Life Is Good: Getting There

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Getting There

Every day that passes I'm getting closer to the day we can have a healthy delivery of a healthy baby boy. Today marks 2 weeks on strict hospital bedrest and I'm now 26+4 weeks pregnant! Hooray! It feels so good to just be this far. I can actually breathe a little. Of course I want to make it so much further. I would love to actually get to take my son home with me this time. I've never had the experience of being wheeled out of the hospital with a baby in my arms. I've always had to leave in tears with my babies tucked into the "arms" of an incubator.

We had an ultrasound yesterday. Everything went great! Evan is looking great. He isn't as big as I was hoping, but he's actually right on target for his gestational age. I was hoping he would measure just a little bit bigger (closer to 2 pounds) for his gestational age in the event of an early delivery, but as long as he's healthy that's really all that matters. He weighs approx. 1 pound 12 ounces. He shared lots of cute facial expressions with us..."kissing", yawning, sucking his thumb, smiling. He was so cute. Hospital bedrest is helping...my cx measurement has improved from 0.5 to 1.7. Still considered short, but so much better. Goal #1: 30 weeks! and at this point I really think we can make it. Woohoo!

My OB was pleased with the results and for the first time in two weeks he talked about the possibility of making it to term or very near. Previously he's only talked in "day at a time" terms. He actually said that if I'm still pregnant (and no further complications arise) he will send me home at 32 weeks. I have mixed emotions about that, but I'll take it. Part of me would rather stay until 34/36 weeks, but I'll go with whatever he feels is best.

1 comment:

Hilary said...: The sono pictures are very sweet!! So glad that you got a good report and your cervix is doing so good too!! That would be great too make it to 34 or 36 weeks YOU CAN DO IT!!! :); April 7, 2010 at 1:14 PM

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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