Spring = garden (or at least the start of one)

We are so excited to be able to start our own garden this year. Part of the reason we got this house it because of all the land (2 acres) which gives us plenty of room for a garden.

We started 5 trays of seeds. Veggies and herbs, the plan is to can some for the winter. I guess I better learn to can!

Here are the ones that have already came up and were to big to keep in the boxes.

We all love watching them grow and are amazed how fast they grow in just a day.

Can't wait until we get them in the ground and we are able to enjoy all the yummy food. Does anyone in Illinois know the best time to transfer them in the ground? With the weather here being a different from Utah I don't want to do it to early and then get a freeze.

Hair cuts

Areya and I got our hair cut this week.

Areya before (hair to shoulders)

Areya after

Me Before (one length to middle of back)

Me after (layered and a bit shorter)

Where did she go?

Last night when I was checking on the the girls, I couldn't find Aniela. After a bit of looking I found her half way under the her bed and the desk.

I end up putting her back in her bed about every other night. Good thing she stays in her room.

My Chunky Monkey!

I had an appointment with the peds heart doctor on Tuesday so she could double check his heart and get a report sent to the heart surgeons. They measured him and man is he chunky! They said most babies at 30 week are about 3 lbs, my little guy is 3 lbs 10 oz! If he keeps growing like that I will end up delivering a 10 lb baby. I read some where that by 30 weeks the growth slows down but that does not seem to be the case with him. Maybe it has some thing to do with all the sugar I have been eating?

Any way, this pregnancy has been so different from my other two it throws me for a loop. Not only the heart defect and the DiGeorge but the pre term labor, bed rest, less morning sickness (which was nice) and the weight gain. I only gained 15 with both my girls, well I guess it would be 30 but I lost 15 in the first trimester so after getting that back it was 15. With this little man I have already gained 25 and I still have just over 2 months to go! I guess part of that is because of the bed rest and not being able to walk around much, but still.

At this point i'm feeling huge! I think part of it is how i'm carrying this time, low and out, compared to in my back with the girls. Here's full term with Aniela.

I guess this is a bad picture because she has already dropped and I look like I carried low.

I was that big with him at 24 weeks! If you want to see how big I am now see post 27 weeks.

Happy Birthday Damian!

March 3rd was Damian's birthday. We were only able to go out for a quick dinner because of my bed rest restrictions.

Happy 31st Birthday Sweetheart! I love you so much and hope you had a wonderful birthday! Thank you for all you do!!!

I Found it!!

It has been a while since my last post and I decided it was time to catch up, even though not much has been going on. I went to get my memory card out of my camera and in the bottom of the case was none other then my WEDDING RING! No way right! It's crazy I should find it less then a month after Damian got me a new one. Oh well, I'll just save the new one for one of the girls when they get older. Funny how that worked out.

Random pictures

Here are a few random pictures that were on my camera.

I started getting out the baby stuff and put it all in the nursery. A few hours later the girls got really quiet so I went to see what they were up to. This is how I found them, playing baby.

Here is Areya before school in her Christmas outfit that Damian's parents got her. She looks so grown up in this picture!

Areya found this old box and decided to get creative. She made a car for Aniela to sit in at the movies. (Aka the family room)

I think Aniela was mad about having to take a nap so she covered her head. This is how I found her when I checked on them.

The sister missionaries came over for a visit and the girls talked them into playing dress up. Don't they look so cute!

27 weeks

Here I am in all my preggo glory. 27 weeks and counting! Man i'm huge with this one. I will try to find the picture of my last two pregnancies and post them so we can compare.

Hanging with dad

Here are a few pictures I found on my camera. I guess they had a little photo shoot while I was in the hospital.

Aniela and Daddy

Aniela taking the picture of sister and daddy.

Areya's turn to be the photographer.

Valentine's Day

What a sweet husband I have!!

Back in December I lost my wedding ring and still have not been able to find it, so knowing how upset I was about it, Damian decided to surprise me with a new one on Valentines. He had wanted to take me to a nice restaurant for dinner and give it to me there but because I was still on bed rest we were unable to go. Instead he slipped it on my finger while I was sleeping. It was such a great surprise!!!

Damian,

Thank you for all your love and support over the past 8 years! You have been such a huge blessing in my life and I don't know where I would be with out you. Thank you for your help with the girls and through is crazy pregnancy. I am grateful for your willingness to go to work and make a living in order for me to be home with the kids. You are wonderful and I love you so much!

Pre term labor

I guess we failed to inform our little guy that he needs to stay in there a little while longer. On Friday night I started having some contractions. We decided that I should just go to bed and hoped they would stop. Well morning came and I was feeling fine until I got out of bed, yep still contracting. I called the doctor's office and because they were so close together, 10 mins apart, she had me come in. Damian had already left for work so he had to turn around and come back. We dropped the girls off at a friends house and headed to the hospital. Sure enough i'm in pre term labor at 26 weeks. They checked my cervix which was still closed, thank goodness!!!! Then got me started on an IV thinking it might be due to dehydration. It wasn't so next they did an ultrasound. The baby looked good but I was told that there is to much amniotic fluid which can make your body believe you are further along. ( They are still not sure if that is the reason for the contractions but that is there best guess at this time.)

They decided that they would admit me and give me drugs to stop the labor and develop the baby's lungs. I had to be on the drugs for 72 hours and part of the next day with out contractions before they would let me leave. The steroid shots hurt like crazy, good thing I only had to get 2. I got another ultra sound on Monday to see how things looked. There is still extra fluid but my chunky little guy looks good. I was allowed to go home Tuesday afternoon on moderate bed rest. Which means I have to

stay off my feet as much as possible. ( This

should be interesting with 2 crazy girls running around the house.) I have a follow up appointment on Monday and hopefully I will no longer have to be on bed rest.

I just want to take a second and thank all the wonderful people in my ward who have been so willing to help us out. We really appreciate a

ll that you do for us, from watching the girls, bringing us dinner, calls of love and support and all the prayers. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!!

I also want to thank my cousin Lacy for coming out to visit! It was so great having you here and having someone to talk to. Thank you, we love you!!!

More baby news

On Tuesday Damian and I were suppose to go in and talk with the NICU pediatricians to get our questions answered and I also had a prenatal visit. Unfortunately both the girls were sick and not wanting to share our illness with others Damian opted to stay home with them. I guess the good thing was that they messed up and never scheduled the NICU Peds appointment so Damian didn't have to miss out on it after all.

The visit started good with great blood pressure, good weight and not much to complain about except for the bad joint pain I have been having. I went into wait for the doctor. She started out by introducing herself and then said that she noticed that some of the results from my amniocentesis were not back and she called down to get them. Than came the knock at the door and the bad news. After growing the cultures they found out that our little guy has DiGeorge Syndrome or 22q11.2 deletion.

What is DiGeorge Syndrome? It is where part of the 22nd chromosome is missing. It is not well known about but is the second most common chromosomal disorder, Down Syndrome being the first. It can affect almost every system in the body and can cause a wide range of problems. His heart defect being one of them.

They have found over 180 different health problems in people with DiGeorge but each case is different. We will not really have an idea of what problems he will have until after he is born. Some of the most common problems are:

* heart defects

* feeding problems

* immune system deficiencies

* growth delay

* kidney problems

* hearing loss

* seizure disorder

* cleft palate

* developmental delays

We are scheduled to meet with a genetic counselor on Monday at which time she can answer any questions we may have, get us in touch with a support group and help us set up a care plan. (which will be hard to do until we know the extent of his problems) We will also be meeting with the NICU Peds to go over what their role is and answer our questions.

Wish us luck and please keep us in your prayers. We are going to need all the strength and help we can get. Thanks and we love you all.

Potty time

Aniela is finally potty trained!!!!!!!!!!! We have been working on it for awhile with no luck but one day after going on the toilet she asked for big girl panties and so it begins....

She stayed dry all day and because I didn't really want to be washing sheets all day decided to put her in a diaper for the night. She woke up wet like always so I thought that this was a good move on my behalf. The next day was another great day with no accidents. On the 3rd day she had a few accidents (2 with in 10 mins of each other) but did pretty good. On the next day I decided to let her try napping with out a diaper to see how she would do and she woke up dry. That's a good sign. That night I couldn't get a diaper on her if my life depended on it, so she slept without one and woke up DRY!!! I was amazed, I guess by putting a diaper on it gave her a free ride to just go.

She has woke up dry every day and has only had a few accidents since. She is doing great!!! I was holding her like a baby and asked her if she was my baby. She informed me that she was a "big girl" and that I have a baby in my tummy. Wow, when did that happen? What happen to my Ela Baby? They grow up way to fast and don't want to be your baby any more. Sad!!!

Now to look on the bright side, no more diaper to change (well at least for a few more months), only one in diapers, and now I can get a jump start on buying them for the little guy.

Baby update (22 weeks)

Well, we went in for another ultrasound and they found a problem with our little guy's heart. He as a heart defect called Truncus Arteriosus. It is when the heart forms one vessel from the heart instead of a separate pulmonary artery and aorta. *See picture below

The only way to correct this problem is to preform open heart surgery, which they most often do during the first week of life. He also has 2 holes in his heart which will be patched during the surgery. The doctors were concerned that the heart defect was a result of a chromosomal disorder but after getting the results back from my amniocentesis he does not appear to have one. (Huge sigh of relief)

My prenatal care has been transfered to a high risk doctor who will be keeping a close eye on the baby for the rest of my pregnancy. We will be meeting with pediatric heart surgeons and many others to make the best possible care plan for him after he is born.

*** I just want to say thank you to all the wonderful members of my ward that have been so helpful with watching the girls, making meals and all your many prayers. We are truly blessed and are grateful for all you do for us. ***

If you would like more information on this heart defect you can go to: http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/truncus-arteriosus.html?pageNum=1#1

Or here is a summery of what it is:

The developing fetal heart begins as a simple tube that gradually specializes over time. In a normal fetus, blood is pumped from a single lower chamber of the heart (ventricle) through a trunk of arteries called the truncus arteriosus. As the fetus develops, a wall (septum) normally forms, dividing the single ventricle into two (left ventricle and right ventricle) and separating the truncus arteriosus into the pulmonary artery and aorta. The pulmonary artery travels from the right side of the heart to the lungs, and the aorta travels from the left side of the heart to the rest of the body. 

There are rare cases in which a baby is born with an opening still present between the two ventricles (a ventricular septal defect) and the truncus arteriosus still undivided, or only partially divided. In addition, the valves that normally regulate the flow of blood between the lower ventricles and the pulmonary artery and aorta may be partially or completed fused. As a result, oxygen–rich blood and oxygen–poor blood freely mixes after the baby begins to take its first breaths of oxygen. Some oxygen–rich blood needlessly travels back to the lungs, and some oxygen–poor blood uselessly travels to the rest of the oxygen–demanding body.

This condition is called persistent truncus arteriosus or simply “truncus arteriosus.” Symptoms usually occur in the first week of life. Truncus arteriosus causes abnormal blood flow and increased pressure in the lungs, which may lead to symptoms of congestive heart failure within the first week of life. Babies born with truncus arteriosus may also develop a mild bluish tint the skin, lips, fingernails and other areas of the body due to a lack of oxygen–rich blood, a condition often called blue baby or cyanosis.

Although the condition involves complicated abnormalities of the heart and its structures, modern surgical advances have made it possible for babies born with this condition to have an excellent outlook.

What is Truncus Arterisus

Truncus arteriosus is a rare congenital heart defect in which an opening is still present between the two ventricles (a ventricular septal defect), and the trunk of arteries, called the truncus arteriosus, is still undivided. As a result, the pulmonary arteries, which normally arise from the right ventricle and carry oxygen-poor blood to the lungs, arise from the truncus arteriosus. Also, the pulmonary valve and the aortic valve are usually fused to some degree into a single valve with up to six leaflets. Truncus arteriosus is generally categorized by where along the truncus the pulmonary arteries arise.

Symptoms associated with truncus arteriosus usually emerge in the first week of life. When an infant is born, there is a higher degree of pulmonary resistance, meaning it's more difficult to pump blood into the lungs, which have not been used in utero. However, over the first week of life, as the child breaths, the resistance in the lungs gradually drops, changing the pressure gradient across the heart's outflow. Because the aorta and the pulmonary arteries are connected, the blood will naturally flow to the area of least resistance, or the lungs. This results in elevated blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension), a reduction in blood flow to the rest of the body, and the onset of symptoms.

Treatment

Most surgical centers recommend surgery as soon as possible, sometimes within the first week of life or as soon as feasible after the diagnosis is confirmed. This corrective surgery is considered one of the more extensive cardiac surgeries performed on babies. It is an open-heart surgery that will require the use of a heart-lung machine. The procedure involves three main steps: 

First, the surgeon divides the pulmonary arteries from the truncus arteriosus. The hole left by the removed pulmonary arteries is closed with either sutures or a Dacron patch. After other corrections have been made, the truncus arteriosus will carry only oxygen–rich blood through the aorta and out to the rest of the body. At the same time, the single valve is repaired. 

Second, the surgeon opens the right ventricle and closes the hole in the septum (ventricular septal defect) with a Dacron patch. In combination with the first step, this step prevents the mixing of oxygen–rich and oxygen–poor blood. The patch is positioned so that the oxygen-rich blood from the left ventricle will be directed out the aorta.

The third step is called the Rastelli procedure, in which the surgeon attaches the pulmonary artery to the right ventricle using a valved conduit. A valved conduit is a tube made of fabric, human tissue from a cadaver or part of the patient’s own pericardium (the fluid–filled sac that surrounds the heart). Within the tube is a valve made of other organic tissue (a biological valve) or man–made tissue (a mechanical valve) to function as the pulmonic valve. This new valve will alternately open and close in precise time with the heartbeat, to allow blood to flow in only one direction and at only the right time. Therefore, oxygen-poor blood can be pumped by the right ventricle through the valved conduit and pulmonary artery to the lungs.

After surgery

Surgery for truncus arteriosus is generally well tolerated. Following surgery, most babies will remain in the hospital for 10 days to two weeks barring any complications. Potential complications could include narrowing of the pulmonary artery – a condition known as branch pulmonary artery stenosis. Repeat surgery or widening procedures using a catheter may be performed. Additionally, because the valved conduit will not grow along with the child, replacement may be necessary two or three times during childhood. 



Seeing red

I happened to look out the window and saw something bright red in the tree. Isn't he beautiful! Damian was so excited we he had to get a few pictures. I know this is probably a common sight here in Illinois but we have never seen a Cardinal before and it was fun to see him sitting in our tree.