Life Is Good: Weekly Update

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Weekly Update

Weeks Pregnant: 23 weeks 4 days

Weeks to Go: 6 weeks 3 days till 30 weeks, 8 weeks 3 days till 32 weeks, 10 weeks 3 days till 34 weeks, 12 weeks 3 days till my ultimate goal of 36 weeks, 15 weeks 3 days till the farthest I'm allowed to go, 39 weeks.

Gender: Boy...Evan Alexander Stanfill

Baby Statistics: We haven't been to the Perinatologist in a couple weeks, so I don't have any accurate measurements. However, with our last ultrasound Evan was measuring right at 1 pound and on target for exactly 22 weeks.

Movement: He's been pretty quiet the last few days

Momma's Ever-Changing Body: At my OB appointment last week I showed a 1/2 pound weight loss, so that puts my weight gain right at 14 pounds +/- 1/2 a pound. I'm still round in the middle :) I'm losing some muscle tone because of bedrest, but that's to be expected. I've read that it can take up to 6 months to a year for a bedrest mommy to fully re-gain her strength, muscle tone and energy.

Belly Button/Stretch Marks: Flatty and...yes...no you can't see either!

Food Cravings: No cravings this week...no aversions either. Although as I write this, a great big salad and a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese icing for dessert sounds pretty good.

Sleep: I find that if I sleep in the right bed I can sleep great. The "right" bed lately has been the twin bed in Ryan's room, but I don't want him getting used to me sleeping in there all the time.

Projects: I'm still working on the blanket for Evan. Crocheting while laying flat isn't as comfortable as when sitting up, so I can only work on it for a few minutes before my arms start hurting. I just hope I can finish it before he gets here. I'm also working on a couple of pacifier holders for a couple of friends. A new little boy was recently born and is in Mercy's NICU. Please pray for little Blake. He was born at about 30 weeks weighing 2 lb 15 oz. I haven't heard lately how he's doing, but last I knew he was doing okay.

Coming Up: I have a doctor's appointment with the Perinatologist on Wednesday morning. I'll also be at 24 weeks on Wednesday...medically speaking that's considered the point of viability. It's actually a pretty big milestone.

Medications/Doctor's Orders: Strict bedrest. I just started taking Procardia and Brethine for contractions. The Procardia is a blood pressure medicine that is often prescribed in pregnancy, but I'm uncertain as to how it works. All I know is that it lowers my blood pressure and I already have fairly low BP so I have to be careful when getting up. I had a pretty bad headache with it the first day, but the side effects have faded away now. The brethine makes my heart race, but that's not a big deal for me. With all of the different asthma meds I've taken through the year I've encountered that side effect off and on numerous times.

Contractions: I have one or two every now and then, but they really seem much less since I've started the meds.

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Brandy Danielle

Brandy is our firstborn, our precious angel baby girl. Her entry into this world wasn't without excitement. At 26 weeks I started preterm labor with contractions 5 minutes apart. With 10 weeks of strict bedrest, most of which were in the hospital, she made it to 36 weeks.
Brandy was diagnosed with "possible/probable" heart defect around 28-30 weeks gestation. After her birth she was whisked away to the NICU for monitoring and after a few days her defect was formally diagnosed and labeled...atrial septal defect and a cleft mitral valve.
Brandy, upon indications of failure to thrive and pulmonary hypertension, underwent her first of 2 open-heart surgeries at 4 months of age. A week after her surgery on the day of her anticipated discharge home Brandy coded for 13 minutes...a stoke.
From that point on Brandy's life was full of doctor's visits, endless crying, pain and suffering. She underwent another heart surgery, fundoplication and g-tube surgery, treatment for infantile spasms, and a mountain of tests and procedures. Her brain damage was extensive.
Upon counseling of our wonderful, most amazing heart surgeon, Dr. Christopher Knott-Craig, and many hours of prayer, we finally called in hospice and called off all of the extensive medical interventions and surgery needs that would prolong her suffering while possibly prolonging her life. Brandy, our precious baby girl...our angel...passed out of our arms and into the arms of her Saviour, Jesus at the tender age of 17 months.

Ryan Andrew

Ryan, our micro-preemie miracle, is a ball of life. After nearly a year of trying to conceive imagine our delight when we finally knew he was on the way. My pregnancy with Ryan was uneventful at first. It seemed perfect and with all of the precautions for preterm labor being taken and monitored we entered this pregnancy with cautious anticipation covered over by a whole love of naive excitement.
At 20 weeks we discovered our "Baby Peanut" was going to be a little boy. We began to make plans and began dreaming about the day we would meet our son.
Almost 2 weeks later everything changed in our lives. It wa a whirlwind of fear and emtions as I began to bleed, was sent for monitoring in L&D and eventually had an appointment with my OB only to find out that it was serious. I had incompetent cervix with hourglassing membranes. The doctor admitted me to the hospital immediately and an emergency cerclage was placed. The statistics were grim, but the hope was to keep our son inside for at least 10 more weeks. We only made it 10 more days.
Early in the evening of February 11, 2007 our son, Ryan, came into this world in emergency fashion at only 23 weeks 5 days gestation. He weighed 1 pound 8 ounces and was 12 ½ inches long. He was so tiny. All I could think of was “oh my goodness is he really that tiny? And is there any way he could actually make it?” I tried to hold on to hope, but in all honesty I had never met anyone with a baby born that early and that small that ever made it.
Ryan did make it! It was a long, hard road, but in the end he spent 90 days in the NICU. He was on a ventilator for 2 months. Finally on one fine glorious day in May we bundled up our 4 pound 4 ounce baby boy and went home...May 11, 2007.
Ryan is now a spunky, lively, strong-willed little boy. His laughter is contagious and his spirit is compelling. He is our miracle. There are no words strong enough to share our delight and joy that God has blessed us with this little boy.

Evan Alexander