Meeting Baby Brother

It's always a little nerve racking wondering how the kids will all transition with the addition of another family member. 

This time it was fun and exciting having older ones who were really looking forward to the birth of their baby brother.  For months before Elijah was born Ezekiel and Kenzie would pray for him and for him to be born.  Zeke could hardly wait for his little brother to join our family and even things out, 3 boys and 3 girls. 

But then there's the baby who has to transition to becoming an older sibling.  You never know quite how they will respond.  Thankfully Janessa was so excited about the "baby" and was so sweet and loving towards him. 

We were in the hospital for a couple days since Elijah was born at midnight so Nathan brought the kids to the hospital Monday afternoon to meet their new baby brother. 

Such a precious time it was!

A Birth Story

Quite the adventure, that's how I would describe Elijah's birth and the days leading up to it.

He was born exactly 2 weeks early on

Sunday March 17th.

So to say we weren't quite ready would be true.

The adventure began the Thursday before his birth.  We had tentatively planned to go the the North Dakota Homeschool Conference in Grand Forks as long as I was feeling up to the trip.  When Thursday rolled around and we had the van packed, all was well on the home front.  I was feeling well with no noteworthy contractions so we all loaded into the van after Nathan got off work and headed for Grand Forks.  Surprise... 30 minuted into our trip I started having some pretty consistent contractions.  We debated turning around and laughed about possibly having the baby in Grand Forks when we decided to keep going.  Thankfully once we arrived at the convention, got our room and went to walk around the used book sale things settled down quite a bit. 

Thursday night had me waking up to a few somewhat painful contractions randomly throughout the night. 

Friday things calmed down again throughout the day and we enjoyed going to sessions at the conference and seeing friends.

Then Friday night came and I started bleeding.  Throughout the night I was once again woken up by some painful contractions but only about 1 an hour.  We then decided it would be best to head home Saturday afternoon after the conference was over instead of hanging out until Sunday with everything going on.  Also, there had been a storm the day before that had dumped some snow and a blizzard was coming in on Sunday so for the sake of safe roads to drive on it was another good reason to leave that Saturday. 

We made it home Saturday evening and unpacked a little.  Saturday night was filled with more painful contractions that would come about once an hour.  And on Sunday morning when I woke up I had passed my mucus plug.  Up till this point I had also been bleeding a little so we knew things could potentially happen sooner than later.

Sunday we pulled out all our baby items like the car seat and swing and I decided to throw together a bag of clothes for the kids in case we needed to head to the hospital within the next week or so.  And I transferred some of my bathroom items from one suitcase to another to have ready for my hospital stay.  I had minimal to no contractions most of the day Sunday and as the afternoon came upon us so did the snow and the beginning of another winter storm. 

Early that evening I started to have a couple random contractions and finally around 8 pm I started writing the times down.  During the 8 o'clock hour here's what my contractions looked like: 8:16, 8:29, 8:38, 8:45, 8:48, 8:52, 8:57, 9:06.  Nothing consistent but by this time they were getting painful. 

By then there was a No Travel Advisory on all our roads along with blizzard conditions and a fair amount of snow that had already fallen.  Of course baby would chose now to decide it was time to be born!

My dilemma was the fact that my contractions, although getting closer together and painful, were by no means consistent.  I didn't want to take the chance of driving me and my family out into that storm only to be sent home from the hospital for not really being in labor. 

In the end we decided we better head in to the hospital.  We got the kids up from bed and threw everything into the van, dropped them off at the Paulsons house a couple miles down the road from us and began our slow 15 mile drive to the hospital in the storm.  Thankfully a semi had recently traveled the road in front of us and made a path on the road just visible enough for us.  And praise be to the Lord, we made it to the hospital safe and sound. 

We checked in around 10 pm Sunday night and found that I was already dilated to a 5 or 6.  The nurse called the doctor on call and she came in and decided to break my water knowing that things would progress quickly from there.  And that is exactly what happened.  Within an hour of her breaking my water I was ready to push.  And within pushing through two contractions baby Elijah joined the world, a healthy beautiful baby boy! 

At two weeks early he weighed in at 8 lbs. 7 oz, tying with McKenzie for our smallest baby.  But boy oh boy, not really a small baby.  I hate to think how big he would have been had he made it to his due date.

As soon as he was born I held him and fed him while Nathan cut the cord and eventually all three of us headed to the nursery while they finished measuring him and washed him up.  Then we enjoyed snuggling and holding our precious little boy that night.

It was quite the adventure and entrance into this world for baby Elijah.  And we can only continue to praise the Lord that he was born whole and healthy with no complications. 

And I can hardly believe that he is already one week old! 

 

Answered Prayers for Elijah!!!

I am so excited to be able to tell you all that the Lord has heard and answered our prayers for Elijah!
 

I got a call from the doctor last week after our appointment, and I have to be honest, my heart dropped when I knew she was on the line and wanted to talk with me.  My first thought was that the doctor only calls with bad news.  But as soon as she got on the phone with me she informed me that 'she had good news for me!'  And she was excited.  They had reassessed the ultrasound, the amount of fluid in the kidneys and the bladder and the results showed that the fluid amounts were normal for this gestational stage in the pregnancy, and everything else looked good as well.

So we're looking at a normal vaginal birth with a healthy baby.  No need for special care for him once he's born, now I can just snuggle and kiss him as much as I want when he comes!

I can not express how grateful we are for your prayers!  Thank you all so much!

Praise and glory be to the Lord!!

Ultrasound Results

If you missed my other post about my first ultrasound you can read about it here.  This was the first time that we've experienced something showing up in an ultrasound.  We've had them for each of our babies to find out the gender but this time we got more than we bargained for.  Back at the end of November when we had our second ultrasound there were two concerns: persistent Marginal Placenta Previa and persistent fluid in the baby's kidneys.  We would then schedule another ultrasound for a month out from the due date to see if either of those would continue to be an issue or if they would resolve themselves in the womb. 

Monday, February 25th was the date for that final ultrasound.

There were times I felt like that day would never come. 

Have I mentioned before that I don't handle 'not knowing' very well.  So simply not knowing what the results would be and having to wait was torture for me on some days. 

It's been a far rougher pregnancy this time around but thankfully over the past few weeks I've noticed a change in how I've been feeling, which thankfully has been better.  I'm very grateful for this, especially considering I'm within a month of my due date, and you ladies who have had babies know that last month can be tough all on its own. 

Well, the answers we received from the doctor were good and not so good.

With the Marginal Placenta Previa and weather I still had it would determine if I needed to have a c-section or if I could go ahead with another vaginal birth.  I found that I was even more relieved than I thought I would be when the doctor informed us that the placenta had indeed moved out of the way and was no longer a concern, and I can go ahead with a vaginal birth!  Praise the Lord.  I think a lot of my concern stemmed from the possibility of needing a c-section and knowing the recovery time is much longer and more difficult than a vaginal birth and how was that going to work without family near-by to help during that time. 

As far as the fluid in the baby's kidneys, that is still there.  There are other indications that the baby is at least urinating, which is a very good sign.  But with the fluid still remaining in the kidneys, we will have to have the NICU nurses be on call when he's born to monitor him and I guess we'll just go from there.  There are no real answers for this until baby is born.  Each case involving the kidneys is different.  So we'll just take that one step at a time, thankfully with the Lord, and see how things progress. 

I must tell you that I so appreciated your prayers and words of encouragement along the way and during these past few months of waiting and wondering what was to come.  The Lord is so faithful. 

And we would appreciate your continued prayers for Eli and for the fluid that is remaining in his kidneys and for whatever is to come once he's born.

And now we just wait for baby Elijah's arrival.  We're on countdown now and getting anxious to meet this sweet little guy! 

Baby Bump

 



My precious little baby is growing!

33 weeks and counting.

Prayers For Pregnancy & Baby

 

This pregnancy has sure turned out different than my other 3 pregnancies for a few reasons.  For one, this pregnancy I have had a fare share more of uncomfortableness and pregnancy pains than I ever experienced with my others.  But those I would still consider just normal pregnancy aches and pains.  Nothing out of the ordinary.

What is really different this time around is something I have never experienced and at this time we're still left with a lot of question marks that only time will answer. 

Back at the end of October Nathan, the kids and I headed to get the first ultrasound done in hopes to find out the gender of our 4th baby.  We've done this with each pregnancy and thus far the only results to come from the ultrasound was the gender of each of our babies.  Well this time around, once again, we got a clear look at the gender of our baby.  And if you didn't receive our Christmas letter, we're excited to add another boy to our family!  Everyone walked away from the appointment excited and blessed about another boy joining our family, especially Zeke! 

Then a letter showed up in the mail about a week later regarding the recent ultrasound.  That had never happened to us before.  Our doctor informed us that there were some potential concerns.  Not just one, but 2.  But because it was early in the pregnancy she would order me a second ultrasound in a month to see if time would show any changes and possibly eliminate some of the concerns.  So at the end of November we headed back for another ultrasound.  Again, we got a good look at the gender of our baby and indeed, it was a boy.  Then we went home and waited for the results. 

Soon another letter arrived in the mail and much to this mommy's dismay, the two concerns remained persistent. 

The first concern deals with me and my pregnancy.  I have 'Marginal Placenta Previa'.  If you click on the picture below it will take you to more information regarding Placenta Previa.  My doctor is hopeful that as time progresses my placenta will "migrate" away from the cervix and will no longer be a problem when it's time to deliver my baby.  However, if nothing changes I will need to have a c-section.  After 3 healthy, natural vaginal births this is a little daunting to me.  I would much rather deliver my baby naturally, but obviously if there is an absolute need for a c-section then I am okay with it.  As much as I can be.  Also for now I have to be careful, if there is any bleeding I'll need to go to the hospital right away, with the results  potentially being bed rest or worse.  And on the other hand nothing may come of it and all could go well if the placenta migrates up and away from my cervix.





The second concern deals with my precious baby boy.  He shows to have "Mild Bilateral Renal Pelviectasis".  In normal man's words, there is persistent fluid in the kidneys.  I have not done much research regarding this because nothing can really be done until our baby is born.  Then they will assess what is going on with him.  There is no other indication that anything else is wrong, which is a good thing.  But there is talk about seeing a urologist that comes to Minot twice a year and will be in town shortly after our baby's due date. 

For now, I just wait.  There will be another ultrasound done about a month from my due date to see where things are at.  It will mostly give us an answer regarding my placenta. 

I would be lying if I didn't tell you that this has been hard on me.  There is worry and concern and a constant giving my thoughts to the Lord regarding all of these things.  I know the Lord is in control and I take great comfort in that.  He will help us through whatever comes our way.  And at the same time my mother's heart is concerned.  I am so thankful for the Lord, that I can turn to Him, that He is there to walk with me and our family through this.  That He is faithful no matter what happens and that He will never leave us nor forsake us. 

Our hope and prayer is that these two concerns would not come to pass, but whatever the outcome is  I know the Lord will help us. 

And I would ask that you would please pray for me, that I would not give in to worry and fear, that I would keep my eyes on Jesus.  And please pray for our precious baby boy, that the Lord would heal him and that he would be born a healthy little boy. 

Exciting News!

We're excited to share with you that we're receiving another blessing from the Lord! Baby Mudd # 4 will be joining our family around the end of March 2013! And we can't be more excited and grateful!