Ok, so I guess I spoke to soon about how often the doctors want to see me and check on Nicolas. Not a bad thing. Just had to get clarification. The North doctors are not as comfortable "letting me go" 6 weeks before they see me again. We moved the appointment up to November 19th at North Memorial in Robbinsdale so we can meet with the neonatologist and tour the NICU. This is probably a good change, but sometimes I get that warm flushed feeling that they are not telling me something. I think that certain words trigger that feeling of doubt or concern. The most recent thing that bugged me was "assist with your wishes". Ordinarily wishes are a good thing, but this felt more heavy hearted than positive. Ultimately we want the medical staff at North to understand our decision and to fully support us in our efforts to bring Nicolas into this world safely so he at least has a shot. I know it is a matter of semantics at this point, but I hate the rushed feeling I get like my heart just hit the floor.
My hope is that they are just trying to get to know us better and what we want for Nicolas.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
A wonderful evening
This evening our family was gifted with experiencing a 3D/4D ultrasound courtesy of Sustaining Grace and Bella Angel Imaging. I made this appointment on Sunday and told the girls they were getting a surprise on Wednesday evening when they came home. I also invited Grandma Mary along for the experience. When we arrived at Bella Angel they were very excited to meet their brother. Brenda was an exceptional and fun hostess making us feel right at home. The girls enjoyed sprawling out on the big teddy bears while Grandma and Bryan got comfy on the couch. Nicolas proved to be quite the active baby again. He was moving around playing with anything and everything he could get his hands on. He also provided a lot of entertainment with his antics of nose picking, finger sucking, toe playing, ear tugging and even the one finger salute.
 |
| Nicolas 10/27/10 24 weeks |
We spent 45 minutes watching him play. Everyone had an enjoyable time. Brenda also was so very gracious to give the girls some gifts including a teddy bear for each of them with Nicolas' heartbeat. Something they will cherish forever. Bryan got his first "man purse" aka diaper bag loaded with goodies. Nicolas is quite the super star now with over 100 images tonight and the 45 minute DVD of the ultrasound. Grandma Mary also has a picture she can now share of Nicolas. She is so proud and amazed by the technology we have today. She kept thinking of her own boys (my dad and his brother John) and how she had always wondered what they were doing inside her belly. It will be an experience never to be forgotten by all of us.
Nicolas is absolutely beautiful and we can definitely see some Miller characteristics and similarities to the girls when they were babies. We look forward to showing more pictures of this precious boy at our prayer shower and lunch on November 14th at the church. Truly amazing
I am so grateful for everyone who has supported us along this journey. We continue to see how special Nicolas is to not only us, but to other people. In time, I would love to give back to all of these organizations who have helped us along on this journey so that they can continue bringing joy into people's lives with these special babies.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Week 23 update
Some weeks can be good even when they are bad. I guess that is how it goes. Personally my week has been hell at work. The amount of stress I was feeling was ridiculous along with anticipation for my regular OB appointment and our cardiac consult just added to it. Work is still stressful, however, yesterday I think I breathed my first sigh of relief in a long time about the pregnancy.
At my Wednesday OB appointment, I had a great discussion with my OB about my health and care of the pregnancy. She is fully supportive of me as her patient and feels that the pregnancy is going well and the baby (Nicolas) is also doing well. His heart rate was a steady 138. My blood pressure is excellent and all other signs point to a healthy pregnancy. All very good things for both me and Nicolas.
Yesterday, Bryan and I had the cardiac consultation with the MN Perinatal Physicians and Dr. Sutton. The ultrasound tech started off by looking in general at Nicolas. He has definitely grown since the last time we saw him on the screen. She also didn't find anything new that we were not aware of. We have images of his little feet and were able to see both hands. One was clenched in a typical T18 manner, but the other was not. The cysts on the brain still exist, but everyone has assured us that they are very normal for any baby.
Dr. Sutton greeted us and started to review Nicolas' heart. They were concentrating on his VSD (Ventricular septal defect). A VSD is one or more holes in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of the heart. Ventricular septal defect is one of the most common congenital (present from birth) heart defects. It may occur by itself or with other congenital diseases. With Trsiomy 18 (T18) babies, this is quite common. Dr. Sutton examined the VSD and found that the hole is relatively small on the scale of things and should not cause any complications for Nicolas. He said it would not likely require surgery, but we will only know definitely when he is born and can be examined further. The size was estimated to be somewhere around 2-3mm. If 0 is the smallest and they can see the defects much larger (7-8mm), I feel pretty good about things. Dr. Sutton said that most of the issues we may face will be around respiratory or breathing issues and possible need for intervention at birth. He indicated we will still have many tough decisions to make as parents. Bryan and I were introduced to a perinatologist, Dr. Calvin. He also warmly welcomed us and helped clarify some of the findings. Again, we felt he brought good news indicating that on the scale of difficulties or issues that may effect Nicolas, they not as bad as what has been seen with other T18 babies. Dr. Calvin was very supportive of our decision to continue with the pregnancy and to give Nicolas every chance he deserves.
As the pregnancy progresses things will change, but I am confident that we are getting the support for myself and for Nicolas. We have the start of a plan which for now is to proceed as if things are normal. For me that is a great relief because I can concentrate on other things for the time being rather than squeezing in doctor appointments in on a weekly basis. I will be checked in 4 weeks and we will have another level II ultrasound in about 6 weeks to check Nicolas' growth. Nicolas, without doubt, will be small. We know that. We just want to make sure that I can continue to grow him and bring him as close to term as possible. Currently he weighs 15 oz. I was happy because he has almost doubled in size since the previous ultrasound in September.
We will continue to say our prayers and be very thankful for what God has given us. Nicolas is truly a gift. Even in utero he continues to let his presence be known. He gave the ultrasound tech a run for her money because he couldn't sit still. Hmmmmm who does that sound like....maybe some older sisters....He sometimes rolls around rampant at night or gives me some gentle nudging in the morning to get me going. I am hopeful we will get a 3D/4D ultrasound soon so others can experience what an incredible baby he is.
Even though we don't have any appointments until mid-November, I will continue to post other types of updates. We are organizing a prayer shower for November 14th at the church and will be getting invites together very soon.
We are thankful for all of the continued thoughts and prayers for our family.
With much love ~Natalie
At my Wednesday OB appointment, I had a great discussion with my OB about my health and care of the pregnancy. She is fully supportive of me as her patient and feels that the pregnancy is going well and the baby (Nicolas) is also doing well. His heart rate was a steady 138. My blood pressure is excellent and all other signs point to a healthy pregnancy. All very good things for both me and Nicolas.
Yesterday, Bryan and I had the cardiac consultation with the MN Perinatal Physicians and Dr. Sutton. The ultrasound tech started off by looking in general at Nicolas. He has definitely grown since the last time we saw him on the screen. She also didn't find anything new that we were not aware of. We have images of his little feet and were able to see both hands. One was clenched in a typical T18 manner, but the other was not. The cysts on the brain still exist, but everyone has assured us that they are very normal for any baby.
Dr. Sutton greeted us and started to review Nicolas' heart. They were concentrating on his VSD (Ventricular septal defect). A VSD is one or more holes in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of the heart. Ventricular septal defect is one of the most common congenital (present from birth) heart defects. It may occur by itself or with other congenital diseases. With Trsiomy 18 (T18) babies, this is quite common. Dr. Sutton examined the VSD and found that the hole is relatively small on the scale of things and should not cause any complications for Nicolas. He said it would not likely require surgery, but we will only know definitely when he is born and can be examined further. The size was estimated to be somewhere around 2-3mm. If 0 is the smallest and they can see the defects much larger (7-8mm), I feel pretty good about things. Dr. Sutton said that most of the issues we may face will be around respiratory or breathing issues and possible need for intervention at birth. He indicated we will still have many tough decisions to make as parents. Bryan and I were introduced to a perinatologist, Dr. Calvin. He also warmly welcomed us and helped clarify some of the findings. Again, we felt he brought good news indicating that on the scale of difficulties or issues that may effect Nicolas, they not as bad as what has been seen with other T18 babies. Dr. Calvin was very supportive of our decision to continue with the pregnancy and to give Nicolas every chance he deserves.
As the pregnancy progresses things will change, but I am confident that we are getting the support for myself and for Nicolas. We have the start of a plan which for now is to proceed as if things are normal. For me that is a great relief because I can concentrate on other things for the time being rather than squeezing in doctor appointments in on a weekly basis. I will be checked in 4 weeks and we will have another level II ultrasound in about 6 weeks to check Nicolas' growth. Nicolas, without doubt, will be small. We know that. We just want to make sure that I can continue to grow him and bring him as close to term as possible. Currently he weighs 15 oz. I was happy because he has almost doubled in size since the previous ultrasound in September.
We will continue to say our prayers and be very thankful for what God has given us. Nicolas is truly a gift. Even in utero he continues to let his presence be known. He gave the ultrasound tech a run for her money because he couldn't sit still. Hmmmmm who does that sound like....maybe some older sisters....He sometimes rolls around rampant at night or gives me some gentle nudging in the morning to get me going. I am hopeful we will get a 3D/4D ultrasound soon so others can experience what an incredible baby he is.
Even though we don't have any appointments until mid-November, I will continue to post other types of updates. We are organizing a prayer shower for November 14th at the church and will be getting invites together very soon.
We are thankful for all of the continued thoughts and prayers for our family.
With much love ~Natalie
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Strength
On Friday I went to Crossfit TC to try and accomplish my workout for the day. Needless to say I was not all that motivated at first because the WOD (work of the day) was heavy lifting. Not exactly something a pregnant woman should be doing. After a nice warm up on the rower, we proceeded to get ready to do some pull ups. I hung up my two bands (one purple, one black) from the pull-up bars. The goal was to do the maximum reps of pull ups each round for a total of 7 rounds. The first round I knocked out 8, then went down to a good solid 6 until the final two rounds where I managed 5 and finally 4 pull ups.
We then moved on to the heavy lifting. It was push press day. I couldn't remember my non-pregnant max push press weight. So the CrossfitTC ladies proceeded to work on finding out max weight. I stopped at 95 pounds. Coach Robbe felt that was good enough. We then worked our way down the weights while increasing the number of repetitions by 1. I started at 95 and went down to 65 pounds for 5 times at the end. Not bad. Oh, funny comment of the day came from Leslie as she so nicely observed that the two pregnant ladies (myself and Ms. Bishop) were the ones who could not only lift the most, but also were the individuals who were pulling the weight plates on and off the bar.
I surprised myself on Friday. I know earlier in my pregnancy I deadlifted 205lbs, but I would have never guess that at 22 + weeks I am still strong and able to lift the weights.
I can thank the CrossfitTC coaches for continuing to work me hard and for keeping me in great shape during my pregnancy.
We then moved on to the heavy lifting. It was push press day. I couldn't remember my non-pregnant max push press weight. So the CrossfitTC ladies proceeded to work on finding out max weight. I stopped at 95 pounds. Coach Robbe felt that was good enough. We then worked our way down the weights while increasing the number of repetitions by 1. I started at 95 and went down to 65 pounds for 5 times at the end. Not bad. Oh, funny comment of the day came from Leslie as she so nicely observed that the two pregnant ladies (myself and Ms. Bishop) were the ones who could not only lift the most, but also were the individuals who were pulling the weight plates on and off the bar.
I surprised myself on Friday. I know earlier in my pregnancy I deadlifted 205lbs, but I would have never guess that at 22 + weeks I am still strong and able to lift the weights.
I can thank the CrossfitTC coaches for continuing to work me hard and for keeping me in great shape during my pregnancy.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's the little things
Last night I had another craniosacral therapy session with my chiropractor. I have done a few of these in the past, but not while pregnant. What amazed me about the session was how the energy in your body truly can be felt and moved. Not only did I receive the benefit of the therapy, but so did Nicolas. During my session I found he was extremely responsive to the energy and would actually follow it in my body. As the energy went up my abdomen, he to move upwards. My hand would hover a few inches above my belly and Nicolas would be right underneath it. I think I should note that Nicolas tends to hang out very low and usually on the left side. Yesterday was the first time I felt him travel to other places within his comfy home. I have been told that craniosacral therapy is very good for babies and children with Trisomy 18 so I am hopeful that Nicolas will reap the benefits in utero. He is very much a part of our family and makes his presence known to us every day.
As a family we are starting to read children's books to him. Now that the Noelle & Jena are older they are able to read some of their favorite books like The Napping House, Are you my mother?, and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. Nicolas seemed to like the chatter, and I enjoyed re-reading them to my kids as well.
I also had several great conversations yesterday about the care for both me and Nicolas. More on that later.
As a family we are starting to read children's books to him. Now that the Noelle & Jena are older they are able to read some of their favorite books like The Napping House, Are you my mother?, and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb. Nicolas seemed to like the chatter, and I enjoyed re-reading them to my kids as well.
I also had several great conversations yesterday about the care for both me and Nicolas. More on that later.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Waiting
I am still waiting to get things sorted out. Last Friday I received the official phone call letting us know that Nicolas has the full Trisomy 18 with the distinct chromosome. On the happier side of things, it means that Bryan and I did not pass this on to him nor did I possibly pass it on to Noelle and Jena.
I have requested a cardiac consultation with a doctor with The Children's Heart Clinic which is associated with the Minneapolis Children's Hospital. We have been told that we need to get a better understanding of Nicolas' heart issues.
Lots of waiting....
I have requested a cardiac consultation with a doctor with The Children's Heart Clinic which is associated with the Minneapolis Children's Hospital. We have been told that we need to get a better understanding of Nicolas' heart issues.
Lots of waiting....
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