Final Appointment

Today we had our last doctor's appointment before our little guy comes next week. It went well, at the growth ultrasound they said he now weighs 7 pounds and 4 ounces give or take a little. It is hard to believe he is that big. Just two days of work left and then my long vacation starts, it will be really great having the whole summer with him. That is all for now, I hope spring is treating everyone well, it is nice to see the trees finally budding here. Thank you again for all of the prayers and love.

Andrea, Nick, and little guy

New C-section date

Like I mentioned in the last post things change at a very fast pace around here. It turns out that out little guy's Neurosurgeon is going to be out of town when he was initially going to be born so they have rescheduled us for May 4th, that way the Neurosurgeon will be in town when he arrives and then if all is good he will have his surgery the next day (the 5th). Although I am ready for him to be born, I know that it is best for him to say in there longer and develop even further. So who knows if this date will stick, but if it changes again, we will let you know.

We have a C-Section date

It has been a busy week already and it is only Wednesday. Yesterday we went to the Perinatologist and were able to confirm the c-section date. As of right now we are set for May 1st. I have learned through this process that you can't fully count on anything happening when it should so only time will tell, but we are getting excited. I will be working through next Wednesday, which should give me enough time to get all of my sub plans ready. Other than that we are going to try to have a relaxing weekend at home because it will be the last one for a little while. Thank you all for your love and support.

Full Term

It is really nice to be 37 weeks. It seems like it has taken a really long time to get here, but now we are quickly approaching our due date, hard to believe that in just a couple of weeks we will be parents. We have been keeping busy, today we had a breast feeding class (Nick really enjoyed it and can't wait to use all the info :)) and went to David's baseball game in Grand Rapids, Chris, Nick's brother, came to the game too. Other than that I have been doing lesson plans for when the sub takes over my class and Nick has been working on his masters classes and job searching. Tuesday we have an appointment with the perintologist and will hopefully confirm a c-section date and all of the other things (surgery dates) that will happen after the baby is born. We will let you all know how the appointment goes. I hope you were all able to enjoy the nice weather this weekend if you were lucky enough to have it.

Happy Easter

Just thought I would wish everyone a Happy Easter. Nick and I had a really nice day, we went to church, finished thank you cards, and then went to the Jackson's for Easter dinner. Dinner was really good, it was nice to see all of them. Yesterday we went to Jenison to watch David play baseball, it was a windy but sunny day, I even got a little sun burnt on my face. It was very nice to see my family, we won't see them again until the baby comes. We had an appointment on Thursday for the baby, they did a non-stress test and a biophysical profile, and everything is still going well. We will not meet with the specialist until the 21st so no new news at this point.

36 Weeks and Counting

Nick and I are getting ready and now that we are in the final month it is becoming more of a reality. As many people already know our son has a birth defect called Spina Bifida. Nick and I found out on January 2nd and were quite surprised by the news. We were a bit reluctant to share the information at first because we wanted to learn as much as possible before we told so we could answer questions as they came up. At this point we have learned all we can before he is born. We are still extremely excited and feel very blessed to be having this child. To give a little background on what Spina Bifida is, it is a condition where at about 28 days after conception the spinal column closes, in this case his did not close all of the way. Luckily from what they see his lesion is very low and small – in the Sacral region, which is near the tail bone. So what does this mean? It means that within 24-36 hours after birth (we will be having a c-section) he will go into surgery to have his lesion closed. The reason they close it so soon after birth is because they do not want his spinal column to become infected. Another common condition (from what we are told about 80% have it) with Spina Bifida is hydrocephalus. It essentially means that the fluid in his brain does not circulate properly and it can lead to “water on the brain.” At this point in-utero it is not a problem because the fluid exits through the opening in his back. He does have enlarged ventricles, which they watch but nothing to be too concerned with yet. Once they close his back, they will start to watch his head to see if it enlarges. If it does they will put a shunt in to control this condition. The shunt goes in the brain and has a tube that drains the excess fluid into the abdomen. From what they say this should not have any effect on his intelligence. Nick and I have been told that our son will be in the NICU for two to three weeks after birth. It could be less and it could be more because every child is different, so time will tell. We have met with the Neurosurgeon, Neonatologist, and Neurologist so far and all seem to be very good. The Neurosurgeon will be doing his initial closure surgery as well as the shunt surgery if needed. We liked him a lot. He did some of his training in Philadelphia at the Children’s Hospital, which is one of the best in the country for this condition. The Neonatologist will be taking care of him while he is in the NICU and the Neurologist will come into the picture later in life. We will also be starting with a physical therapist and urologist once he is born. I think that is about all for now. Nick and I will be keeping this updated from now until after the baby is born, we think it will be a great way to share our journey. Let us know if you have any questions. Thank you all for your love and support.