Finally I can breathe...

Finally I can breathe easy today!


Thank the lord, finally some good news.

After all of this I am really wondering if it is better to know….or to not know. As an Accountant, I am a left-side brain thinker….my husband the landscaper right side. I need to know. I need to know how to prepare myself for the future. I make lists. I am organized, I can’t stand chaos or messiness. I like to think in terms of numbers and lists. Blake is very number conscious, but doesn’t make lists and takes things as they come.

At first I thought I would rather not know she had a heart defect until she is born. I think Dr. Shah told me about 30% of these cases are diagnosed before birth…..we are lucky! Now I think that is totally for selfish reasons, so I wouldn’t have to worry throughout this pregnancy. Now I realize it is so AWESOME that we do know. She will be born in the correct hospital and monitored right away once she is born. I don’t think there could be anything worse than delivering and having your baby being flown to Peoria.

Okay let me take a step back…..

Once we found out our baby girl had a heart defect I decided I wanted to learn more about the heart and how it worked so I looked her heart condition on the internet, BIG MISTAKE. When I typed in the “endocardial cushion defect” the next words that came up were downs syndrome……what? I didn’t know there was a correlation. I am not the type to research things to death….I would rather hear accurate info from my doctors rather than search online. So I called Blake and freaked him out….then I called Dr. Dameron. She reassured me that the baby had no signs of genetic issues, all of her measurements were normal (nose and spine width, not missing a thumb bone etc.). So I was fine after talking to her. Once we went to the Perinatologists he said not all babies have the abnormal genetic markers (missing thumb bones etc) and there is no way to know unless you get an amino done. The amino tests all the babies chromosomes to ensure nothing is abnormal.

So my instant reaction was let’s do it. He knew that would be my reaction as a left-brain person. I need to know. Blake on the other hand says, it doesn’t matter what the results are….it is what it is. He supported my decision to get it done. I almost backed out, but I decided to be brave and get it done. The (cardio) Dr. Shah and Dr. Leonardi thought it would be a good idea.

Now you might say….isn’t there a big risk for a miscarriage etc to happen? Well not really. The chances are 1 in 500…..the chances of having a baby with a heart defect is 1 in 100….and the chances of her having downs syndrome related to this heart defect are 1 in 3. This is how my brain works…..and I would say the odds are pretty good that nothing bad would happen that hasn’t happened already!

The amino wasn’t bad at all. I could feel it….it really wasn’t bad at all. I told Blake on a scale from 1 to 10…..it was a 1. They did stick a big needle through my belly to extract amino fluid…..this is the babies DNA. Blake watched it, he didn’t want to go in the room with me, but I needed him there. He said it was kinda cool actually.

So now I can breathe easy, the FINAL amino results came back NORMAL!!!!!!! THANK THE LORD! The only thing now is to pray her heart defect stays mild!

Someone very important is standing next to me!

See that guy to my right....yeah that guy is really important.  He is Dan Stroud the Senior Vice President and CFO (Chief Finanical Officer) of Nestle USA.  A very cool moment for me to shake his hand and get reconginzed for an extra project I have been working on with two team members across the country.  One is from Glendale, CA and the other is from Solon, OH.  Working on this project has been really fun b/c I got to know to amazing women and be recognized for my extra work.  I even got an extra incentive to pay for my new dining room table....wahoo!  It is things like this that make working for a Global company (#1 food manufacturing company in the world) pretty awesome.

Dr. Appt's

Today I had another fun filled day of doctors appointments in Peoria.  3 to be exact.  Usually when you are pregnant, sonograms are fun and exciting.  Well after having what seems like a million so far that last FAR to long....an 1 hour at a minimum....I am starting to not enjoy them.  I could fall alseep during everyone, and sometimes I feel so sick.  It is hard being prego, laying on your back for an hour.  Feeling sick is not fun.

Today I met with the Paranatoelgist Dr. Leonardi (he is like Addision Montgomery...Private Practice!).  I really really really like him.  He will be the one delivering my baby girl in Peoria.  You would think they would want me to do a C-section, but it is totally up to me at this point.  I think I will opt for another C-section just so I know when I will be delievering and can make that part a little easier.  He answered all our questions and did an hour long sono.  We got to see our baby girl in 3D.  I think she looks like Clayton.  You could see her legs crossed and her moving her hands really well.  At 23 weeks she weighs 1lb 8 oz and is measuring 24 weeks.  She is showing no signs of genetic issues (which is a good thing!).

Dr. Leonardi took us to see the Ped Cardio dr, Dr. Shah.  (the hospital is kinda confusing).  There we got another 1 hour long sonogram with GOOD RESULTS!  EVERYTHING IS THE SAME....WHICH IS WHAT WE WANT!  He has never seen a babies heart fix itself in utero....so this is good that it is the same!  We go back in another 2 weeks for another sono.  If things are the same we might be able to go back in 4 weeks.

Then we went back up to Dr. Leonardi to talk about some additional testing and about my next appt.

We ended the day with no lunch....we were with a dr. from 10:15-3.....who wants to eat after all of that?  Neither of us had an appetite and were drained.  Blake found us some ice cream for the drive home....yummy!

All the doctors are super positive and we are too.  It really stinks that they can't tell us exactly what will happen until she is born.  We do know that she HAS to be delivered in Peoria and will be in the NICU after birth.  I am sure all the mom's in there will be wondering why a 9lb baby is in the NICU (I hope she is a big girl like Clayton).  We won't know details about having heart surgery  until she is born.  The best option is do nothing, but if something has to be done they will figure out when to do it.

Keep the prayers coming!  They are working!    

23 weeks!

Today I am 23 weeks!  I am also celebrating my 28th bday.....wow where did 21 go?  HA!

Sorry this is my first belly pic, but I can never remember to take the weekly pictures and I really just started showing 2 weeks ago. I went from nothing to flown blown prego! I am definitly wearing maternity pants,but alot of regular tops.  I am feeling great, just worried about Baby G's heart.  We have our next appt on Tuesday, so pray everything stays mild (or improves!)

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone that has sent your love,support, and prayers our way.  It is amazing all the messages I have been getting.  Thank you all and keep the prayers coming!

Prayers needed....

Well….where do I begin…

I think I finally have my head wrapped around this situation to write about it. I guess I am okay with it. As Blake says, “this is what we are dealt with, we can’t change it, so we gotta figure out how to be strong and deal with it.” Wow is he something :-), my boys really keep me going at this point.

When we found out our sweet baby girl was a GIRL they were having a hard time getting all the necessary measurements. Dr. Weaver suggested I get a level 2 sonogram to get all the measurements. This gave me instant worry b/c with Clayton I just got another sonogram 4 weeks later with no issues. I guess this is a new thing to get the best measurements possible.

So off we go to the level 2 sonogram. I wasn’t nervous at all, I just thought it would be awesome to get to see her little face at a level 2….whatever that means. The Dr. did all the measurements and everything looked good. When he was checking the heartbeat he noticed an arrhythmia. Every 11 beats there was an extra beat. There had been no indications prior to this of any heart issues. Her heartbeat was always normal around 140. So he right away said he wanted us to go to Peoria in the morning to see the pediatric cardiologist and get a fetal echocardiogram. One a good note there are no indications of a genetic issue. All of her measurements are coming back perfect. (thank god!) I even reconfirmed that with Dr. Dameron today.

After having a 2 hours sonogram and being there for 4 hours she is diagnosed with Endocardial cushion defect (not the big issue) and a leaky tricuspid valve (the big issue). Right now it is mild (please pray it stays that way). We go back on May 17th to meet with the Perinatalogists (who will deliver the baby) and to get another fetal echocardiogram. It is really amazing that they were able to see her heart. She is only 1lb right now (21 weeks) and her heart is the size of her hand. Amazing!

The Dr. said he has never seen it repair itself in utero b/c the blood flow is dependent on my lung pressure. Once she is born it may fix itself when she is breathing on her own. Pray that is the case. I will be delivering in Peoria and she will probably be in the NICU after birth to be monitored. If it doesn’t fix itself…and depending on the level of the defect she will have to have surgery.

What a lot to swallow. I am doing better now, but I felt like I got hit by a train.  All we can do is stay postitive and pray that her defect stays mild or corrects itself.

It is truly a blessing that Little Miss was a stubborn little girl (I wonder who she gets that from?) and we were able to find all of this out! Now I will be delivering in Peoria with the best team in the Nation to take care of our little blessing.

Sept can't come soon enough.

Enjoying the sunshine on Mother's Day

My Mom and I took Clayton to the park on Mother's Day.  The boys were planting, so we wanted to get out and enjoy the sunshine.  Clayton got to wear his new Illini hat, which doesn't work for pics!

look at those eyelashes....

See his hat is in his face....ahhh....it would have been so cute!

love this pic!

 Clayton was to little to climb up the ladder.

So he went up the slide the wrong way. Making me nervous....

But he had it under control.

Love you buddy! Thanks for making me a Mommy!