21 Weeks, and a Correction

First I'll start with the correction of information in the last post. When I stated there was a risk of Pulmonary Hypertension, I really meant Pulmonary Hypoplasia.

I'm 21 weeks today! We celebrate every little accomplishment here. :)

I had a appointment with my OB this past Monday. The ultrasound I had at that appointment showed that my fluid level was up to 2.7 cm. While it's not great, I'll take it. It's better than 1.9 cm! It is hard to rely on the ultrasound measurements because they will vary depending on the tech doing it and whether the baby has a full tummy or bladder (she had both when my fluid was at 1.9). My next scheduled ultrasound is in a couple of weeks. We will be praying that the levels are even better at that one. The bleeding and leaking of fluid has slowed considerably, but there is still enough to cause concern.

I'm trying to drink even more water than normal to help the fluid levels go up. I already drink so much it's hard to try to drink more. Remember this post?

It seems like there was a slight misunderstanding (Ryan will be sure to tell you it was on my part) on when I will check into the hospital. It looks like it will be between 23-24 weeks. They will try and let me go to 34 weeks and then I will have a cesarean, or earlier if there are complications. I am grateful we have time to prepare before I check in, unlike last time. We have time to decide which hospital we want to be in, prepare the kids for what's in store, and basically wrap our minds around things a little bit.

Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and uplifting words. They truly do make a difference!

Love,
Ella

Update: 19 weeks 3 days

We met with the perinatologist today. Ryan and I both liked him and we're glad we get to work with him throughout the rest of the pregnancy. He was very good at explaining everything in a way we could understand. He also went over every possibility, and while it's a little scary to hear every possible scenario it's nice to know and be able to plan accordingly. His catchphrase seemed to be "Nothing is an absolute". I love it. He told us that we could discuss whether the glass was half full or half empty all day (or go over every statistic ever), but when it comes down to it you have to take every possibility into consideration... "Nothing is an absolute".

At the ultrasound we got good and bad news and confirmed things we already knew. It was confirmed that my water did indeed break. The fluid was measured at 1.9 cm this time (no, that's not good). Obviously my water is still leaking. There is nothing we can do to stop my water from leaking or to keep me from bleeding and having contractions.

The good news is that they ruled out the low fluid being a symptom of non-functioning kidneys. Her kidneys look great. She has fluid in her belly and bladder which is good, because it shows that she is swallowing and that her kidneys and bladder are functioning. Honestly everything looks perfect right now except for low amniotic fluid and a leaking placenta. (That's all. No big deal, right?) The blood flow to and from the placenta looks great also.                     

Here is the bad (or maybe I should say uncertain?) part... This is the time when it is critical for her to have enough amniotic fluid to fill her lungs when she "breathes" in the womb. This is part of the lung development. If it doesn't happen, even if she makes it to 40 weeks, she won't be able to transition once she is born. No matter the amount of oxygen they tried to put her on having underdeveloped lungs she would not survive. It's called pulmonary hypertension.

Another concern is umbilical cord compression. When there isn't enough amniotic fluid the cord can be compressed and the blood flow reduced. This causes the baby's heart rate to drop. If that were to happen the baby would need to be delivered to prevent brain damage and other complications.

My next appointment with the perinatologist is mid January. At that point if everything is looking the same as it is now we would have to decide whether or not to check me into the hospital for the remainder of the pregnancy. The purpose of checking me in would be the 24/7 monitoring of baby's heartbeat. They would check me in at 23 weeks because the pregnancy would be considered viable. Once checked into the hospital they would put me on steroids and antibiotics like they did with Avella. If her heart rate did drop at any time they would deliver her. Otherwise they would try to let me go to 34 weeks before they deliver her via cesarean.

Words can't properly express how grateful I am for all of the prayers and fasting on behalf of our family. We have been blessed with meals, babysitting, kind words, love, and positivity from friends and family. Thank you to all of you that have served in the ways that you are able. I realize you are taking time away from your own families to serve us. We appreciate you and all you have done for our family! Whenever I am having a moment where I wonder if I can keep going without fail I get a phone call, email, or someone stopping by to see how I'm doing. All of these have gotten me through the last few (very difficult) months. I am so blessed and wish I could give all of you a big hug and say thank you.

Love,
Ella

P.S.
If you have any suggestions for names we are open to them. The top name right now is Hazel. That is what Avella and I are calling her. The boys aren't fans, but they have no suggestions. Avella and I just might win by default. ;)

I'm one day away from being 19 weeks pregnant. It is a beautiful baby girl. :)

I've had a lot of issues with this pregnancy. I won't bore you with all of them. I will tell you about the most recent. Today at my doctors appointment we learned that I've lost more than half of my amniotic fluid. Isn't that bad, you ask. Yes, yes it is. My levels should be at a 10. It's considered dangerous for the baby if you're below 5, and I'm at 4.5. Babies need amniotic fluid for their lungs to be able to develop, among other things.

Things could really go either way (this is what I've been told at most of my Dr. appointments about other concerns). So again we find ourselves having to give it time to see how my body will respond (Just cooperate already, please!).  Our hope is that my fluid levels slowly go back up and even if I am on bed rest the rest of the pregnancy that I will at least make it to 30+ weeks.

 Being this early in the pregnancy (meaning she wouldn't be viable at this point) they won't do anything if my body goes into labor again. I've had contractions and bleeding for most of my pregnancy and it has gotten consistently worse. Last night was when I was having contractions and my water broke (it leaked a small amount at about 11 weeks also). I think as long as that doesn't happen again things will calm down and I can make it into the third trimester.

I have an appointment with the perinatologist on Tuesday. We are hoping the levels will have raised and that we will get more answers on how to move forward. When I was in the hospital with Avella I had the detailed ultrasounds and met with the perinatologist. I do remember that depending on the person doing the ultrasound the measurements could vary slightly. I'm hoping that when we go on Tuesday the levels are high enough to let us all breathe a sigh of relief.

We (Ryan & I) would appreciate any prayers, positive thoughts, and kind words you would send our way. We have been humbled at the outpouring of love we have already received and we thank you in advance for your prayers and support. We couldn't do it without all of you!

Love,
Ella

Family picture time!

Mom, this post is for you. After seven months of checking my blog you can finally have a post to read/look at.

I'm happy (really, really happy) with our family pictures this year. And I only planned the outfits four days in advance. To me, that's crazy fast. I used clothing we already had and only ended up having to buy the ties and Ethan's shirt. Success.

I won't lie and promise more posts anytime soon. I love the idea of posting more, but I'm busy, tired, and sick most of the time. So, I'll see you in another seven months. ;)

Avella vs. RSV

I really didn't think that two years later I would be using the blog to update about Avella again, but here we are...

She got sick Sunday, went to the doctor on Tuesday, and got admitted the hospital on Wednesday. I knew something wasn't right on Wednesday - she was lethargic and acting differently than when she had RSV last year. I took her to the hospital to get suctioned  and found out her oxygen was low.  The suctioning helped  enough. I checked her oxygen at 10 that night and it was 85. Not good. Back to the hospital we went. This time the suctioning didn't help. 

She was admitted, and we found out she also had an ear infection (which wasn't there the day before).  It was a sleepless sad night for Avella, being uncomfortable and in a new place. 

I have to say that this time seems so much easier and so different. I realized it is easier because I feel (and am) more in control of the situation. I can hold, feed, bathe, dress & comfort my baby whenever I want. I can stay in the room with her 24/7. I can use whatever diaper rash cream I want to (yes, seriously). I can also tell the nurses when she will eat and nap. It's definitely less stressful this way. 

The weird thing is even though it feels different it still feels familiar - being aware of where every cord and tube is whenever I hold her, saving every diaper to be weighed, making sure I order the meals in time, the nurses checking her every few hours.  They all sound silly, but it feels like I'm stepping back into this mini life we had two years ago. In a way it's easier knowing what expect. 

Enough rambling, back to Avella...

They keep trying to take her off of oxygen.  Sometimes her lungs cooperate.  She only needs it when she sleeps now.  When she naps she can go about an hour without.  Then all of the gunk in her chest settles and she needs it again. The good news is she acting like herself again. It makes it hard to entertain her in a tiny room, but we don't mind. 

I am hopeful that we can go home tomorrow (maybe on oxygen?). I'm grateful for all of the prayers that have been sent our way; they make all the difference. I'm sorry there are no pictures (Dad & Mom).  I'm typing this on my Kindle and all of my

photos are on my phone. 

Love to all of you,

Ella

Family Pictures

I can't believe it's been ten months since I've posted anything!  

The last post has the boys with short blonde hair, and Avella was so little.  Wow.

So much has happened in the last ten months.  

I will be doing some random posts with lots of pictures to go along with them.

For now here is some eye candy.

Are family pictures stressful at your house?  I think this year was 90% more stressful for me than last year was.  I'm sure it was because I didn't use much of our existing wardrobe, which meant I did a ton of shopping.  I went to the mall six times in one week.  Ugh.  That is too much even for me.  I literally did not find Ryan a shirt until the day before.  And he kept telling me everything would be ok.  Ya.  It only ends up being ok because someone works their butt off to make everything ok (me).

We paid less for the pictures this year, so I put more money into the clothing.  Plus I hadn't done any back to school/fall shopping yet.  We all desperately needed a lot of items, so it ended up working out.  I was able to use back to school clothing money to help out with pictures. Or at least that's how I justified it to Ryan. ;)

Last year I only had to buy two shirts and a sweater.  I loved the pictures, but this go round I really wanted pops of color while still keeping the look classic (not too trendy).  It turns out that is kind of hard to do!  I didn't want to look back in ten years and wonder what in the world I was thinking.  I think everything came together though.  Listed below are our sources for clothing if you're interested.  I know it's something I would be curious about. :)

Ryan:   Shirt - TJMaxx      Pants - Nordstrom Rack      Tie - Nordstrom Rack      Shoes - Famous Footwear (I think)

Angela:  Shirt - Banana Republic     Pants - Bella Ella Boutique     Boots - Nordstrom     Necklace - J Crew

Ethan:   Shirt - H&M     Pants - H&M     Sweater - H&M     Tie - Crewcuts     Shoes - Journeys Kids     Belt - Burlington

Trevan:  Shirt - Children's Place (I got at DI years ago)    Sweater - Crewcuts     Pants - H&M     Shoes - Journeys Kids

Avella:   Dress - Baby Gap (no surprise, I know)     Shoes - Pampili from Zappos.com

Christmas Time

We finally got our tree up. Yes finally, the 4th of December feels like we

waited way too long. I was worried with all of the construction going on in

our house it wouldn't happen until later in the month.

The boys were in charge of checking all of the strings of lights. Here's a question for you...

How many lights do you use on your tree? Ryan thinks I use way too many. I typically

use 700 lights. This year I only used 630 - I couldn't use one strand because of missing bulbs. Do you agree with Ryan and think it's a fire hazard? ;)

Ethan - "You know what I love about Christmas besides the presents?"

Me - "Singing?"

Ethan - "Nope."

Me - "Goodies"

Ethan - "Nope. I love that it's Jesus's birthday and we get to celebrate it. And it's good Christmas is on a Sunday this year. That way we can go celebrate it at his house."

Avella just thinks she can climb up on anything. Well I suppose

she technically can...

The boys kept making comments about how beautiful our tree was. I agree 100%.

Wouldn't it look better if it had those extra 70 lights? ;)

Meet our little elf Pascal Zachy. I'm sure he's the only elf at the North Pole

with this name. Ethan chose Pascal because the chameleon on Tangled has that name,

and he is very sneaky just like our little elf. Trevan chose Zachy within

nanoseconds of me telling them he needed a name. I have no idea where it

came from, and he wouldn't even consider not using that name.

He's been in some funny places in our house already. The boys have already told it

exactly what they want for Christmas, and it's so cute watching them interact with it.

The funniest thing by far was watching Trevan try to sneak up on it and

catch it moving. He tried jumping around the corner to catch it five times, yes in a

row. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud.

And I must say it has definitely helped their behavior improve.

Do you have an elf at your house yet?

Merry Christmas!