I went to the ob today and had a check up. Dr. Payne said everything looks great! He was going to schedule my c-section so we have it on the calendar with Baylor and we can start getting things together with Children's.
I am not sure if I will be able to update the blog over the next few days. Our apartment is ready tomorrow so I will be moving in there and it might take some time to get internet set-up.
I hope everyone has a great weekend. Happy 4th of July!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Getting Discharged!
My Boys!
I love them both so much and miss them...
I love them both so much and miss them...
Can't wait to see you both!
I am getting to leave the hospital today! Now, I am still on bedrest until Natalie makes her appearance, but honestly I really do not have a desire to go outside in 102 degree heat. Infact, I have not been outside in almost two weeks and I am a bit nervous about leaving the hospital today...heat stroke.
I have to say thank you to all the nurses and staff on the antepartum floor at Baylor. I can't not say enough wonderful things about these women. They were/are amazing and I have been truely blessed to have them be my nurses. I really have enjoyed my time here and I am going to miss their smiley faces and positive attitudes, which made it so much easier to be here. If you ever have to go on bedrest for an extended amount of time, this is where you should be. They really try to make you feel so comfortable and have things for us to do or people to visit with so we do not go insane for being here. I was here only two weeks, but there are some women I have met that have been here for over a month...I can't image. I pray for all of these women, that they continue to have healthy pregnancies and little ones when they are born.
I wanted to share a little scripture I got today with my breakfast.
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit"
Romans 15:13
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Carter Going to School
I wanted to share this, because I think it is way too cute! Here is Carter at his second day of school...backpack on and lunch box in hand.
Keep Your Finger's Crossed
The doctor just came in and talked to me about possibly leaving the hospital! She has to see how exactly far along I am...33 plus days. I also can't be having contractions, which I have been very good for a week now.
Now, I will not be coming home to Amarillo but staying in Dallas in a corporate apartment Larry and I rented for the month of July. Just the idea of being out of the hospital sounds great! I can actually sleep in a normal bed and cuddle up and take naps with my son.
I will keep everyone posted!
Now, I will not be coming home to Amarillo but staying in Dallas in a corporate apartment Larry and I rented for the month of July. Just the idea of being out of the hospital sounds great! I can actually sleep in a normal bed and cuddle up and take naps with my son.
I will keep everyone posted!
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Blessed
I just wanted to thank everyone for all the thoughts and prayers. Larry and I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and support group.
I have been in Dallas a week now and everything is good. I am just relaxing and laying around Baylor Medical Center. I can't say enough about how wonderful my nursers and the staff here are. They really try to make you as comfortable as possible for being here so long.
I had a sonogram today. I have sonograms twice a week. Dr. Magee just checks on Natalie's breathing and fluid. I asked about the echo. He said I probably would not have one until right before birth. Natalie will definitely have one after she is born so the doctors and surgeon can evaluate her better outside my tummy.
Thank you all again for for the prayers and support...my family appreciates it!
I have been in Dallas a week now and everything is good. I am just relaxing and laying around Baylor Medical Center. I can't say enough about how wonderful my nursers and the staff here are. They really try to make you as comfortable as possible for being here so long.
I had a sonogram today. I have sonograms twice a week. Dr. Magee just checks on Natalie's breathing and fluid. I asked about the echo. He said I probably would not have one until right before birth. Natalie will definitely have one after she is born so the doctors and surgeon can evaluate her better outside my tummy.
Thank you all again for for the prayers and support...my family appreciates it!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Came to Dallas for the Day and Ended up Staying
We had follow up doctors appointments on Tuesday here in Dallas. We went to our first appointment with the Maternal Fetal Specialist , Dr. Magee. He organizes everything such as doctors appointments, etc. Dr. Magee checked her heart and weight; Natalie is now 4lbs 5 ozs.
He then decided to check my cervix. I pretty much figured I had nothing left but the cerclage, however I really did not think anything about it. Dr. Magee thought that was a huge problem since she has a heart defect. I did not even get to go to Children's. I had come straight over to Baylor and check in, where I will be staying for the next several weeks until she is ready to be born.
At first, I had a few contractions due to dehydration. I got an IV and some medication and 24 hours later was fine. They moved me up to another floor, the antepartum floor. I am on a floor with other women who are pregnant and trying to stay pregnant for some reason or another. I met a few the other day when we were all lined up in wheel chairs waiting for sonograms (pretty funny looking).
We decided it was best for Larry to go back home on Tuesday and be with Carter. He is now a single dad with lots of help from family and friends. Carter did start school this week or Parent's Day Out. My mom took him Tuesday to his first day. Carter loves it! He walked in with his backpack on and lunch box in his hands. He has so much fun playing all day and has several little friends in his class.
I just decided on Monday that I could start possibly looking at things a week at a time versus one day at time. I think God was showing me once again, not to try it on my own. Okay God...I get it, I give it all to you!
I am going to think about my stay at Baylor in a positive way so I do not go crazy. When am I ever going to have four weeks to myself to relax, work on blog, organize photos on my computer and get waited on. Once Natalie comes, I go back to life with a newborn and a two year old. I am going to enjoy this!
He then decided to check my cervix. I pretty much figured I had nothing left but the cerclage, however I really did not think anything about it. Dr. Magee thought that was a huge problem since she has a heart defect. I did not even get to go to Children's. I had come straight over to Baylor and check in, where I will be staying for the next several weeks until she is ready to be born.
At first, I had a few contractions due to dehydration. I got an IV and some medication and 24 hours later was fine. They moved me up to another floor, the antepartum floor. I am on a floor with other women who are pregnant and trying to stay pregnant for some reason or another. I met a few the other day when we were all lined up in wheel chairs waiting for sonograms (pretty funny looking).
We decided it was best for Larry to go back home on Tuesday and be with Carter. He is now a single dad with lots of help from family and friends. Carter did start school this week or Parent's Day Out. My mom took him Tuesday to his first day. Carter loves it! He walked in with his backpack on and lunch box in his hands. He has so much fun playing all day and has several little friends in his class.
I just decided on Monday that I could start possibly looking at things a week at a time versus one day at time. I think God was showing me once again, not to try it on my own. Okay God...I get it, I give it all to you!
I am going to think about my stay at Baylor in a positive way so I do not go crazy. When am I ever going to have four weeks to myself to relax, work on blog, organize photos on my computer and get waited on. Once Natalie comes, I go back to life with a newborn and a two year old. I am going to enjoy this!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Overview of How We Got Here
Okay, well this is going to be a long posted, because I thought I would give an overview on how we got to where we are today.
The last several months of my life have been a roller coaster to say the least. I lost my father on April 1 to a car accident. I know he is up in Heaven right now watching over my family. I have to tell this little story...My parents have this little toy that has four balls that you hit through these holes, anyway, we have been missing one of the balls for over a year now. Shortly after my father passed away, my son was playing with it and I realized all four balls were there. We looked everywhere for that ball. I know my dad got in Heaven and gave the ball to my son; it was his and God's way to let us know they are with each day. God is so good!
I have a history of an incompetent cervix, so we knew there was a possibility with this pregnancy. On April 17th I had a cervical cerclage, where the stitched my cervix closed. I have been on partial bedrest since that time.
On April 23, we had a sonogram at Texas Tech there in Amarillo to check Natalie's heart chambers. I like to have stubborn children that do not cooperate as well during sonograms, so we felt this was routine. The doctor came in and told us she had a heart condition and we would need to give birth in Dallas so she could have surgery after birth at Children's. Needless to say, that was a hard day with everything else we had gone through in the last few weeks. The following Monday, we meet the pediatric cardiologist in Amarillo, who confirmed the diagnosis, Tricuspid Value Artesia (Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome). This is a very rare heart condition, so we are that less than one percent chance you always hear about.
Lives in the following weeks were crazy. I feel like we just got the diagnosis and other days it feels like we have known for a while. We came to Dallas a few weeks later to meet the team that would be planning Natalie's arrival. The doctors are amazing and helped explain things to us much clearer and gave us a positive plan. We also were able to meet a nurse here at Baylor, whose niece went through this exact same thing a year ago. She gave us her blog to follow, which again helped answer questions and we could see in the pictures what we might be going up against.
Natalie will have surgery within a few days after birth to restrict her blood flow to her heart since her right lower ventricle is very small. She will then have another surgery around 4 to 5 months of life, depending on her size, etc. She will have her final third surgery when she is about 3 or 4 years old. She will be on medicine the rest of her life and will have some restricted activity, but other than that, she will have a pretty normal life.
I will give birth at Baylor University Medical Center in downtown Dallas and after birth Natalie will be stabilized here and transferred over the Children's Medical Center where she will stay until after the surgery and we can go home. We have not met the surgeon at Children's yet, but we have heard nothing but wonderful things about him and his team. We feel very confident about everything.
I decided back in April that I could not handle this myself. God always says let me take control and for us not to worry. Well God, take it all, because I do not even want to try. God is so amazing and I know he has a plan for my family and my sweet baby girl. I know in my heart we are all going to be fine. I was reading James the other day and I have heard this verse forever, but it really stuck out to me...James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you are face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything."
The last several months of my life have been a roller coaster to say the least. I lost my father on April 1 to a car accident. I know he is up in Heaven right now watching over my family. I have to tell this little story...My parents have this little toy that has four balls that you hit through these holes, anyway, we have been missing one of the balls for over a year now. Shortly after my father passed away, my son was playing with it and I realized all four balls were there. We looked everywhere for that ball. I know my dad got in Heaven and gave the ball to my son; it was his and God's way to let us know they are with each day. God is so good!
I have a history of an incompetent cervix, so we knew there was a possibility with this pregnancy. On April 17th I had a cervical cerclage, where the stitched my cervix closed. I have been on partial bedrest since that time.
On April 23, we had a sonogram at Texas Tech there in Amarillo to check Natalie's heart chambers. I like to have stubborn children that do not cooperate as well during sonograms, so we felt this was routine. The doctor came in and told us she had a heart condition and we would need to give birth in Dallas so she could have surgery after birth at Children's. Needless to say, that was a hard day with everything else we had gone through in the last few weeks. The following Monday, we meet the pediatric cardiologist in Amarillo, who confirmed the diagnosis, Tricuspid Value Artesia (Hypoplastic Right Heart Syndrome). This is a very rare heart condition, so we are that less than one percent chance you always hear about.
Lives in the following weeks were crazy. I feel like we just got the diagnosis and other days it feels like we have known for a while. We came to Dallas a few weeks later to meet the team that would be planning Natalie's arrival. The doctors are amazing and helped explain things to us much clearer and gave us a positive plan. We also were able to meet a nurse here at Baylor, whose niece went through this exact same thing a year ago. She gave us her blog to follow, which again helped answer questions and we could see in the pictures what we might be going up against.
Natalie will have surgery within a few days after birth to restrict her blood flow to her heart since her right lower ventricle is very small. She will then have another surgery around 4 to 5 months of life, depending on her size, etc. She will have her final third surgery when she is about 3 or 4 years old. She will be on medicine the rest of her life and will have some restricted activity, but other than that, she will have a pretty normal life.
I will give birth at Baylor University Medical Center in downtown Dallas and after birth Natalie will be stabilized here and transferred over the Children's Medical Center where she will stay until after the surgery and we can go home. We have not met the surgeon at Children's yet, but we have heard nothing but wonderful things about him and his team. We feel very confident about everything.
I decided back in April that I could not handle this myself. God always says let me take control and for us not to worry. Well God, take it all, because I do not even want to try. God is so amazing and I know he has a plan for my family and my sweet baby girl. I know in my heart we are all going to be fine. I was reading James the other day and I have heard this verse forever, but it really stuck out to me...James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you are face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete not lacking anything."
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