Halloween party

Tim and I were invited to a party at the home of a fellow member of the Kansas City Airport Rotary Club on Friday, October 24. I debated dressing up as Violet Beauregarde, the original girl from Willie Wonka who blew up into a giant blueberry after chewing gum at the Chocolate Factory. I had the perfect blue outfit and they were selling blue facepaint at our local Halloween store. But in the end, Tim and I decided to go dressed as the two main characters from the independent film, "Juno", that was released in 2007.

You will want to click on this to enlarge it:

We actually saw that movie while in our hotel room in Denver while I was on two day's bedrest after having little baby transferred inside! Tim enjoyed the irony of us dressing up as two high schoolers facing an accidental pregnancy.

So at the party, only a few people figured out the costumes. The cutest was the home owner's soon-to-be daughter-in-law who was afraid to come right out and ask if I was Juno. But when she asked what we were, she immediately said, "Oh I knew it. When we were leaving the house to pick up the pizza and you two walked by, I said, do you think that is Juno and Bleeker?" Others wondered if it was a real baby or a pillow.

The most infamous comment I got was, "Don't feel bad. I didn't wear a costume tonight either." Keep in mind this was a party at a nice home and everyone was either dressed in costume or dressed up. Did this complete stranger REALLY think I dressed so sloppily??! I had to laugh. I did carry a copy of the movie poster with me, taped inside my hoodie, to show the clueless.

The only bad part of the evening was the quantity of food that I ate: two Mexican "egg rolls", two shrimp cocktail, two mini crab cakes, handfuls of chips and Doritos and Cheetos, TONS of spinach dip with brown bread (then with my pizza crust), two slices of bacon pizza (mmmm), one slice of spicy chicken and garlic pizza, a slice of delicious pumpkin cake with cream cheese drizzle frosting, and a brownie. I drank Sprite all night. I paid the price for the debauchery by waking up at midnight with terrible heartburn. Three Rolaids later, I was surfing the net for homeopathic remedies. In the end, an apple eaten at midday finally quelled the pain!

Baby has hair and other great updates

I have a lot to update on, but I thought I should at least post the news from today's visit to the OB's office. I go twice a week now to the office to do something called "NST" which is nonstress testing. They hook my belly up to two monitors: one for baby's heart rate and one for my uterus activity (baby's movement, contractions, etc.). They want to see the heart rate rise by ten beats per minute (BPM) at least twice in twenty minutes. This indicates that as baby moves around and needs more oxygen to support the movement, that the placenta produces more oxygen in the blood flow to baby. Thus the placenta is healthy and continues to support baby. They do the NST for all women over the age of 35 in this office, starting about week 34. I go in on Mondays and Thursdays for this testing.

Baby has been passing the NSTs without trouble. Heartbeat has averaged 145 or 150 BPM. Today, baby was so active, they had to move the heart rate monitor to find a better spot to measure it from! Baby's heart rate did drop once to 120 BPM today and when I asked if that was of concern, the nurse told me that baby had probably hit the umbillical cord.

On Thursdays, they add a second test, this one is a small ultrasound scan used to measure the pockets of amniotic fluid that surrounds baby. They can't count pockets that have baby parts in them, like the cord or a foot. So the first week, the fluid level was 9.8, but there was one pocket with the cord in it. They look for levels between 5 and 20. The second week, fluid level was 16. Today, they measured it at 14.6. Having a nice amount of fluid makes it easier for baby to move around.

After this test, I was brought in for our Week 36 growth ultrasound. A student nurse was at the controls in the beginning, and she was supposed to be measuring things like the length of the forearm. She focused in on the heart and said, "And there is baby's heart with all four quadrants showing." I smiled and said, "I tend to think of it as a two chamber heart." But I'm sure she didn't know what I meant. (Later when I laughingly mentioned it to the doctor, she agreed that the student had probably no idea why the heart appeared a little different from the ones she is used to seeing.) She showed me baby's full bladder and the bean shaped kidney. After a few minutes, she left and the regular nurse technician took over. She finished up the measuring, and did some scanning. She was videotaping this on our tape, too. As she was scanning, she pointed out an area on the back of baby's head and announced, "Your baby has a little patch of hair here, just above the neck." She told me to avert my eyes at another point, then too late realized she had videotaped baby's gender! She had to stop and rewind the tape until all was clear. Pretty funny. Baby is still head down, with the back running up along the right side, butt near the top, feet sticking out the left side.

So baby is 6 pounds 11 ounces! (Weights can be up to a pound off in either direction.) This places baby smack in the middle (50th) percentile. Not too big, not too small. What an awesome, healthy size! Baby will now continue to grow one ounce a day until birth. In other terms of measuring, baby measures at 37 weeks 2 days, with an estimated delivery date of 18 November.

I asked the tech if the office had one of those 3D u/s machines and she said yes, but that they did not use it very often. She thought about it then added, "But your baby is in the right position, so we can probably get a good scan." She finished up with the ultrasound, wiped the goo off my belly, then brought me into another room. She got me situated again and this time we got to see three dimensional views of baby's head. It was so amazing. I have never liked 3D scans of babies since I think they look pretty scary, so wasn't really interested in getting one done. I had hoped to do one near the end of this pregnancy just to see if we could pick up some signs of a chromosomal disorder like a cleft palate. The tech said they rarely show, though. But she did mention that with downs babies, they do tend to see the longer tongues sticking out. She took about ten pictures. Here is the last one she took, the only one in "color": You can see baby's hand covering up the right side of his or her face. Baby's eyes are closed and lips were a bit pouty. I thought the baby resembled my father-in-law, Tom!

The doctor came in to do a quick scan of her own. She said there was no fluid collecting around the lungs or heart, so no signs of heart disease. She said everything looked very good. She said baby was adorable. They say that to all the moms, don't they?!

Lastly, I headed off to my prenatal appointment. My blood pressure was 103/64, nice and low. I've gained 3/4 pound in past two weeks. I had a small amount of protein in my urine, but still in the normal range, so nothing that concerns them. But they will keep an eye on it, as elevated levels can be a sign of preeclampsia (hypertension). I also had to do a Group B strep test (with a swab) to see if I am one of 30% of women who carry this bacteria on the skin. If I am, then I will require two rounds of antibiotics via IV when I go into labor to protect baby during birth. The nurse practitioner (NP) checked me for swelling and said I have very little. Overall, I am still having a very healthy pregnancy and doing well. I will start having weekly prenatal appointments now.

I asked what their policy was for induction, since in my first trimester one of the OBs had said to me that they do not let women over the age of 40 go past their due dates. The NP made me very happy by telling me that they prefer their healthy mothers-to-be to go into labor naturally, even allowing them to go seven to ten days past their due dates. By trying to do an induction when the mother and baby haven't shown any signs of labor, they are increasing the woman's risk of having a c-section, she admitted. So they will continue to monitor the placenta twice a week (with those NSTs) and my overall health.

I was at the office for two hours. But I just loved the things I learned today! What a great day!

Belly shots collage

This is a collage of the belly shots Tim has been taking of me since I was four weeks pregnant. We only missed one week when he was traveling, week 19. These go all the way to last week, when I was finally 32 weeks pregnant. Be sure to click on the collage to enlarge it.

Christening gown

When I returned from Martha's Vineyard this summer, I brought with me the family Christening gown that Mom and Dad bought in Lisbon, Portugal in May 1980. This gown (click image to enlarge) is almost thirty years old! It was still in its original box, yellowed, with some stains on the front. So I sent it to the dry cleaners a few weeks ago, and they were able to make it look very white and clean again, along with the bonnet.

Also inside the box were two pairs of booties and a list of the babies who have worn the gown. They were (all cousins or siblings):

1. Justin Alexander Power - 9 Nov 1980
   
2. Brandon Thomas Power - 12 Jun 1983
   
3. Brian Michael McGrath - 28 Oct 1984
   
4. Sean Douglas Brown - 19 Aug 1990
   
5. Colin Leo Power - 13 Oct 1991
   

Due to the uncertain nature of events that will occur, we are tossing around the idea of having the baby baptized right away in the hospital after birth, followed by a more formal Baptism a few months later at our church. That might be a good time for some family to visit.

Hospital tours and consults

On Friday, September 5, Tim and I drove to Children's Mercy Hospital in downtown Kansas City. It was about a 20 minute drive. We had a consultation set up with the first of the two pediatric cardiovascular surgeons, Gary Lofland, MD, section chief, at 9:30 a.m. The meeting was held in an exam room! I guess they don't have conference rooms like they have at the private clinic.

Dr. Lofland appeared, along with one of the nurse practitioners from surgery. He had the notes from Dr. Rajan in his hand, and went over with us again the diagnosis, the plan, and the prognosis. He told us that the surgical team meets once a week on Friday mornings to go over the patient cases and discuss schedules, staffing, etc. He assured me that if the baby came in afterwards, that we wouldn't have to wait a whole week before they would talk about the baby's case! If the baby comes in during regular business hours, they will schedule the echo as a matter of routine, and someone on staff would be assigned. If the baby came in during the night, they would probably wait until the morning to have the echo done, unless something was just not going right.

He said that the first shunt surgery was pretty noninvasive, compared to the Norwood Procedure which requires open heart surgery. I asked about time frames, and he said pretty cavalierly that the baby would probably be home within ten days. Baby would only need to stay in the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) for a short while, until stabilized after surgery. He said they do these surgeries a lot, that as long as baby is on the prostaglandins (from the IV), that they consider the surgery elective. The shunt surgery will only take an hour. We asked about donating blood for the surgery, and he said with the short time frame involved, that this is not a good option for now. He said perhaps in the future, when there is time to have the blood processed, we could consider it.

We asked about storing the baby's cord blood in case in the future it could be used to help baby. His response was an emphatic yes. Although so far the future situations are unknown, and what medical science can do, he felt that it was a good thing to have in case they can do something useful with it. (Cord blood storage is very expensive.)

Another thing he mentioned was the time frame for the third surgery. They want the child to weigh 30 pounds for the Fontan Procedure. So that is why it could occur between 3 and 4 years.

We then met with Barb, a clinical nurse specialist. She brought us up to the NICU (neonatal ICU) for a tour. The patients are in "pods" rather than rooms. But each pod has a curtain that goes around it, with a couple of chairs in addition to the bassinets and medical equipment. We saw a few parents holding their babies, tightly swaddled. But we saw many more babies alone in their pods. Some were tiny, some bassinets were covered by a blanket, there even appeared to be some type of surgery going on in one pod. It made me a little teary-eyed to see all these poor little babies. But the area was quiet, new looking, and orderly. Barb showed us some parent waiting areas where we can stretch out and eat, the breast pumping room, an area with showers. She briefly showed us where the nurses' office was, it was so cramped! But the women we met were very friendly. Barb told me that I will be given three free meal coupons each day for the hospital cafeteria so that I can be sure to get proper nutrition while breastfeeding. They will loan me a hospital-grade pump which I can even bring home with me.

Barb also told us that there is a Ronald McDonald room for families with children in the NICU. She said volunteers bring in a hot supper about four nights a week that we can partake in.

Barb then had us meet with a neonatologist. This is a pediatrician who specializes in premature babies and newborn infants. They work for several weeks "in rotation" at the hospital in addition to their own private pediatric care practices. The doctor we met was happy to answer any questions we had, and talked a bit about how they handle the incoming babies before surgery. She was with us for half an hour. We were pretty impressed.

Then we met with a social worker who is on staff at Children's Mercy. She gave us a "care package" from the Congenital Heart Defects Families Association. (We opened it up on the way home and it had a homemade blanket, stuffed animal, crayons, toiletries, etc. It is probably usually given to parents who are checking in with their CHD babies.) She told us about the resources available to us, and how she will assist us with getting support. She was very nice.

After our meetings, Barb brought us down to the PICU. They have fewer rooms in the PICU. She was able to show us one room where they had a baby in a bassinet attended by a nurse. In the PICU, the ratio of nurses to patients is one to one. They remain in the room at all times. There is space for two visitors to be with the baby, no more than two are allowed, and one has to always be one of the parents. (I forget if the NICU allows two or three.)

Barb then brought us up one of the towers to try to show us a typical private room. This is where baby goes after being discharged from the PICU. Earlier in the meeting, Barb sort of laughed when I told her how the surgeon had thought we would be discharged from the hospital after ten days. She said that was really wishful thinking. In most cases, baby requires some time to learn to get proper nutrition. This is usually two to three weeks following surgery. The social worker told us that was pretty standard for 90% of the patients. She said 5% recover amazingly well, and require very little time in the PICU and go home right away, the other 5% have complications which require much longer stays (or worse, presumably).

The private rooms look much more comfortable. There is a twin bed sized window seat/bed, chairs, and the baby's bassinet and equipment. The rooms, I think she said, come with refrigerators. She said they try to move the patients who will be there for more than a week to the further ends of the hallways (where it is quieter), but it all depends on availability.

As we left, Tim and I agreed that the hospital was really nicely put together. The entry is very cheerful and colorful, there seems to be plenty of places to eat, there is a busy gift shop, and parking was not bad. It is also very secure; each person entering has to show a photo ID and sign in at a single guard's entrance. We never had to wait, but we were told sometimes the line is half an hour long! One thing that made Tim pretty sad were the memory quilts they had on the walls. These feature squares made by family members that showed a child who has passed away.

Two weeks later, we met with the second surgeon, James O'Brien, MD, Assistant Professor of Surgery. (Barb had told us in the previous meeting, "I love Dr. O'Brien!") This was a quick visit. We have explained to everyone that we wanted to meet with both surgeons because we just don't know who will get assigned to do the surgery, if baby ends up coming during the holiday week (Thanksgiving), and one is on vacation. Neither surgeon thought it was odd, but I think at first Dr. O'Brien wondered if he'd just be repeating everything Dr. Lofland said. Although he did to some extent, he also showed us something new and told us a few things we hadn't heard. It was a worthwhile visit. The thing that seemed new was that he showed us a picture of a left ventricle which he said was barely formed, so very small. He also said that they still didn't know how well formed the veins and arteries leading to and from the heart were in the baby. The better off they were, the stronger baby's heart would be able to operate.

The following Wednesday, the 24th, we returned to my OB's office for the second fetal echo cardiogram. Dr. Rajan again used the ultrasound to examine the baby's heart. While we were in the waiting room, it was pretty funny, baby did not stop moving! There were even hiccups! But when we got into the scanning room, baby laid perfectly still for the most part, chest up, a great position for Dr. Rajan to examine the heart, arteries, and veins. Afterwards, he met with us in the conference room and told us that the diagnosis has not changed. All the structures are the same as what they observed before. He did note, as Tim was also able to observe, that the blood flow in and out of the heart was very strong. So baby has good veins and arteries, and that is good news.

Dr. Rajan noted that we had seen both of his surgeons, and wondered if we had a preference. I actually have none, I thought they both seemed pretty similar. Tim, however, thought Dr. O'Brien was more outgoing. Dr. Rajan said that if we had no preference then they will just simply schedule the surgery with whoever is working that day. (Or something like that.)

After the conference was over, the hospital coordinator (who is due three weeks before me!) brought us on a tour of the St. Luke's NICU. She also showed us the Labor & Delivery ward, so we got to see one of the smaller rooms which was empty. All rooms are private. Things were more dated than the children's hospital, but she said the interior rooms were much larger and comfortable. They fill those up first. Most women labor and give birth in their rooms. But due to our special situation, I will only labor in the comfortable room, then be transferred to an operating room (for vaginal births) where they have room for a lot more people and equipment. That was disappointing, but not unexpected. The labor rooms have private bathrooms, CD/VCR/DVD players, birthing balls, and couches. There are waiting rooms and even a little snack area for expectant fathers where they can go and get (for free) mini deli sandwiches, drinks, and snacks. I actually had a Nutrigrain bar from one of the mothers' snack carts since I was very hungry at the time. We still have to go back for a formal tour of L&D, and do all the pre-admitting paperwork. But it sure was nice to get a glimpse of where baby is going to arrive!

The NICU looked very much like the PICU at Children's, with glass walled rooms and curtains. There are two bassinets per room. She showed us the ventilator that baby will probably be put on. (They call it "aspirating.") The transport group from Children's will stay with the baby in the NICU until baby is stable on their own equipment, then wheel baby out. If I haven't seen baby yet, they will bring baby to my labor room where I will be recovering. It was suggested a few weeks earlier that Tim could stay with me for the first hour after baby leaves since they will need that time to prepare for baby's arrival in the NICU at Children's.

I had meant to write about all this as it took place, but I got lazy! I am hoping I remember most of what we were told, although I know we've probably forgotten plenty.

We bought the furniture!

We finally found our nursery furniture. We have a membership at Direct Buy, so we headed there today to see if we could finally pick out a crib, armoire, and dresser. We brought our copy of "Baby Bargains" - a book that reviews all sort of items you might purchase when you have a baby, from cribs to diapers. It is an excellent book, and they wrote it to help you save money, giving tips on what is a waste of money, what is a good deal for a case of diapers, etc.

At the showroom, we went through all the various manufacturers' catalogs, looking to see how they were rated by Baby Bargains (BB), before pulling them off the shelf to browse. We've had a hard time finding a nursery set with white furniture, and in fact, some of the ones we saw in the catalogs looked great until we saw that their finishes were limited.

After looking at a few books, we finally decided on Capretti Home's Veneto collection. BB gave this manufacturer a straight A for its quality touches and customer service. The furniture is made from solid poplar construction, has dove-tail joints, and really nice sturdy hinges.

We picked a drop-side crib instead of a convertible crib (those are the kind that have one side higher than the other so you can turn it into a full size bed), partly for classic looks, and partly to take up less wall space in the nursery. Some of the nice features of this crib are its simple, curved lines, a secure drawer underneath, and the toddler bed rail so you can use the crib as a toddler bed. Although these photos show dark wood, we ordered the furniture in "rubbed snowdrift", which is their name for white.

We also picked out the armoire from this collection. I have been wanting an armoire because there is no closet in the nursery, and I want to be able to hang some of baby's clothes from hangers. This armoire includes the removable hanging bar and two adjustable shelves. Note all the rounded edges: nothing sharp to bang a small head against. This picture also shows the five-drawer dresser (which we didn't order) in the snowdrift color. Instead, we ordered something they call a "three-drawer cupboard". They had no picture of it in this style, so we bought it sight-unseen. It should have three drawers on the left side, with a taller attached "cupboard" on the right. The cupboard should include about three shelves. It is usually taller than the dresser portion, so we can put baby lotions, etc. on that part, and a changing pad on the lower dresser part. I've written to Capretti Home and asked them if they can send us a photograph.

Lastly, we placed an order for a Dutailier glider and ottoman. We chose the Comfort Plus nursery series with the "two post" classic style. This glider has a range of motions: it has several positions for the back, it glides, it reclines fully, and it swivels. We also ordered the matching gliding ottoman with a nursing stool that drops down so you can rest your feet in a more natural position for nursing. Both items are made of solid maple construction. We ordered them with the vintage finish (dark wood as shown in the picture) with sage green microfiber cushions.

After we got home from lunch, I compared the prices we spent with ones quoted online and we saved about 50% on the Veneto collection and 25% on the glider. We have to wait until November for the furniture to be delivered, but that should still work out fine. (As much as we want it in and set up already!!)

Thanksgiving outfits

Some days it is hard to resist the call of baby clothes!

I couldn't not buy these two Carter's outfits I found at Kohl's on Sunday. They were on sale, plus I had 30% off. The one on the left says "Baby's 1st Thanksgiving" and the one on the right is "Little [Turkey]". Since the due date has always been Thanksgiving Day, I thought they would be appropriate. (Remember to click on the pic to enlarge it.)

I bought newborn size (on right) and 3 months (on left) - hoping baby will fit into at least one of them! I plan to bring them to the Children's hospital and get at least one pic wearing an outfit!

So this brings a total of five purchases of clothing I have made! First one was a "baby's first Christmas" set I got on super clearance at Marshall's last January, before baby was a gleam in our eye. Then I got a cute little onesie at a genealogy fair in May. In July, at a going-out-of-business baby shop, I picked up that adorable Sweet Pea coat and hat, and a little suit, and in August I got several outfits for a few dollars at a garage sale. Good thing I do not know the gender!!!