One more hurdle to jump

We made it to Augusta Wednesday morning for our routine visit and ultrasound.  We met with one of the doctors to go over all that happened a few weeks ago with our hospital stay before we actually met with Dr. Devoe.

Next, we were called in for ultrasound.  The usual sonographer (Natalee) has not been there these last 2 visits.  When I walked in and saw that it was Harriett again, my heart sorta sank.  She never makes me feel that great about what is going on and asks me questions that I think she should already know the answer to or doesn't need to know.  Natalee is very personable and tries to be reassuring with all that is on our plates anyway.  Not Harriett.  I had this weird feeling last time and even yesterday during ultrasound.  It's like I have become gun shy and can't even enjoy looking at this tiny baby on the screen.  It's almost like I am running from the situation or that by not looking it is somehow going to get better.  Who knows?!  I guess it is a desperate attempt at the the thought of things being normal.

In the middle of my ultrasound, she stops and goes to look at the hundreds of other images taken at previous visits.  Then she comes back and finally goes to get Dr. Devoe so he can come in and look at the screen.  Harriet starts telling him that certain numbers are passed what they consider ok and Dr. Devoe says to her "Summer and I have discussed that his head would continue to get larger and that it was what he expected to see."  The next thing he addresses the same way.  He says to her that we already knew that his umbilical cord had a special name (because it has only one artery or two or something like that) but I was never told what it could mean.  He told us that it happened in about 1% of pregnancies (YES, I SAID 1%) and that it was usually linked with cardiovascular problems and not the hydrocephalus).  My heart sank because I knew there was still a third thing he needed to look at on the ultrasound.

At my last visit, Harriet couldn't get the view of the heart she wanted because Tripp's spine was in the way and he was facing down.  She asked me last time if we were ever referred to pediatric cardiology and I said no.  Dr. Devoe had not seen a reason to send us...until TODAY!   Tripp's right side of his heart was significantly larger than his left side.  That is all he could tell from his ultrasound and wanted us to meet with the cardiologist today too.  But, before we left, Dr. Devoe sent another Dr. in (the same one that took my history earlier) to check my cervix and make sure there was no change.  She came in and checked me and said she thought I was still between 1-2 centimeters and only about 50% effaced.  Remember Dr. Smurda told us last week that he thought my cervix was thickening back up? And it was.  By now we had been here for about 2 hours 10 minutes.  The nurse came in and gave us our appointment to meet with cardiology at 1:00.  This gave John and I about an hour to eat lunch and get ready for round 2. 

After lunch, we met up with Kim (who I forgot to say was with us earlier and has been with us for previous visits) to take us to cardiology.  She is a liaison between patients and staff and her title is some sort of coordinator.  She only practices nursing in the clinic about once a week.  We made it cardiology and met Celeste who did the fetal EKG.  She scanned Tripp for about 45 minutes.  As she was finishing up, Dr. Luten and Kim came in the room.  He said that he had been watching the scan from the other room.  He and Celeste started talking in lots of foreign words and then he said I'll translate in English for you.  He said first of all, I am Dr. Luten and I am going to be your babies heart Dr. if you like me and will let me!  He tried to make us feel at ease but we were both dying to hear what was going on.  He said basically he saw 3 things.  1: the right side of the heart was enlarged, 2: the aorta was too narrow in a spot, and 3: there was an extra vein that had grown and was diverting blood the wrong way. 

After he explained what all he saw, he said he felt confident that the right side was enlarged and the left side was normal and not just too small.  He said that it was good to have one side that was at least the right size.  He called the narrowing of the aorta Aortic Coarctation.  He said that sometimes this auto corrects in babies at birth and sometimes it doesn't.  He also said that many people make it through childhood and do not get diagnosed until they are adults.  There are several causes in utero that can make this show up.  If the baby is anemic or has high bp then it will show up like it did for us and could possibly correct itself.  If not, they will monitor Tripp when he is born and see if he needs to have the one time surgery to fix it.  It may not happen immediately because his main concern is placing the shunt and draining the fluid off of Tripp's brain to prevent any possible or further damage neurologically.  Or, it could be that they give him medication to keep the aorta open and possibly have surgery later.

Because this is so hard to diagnose in utero, he is glad that Dr. Devoe and Celeste both caught this on ultrasound.  He said it often goes undetected because you have to get the perfect view and they both happened to get it.  He said about 60-70% of the time they are right about this diagnosis.  Because of how hard it is to diagnose, there is still a chance that they are wrong.  If they are not wrong then it is safe to say that Tripp has CoA (Coarctation of the Aorta) and this is a heart disease.

This has not been easy news to swallow because we thought for so long that we had one major hurdle to cross and now we have another.  I was finally at peace about having a baby with so many undetermined medical concerns and now we add more to the plate.  To top things off, we are to stay in or around Augusta until he is born.  It's hard to imagine not being able to go home for anything.  John went today and has list after list of things to get and he is bringing Kinsley back just for the weekend.  She is in school and so I hate her to miss but she is having a very hard time with us being gone.  Not to mention I am too!!!

Please keep us in your prayers as we face the many more unknowns and that Kinsley will be able to adjust to us being gone during the week.  We may be up her for the next month or more.  It's not going to be easy on any of us. 

Thanks!!!!!

Here we go again

Please keep us in your prayers as we travel this afternoon and tomorrow to Augusta for our appointment with Dr. Devoe.  I hope we get news like we have been receiving all along.  We have no idea if we will be told we need to stay and hang out there until he is ready or if we will be allowed to come home for a little while longer.  I need a little more time to get some things done!  We will keep you posted as soon as we know something.

Summer and John

No new report

I went to see Dr. Smurda today and there has been no change!!!  He said he even thought my cervix had thickened a little.  I do not have to see him again until next Thursday after my next Wednesday appointment in Augusta.  He said for me to continue on the Procardia.  I like that Tripp is once again comfy inside!  I am still on bedrest and am having a very hard time with that.  It is awful and BORING!  If anyone is bored please feel free to come by or call me!  I would love it!

Trust & Rely In the Power of Prayer!

This is going to be long!

Well, I have a lot to catch all of you up on!  Last Wednesday (August 10) I went in for a check-up with Dr. Smurda.  Everything was going as planned until the end of my visit.  on Monday of that week, I had actually started NST monitoring with Dr. Edwards.  His machine did not pick up any contractions but did detect a little irratability.  Then, at Bible Study Tuesday night I was havong contractions pretty regularly and Necole Everson told me to mention it to my dr at my appointment the next day.  The nurse came in and listened to the baby and Dr. Smurda came in and said ok we will continue on like we are and I will see you in 2 weeks.  I mentioned that what Necole had said and he decided to hook me up and then check me to see of anything was going on.  The monitor showed irratability and that was it.  When he checked me I was dialated to 1 cm and thought I needed to be monitored in labor and delivery.  Hea also said you can't go back to work until further notice.  I knew this wasn't going to turn out good!   So off I go to l & d at 5:15 on Wednesday afternoon.  When I got there, I was innediately hhoked up to fetal monitors and contractions were detected and coming on a regular basis.  I was started on fluids as well as Brethine for contractions.  The nurse also gave me a shot of steroids just in case I did have to go ahead and have Tripp early.  In two hours, I was given 2 shots of Brethine (awful feeling) and finally the contractions settled down.  After being checked 2 more times in the hospital, my cervix wasn't making any changes so I was released at 10:45 pm and went home.  Because of all the fluids, I had to get up to pee about 20 times that night.  It was AWFUL!

Moving on to August 11 (Thirsday).  Happy Birthday to me!  I woke up that morning feeling good and with no contractions.  I called to see what time Dr. Smurda wanted to see me that morning as a follow up and the contractions started back.  Lynette (the midwife) called back a few minutes later and said that since I was contracting and still had to have my second steroid shot at 7:30 pm at the hospital anyway, that I should just go on in to l&d and be monitored until then.  Well, it was almost exactly the same picture from the day before.  I was started on an IV and given ashot of Brethine.  The shot worked for a bit and contractions came back.  Around 3:30, I was moved to trhe fifth floor (antepartum).  My nurse checked me and still 1 cm! After my second shot I was told that I would have to spend the night. Around 7:30 the nurse gave me my steroid shot to finish that up.  I was only on fluids at this point because my contractions had once again settled back down.  My night nurse came in to check on me and asked if I was feeling ok.  I told her contractions started back so she put the monitors on me once again.  What do you know?  Contractions were pretty regular and close together.  I was given 20 mg of procardia to help stop them and it did for a bit.  After a while, she took the monitors off.  Every six hours I was to take these procardia pills so she came in 6 hours later.  My bp was too low to have them again so she waited about 2 more hours.  My bp came up enough to have the pills again.  The night was restless with having to get up and go to the bathroom every 45 minutes but I was monitor free!  Everyone thought we would go home the next day.

Friday morning comes around and so do contractions.  The nurse put me on the monitor and my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart.  I was told to hurry and eat my breakfast and that we would be going downstairs to l&d to be hhoked up to magnesium.  Not what I wanted to hear.

Magnesium, antibiotics, fluids, and catheter were started around 10:30 am.  I was on mag for the next 24 hours which meant no getting out of bed or doing anything.  The first 16 minutes of the mag felt like my arm was stuck in a beehive.  It hurt!  My rrom temperature was also turned down to 55 degrees and I still felt like the room was 200 degrees.  It finally settled down but then my eyes started burning, headache came and vision started to blur.  My dosage was decreased to a maintenance drip so I started to get used to it.  Usually on mag you can't eat or drink.  Dr. Smurda allowed me to eat supper and have some water.  I was starving!  All night I stayed on mag and the next morning he came in to see me and said he was happy with what he saw and wanted to take me off and put me on procardia only.  About 11:30 on Saturday the mag was stopped and by 12:30 the catheter was out!!!!!!!  I ate lunch and got to shower.  The headache continued to hang around but that was ok compared to what I had been through.  Procardia was started again and I was back on the monitors.  The procardia was slowed down due to bp but slowly added back into me to get me up to the 20 mg dose because 10 wasn't doing the trick.  Dr. Smurda checked me again and i was still between a 1 and 2!  I had to spend the night again in L&D and have contininous monotirng throughout the night.  On Sunday, Dr. Smurda came in and asked if we were ready to go home.  Umm....YES!  He had the nurse check me once more and NO CHANGE!  I was given a prescription for procardia (2 every 6 hours) and Ambian.  Got home and have been on bedrest ever since.  I did get to go to Albany on Monday to see Dr. Edwards for my NST/BPP monitoring.  I see Dr. Smurda on Thursday and go back to Augusta next Tuesday.  Busy week ahead and really hoping Tripp decides to stay put for a while!

It is safe to say that it is a little crazy at my house and the alarm goes off at all hours of the day and night to remember to take the procardia as I should! 

Thanks for the calls, visits, texts, gifts, etc that we recieved while all of this was going on.  I hate that I had to miss my baby shower on Saturday but it was a sweet surprise to have some of you come to the hospital and visit.  It made my day and gave me something to look forward to.

Please keep the prayers coming.  I want Tripp to show us and the world that he is a fighter and will be able to live a normal, healthy life!  Thanks for everything and I will try to update a little sooner next time!

babysitter

Please be in prayer for us as we look for someone to take care of Tripp after he is born when it is time for me to return to work.  I met with a lady today that is currently working for a family and she isn't very happy where she is.  She said she is willing to take a pay cut (as it would be to work for us) because we only have one person for her to keep.  I feel like she would be a good fit for us but she is currently still working somewhere else.  If any of you know anyone out there that would be able to keeep him in case this didn't work out, please let me know.  We are looking at a start date of late October or first of November.  Send me a message or email if you need more information.

Thanks!!!!!

3 visits to start off my week!

This has been a busy month so far and it's only the 7th!!!  We started school with our students last Monday (August 1).  I had NO idea how hard the first week or even going back to work full time would be.  I was exhausted last week.  On Thursday and Friday I went home and went straight to bed.  I was in so much pain (mostly my back) and just so worn out that going to bed was the only thing I could do!  Please pray that I make it a few more weeks with my students before I have to leave them for 8 weeks.  I have so much to get done at school before then!  My week doesn't look like it is starting off any slower tomorrow.  I have to leave work at 12:00 tomorrow to start my BPP monitoring with Dr. Edwards.  Here is a description from the internet: The biophysical profile (BPP) test measures the health of the baby during pregnancy. A BPP test may include a nonstress test with electronic fetal heart monitoring and a fetal ultrasound. The BPP measures your baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and the amount of amniotic fluid around your baby. I have to go once a week and have this done until it's time to have Tripp.  On Tuesday I have to go to physical therapy to help with my back.  Then, on Wednesday, I go back to Dr. Talley for my 32 week check up and to get my weekly hormone shot.  That is three trips to Albany in 3 days!!!  Please keep us in your prayers as we get closer to having Tripp and facing the unknowns that lie ahead.  We are beginning to get very anxious about what we will be facing and what Tripp will have to possibly go through. 

Kinsley is getting too excited about meeting her baby brother.  She has to kiss and hug the baby everyday.  When she talks to him, he actually starts kicking and moving even more!  She starts back to dance on Thursday so that is one more thing to add to my to do list!

I have had several people ask me about when Tripp will be born.  I am not sure.  I go back to Augusta August 24 for my 34 week visit and hopefully we will circle a date to try and have the c-section.  When we return at the 37 week visit, I will have to do another amnio and that will determine the exact delivery date.  I hope the test will show the lungs are mature enough and that we can go ahead and have him the next day.  I am so ready to meet him and let the doctors start "fixing" him right up.  Thanks to everyone for following our blog and our story.  I can't believe that the first part of our "Tripp" is just about over.  Hopefully this part will be the hardest part and the road will be get much smoother once he gets here! 

I'll update after my next few visits and let everyone know what the doctors say. 

I have had several people ask me for my address and I can't remember everyone, so here it is. 
John and Summer Hill
PO Box 272
Morgan, GA 39866

Please keep the prayers coming! 

Trust & Rely In the Power of Prayer!