Sleeping....

I am a little bit excited about how Austin's nighttime sleeping is going lately. When we first brought him home he was difficult to put to bed. There were many nights were we would start to put him to bed around 9:30 and he wouldn't be down until close to midnight. Then would be up around 2 and again at 5. To say the least we were super tired, which is to be expected with a newborn. Then as the weeks progressed he would become easier to put to bed at would go down around 8ish and then we would wake him for a feeding right before we went to bed and he would get up at 2 and 5. A few weeks ago he stopped waking up for the 2am feeding.  AND last night he went to sleep at 8:00, we did a feeding at 10:00 and he slept until 6am!!!!! woohoo for us. I was so excited that he slept that long, even though I told Mike this morning that we got 7 hours of uninterupted sleep and I still didn't feel rested. I think I'm going to need 3 days of sleep before I'll feel well rested again. HA. But I just wanted to share that my 2 month old son slept 7 hours last night. I'm feeling pretty darn good about that.

The Last few weeks

So I go back to work tomorrow and I'm kinda freaking out a bit!!!! It came up so fast...I can't believe that Austin is 7 weeks old. Time really does fly. I was thinking back on all that has happened since the last time I wrote so I thought I'd give you all a recap.

The first weeks were really hard...ok so the first month was pretty hard. Trying to adjust to having a little person to care for and mostly just trying to figure out why he was crying. Mike's mom and her husband came right after Austin was born and they were are HUGE help. But then we were on our own...and mostly I was on my own, at least during the day. Mike was able to have a ton of work right after Austin was born, which was such a God thing, but that meant I was at home alone with Austin. It was scary, I didn't know what I was doing.  Mike would get home in the afternoon and he would be my saving grace. He has been a great dad, very patient and is so supportive of me and helps with so many things. But the beginning was hard for both of us, Austin would cry and we would have no idea what to do to help him. But he was about the cutest baby ever and our little miracle and would melt our hearts all the time. It's amazing how you can love something so much.

Now here we are a little over 7 weeks later and we are pros at this...well, ok not pros but we sure feel like we have a better grasp on things. Austin is now able to stay awake for longer periods of time and he is happy more and more of that awake time. He has smiled, but of course I can't catch it on the camera. We love "talking" to him and having him respond in his own little way. He of course loves his swing and is very interested in the high contrast pictures I have taped to everything. 

We are trying to take as many pictures as we can. Sometimes we get caught up in the moment and forget that we need to document what is going on since it's going to go by so fast. But here are a few more pictures from these past few weeks 

Austin's Halloween Costume 

Mike's brother Derek and his wife Laura came to visit for Thanksgiving

We are so blessed to have this little baby in our lives. We didn't know that something was missing in our lives until he arrived. Can't imagine life without him now. As he starts to amaze us with his many talents we will be sure to document it and share it with you all. Thank you for spending a bit of time reading what we have been up to. 

Another video

Yes, I know we are going a little crazy with the video camera...but this is our first baby and hey it's ok because he's cute.

Austin's Video debut

Austin Anthony Peck

Well our little bundle of joy arrived on Thursday October 7, 2010 at 4:42 pm, 8 lbs 2 oz, 21 in long.

On Wednesday evening we went to the hospital because the "normal" contractions that I had been feeling had gotten a little bit more uncomfortable and I was concerned that this might be causing the baby stress. So we went in to see if he was ok...he was and they sent me home. Well around midnight that night I began to feel more pain with the "contractions," I wasn't entirely convinced that it was labor so I tossed and turned all night long. When 6am rolled around there was no denying the fact that I was in pain with every contraction. So we headed off to the hospital at 6am on Thursday morning. They put me in a triage room and hooked me up to the baby heart rate monitor and the contraction monitor to see if I was actually in labor. When they check my cervix I was dilated to 1.5 cm. Every contraction was very intense. Well by 11am we were still in the triage room waiting for the Dr. to come and check my cervix before admitting me. When he checked I was dilated to 4cm, so I was admitted. I made the decision to get an epidural, so that was put in place around 12:30 pm. The Dr. said that he would be in shortly after I got the epidural to break my water.  When the Dr. came in around 4pm to break my water I measured at 5cm dilated and the baby was still not engaged into the cervix. He didn't want to break my water so that it gushed out because he didn't want the umbilical cored to come out first. So instead he pin pricked it and it trickled out. He then placed a fetal monitor on the baby's head to get a better read on what was happening with him. All day the baby's heart rate had been pretty flat...when I say flat I mean that it stood steady at a baseline of around 140-150 beats. They like to see him show some peaks and then return to the baseline and he hadn't done that hardly all day. This concerned the Dr. and coupled with the fact that he wasn't engaged into my cervix and that my blood work had come back with my white cell count elevated (which signified an infection) they decided to do an emergency c-section. So they got me prepared and we headed off.

While I was laying on the table after they pulled the baby out the Dr. leaned over and told me that they had found the infection on the baby's side of the placenta. Because of this he came out of me with pneumonia, which made it difficult for him to breath on his own. They worked on him while I was being stitched up and had to assist him in breathing, it became so bad that they had to take him to the NICU to have a ventilator put in. I still had not seen him. They took me to the recovery room and Mike went with baby Austin to the NICU. After what seemed like forever Mike came into the recovery room to tell me that they were taking my precious baby downtown to the NICU there because they had better equipment to deal with his breathing problems. I cried because I still hadn't seen him. He promised me that I would be able to see him before they took him downtown. I soon was transferred to a postpartum room where I waited for them to bring Austin in so I could see him before they left. I was to be transferred shortly after him as well. When they finally brought him in he was in an isolet (an incubator) on a stretcher hooked up to so many machines. I cried.

The next morning I was finally able to get out of bed and be wheeled down to the NICU to finally hold my baby. He was very sweet. It was difficult to hold him because of all the cords he was hooked up to. We found out that morning that they had taken his ventilator out shortly after he arrived at the downtown NICU. They also told us that he would need to be cared for in the NICU for 7 days so that he could get the full round of antibiotics to make sure that he didn't get sicker after being exposed to the infection in my uterus. We were assured that he was doing great and that they were all pleased with how he was. I really had no idea that a baby could come out of your body sick. It truly is a God thing that he was taken out when he was, I'm sure that if he had been in there any longer he probably would have been that much sicker.

On Sunday I was released from the hospital. They also told us that they could transfer Austin back to the original NICU that he was in so that we could be closer to home and also have access to what they call a "rooming in" room. They were going to let us use an empty hospital room while Austin finished out his antibiotic treatment and we would have a place to stay at the hospital. So he was transferred back to the Meridian St. Lukes Hospital. We were there everyday to hold him and feed him. It really didn't seem like we had a baby of our own yet since he wasn't at home, but we loved being able to go and see him.

Finally one week after he was born we were able to bring him home! He really is precious. Kind of impatient, he goes from 0 to 60 very fast and without warning, but he might get that from me. We are so excited to finally have him home. It seems like his birth story was very much along the lines of the rest of the pregnancy, but once again God provided and helped us get through it. We certainly would not have been able to get through this pregnancy without Him.

As I get more pictures and stories about our little Austin Anthony I will post them in this blog. Thank you again for reading it.

More....problems?

So for another update with what's been going on with the baby...I still have "too" much fluid, so they have continued to monitor it every other week with ultrasounds. On October 10th they kicked up the ultrasounds to weekly and started doing what's called NST every Tuesday and Friday. NST is fetal non-stress tests, where they strap two belt type things over my tummy to measure the babies heart rate and any contractions that I'm having. On October 10th they did the first NST, when the Dr came in the room she saw that I was having contractions...upon which I told her was nothing new. I have been having contractions that I can feel since July. I talked to the specialist about it when we saw him and he looked at my cervix to see if these contractions were producing any change, and they were not so he wasn't concerned about it. Well, I told the Dr. that these contractions were nothing new for me, that it was no different than any other day but she was still concerned. So she did a Fetal Fibronectin Test and a pelvic exam to look at my cervix. Fetal fibronectin is a protein that acts as a "glue" attaching the amniotic sac to the lining of the uterus. When the Fetal Fibronectin Test comes back positive it means that this "glue" has been disturbed and you are at increased risk of preterm labor. When it comes back negative it means that there is a 99% chance that you will NOT be delivering in the next two weeks. So she tested me for that and looked at my cervix, where she determined that I was dialated to 1cm. The test results would take about an hour to get back, so I was sent on my merry way.

Well the test can back positive and she promptly told me to head to labor and delivery at the hospital to be treated for preterm labor. WOW, that was a shock! So off we went...they hooked me up to the NST machine at the hospital and continued to monitor the contractions. Plus they gave me a shot of terbutaline, a drug that is supposed to reduce or stop the contractions. It did a bit, and they decided that they wanted to check me in overnight to watch me and see what else could be done. So I spent the night at the hospital with them monitoring the contractions and giving me higher and higher doses of another drug called nifedipine which is taken orally. They of course got the contractions to less that 6 an hour and sent me home with instructions to take the pills every 4 hours and to be on modified "bedrest" for 2 weeks. The reason for the pills and the bedrest is that they want me to carry the baby to at least 36 weeks, that way his lungs are able to have the best chance if born after that. They say that babies born before 36 weeks most likely have to spend time in the NICU, and they don't want that, and nor do I.

So I've been home now for a week and don't really feel any different than I did the day I went into the Dr but I'm following orders. Since being in the hospital I have had two more Dr appointments where they hooked me up to the NST machine and both times there were contractions that it measured. They looked at my cervix to see if there had been any change and said that they were pleased with where things were, that as long as I kept up with the bedrest and taking my meds I should be go to go. So other than being totally bored out of my mind at home things are going good. I have another ultrasound next week where they will measure the baby again to see how big he is, and will check on the fluid levels. But I only have one more week of "bedrest" and pill taking then I can go back to work and on with normal life until this little guy decides to show up.

I've been trying to get prepared in terms of supplies....diapers, wipes, baby clothes washed ect....just in case he does come right away after I quit taking the meds. It's kinda hard to do while on "bedrest" but I'm doing the best I can. So that's the latest news on baby Peck, he's healthy and I feel just fine so I guess all is well. So again I'll try and keep you all updated on the progress of this CRAZY pregnancy.

We did get more ultrasound photos to show you all though, this one is another one looking at his face straight on, you can see one hand touching his left eye area and one right under his chin...super stinkin' cute if you ask me, but I'm kinda partial...oh and I'm pretty sure you can see some hair

Baby Update

So as most of you know the baby is due October 24th, and it's a boy!! We are very excited that the time is drawing near, it has been a rough pregnancy. I haven't been sick at all, in fact I feel great, but rather the doctors have seen a few things on ultrasounds that concerned them. Let me fill you in with the quick version of whats been going on.

The beginning of June we went in for our 20 week ultrasound which is the big one where you get to find out what the sex of the baby is and all that jazz. So needless to say we were very excited, our little excitement bubble burst when the doctor came in and told us that they had seen what they call Choroid Plexus Cysts on the baby's brain and that they they wanted us to come back in to have another ultrasound done in 4 weeks. He said that these cysts appear and most of the time they are nothing but they want to check on them in a month just to make sure. So of course this freaked us out, I mean we went in expecting that they would tell us our baby was perfectly healthy and everything looked great, but instead we got "your baby has cysts on his brain." We did what any concerned parent would do...well, ok we did what we do and that is to look things up on the internet since we didn't really understand what these cyst things were. What we found was interesting. It said that these cysts appear in 1 to 3 percent of all babies and that they are not harmful to the baby at all. The problem is really one of association, the appearance of these cysts have been associated with a severe genetic disease called Trisomy 18. And that is a SCARY thing...basically the baby will either be stillborn, or rarely will they make it to their first birthday. So with this information in hand we began our little pity party. It was a difficult thing for us to handle at the time. However, after lots of prayer we came to grips with the fact that God brought us here and He'll bring us through it. So we waited 4 longs weeks until the next ultrasound.

This ultrasound went better. They told us that the cysts had resolved themselves!!!! But...and yes there was a but...they saw that I had more amniotic fluid in there than they liked to see, which by the way happens in 1 out of 100 pregnancies. So of course they said they wanted to do another ultrasound in 2 weeks. During this next visit they would also be doing what's called a 1 hour glucose test to rule out gestational diabetes. So we go back in two weeks later and get the glucose test done and they do another ultrasound to check the fluid levels. They tell us that the fluid levels are still high and they also found whats called a double bubble in the baby's stomach. They want to send me to Maternal Fetal Medicine at the hospital to have them check out this double bubble situation. A double bubble is something that shows up on an ultrasound and can mean that the baby isn't swallowing like he should. When babies are in the womb they swallow amniotic fluid and process it and it comes out as pee, this process regulates the amount of fluid present in my uterus. If the baby isn't swallowing then it would be something that would require surgery at birth to fix the reason why he isn't swallowing. So we leave once again terrified of what is to come.

To make matters worse they called and said that the test results from the 1 hour glucose test came back elevated and that they wanted me to go to the hospital to have a 3 hour glucose test done. So we have to go to a specialist to see if the baby has a swallowing problem which would explain the large amount of fluid in my uterus and I have to go be tested to see if I have gestational diabetes. I happened to have both appointments on the same day. First up was the glucose test which took 3 1/2 hours and 4 blood draws. Then we went to the specialist who did another ultrasound to check on the baby and fluid levels. Now this time we received good news!!! He didn't see a double bubble and in fact said that the baby looks great and perfectly healthy. He did say that our little munchkin was pretty big, like in the 90th percentile big. He also said that I did still have a higher amount of amniotic fluid in there but he wasn't majorly concerned. In fact he said that this may just be the way we make babies and that there was nothing wrong with it. Only that he would want my OBGYN to have me come in every 2 weeks for ultrasounds to check on the fluid levels and every 4 weeks to check on the babies growth. He also called to get the results of my 3 hour glucose test, which were negative, no gestational diabetes for me!

Another 2 weeks later and we go in for another ultrasound and GREAT news is to be had. They tell us that the fluid levels have dropped!!! woohoo. We were very excited to get that news. At this appointment I asked why they were concerned about the fluid levels and they said that they think what causes labor is a capacity issue. And when there is too much fluid in my uterus they like to monitor it so that it doesn't become too much and send me into premature labor. But since my levels were going down their level of concern was diminishing. They did schedule another ultrasound for 2 weeks later to check on the levels to see if they continue to drop and if they do then I would only need to have one more ultrasound towards the end to see how big the baby is. So this is where we are today... I go in on Friday to have the ultrasound to see if the levels have dropped again.

It has been an emotional roller coaster ride like no other. We are very happy that things have all turned out to be fine but it's still been one crazy ride. I just wanted to fill everyone in on what has been going on. I promise to keep updating as we find out more. I want to use this blog mostly to show people the baby and how he is growing once he is born, but this is part of his story too and I wanted to share it with you all. With all of these ultrasounds we've had done we have been able to see some pretty cool pictures of the baby so here are some.

 

This is a picture of his hand

His mouth and nose, looking at them straight on

His ear