UW update

Wednesday we went back to UW for another check up. Our doctor told us during our last visit that we would be discussing our induction date during this visit, so we were excited and anxious to have an end in sight. First I had an NST (non stress test) done. Once again Madeline was very active and I even had a couple contractions, so she is doing great. Then we met with a doctor who did an ultrasound to check the level of amniotic fluid and check her growth. Everything looked great. The doctor estimated that Madeline weighs about 5lbs 2oz (which is in the 20%tile), and during her measurements, the doctor said that her belly area looks to be about average size, which is great news because hopefully it will make the process of getting her intestines and bowels back inside much easier. Sometimes Gastro babies have small bellies which make it more difficult to get everything back where it belongs, hopefully in our case, it will mean that Madeline will only need a silo (picture a plastic bag full of her insides hanging above her, slowly easing everything back in), as opposed to having to stretch out her stomach to accommodate her intestines and then easing everything back in.

So we didn't get an induction date because Madeline is looking so happy where she is, that the doctors don't want to consider induction any time soon. So we will go back to UW in 2 weeks (Oct. 12) to re-evaluate. In the mean time, I will continue seeing my OB in Bellingham twice a week for NST's and ultrasounds. We are thinking that an induction at 38 weeks will be probable, however, we want to avoid doing an amino to check on Madeline's lung development. So we continue to wait...

Speechless

Jeff's co worker's surprised us with the most amazing gift: They all signed their badge numbers on a onesie for Madeline, gave her the most adorable Teddy bear, and gave us enough money to stay at The Ronald McDonald House for an entire month while Madeline is at Children's Hospital.

To say I was speechless is an understatement. We have never received such an amazing gift, ever. It made me cry knowing how much they care about us. I still don't have the words to say how much this means to us.

34 weeks

I'm posting this a couple days late, but here is the latest belly picture. Hailey is such a good big sister. She loves to kiss and hug my belly before going off to preschool, and likes to lay her head on my belly to feel Madeline move. Hailey still likes to tell people that she" has a Madeline in her tummy too." And when getting dressed in the morning, she will often say "you can see my Madeline in this shirt," while putting her hands on her belly. It's adorable. I can't wait for her to see and hold Madeline for the first time. We haven't really explained to Hailey what is going on with Madeline, I kept it vague and told her that Madeline will need to stay at the hospital for a while before she gets to come home, and she will be staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a while while Madeline is at the hospital. We plan on having Hailey stay with one of us at the Ronald McDonald House as well, but in the beginning she will stay in Mt. Vernon while we get arrangements figured out.

Latest Ultrasound...

was great! Everything is still the same, which is all we can hope for right now. She was moving all over the place and was so active, the doctor said I didn't need to do an NST afterwards. I asked about Madeline's growth, but they said they would send all the data to UW and they would update us on Wednesday when we go. Fingers crossed that she is still packing on weight each week so she will be as big and strong as possible when delivery time comes.

We are really anxious/excited about our Wednesday appt. because we are going to discuss an induction date. It could be as early as 37 weeks, which is just 2 short weeks away. I feel like I would rather have a set date, rather than risk the possibility of going in to labor in Bellingham and not being able to get to UW in time, because Hailey came SO fast that we would never make it to Seattle in time.

NST

Last NST on Tuesday was great...ultrasound on Friday to check fluid levels and another NST. I can't wait for the 28th so we can figure out the induction date!

BelleWood Acres

Hailey has wanted a pair of cowboy boots since we went to the Lynden Fair, so when I found a great deal on a pair of purple John Deere cowboy boots I had to buy them. Unfortunately, they came in the mail a day after our visit to the Puyallup Fair, but Hailey didn't mind. She was so excited about them, and put them on right away and said "I need a purple cowboy hat to go with my new boots!" She then asked if we could go to a farm so she could wear her boots, because "boots are supposed to be muddy." I didn't know of a farm that we could visit, so I looked in to other places to visit and came across BelleWood Acres, which is an apple orchard in Bellingham that had a tractor ride and U pick apples. It sounded like a fun family activity for a Saturday morning, so off we went! The first thing we did when we got there was take the tractor ride through the orchards, which Hailey loved. Then we learned there were horse rides too, which of course Hailey wanted to do. But before we did the ride, we decided to sample some of their apple products, first we sampled the hot apple cider donuts, yum! Then we bought an Apple Flower, which is a sliced apple covered in hot caramel, peanuts, whip cream and cherries. It was sooooo good. They also had fresh apple pies, turnovers, mini pies, cider, cheeses, and honey roasted peanut butter to sample and buy.

After our treat, we wandered around the "farm" and checked out the packaging room where they were boxing up apples to ship and the cider room where apples were being pressed in to cider. Then we got back on the tractor ride to head down to the horse rides. Hailey picked out a tan horse named Flower to ride on. Thankfully they had helmets for the kids to wear, because the horses were BIG. Hailey had a blast on the horse, and after her ride, we headed up to get her face painted. She picked out a pink tiger mask and sat perfectly still while having it painted on. After she was transformed in to a tiger, we headed out to pick some apples. The owner of the orchard took us out to the U pick area to show us which apples were ready to be picked. He gave Hailey an apple he picked off the tree that she got to eat and she thought that was pretty cool. We picked a few Zestar apples, which are really sweet and crisp, then we headed out for much needed naps :-)

Hailey loved wearing her new boots and put them to good use by jumping in any puddle she came across.

Puyallup Fair

I got an awesome deal from Groupon for 2 tickets to the Puyallup Fair for only $11, so on Thursday we headed down to check it out. Hailey LOVES anything with animals and rides, so we knew she would love it. We had a blast! Hailey got to pet a tiny baby piglet, and see lots of other animals, she got her face painted and went on lots of rides. We were so impressed with the fair and how clean it was and how the carnival workers were friendly, clean and not sleazy looking which was a huge step up from the Lynden Fair. I think we will make visiting the Puyallup a yearly tradition!

The piglets were sooooo cute!

She got to color and make her very own button.

Best lemonade EVER!

One of her favorite rides

Riding on Max

Free face painting! She chose a pink and blue horse

Zonked out after a long, fun day at the fair.

NST

Today's NST (non stress test) was great. Madeline continues to be happy even though she doesn't move around a whole lot throughout the day. I also had 2 contractions that I felt while hooked up to the machine, which is normal for being this far along. I finally got to see Dr. Mora (our OB who delivered Hailey and who we haven't seen since the discovery of Gastroschisis), which made me happy. He is a positive, funny guy who always puts me at ease. Next NST is Tuesday morning.

UW update

On Wednesday we went back to UW for a NST (non stress test) and an ultrasound. The NST was great, Madeline has a strong heartbeat which is always reassuring to hear. Next we met with Dr. Cheng who did an ultrasound to check the levels of amniotic fluid (Gastro babies can have really low fluid levels), thankfully, the levels looked great and Dr. Cheng kept saying how great everything looked. She said that it didn't look like there was anymore bowel coming out, which is fantastic, and the bowel doesn't appear to be dialated. Dialation can occur in the bowels due to being in contact with the amniotic fluid, this is a concern because it can cause the bowels to start to break down and not be healthy.

So the twice weekly NST's and ultrasounds to check the fluid levels will continue next week and we go back to UW on the 28th for another NST and to discuss an induction date. Dr. Cheng said it may be possible to induce at 37 weeks, which means that Madeline could be here in 4 short weeks. However, we need to weigh her size and lung development into the equation too because we want/need her to be as strong and healthy as possible.

We left our appt. feeling so great and excited because Dr. Cheng was so positive and happy about how Madeline looked. Now to finish up the nursery.....

Hailey is potty trained!!!

 *Graphic content alert!*

I thought this deserved it's own post! Hailey is finally potty trained!! She has had the pee part down for a while now, it was the pooping part that was really scary for her and we could never figure out why. For the longest time, she would use the potty, but then ask for a pull up when she needed to poop. Our pediatrician reassured us that it was common and to not pressure her, so we have been patiently and subtly encouraging her. We also started rewarding her with special surprises when she did poop on the potty. The surprises totally worked, and I have officially depleted my supply of stocking stuffers that I had gathered throughout the last 9 months, but it was worth it :-) We are no longer doing the surprises after every poop, but we still make a big deal of it and she is known to like to leave her poop in the potty to show daddy when he gets home from work (not kidding). Hopefully that ends soon too. She is still wearing a pull up at bedtime, but has woken up dry some mornings. We are so proud of her. It's so great not dealing with diapers anymore, although that will change soon!! When did our little baby turn into such a big girl?

First NST and other random things

Today I did my first Non Stress Test (NST) at our OB's office in Bellingham. During an NST, they strap 2 monitors to your belly and monitor the baby's heartbeat and movements and that info is printed out on a paper strip that the doctor looks at to see that there are "accelerations" of the heartbeat, which shows that the baby is happy. Everything looked great and Madeline seemed happy, although she wasn't moving around much, which she never really does, but the doctor wasn't concerned. After the NST, I briefly met with Dr. Mallory, who is starting to grow on me. He said we are doing everything we can be doing and he said we were doing great keeping a positive attitude. Reassurance feels so good right now.

Madeline's nursery is almost all painted, thanks to Jeff. Since I will have no control over anything that happens after Madeline is born, I have been obsessing over getting the nursery done. Which I can't even really help with because I can't be around the paint fumes, so the lack of being able to do anything has been driving me insane. Thankfully, Jeff is amazing (which I already knew), and he is getting it done. Even though we know Madeline won't be in there for a long time, I still want it done because it's one less thing to worry about after she arrives. We chose "Fairy Tale Pink" for Madeline's room, and it's a pink cotten candy color; think super bright and cheery! It's perfect. I will post pictures soon.

Next up is another NST on Friday and an appt with our OB in Bellingham.

NICU tour and UW visit

Yesterday we were taken on a tour of the NICU at Children's Hosptial. It was our first time ever being at Children's and we were really impressed. Everywhere we looked were bright colors and pictures, all the floors have fun names like "train floor" or "whale floor", it truly is a hospital focused on children. Which I know sounds like a ridiculous statement to make, but it's not something I ever understood, so experiencing it really opened my eyes. Children's has a swimming pool and a huge playroom, with an outdoor playground that Hailey will be able to use while we are there with Madeline. There are "parent's rooms" that Jeff and I will be able to sleep in for free which are one floor up from the NICU, which is great, however, Hailey can't stay there with us. We aren't really sure what our living situation is going to be once Madeline gets here. We obviously want to be with Madeline every second that we can, however, that isn't fair to Hailey. So I'm guessing Jeff and I, along with our family members will take shifts being with Madeline so she isn't alone. Another housing option for us, which I think we will take advantage of, is the Ronald McDonald House. It's within walking distance of Children's, and Hailey can stay there with us.

In the NICU, we were impressed that for the most part, babies had their own rooms. However, if there are lots of babies, then they do put 2 babies in a room together, with a curtain divider in between the beds. It's hard to imagine our little girl being there, but we feel better knowing that she will be getting the best care possible. After she has surgery and is stable, she will be moved to the recovery floor at Children's where she will have her own room, and 1 parent can stay in the room with her overnight. While in the recovery ward, the focus will be getting her to eat and gain weight. We know it will be a long, slow, frustrating process because babies with Gastro have feeding issues, but Children's has feeding specialists, nutritionists and lactation specialists that will help us succeed and get Madeline strong and healthy.
After our tour, we headed over to University Village to have lunch and shop around while we killed some time before our UW appt. It's such a fun shopping area with LOTS of cute baby and kids shops, which will be very dangerous while taking breaks there after being with Madeline :-)

At the UW visit, we had an ultrasound where they checked Madeline's growth. She was in the 75%tile last month for her gestational age, and now she is at 32%tile for her gestational age, which they aren't concerned about because Gastro babies are typically small. They estimate that she weighs about 3 lbs. During the ultrasound, they switched over to see her in 4D so we could see her face really clearly. It was so awesome, and she is beautiful. She totally has Hailey's nose and lips...I can't wait to kiss them.  We just wish we could see her hair color. We can't wait to see if we are going to have 2 little red headed girls. I hope we do :-)

After the ultrasound, we met with a doctor who explained how I would be cared for during the rest of the pregnancy, which will include 2 Non Stress Tests (NST's) a week, with an ultrasound and then at 34 weeks we will re evaluate how things are going with me and Madeline, and then continue with more NST's. This doctor told us he felt comfortable with letting me get to 39 weeks before talking about induction IF Madeline appeared happy...however, this doesn't sit well with me because of the increased risk of still birth with babies with Gastroschisis. He gave us lots of reassurance that they wouldn't force us to get to 39 weeks, so that made me feel better, however I do know that the longer Madeline is in utero, the better she will do after birth. It's going to be a long, stressful couple of weeks.

After this meeting, we met with Dr. Cheng, who we met with last month at Children's. She is the Director of the Maternal medicine division and has lead a research program on Gastroschisis. She gave us lots of reassurance regarding the low percentage of Gastro babies suffering from still birth while being closely monitored with NST's and ultrasounds. She obviously knows her stuff and told us that within in the last month, there were 2 successful births of Gastro babies at UW. Which is so great to hear.

Finally, we met with a Neonatal Pediatrician who explained what exactly would happen to Madeline after she was born. It was really hard to hear about her being taken away to a different room while being assessed, having a breathing tube put in, etc. It was all too much to hear, and it makes me emotional just thinking about it.

I start the NST's Tuesday next week at our OB's office here in Bellingham, and on Friday I will have another NST, an appt with Dr. Mora (hopefully) and an ultrasound. Then the following week, I will have an NST at UW along with another ultrasound.

While we were at our appt's in Seattle, Hailey got picked up from preschool by my Mom, which Hailey thought was really cool. She got to go back to Grandma's house and help pick flowers, pull weeds, throw the ball for the dogs, play with her dollhouse and get pigtails! She had a blast, and she made it clear that she wanted to spend the night with Grandma very soon.