Wednesday Afternoon Update

Short update:

1. I (David) am feeling a little under the weather.  It may be a just exhaustion, hopefully I am not coming down with something.  Earlier I was very nauseous, but after resting the nausea has gone away.  I think I may have eaten too fast a while ago:  I was very hungry but didn’t get around to eating anything until about 10.  When I did eat, I ate a lot and quickly.  My stomach may have been reacting to that.  I am still tired, hopefully with more rest, I won’t get a fever and will be able to see Amy tomorrow.
2. Amy spoke to the Geneticist today.  She believes, based on how Natalie looks and her stomach issues that she has downs.  The test comes back tomorrow at 1:00 pm, so please be in prayer.  She said she expects to find a small defect in Natalie’s heart, as downs children usually do.
3. We are hoping to get a ‘child life specialist’ to come and speak to Zach and Julia about the baby.  We are not certain what to tell them, but we don’t want to tell them anything until we know for sure.  How do you explain downs to a 4 year old?
4. Amy is still not able to have real food.  Hopefully she will soon.

Update on Amy and Natalie

Here is a quick update:

1. Today may be rough for Amy, the second day of recovery is usually a little rough.
2. Walking is difficult right now
3. Baby is very hungry, but is not able to eat until the ‘duodenal atresia’ is fixed.  She is being nourished via IV. However Amy has begun pumping.  She may need to rent a pump.  We have a used one, but are not certain if it will work well.
4. Amy is on a liquid diet, she hopes to have solid food today.
5. Natalie has great lungs, is able to breath and cry well.
6. Amy visited the baby last night.  We have to create a list of people who can visit her, but only 4 people can be on that list.
7. Natalie has lost 3 oz, but that is expected.

We have been getting lots of offers to help, and FB responses etc. THANK YOU, that is encouraging.  However we may not be able to get back to everyone quickly though.  Please feel free to FB friend me if you would like!  (or even twitter).  My info is above.

Natalie Grace Born, in NICU

Amy gave birth to Natalie Grace today around 3:00.  Amy is doing relatively well and is in recovery.  However Natalie had several issues that were indicators of downs syndrome including ‘sandal feet,’ slanted eyes, and weaker muscles.  In addition, Natalie has ‘duodenal atresia’ meaning her stomach is not connected to her small intestines.  They took her to the NICU, where she was being monitored. 

I am rather tired so allow me to summarize what I know:

1. We knew she had an ‘duodenal atresia’ before the C-Section, and knew this could be an indication of downs syndrome. 
2. It is not yet confirmed that she has downs syndrome.  We will know for certain when the blood tests come back in about 48 hours from birth. 
3. The pediatric surgeon Dr. Norton explained duodenal atresia as a separation of the stomach and the small intestine.  He has seen the X-Ray and is planning on performing surgery on Friday.  They expect it may take another week after the surgery before she starts eating. 
4. When asked how long we should expect the baby to be at the Hospital, Dr. Norton said it depends on the patient, but could be 3 weeks.
5. Tomorrow (Wend) she will have an echocardiogram to confirm there are no issues with the heart. 
6. She was 6.6 lbs, 18 inches.
7. In the NICU she has an iv, and is being given sugar water to strengthen her.  She cannot feed until stomach issues are resolved.
8. Amy was not able to eat for a while until she recovered from the C-Section.  I just spoke to her and she is munching on a few gram crackers.  She is very tired, but hopes to see the baby tonight in the NICU
9. Only two people can visit the baby in the NICU at one time, and one of those has to me me or Amy.  Children under 13 (I think) cannot come in the NICU.  Zach and Julia will not be able to see the baby for a while.
10. Natalie has a tube in her mouth to get fluid and air out of her stomach.

Thanks for keeping us in your prayers.  For those who get this on email, I will attempt to keep our blog and twitter up to day.  You can view both at http://davidandamyfamily.blogspot.com/

Amy went in to hospital will have Amniocentesis on Tuesday, may have C-Section

The doctors are planning on performing an Amniocentesis on her tomorrow morning at 9:30 am.  They hope to reduce the amount of embryonic fluid, while determining if the babies lungs are mature enough to be delivered.  If they are, they will likely perform a C-Section around 2:00.  If the not, hopefully she will be comfortable enough to keep the baby for a few more weeks till the scheduled C-Section on the 4th.  She is staying at CMC downtown overnight.  I (David) am at home overnight, and will join her tomorrow morning for the procedure. If God is willing, Natalie may be born tomorrow!

Amy May Have ‘Amniocentesis’ Soon.

Amy has been having a good bit of trouble recently, she is having a little trouble breathing-meaning it seems she is not getting enough air.  She has been getting progressively more tired/less energy over the last few weeks.  She is going to the doctor today for a checkup, and will discuss the possibility of having an ‘ambio centesis’ to reduce the fluid around the baby.  This will hopefully help her to feel much better, but could possibly cause her to go into labor.  It is not certain if/when this will happen, but if it does it will likely happen in the next few days.  This will have to be done in the hospital to be ready if she does go into labor.  If you pray, please pray for her comfort, that we can reduce the fluid without an issue, as well as the health of the baby.  Thanks!

Natalie and Amy Status Summary

We just wanted to take a moment to summarize where Amy is for those that never got a summary. 

Amy is 34 weeks pregnant with our third child (Natalie) and went for a level 2 ultrasound on 12/28 because I have too much amniotic fluid.  The baby’s brain, heart, kidneys looked normal. The ultrasound did show that she has some sort of blockage of the intestines. It could be a structural defect or a genetic defect. They called it a 'soft' marker for Down's Syndrome. When she is born, we will watch to see if she's able to eat anything and, if not, she will need surgery to remove the blockage. As for Amy, the amniotic fluid could continue to build and eventually cause me trouble breathing.  I’m at that point now so, though not on bed rest, I can’t go out much.  They told me yesterday that if I start having chest pain from the fluid pushing on my lungs, they can remove some of the fluid but there is a high risk of breaking the water.  If they remove some of the amniotic fluid, we can have a test done to tell more about Down's syndrome.  The doctor is moving up the C-section to the last week of January but told me yesterday he didn’t think I’d make it that long. 

David’s doctor did tell him he could start driving again on January 30th, but because we aren’t sure how we’d get him home if I had to go to the hospital, he’s started driving to work again. 

Thank you so much for everyone’s prayers and help!!!  We have a lot of people praying for us and offering to help.  We really appreciate it, and plan on taking up those offers.  

Ultrasound of Natalie’s heart looks good.

Amy just got back from a doctor’s appointment where they looked did a sonogram of the baby’s heart.  Every thing looks good as far as they could tell.  The baby was moving a lot, so it was hard to get a detailed view, however the doctor believed there were no issues. 

Amy is still having issues getting around.  The doctor has said she should only go on one errand a day.  Yesterday however a trip down to the mailbox made her tiered.  At times she seems short of breath.  At the moment we are taking this day by day.