THURSDAY Dec 3 2009

Jo, Kristi and Alivia are home! They were so excited to be home. Both grandmothers were there as well as the new aunt and uncle and cousins. The kids were very happy to have them home since they had not been allowed at the hospital to see them. We had dinner with them and left them to have their first night at home as a new family.

We love you!


Here a few pics of them at home:

David Katie and their new niece Alivia

Mommy and Alivia

Nana Cathy and Alivia

New Auntie Katie...she was so excited to hold baby Alivia

Cousin Emily, Alivia and Auntie Katie looking on

New Grandpa David with Alivia

Uncle David

I asked, "do you like her...just a little?"

He said, "No. I love her."

Katie, David, Kristi and Alivia

More Baby Pics

Mom and Alivia

Alivia in her GT cap

 Daddy changing dirty diapers

Mom...Dad...Alivia...still in recovery room

Mommy and baby Alivia

Prayer for mom, dad and baby...

Dear Lord...please watch over them. Keep Kristi safe from seizures and just give her the wisdom, endurance and strength through these new beginnings. Help Jo to help Kristi and Alivia and give them all rest. Let them all rest in You. Help them all see that they need You.

amen

MONDAY NOVEMBER 30, 2009

ALIVIA IS HERE!

6lbs 9oz
18"

She's a beautiful baby

Kristi and baby are doing good, a little pain from the c-sect but good. They will be in the hospital till Thurs. Alivia has the sweetest little cry, which we heard only because the nurse had to stick her foot last night. She was awake and looking all around for the first couple of hours and then once she went to sleep...that's all she wanted to do. When I left the hosptial at 11pm, she still had not wanted to eat. Hopefully that worked itself out during the night.

Jo is doing good too...he did really well during the delivery. I was surprised given how much he hates needles and blood and such. He was watching everything over the top of the screen and managed to take pictures as Alivia was pulled out and he stayed with her the entire time. There will be lots of pictures when we get all the camera's together. Jenny got some good ones too.

Ok...gotta go for now...got to get some coffee and head back to hospital.

MONDAY Nov 30, 2009

Kristi has been checked by the maternal/fetal specialist this morning. They did an ultrasound on her and there is no cyst on the left side. The one on the right that gave her problems 2 weeks ago has grown another cm...now up to 9cm...that's nearly 4 inches! The baby is NOT in position as was told last night...she is breach at this point but the dr said she can still turn. They did an amnio on Kristi to see if Alivia's lungs were ok. We should know about lunchtime today. If they are properly developed, they may attempt to turn Alivia, induce Kristi or possible have c-sect. Again...we are in wait and see mode. Will post more when we have more news.

UPDATE: From Jo about 11am
The maternal/fetal specialist came back...he's talked to ob/gyn and they are in agreement that with the size of the cyst and potential to rupture, they will not attempt to turn Alivia. There are just too many variables right now and none are good. If they induce and she doesn't turn, you're looking at an emergency c-sect. If they try to turn her, may rupture cysts and have another emergency situation to deal with. If we wait and do nothing, wait for labor to begin on own, no guarantee that she will turn and it could end up being a c-sect. Is it worth it to wait and end up an emergency or should you decide to go for the c-sect so it's not in an emergency environment and there is a little more control on the part of the doc's?

No results yet on the amnio.

Decisions...decisions...


UPDATE #2...12:45
A c-sect is being scheduled. No time set yet.


OH...
Kristi's cousin Keyla had her baby Saturday evening. She's a month early and weighed 4lbs, 10oz and 17 inches long. She's beautiful. Here's a pic.

This is NOT Kristi's baby...it's her cousins new baby!

Congrats Keyla and Cory on your beautiful baby girl.

SUNDAY Nov 29, 2009

37 WEEKS!

Kristi went back to hospital with pain in her left side. Since there was a cyst early in her pregnancy on that side, very small and was determined not to be a problem, it was left alone...removing only the big one from the right ovary. As the day wore on, before going to hospital, the pain was getting worse and had stretched across her entire lower abdomen. Rather than wait for the pain to be at an 8 (on a scale of 1-10) they decided to go ahead and go in and have it checked. They admitted her. They said there were no contractions. They checked her cervix and said it was 50% effaced and that she was 1 cm dialated. They said the baby was head down, they could feel the head. Kristi had not been drinking fluids much during the day and they had problems getting an IV started. Finally after 3 sticks, they got one. She's back on morphine and feeling a little better but she can feel the contractions now. Before me and Cathy left, they were about 3 minutes apart for 20 minutes or so then spread back out. Lights out...Kristi and Alivia are getting rest.

THURSDAY Nov 26, 2009... THANKSGIVING DAY

Kristi and Jo hosted Thanksgiving for their parents, siblings, niece and nephew. Jo cooked the turkey and yes, he did remove the all additional parts that most of us did not on our first turkey...darn it...though he wasn't happy when Cathy (his mom) and I (Kristi's mom) were giggling about the possibility that something was still inside that shouldn't be.

Dinner was great! Jo fixed the turkey and as David says, his "famous macaroni and cheese." I think Jo makes him say it...just kidding Jo. Cathy brought all of their leftovers from their earlier turkey day feast for the family. Since Kristi's on bedrest, Jo thought that they should not be trying to go to several family members and that it would be better to just bring everything to them. It was a wonderful day but I don't think Kristi appreciated that she had to wait until 6pm to eat. That hardly seems fair, especially when you're pregnant. I think Kristi and Jo really enjoyed hosting their parents for their first time. I'd post a picture but we forgot to take any feast pictures.

Kristi behaved for the most part. She stayed off her feet most of the time but Jo thought she was going to laugh herself into labor when us adults were watching Home Alone. You just can't help but feel their pain.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.

WEDNESDAY Nov 25

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all!

So much to be thankful for this year. What started as a pregnancy filled with uncertainty...Kristi and Alivia have made it pretty much full term. I'm not sure when they call it full term officially, but 36 weeks is awesome. Kristi found out that she was pregnant 7 months ago when she went to the emergency room with severe pain in her lower abdomen. The doctor in the ER came in and asked if she wanted Jo to be in there when he gave her the diagnosis. She said of course, he's my husband. The doc said, "you're pregnant" and walked out the door, leaving Jo and Kristi stunned at the news.  At that time, they also had to address the pain diagnosis...an 11-12cm cyst on one side and another smaller one on the opposite side. They decided it was in the best interest of the baby to try to wait as long as possible before removing it. I can't remember how many days later they ended up in the ER and then again after that...when the cyst had to be removed.

Now the cysts have returned, they are bleeding but not ruptured and we're just trying to get to another milestone. They will have to be addressed but everyone agrees that it is better to get closer to that due date. If we can get Alivia here first then go for removing the cysts...that would be the ideal situation.

Alivia has been on many prayer list since and here we are...at 36 weeks...ready for baby Alivia to come into this world. We are so thankful that Kristi has carried Alivia to term, thankful that our newest family member will be here very soon. And we are thankful to God.

MONDAY Nov 23

36 WEEKS...YEA!

Kristi's doing fine since being home. She's been following doc's advice and staying off her feet as much as possible. I was with her all day Monday and she was pretty good. She still has pain but as long as she keeps off her feet the pain is tolerable...not gone...just tolerable.

She had a doctor's appt. today. It was a new doctor who didn't really know anything about her history so that was a little exasperating. Though we all want our doctors to remember us by name and remember all of our ailments, the truth is they see a lot of patients every day and they don't read the charts. After she filled him in on the events of the last week, he left the room (probably to check with her other doctors which had been seeing her in the hospital). He said that she should make all future appt's with one of those doctors.

The doctor told her to keep doing what she was doing as it was apparently working. So stay off your feet! Every day that goes by is a day closer to full term.

Now on a side note...I did have a dream last night that Kristi went into labor...just sayin'.

FRIDAY Nov 20

I spent the day with Kristi and she was feeling pretty good most of the day. She did get up and move about a lot and by the end of the day began feeling the pain a bit more. She agreed to stay off her feet a little more, for a little while longer. She wasn't on her feet  all day...just getting up and down. When I was in the kitchen, she wanted to sit on the stool at the bar and when I was in Alivia's room re-arranging, she wanted to be in there too - so we brought the stool and sat it at the doorway so she could "supervise."

I got Alivia's room re-arranged. Now there's just  a little more organizing and little painting. We need some plastic bins to get everything nice and neat. Alivia's bag is ready now. When Kristi was in the hospital, Cathy and I went and packed what we thought would she would need but we all know that new moms have their own list of things needed. Now Kristi needs to pack herself a bag and they need to get used to grabbing those bags EVERY time they leave the house. No one knows when the time will come and they could be out and about. And since they are attempting to have Alivia's cord blood collected they have a package that must go to the hospital with them. Check out the link for CBR on the right side.

THURSDAY Nov 19

Kristi rested good last night. She's feeling pretty good this morning, only mild pain.

Thank you all for the prayers...keep them coming. The cysts will have to be addressed sooner or later and we just keep praying that Kristi can make it through labor first. Also, her high blood pressure to be stable or rather not high so as not to cause other situations requiring medical attention. He hears our prayers

WEDNESDAY Nov 18 update

Kristi came home tonight. She's in some pain but has rx for pain and sleeping. Cathy (mother in law) went to help her while Jo picked up prescriptions. Jo will stay with her Thursday...just make sure that she's going to be able to make it through her first day home. Me and the kids will stay the night Thurs and help her Fri while Jo is working.

WEDNESDAY Nov 18

Kristi was talking good today. She hasn't had one jerk today...thank you Lord.

Her pain was moderate but she hadn't had anything since last night. The nurse had made her feel guilty, saying, "you know all of this pain medicine goes straight to your baby." Kristi was trying to go without it but that is not good...it will just take longer and more medicine to get it back to a managable level.

After talking to Kristi this morning, it was decided that IF she felt good enough to come home, if even for a day or two, then maybe it would help her cope a little better. You know, you can only take the hospital for so long. She's tired and irritable and hates getting the differing opinions several times a day. They tested protein levels again this morning and they said it wasn't elevated so maybe nothing to be concerned about. They are testing another oral pain med to see if she would be able to tolerate it.

Just talked to Kristi again. She sounds good but is still in pain. They've given her the pain meds and if they work, they'll let her leave around lunch time. We'll just work out arrangements for someone to be with her at all times while she's at home. The kids are ecstatic...they have missed their big sister and have been very upset that they haven't been able to see her.

TUESDAY...Nov 17

Kristi woke up with lots of major jerks. She used to have them occasionally but since being pregnant, her seizure meds aren't as effective. She's only had one seizure during the pregnancy but since the doc found the right medicine at the right dose she's done pretty good. Since being pregnant, she has jerks all of the time.

About 30 minutes after talking to Jo and Kristi, Kristi had a seizure. They said that a fire alarm and that strobe lights had gone off and it was soon after that it happened. She was in some pretty good pain, probably from the strain of the seizure on her muscles.

The maternal/fetal specialist came in and went over charts. He wasn't aware that she had had a seizure. He asked why she was given a medication to stop contractions and said that he'd rather her go ahead and start having them at this point...pointing out that it would be safer for Kristi to have the baby naturally than to go through a c-section.

Later, test results revealed elevated levels of protein meaning that she could be in the beginning stages of pre-enclampsia. Doc said he would not predict what they would do "next week" but would only work with what is going on at that particular time. Him and the nurse also discussed the pain medications and effect on Alivia. They said that it was harder on Alivia to go through withdrawals in-utero than it would be if she went through them after birth. With the amount of meds Kristi has had, they didn't want to take her off of them...she couldn't go without them anyway.

Again, if pain continues and she gets no comfort from meds, they would have to discuss another course of action. For now, they'd go day by day and decide what to do...obviously trying to get through another week or two...every little bit helps.

MONDAY Nov 16

Well...Kristi is still at the hospital.
She's still in pain. She's off the morphine drip but getting pain meds through her IV (shot). She can't go very long without the pain meds and I really don't know how she is going to make it with just an oral medication.

There's a new potential complication...pre-enclampsia. Back in the old days (that'd be my day) it was called toxemia, the technical term for pregnancy related high blood pressure. Her feet and arms are swelling but it hard to say if its that or the IV fluids. They have stopped the fluids as there could be serious consequences if it were to be pre-enclampsia...organ damage, liver burst...nothing good. So they will be testing her and the results won't be ready until Tues afternoon.

She appears to be ok. She gets "tipsy" when she first gets her meds but after some rest and food, she's communicates pretty good. Still don't see her being able to go home with this kind of pain.

IT's ALMOST TIME!

35 Weeks
We've been having some complications so I thought this would be a good place to share what's going on. It's easy to forget who you've talked to and what all has already been said. This way, I can post and my friends and family can check in to see what's been going on. Then if something is forgotten, I can go back and add or update the details.

Written by Kristi's mom...Alivia's Mimi ..Kristi will update and add when she gets home from hospital.

It's almost time for Alivia to get here. Not sure what each day holds at this point. Kristi has been in the hospital since Saturday night. She began having pains in her lower abdomen but they didn't feel like contractions. She said they felt like the pains she had when she had the cysts early in the pregnancy. The cysts should not have come back 1-this quick and 2-during pregnancy. But they did. When she arrived at the hospital they confirmed that she wasn't in labor. An ultrasound showed the cysts, estimated at that time to be only 5 cm (2 in.) and it was not twisted or expected to rupture.

Sunday...still in hospital. Trying to get the pain under control so that Kristi could go home without having to do emergency c-section and remove cyst. She was on morphine and the pain subsided for a couple of hrs. Then it came back with a vengence. They began a continuous drip of morphine and she was finally able to get some comfort. It was expected that later Sunday evening they would try to wean her off the drip and see if she could get comfort from oral pain meds. Nope. Didn't work.