests and Doctor Appointments

Last week we had a lot of follow up appointments and tests to be done. It was annoying to be back and forth between home and the clinic so much. But the running around is far better then being stuck in the hospital like Wyatt's first week. Thankfully everything went well and we got done all the things we needed to get done.

Wyatt had a check up with his Family Med doctor. This was his first time meeting Wyatt. He has been my doctor since I was 14 years old and Bryan's doctor since birth. So I am happy to have Wyatt under his care also. This doctor is kind and calm and has a level head. Which is something we need after all the other doctors who just jumped off the deep end and assumed the worst. Our Family Med doctor, we will call him Dr. A, looked Wyatt over. He said Wyatt looked very good. The yellowness of the jaundice was fading. Dr. A did not think we needed to run anymore blood tests to check Wyatt's bilirubin levels. YEAH! He said that he could hear the click in Wyatt's left hip. Dr. A wanted to have an ultrasound done to check on the hip. If Wyatt's hip was not formed right from being stuck breech and it was not treated it could lead to arthritis as he gets older. If something was wrong it would be a simple fix with a brace to help ball and socket form properly together. Other then his hip Wyatt looked great. He had already gained back his birth weight at just over a week old. Dr. A did not think it was necessary for Wyatt to come back at 2 weeks for the usual well child visit. He thinks Wyatt is doing great and can wait to come back for his 2 month check up instead.

After meeting with Dr. A we had an appointment with the Geneticist to discuss where to go from here with the metabolic disorder hoopla. He asked us what Dr. A said and looked Wyatt over. He agreed that Wyatt looked like he was doing well. He felt that Wyatt's glucose readings at home were high enough and steady now. We were given the ok to stop taking his blood sugar at home. YEAH! I was so happy to not have to play vampire every 6 hours and prick poor Wyatt's tiny little feet anymore. The Geneticist reminded us to make sure that Wyatt went no longer then 3-4 hours with out eating until we figure out what is going on. The newborn screening is looking more and more like it was a false positive. But until we know for sure we need to play it safe. Keep Wyatt fed and feel free to check his blood sugar anytime he seems to be acting weird.

Thursday we went in to repeat the ECG. The first one showed a small glitch. The Pediatricians at the hospital said it might be a normal thing that happens to a lot of babies who are under a week old. But they insisted that we rerun the ECG after Wyatt is 7 days old to make sure. Thankfully the test was normal and everything was ok. Wyatt has a strong and healthy heart with no heart murmur. That is a HUGE relief for me. I am so happy both my boys have healthy hearts.

After the ECG we went to have the ultrasound done. Wyatt slept through most of it. He is so mellow that way. LOL The ultrasound came normal. Wyatt's hip looks good. Apparently the click is just left over from being breech with no fluid to move around easily in at the end of my pregnancy. He will eventually outgrow it. No need for a brace or anything. WOOHOO!

Friday we went back up to the maternity ward for Wyatt's circumcision. We wanted it done when he was 3 days old like they normally would do. But after the paperwork mess that happened on day 3 and Wyatt being in the hospital canceling the appointment we had to get it done on day 4, *sigh*, it just never got done. So thankfully we finally made and kept an appointment to have him circumcised. It went smoothly. Again Wyatt slept right through it. You have to wonder how it is that he can sleep through any procedure they seem to throw at him. I am just relieved that he has that ability. LOL We had to stick around in the family room for an hour afterward. A nurse came in to check on Wyatt every 30 minutes to make sure he was not bleeding to much. Then we were able to go home. Wyatt was pretty mad for the rest of that day. I can't blame him. He was sore and tired and had been through enough since birth.

The Geneticist wanted a skin biopsy to run one last test for VLCAD. He said it would just take one stitch. That made us cringe. Ethan asked if we could instead use Wyatt's foreskin from his circumcision instead of doing yet another procedure on Wyatt. He said yes that would work fine. He just need some skin to grow cells to use for the DNA test he wanted to run. Also with the skin he could grow and regrow cells as much as he wanted to. That would mean Wyatt would not need to keep being poked to collect blood to run various tests. It gives him the option to run what ever tests he wants as often as he wants to try and figure this puzzle out. So he was there at the circumcision waiting off to the side with a collection cup. It looked like a large to go soup cup. LOL I assume there was some kind of sterile collection cup inside the soup cup. He asked if we wanted to see it after it was done. ICK! We said no thanks. It drove me nuts the way he kept walking around and talking to us with this cup-o-foreskin in his hand! We appreciate everything you have done for us and we are happy to let you run the tests that you want to run but please take the cup with a chunk of my son in it and LEAVE. LOL It was mildly disturbing and yet funny.

So we are done with tests and doctors appointments and get to just stay home and relax this week. As long as nothing goes wrong anyway. Fingers crossed that Wyatt stays healthy and happy and we sail right through the next few weeks until his and Bryan's next appointment. Then sadly it will be time for more shots for both boys. Hopefully they both will do well and be healthy. Until then we are just going to sit back, relax, enjoy the last of our leaves and love up on our adorable little baby boy.

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Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Wyatt's first week the hardest week of my life.

Wyatt's first week has been much harder then I ever imagined it would be. It is not Wyatt's fault. He is an amazing baby. Wyatt sleeps well, eats wonderfully, only fusses when hungry, he is a very calm and alert baby. I was worried that Wyatt would be a hard baby because Bryan was such an easy baby. But Wyatt is easily following in his big brother's foot steps. Unfortunately our trip home was short lived and utterly ruined before we knew what was happening.

Wyatt and I were both doing great on Wednesday. My OB preformed an exam on me and said that I was healing well. He said that a lot of repeat c-sections heal faster and are able to go home sooner then first time mommies. I was doing just fine and he gave me the ok to go home when ever I was ready. Wyatt was examined by the pediatricians and also given a clean bill of health and the go ahead to go home a day early. We got all checked out of the hospital and gladly went home in time to meet Bryan when he came home from school. I was so happy to finally have my family of four together. Seeing Bryan hold Wyatt in our home, on my own couch brought tears to my eyes. I was finally seeing the dream that I had dreamed for the last 12 years coming true. I had a safe home, a supportive husband and now two beautiful children. What more could I have ever asked for?

But the joy was short lived. We were contacted by a Genetic Specialist from Mayo. He told us that one of the test results on Wyatt's newborn screening was elevated. It is called VLCAD and is a metabolic disorder that makes digesting fatty acids and using them for energy difficult. He wanted us to go to the ER immediately so that he could get a blood sample to rerun the test and so the doctors could do an exam based on the new information. He said we would be in and out in no time. So after only 4 hours home we rushed Wyatt to the emergency room.

I will try to make a painfully long story as short as possible. Wyatt is extremely difficult to get blood drawn from. It took a very long time to get a sample. They also did a blood glucose test as one of the symptoms of VLCAD is low blood sugar. I had been taking a nap when the doctor contacted us and it took so long to get the blood drawn that it had been several hours since Wyatt had nursed. His glucose reading was low. They gave us a small amount of time to nurse before taking a second glucose reading. After the drama of the blood draw Wyatt seemed to shut down and try to sleep. I was unable to get him latched on to nurse so that he could get anything in his belly. So of course the second glucose reading was also low. The doctor insisted that we get an IV into Wyatt immediately and start giving him glucose water to raise his levels. They spent nearly 2 hours attempting to put an IV in Wyatt's arm but were unable to get one in.

We were admitted to Pediatrics were they inserted and NG feeding tube in through Wyatt's nose. They administered 3 ounces of glucose water into Wyatt's stomach every hour. As you might have guessed between the trauma of the blood draw, attempt at the IV and the belly full of sugar water Wyatt had no urge what so ever to nurse. It had been hours since he had any breast milk. His numbers stabilized some but still were not good.

Thursday after talking to the genetic specialist and the pediatricians we were talked into letting them try the IV again. We did NOT want the glucose water to begin with and had already said no to the IV once before on Wednesday night. They were able to get a nurse from the NICU to come and she thankfully was able to get the IV in after 2 tries. Wyatt has jaundice and the doctors decided that since he was spending another night in the hospital then they might as well put him under the bililights in order to help bring his bilirubin levels down. At one point poor Wyatt had an NG tube in his nose, an IV in his hand and was naked under the lights in the bassinet. It was the most heartbreaking sight I have ever seen. It was like a nightmare.

While Wyatt was on the IV he finally was able to eat something. But he had no energy what so ever. Wyatt laid their in our arms, barely eating, not crying, not responding to touch or to pain. He was just there. Our healthy, happy, alert baby that we walked into the ER with on Wednesday had turned into what looked like a little kids limp doll by Thursday. The IV made it so he was able to start eating again but he was not strong enough or alert enough to nurse. I had started pumping breast milk Wednesday night and we were feeding Wyatt bottles of my breast milk instead.

After much argument we were able to convince the doctors to try to wean Wyatt off from the IV glucose water so that we had a chance in hell of going home anytime soon. They cut the amount in half and his glucose level dropped. It fell a lot but was still in the normal range. The over night doctor told me that he wanted to raise the glucose back up to full force. I told him no that Ethan and I did not want him on the glucose water in the first place and that we would not turn it back up now. I tried to convince him to give me an hour to feed Wyatt and recheck his glucose levels. If they still were low then we could turn the glucose up again. He said no it needed to be done now. I told him that I would not make the decision with out speaking to my husband. This was OUR son and it was OUR decision to make not mine. I wanted to call Ethan and ask him what he wanted to do. The doctor told me that we did not have time and if I waited to talk to my husband I would kill my baby. Yes you read that right. He told me that I was KILLING MY SON. I told him to leave NOW and I called Ethan to come back to the hospital. Ethan did not want to leave us there at all. But he needed to leave to get Bryan and go home. Poor Bryan's life had also been thrown into a tailspin and we wanted to at least get him home and in his own bed before school the next morning. Ethan had not even made it out of the parking ramp before I called him back in.

The doctor came in as soon as I hung up with Ethan and tried again to tell me the damage I was doing to my son by waiting. I threw him out of Wyatt's room so fast I don't think he knew what hit him! Ethan came back in and the doctor came to talk to both of us. We stood firm and told him that we never wanted the glucose water to begin with. That no one had listened to anything we said and just did what they thought was the right treatment. We told him nothing about this felt right to us. We just wanted to give Wyatt the chance to stabilize his blood sugars on his own with the help of breast milk. We told the doctor how angry and disappointed we were with his behavior and the care we had been receiving since we walked into the ER Wednesday night. I told him I had never been more insulted in my life then I was by his accusations that I did not care about my child and that if he died it would be my fault. He had no idea the hell we have been through to finally have this child and he could never understand what being Wyatt's parents meant to us. He did apologize but it is still little consolation to me.

He finally agreed to my first idea of feeding Wyatt a bottle and giving it an hour. I am sure much to his surprise Wyatt's glucose levels jumped up to the 70s. He held stable there and they slowly cut back the glucose levels through out the night. The less sugar water they pumped into him the more breast milk he drank. The more breast milk he drank the higher his glucose levels were and the more he returned to normal. We had a few levels dip down low again every time they cut back the glucose water. But Wyatt was always able to return to a high level again in 2 hours for the next reading.

Friday morning they unhooked the IV and he was on just straight breast milk. His bilirubin levels had come down some and they allowed the bililights to be turned off. It was so nice to be able to hold him again for longer then the amount of time it took to feed him a bottle. All we wanted to do was hold our son and we could not do that all Thursday night. That just made everything harder to deal with. They took 3 glucose readings after the IV glucose water was turned off and Wyatt was taking in only breast milk. All three of those readings were nice and high. They finally gave us the ok to go home. You could tell that they did not want to let us leave but no longer had a valid reason to force us to stay against our will. Which is what they had been doing since Thursday morning. There were some stipulations to us going home. Wyatt's glucose needed to be checked every 4-6 hours. Thankfully I have a meter at home and am trained in taking blood sugars. Wyatt needed to be fed every 3 hours or less. Even if that meant waking him up and forcing him to eat something. Easy things to do in exchange for the chance to go home. We were finally able to pack our stuff and go home at 4pm Friday.

They took large quantities of blood from Wyatt to run all kinds of tests. At one point his arm was taped down to a board while nurses surrounded him holding him still, getting an artery stick to draw blood from and three nurses handing off empty tubes as the filled the other ones. They did an echo cardiogram and an ECG to check his heart because the thought they heard a heart murmur and because VLCAD can cause heart issues. I have a heart murmur so it would not be far fetched for him to have one too. Wyatt does NOT have a heart murmur. Thankfully that is one less thing to worry about. They ran the test for VLCAD three times. All three times they did not get a positive result. The geneticist says there is something there but he could not figure out what it was. He called the man who designed the test and spoke to him about Wyatt's results. The maker of the test says that Wyatt does NOT have VLCAD or one of the lesser forms MCAD. He is not sure what his test results mean but he is sure that Wyatt does not have the disorder that the newborn screening read as high.

We thankfully got to spend some time at home over the weekend with Wyatt. It was extremely hard to relax after everything we had been through. But at least we were home. I finally realized that oh ya! I just had a baby and a c-section and had fallen behind on my pain medications a few times over the last few days. I was so worried about Wyatt and what was happening to him that I must have blocked out my own pain and the need to heal. I spent most of Friday night just laying in bed and crying from the pain. The pain medication I was given at the hospital was not working. Ethan rubbing my back was the only thing that calmed me enough to get any sleep. My recovery has become a little slower then it had started out because of all this. But at least I am healing now.

Bryan came home Sunday night and I thought for sure I would start sobbing when he walked through the door. I had missed him all week and was sad that he was not home over the weekend when Wyatt came home. I can not explain to you the feeling of happiness and relief to finally have both my sons home with me and my husband. Our family of four was FINALLY home all together at the same time. For more then 4 hours!

Tuesday we had check up appointments for Wyatt. First we saw our Family Med doctor. He has been my doctor since I was 14 years old and Bryan's doctor since birth. He is calm and comforting and it made me feel safe to have him take over Wyatt's care from here on out. I know that he will not over react and blow things out of proportion. He is a very level headed man. He checked Wyatt out and gave him a clean bill of health. Wyatt's skin and eyes looked good and he did not think it was necessary to run another blood test to check his bilirubin levels. His hip still clicks from being breech in the womb. We will have to look further into that with an ultrasound. But it is an easy fix and should not cause Wyatt any problems down the road. Wyatt is one week old and has already regained the weight he lost after birth. The doctor said it usually takes a baby 2 weeks to regain that weight. So Wyatt is well ahead of that and obviously eating well. He poops and pees like a champ. Normally they see like to see newborns at 4 days, 2 weeks and 2 months for check ups. Since we were in the middle of that 4 days and 2 weeks appointments and because Wyatt has already regained his birth weight we will not have to go back next week for the 2 week well child visit. The doctor thinks he will do just fine to wait for the 2 month appointment. We scheduled Wyatt's 2 month check up and Bryan's 12 year check up for the same day. So I can kill two birds with one stone and get the boys checked out and all the immunizations they need. Woohoo! Bryan is thrilled ... or not. LOL

After the Family Med appointment we headed over to meet with the Genetic Specialist. He came out to the waiting room and got us for our appointment. He looked Wyatt over and discussed with us how the Family Med appointment went. We agreed to let him take a skin sample in order to grow some tissue so that he can further check into what, if anything, Wyatt has on a DNA level. We are going to have Wyatt circumcised and he agreed to let us use the foreskin for testing instead of taking a sample from some where else that would require a stitch. We had always planned on circumcising Wyatt and this will make for one less procedure to be done on him. The geneticist said he will be waiting right there with a sample dish if need be to make sure that they don't just throw the skin sample away.

It will take roughly 5 weeks to get the results from that test back. In the mean time Wyatt is doing very well on breast milk so the doctor does not think it is necessary to put Wyatt on the special formula for babies who have metabolic disorders. Wyatt's glucose readings have been stable at home and he says we no longer need to take his blood sugar. That is a huge relief for me. Taking blood sugar readings and taking blood sugar readings from your own tiny baby are two completely different things. Even though Wyatt tolerated the testing well it still broke my heart to stick his poor little foot several times a day. And I hated the suspense and fear Ethan and I would feel every time we took a reading. If we have any reason to be concerned we will still have to take it. But at least it is not all day every day anymore.

I had such high hopes for breastfeeding this time around. I failed miserably at it with Bryan and ended up pumping breast milk and then formula feeding. Wyatt nursed wonderfully and I thought for sure it was going to be an easy go the second time around. But being in the hospital messed that up horribly. I did nurse Wyatt once after we returned home. It went well but I spent the next few hours terrified because I had no way of knowing who much milk went into him. And after spending days calculating and recording just how much milk went in and urine and poop came out of him I could not relax with out a number. Ya sure he nursed for 10 minutes. But how many ounces went in? I could NOT relax and enjoy nursing anymore. I am sad that it was ruined for me again. But I promised myself that if breast feeding did not work again I would not beat myself up this time around. I am pumping breast milk and we are all feeding it to him from a bottle. It gives us all a wonderful chance to bond more with Wyatt. The pump I had was only meant for the occasional pumping when I returned to work in August. So we purchased a new and very nice breast pump. I was amazed to go from spending an hour pumping to empty both breasts to just 10 minutes. TEN MINUTES and I am done pumping on both sides and have an ample supply of fresh breast milk to feed Wyatt. I have even been able to pump extra to start a freezer stash. No, I am not breast feeding anymore. But Wyatt is still getting breast milk. That is the most important thing to me. Look at how amazing the power of mother's milk was for Wyatt in the hospital. I truly give it up to mother nature for giving me the ability to provide something so healing to my son. While I still think formula is a perfectly good form of feeding a baby. It certainly never harmed Bryan. I will never doubt the power of breast milk again. I look forward to providing milk for Wyatt for the next year.

So Wyatt is doing well now. He is back to his healthy, happy, alert little self that we brought home from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon. I wish that we could erase the drama of the last week and just enjoy our newly expanded family. I am angry that we were put through that hell. But happy that we looked into something that could have been a problem for Wyatt. I guess I would rather all that hell be for nothing then not know and have something very bad happen to him. If nothing else the experience has brought Ethan and I closer, both of us closer to our children and brought us closer to God. Never once did we blame God or ask him why he was doing this to us. We trusted in him and prayed that everything would be ok. Thankfully our prayers were answered and Wyatt is doing well. Continued prayers that everything goes well, that Wyatt does not have any kind of metabolic disorder and that he will grow and thrive from here on out. Maybe now we can start resuming a normal life with our boys.

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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Wyatt Larry Has Arrived!!!

Wyatt Larry was born on June 7, 2010 at 10:43 am. 37 weeks gestation. He weighed 6 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 inches long.

We checked into labor and delivery early Monday morning. It took a long time to get us back because anesthesia was backed up. Then it took forever to start the surgery because they had a heck of a time getting my spinal block in. I remember they had a really hard time also when I had my c-section with Bryan. Guess my back just stinks for that kind of stuff. Once I was all set up they went and got Ethan and sat him by my head. Wyatt was born about 15 minutes later. They lowered the sheet so that we could see and to my surprise Ethan jumped right up and started taking pictures. I thought it was funny since he said he didn't want to see anything on the other side of the screen up until that moment. He got some great pictures of Wyatt as he emerged butt first of course. Ethan followed Wyatt over to the bassinet and trimmed his cord. It took a little over an hour to sew me back up. I got pretty nauseous and almost threw up while they were working on me. Me and anesthesia just don't get a long well. They gave me more meds to settle my stomach down again and then I was fine. I got to watch Wyatt while Ethan held him. He was very alert and looking around. Wyatt was sucking his fingers and rooting around. He came out more then ready to nurse.

Wyatt did have some funny looking legs when he was first born. I would post a picture but they almost scare me. LOL His feet had been up by his face for months now. And they wanted to stay that way after he was born. LOL After a few hours he was fine. The pediatricians stopped by this morning to check on his hips and they were doing much better this morning. The clicking in his hips was gone and he is pretty good about getting his legs to stay down now. They said it was pretty normal and he should be just fine.

Other then his hips Wyatt has not had any problems. He latches on pretty well. Wyatt nursed fantastically the first day. Now I am having trouble keeping him awake so that he is not just snacking all day and all night. That made for a long first night. LOL He is pooping like a pro and I am so glad the nurses are cleaning those ones up. LOL

I am doing pretty well already. I have gotten up and been out walking. They let me eat right away as long as I promised to take it slow. No problems with eating or drinking. They unhooked me from all the dodads and monitors now. My catheter is out and I am getting up to use the bathroom pretty well on my own. It is amazing to not have to pee every 30 minutes or so! LOL I am getting ready to go take a shower and can not wait. I remember how fantastic that felt after Bryan was born. I am hoping to get to go home tomorrow afternoon. But I won't push it either. If I need to stay until Thursday afternoon I will. But I would really love to get us home and get back into my own bed.

Here are a few pictures of Wyatt from his first day in the world!



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37 Weeks

Today is my last full day of this pregnancy. I am 37 weeks pregnant and this baby is coming out Monday morning. I am more excited then I have been about anything in a very long time. I went back and forth on how I wanted to spend my last day. I could go into uber nesting mode and make this place spotless. And myself exhausted so that I might actually get some sleep. Or I could lounge around all day and do nothing but gestate and pig out while I still had a good excuse to do so. I picked some where in the middle. I did some light housekeeping. A little laundry and I picked up the house a bit. I cleand out my car so that it was ready for the ride home in a few days. I told Ethan he had to bring my Explorer cause there was no way I was going to try and get in and out of his Jetta after having surgery. That car is just way to low to the ground. I was up early this morning. I have had a strange need to be up early since I went on maternity leave. I can't explain it. But I wake up anywhere between 6 am - 9 am and acan't go back to sleep to save my life. This has become a very strange phenomenom since I have always been a sleep until noon kinda girl. But lately I have enjoyed the peace of the early morning when every one else is still in bed or upstairs. I laid back down and took a nap for 2 hours in the afternoon. It felt good to just lay down and rest. When you are this pregnant you don't sleep through the night and you just can't get much rest. And it doesn't get any better with a newborn around. LOL I put my feet up, played on the computer, watched my Netflix movie and lifted my shirt to watch one last good show that Wyatt put on after lunch. They boys worked hard outside all day so I pretty much had the house to myself to just relax and enjoy. I think that is the first time I have watched a horror movie in the middle of the day in a very long time. After the boys came in I went out and got us some supper. We munched on chinese food and watched tv. Bryan got to play WoW for a while and got himself to 80! WOOHOO for him! Ethan randomly mentioned cake at one point and I went into full blown cake and milk pregnancy craving. Luckily for me my dear sweet husband obliged and headed to the grocery store for one last pregnancy craving run.It was very nummy. And now I don't have to worry if there is milk in the house while I am in the hospital.

I was given special antimicrobial soap to wash with the night before and the morning of the surgery. They don't know if it really helps to avoid infection or not. But heck it is worth a shot. I was surprised to see that it was cherry red in color. I don't really know what I was expecting. But I guess RED was not it. LOL It smelled mildly medicine like with a hint of perfume to it. I did not think it would be that hard to wash that area. I haven't seen hide nor hair of that side of my belly in months. And I guess I haven't spent much time trying to wash it either. LOL Luckily for me I have my previous c-section scar to guide me. I just washed the general area around my scar and halfway up my belly. Nobody told me exactly where to wash with this stuff. The pamphlet says the area of surgery. So I am guessing around my scar is as good of a spot as any down there. I have to repeat the process again in the morning. I plan on getting up at 5:30 am so that I can fit a shower in again before Bryan gets up at 6 am. Maybe if I am lucky my hair will have driend from this shower by the time I take my shower in the morning. LOL That is a down side of having long and thick har.

It is a very bitter sweet night tonight. I am looking forward to being done with pregnancy. 9 months is a very long time to be pregnant. And as they grow it wears on a person's body. Everything aches, you are tired all the time, nothing in your body works right anymor, my allergies have gone haywire, my pelvis is in so much pain it hurts to even walk, I have had morning sickness, restless leg syndrome, carpal tunnel and had the poo scared out of me more then anyone needs in the last few weeks. It has been a crazy ride and I am ready for it to be over. But of course I will miss all the good things. I love feeling him move inside of my belly. When he is not two stepping on my bladder anyway. I enjoy listening to his heartbeat and movements on my doppler. It is fun to watch my belly wiggle around while he puts on a show. I enjoy rubbing my belly and having Ethan lotion it up for me. There is a closeness that I share with this baby that no one else gets to experience. I will miss all of that. But I am so looking forward to him being here. I want to see him and hold him in my arms. I look forward to sharing this experience with Ethan. I can't wait to put him in his crib for the first time. There is this whole room full of baby stuff that I can't wait to use. I want my child here safe and sound and healthy. It has been a very long road and I can't wait to move on to the next step.

I am a lot calmer then I thought I would be. Maybe that will change in the morning. I don't know. This is my second time so maybe that brings some calmness. I am not nervous about the surgery. I am a little worried about pain management afterward. But I know there are plenty of pain medications. I just need to speak up this time and not try to play the hero. Breastfeeding does make me nervous. It did NOT go well with Bryan at all and we were both miserable. Bryan and I both were much happier once I started pumping breastmilk and bottle feeding him. I truly want to make the effort this time to breastfeed. And luckily I have a longer maternity leave this time to work on it. Not to mention a supportive husband. Support was something I was SERIOUSLY lacking last time. And I know that I can pump breastmilk because I did it with Bryan. So there is always that to fall back onto. I won't formula feed this time around at all. Unless there is some medical reason that we have to. Fingers crossed we will not have any issues and Wyatt will latch on like a champ.

We are ready to go. I just need to eat a little something tonight. I can't eat after midnight. And it will be a bit before I can eat anything in the hospital. Thankfully for me the rules have changed. I was not allowed to eat solid food until the day I went home with Bryan. There is only so much jello and tea one person can stand. Now the rule is I just have to fart. Once I can pass gas they will allow me to eat solid food again. So I will be doing my best to fart with out blowing my stitches out. LOL Pleasant thought isn't it? I don't care cause I want real food! LOL

Hopefully everything will go well and we will have our baby in our arms in no time.

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Friday, June 4, 2010

Last OB Appointment

I had my very last OB appointment today. It went well. Which was a relief after last night of course. We got there super early. I told Ethan that just doesn't pay off. And of course they proved me wrong. We got in a while half hour early. Ooops!

First was the ultrasound. He scored well again today. My fluid levels have increased since Tuesday from a 4.6 to a 7.2 level. Anything about 5 is good and this 7ish level is the best it has been since 32 weeks. I had the same ultrasound tech that I have had for the last few scans. He joked about how I have become an old pro at the whole process. I joked that it is bad when I am starting to be able to not only spot the fluid pockets but even notice when he found a good sized one. LOL He estimated Wyatt's current weight at 6 pounds 15 ounces. Pretty good size for 37 weeks. He showed us that Wyatt has hair. The tech thinks that not only does he have hair but it looks like it might even be wavy! Bryan had a lot of hair but it was straight. I had a ton of hair and I have wavy hair now. Ethan says he had wavy hair as a baby. So I guess we will see just how hairy this baby is when he comes out. I make hairy babies. HE HE HE

We met with a different doctor then my regular OB. He was very nice and had an interesting German accent. It was neat to hear an actual German pronounce our last name. I was tempted to ask him how to properly pronounce my maiden name too. But I didn't want to be a goober. He went over everything with us about prepping for the c-section. I signed the consent form today so that it was one less thing to worry about on Monday. He checked my cervix and it is closed up nice and tight. I am not at all dilated. I am not at all effaced. Now if I was not scheduled for a c-section on Monday I would have to admit that I would be pretty upset by that fact. You can bet I would have started the eviction process this weekend so that this kid might actually exit the building before July! But this kid is coming out Monday morning whether he likes it or not. The doctor said that it is good that I have made no progress what so ever. That way if I were to start labor in any way over the weekend I would hopefully have a little extra time to get to the hospital. Depending on what day it was we might even be able to keep our c-section schedule. I hope nothing exciting happens this weekend and he just relaxes in there until Monday morning.

So that was it! No more appointments. I won't see that office again until my 6 week postpartum appointment. It was weird to walk out after my appointment and walk right past the appointment desk. It was a bitter sweet moment. But a good feeling also. Our check in time is 7:30 am on Monday. That is perfect because I don't have to get up to early. Maybe a half hour early so I can shower with the special soap again. Then get Bryan up and out the door for school. Ethan can have a chance to have some breakfast if he is hungry before we leave for the hospital. I will be sure to update as soon as we can. Hopefully this weekend is relaxing and uneventful. And fingers crossed that Monday goes well for us.


Thursday, June 3, 2010

Spent the evening in Labor & Delivery

We spent the evening in labor and delivery Thursday night. Baby and I are both fine. We just had a little scare. A combination of things made me uneasy and Ethan and I thought it was best to go in and be monitored. Better safe then sorry. We are both glad we went in and are thankful everything ended up being ok.

So here is why we went in. I spent all day not feeling well. I was overly hot. There was nothing I could do to cool myself down. I went to the library and had the AC cranked in my car and was still sweating. I was feeling very fatigued and hot and was totally unable to sleep because of the discomfort when I tried to take a nap. I took my temp and it was 99.0 which isn't very high. But I felt much hotter then that and my face was flushed. There is feeling hot because it is summer. There is feeling hot because you are pregnant in the summer. Then there was what I was feeling. I was just way to hot and worried about fever and infection. Because we don't know what is causing my low fluid levels my OB told me to come in any time I was running a fever. Just in case there is a small leak that we have not seen. Then there would be a risk of infection and we wouldn't want to mess around with that.

Plus I have been having all that pelvic pain. My OB confirmed that it is just from SPD and is nothing to worry about. Thankfully my discomfort will be short lived since my c-section is on Monday. But to be on the safe side and because of the fever feeling I thought I better ask.

Third and the biggest reason I went in was because of lack of movement from the baby. Usually in the evenings after eating dinner he is pretty active. Breakfast and supper make him the most wild. He was fine this morning but had gradually gotten quieter as the day went on. After supper he didn't start moving. I did a kick count and he had only moved twice in 2 hours. And they were not his usual strong kicks either. They were more like nudges. This child doesn't nudge ... ever.

So between the pain and my not feeling well all day and finally the change in movement from the baby we decided to go in. Those were the warning signs my OB had told me to come in for. So we dropped Bryan off at my in laws house and headed to the hospital.

They got me right into a room and I got changed. The nurse came in and asked what brought me in tonight. And I started sobbing. Not sniffle sniffle tear I am a little worried cry. Nope I did the ugly cry. I started sobbing and apologizing for sobbing. She was SUPER nice to me and told me not to be sorry. Pregnancy hormones are hard enough to deal with but then you add in worrying about baby and it is all very over whelming. She calmed me down pretty quickly and I was able to tell her what was going on. By the time Ethan came in I was just sniffling. And him being there calmed me enough to stop crying.

The nurse hooked me up to the monitors and a blood pressure cuff. Of course as soon as I was hooked up to the monitors this little stinker decided to prove me wrong and put on one heck of a show. He was all over the place. A doctor came in to take more info from me. He started palpating around my pelvis to find out where the pain was. He was about to give up when he hit the spot. I almost smacked his hand. I was like no ... no ... no ... OUCH! People came in to take blood and I gave a urine sample. A different doctor brought in an ultrasound machine to check on fluid levels. They were of course very low.

Luckily for us my OB just happen to be working over nights in labor and delivery this week. He came in to let us know what was going on. He said the baby looked great on the NST. Like I said he put on a show. He looked good on the ultrasound despite the lack of fluid as usual. My OB said yes the pain was from SPD but I am lucky cause it will be short lived pain. All my blood work and urine samples came back ok. There was one left they were waiting on. But he said I should be able to go home as soon as it came back. He did not think there was any reason to deliver tonight. We would just continue with our plan of last appointment on Friday and c-section Monday if I was comfortable with that. At that point I was fine. Baby looked good and I didn't seem to have an infection. So I was happy to go home and rest instead.

I can not tell you how happy I was that he was there and came in to talk to us. I really love my OB and he definitely puts me at ease. He said he was happy that I came in even though everything was fine. I did exactly what he told me to do if I was concerned. And thankfully there was a good outcome. Ethan and I both agreed that we are happy that we went in for nothing. Verses not going in and something being wrong with me or the baby. I would rather feel dumb and over protective then have any regrets. And my OB agreed with that.

So it was a long wild ride. It took forever to get that last lab back so that I could go home. But I am so happy that everything is ok. I will go to my last appointment Friday afternoon. Then I am going to try and take it easy all weekend. Rest, relax and prepare for Wyatt's arrival on Monday. Let's hope that is the last of the drama for this pregnancy and little Mr. Wyatt.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Nothing new

Nothing new to report today. Nothing exciting happened at my check. And I am NOT complaining! LOL My fluid levels did go down from 5.3 on Friday to 4.8 today. But that is not the lowest it has been. It is still close to normal. And Wyatt seems to continue to do fine in there. I saw a midwife today since my OB is working overnights in labor and delivery all week. I am glad he felt comfortable enough to let me see a midwife. And she is super nice so I don't mind seeing her at all. She said as long as I wasn't having contractions then she didn't need to check me. Which is good too. Who needs all those people up their hoo ha? So everything seems to continue to be fine.

I scheduled my next appointment for Friday afternoon. It will be my LAST appointment before Wyatt arrives on Monday. HOLY CRAP! That was really exciting and scary and just plain wild all at the same time. Friday we will do another BPP. They also want to do one last growth scan on Friday. Just going to check and see how much he has grown in 2 weeks and give us a guess as to how big he will be on Monday. Sometimes they are WAY off and sometimes they are dead on. So I guess we will see what happens. As long as he appears to have grown since the last one all is good. They will give me the low down on what I need to do to prepare over the weekend for my c-section. My OB and I kind of went over it at my 34 week appointment when we scheduled the first c-section. Jeez ... I just realized I am on my third scheduled c-section. First one was for June 21st, then May 31st and now June 7th. Let's hope everything goes well for the rest of the week and we can just stick with that last one.



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Friday, May 28, 2010

FINALLY GOOD NEWS!!!

We have finally got some good news at today's check. Baby is still doing well on NST. He slept through the first 10 minutes. Then the nurse turned on the radio and he instantly started bouncing around in there. I guess he likes Taylor Swift. Or hates her ... either way that is twice now her music has got him moving around.

I went for the ultrasound next. The tech said there seemed to be an improvement from 3.2 on Wednesday to a 3.7 today. Then he jumped up and yelled "Wait a minute ... WAIT A MINUTE!" Scared the crap out of me but he looked happy so I wasn't to worried. He showed me a very nice pocket of fluid that he found once he convinced Wyatt to move around a little bit. This pocket measured at a 5.3 level. He said that was REALLY good and sent me on my way to see my doctor.

I met with my doctor and I told him the tech and told me he found a good pocket. So my doctor pulled up the results on the computer. He jumped back in his chair and cheered! HA HA HA That is the most excited I think I have ever seen him and he is a very up man. He said that anything between 5 - 25 is considered "normal" and a 5.3 puts us back in the normal range! He thought last week when we were pretty much at a 0 that it would take a miracle to get my fluid levels back up to an acceptable level. Well I guess we got our miracle. Thank God!

So we have a new game plan now. I go back on Tuesday and Friday next week to be monitored. He wants to continue to make sure that baby is doing well. He wants to check to see that the fluid level is either increasing or at the very least holding steady. Fingers crossed that it does. Because we don't know what caused this, why it is reversing or if it will happen again he still wants to do a c-section earlier then first planned. But he thinks it is safe to let baby stay put until 37 weeks so that he can make it to full term. We scheduled the c-section for June 7th at 7:30am!

The only bad news was that I did test positive for group B strep. Bummer! But all that means is they will give me antibiotics at the time of the c-section. It is rare for it to get to baby during a c-section but we are not taking ANY chances with this baby's health.

So woohoo!!!! Thank you to every one for the prayers, well wishes and finger crossing. It worked and we got the miracle we were looking for. Thank you!


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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Wednesday Update

Everything is pretty much the same. The NST went mostly well. They had trouble keeping track of him again. The first lady did a great job. The last two have struggled a bit. I have a squirmy child that just doesn't want to be spied on. He had good accelerations but afterward he decelerated a few times. My doctor is going to just keep an eye on that. He is happy that at least he accelerated first. So for now it is just watch and see.

The BPP went pretty much the same. He has gained a little bit of fluid. On Monday he was at a 2 and today his fluid level was at a 3.2 which is better. It is still way to low but it is an improvement. If we can get it up above a 6 my doctor might put let him stay inside a little bit longer. But he is not holding out hope for that.

I go back on Friday and Monday. They are booked all week for c-sections so I will have to be added on some where. My doctor is trying to get a hold of the OB I had during my last pregnancy to see if he would be willing to come in on the holiday to assist with the c-section. He said with it being a holiday on Monday they number of people around will be lower then normal. He would feel better if he could get just one more doctor in with him since this will be a preterm birth. Better safe then sorry he says. So there is a chance Wyatt will be delivered Monday afternoon. It all depends on how things go over the next few days. Of course if at any point he is not doing well they will do a c-section and get him out right away.

After my appointments I went and had lunch and then headed to my work's main office. I needed to speak to some one in HR. I dropped off my paperwork to approve my maternity leave. I let her know what was going on and had her adjust the dates of my maternity leave. She told me if I need any extra time beyond the 12 weeks I am taking to just let her know. If baby is not ready for me to return to work or if I am not ready to leave him mid August then we can work out a couple more weeks of personal leave. I have more then enough sick time and PTO to cover 12 weeks and a couple extra if I need them. So I will still get paid all summer and my insurance premiums are covered too. I made sure she knew I wanted to use sick time and PTO for my leave. So that will kick in this pay period. I am so glad I got that all taken care of. She was super nice and understanding of what is going on right now. It was a HUGE relief to get that all squared away. Now I can relax a lot more and just worry about baking this baby longer.

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Monday, May 24, 2010

35 week update

I went back to the clinic for testing again today. Everything is pretty much the same as it was on Friday. There still is little to no fluid around the baby. But he continues to tolerate that well.

I had a biophysical profile done this afternoon. He scored a 6 out of 8. The tech said he would have scored a full 8 out of 8 if he had the proper amount of fluid. But he has almost none. So that is why his score was a little lower. How ever his heart rate looked great. She showed me the rise and fall of his chest as he practiced breathing. He continues to have fluid in his belly and bladder. So there is some in there some where because he continues to pee it out and swallow it again. Isn't it nummy that babies do that? Ick! LOL

The NST today was a royal pain in the toosh. It took the lady forever to find his heartbeat. I am glad I had the ultrasound first or I would have started freaking out. Every time she would find it he would shift and she would lose it again. She buzzed him once because she didn't think he was awake enough. *eye roll* That didn't help at all. LOL My entire belly was covered with that ooey gooey ultrasound gel. I was laying back and half on my side propped up with pillows for 40 minutes. And she still didn't have a great chart. But my doctor came in and watched for a bit and saw two great rises while he was there. So he was satisfied that he was doing well.

My doctor did the strep B test. That was lovely (said with as much sarcasm as possible) It wasn't awful but it was weird. I could do with out it and I am glad it is not something they do every single time.

My urine test was negative. So no protein in my urine. WOOHOO! My blood pressure while still a tad elevated is lower then it was last week. Also a good thing. So no preeclampsia which is a good thing. But that was the only thing they had to go on for the fluid loss. So now we are back to having no idea why this is happening.

My doctor joked that I need to give him just one more reason to take this baby. JUST ONE MORE! LOL Anything else along with the low fluid and he would take the baby out. But both baby and I are doing fine despite the fluid issue. He is stuck between wanting to get this baby OUT because of the fluid levels and wanting to let him stay put until 36 weeks to give him a better chance on the outside world. He asked for our opinion and I told him as long as baby as well then I really want to make it to 36 weeks. But we are not comfortable with going past 36 weeks with no fluid. I just don't know how well he can continue to do and for how long. And my doctor has no idea either. So I guess it just continues to be take it one day at a time and try and get to a safer place.

So back to the clinic every other day. Continued monitoring. Next Monday we will meet again and decide what day next week Wyatt will be delivered. Hopefully he can make it until then safe and sound. And hopefully he will do well when he comes out. Fingers crossed and keep praying. It seems to be working for us. Thank you!

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Friday, May 21, 2010

Update and Game Plan

I feel like the last 2 days have been a blur. Things changed so quickly. Thankfully they do not seem to be as bad as we had feared and we have a game plan in place now.

The first ultrasound I had done showed a small pocket of fluid. The ultrasound I had done today how ever showed no fluid at all. He does still have some in his stomach and bladder but none around him. There is a chance there is still a pocket of fluid underneath him that the ultrasound was not able to find. But we are not counting on that. The ultrasound showed him measuring at 5 pounds 11 ounces right now with great breathing movements.

My OB checked me for signs of rupture. My cervix is still closed nice and tight and there was no sign of amniotic fluid leaking. He does not think my water broke but does not have an answer to where all that fluid went. There was more then enough fluid 2 weeks ago when I had an ultrasound to check position of baby. Now there is none. He consulted with a few doctors from his practice and they are baffled as to both what happened to the fluid and what is causing the fluid loss.

My blood pressure was still elevated today. My urine test from Thursday was negative for protein. I will be doing a 24 hour urine collection over the weekend to make sure. Since my blood pressure is still elevated and I have had puffy hands and feet they are worried I am on the verge of developing preeclampsia. That is the only explanation they can come up with for the fluid loss. But even that is just a guess.

The NST showed that Wyatt is tolerating the lack of fluid very well. They only need two rises in 20 minutes. He had like 4 in 5 minutes. I lost count of how many rises he had by the end of 20 minutes. The nurse commented after a while on how at first it was great but now he is just showing off. LOL His heart rate is great and he is still moving around a lot in there. Both good signs.

I will be going in to the clinic every few days for monitoring. Hopefully he will continue to do well with out fluid. If he does not then he will be delivered right away. If they find protein in my urine he will be delivered right away. One stress on the baby they can deal with. But they are unwilling to put him through 2 stresses at the same time. The plan is to keep him in until he reaches 36 weeks and then deliver him. They don't want him in there to long with out any fluid. But as long as he is still doing ok they want him to stay put until 36 weeks. That way he will have a little more time to grow, lungs to mature more, for him to get stronger and bigger. If by some miracle my fluid levels go up to at least a 6 then they will allow him to stay put longer. 38 or 39 weeks if possible. But they do not think that will happen. So it is just a matter of getting through the next week and a half.

Hopefully if he makes it to 36 weeks he will be fine. Maybe a day or two in the level 2 nursery but he should be able to avoid the NICU all together. God willing he will be able to come home with us when I am released after my c-section. If not hopefully only an extra day or two in the hospital. Bryan was born at 36 weeks and 6 days and came home with me with no problems. Hopefully Wyatt will do just as well or better. (Bryan had a little trouble regulating his temp right after birth)

I have started my maternity leave early. Because of my blood pressure and the low fluid levels I need to relax as much as possible. I'm not stuck to my bed or anything. Just lay low and drink lots of fluids. I had two weeks left before my maternity leave started but not anymore. We all agreed it would be better for me to quit working early so I can rest and try to keep my blood pressure down. I would have only been able to work one more week before he was born. So I was giving up at least one week anyway.

I have a big list of things I want to complete before Wyatt comes and little more then a week to complete them now. Thankfully I have Ethan and Bryan to help me. Bryan is a young strapping boy who can do all the bending and heavy lifting for me. LOL I checked out some books from the library so I can read up on preemies. Hopefully he will be just fine but I want to be prepared just in case there are any problems. Fingers crossed and prayers if you have to spare that everything will turn out ok for us.



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Thursday, May 20, 2010

34 Week OB Appointment

I have good news and bad news from this mornings OB appointment. The good news is we finally scheduled the c-section! I will be having a repeat c-section on June 21, 2010 at 10am!!! I am SOOOOO excited to finally have a date set! I have been well aware that I would need another c-section for a while now and trying to prepare for it. But I didn't have a date. Which was driving me totally nuts. Now I have a date. I know that no matter what happens in the next few weeks he will be here in a month from tomorrow! WOOHOO! I am still hoping I go into labor on my own before then. I don't really want to go to 39 weeks. Bryan was born at 37 weeks. So I am hoping this baby will come some where in between those two. 38 weeks would be perfect! Fingers crossed! LOL

The "interesting" news is that I am still measuring WAY ahead. Since 28 weeks my fundal height has been measuring 5 weeks ahead. I will be 35 weeks tomorrow and my belly is measuring at 40 weeks today! EEEK! I am going back to the clinic this afternoon for a growth scan ultrasound to see just how big he really is. My doctor thinks it is because he is breech and just sitting very high in my pelvis. But I told him I thought that he had dropped recently because the kicks have been MUCH lower then usual. I have also had a lot more kicks to my bladder, cervix, rectum and now what feels like the inside of my hip bone. So he wants to clear it up and find out if it is just position or if he is actually as large as a Mack truck. LOL I am excited to see him again. Maybe I will get lucky and get some pictures again. Fingers crossed again!

The bad news ... ick ... is my blood pressure is elevated. It was 146/84 the first time the nurse took it and 136/84 half an hour later when the doctor took it. I noticed on Saturday that my hands and feet were feeling really puffy. I took my blood pressure at work that night. One of the perks of working in a health care setting! It was in the 140s/90s but went down as the evening went on. It has been elevated the since then and I was well prepared for it to be up at this appointment. And unfortunately I was right and it is elevated. ICK! I had a headache yesterday and it is still lingering a bit today but it is not a bad headache. But then I have suffered from migraines since I was 14 years old. So I may not be the best judge of what is painful. I can put up with a lot of head pain before I am down and in bed. So when I come back for the ultrasound I will do a urine test.

After both I will meet with my doctor to go over the results. Hopefully no protein in my urine and not an overly large baby. LOL I swung by work to let my supervisor know that I would be late coming to work today because of the appointments. She thought I was coming in to tell her I was going on leave 2 weeks early. LOL She was so relieved when I told her I was going to be 1 or 2 hours late for work today. HA HA HA Fingers crossed that I don't have to come back later and tell her I need to go on leave early cause of x,y and z. I will update later and let everyone know how things turned out. I won't be able to do it until after work. But I will as soon as I can!




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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Prenatal Massage

I had my very first massage today. It was my birthday present to myself. The massage was fantastic! They had special cushions for me to lay on so that I could lay face down. The cushions had enough of an indent for my belly with out making you feel like you were going to fall through to the floor. I forgot how much I love laying on my belly. *sigh* When she was done with my back I flipped over and she worked on my face, neck, shoulders, arms and legs. She spent extra time on my arms and hands because of the carpal tunnel I have been suffering from. I had no idea how amazing having my arms, wrists and hands massaged could feel. I think that was my favorite part! I was bummed when it was over. The room was warm, quiet, dark, the table was comfy and the tangerine aromatherapy smelled awesome. She helped me sit up. Which was interesting while being this pregnant. I started laughing. I sat at the end of the table not wanting to get dressed and leave the little cocoon she had created. But ya can't stay there forever and the best part was over with. I think I have decided that from now on I will get a massage for every birthday. It really was an amazing way to treat myself on my special day.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Baby Shower!!!

I had my baby shower on Saturday thrown by my friends. It was really great and I had a lot of fun. I was so happy to see the people there and so thankful that they came to celebrate with us. My mother in law, mother and grandmother were also able to join us. We played games and ate yummy food and cake. I opened presents and got all kinds of goodies. We are set for diapers for a while now. I hope. LOL The grandmas got to open their gifts from baby Wyatt.

On my way out to the shower I noticed that it began to rain. Not heavily as it had been doing off and on all morning. Just a nice light sprinkle. I am sure most people get upset when it rains on special days. But it makes me very happy to see the rain. In my teens a song came out called Holes in the floor of heaven. Steve Wariner sang it. The chorus is:

"
'Cause there's holes in the floor of Heaven
and her tears are pourin' down
that's how you know she's watchin'
wishin' she could be here now
And sometimes if you're lonely
just remember she can see
there's holes in the floor of Heaven
and she's watchin' over you and me"

Ever since then I have noticed when important things happen to me it rains. Graduation, Bryan's birth, our wedding day. It flooded in Nevada the night we got married! LOL So when ever it rains it just reminds me that the loved ones who have passed and can not be here physically are still very much with us for the important events. And so when it started to rain on my way out there I sobbed. LOL But it was a happy cry because I felt them with me.

Between baby showers, gift cards and me getting up far to early for Wal-mart shopping trips, I am pretty sure we are ready for this baby. We have every thing we need. He just needs to bake for another 3-4 weeks before he can come out. 7 at the absolute most! LOL

So I share with you some pics from the shower!


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Beth, Tracy and Ruth
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Janet, Candace, Samantha and me
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Mom, Grandma and Jane
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Grandma Judy
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Grandma Janet
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The nursing cover Candace made for me.
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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Birth Review Class

We had our first child birth review class tonight. It went pretty well. There was only one other couple there. I was worried they are going to be fruit cakes but they were really cool. They were a tish older then us but still close enough to enjoy our time with them. It was nice to have a smaller group because it felt more personal and we got to ask what ever questions we wanted to. The other couple also had a c-section the first time. So it was nice to have that in common with her. She had to give birth very early last time. So she hadn't gone through any labor like I had last time but we still had a lot in common.

We went through the general stuff like anatomy and the different phases of labor. The teacher took us for a tour of labor and delivery, the maternity ward and both the level 1 nursery and the level 2 nursery. There is a NICU but it is in a different building across town. Hopefully we will not have to ever see that nursery. I remember the recovery area very well. That is where I spent all of my time before Bryan was born. It doesn't really look any different 12 years later. LOL

Last time I had decided not to get a private room. It cost extra money and I thought it was silly to pay extra for a private room. Well I was horribly wrong. It sucked sharing a room with some one else while trying to recover from surgery. They only had 1 tv per room back then. So I had to give her the tv so she could watch her baby in the NICU on the monitors. How could I have possibly told her no? No matter how bored out of my flipping mind I was. So I made sure to say that YES I wanted private room this time around. Well tonight just confirmed that idea. We didn't really get to look into the private rooms much. They were all full tonight. How ever we did get to tour the double rooms. They are TINY. The room in general is not small. But when you put 2 strangers in that room it is far to tiny. Ethan would be unable to spend the night ever if we have to share a room. But he has the option to stay the night if we have a private room. He may or may not stay with us but it would be nice to at least have the option. Plus being there for 4 whole days really just makes me want my privacy. Even if we don't get a private room right away we may have a double room to ourselves. And if a private room opens later we would have first dibs on it. Fingers crossed that the maternity floor is not busy when we get there and we can just have our private room from the start.

So it was fun and we learned some new things. I enjoyed the tour. The other couple seems pretty cool and the teacher was easy to talk to. I hope to have her job some day. I have wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse for years. I think it might be fun to teach a birthing class some day too. If I ever finish school maybe it will be an option. LOL But for now I am uber excited about birth and our first few days. I can't wait to go there and get to meet Wyatt finally.

Monday, May 3, 2010

32 weeks

I am rather slow on getting this blog post out. It has been eventful but all in good ways. I am now at 32 weeks. Wyatt should be roughly 4 pounds at this point. We are both still doing well thankfully. I had my doctor appointment today with a midwife. She was wonderful. I was worried since this was my first appointment that was not with my OB. But the midwife was great and made me very comfortable. My blood pressure continues to be great. Which continues to be a relief to me. My weight is down again by 4 pounds. While most woman are gaining a pound a week I seem to be losing a pound a week instead.

My belly is again measuring big. Last time I was 28 weeks but my belly was measuring at 33 weeks. This time I am 32 weeks and my belly is measuring a whopping 37 weeks! Crazy! He might be a little big but they think it is mainly because he is breech and still sitting very high in my belly.

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The midwife did an ultrasound to double check and yes he is very much breech. I told her about his efforts to flip himself over and how much they hurt. She said that it sounded like he was at the point where he will be stuck head up. I go back in 2 weeks to meet with my OB. We will then set up a birth plan and schedule the c-section. I am starting to get excited about it now. It is so much easier for me to have a plan then to just leave it all up in the air. I hate that.

I have been suffering from carpal tunnel pretty bad in the last 2 weeks. I have trouble sleeping and wake up very early due to the tingling. numb pain. It is in both wrists but by far it is worse in the left wrist. I have been wearing braces at night and that has helped a lot but not completely. I asked the midwife today for any more ideas besides Tylenol and the braces. She recommended that I ice my wrists. I can put the ice right over the top of the braces if I want to. I am suppose to do it at night before I go to bed and first thing in the morning when I get up. Or PRN when the pain is really bad. She said the ice should help reduce the inflammation that is causing the carpal tunnel symptoms. If that does not work and I just can not bear it anymore she will get me in for cortisone shots. But the pain is still bearable now and I am assuming with the ice it will be better.

I explained to the midwife that I was starting to have some pain on the right side of my face. I have had a couple of sinus infections in the past. Allergies suck! This feels like the beginning of another one. The pain started Sunday morning. She went ahead and wrote me a prescription. I am really glad she did. I took the first of 3 doses tonight. A few hours later the pain got worse. I don't feel horrible but I am in more pain now then I was before. Why does it seem like those buggies feel the need to put up a fight once you introduce an antibiotic? I'm melting ..... ha ha ha! So anyway I hope that I will be feeling better in the morning. Hopefully we have nipped it in the butt before it had a chance to really put me in pain and misery.

I dropped my maternity leave paperwork off at the front desk. I guess the secretary fills the paper work out. Then takes it to your doctor to sign. Then they mail it in to where ever it is suppose to go. I will have to check with HR in a couple of days to make sure they were completed and turned in. But that is one less thing on my mind for now.

After my appointment I went down to the registration desk. We are now preregistered for the birth. WOOHOO! Check another thing off my to do list. She asked if a private room was available would I want one. It costs extra and the extra cost is not covered by insurance. I said HECK YA! I hated sharing a room last time. It was miserable. So if I get the chance and I really hope we do. I would really love to have a private room this time. Especially after a c-section. It is just no fun to try and relax and heal and bond with your baby when somebody else friends and family are busy visiting on the other side of the curtain. People are rudely loud at 8 am. LOL

I meandered over to the next building. That is where labor and delivery is. Also the maternity ward and nursery of course. Our birth class is right across the hall from labor and delivery. We start our classes on Wednesday. I am really excited and wanted to make sure I knew where it was I was going. So I just snooped a bit. I didn't actually go up onto the floor. I just found the elevators and checked out the map. I am pretty sure I know where we are going now.

After all of that I headed to work. I thought I was going to a work meeting. I really didn't want to go since it was my day off. I was tired and really just wanted to go back home and go to sleep. Or at least go pick up my prescription and shop a little bit. But I dragged my butt in there. And I am really glad I did! They through me a surprise baby shower! I had no idea it was happening and really had no idea it was going to be during the meeting. The first part was the shower and the second the meeting. So I totally got paid for attending my own baby shower! LOL There was food and cake and gifts. It was really great. A few of my friends that used to work at that house but had moved to other houses showed up. It was really sweet and I almost cried. I got some great baby gifts and had a really good time. Here I was afraid I would not get a single baby shower this time around. Now I will have had two!

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I really appreciate every one coming and helping me celebrate. Even if I was totally unaware it was happening! LOL