TWO WEEKS!

Yes, in just two short weeks Gavin will be making his grand entrance. I am so stinking excited I can barely type!! ~Thank you to autocorrect for fixing the last two sentences where I had about five or six silly spelling errors haha.~ Anyway, two weeks from this exact moment I will hopefully be snuggling with my little guy or at least sitting next to him holding his little hand.

So today we had an appointment at Jefferson again with the MFM office. We had a non-stress test first, which he passed much before the time requirements. He was being quite the wiggle worm this morning. Then, we had an ultrasound to check the blood flow from Gavin to the placenta, which again looked great. We did find out that today Gavin decided that he wanted to lay in my belly sideways (which is why he's been causing me so many pains the last 24 hours) and that I have a slightly higher level of amniotic fluid than normal. But these two things are really not issues, he looks to be doing very well and that's what matters. 

So after the ultrasound we waited to have my regular 37 week checkup. But we waited seriously FOREVER! They said they would get us in as soon as possible even though there was supposed to be a gap (they needed to put me on the schedule somewhere but they were going to get me in and out as quickly as they could). Well, my ultrasound was done by 9:45am. My scheduled appointment time was 11:30. Well, instead of them getting me in before my scheduled time, we waited almost an extra hour when I finally went back between 12:15-12:30. Ugh the waiting was super frustrating. So they took me back, weighed and measured my belly, and pretty much sent me on my way.

I am so glad that I only have one more appointment with the MFM office at Jefferson before the delivery. No offense to the people, they seem very nice. But I feel like they are so unorganized, especially because I have to drive a minimum 1.5 hours to get to my appointments there. 

So now the countdown begins.. 14 DAYS. I cannot wait until I get to finally meet this little sweetie pie. 

Basket Social for Gavin!

Yesterday was the Basket Social at our local community center for baby Gavin. The woman who put it together for us works with my husband at Sheetz and she did an amazing job! She got many of the local businesses to donate baskets or gift cards, and some local people donated baskets as well. I believe overall there were more than 100 prizes that people could win. 

There was also lots of food that was donated, my mom (who is an amazing person) made hamburger bbq, broccoli cheese soup, and a bunch of desserts. Other people from Fleetwood made food as well, and they even got some companies to donate rolls, chips, and drinks.

I was amazed at how many people helped out with putting together the basket social for our little guy. It is truly amazing to see how many people care about our family; it really is quite heartwarming that so many people came together to help. 

There was also a really great turnout of people! Family and friends as well as people from our community came together to buy tickets and win some great prizes! 


Overall, I am just so thankful to everyone who came to help, donate, and win! It was a great day and I am so happy at how everything turned out! It was quite an amazing day for my little family! 

2nd Appointment at Jefferson Hospital

Yesterday was our second appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine Doctors at Jefferson Hospital. We had an ultrasound first and then we had a regular OB appointment scheduled for the day. After the doctors appointment we were then going to meet with the Neonatal team to go over Gavin's c-section in more depth. 

So ultrasound first: Gavin's arms and legs are measuring a good amount behind where they should be (no surprise there) but the doctors said that his rib cage seems to look good from what they can tell and that they do NOT see large amount of beading! YAY! This was one of our main concerns and it was very relieving to hear. 

Next I had my regular checkup with the doctors. They said that just to be on the safe side they want to do weekly ultrasounds and non-stress tests because he is measuring small (which they know is most likely because he OI but they want to make sure there isn't anything else going on. So then they added an NST onto our list of things to do and we went to meet with the Neonatal team.

We went up to the NICU and met with some of the team that will be caring for Gavin directly after his birth. They went over in more detail how to c-section will take place and when things will happen. Here's more or less how it is going to go: 
-Get there at 7am
-Be prepped and ready by 8:30am
-C-section takes place at 9
-Gavin will be taken out during the c-section and placed directly on his egg crate mattress
-If he is breathing well enough they will let me look at him before they take him to the warming room directly next to the OR
-Jeremy will go with Gavin so that he is not without one of us and my mom will stay in the OR with me as I finish the surgery
-Once they are able to, they will take Gavin up to the NICU ands care for him there
-I will go to the recovery room and then eventually head to the post-delivery floor
-Gavin and Jeremy will stay in the NICU and I will have to wait 6 hours post surgery until I will be able to try to stand and then go see Gavin 
Here's my thoughts on how things will go. I am going to be stressed. Nobody knows how well Gavin is going to do once he is born and I wish so much that I could be by his side after he is born. And I won't be able to really look at him and take in every detail of his face until over 6 hours after he is born. I know that Jeremy will be with him every second and that he will be in good hands which makes me a little happier but I am so sad that I won't be there. I have carried him for the last 9 months and had him with me every second and then when the most uncertain time of his life happens, I won't be there. I just hope that they keep me updated on every single thing that is happening with him. I just don't want to feel like I don't know what's happening with my little guy.

We then took a tour of the NICU, the Labor and Delivery floor, and the Post-Delivery floor. It was nice to see the areas we will be going to and to meet some of the staff of those areas as well.

So next we went for the NST. Gavin was kicking up a storm at the beginning. Then he settled down and they said everything looked good and we were able to leave.

It was a long day.. We left at 7am and didn't get home until 5:45pm. And Ayla was with my mom this week and I missed her like crazy! It was seriously the longest I have ever been away from her and I was so glad to be home with my cuddle bug after our long day at the hospital. We have two more weekly appointments (next Tuesday and the Tuesday after that) and then the third Tuesday from now will be baby Gavin's birthday! 

Of Course...

So now I'm frustrated. When we went to visit DuPont they told us that our daughter would be able to go into the NICU when we were there to see Gavin. My due date never changed so I assumed that would still be the case once he was born. 

So now I'm hearing that because it is flu season they aren't allowing children under 10 (besides patients) in the hospital to visit. And that means that Ayla will probably not be able to see her little brother until he is out of the hospital. And who knows how long that will be. 

She has been so excited to meet Gavin and she talks about him all of the time. She grabs my belly, hugs him, and tells him she loves him. And now instead of only having to wait only a few days after he is born, she might have to wait weeks.  I just think that's completely crazy for me to not let my children even meet each other for such a long period of time. 

And also, what if we are still in the hospital for Christmas?? Am I supposed to split my time between my two kids and not get to see them together on the holiday. I was upset that we may have to spend Christmas in the hospital but I figured that we'd at least all be together. Now I find out that we might not even be allowed to be together for our first Christmas as a family of four? Seriously? Because things aren't stressful enough let's add this to my list. 

I have the fetal coordinator double checking for me, but I doubt anything will allow me to have Ayla in the hospital, even if she has her flu shot. I am on the verge of tears and I just wish that ONE THING would be easy.

My mood today:

C-section is SCHEDULED!!!

We have a birthday for Gavin!! YAY! There's one less thing that we have on our unknown/to do list!

As you can probably assume I am very excited! Now, barring any "Oh my gosh my water just broke!" or "I'm in labor now!" moments, Gavin's birthday will be..... (drumroll please)...

DECEMBER 10th! 

YAY! That's just four days after my birthday, and 27 days from today! Holy cow, I can't wait!! So now begins my 
Super Impatient To Meet My Little Guy Countdown!! 

Stressing Out

Okay, I am having a slight freakout day today. My due date is less than 5 weeks away from today and I feel so unprepared for Gavin's arrival.

We still don't know when he will be born. My husband is planning on taking leave from work for a little bit once Gavin is born and his schedules are made 3 or more weeks in advance. We told the Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors this at our appointment almost two weeks ago and they said they'd get back to us last week with a date so we could plan accordingly. It wouldn't be such a huge deal if Jeremy could just get off of work, but he needs to know in advance and they know this. I don't think it should be so difficult to get an answer from the doctors about a c-section date. 

I have no clue where everyone in our little family will be once Gavin is born. I know that I will be in the hospital obviously, but we don't yet have a plan for my husband and daughter. I have never been away from her for a night let alone more that two hours at a time, and I am really not looking forward to not being with her for multiple nights in a row. We don't know if she will be with Jeremy or if she will be staying with my parents overnight. I don't know if she will be nearby at maybe a hotel (I doubt that will happen) or if she will be at home which is over an hour and a half drive away from me. MAJOR AXIETY OVER HERE. 

I know we probably won't be home for Christmas. I have been thinking about it logically and if I do have my c-section the first weekday after I am 39 weeks it will be December 9th. So that leaves 16 days until Christmas. Unless he does extraordinarily well I doubt we will be home before then. So we will have to have Christmas in the Ronald McDonald House/Hospital. I don't know how we are going to make it work. We will be nowhere near most of our family and not only that, we won't really be able to decorate at all. I don't know how we are going to make it feel like Christmas for Gavin but more for Ayla. She knows what Christmas is and I don't want to take anything away from her. 

I am very much stressing out. I have so many things unknown and I just wish that I had all of the answers. I will just try to relax as best I can. On a positive note, we have been getting things ready at home for Gavin. Almost all of his clothing is washed, his pack and play is set up, we got the baby swing and glider ready, we bought a diaper bag and a hoppy cover, and we got Gavin's carseat and base installed in the car! And I have about 90% of my Christmas shopping done and more than half of it wrapped already!

I guess it's just time to celebrate the little tasks that have been accomplished and hope that everything else will fall into place. Also, here's an absolutely adorable picture of Ayla snuggling with Baby Gavin. One of the things that makes me happiest is my daughter loving Gavin so much before he is even born.

Getting Closer!

HOLY MOLY! Time is really flying by at this point. My "What To Expect" App says I have only about 5 weeks until my due date which means realistically only a little over FOUR WEEKS until Gavin is here. 

At this point I am very excited to see and hold our little man. It has been an incredibly long journey this pregnancy, and I am ready to be reaching the end of being pregnant and entering the beginning of our life with two children. 

At the same time, however, I am finding myself getting incredible nervous the last few days. There is still so much unknown and I hate that I can't just make everything better for Gavin. I know he will be in pain and it kills me that I won't be able to take that pain away. I don't know how well he is going to breathe once he is born. I don't know what the future holds for us and it is so incredibly stressful. 

Well, only a few more weeks and we will finally meet Gavin and we will know some more. But until then I will probably be an excited ball of nervousness. 

Our First Jefferson Appointment

Wednesday was our first appointment with the Maternal Fetal Medicine OBs at Jefferson Hospital. We had scheduled an ultrasound, a consult with one of the doctors, and a fetal echocardiogram with added oxygen.

First we had the ultrasound. They measured all of his bones and body parts and took some 3D images of his ribs/chest. They really didn't tell us anything after the ultrasound which I was a little upset about. They didn't tell us how his ribs looked, which I was really looking forward to hearing about. They said there was beading (breaks) on the ribs but did not tell us if there was a lot or a little. A small amount of beading would be okay, but one of our main concerns is that if there is too many breaks on the ribs he won't be able to breathe once he is born. I am hoping that they can give us more information the next time we go. Then we met Dr. Berghelli, one of the OB doctors. We only got to meet with him for a short period of time but he seemed to be very nice. But again not much new information was given to us.

Lastly, we got our fetal echo with oxygen done. For this test, they measured the baby's heart and lungs and then measured again while I was breathing into an oxygen mask. He explained it like this, "When a baby is born and is blue, we put an oxygen mask on them and if everything is working properly the baby should pink right up. We tested this on babies in the womb and it works the same way." So we got this test done and the doctor said that Gavin's heart and lungs worked exactly how they are supposed to, which is really good to hear. He also said that he didn't see a hole in Gavin's heart but if there is one it has got to be pretty small at this point.

So overall, I wish we had gotten more information than we did, but I am really happy about the news that we did get. Hoping for more good news when we go back in three weeks.