Baby's First Clothes (Almost)
Greetings and hello to you all!
Well, Rebecca got good sleep in last night. The doctor yesterday said taking 10mg of Ambien would not be a problem for either mother or baby, so last night she popped 2 5mg tablets. She woke only once and was back to sleep shortly after.
Mid morning, as I went south to meet the recruiter who placed me at my new contract, Rebecca drove east to Babies R Us. We had wanted to choose a bedding theme for Xavier's crib so we could choose a painting scheme for the nursery. We planned the BRU trip for last Sunday, but that day had other plans. I knew, as I left Rebecca to her first unsupervised outing for such things, more than just bedding colors would come home. (I will point out, we do not have a crib, just wanted to select a theme for it so we can paint the nursery appropriately)
Before parting, Rebecca and I discussed in brief our thoughts and preferences on the design, color pallet and decor. Those choices are now set: cutesy dinosaurs with pastel greens and blues. Rebecca came home with three fuzzy blankets, one with dinosaurs, one with a cute inchworm with the sentence "As Cute as a Bug", and the third has sea horses. (The under the sea motif was Rebecca's second choice, but she did not like those designs as much. The other choice of various animals was discarded because the designs were too boring)
We also have about twenty outfits, some sized for a premie and some sized for a newborn. Plus we now have eight pairs of tiny socks. These are not Xavier's first clothes, but the first we have have bought for him. Rebecca's reason was "We're not having the baby shower until after he is born, and he needs something to wear." Can't argue with that logic.
The first clothing Xavier got was from my sister who sent a CSU logo-covered, full-body sleeper. His second set of clothing came from my 11 year old niece, Emmelia, who knit him a set of little booties and a scarf. Our friends, Brian and Leah, gave Xavier a few sleepers and socks. Penny and Dave, Rebecca's mom and step-father, informed us they have little Harley-Davidson outfits for him.
Rebecca also purchased a dinosaur mobile, a little triceratops "security blanket" and curtains. She also brought home two sets of flannel crib sheets (if you know Rebecca, you will understand her affinity for flannel bed sheets). What she did not bring home, but did order, was a quilted comforter and dinosaur pattern fitted sheets. We even have giant dinosaur wall decals (I thought about painting images on the walls myself, but this is easier and they are the same dinos as on the blankets and mobile)
I was excited when Rebecca pulled into the driveway, though a little sad I was not there to participate in the purchasing. As soon as we got everything into the house, I ripped into the bags like a kid on Christmas morning! I checked out all the clothes and then I found the hanger full of little socks! I assembled the mobile and mounted it to a chair (for quality control and performance testing of course). We "hung" the curtains to get a feel for them.
We now have a color scheme and can choose paint. I am excited to select the paint and paint the nursery! Alas, that might be a week away.
Xavier is moving around. We tried again this morning to use our stethoscope to listen to his heart beat. We're getting better at finding him, but our equipment is still not sensitive enough to hear anything clearly at this time.
Tomorrow we have a doppler exam in the afternoon. I am hoping to have another cute picture of our son to post, plus some exciting news to share. This week will not be a growth check week. We are encouraging Xavier to beat 800 grams by next Thursday, which is a growth exam.
Thank you all for your prayers. Great is our God, and Mighty is He!
Rebecca holds up the dinosaur blanket. The curtains are in the background, though the late afternoon sunlight overpowers most of the curtain.
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Here is the dinosaur mobile. All the clothing Rebecca bought today hangs around my waist or hangs in my right hand. Look how cute the socks are! (also, the curtains are better seen in the background)
Under the mobile attached to a chair, the two blankets and the "security blanket". I wanted to put up one of the big wall decals, but we were not sure how well they would "re-stick" after we paint.
Week 29 Begins!
Hello to you all.
Today was an extended event. We had the OBGYN appointment in the morning and the NST in the afternoon.
Due to poor road conditions and peak traffic time, we arrived thirty minutes late, but still we got in quickly. Rebecca was weighed, her temperature taken, blood oxygen levels measured. Her BP was 104/66. These are normally good numbers, except for this pregnancy. Her BP meds were adjusted again; they were lowered and she is now at 300 mg three times a day.
We spoke with one of the doctors (Dr. Nick, a Fellow) who was among those who worked Rebecca's and Xavier's case while they were in the hospital several weeks ago. He was among those who laid all the disruptive news on Rebecca when she first checked in. The conversation today was much different than weeks ago (I think he is still reeling from Rebecca's snap to the team's news that day :) )
Today's discussion was more positive. We discussed the various scenarios and cleared several things up which both Rebecca and I felt unsure about. Not to be tedious, here is the summary of the important facts.
- Always, the desire it to deliver the baby vaginally. Only if Xavier is in danger will he be taken by C-section. Though this is a possibility, it is something that will be determined on a day by day basis.
- The NICU (newborn ICU) will be more comfortable with Xavier being at least 750 grams (above 700, but 750 is better). Xavier was at 624 grams last week, so we think Xavier will make the 750 weight by next week at his current growth trend. Rebecca and I are challenging him to make 800 grams at least (it's good to have goals that stretch and challenge). Again, 1000 grams is an important milestone and one we have our eyes on constantly. 750 makes the NICU folks more able to care for him, but 1000+ is where they are more comfortable.
- It is expected Xavier will be delivered early simply due to him being growth-restricted. It will be better for Xavier to be outside the womb at some point. He will likely spend some time in the NICU. Our understanding is that as long as Rebecca's BP is controllable by oral meds, Xavier is better served being in the womb. When oral meds are no longer able to control her BP, then Xavier is better served being in the NICU. We still have a lot of play in the oral meds; the upper limit is 800 mg three times a day, or two and half times what Rebecca is taking today.
The NST exam (the afternoon appointment) we were actually an hour early and had a :45 minute wait (we didn't have to deal with unplowed roads with outrageously slow traffic since we were still in the area). The exam lasted nearly an hour instead of the expected :30 minutes. The reason for the longer stay was Xavier was not moving around during the first :25 minutes (he was napping). His heart rate was steady around 145 bpm during this time. To wake him up, we dosed mom with some cranberry juice. A few minutes later he began wiggling and his heart rate ranged between the high 130s and mid 150s. Once Xavier cooperated by bouncing around a little, we were let go (and a good thing too, as Rebecca was growing impatient with laying on the table).
So, good news for day one of week 29! We thank God for His goodness and His power!
Thank you for your prayers. We hope you are seeing Father's hand moving in these updates.
The Wonders of a Good Night's Sleep
Hello to you all. Thank you for your prayers and support.
First, praise God that Rebecca got nearly eight hours of deep, relaxing sleep last night! It did wonders for her today; she is down-right vibrant!
Tomorrow we have two appointments (the standard Tuesday ones). The first is with the OBGYN (mom's health) and the other is the NST (baby's health). I suspect Rebecca's BP will be looked at again.
Rebecca had a massage today from a person who specializes in working with pregnant women. This helped work out a number of sore and tight spots in her muscles. Her joints have been loosening the last few weeks and her muscles are having to figure out how to meet with new and changing demands.
Xavier has been active and moving around. I've promised him a story and will read the account of David and Goliath to him.
I accepted a job offer today, a six month contract. This will bring some relief, though it means I will be less available to attend doctors visits. I will be making all the ultrasounds, however. I will be starting some time next week probably.
I was reminded today that I have not been consistent with posting Xavier's goals to this mail list. So to correct that, here are the goals we are praying for and encouraging Xavier to make:
We'd like to see Xavier put on about 12 ounces in the next week and a half to two weeks. He has been growing about 2 ounces a week, so that is a stretch goal. We do want him to grow faster than he is, at least double or 4 ounces a week.
We definitely want him to make it to week 36 in the womb, and we are shooting for mid June or later (making him 3 to 4 weeks early--of course, if he can make it full term that would be awesome!). Based on his physical growth measurements, he is in week 24. We'd like to see his end goal birth weight meet or beat six pounds.
From all we can tell, he is developing well. We got to see him suckling last Friday and this shows good development of his nervous system. His developmental growth seems to be ahead of his weight growth. He needs to keep up his development also.
- Pray for his growth to continue and to increase (and to start catching up).
- Pray for the health of his placenta so it can supply him the nutrients he needs to grow at the pace he needs.
- Pray for more oxygen getting through the placenta to him.
- Pray for Rebecca and her health to sustain Xavier to meet his goals.
- Pray for wisdom for us, and for Xavier's doctors, also that we see what we need to see.
Great is our God and awesome are His works from the foundations of the world!