My Little Giant...

Yesterday I got to go into the Doctor's office and begin the first of MANY appointments to check on the welfare of Baby Jacob.  I'd been rather nervous because I had the impression that with so many visits he was looking for something. 

Luckily, I got an amazing ultrasound tech who was friendly, talkative, and took the time to explain everything she was doing in detail as she went, so there were no surprises.  What I discovered was that they were looking for 4 specific things from Jacob: 1) Amniotic Fluid.  Apparently one of the big things that can occur is that he won't have enough fluid, which keeps him from growing, and could obviously kill him.  2) Tone.  They are looking to make sure that he can open and close his hands, move his limbs etc.  3) Breathing.  Apparently, babies practice breathing in the womb!  This is especially important for Jacob because breathing problems is a big thing in Downs babies, so their requirement was that they needed to see him 'practice' breathing for 30 seconds straight within a 30 minute time frame.  4) Movement.  She said if the amniotic fluid is low, it is hard to tell if lack of movement is just baby sleeping or if it something else, but they need to check on it anyway. 

And.....of COURSE Jacob decided that right then was when he wanted to take his nap ;)  She began the ultrasound, double checked his, heart, measured his head, abdomen, checked out his kidneys, measured his amniotic fluid, etc.  Luckily he was more than happy to show her how his little rm could move, and we watched him open his tiny little hands.  He gave us a nice view of his face (I've got pictures to prove it!) and I was amazed at how he didn't 'look' like a downs child.  I don't know what I was expecting to see, but whatever it was, I didn't see it.  He looked just like Nathan, Elisha and Courtney did at that age - cute and pudgy! 

When it came down to breathing, he wouldn't breathe for more than a few seconds on his own because he was sleeping, so she gave me some juice, had me turn over a few times and ultimately broke out this little vibrating buzzer thing that he DID NOT like! lol  She'd put it up to my stomach, turn it on, and he'd kick it!  Finally, with only 4 minutes left in his allotted 30-minute time frame, he woke up long enough to practice his breathing for 30 seconds and viola!  Jacob got 8 points out of the 8 possible points available for the BPP test! :)

For the Growth scan, she basically measured his head, chest and thigh bone to see if he was on track growth wise for his age - we're at about 33 weeks now! And he wound up being in the 67 percentile range (at this age, most kids are around 73%, so he's pretty close).

After 45 minutes with ultrasounds I thanked my tech and headed to the Doctor to get the results. 

I weighed in - I GAINED 8 LBS IN 2 WEEKS!!!!! - Thank you water retention :(
I spent the first 8 months only gaining 10 lbs and in 2 weeks, I nearly DOUBLED my weight gain for the pregnancy. I am NOT happy.  My legs hurt, my hands keep falling asleep, I feel like a beached whale...oh the joys.

Luckily, they checked my blood pressure and it's still spot on, so no Pre-Eclampsia....yet.  But I'm sure they'll be keeping an eye on me.  Dr. Zweisler said, abnormal babies make abnormal pregnancies. So he's not ruling anything out yet.  Just waiting to see. 

We went over the results of both my ultrasound tests and everything looks good. We're still on track for a normal delivery around the 39-40 week date. And, with my track record of having to be induced with all three of the other kids, I'm at a high likelihood of being induced again.  So that begs the question of when do we want Jacob's B-day to be?  We could have it on Elisha's Birthday (the 24th), or on Halloween, or should we have mercy and have him on some other day of the week????

We looked at the Growth scan and Jacob is about 4.5 lbs in weight, so he's spot on.  I told him that stunting his growth may not necessarily be such a bad thing being as though Elisha is almost 5'10', Nathan is already 5'5 at age TEN, and Courtney is still growing an inch per month.  We all laughed and agreed that for this baby stunted growth may mean that he just ends up a NORMAL size!

So, I have another week until my next round of testing.  Until then, my little giant better keep practicing his breathing and kicking up a storm!  That way I'll know that he's been doing his homework for all of his test!

Putting It All Into Perspective

It's so easy to count your many "trials" and to begin focusing on them rather than all of the blessings that you and your family might have.  After weeks and weeks of optimism, I slipped and began to get overwhelmed by my many impending doctor's appointments, imminent therapy sessions, paperwork, and other possible birth defects that may occur.  It was just so easy to slip into that "woe is me" hat and begin focusing on how hard life may be in the future. 

Easy, that is, until you get that fateful phone call that your loved one has cancer.  All of the sudden, I was ripped back into reality.  Wait a second.  My life isn't so bad after all!  I'd often told myself that the big "C" was the one thing I, as a mother couldn't handle.  And now MY MOTHER had it! 

• How blessed I am that I've had

  

  Monte and Barbara Cady

  my mother in my life all of these years, and that she has been in my children's lives.
• How blessed I am that they caught it and were able to operate.  That the Doctors are doing what they can to take good care of her.
• How blessed I am that we live today rather than in pioneer days when cancer would never have been caught and she would have most likely died a slow and painful death.
• How blessed I am that I have the gospel in my life, and the perspective it brings to a crisis such as this.  To know that there is a plan and that Heavenly Father knows our family, our family's needs, and is watching over us in our times of trial.
• How blessed am I that I have a husband who loves and supports me and will be there for me whenever I need him - in sickness in health.  In happiness and pain.  He's got my back.
• How blessed am I that I have children who are healthy, intelligent, happy, and still (cross my fingers) like me!

...and the list goes on. 

I am truly blessed.  Of that I am sure.  Family and the gospel are paramount in my life.  And everything else is just....stuff - designed by Satan to overwhelm and discourage me.  I'm bound and determined to take things one day at a time, and at times, one MINUTE at a time.  For if I forget about the blessings in my life, I will have forgotten what life was all about..and what a waste that would be.

Watch Out!!!! Big Sister is in Town!

The other day I was driving Elisha home from one of her many volleyball practices and we were discussing my side of the family and all of the people who were having problems in their lives.  As is customary in our family, when anyone is experiencing an unusually trying period or event in their lives, we coordinate all willing participants in our extended family and have a family fast and prayer on a specific day for that individual. 

It just so happened that because of circumstances, we had not one, but four family members for whom we were fasting.  As I went down the list of individuals that we'd been asked to fast for, I informed Elisha that our family had been put on the list as well.  She asked me "why?"  To which I replied, "Because of Jacob and his Downs Syndrome," All of the sudden, out of nowhere, Elisha went into a tirade. She began ranting about how Jacob isn't missing an arm, he's not going to be retarded, he's just going to be a little slower than most people. She continued for a couple of minutes about how excited she was and our family was to have Jacob coming and that there was no reason to pray for him or us.  We were perfectly happy with him and didn't want him to change!

It was then and there that I couldn't help but grin at my 14-year-old daughter.  That same daughter that on any given day would roll her eyes at me because I wasn't giving her enough time on Facebook, or who has mastered the art of dragging her feet on any job she deems boring or dumb so that almost nothing gets done by the end of the day.  That very same daughter I can hear having arguments with her 16-month-old sister, struggling to prove that she is bigger and therefore MUST be listened to...

Yes, that very same daughter was on a rampage.  She was out to protect her soon-to-be little brother from anyone and everyone who might show even a hint of sadness at her little brother's existence.  Elisha is NOT AFRAID to stand up and tell everyone about how great her brother is going to be - just the way he is.  And if you don't like it, well then TOUGH!!!! Just stay out of her way! Because she doesn't have time for anyone who doesn't love Jacob even half as much as she does.

It warms the heart to see the fierce love of a sister for her brother.  I think we're going to be all right after all. :)