Avalyn's birth story started a little earlier than we expected after a routine 35 week ultrasound. We were just there to ensure that my placenta previa had cleared and she moved head down (instead of transverse - her favorite position). She had actually moved head down and my placenta had moved, all those chiropractor trips had worked! Unfortunately our OB came in to inform Braelyn and I - Danny had to leave for work - that the baby was measuring small and bloodflow in the cord seemed to be a little restricted. She wanted us to head directly to see a perinatologist that day, I called Danny and we headed over there after dropping B off at Grammy's.
At the perinatologist the ultrasound tech told us that the baby was measuring small but that everything else looked perfect, no restricted bloodflow or any organ issues. We thought we were in the clear, until two perinatologists walked in and told us otherwise. They were worried about our baby's brain, our floor fell out and all we could do was stare at each other. I had 3 more ultrasounds where they showed us what they called cerebellar hypoplasia and a fluid filled "cyst" at the central base of her brain. They wouldn't give us a specific diagnosis because not all findings were consistent with one specific thing and they suggested we head to Children's Hospital for a full review. Children's couldn't get us in for a full day of specialists until Thursday, a day and a half later. Danny and I spent a lot of time talking, praying and hoping that they were wrong, that our baby was ok. We also talked to amazing people that had walked the road of childhood disability and loss, we wanted to be as prepared as possible.
That Thursday we left the house at 5:30am because of the snow that had come through the night before, everything was peacefully blanketed and my little girl slowly kicked and rolled the whole drive. Once we got there we were checked in and sent to radiology for a fetal MRI, even though we were early they got us right back. The MRI went so much quicker that they expected and they had all the images they needed in 45 minutes. After a quick breakfast in the cafeteria we decided to head up to see if we could check in for our fetal echo. Surprisingly they got us in early too! After the ultrasound a cardiac surgeon came in to speak with Danny and I and he told us her heart was perfect, explaining that as perfect as he thought it was, at this point in pregnancy ultrasound is hard to use because the bones are hardening and they can cast shadows. He sent us, with a perfect report, off the Maternal Fetal ward of Children's where we were scheduled to have a full genetic screening with an amniocentesis. At this point we were 4 hours early because all the others had gotten us in, the receptionist showed us a family waiting area, turned the couch into a bed, gave us warm blankets and showed us where would could get snacks/drinks. We went back to that room and waited, we talked more, answered texts and prayed for our baby - who was still kicking and rolling. We decided after a couple hours to run down and have lunch but as soon as we got back they told us they had a cancellation and could take us back right away. They started on another ultrasound right away while the genetic counselor reviewed a full family health history. Shortly after we heard the tech say something about a perfect cerebellum but then the genetic counselor started reviewing the process of the amnio with us. Right after our MFM came in and asked us why we thought we were there, allowing us to explain what we had been through and what we thought was going on with our little girl. He quickly said, "ok then I'm going to go ahead and spoil the news, your baby has a perfect brain". Danny and I let out the biggest breath ever with so many tears, happy tears for our perfectly small baby! He showed us how the perinatologists office got the picture they did of her cerebellum, a shadow from the hardening skull bones, he then showed us her perfect cerebellum. He explained that her head was in the 5th percentile and the rest of her body was measuring just a bit bigger than that. After reviewing our history and explaining that there are just "smaller people" he told us we didn't need to worry about that. We were then taken to a conference room, where just minutes earlier we thought we would be meeting with a full panel of specialists and social workers to discuss our daughters "condition", but now we were just meeting with two MFM's reviewing the MRI. We walked through every inch of her brain and then other organs, he told us how perfect everything looked and said he was so thrilled to be able to give us this kind of news, it isn't often in his field he gets to.
We left feeling elated, our baby was ok, there were no hard decisions to make, there were no brain surgeries to schedule. Our perinatologist called in tears saying she had been holding her breath for two days thinking of us. She was thrilled but still wanted baby out early because of her small size, explaining the formula/incidence of being born still. After speaking to our OB and Children's they would closely monitor us with NST's and ultrasound to ensure she was growing safely until we reached 38 weeks.
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
We're having a baby...again!
After B we thought we might be "one and done". We talked a lot about it and decided to feel things out as we went, well we changed our minds! We decided in in 2013 we would try to grow our family and got lucky pretty quick. Unfortunately our journey ended in a loss at 11 weeks in October of 2013. That little baby changed our world forever, it changed who we are, how we parent and how much we love each other. Our faith and love grew stronger than ever before, as did the decision that we absolutely wanted another baby if possible. We tried again and were led down the path of possible diminished ovarian reserve and started working with a Reproductive Endocrinologist in July 2014.
Little did we know we had a little surprise and while waiting for further testing we instead got a positive pregnancy test! We were followed by our RE at CCRM throughout beta testing and our first 2 ultrasounds but after 10 weeks we "graduated" to our new Midwife. We have been very slow to share this news or even wrap our minds around this miracle but want to make sure we share this little bundles journey too! We have gotten positive and exciting results at every test and ultrasound and this little, a little GIRL, seems to be as healthy as can be!
The pregnancy has been quite different from my first with Braelyn. We've had a couple scares, on top of the general anxiety after our loss, but she's growing perfectly! I was extremely sick at the beginning, so bad my midwife threatened me with the hospital. Shortly after I started Zofran :) I got to stop taking that and was able to keep down fluids/food around 20wks. We found out I have an anterior placenta so her movement hasn't been felt as much as B's. Right now she is also transverse, double that with my placenta on the front, I am measuring bigger and am more uncomfortable than I ever was last time. I will try to post the weekly updates, and updates on our beautiful 3 year old, now that our insane December is over, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Little did we know we had a little surprise and while waiting for further testing we instead got a positive pregnancy test! We were followed by our RE at CCRM throughout beta testing and our first 2 ultrasounds but after 10 weeks we "graduated" to our new Midwife. We have been very slow to share this news or even wrap our minds around this miracle but want to make sure we share this little bundles journey too! We have gotten positive and exciting results at every test and ultrasound and this little, a little GIRL, seems to be as healthy as can be!
The pregnancy has been quite different from my first with Braelyn. We've had a couple scares, on top of the general anxiety after our loss, but she's growing perfectly! I was extremely sick at the beginning, so bad my midwife threatened me with the hospital. Shortly after I started Zofran :) I got to stop taking that and was able to keep down fluids/food around 20wks. We found out I have an anterior placenta so her movement hasn't been felt as much as B's. Right now she is also transverse, double that with my placenta on the front, I am measuring bigger and am more uncomfortable than I ever was last time. I will try to post the weekly updates, and updates on our beautiful 3 year old, now that our insane December is over, HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Months 10 & 11
Weight: 20.4lbs
Height: Still around 27 inches, she was too much of a wiggle worm
*We can't be positive about these, they were done at home by us so maybe a little user error *
Clothing: She can still wear some of her 6-9 month clothes but mostly 9-12 months now
Diapers: Size 3's
Feeding: B has been eating three meals of solids a day with a snack or two depending. She still loves fruits and veggies but is starting to want more carbs and cheese, I wonder where she gets that from. She loves to eat whatever we are eating and most of the time half of our meals have been consumed by her, even with her three little teeth. My milk supply is getting lower and lower so our pedi approved us starting to add in 1/4 whole milk with 3/4 pumped milk. I am sad we didn't make it the full year on just nursing but so proud of how far we have come. It does look like she will get breast milk through a year and for that I am grateful!
Sleep: It seems like she has been adding time to her overnight sleep schedule so that is playing with her naps now. Before this little change she would wake up around 6:30am and go down for her first nap around 9:30am, sleep for about an hour and then be up until 2:30pm when she went down for another hour or so. She would then go down for bed around 7:30pm and then sleep through the night, thankfully that part hasn't changed. I am guessing she is going to start cutting out a nap but we will see.
Updates: Big news here, we have a walker (as of 10/26/12) on our hands and sister can move! She has been all over the place and loves her new independence. We took her to the park a week or so ago and right when I got her out of her bike she took off running and face planted into the cement, her poor little nose had quite the scrape. She just wants to go and walking just isn't fast enough anymore. She is also a babbling machine, she chats and chats, she has three "words" so far: Momma, Dadda and HI (super shrill). Grammy has been working on signs with her that we continue through the week so she can now sign: milk, more, eat and all done. She has also been waving hi and bye for a while but she has added blowing kisses, so cute. I love that she is understanding what we say and sign, it makes communication that much easier - although she has started getting frustrated when she wants something and can't let us know.
She is completely my daughter in her music regard, she loves it and dances anytime she hears it, even yesterday at the grocery store to the Christmas music. She was quite the show for the other shoppers. Brae also loves her books, she loves to sit and look at the picture board books we have. She has the 100 first words and has been pointing to the dog when we ask, she also loves the kitty picture (a sign she recognizes) like her Grammy's Mya kitty.
We have been getting her used to the potty and so far she has gone in there about 5 times. We try in the morning, if we aren't running out the door, and before bath time. She knows that before the bath/shower she has to potty so when we get her nakey she goes straight to her potty, such a smartie pants! Overall she is growing so much and learning all kinds of new things, we can't believe in just a few weeks she will be a big one year old (where oh where has the time gone).
Height: Still around 27 inches, she was too much of a wiggle worm
*We can't be positive about these, they were done at home by us so maybe a little user error *
Clothing: She can still wear some of her 6-9 month clothes but mostly 9-12 months now
Diapers: Size 3's
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| 10 Months |
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| 11 Months |
Sleep: It seems like she has been adding time to her overnight sleep schedule so that is playing with her naps now. Before this little change she would wake up around 6:30am and go down for her first nap around 9:30am, sleep for about an hour and then be up until 2:30pm when she went down for another hour or so. She would then go down for bed around 7:30pm and then sleep through the night, thankfully that part hasn't changed. I am guessing she is going to start cutting out a nap but we will see.
Updates: Big news here, we have a walker (as of 10/26/12) on our hands and sister can move! She has been all over the place and loves her new independence. We took her to the park a week or so ago and right when I got her out of her bike she took off running and face planted into the cement, her poor little nose had quite the scrape. She just wants to go and walking just isn't fast enough anymore. She is also a babbling machine, she chats and chats, she has three "words" so far: Momma, Dadda and HI (super shrill). Grammy has been working on signs with her that we continue through the week so she can now sign: milk, more, eat and all done. She has also been waving hi and bye for a while but she has added blowing kisses, so cute. I love that she is understanding what we say and sign, it makes communication that much easier - although she has started getting frustrated when she wants something and can't let us know.
She is completely my daughter in her music regard, she loves it and dances anytime she hears it, even yesterday at the grocery store to the Christmas music. She was quite the show for the other shoppers. Brae also loves her books, she loves to sit and look at the picture board books we have. She has the 100 first words and has been pointing to the dog when we ask, she also loves the kitty picture (a sign she recognizes) like her Grammy's Mya kitty.
We have been getting her used to the potty and so far she has gone in there about 5 times. We try in the morning, if we aren't running out the door, and before bath time. She knows that before the bath/shower she has to potty so when we get her nakey she goes straight to her potty, such a smartie pants! Overall she is growing so much and learning all kinds of new things, we can't believe in just a few weeks she will be a big one year old (where oh where has the time gone).
Monday, November 26, 2012
9 Months
Weight: 19.4lbs
Height: 27.8 inches
Clothing: 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 3's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night, she still does 2 meals a day of solids. We have added yogurt to the normal fruit, or toast and scrambled eggs. She has tried all kinds of new foods and seriously LOVES food, sister can eat! She loves her puffs but we found these "wagon wheels" that have a lot more texture and are easier for her to hold so she has loved those lately. My milk is starting to get lower and it is really scaring me, I am not ready to give nursing up quite yet and it doesn't seem like she is either.
Sleep: Teething has continued to be tough on our sleep schedule but little miss did get her two bottom front teeth in, left one first! For the most part the Natural Orajel and IB Prof. has taken the edge off the pain for her. We still have a sleeping through the night baby and for that I am so grateful!
Updates: We have some fairly big news, some things have changed with our personal life and we have decided for now I am only going to work p/t at the Dr's office. I really love my job there and the staff is fantastic so being able to do p/t for now is perfect. Over the next few months we will see how that goes and reevaluate then, for now Mommy is VERY happy!
We have a cruiser on our hands! For a little bit we thought she may skip crawling and go directly to walking but she decided she digs the crawling thing and has backed off a bit on walking - she knows she can get there quicker and on her own by crawling. She loves to stand and walk around the furniture though so maybe she will decide to go back that way soon. She has also started "talking" a lot more - she now says "Momma" for me and if she gets upset/tired, she likes to say "yea yea yea", she also understands more when we talk. She laughs when we say "no" which is totally a Mommy trait we are hoping to break! I cannot believe she has been "out" as long as she was "in" now!
Height: 27.8 inches
Clothing: 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 3's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night, she still does 2 meals a day of solids. We have added yogurt to the normal fruit, or toast and scrambled eggs. She has tried all kinds of new foods and seriously LOVES food, sister can eat! She loves her puffs but we found these "wagon wheels" that have a lot more texture and are easier for her to hold so she has loved those lately. My milk is starting to get lower and it is really scaring me, I am not ready to give nursing up quite yet and it doesn't seem like she is either.
Sleep: Teething has continued to be tough on our sleep schedule but little miss did get her two bottom front teeth in, left one first! For the most part the Natural Orajel and IB Prof. has taken the edge off the pain for her. We still have a sleeping through the night baby and for that I am so grateful!
Updates: We have some fairly big news, some things have changed with our personal life and we have decided for now I am only going to work p/t at the Dr's office. I really love my job there and the staff is fantastic so being able to do p/t for now is perfect. Over the next few months we will see how that goes and reevaluate then, for now Mommy is VERY happy!
We have a cruiser on our hands! For a little bit we thought she may skip crawling and go directly to walking but she decided she digs the crawling thing and has backed off a bit on walking - she knows she can get there quicker and on her own by crawling. She loves to stand and walk around the furniture though so maybe she will decide to go back that way soon. She has also started "talking" a lot more - she now says "Momma" for me and if she gets upset/tired, she likes to say "yea yea yea", she also understands more when we talk. She laughs when we say "no" which is totally a Mommy trait we are hoping to break! I cannot believe she has been "out" as long as she was "in" now!
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
8 months
Weight: 19lbs
Height: 27.5 inches
*We can't be positive about these, they were done at home by us so maybe a little user error *
Clothing: Mostly 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 3's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night, she also does 2 meals a day of solids. Normally fruit for breakfast and then veggies for dinner.
Sleep: Most of the time our sleepy baby is fantastic but we have had some up's and down's here at the end of the month with teething and just the 8 month regression. We still do the same routine and most of the time we are good for the night. Naps have been harder to come by, unless she is at Grandma's during the week then she is a super star napper! We got her a little sea horse that glows and plays a little melody and she seems to like it enough but I was hoping this thing would work miracles.
Updates: Our big girl is growing so much, she is crawling around like crazy now. She loves to climb the stairs (assisted of course) and is standing with support all the time. Now that she is crawling all over walking has taken a back seat but I think it will be no time at all before she is back pushing for that. She has been getting to spend more time with her Gigi and Poppy and has been having a fantastic time! I love that our little girl is surrounded by a loving family, especially in all the facetime/skype calls!
She has been loving solids and is not wanting puree's anymore so we have switched to tiny pieces of food that she can gum and swallow. She is quite the eater and loves chicken, peas, cantaloupe, wheat toast, sweet potatoes and yogurt. We did try to add some cinnamon in her butternut squash, she loved it but got a little rash around her eyes so we are going to back off on spices for a little bit.
Braelyn has been getting a little more "sensitive" to who is around her and has been wanting her Mommy and Daddy more, which is a change for our social butterfly. I do have to admit I love when those little arms reach up to me! It is really making this back to work thing sting more than usual but I know she is in great hands. I promise to update with pictures soon!
Height: 27.5 inches
*We can't be positive about these, they were done at home by us so maybe a little user error *
Clothing: Mostly 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 3's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night, she also does 2 meals a day of solids. Normally fruit for breakfast and then veggies for dinner.
Sleep: Most of the time our sleepy baby is fantastic but we have had some up's and down's here at the end of the month with teething and just the 8 month regression. We still do the same routine and most of the time we are good for the night. Naps have been harder to come by, unless she is at Grandma's during the week then she is a super star napper! We got her a little sea horse that glows and plays a little melody and she seems to like it enough but I was hoping this thing would work miracles.
Updates: Our big girl is growing so much, she is crawling around like crazy now. She loves to climb the stairs (assisted of course) and is standing with support all the time. Now that she is crawling all over walking has taken a back seat but I think it will be no time at all before she is back pushing for that. She has been getting to spend more time with her Gigi and Poppy and has been having a fantastic time! I love that our little girl is surrounded by a loving family, especially in all the facetime/skype calls!
She has been loving solids and is not wanting puree's anymore so we have switched to tiny pieces of food that she can gum and swallow. She is quite the eater and loves chicken, peas, cantaloupe, wheat toast, sweet potatoes and yogurt. We did try to add some cinnamon in her butternut squash, she loved it but got a little rash around her eyes so we are going to back off on spices for a little bit.
Braelyn has been getting a little more "sensitive" to who is around her and has been wanting her Mommy and Daddy more, which is a change for our social butterfly. I do have to admit I love when those little arms reach up to me! It is really making this back to work thing sting more than usual but I know she is in great hands. I promise to update with pictures soon!
Sunday, July 22, 2012
6 and 7 months
Sorry for the delay and double month update, since I went back to work things haven't slowed down for a second! We did our first family vacation to Gleenwood Springs with the Wells', we had family in and we traveled again. Because she just turned 7 months we want to make sure we hit everything and don't confuse any dates!
(stats are from her 6 month appointment since she won't have a 7 month pediatrician visit)
Weight: 17lbs 8 ounces
Height: 25.5 inches
Clothing: Between 3-6 and 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 2's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night
Sleep: There isn't a lot to be said in this area because Braelyn is the best baby sleeper. We put her down after shower/bath, lotion/massage and then her last nursing and bottle session with a book and song. Normally she goes down around 7:30pm and wakes back up around 6:30am. We were a little off this month because we had my amazing family in from the East Coast and got to fly back to Chicago to see the Sax side of the family for Uncle Randy and Aunt Courtney's wedding. What a lucky girl, getting to stay up past her bed time and see her family!
Updates: Since Mommy went back to work last month B has got to spend lots of time with Grandma and her Aunties and has been loving every minute of it! She has become so interactive and loves to "play" with her toys on the blanket in the living room. At the beginning of 6 months she started getting up into the crawling position and rocking back and forth. Since then she has been "army crawling" and loves to go after my makeup tray by the big mirror in our bedroom. We have been spending lots of time at the pool and have a little fishy on our hands, she loves the water and splashes all around (we need Auntie Megan out here STAT). She is becoming a very lovey girl and will give fabulous kisses, even to the "baby in the mirror" she likes so much.
B took her second flight to Chicago for Uncle Randy and Aunt Courtney's wedding. She did so awesome on the plane and loved first class...a little diva already ;) Mommy and Daddy got a night out alone while Grandma and Auntie Barbara watched baby for the rehearsal dinner. Brae also got spoiled by her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eric while they watched her the night of the wedding.
We have also introduced lots more solids this month and little lady takes after her Daddy in the eating department! We have tried oatmeal cereal, rice cereal, avocados, bananas, peas, pears, broccoli, carrots and pluots (all Mommy and Daddy made). She didn't love the pluots, we think they were a little to "sour" for her. She also loves her "num nums" and has tried some cheerios!
Favorite moment this month: Daddy says his favorite moment has been walking in to her room in the morning and seeing her huge smiles, it sure starts the day right! Mommy's favorite moment has been coming home after work and getting that smile when she hears my voice. I knew it would be hard to go back to work and it is a job everyday to leave my little girl but knowing she is with my Mom and getting that smile makes it a little easier.
PS- how in the world do we have a 6/7 month old!?
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| 6 months |
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| 7 months |
(stats are from her 6 month appointment since she won't have a 7 month pediatrician visit)
Weight: 17lbs 8 ounces
Height: 25.5 inches
Clothing: Between 3-6 and 6-9 months
Diapers: Size 2's
Feeding: Bottle feeding pumped milk and nursing about every 3 hours during the day and goes around 10 hours at night
Sleep: There isn't a lot to be said in this area because Braelyn is the best baby sleeper. We put her down after shower/bath, lotion/massage and then her last nursing and bottle session with a book and song. Normally she goes down around 7:30pm and wakes back up around 6:30am. We were a little off this month because we had my amazing family in from the East Coast and got to fly back to Chicago to see the Sax side of the family for Uncle Randy and Aunt Courtney's wedding. What a lucky girl, getting to stay up past her bed time and see her family!
Updates: Since Mommy went back to work last month B has got to spend lots of time with Grandma and her Aunties and has been loving every minute of it! She has become so interactive and loves to "play" with her toys on the blanket in the living room. At the beginning of 6 months she started getting up into the crawling position and rocking back and forth. Since then she has been "army crawling" and loves to go after my makeup tray by the big mirror in our bedroom. We have been spending lots of time at the pool and have a little fishy on our hands, she loves the water and splashes all around (we need Auntie Megan out here STAT). She is becoming a very lovey girl and will give fabulous kisses, even to the "baby in the mirror" she likes so much.
B took her second flight to Chicago for Uncle Randy and Aunt Courtney's wedding. She did so awesome on the plane and loved first class...a little diva already ;) Mommy and Daddy got a night out alone while Grandma and Auntie Barbara watched baby for the rehearsal dinner. Brae also got spoiled by her Aunt Sarah and Uncle Eric while they watched her the night of the wedding.
We have also introduced lots more solids this month and little lady takes after her Daddy in the eating department! We have tried oatmeal cereal, rice cereal, avocados, bananas, peas, pears, broccoli, carrots and pluots (all Mommy and Daddy made). She didn't love the pluots, we think they were a little to "sour" for her. She also loves her "num nums" and has tried some cheerios!
Favorite moment this month: Daddy says his favorite moment has been walking in to her room in the morning and seeing her huge smiles, it sure starts the day right! Mommy's favorite moment has been coming home after work and getting that smile when she hears my voice. I knew it would be hard to go back to work and it is a job everyday to leave my little girl but knowing she is with my Mom and getting that smile makes it a little easier.
PS- how in the world do we have a 6/7 month old!?
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5 months in pictures!
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| First night in her crib - thank God for video monitors :) |
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| Sister loves to bounce! |
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| Such a big girl in her high chair |
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| O-Balls make great pillows |
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| Love our Mommy/Daughter cuddles |
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| I can't end this post without smiles |
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| and even bigger smiles, man we love this girl! |
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