Ben and I have been reading and re-reading all of your messages and notes. We are really so blessed and loved right now. Thank you. I pray you know the emotion and heart behind those two small words.
Right now, as I'm typing and deleting, I'm kinda thinking I should have paid more attention to my writing classes. I'm not the best writer, don't always proof read, and struggle with putting my thoughts in to words. haha Not a real good combo for someone trying to keep a blog huh? Well, just hang in there with me and maybe, I'll improve as we go along!
This is day 2 of complete bed rest and I haven't lost my mind...yet. Praise God it's only for a few days!! I've been able to rest, snuggle with my wild woman and man, read my bible, and listen to some chapters thanks to BibleGateway.com. It's really hard for me to just lay here and not worry about what I could be doing. Ben had the kitchen cleaned up last night, laundry switched and more loads going, all after bathing and putting the wild woman down. Right now they are out and about picking up and dropping off more paperwork, and probably getting some special treats too! Audrey told me before they left she was going to get some chocolate from Hans, Alex, and Timo- our awesome German friends that work at base. Audrey loves to stop in and see them. They fill her up with things we don't give her and tell me not to worry because "It's German" hahaha Oh my. They adore her and it's probably one of her favorite places.
In less than 48 hours we have seen God open doors and pour out blessings, as He always does. I'm going to start keeping track of those blessings. There is good in this and when I start to get scared, worry, or doubt- I start counting.
Blessings #1-20
-we have been blessed with another child, one that is loved beyond belief and we are so excited for
-we won't be separated, we will be together
- being so close to family
-having such a loving family and friends
-meals being brought to our house, made with love (or picked up from the store:) )
-Ben getting today off and being able to come home early this weekend with late reporting
-Facebook, skype, and blogging
-prayers that are going up from all over the place
-being connected (already) with people who live in the DC area
-our Church Family
-people who love our wild woman, having her over to play while we're at the doctors, while Ben's running all over base getting paperwork taken care of
- having the best husband in the world- he's been taking care of everything and making sure I'm okay
-late night talks in bed to calm and encourage
-Audrey climbing into our bed yesterday, "nuggling" in beside me, lifting my shirt to rub my belly and tell me "Mommy, bebe gettin' bigger. Mommy, people listen bebe heart, bebe heart okay" (couldn't stop the tears)
-how much Audrey loves to look at the baby's pictures. She giggles and say's CITED!!!
-having that envelope on the kitchen table that has the gender of baby and still not knowing :)
-Audrey sleeping until 0715 this morning, a first.
-Ben and Audrey cooking waffels this morning
-emergency fund and financial planning
-finding my first gray hair
Friday, January 27, 2012
Thursday, January 26, 2012
A long road ahead.
I just need you all to know how much your kind words, thoughts and prayers have meant to Ben and I. We are deeply touched and thank God for all of you. Please continue to pray for our family, we're facing a very long road ahead.
As many of you know, I've recently found out that I'm having some heart issues. On the 28th of Dec, after my echo, we found out I have a Patent Forman Ovale (PFO) which is a hole between my atriums. I have blood mixing from the left atrium to the right atrium, and the right side of my heart is enlarged. Because of the pressure from the PFO, my ventricles are contracting before they're supposed to which is causing some different rhythms and dizzy/light headedness. Right now I'm stable but they are concerned that the pressure will increase in my heart, cause enough PVC's to cause me to pass out, and possibly Pulmonary Hypertension (super bad). It's at that point that it poses a sever risk to the baby. Given the news we got yesterday, it would extremely bad for our precious little one.
Yesterday morning we had our first appointment with the high risk OB department, Maternal Fetal Medicine. It's by the grace of God that we were seen by them because the baby condition may never had been caught. We went in, super excited to see our baby #2 for a whole hour! We went it, had an amazing tech, and loved every second of the ultrasound. I can't tell you what it was, and don't think I could have put a finger on it being something serious but I know in my heart that something was different. In fact, I told my Mom a few days ago that there's just something different with this kiddo and I don't know what it is.
During the ultrasound, the baby was just wild! haha No surprise there given our first wild child was the same way! After doing all the scans of the baby's head, brain, and measurements the tech went to the baby's heart. The little was all over the place, we could see that. The arms were just a going and crossing the chest, making the tech's job a difficult one. So she spent 45minutes on the heart alone. After awhile, I knew something wasn't quite right. She did her job beautifully, talking to us, staying calm, she was great, and I'm soo thankful for her. Her name was Haley and I don't think I'll ever forget her.
After the scan, the doctor who was watching the screen in her office came in and did some scans of her own, just like Haley said she would. She said the doctor was very particular. So a few minutes into the scan she said I'm just going back over the heart, then we have some things to talk about. Ben and I looked at each and knew. He took my hand and kept it. After awhile of her scanning and looking and studying she said this is what I'm seeing. The baby has a VSD, a hole between the ventricules and some problems with where the aorta and pulmonary arteries are coming out and crossing. We said okay, we understood and I thought, VSD, not too big of deal. Our Dr then said bare with me, I want to look some more with Haley and I'll talk through it.
Dr. McCullough and Haley scanned for awhile longer and I looked over at her while she was looking at her screen and I heard her say, it's Tet. I said, as in Tetralogy of Fallot??? She stopped, looking surprised and said yes, how do you know that's what I meant? I then told her I was a NICU nurse. She shook her head and was like oh man. She said, so you know what this means? I answered yes but my husband has no idea what this is, please go over it for him. I was instantly overwhelmed trying to wrap my mine around what this means. All I could think about was the image that popped into my mind of a kiddo I took care of in the NICU with Tetralogy of Fallot following his open heart surgery. Here is a picture of what a heart is to look like compared with what our little one has:
I'm sorry it's blurry, I tried to blow it up a little bit so you could see it better. The following description is from http://www.pediatriccardiacinquest.mb.ca/ch02/tetralogy.html:
"Tetralogy of Fallot involves four defects within the heart. The first is a hole in the ventricular septum or a VSD. Second, the aorta, which is normally attached to the left ventricle, is wrongly positioned overtop the ventricular septum (and is termed an overriding aorta). Third, there is thickening (in medical terms, hypertrophy) of the muscle of the right ventricle (referred to as right ventricular hypertrophy). The fourth condition is a partial or complete obstruction of blood flow from the right ventricle (also termed RVOT-right ventricular outflow tract obstruction). This most often results from pulmonary narrowing (or, in medical terms, stenosis). Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the vessels carrying blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. This narrowing is caused by an underdevelopment of the area around the lung valve and along the pulmonary arteries, and can range from a blockage at the valve to thickening below the valve. There can also be narrowing of the pulmonary artery above the valve, and the vessel can narrow into both of the branches that go to the lungs."
Our little one's case isn't the worst it could be but it's not mild either. The VSD is not real large and while there is a great deal of obstruction from the right ventricle (stenosis), it's not completely obstructed. It's open about 2.5mm. Also, the anatomy is a little different on our little one. When the aorta comes out of the heart it crosses the pulmonary artery right away. But in our little one, it comes out and runs parallel then crosses higher up. As long as baby is inside of me, the little one is okay. Once baby is born, open heart surgery will happen along with a few other surgeries throughout baby's first and second years. Baby is stable, they are just concerned that if my heart deiced to turn for the worse, baby will have to be born early- very bad for a Tetralogy of Fallot kiddo, very bad. But it's in God's hands, not ours and we will be faithful.
Our hour long ultrasound turned into over 2 hours. We both were soo excited to have spent that time "with our baby" Our Dr then told us what was going to happen next. We told here we were planning to go to the States anyways and where I was going to go. She said no, I want you at either Walter Reed in DC or Wilford Hall in TX. She said she knew of the surgeons at both places and if she had her say, it would be Walter Reed. She asked where our family was and we said PA. She said that DC was where we were going. I said I respected her decision and wanted her honest opinion about military hospital compared to Children's of Pittsburgh or Philly. She said that those both were amazing hospitals for pediatric cardio but DC would be just as good and she knew the programs there.
We talked about that for while and Ben and I were okay with DC. Next she asked about doing an amniocentesis to test for other syndromes that are linked with Tetralogy of Fallot including but not limited to Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), 18 and 13, and DiGeorge Syndrome. She asked us if the results would have any effect on the decision of the rest of the pregnancy and we said absolutely not. She didn't push or make any judgments. She said okay now that we've established that, it would help with the preparation of the staff at Walter Reed and for you if there were any other syndromes present that could be detected. At first I wasn't about it and asked if I could wait until later. She said waiting until later would put baby at a greater risk. Ben and I talked and agreed that it would probably be the best to do now. She cleared her morning and said to come in right at 0730 the next day (today) and she would take care of it.
We then moved onto time line. I said Mam, we are supposed to leave here (PCS) in about 1 1/2 yrs. She said, well, that changes things. I love this doctor and how she just laid it out and said what was going to happen. We got more info about it today, which is part of the reason why we thought it would be best to wait to post something until we had more info.
SO, while I lay in bed on bedrest, Ben is running around submitting paper work so we can (BY THE GRACE AND MIRACLE OF GOD) be leaving Germany for good and moving to the DC area in FOUR WEEKS. I'm not sure what base we would get assigned to. We have four weeks for this to go through because I have to been in place, set up by 24 wks. I'm 20 wks and 1 day. They also have a back up plan because things are 90% sure to take a lot longer than 4wks with all the military stuff. That is if by the 23wk, 15 Feb, we have not moved they will medi-vac me to DC, forcing the Military to send Ben TDY to accompany me and to pick up the tab. The only bad thing about that is we will have to buy a ticket for Audrey, a one way commercial ticket last minute...$$$. But, if it comes to that, we can deal with it. One way of another, we will be in DC, ready to been seen in 4 wks.
Some very big praises are happening because of this. We won't be separated, we all will be together for this, we will be PCS'ing early, Ben most likely won't be deploying as originally thought would happen right before baby is born (HUGE PRAISE), we will be within 5 hours of both our families for support and help, we found this early and have the process started, and this is fixable.
I had my amnio a few hours ago and am on bedrest. We have the best friends who are keeping Aud for her nap and this afternoon so Ben and talk to his Command and get paperwork turned in. Our church family is taking care of us as well with meals and help. We're so grateful. It's been a tough 24hrs, but we know God has a plan and we will be faithful. We ask that you pray for our paperwork to go through in 4wks so Ben won't have to come back to Germany to PCS us, our house and all that. It's a big prayer but know that it's in God hands and He can do anything. Everything is up in the air and everything we know, you all know now. When we get any info, I'll put in on here so you all can be informed. We love you all and thank you again for you prayers and support.
Jaim, Ben, the wild woman, and the sweet little one.
As many of you know, I've recently found out that I'm having some heart issues. On the 28th of Dec, after my echo, we found out I have a Patent Forman Ovale (PFO) which is a hole between my atriums. I have blood mixing from the left atrium to the right atrium, and the right side of my heart is enlarged. Because of the pressure from the PFO, my ventricles are contracting before they're supposed to which is causing some different rhythms and dizzy/light headedness. Right now I'm stable but they are concerned that the pressure will increase in my heart, cause enough PVC's to cause me to pass out, and possibly Pulmonary Hypertension (super bad). It's at that point that it poses a sever risk to the baby. Given the news we got yesterday, it would extremely bad for our precious little one.
Yesterday morning we had our first appointment with the high risk OB department, Maternal Fetal Medicine. It's by the grace of God that we were seen by them because the baby condition may never had been caught. We went in, super excited to see our baby #2 for a whole hour! We went it, had an amazing tech, and loved every second of the ultrasound. I can't tell you what it was, and don't think I could have put a finger on it being something serious but I know in my heart that something was different. In fact, I told my Mom a few days ago that there's just something different with this kiddo and I don't know what it is.
During the ultrasound, the baby was just wild! haha No surprise there given our first wild child was the same way! After doing all the scans of the baby's head, brain, and measurements the tech went to the baby's heart. The little was all over the place, we could see that. The arms were just a going and crossing the chest, making the tech's job a difficult one. So she spent 45minutes on the heart alone. After awhile, I knew something wasn't quite right. She did her job beautifully, talking to us, staying calm, she was great, and I'm soo thankful for her. Her name was Haley and I don't think I'll ever forget her.
After the scan, the doctor who was watching the screen in her office came in and did some scans of her own, just like Haley said she would. She said the doctor was very particular. So a few minutes into the scan she said I'm just going back over the heart, then we have some things to talk about. Ben and I looked at each and knew. He took my hand and kept it. After awhile of her scanning and looking and studying she said this is what I'm seeing. The baby has a VSD, a hole between the ventricules and some problems with where the aorta and pulmonary arteries are coming out and crossing. We said okay, we understood and I thought, VSD, not too big of deal. Our Dr then said bare with me, I want to look some more with Haley and I'll talk through it.
Dr. McCullough and Haley scanned for awhile longer and I looked over at her while she was looking at her screen and I heard her say, it's Tet. I said, as in Tetralogy of Fallot??? She stopped, looking surprised and said yes, how do you know that's what I meant? I then told her I was a NICU nurse. She shook her head and was like oh man. She said, so you know what this means? I answered yes but my husband has no idea what this is, please go over it for him. I was instantly overwhelmed trying to wrap my mine around what this means. All I could think about was the image that popped into my mind of a kiddo I took care of in the NICU with Tetralogy of Fallot following his open heart surgery. Here is a picture of what a heart is to look like compared with what our little one has:
"Tetralogy of Fallot involves four defects within the heart. The first is a hole in the ventricular septum or a VSD. Second, the aorta, which is normally attached to the left ventricle, is wrongly positioned overtop the ventricular septum (and is termed an overriding aorta). Third, there is thickening (in medical terms, hypertrophy) of the muscle of the right ventricle (referred to as right ventricular hypertrophy). The fourth condition is a partial or complete obstruction of blood flow from the right ventricle (also termed RVOT-right ventricular outflow tract obstruction). This most often results from pulmonary narrowing (or, in medical terms, stenosis). Pulmonary stenosis is a narrowing of the vessels carrying blood from the right ventricle to the lungs. This narrowing is caused by an underdevelopment of the area around the lung valve and along the pulmonary arteries, and can range from a blockage at the valve to thickening below the valve. There can also be narrowing of the pulmonary artery above the valve, and the vessel can narrow into both of the branches that go to the lungs."
Our little one's case isn't the worst it could be but it's not mild either. The VSD is not real large and while there is a great deal of obstruction from the right ventricle (stenosis), it's not completely obstructed. It's open about 2.5mm. Also, the anatomy is a little different on our little one. When the aorta comes out of the heart it crosses the pulmonary artery right away. But in our little one, it comes out and runs parallel then crosses higher up. As long as baby is inside of me, the little one is okay. Once baby is born, open heart surgery will happen along with a few other surgeries throughout baby's first and second years. Baby is stable, they are just concerned that if my heart deiced to turn for the worse, baby will have to be born early- very bad for a Tetralogy of Fallot kiddo, very bad. But it's in God's hands, not ours and we will be faithful.
Our hour long ultrasound turned into over 2 hours. We both were soo excited to have spent that time "with our baby" Our Dr then told us what was going to happen next. We told here we were planning to go to the States anyways and where I was going to go. She said no, I want you at either Walter Reed in DC or Wilford Hall in TX. She said she knew of the surgeons at both places and if she had her say, it would be Walter Reed. She asked where our family was and we said PA. She said that DC was where we were going. I said I respected her decision and wanted her honest opinion about military hospital compared to Children's of Pittsburgh or Philly. She said that those both were amazing hospitals for pediatric cardio but DC would be just as good and she knew the programs there.
We talked about that for while and Ben and I were okay with DC. Next she asked about doing an amniocentesis to test for other syndromes that are linked with Tetralogy of Fallot including but not limited to Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome), 18 and 13, and DiGeorge Syndrome. She asked us if the results would have any effect on the decision of the rest of the pregnancy and we said absolutely not. She didn't push or make any judgments. She said okay now that we've established that, it would help with the preparation of the staff at Walter Reed and for you if there were any other syndromes present that could be detected. At first I wasn't about it and asked if I could wait until later. She said waiting until later would put baby at a greater risk. Ben and I talked and agreed that it would probably be the best to do now. She cleared her morning and said to come in right at 0730 the next day (today) and she would take care of it.
We then moved onto time line. I said Mam, we are supposed to leave here (PCS) in about 1 1/2 yrs. She said, well, that changes things. I love this doctor and how she just laid it out and said what was going to happen. We got more info about it today, which is part of the reason why we thought it would be best to wait to post something until we had more info.
SO, while I lay in bed on bedrest, Ben is running around submitting paper work so we can (BY THE GRACE AND MIRACLE OF GOD) be leaving Germany for good and moving to the DC area in FOUR WEEKS. I'm not sure what base we would get assigned to. We have four weeks for this to go through because I have to been in place, set up by 24 wks. I'm 20 wks and 1 day. They also have a back up plan because things are 90% sure to take a lot longer than 4wks with all the military stuff. That is if by the 23wk, 15 Feb, we have not moved they will medi-vac me to DC, forcing the Military to send Ben TDY to accompany me and to pick up the tab. The only bad thing about that is we will have to buy a ticket for Audrey, a one way commercial ticket last minute...$$$. But, if it comes to that, we can deal with it. One way of another, we will be in DC, ready to been seen in 4 wks.
Some very big praises are happening because of this. We won't be separated, we all will be together for this, we will be PCS'ing early, Ben most likely won't be deploying as originally thought would happen right before baby is born (HUGE PRAISE), we will be within 5 hours of both our families for support and help, we found this early and have the process started, and this is fixable.
I had my amnio a few hours ago and am on bedrest. We have the best friends who are keeping Aud for her nap and this afternoon so Ben and talk to his Command and get paperwork turned in. Our church family is taking care of us as well with meals and help. We're so grateful. It's been a tough 24hrs, but we know God has a plan and we will be faithful. We ask that you pray for our paperwork to go through in 4wks so Ben won't have to come back to Germany to PCS us, our house and all that. It's a big prayer but know that it's in God hands and He can do anything. Everything is up in the air and everything we know, you all know now. When we get any info, I'll put in on here so you all can be informed. We love you all and thank you again for you prayers and support.
Jaim, Ben, the wild woman, and the sweet little one.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
My New Multi-Occasion Gift!!
I'm not going to lie or down play this, I have an amazing husband. I really do. And for so many more reasons than an awesome gift. Ever since Audrey started taking solid foods, Ben would take her in the mornings after she woke up to give me a chance to sleep a few more hours. MIND you, he would be coming off a stretch of 16hr days. He would go get her out of the crib, bring her in to nurse, take her out and change her diaper, play and play and play, feed her cereal, let her play some more and then bring her back into be to feed her again before she passed out for her morning nap. He's such an awesome Daddy. To say that Audrey adores him would be an enormous understatement! They are clones of each other and I love, love, love to sneak up on them playing together. He takes her out on Daddy dates and when I ask what they've been up to, Ben always tells me "Don't worry about it"- with one of his infamous Ben smirks and laughs. Audrey now does the same thing! haha The love I have for both of them just overwhelms me, in the best way. Ben has always helped me with bath time, gets her ready, (complete with lotion, powder, and hinney cream) and puts her down usually every night. On nights that I have Bible study- he does it all.
Ben's also been a trophy husband with helping me with the housework. He's always done laundry, cleaning and dishes! With all the trouble I've been having he's also stepped up to taking extra care of Aud, me and the house. I know this separation is going to be awful, horribly awful, but I'm excited that he won't have as much to help with after working as long and hard as he does. Not to mention he brings me "special treats"-as Audrey would say. I know, he's an amazing man!!!
Okay, now to my multi-occasion gift he got for me!!!!!! We've been looking at Nikon SLR camera's and had a model picked out. We originally were looking at D3100's and went into the store and they had a deal on a kit we couldn't pass up. It was a D5100 kit with 2 lens and was better price than just the D3100! This is my 25th Birthday present, anniversary gift, going home project to keep me busy while we are continents apart, and new baby gift! Everything from now until June gift all rolled into one! :) I'm so excited! Our old camera is a 5mgp and this one is 16.2mgp. We were playing with it this morning and WOW, what a difference! I can't wait to have private lessons on the camera and it's crazy functions from my father-in-law. I'm really excited and want to know it in and out! I don't just want to keep it on the auto mode when it has sooo much more!!
So here are a few pictures from today from my brand spankin' new camera!!
Ben's also been a trophy husband with helping me with the housework. He's always done laundry, cleaning and dishes! With all the trouble I've been having he's also stepped up to taking extra care of Aud, me and the house. I know this separation is going to be awful, horribly awful, but I'm excited that he won't have as much to help with after working as long and hard as he does. Not to mention he brings me "special treats"-as Audrey would say. I know, he's an amazing man!!!
Okay, now to my multi-occasion gift he got for me!!!!!! We've been looking at Nikon SLR camera's and had a model picked out. We originally were looking at D3100's and went into the store and they had a deal on a kit we couldn't pass up. It was a D5100 kit with 2 lens and was better price than just the D3100! This is my 25th Birthday present, anniversary gift, going home project to keep me busy while we are continents apart, and new baby gift! Everything from now until June gift all rolled into one! :) I'm so excited! Our old camera is a 5mgp and this one is 16.2mgp. We were playing with it this morning and WOW, what a difference! I can't wait to have private lessons on the camera and it's crazy functions from my father-in-law. I'm really excited and want to know it in and out! I don't just want to keep it on the auto mode when it has sooo much more!!
So here are a few pictures from today from my brand spankin' new camera!!
Having some Kix's cereal for breakfast!!
I asked her to smile... this is what I got! hahah
Another "smile" shot with a nice shot of some chewed up kix...
Audrey and Ben making me some birthday cupcakes!! haha my lovies
Some for you Daddy, and now some for me!!!
The finished product! haha
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Hair for hair bows!!!
So excited that the wild woman is starting to get into hair pretties!!! AND she's finally getting enough hair for them!!! haha It's only taken about 2 years! This was last Sunday before we got left for church. It wasn't until half way through snapping pictures that I realized she still had breakfast all over her face! aha Oh well, it's still cute!
Heading home...
Well, we saw the cardiologist last week and after a lot of prayer (and people praying for us), discussing, and the doctors suggestion- the wild woman and I will be heading home in a month and staying until the baby is born. This decision was such a hard one to make- not because of my heart issues or baby issues- but because I don't want to be away from the love of my life. Ben told me " I don't know why your having such a hard time with this Jaim, it's cut and dry- it's the best thing for you and our babies so, your going home" I replied well "believe it or not, your just that wonderful and I love you that much that I don't want to be away from you, at all." :)
God has worked every detail out so far, and I know that if this is His will- He will continue. I've never had more peace and comfort about a situation like I do now and I just give God all the glory and praise. Please pray for our time of transition and months to come. Love you all!
God has worked every detail out so far, and I know that if this is His will- He will continue. I've never had more peace and comfort about a situation like I do now and I just give God all the glory and praise. Please pray for our time of transition and months to come. Love you all!
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Double ear infections and an eventful pregnancy !!
Audrey started a runny nose Christmas day and I wasn't feeling so good so we didn't go to church that day. The next night, Audrey and I were up from 0230- till the next morning. She had a high fever, couldn't breath out of her nose, holding her ears, it was sooo awful, so awful. I had to go to my echo and OB apt that I couldn't miss so Ben took her to the doctor. I'm soo thankful I didn't try and wait it out- she had a double ear infection. My poor baby. It was soo awful. She was miserable, so exhausted, and you could tell she just hurt.
On top of all that, I got really sick and have been having a hard time with energy and stamina. Ben had to work the 6 days in a row and could not get leave to help me at home. It was soo horrible. Even though he works 16hrs, gets up at 0330 in the mornings, he slept in Audreys room 2 nights when I was so sick and took care of her so I could get some good rest. I'm telling you- there is no better man out there than the man I married. He's the best Daddy and husband, ever. He'd come home and take care of both of us. He would get her ready to bad, eat super fast, and put her to bed. We all were going to bed between 730 and 8 every night. It was wonderful!.... actually, we still are in bed before 9! hahah
We napped the rest of the afternoon, tried to get her to eat but that was a no go. The next morning we were reading, she was feeling better after her meds, I noticed she had some stuff in her ear. It wasn't blood, but was really yellow and bad so I called back to the doctor. They said her ear drum probably ruptured and to come and get more meds for her ears. We went and saw Daddy first, he and the germas got her to eat some and we went and waited an hour at the pharmacy for the meds. The drops really hurt her the first two days, I cried as well, but after that and some special treats, it was much better.
It was that night that my OB doctor called me back with the results from my echo. It was almost 6 so I was a little surprised he was calling. I really thought they would say ooh, its nothing. Well, here I have an atrial septal defect that's been there since I was born that was causing blood to be shunted from the left atrium to the right. Also, the right side of my heart was enlarged. I was like hmm that's something. The doctor said normally it wouldn't be a big dedal however, because of the enlargement and my symptoms- they were concerned that with the increase in fluid volume over the next few months, it might stress my heart even more. As of right now the high risk OB doctor isn't concerned with the baby since I was on track measuring and the heartbeat sounded good but still wants to follow me. I will also be having more echo's and be followed by a cardiologist- my first appointment is tomorrow in fact. So, tomorrow is the big deciding day. Thankfully Ben is off and it's first thing in the morning. I'm so thankful for our church family that has made it soo clear they are here to help in any way we need them and for our family at home that are praying and wanting to be here to help sooo badly.
We also go the 25th for an hour long ultrasound of the baby at the high risk doctor. Ben's also off for that one and we have some awesome friends that are going to watch the wild woman so we can go together. I have a peace about all of this that I know is only by the grace of God. Philippianes 3 : 5-7 says it all "5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; 6 rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplication twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ESV translation
On top of all that, I got really sick and have been having a hard time with energy and stamina. Ben had to work the 6 days in a row and could not get leave to help me at home. It was soo horrible. Even though he works 16hrs, gets up at 0330 in the mornings, he slept in Audreys room 2 nights when I was so sick and took care of her so I could get some good rest. I'm telling you- there is no better man out there than the man I married. He's the best Daddy and husband, ever. He'd come home and take care of both of us. He would get her ready to bad, eat super fast, and put her to bed. We all were going to bed between 730 and 8 every night. It was wonderful!.... actually, we still are in bed before 9! hahah
We napped the rest of the afternoon, tried to get her to eat but that was a no go. The next morning we were reading, she was feeling better after her meds, I noticed she had some stuff in her ear. It wasn't blood, but was really yellow and bad so I called back to the doctor. They said her ear drum probably ruptured and to come and get more meds for her ears. We went and saw Daddy first, he and the germas got her to eat some and we went and waited an hour at the pharmacy for the meds. The drops really hurt her the first two days, I cried as well, but after that and some special treats, it was much better.
It was that night that my OB doctor called me back with the results from my echo. It was almost 6 so I was a little surprised he was calling. I really thought they would say ooh, its nothing. Well, here I have an atrial septal defect that's been there since I was born that was causing blood to be shunted from the left atrium to the right. Also, the right side of my heart was enlarged. I was like hmm that's something. The doctor said normally it wouldn't be a big dedal however, because of the enlargement and my symptoms- they were concerned that with the increase in fluid volume over the next few months, it might stress my heart even more. As of right now the high risk OB doctor isn't concerned with the baby since I was on track measuring and the heartbeat sounded good but still wants to follow me. I will also be having more echo's and be followed by a cardiologist- my first appointment is tomorrow in fact. So, tomorrow is the big deciding day. Thankfully Ben is off and it's first thing in the morning. I'm so thankful for our church family that has made it soo clear they are here to help in any way we need them and for our family at home that are praying and wanting to be here to help sooo badly.
We also go the 25th for an hour long ultrasound of the baby at the high risk doctor. Ben's also off for that one and we have some awesome friends that are going to watch the wild woman so we can go together. I have a peace about all of this that I know is only by the grace of God. Philippianes 3 : 5-7 says it all "5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; 6 rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplication twith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." ESV translation
Christmas 2011!!
We had a fantastic Christmas this year. We decided that it would be a good idea to give the wild woman some gifts here and there so it was complete overload on Christmas day. Mimi and Oma's box came early some we gave her all of Oma's gifts on the days leading up to Christmas and 1/2 of Mimi's Christmas Eve Eve and Christmas Eve. She loved it! We would ask her if she would like a present and she would start stomping and clapping yelling "CITED CITED" haha I don't know who it was more fun for, us or her. Then Poppa Marty's box came in and we had to open that one too!! He picked out a really sweet nice outfit, silky jammies with kitties on them, sweatpants and sweat shirt, and some socks. For the first time in days, she had clothes on! haha She had to wear the silky kitty jammies!Then we played with her goodies! Ben had off for 6 days so that in it's self was an awesome gift!
My Dad's side of the family always had Christmas on Christmas Eve so we always went there. This year we didn't go home so we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. I'd never been to a candle light service, so I was excited. It was really special. Audrey had a great time in the nursery playing with the kiddos and tickling the babies :) We came home, got Aud ready for bed and we got to work! My mentor from church kept Audrey for a few hours before Christmas so Ben and I could get wrapping done and toys put together. We set it all out and went to bed!
The wild woman slept in till 0630 ( I should have known better, that is soo rare, that something was coming) We started opening gifts right away and didn't finish until around 1130. It was so much fun! She would open one and play, help us open one, then ask for another. She was soo excited. We got to skype my Mom and sisters so they could see her open a few.
We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and went back to playing. For early lunch I made Ben a family tradition his family had, sausage gravy over biscuits. We all laid down and had a good nap! We got up, played some more and had a special dinner- filet mignon! I was pretty nervous about it but cut it from the tenderloin myself and grilled it on my gril pan. Ben took Audrey and Beretta out for a long walk while I got dinner together.
Here's some pictures from Christmas Eve and a few from Christmas day. We did video instead of taking a bunch of pictures Christmas morning.
My Dad's side of the family always had Christmas on Christmas Eve so we always went there. This year we didn't go home so we went to the Christmas Eve service at our church. I'd never been to a candle light service, so I was excited. It was really special. Audrey had a great time in the nursery playing with the kiddos and tickling the babies :) We came home, got Aud ready for bed and we got to work! My mentor from church kept Audrey for a few hours before Christmas so Ben and I could get wrapping done and toys put together. We set it all out and went to bed!
The wild woman slept in till 0630 ( I should have known better, that is soo rare, that something was coming) We started opening gifts right away and didn't finish until around 1130. It was so much fun! She would open one and play, help us open one, then ask for another. She was soo excited. We got to skype my Mom and sisters so they could see her open a few.
We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and went back to playing. For early lunch I made Ben a family tradition his family had, sausage gravy over biscuits. We all laid down and had a good nap! We got up, played some more and had a special dinner- filet mignon! I was pretty nervous about it but cut it from the tenderloin myself and grilled it on my gril pan. Ben took Audrey and Beretta out for a long walk while I got dinner together.
Here's some pictures from Christmas Eve and a few from Christmas day. We did video instead of taking a bunch of pictures Christmas morning.
I was trying to get some nice pictures of her in her Steeler get up but this is what I got :)
Ben told her to show Momma your teeth, she pointed them out so I wouldn't have any doubts where they were haha She's the best!
I can't tell you how long it took to TRY and get a decent picture of all three of them, I was soo funny and I think I like the attempts better anyways :)
Aud was done with the attempts.
The wild woman and I after Christmas Eve service
It wasn't the day for pictures.
All of her gifts from Daddy & Momma, Great Gram & Poppa Huff, Mimi, and Uncle Jason & Aunt Naanaa!!
The rest of the gifts!
Climbing in the TV stand with her new school bus!
Grilling the steaks!
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