The Professor's Turn

***Warning: Photos of a minor injury***
I am so over going to the doctor and/or hospital right now.  Don't get me wrong, I am very thankful for access to great health care, I am just tired of going. Ha!  Yesterday the poor Professor fell onto a vacuum cleaner attachment and cut a small chunk out of his lip.

It was not bleeding a whole lot but there was a creepy flap of skin. Every time he moved it moved.  It kinda freaked me out.  I called our family doctor and he said to take him to the ER. Again, I loaded up all 4 kids and off we went.  I had to nurse the Linebacker in yet ANOTHER hospital.  Yuck!  Anyways, the doctor there said he did need a few stitches.  The Professor was a very, very unhappy camper.  One juice box and a chocolate chip cookie later...he was back to Stylin'

Next week...no doctors and no hospitals...please?

RSV. Part 4

After that amazing half-smile, things slowly improved, but not until after a long, hard night.  He still had the feeding tube and cpap machine on.  He had not eaten in 40+ hours though.  A feeding tube bypasses the stomach so even though he was getting the calories he needed, he had no sensation of being full.  Well, I called in a nurse after they removed the Cpap machine and we rearranged all the tubes and cords and made it so I could squash a chair right next to his crib and hold him.  That was an amazing, amazing moment.  He calmed instantly once he was in my arms.  But then, he recognized my smell and feel and started trying to nurse.  He was still unable to and it was making him inconsolable so I had to lay him down.  That actually calmed him but it broke my heart.  Then he realized he was hungry and the crying started.  He cried and cried and cried.  At my wits end, I called a nurse and said there had to be something we could do for him.  As weird as it sounds, they brought my 2 tablespoons of breastmilk and a pacifier.  I could dip the paci in the milk and let him suck on it.  He was in Heaven.  He "drank" about one tablespoon one drop at a time and fell sound asleep.  I had to repeat the process with him numerous times throughout the night.  The next day he was simply ravenous so the doctor said I could bottle feed him.  He started with one ounce.  At the moment that was enough.  By the end of the same day he was up to 6 ounces at a time!  They removed his feeding tube and began to wean him off the high flow oxygen.  Unfortunately we moved a bit too fast and he took a step back.  They increased the flow for about 12 hours and tried it again.  This time, his stats remained steady and he passed his blood gas tests again!  Once he sustained that for 12 hours, they put him on regular oxygen and we moved to regular floor.  Bye PICU!  My husband knew I needed to spend time with the other kids and get some solid sleep so he came to spend a special night with the Linebacker.  They hung out and watched HGTV.  But that night he polished off all the milk I had pumped.  And when my husband tried formula, the Linebacker would have nothing to do with it.  So I had to load up the kids and rush back down after only being gone about 12 hours.  Thankfully, the Linebacker was to be released that day around 4:30.  5 nights and 6 days in the hospital, one ambulance ride, 2 ER rooms, 3 rooms in the hospital, 3 nights in PICU, 5 IV attempts and over 10/heel pricks later our son was HOME! 

RSV. Part 3

Arriving in the PICU was seriously unnerving for me.  I was all alone.  My husband and kids were at church one hour away.  And there I am, all alone.  Our baby boy is hooked up to high flow oxygen, is getting deep suctioned, poked in the heel and hooked up to even more monitors.  What happens next is a bit hazy and jumbled.  I know he was going downhill.  He was no longer even attempting to eat.   It took 5 failed attempts to get his IV placed.  I know his O2 stats were in the uppers 80's, his bpm ratae was about 60+ and his heart rate was over 180.  No one was happy.  His monitors were constantly going off and sounding alarms.  The only bit of good news was the nursing staff informing me I could get his meals since I was breastfeeding.  I had not had anything since Cheetos and Diet Pepsi the night before.  I was shaky from both hunger and fear and worried my milk supply would drop off.  Eventually my husband and kids arrived and the doctors began talked about a Cpap machine because the High Flow oxygen was just not enough.  They told us they would do it soon.  My husband and the kids left again because we did not want them to witness how upset the Linebacker would get.  And oh did he get upset.  But after the Cpap is when it really got scary.  They did another heel prick to check his blood gas.  Normal is about 40 and his was 72 which meant that he was not expelling the carbon dioxide.  They began talking about a ventilator and what would happen with an emergency intubation.  And then...it got scarier.  The Lineback quit fighting.  Nothing scared me or hurt me more than that.  They'd prick him and he would just give a small whimper, whereas before it took 2 to hold him down.  The doctor told me he was giving him one more hour, max, before a ventilator.  Putting him on would require total sedation and no picking him up.  I literally just sat next to his crib hitting "refresh" and watching people pray for him via Facebook.  Then, I firmly believe a miracle happened.  With no real medical reason, ALL his stats started improving. We had been less than 30 minutes away from a ventilator.  Now, the Cpap machine was going to be enough!  They did end up placing a feeding tube.  While I hated that he needed the tube, I was thrilled because my pumped breastmilk was going into him again.  Breastmilk is filled with goodness to make him better and give him the nutrition he needs.  He was on the Cpap for over 24 hours.  During that time I really could not hold him.  There were machines on either side of his crib and the cords are short.  I did lift him a few times just to let him feel me.  I would stroke what skin I could find on his cheek and head.  I held his tiny little hand and felt those fingers curl around mine.  After about 24 hours he seemed to become alert.  He sought me out with his eyes and gave the sweetest, most perfect, most heart wrenching and heart-filling half smile I have ever seen.  At that moment, I knew our Linebacker was back. 

RSV. Part 2

The ambulance took off and my nerves were really kicking in.  It was my first ambulance ride and to be doing it for our 2 month old baby was scary.  During the trip the nurse was constantly monitoring him.  At one point he began to turn a bit blue so they created an oxygen tent for him.  That was not helping a whole lot and his stats were not looking the best so they gave him another breathing treatment (his third for the day and it was only 10 a.m.).  Thankfully we arrived at the Children's Hospital uneventfully.  We had to go in through the ER which meant more waiting.  We settled into a very small room and the flurry of checking in began.  Answering questions, hooking up to monitors, taking vitals etc.  I let my husband and kids know we were at the new hospital and they decided to come down to visit.  At this point, I was not really even sure they were going to admit us.  A clown stopped by to visit and gave the Linebacker and little blankie.  The doctor ordered another breathing treatment and some x-rays.  Then we just sort of..hung out.  My husband and the kids showed up with clothing, my pump and some other items in case we stayed.  The doctor came in and said they were admitting us overnight so that the Linebacker could continue what they call "supportive care".  That included the deep suctioning they were doing, oxygen and breathing treatments.  My husband and kids helped us transfer to the new room.  It was an awful room.  So tiny and it was a shared room.  We had a toilet and a small sink.  There were 2 cribs and 2 chairs.  The other baby was a 5 week old girl with RSV.  At this point I am still thinking I will be home the next day.  My husband and kids left and my dad showed up to visit.  He left and it got pretty quiet.  More deep suctioning (which the Linebacker hater and I could not watch).  When they deep suction you, they take catheters and place them way deep in your nose and use high powered suction to get the gunk out.  Plus every time he was hungry, I was supposed to call them and have them do that before he ate.  Around 9:30 that night I was so thirsty and so hungry.  I ran to a vending machine and bought Cheetos and a Diet Pepsi.  The Linebacker and I settled in for the night.   Around 2 in the morning, I became very concerned about his breathing and lack of nursing.  He was just crying non-stop and that is not like him at all.  I also thought I was seeing some blue around his lips.  I hit the call button and a nurse came in.  She said she would have the RT (Respiratory Therapist) come in and give him oxygen.  About then the Linebacker fell asleep so I laid him back down.  I sat down to wait on the RT and fell asleep.  1 1/2 hours later I woke up.  I immediately checked on him and his breathing seemed worse.  Frustrated, I called down.  The nurse came back and said she had called.  I told her to call again.  The RT came in and said that he needed oxygen.  I was pretty livid at this point.  I called the nurse again and said he really had not nursed since 8 p.m.  And I had tried to give him a bottle and he drank maybe 1/2 an ounce.  She was not overly concerned.  Still feeling frustrated, I tried to close my eyes again.  Around 5 they came in for more vitals and deep suctioning.  Around 6 they did it again.  Each time, I was expressing my concern.  I felt like he was worsening.  When the shift change took place at 7, a new nurse came in.  I told her I was worried and she jumped into action.  She said none of his stats looked good.  The next thing you know our room is a flurry, or tornado, of activity.  I am not even sure who all these people were.  But there was 8 people hovering over him.  I could not even wedge myself in next to him.  They were increasing oxygen, suctioning him and who knows what else.  The doctor comes over and tries to fill me in on everything but all I hear are the words we don't like the way he looks and intensive care.  And so everything was flung onto a cart and we headed up to PICU.

RSV. Part 1.

What began as a normal week went horribly wrong.  At our sons 2 month check up, he had so much green goop the doctor sent us to the ER.  He was diagnosed with a virus and we were sent home with a suction thingy and saline solution.  Fast forward a few weeks.  The drainage was still there and I thought it seemed like it was worsening a bit.  So on a Thursday morning I called the doctor and took our son in.  The doctor checked him out and when he got to his right ear said, "Uh-oh.  We have a bunch of fluid here."  We left and got some medicine for an ear infection and went about our day.  On Friday, I noticed a loose sounding cough but wrote it off due to the ear infection.  Ear Infections are caused by fluid being trapped in the ear.  That fluid typically comes from a common cold or virus like our son had.  It made sense to me that the medicine was doing it's job and loosening the crud...hence the loose cough.  By night time, I felt like his cough was a bit worse and not so loose sounding.  Again, I sort of wrote it off figuring that by the morning it would be better because he would have 48 hours of antibiotics in him at that point.  I was up and down with him through the night.  Around 4 in the morning he was not nursing well and I felt the first niggles of worry and doubt creep in.  But, he fell asleep and I went back to bed.  I heard him up about 5:30.  My husband, knowing we had had a tough night, got up with him to give a bottle (gotta love having a great pump!).  About 6, he shook me awake and said, "Something is wrong with the Linebacker.  I think you need to take him to ER."  And so it began.  I came out and saw him breathing really hard.  Much, much harder than normal.  His head and legs would go up and his belly down and then vise versa.  His entire body looked like a see-saw.  We could hear a definite rattle when he breathed but it did not sound like a wheeze.  But I decided if we were this worried at 6 a.m., we needed to take him in.  I pumped, downed a quick bowl of cereal, packed 2 cloth diapers and took off, not knowing I'd be gone for the next 5 nights.  Upon arrival I checked him at the ER.  No surprisingly we were the only ones in the waiting area.  We were called back within 2 minutes.  The nurse said, 'Oh he is a congested little guy."  Nodding my head, my thought was, "Phew. At least she doesn't think I am a crazy mom."  Since it was slow things happened pretty quickly.  Vitals, questions and a quick visit from the doctor.  The doctor was immediately worried about his breathing and what she heard from the stethoscope.  She ordered a nasal swab and a visit from a Respiratory Therapist.  They tried one breathing treatment on him with zero change.  About that time, they came in and told me he tested positive for RSV.  I was not overly shocked or even incredibly worried...yet.  Then they said, we need to take him to the Children's Hospital via ambulance.  I made the call to my husband and that is when the fear hit.  I was choked up and worried.  He called into work and told the other kids.  He did not know what RSV was and said he was not exactly worried at that moment in time.  The ambulance service came in and observed our son and took his vitals.  I was then informed we would have a bit of a wait.  I had to go get his car seat for the ambulance stretcher and I tried to get him to nurse.  The ambulance staff came in and told me they were switching to a higher caliber vehicle "just in case".  They were also sending a nurse to ride along with us...."just in case".  I was then prepped on treatments that could take place while en route..."just in case".  They said that babies as young as our son do fine right up until they are no longer fine.  Basically, there is not a real transition, they are fine one minute and then it all goes downhill very quickly.  So myself, our 2 month old son, one driver, one nurse and one other person (not sure of their title) loaded up and took off in the ambulance for the Children's Hospital one hour away.

When a Great Day Goes Bad

Today started off real nice.  Our Linebacker is 2 months old now!  He went to bed last night and he was a bit...snorty.  During the night he a little trouble nursing.  I actually had a job interview this morning and was gone for his first feeding.  When I got home, my husband left and I went to nurse the baby.  He could not latch on and seemed to be breathing awfully hard.  I was worried but we already had his two month check up scheduled.  I pumped and put it in a bottle to take with us.  I dropped the big kids off with my dad, got some gas and then took the Linebacker in for his appointment.  The doctor came in and heard the Linebacker.  He started listening to his chest and watching his belly.  His next words almost stopped my heart.  He said, "Do you feel safe driving?"  I said, "I think so."  He said, "You need to take him to the ER. Now.  If you cannot go straight there I need to get him an ambulance."  I almost lost it.  I heard the words RSV and pneumonia.  My brain was on overload.  I loaded him up, called my dad, my husband and my mom.  We got the ER and ther were expecting us.  They heard him breathing but were not quite as concerned as our doctor.  My mom was there with us and hearing their lack of concern made me feel a bit better.  They did x-rays, tested for RSV and influenza.  Everything came back clear and normal.  But he still seemed yucky, was spitting up a lot and not eating.  They brought in a thing to suck out his nose and they got yellow gunk out.  Immediately he settled and was ready to eat.  Long story short....he had snot.  They said a virus.  A virus that presents as RSV but without complications.  Now we are home and resting and I am totally drained.  To calm myself down.....chocolate and Downton Abbey.

Bless His Heart

Yesterday was our little man's appointment with the pediatric cardiologist.  If you recall, during our pregnancy they had discovered a hole in his heart.  They expected that is a "normal" hole and that no surgery would be needed.  However, I was still very nervous for the appointment.  We got there and of course, he decided he was starving.  One awesome thing about a Children's Hospital...the doctor says, "Oh poor guy.   Go ahead and feed him.  Take all the time you need and just open the door when you are done."  30 minutes later he was done eating and no one was a bit bothered.  They took him right back for the echo on his heart.  He was so unhappy.  I tried a paci, but he has never liked them and did not like it yesterday.  He screamed and cried.  But the tech got what she needed.  Then they wanted to do an EKG.  It was so scary to see all those wires hooked up to his tiny little body.  That test was very quick.  The doctor only kept us waiting about 5 minutes and then came to tell me the results.  The results were what we had expected and prayed for.  The hole does not need surgery.  It is evidently a medium sized hole.  A larger one would need surgery and a smaller one would have possibly escaped notice.  The doctor said no action is needed! Thank you Lord!  We have a follow up appointment in April.  The doctor did say that his hole has a 50/50 chance of healing itself, but that being medium sized it may always be there.  But it will not restrict him or cause any troubles.  We are very relieved and it reinforces that we chose the right name for him (if you know us in person then you know the meaning).
Today our little guy is one month old and I am filled with gratitude to have him here and healthy.

Our Baby is Here!

This pregnancy started off rocky and ended with a bang!  This was the roughest labor but easiest delivery of our 4 kids.  My husband and I had waffled back and forth on our decision to induce 2 days prior to our due date.  We were not inducing for medical reasons so much as to ensure the doctor we trusted would be the one to deliver our son.  After how this delivery went though, we are beyond thankful that we listened to our doctor and allowed the early induction. 
Delivery day:
We arrived at the hospital a few minutes late.  We had taken our time and just enjoyed the drive.  We laughed, talked, worried and tried to envision how the day would unfold.  After check in it felt so chaotic and nothing like the calm feeling we had during the Professor's labor.  They were sort of rushing to get us checked in and settled before the shift change.  There were 2-4 nurses bustling around, attaching monitors and doing the iv and asking all those questions.  Eventually we were settled and they came in around 7:45 to start the Pitocin.  Almost immediately I began feeling small contractions.  They were quite regular too.  However, due to my anterior placenta they could not keep the baby on the monitor.  Literally every 15 minutes or so the alarms would start going off and they'd spend another 5 minutes trying to get him on the monitor.  At one point I had to shimmy myself into this very tight, very uncomfy band to try and keep the monitors extra tight.  It worked.....a little.  The alarms were going off only once every 30 minutes or so now. 
The contractions continued and were getting more noticeable but when they checked me around 11:30 I was still only at a 3 and about 70% effaced.  My husband and I started fretting and worrying that this little man just was not ready to arrive.  Around 12:30 my doctor came in and broke my water.  At that point she said "We have merconium."  My heart sunk.  I had never envisioned hearing that.  Then she went on to say there was a lot of it.  They were worried about what he may have been exposed to.  They placed the internal monitor and my contractions picked up at a rapid pace.  By 1 I was having trouble talking, or even thinking, through them.  But I was hesitant to get the epidural since my progress had been so slow.  However, I decided to go for it since typically my labors have gone quickly after my water has been broken.  I got the epidural and it was a very easy one.  Right afterwards a nurse comes rushing in and tells us that the doctor called and was not happy with the baby's heartrate on the monitor.  I was put on oxygen and flipped to my left side.  By this point I was in tears.  I was scared and really worried about what would happen.  Things seemed to settle down and we sent my sister-in-law after some lunch for my husband.  We figured the baby would arrive by 4:30 or so and I wanted to make sure he did not pass out from lack of food.  A few minutes til 3 the nurse came in and noticed I had the shakes.  She cleared the room and did a cervical check  Immediately she called the doctor.  The nurse then calls in the teams and everything was moving so quickly.  We were complete and ready to meet our little guy.  At 3 the doctor zoomed in.  We were introduced to the respiratory specialist and pediatrician who were standing by in case he had trouble breathing and we were briefed on the fact that he would be whisked away as soon as he was out.  Around 3:05 I was told to push.  At 3:07 he flew out!  It was so fast we could barely process it.  He was whisked away and they pumped 8 cc's of merconium from his belly.  Thankfully he did not have any in his lungs.  After he was pumped and breathing good (about 10 minutes) he was weighed and measured.  He was exactly 9 pounds and exactly 21 inches.   Then we finally got to hold him.  He was so calm and sweet and we just fell in love with him.  My husband and I enjoyed our skin to skin time and relished the calm after what had felt like a rocky labor.  We brought in the siblings and introduced them.  They all loved him but the Hippie was completely smitten by him.  She seems to think he is her baby.  The rest of the family got to meet him and hold him and love on him too. 
Shortly after we thought we were calming down the pediatrician came in and informed us that in addition to the hole in his heart they were hearing a loud murmur and that we might have to get a transfer to the Children's Hospital.  That was so terrifying.  To make a long story short, there was no problem with his heart and we just follow up with his cardiologist in January.  We did have to stay two nights due to his heart, merconium and having a higher birth weight.  On Friday at lunch time my husband and the kids came and picked us up....in the middle of a huge snow storm. 
Our little man certainly came into our lives with a bang!  We are thrilled to have him here and are all falling in love with him more each day.

Better News!

I got a call from my doctor's office later in the day.  My doctor knew how much it meant to me to have her deliver.  She called over herself and got me scheduled for an induction next Wednesday! As much as I would love to go on my own, I know that this is best.  I know my doctor's opinion on c-sections and she knows how much I never want one.  Plus, like I said, she is a Christian.  So it looks like we will have 2 children born in the same state, same hospital and same doctor!  Pretty exciting! 
Yesterday I had a bunch of Braxton Hicks contractions.  Whenever I was sitting they would come regularly but when I'd get up and move, the would completely stop.  Last night I was woken up by real contractions but they fizzled out as well.  Even if I do end up being induced, I am hopeful that these are at least helping me make some progress!
A week from now we could be holding our son!

Mixed News

Sigh.  I had my OB visit this morning.  The good, or rather, great news is that the baby looks healthy and fluid levels are all fine and dandy. 
The rest of the appointment just left me so disappointed.  My doctor hurt her thumb and is having surgery on Wednesday.  So she cannot work for the rest of the week.  During the ultrasound the baby is measuring very normally and not overly large at all.  He could be anywhere from 7-9 pounds right not, but we are definitely not looking at a big 10 pound baby or anything.  So she suggested and induction next Wednesday.  However, when I went to schedule it, the hospital is not doing any inductions on that day because of computer shut down and maintenance.  Well, next Wednesday is my doctors last day of work til 2013.  After all this time with her, she will not be the one to deliver.  I am just so bummed. I really trust her and like her and we have a good rapport.  She is one who helped us through our loss and she has gone above and beyond to help us with this pregnancy.  Plus she is a Christian.  I know it really is not that big of a deal but at this stage I am so tired and emotional it really feels like a big deal to me.
So it looks like our little man will make his appearance at the end of next week unless I go on my own before then.
Today I was 2 cm dialated but still just 60% thinned out.
 

Winding Down

This morning I took all 3 kids to my check up.  It went really well and the kids were so well behaved.  Thankfully these appointments are super fast!  I think we were in and out and buckled back up within 25 minutes.  The doctor said I am still just under 2 cm dialated but that I am 60% thinned out now.  Not quite the progress I would have liked but I will still take it for sure!  I go in on Monday for my next appointment.  The doctor said she will do an ultrasound to check on the baby's size.  About 1 month ago they had him at 6.6 pounds.  The average baby gains about 1/2 pound a week at this point.  In theory, this would put the baby right now at about 8 1/2 - 9 pounds.  Our other babies were 8.5, 8.7 and 9.4 so I think this baby will be on track to be about the same range.  However, the doctor wants to check and make sure he is not getting too big.  She said if he is measuring extra large she may look to set an induction at 39 weeks!  That would be NEXT Friday.  Crazy!  My husband and I will definitely have some discussing to do.  He does not mind an early induction at all, but I have such mixed feelings on it.  I really dislike going early.  However, I was induced with our first and third.  Our 2nd came on her own almost 2 weeks early and she still weighed 8.7.  Anyways, it kinda hit me today that things are really winding down and soon we will be holding our baby.  The only really impending sign I have that the time is drawing close is that my emotions are going crazy.  Today I cried hearing the Mariah Carey Christmas Song "All I Want for Christmas".  LOL!

A Great Day!

I had my (almost) 32 week check up today.  Lo and Behold, my mom had the day off and agreed to watch the kiddos.  We have never really lived near family before and it is SUCH a blessing!  I mean, yes, I could have handled the kids at the appointment but it is wonderful to just sit and think about baby 4.  The appointment went fine.  The doctor asked my concerns and I had two. 
One:  My heartburn has been attacking with vengeance.  I had been controlling it with camomile tea and Tums but that is no longer working.  So we discussed options.
Two:  I am terrified of a c-section.  Not just because of the procedure but because of the healing.  My husband will likely only get 1-2 days off for the baby.  My parents both work.  We use cloth diapers and our washer and dryer are in the basement.  If I had to heal from a surgery I have NO IDEA how we'd make it.  Truly.  I do not know.  So I asked the doctor about options if the baby does not flip.  She explained that they will flip the baby if he does not flip on his own. 
I asked her if she could check and see where she thinks he is. She felt and said, "I am positive that is a head and that he is head down"!  I go on Nov. 6th for an ultrasound so I can have it confirmed then.  I had wondered if he had flipped but it is hard to tell!  SO I am praying she is right and that he is happily head down.
After my appointment I met my parents and the kids for lunch.  The kids were cute and funny and the food was delicious.
I came home and found out my closest friend had had her 6th baby! 
Such a great day!

Good News to Start the Week!

I had the ultrasound for the baby today.  This was a special ultrasound with a Pediatric Cardiologist.  I was stressed about the appointment.  The doctor kept reassuring me this was a normal follow up, but I was nervous.  I asked my dad to drive me.  We got there and I was called back pretty quickly.  The tech spent about 45 minutes trying to get all the pictures and images of our sons heart.  At one point I asked her if everything looked ok and she said the doctor would tell me.  Of course that made me more nervous.  She had told me that the doctor would come in and look over the images and that he would not say much.  So after 45-60 minutes of constant scanning the doctor came in.  He began looking through everything.  After about 10 minutes he asked me to gather my things and follow him to a consultation room.  I take a seat and he starts asking me if there was any history of brain or kidney or heart trouble with any of our kids.  I literally feel like I am passing out.  I feel like the room is tipping and I am bracing for news that will rock my world.  My hands are gripping this table to keep from falling over.  Then he whips out photos of a normal heart.  I am choking up and barely able to speak.  After talking for another minute he says that our son does indeed have a hole in his heart but that it is small and he is not worried.  He wants to do an ultrasound when the baby is a week old and that's it!  He said to enjoy our "precious Christmas gift".  Now those are orders I can follow!

The Follow Up Ultrasound

Today was my follow up ultrasound.  The reason for this was because at the last one the doctor suspected a small hole in our son's heart.  I got a sitter for the Genius and the Professor and took the Hippie with me on a date (of sorts).  I was not a bit nervous for this appointment until I woke up today.  Then I was...nervous.  Very nervous.  It seems like we have never really had a calm during this pregnancy.  The nurse spent a LOT of time measuring his heart, listening to his heart, taking pictures of his heart.  I think it was about 30 minutes of nothing but heart footage.  I was starting for feel pretty icky.  Eventually she had all she needed and she spent about 10 minutes showing of the baby to the Hippie and I as well as measuring fluid levels etc...  She scored some amazing profile pictures of our baby boy!

In the second pic, he actually has 1 finger pointing.  He was SO cute! We saw him moving and grooving all over the place.  We saw him swallow fluid and turn his head.  We saw his arm bones, leg bones, finger bones.  It is miraculous!  At the end of the appointment the doctor came back in and said that the baby is breech, but that he has plenty of time left to flip himself.  He does still have the hole in his heart but they do believe it is a small hole (thank you God).  At some point, the hole should simply heal itself and close up on its own.  At their practice though they practice with caution.  So I coming back every month for a follow up ultrasound.  I also have to go to a Children's Hospital for a pediatric cardiologist to do an ultrasound of his heart.  I am actually thankful for their caution.  Especially since none of these are invasive procedures.  Plus it means we get to keep seeing our baby boy. 
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for our son!  What I experienced today just reinforces that we have chosen the right name for him.  No one but my husband and I will hear the name until he is born.  It is a privilege we give the older siblings.  At his birth they will get to be the first ones in and the first ones to share his name with everyone. 
3 months and 11 days until his official due date.  We cannot wait to meet you Buddy!!!!

Up, Up and AWAY!

I had been updating with my Progesterone levels with this pregnancy.  It has been quite the roller coaster.  They started off low, then I went on pills.  Those did not work.  So they tried supposotories and those did not work.  My numbers were dropping.  My doctor suggested at-home injections on a twice/weekly basis.  At that time she expected me to stay on those shots until we hit week 12.  Once on the injections my numbers began creeping up.  But at week 12 they dropped from 22 to 17.  No reason why, as far as we could tell.  Of course this terrified us because we lost our last baby around the 12 week mark, but we did not discover that until week 15.  My doctor said there was really nothing more to be done but to just wait.  So we waited.  But then I was getting hive like reactions to the shots and they were really hurting my arms.  I was told to quit using my arms and switch to my hip (which is really like your lower back).  My husband began giving them to me there.  At this point in time my doctor suggested not following the numbers on a weekly basis to ease my anxiety and because the baby was still doing so good.  THEN I began getting weird reactions on my back as well.  The last shot my husband gave me (like almost 2 weeks ago), I bled all over the place and got a very scary looking bruise and it hurt like crazy! He said he was done.  I said I was done.  I called the doctor and she ok'd me to stop and said we'd follow up yesterday.  I went in for my labs yesterday.  The nurse called just after lunch to let me know that even after stopping injections..my numbers went from 30 to 40!!!! And just like that...I am DONE with injections.  And DONE with weekly blood work!  I feel like I can relax and just soak up with pregnancy and all the kicks I am feeling.  It feels wonderful and my husband is glad to be done giving the shots. =)