PRAISE THE LORD!!! We got the results from Sayla Grace's head ultrasound this morning, and everything is NORMAL!!!! The only follow up we'll have is going back to the doctor in 4 weeks to measure her head again, and just keep a watch on it. Not sure what we're watching for, but at least we know there is nothing extra in her little noggin that doesn't belong!!

As soon as I hung up the phone with the nurse, I grabbed Sayla Grace and we dropped to our knees to PRAISE THE LORD!!! And I of course cried tears of joy!!

We are so very thankful for your prayers and support these past few days. Waiting was agonizing, but we tried to focus on the positive, and your prayers helped us to be able to do that. Thank you thank you thank you!!!

1 comments  

Today we went for a check up on Baby Sister. The benefit of being high risk is that we get to see the baby at every appointment on the ultrasound!

Baby looks great. She's growing right on schedule and now weighs 1 pound, 1 ounce. We're encouraging a little friendly competition between the girls that Baby Sister will outweigh Big Sister when she's born!

My cervix has not changed since our last visit 2 weeks ago, which is AWESOME news! And everything else looks great! So we'll go back in 2 weeks to check again!

We're still waiting on the results from Sayla Grace's head ultrasound, so as soon as we know something I'll post it.

Hope everyone has a great day!

0 comments  

So what was supposed to be a routine 9 month check up for Sayla Grace today turned into a 3 hour ordeal at the hospital! (We were at the hospital because that's where her pediatrician is.)

Her check up went great. She weighs 15.2 pounds, is 25 inches tall and is right on track for a 6 month old (her adjusted age).

She got one shot and a finger prick and did great with each. Her ear infections have cleared up completely.

The only issue came when they measured the circumference of her head. First the nurse did it, and wrote it on her chart. Then the doctor came in and measured it again. She never does that, but I just figured she was just double checking.

As we were talking about everything, she mentioned that her little noggin was growing a tad bit faster than the rest of her body. It has gone from being in the 3rd percentile (for a 6 month old) to the 25th percentile - in 3 months.

She said we shouldn't be concerned, but that since her "soft spot" was still open (which is normal), she wanted to send her down for an ultrasound of her head just to check things out. If her soft spot was closed, the next step would be a CT scan, which would require sedation.

The good news is that she's not so concerned that she would've ordered a CT scan. If that was needed, she said we'd just follow up and keep a watch on her. But like I said, her soft spot was open enough that I think we got what we needed from the ultrasound.

So after our appointment, we trucked down to the first floor and registered. While waiting she napped in her stroller, and I munched on some peanut butter crackers. And prayed.

Once again, I was strangely comforted as I sat there. I had the same peace that I had while I was in the hospital trying to keep her from being born. (Philippians 4:7)

Soon our buzzer went off and one of the ultrasound techs had come to get us. We were led back to a room with a bed and ultrasound machine. I laid her down, and they put the gel on her head and started.

She was so funny during the whole thing! She just stared at the screen and laughed at the girls doing the scan. I think she's used to seeing her baby sister on that screen because she's been to all of my ultrasounds!

I watched the screen very closely while they were scanning. Having no clue what I was looking at, it looked pretty normal to me. It looked just like a picture of a brain...all squiggly and stuff. It was actually kind of neat to see. I didn't see anything that looked "abnormal" or like it didn't belong, but again, I have no clue what I was looking at.

It didn't take long once we were in there. They "took some pictures" of her brain and tried their best to clean the gel out of her hair when they were finished.

By the time we finished, it was her lunch time, so we hung around for a bottle and then headed home. And now she's sleeping soundly after our busy morning!

We should get the results back either tomorrow or Wednesday, and the doctor will call us to let us know what they are. Then we'll go back in 4 weeks to check the circumference of her noggin again, and be sure it's growing on schedule or at least at the same rate.

To be honest, I don't think it's anything. Owen has a big ole' noggin, and as a preemie, she's going to grow at a different rate than full term babies. She's not shown any signs of anything being wrong, and is functioning normally in all areas. There's not a single area that she's lacking.

But it's still hard to hear something like that. So we just ask that you remember all of us in your prayers, especially Sayla Grace. She is such a little angel and the sweetest baby! I hate to think of anything being wrong with her, so even though I feel good about it, I still need some prayer.

Please pray for a perfect head and brain, nothing extra and nothing missing. Pray for perfect development and growth of her brain, head and the rest of her body. And pray for strength and understanding for Owen, myself and our family.

I will keep you updated as to the results as soon as we know something.

On the Baby Sister front, we go tomorrow (Tuesday) for an ultrasound to check the length of my cervix (which you'll remember has shortened a bit). Those results will determine our next step, but I'll keep you posted on that too!

Thank you for your prayers! I know that is what is giving me the strength and peace that I have right now!

2 comments  

Today we had doctor appointments for me and Sayla Grace. Sayla Grace’s wasn’t a regularly scheduled visit…more on that later.

My visit was for our monthly check up on Baby #2. I was proud of us for managing to go a full 5 weeks without having to go in for a “scare” check!

This was the big “Anatomy Check” ultrasound for the 20 week visit. It’s normally when we would find out the sex of the baby, but we did that at our last visit. Today we just verified that she is in fact still a girl!

She has all of her fingers and toes, and all of her organs are in check. We lucked out and got to see some 4d shots of her so that we could check for a cleft lip (which she doesn’t have), but it was neat to get to see her face!

For us it’s such a reality to see her like this, because we can appreciate just how tiny she really is at this point. The ultrasound makes her seem so big, but seeing a baby at 27 weeks allows us to appreciate what a miracle she is!

She weighs 12 ozs right now…a coke can!

The only problem is that my cervix is shortening. It was about 3 centimeters 5 weeks ago, and now it’s 2.5 centimeters. Normal is between 3 and 4 centimeters. Doctor says most women can go their entire pregnancy with a short cervix, and the

y don’t worry about it, but given my history, I’m now officially on the “watch list.” But there’s nothing that they can do about it, so we have to take a “wait and see” approach.

The good news is that my cervix is still closed, is not “hour glassing” or “funneling.” It’s just short.

So in order to stay on top of it, we’ll go back every 2 weeks from this point, at least until we reach 30 weeks or so.

Also this week I start the weekly Progesterone shots. We’re waiting on the Compounding Shoppe Pharmacy to call us and tell us the shot is ready to pick up. Then we’ll head over and they will teach Owen how to give me a shot! Scary!!

I’ll get a shot once a week from here on out. Studies show that this type of progesterone can help prevent a recurrent preterm birth. And it won’t harm the baby.

So hopefully that, along with the Procardia, and me taking it easy for the next 10 weeks will get us farther! So far, no bed rest, unless my cervix starts acting up.

Oh, and she almost has a name…we just can’t decide on her middle name – which is the name that she will go by. We’ll share the entire name once we’ve decided! The suspense is killing you, I know!! ;)

As for sweet Sayla Grace, she’s been a bit under the weather sin

ce Wednesday. She came down with an ear infection in her right ear, so we went to the doc and put her on a 10 day course of antibiotics.

Then her nose started getting snotty, her chest congested and the coughing ensued. So we took her back to the doctor this morning, and she was diagnosed with the dreaded CROUP!

Not fun, but we caught it early, so she hasn’t been barking like a seal just yet. She’s just wheezing really bad and kind of gasping for air when she cries.

So one nice steroid shot later, and she’s doing much better already…just tired. All we have to do now is keep the humidifier on, keep giving her antibiotics, and suction out her nose every so often (which she HATES!!)

We’re hoping that the shot will clear up her Croup and she’ll be bouncing off the walls again soon.

But to top it all off, she’s got some major allergies to pollen, so we’re stuc

k inside for the time being.

We took her to the Baron’s game yesterday. She enjoyed it for a little while, but the pollen eventually got to her, so we only stayed 5 innings (she was sneezing like crazy!).

Here she is buying tickets with her daddy…

Back to the doctor we go in 2 weeks, both me (on Tuesday for another ultrasound to check my cervix) and Sayla Grace (on Monday for her 9 month check up)!

In the meantime, please pray that my cervix stays put and that SGP gets better!!

1 comments