Practice Run

Well it has been an exciting past week or so.  It all started out that at my last appointment my Dr checked me and discovered that I was 5cm dilated at only 35 1/2 weeks.  So she sent me home and told me to basically be on bed rest and I could not work any more. That was kind of a relief, work has been pretty hard on me lately and I have been pushing myself a little too much at work - working longer days to try to compensate for the month and a half I'd be off for maternity leave.  Well I guess that wasn't such a great idea.  So she said "if I'm up for 2 hours I need to be down for 1."  That is a great rule of thumb, and it actually got uncomfortable if I was up for longer than an hour, so it was nice to know when my body needed a break.  My sweet daughter is amazing.  She is such a great helper and loves to cuddle with me while we watch movies and tv.  She is such a great helper and is going to be an amazing big sister!  

  Well 36 weeks came and I kept pushing closer towards 37 weeks (that's generally full term).  I knew I could make it to at least 37 weeks, even though I am 1/2 way through the labor process..  Yesterday afternoon around noon, my Dr called me and told me that she wanted me to go into the hospital to be monitored for an hour or so and get a steroid shot to try to boost his lungs before he gets here.  I was there by 2:15 and out the door by 4pm.  The shot sucks, but it was practically déjà vu since I had to do the same thing with my daughter.  All the getting up and down and moving around was rough, so after I picked up my daughter I went home and rested.  I had not been that active since my last Dr appointment.  

  I have been so worried lately about how I am going to make it to the hospital in time to have an epidural, let alone not having him fall out while in route.  So my tentative plan is to have my close by neighbor take me if Andrew is at work.  But traffic sucks around here lately and that makes me nervous.  So I called my insurance and asked them what my plan covers as far as an ambulance ride.  I figure they have the lights, plus medical attention if I need it, and could probably get there much faster.  I come to find out, that the local cities around me, all of their ambulances are covered under my insurance.  WHEW!  That was a load lifted.  Now I know if I really need to book it I can just have them take me, and they will take me to any hospital I want, not just the nearest hospital.  That was such great news!

   I also found out via an email from my Perinatologist that depending on a cervical exam this week, that I could possibly have my induction date moved up to Nov 8th, instead of the 15th.  This made me feel so much better about the whole process.  The entire thought of trying to get to the hospital that is an hour away, being 5cm dilated, gives me anxiety.  So Nov 8th, that's NEXT FRIDAY!  I was pretty confident that I could keep him cooking till then, when ever I thought about being induced on the 15th, it just gave me knots in my stomach.  

    The downside to delivering next Friday, Stella's birthday was planned for that day, and I had Snow White scheduled to come the day, and the invites had that date on it too.  So after a quick couple emails, I got the invites changed and Snow White changed to have her party on her actual birthday.  Then that would give Jefferson 3 weeks to get discharged from the hospital and get into a daily routine.  Plus, my entire family will be out here that weekend of the 8th for my grandpas 80th birthday party and would at least be able to see him through glass.  The 8th just feels so much better.

    Then this morning the neighbor dog was whining, scratching and howling to get out of his kennel at 5:15am.  I am a light sleeper and this just kept me up.  Kinda gave me a little anxiety because I couldn't go back to sleep and I didn't want him to wake Stella up.  Then I felt a few contractions.  They were 12 mins apart, then 10 mins apart, then 8 and that's when I decided to call my Dr.  She said to get to the U and be checked.  I quickly packed a bag and grabbed the necessities and got into the car.  My wonderful mother in law came over quickly and stayed wth Stella till she woke up.  We left the house about 6:40 and we were in the OB Emergency by 7:40.  That was the long best ride of my life!  It was raining, dark, cold and the morning commute was already jam packed.  Not to mention my contractions were only 2 minutes apart and we still had 30 more minutes to drive.  We got there, got quickly into a room and got hooked up to monitors.  The whole process had me super flustered so my heart rate and blood pressure was out of wack.  I was finally able to calm myself down between contractions and tried to rest a little.  Drew and I ate some breakfast and then took a little nap till 9:40.  My Dr was able to come check up on me and called me several times through the process.  I got up and walked for about an hour and went back to the room.  I was checked and everythihg was back to normal.  My cervix had not changed and my heart rate, bp, and contractions were all normal.  So they sent me home about 11:45am.  Thank goodness!  I do not want an October baby, and especially a premie!  I am determined to keep him in there for as long as possible.  Even though I was a little excited to meet him, he is not ready yet!

   That was a terrifying experience.  I would prefer an induction over that much anxiety, any day! Let's just hope the Drs decide Nov 8th is a good day to have him, and I can keep this baby cooking till then!  That is the most ideal plan, but with these things, it's always the unexpected that tends to happen.  So we shall wait and see! 

Jefferson's Room

I am pretty proud of how this all turned out.  I saw a design on Carousel Design's website that I liked, but it would not have looked good with the furniture that I already have since the fabric has white in it and my furniture is a cream. So I found the exact same pattern, in different colors, that matched my nursery exactly and I ran with it!  My mom was a huge part in making my nursery how I envisioned it.  She is such an amazing seamstress and made everything for his room.

My dad spent part of his vacation painting his room for me.  We decided on a taupe/grey color to match the colors in the bumper pads.  The color is amazing with the cream crib and furniture.  Looks awesome!

I fell in love with the medallion fabric and found the perfect colors to match the furniture.  So my mom made the Bumper pads out of the medallion fabric I found and a cuddly blanket I bought for $20 at TJ Maxx for the inside.  Turned out awesome! 

Inside of the bumper pads 

The coordinating quilt my mom sewed and had embroidered 

The rocking chair she reupholstered and painted for Stella, that matches the room perfectly 

The awesome coordinating chevron patterned valance and black out blinds for the window

Love Sac that my mom sewed a new cover for to go with Stella's nursery, that now fits perfectly in Jefferson's room

The valance over the closet to cover the messy shelf 

And I am not a complete invilid when it comes to sewing and craftiness.  I did make a new liner for the laundry basket that goes in the room so that it matches better. 

I also made the mobile over his bed.  I wanted to make a pinwheel mobile and I wanted to some how add his initials in there some where.  Fun little fact, his initials are the same as my dad's.  Anyways, so here is the idea I came up with.

This will be Jefferson's view

I think his room turned out amazing!  A humongous THANK YOU to my talented Mother for all of her time and skills to help put his nursery together and make it perfect for him! 

Bags are pretty much packed, car seat is all ready for the cold weather,

Now we just play the waiting game for when ever he decides to make his debut!

Getting closer!

Well I am 35 weeks and 3 days along.  I saw my OB and Perinatologist last week.  Jefferson is doing good.  He is weighing in at 5 1/2lbs.  But I am already dilated to a 2-3.  I am hoping and praying that my problem is that I dilate early.  With Stella I was dilated to a 1 at 28 weeks and then was put on bed rest for almost 3 months and I still had to be induced to get her here.  

  Let's hope that is the case with this little guy, because I think what I am most terrified about is going into labor on my own and being rushed to get an hour to the University hospital.  My OB thinks my labor will only last about 3-4 hours, and I do not want to have him on the freeway.  I'm also scared I will have to deliver him at Ogden Regional and then he will have to be flown to Primary Children's after he is born.  I hate the uncertainty!  I have to have things planned and I hate not knowing how it is all going to go down!

    I have to see my OB every week now.  I still have 4 weeks left but I really feel like he will be here before then.  That is 4 more weeks till my induction date, not due date.  I'm not due till Nov 22, but am scheduled to be induced on Friday November 15th. I have so much planned between now and the 15th!  I really hope he doesn't get here before then.  Stella's birthday party is scheduled to be November 8th, a week before my induction.  I have got Jeffersons room completely done and drawers have clothes in them, so we are all ready to welcome him to our family.  I wanted to get everything done for Jefferson early so that I can plan and get everything ready for Stella's party, have her party, and then be ready for Jefferson.  I wanted to have her party early, before Jefferson gets here, so that she doesn't feel left out and that she knows she is our little princess, before her world is going to be rocked with a new addition to the family.  Her actual birthday is November 30th, so it will be a few weeks early.  She is pretty excited about it though.  She knows she is having a Snow White birthday party, but I don't think she really knows that Snow White will actually be there.  I cannot wait to see her light up when she comes.  I just hope Jefferson can wait his turn and stay put till after her party.  I don't want to miss it!  

    Well I will leave you with a way prego picture..  I am only 35 weeks, but I feel 38-39 weeks! 

Sonographer Conference

    I was asked at our last PCMC Cardiologist appointment if we would want to participate in a Sonographer Conference up in Park City in October.  They had several other moms with normal babies, and they wanted one with a defect so that the Sonographers could scan for themselves and be able to recognize it, and be able to catch it early.  Our cardiologist, Dr Pinto, told us that about 50% of all heart defects are not discovered until after birth.  So this conference was to help get the right education out there to these sonographers that scan people every day.  I was so lucky to have an amazing Perinatologist and sonographer that was able to catch it at 16 weeks.  So it is possible to detect early, but most do not know what to look for.  
    I told them that I would love to participate in this.  Plus I got to see my baby boy for a solid 2 hours, and it gives me an excuse to go to the outlet mall after.  So the day came and we (Drew, Stella and I) loaded up and drove the long way, through Weber canyon, so we could see the beautiful fall colors, dusted with fresh new snow.  It was at the very nice Silver Lake Lodge in Deer Valley.  Everything was quiet and peaceful since it is not ski season yet.  There was a light dusting of snow on the ski slopes, but the colors of the leaves were more vibrant against the white snow. It was so beautiful!

    We were able to enjoy a delicious soup and salad lunch before the scanning began.  Stella and Drew sat on the nice comfy leather couches by the fire ( it was only 50 degrees up there) while I was in the other room being scanned.  Sonographers came in groups of 2-5 and were all given the opportunity to scan my belly to see the heart defect.  For the majority of the time all of the images were all of his heart.  They were all talking in acronyms that I partially understood.  Most of it was a foreign language, but I finally have a good understanding of what is going on.  For some reason I thought that the hole in his heart was in the lower ventricles, but it is actually in the primum septum. 
    Now these machines that they had at the conference were top of the line brand new GE's that were so advanced, most sonographers had no idea how to use it.  The GE representative that was there scanned me at the end so we could get a profile shot.  He finally cooperated in the end and we were able to get some awesome pictures.  This machine has the ability to do a typical 3D pictures, as well as what is called Real HD.  It was almost scary at how realistic the images were.  It was like I was looking at an actual picture of his face.  It is unbelievable how far technology has come.  Here are some of the amazing pictures of our beautiful baby boy!

 Scary how realistic it looks, isn't it?

 Its crazy how chunky those cheeks are for only being 33 weeks.  We still have over a month left for him to chunk up, even more!

This was the beginning, he had his feet and hands in front of his face.  Little shy bug

Thumbs Up!

We are so excited to meet this little chunk.  He is already loved and well taken care of.  Thank heavens for all of the amazing nurses, sonographers, and Dr's that have helped us get this far.  They all truly are a blessing in our lives!  I cannot wait to hold you baby Jefferson!

Probability of Down Syndrome

    Well, we met with a Genetics Counselor at our new Perinatologist up at the U Hospital.  Dr's have been telling us for a while now that there is a possibility of Jefferson having Down Syndrome.  This heart defect is common with Downs which gives him a 20-50% chance of having it.  Now that doesn't seem like a very high percentage, but there still is that chance.
    I don't think that this percentage will effect us in any way.  My blood test at the beginning of the pregnancy was negative, and he doesn't show any other signs of having Down Syndrome in any ultrasound.  His body's measurements all have been completely normal, and he seems to be measuring over a week to two weeks ahead of schedule.  I really do not think that this will be the case with him.
    I have had 3 relatives, 1 sister and 2 cousins, that have all been told during pregnancy that their child was either tested positive for Downs or has features that are similar to those whom have Downs.  All of which children came out to be perfectly normal.  Maybe a big head, or short little legs, but the kids have all come out completely normal.  This comforts me a little, knowing that family members have had this same problem with uncertainty while pregnant and then having perfect little babies.  I think that's why I am not too worried about baby Jefferson and the probability of him having it.  The tests can be a false positive and the ultrasounds can just be measurements of a typical Tuckett baby (short legs).
    We have been given many options for different tests that we can do to test for this chromosome abnormality.  But come on, what is the purpose of an amniocentesis test when there are so many things that can go wrong with poking a needle into the uterus?  Why do you risk the life of your baby over a little test, when you can find out for sure in a few short months when he is born.  Plus, your asking the person that had to be held down by 3 nurses just to get one shot, to get a big needle stuck into your belly, um no Thank You!  Then there is a very new blood test that can read the babies blood in your blood and see if there is a chromosome abnormality in his blood.  But after a $200+/- bill, and after waiting 2 weeks for the results, you still have that probability of it being a false positive.  Then after waiting those 2 weeks to find out the results, he will be here in 8 short weeks.  And how are you suppose to prepare for that?  You cannot really prepare or plan for a child with a CHD or Downs.  Everything could completely change once he is here, which is making it really hard since I am an avid planner.
    My husband told me, "I want to know so we can plan and prepare for it."  But how does one prepare for a Down Syndrome child?  From my understanding, the chromosome abnormality will not really be a factor when he is a baby.  His development will obviously be slower and he could possibly take longer than most kids, but you cannot really prepare for that.   Heart defects also slow down growth for children any ways, but there is nothing you can do to prepare for that.
    So I don't plan on getting any tests done.  But I do plan on loving this baby to pieces every chance I get.  I cannot wait to finally be able to hold him and look him in the eyes and know that he is mine, forever!  Hopefully I will get the chance after he is born, before he is whisked away for tests and monitoring.  I'm so grateful for modern technology and medicine, but some times you just have to wait it out.  He will be here in 8 more weeks, and then the real fun will begin!
     I love you already Jefferson Daniel!  I cannot wait to meet you!

Shout Out!!

From the very first Cardiologist appointment, the Cardi Counselor gave me the folder of information about Jefferson's heart defect and a local support group on Facebook called Intermountain Healing Hearts.  

I went home that night after the appointment and applied to be in the group and Facebook friended the group.  I just have to say that these people in this group are amazing.  They helped me calm down and realize that there is nothing that I can worry about right now.  I need to enjoy this pregnancy and enjoy every minute I have him in me healthy and happy.  They have answered my questions that I have had and have comforted me, even though I have never met any of them.  They are so supportive and helpful and we may not have the same problems with our heart babies, but they seem to know what I am going through and always offer words of encouragement.  They are amazing and I am so grateful to be apart of such an amazing group of people.  So Thank You Intermountain Healing Hearts! You all are an inspiration!!

Everything Happens for a Reason

    It can be quite funny how things work out the way they do.  My worst fears going into this pregnancy were that I would have to be put on bed rest again and could possibly loose my job.  I thought I had it all planned out perfectly.  I am a planner, I have to have things planned out weeks, months some times years in advance.
    I found out last year that I needed to have surgery on my deviated septum.  With my planning, I wanted to have it at the beginning of the year so that I could max out my deductible for my insurance and then have a baby later than year, and the insurance would have to pay for it all.  I thought that was pretty smart.  So I had my surgery January 9, 2013 and everything went great.  It was the best money ever spent on myself.  Being able to finally breathe without blowing my nose every 5 seconds was heaven.  
    A couple months later we found out we were pregnant.  Everything was going just as planned.  I called to schedule our first appointment with the Midwife that delivered Stella.  The office told me that she did not deliver any more and I would need to choose a different Dr.  I talked around with a few of my friends and thought that going with a Dr instead of a Midwife was probably better this time around since I would more than likely need a cerclage.  I didn't think that a Midwife would be able to perform a surgery like that.  I decided to go with Dr Kristine Zelenkov at Ogden Women's Clinic.  It was quite the coincidence that just a month prior Ogden Clinic had bought out the Ogden Women's Clinic and had all of my health records.  
    At the first appointment with Dr Zelenkov, she convinced me that a cerclage was not needed.  She said that in most cases it does more damage than good because it is poking a needle into a muscle that would make it weaker than it already was.  I trusted her judgement and sighed with relief.  I didn't want to have to be put under again and be on bed rest for a week or more till the stitches healed.  That was one less thing to worry about.  
    Dr Zelenkov also told us at that first appointment that she delivered at just about all of the local hospitals, Davis, Ogden Regional, McKay Dee, Logan, and even University Hospital on an occasion.  That didn't really matter to me at the time because I wanted to deliver at Ogden Regional again.  It was such a great experience with Stella, I wanted the same for this new little guy.  But it wasn't until a few months later when we sat down with the Cardiologist at Primary Children's that they told me that I would need to deliver at the University Hospital so that he can be close to Primary Children's if he needed transferred there.  Its funny how that works out just great, I don't need to change Doctors so that I can deliver at the University since my OB already has privileges at that hospital.  
    You know what else is a blessing in disguise, although it is about an hour away, that is still pretty close to live to such a prestigious hospital as Primary Children's Medical Center.  You know what else is convenient, my sister lives only a few miles away, so when Jefferson is at the hospital I can stay with her and not have to drive very far to go up and see and feed him.  That will be a little less hectic.  
    Its also a blessing that he doesn't have to have surgery right after he is born.  He can live with the defect until he is a little bigger and stronger.  What else is pretty amazing, how even though I may not have to be put on bed rest like I did with Stella, I have such an amazing job that supports me and told me to take as long as I needed for Jefferson when he has his surgery.  It is so comforting to know that the Salt Lake County Sheriff's office is family oriented and wants us to put our family first.  
    Best of all, we had our last Cardiologist appointment until after Jeffers is born last week.  It was not as hard of an appointment as the first one was.  Andrew was able to come to the appointment with me.  We actually had Stella checked over with an EKG to make sure her heart was fine.  The Dr said that she had a slight murmur that would you could hear when sick or coughing, but nothing that would cause her any problems in life.  So she is perfectly normal!  YAY!  Then we had Jeffers appointment right after.  Andrew got the full run down on what exactly he has and I was able to get all of the questions I had built up over the past 6 weeks answered. It turns out that Jefferson will have to be in the NICU for about one day after he is born and be monitored for about a week after birth before he is discharged.  Once he is discharged, he will be just like a normal baby.  He should not have any problems and just needs the same treatment as any other newborn.  Once his surgery comes, he will only have to be in the hospital for a maximum of 2 weeks and then home for about a month for healing and recovering.  After that, he will be a normal child.  He shouldn't need heart monitors or oxygen or anything like that.  What a relief!  I have read that some parents have had to quarantine their heart babies for up to 6 months so that they do not get exposed to germs.  It was such a weight lifted off to know that he will be a normal baby after this surgery.   
    I know that there will be challenges ahead, but I know that through our faith and prayer that our Heavenly Father will help and guide us through this next journey in our life.  I already cannot wait to hold our sweet baby Jefferson in 10 short weeks.  He is a lively little boy already and I know he will have a good fight in him once he is born.  I know he will be tough enough to get through this but we will be blessed.  
Its so crazy how things work out!