This coming week

Miss Rebekah has a busy week this week.  She will be taking Mommy and Daddy to Charleston to meet some new Doctor's.  She will be meeting with the Cardiologist and Neo-natal Doctors at MUSC.  She will be taking a tour of the hospital and checking out the accommodations for her delivery and surgery there.  She should come home with a date to plan for her arrival.  Maybe if there is time she may even get Daddy to take Mommy for a walk on the beach.  She plans to have lots to tell everyone when she comes home.  Rebekah is hoping Mommy will behave herself while we are at the hospital.  Mommy's are so unpredictable........

Love to you all,

Bekah  

Schedule update

We found out yesterday that we have will be going to Charleston on May 7th to meet with the cardiology group and the neonatal doctors. We will have several meetings and get a tour of the hospital. Hopefully we will be able to line up whatever arrangements we need to make while we are there to prepare for delivery. They also tell us we should have Nancy's induction date set while we are there. That would be great so we can make more definite plans for July. Thanks for praying. 

D

Doctor Update

We had a "first" happen today on our way to our doctor's appointment - the doctor's office actually called my cell phone at 1:15 to ask if we were still coming to our 1:30 appointment!! Apparently the cardiologist was ahead of schedule and wanted to know if we would be keeping the appointment so that he could make adjustments to his schedule if necessary. It sure was nice to have the doctor waiting on us for a change! :)

Well, for starters, Miss Rebekah is growing right on target! We are so very thankful for that!! She is now 2 pounds, and all of her growth (except for abdomen) was measuring 2 days ahead of my due date. Her abdomen is a little smaller (by about 5 days) but right now that is still within the normal range.  Smaller abdominal growth can be indicative of other problems, but for now Dr. Greig is just going to watch her growth to see if it remains normal.

And, here's another first for me, my fluid level was actually on the high side!! The normal range is 8-25, and mine was 23! I don't think I have ever measured more than 20 (and usually hang out in the 10-15 range) with any pregnancy, so we were really surprised! Especially considering that when my OB measured my uterus two weeks ago, I actually measured 2 weeks smaller than I should have. Oh, well, it is certainly not the baby measuring small!! :)

Now, on to the heart issues. We met with Dr. Lucas again today, and while he won't give us 100% confirmation of Rebekah's diagnosis before birth, he said he was "90+% sure that Rebekah has Truncus" based on several different views of the heart. At this time, Dr. Lucas did not see any other defects or problems with Rebekah's heart, for which we were very thankful! He did tell us, however, that many babies with Truncus have issues with their "trunk", which is the large conduit that she has leading from her heart to the lungs and body. One possible issue is that the trunk is restricted and not allowing an adequate supply of blood to the lungs and body. The more common problem is that the trunk "leaks" and lets blood flow back into the heart which causes the heart to work harder to pump an adequate supply of blood to the body. Both would require correction during her surgery and possibly maintenance medication as needed. We will not know if Rebekah has either of these problems until after she is born because they are undetectable via ultrasound.

After today's visit, Dr. Lucas will be referring us to Charleston to meet with the doctors there. We could be scheduled in as little as two weeks, or it may be up to eight weeks before they schedule us to come. He said it really depends on the number of referrals that they receive at any given time. I will go back to see my regular OB doctor on April 23 and will see Dr. Greig again for another growth check on May 6. 

We were able to catch this cute video of Rebekah opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue. She waves her hand around a little in there, also! :)

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement! 

Nancy

Wow!

It is almost unbelievable to me the impact that one little girl has had in our lives before she is even born!! We have heard from friends and strangers alike from almost every part of the country so far, and at least one from outside the U.S. Feel free to leave a comment and let us know where you are! :)

God has also been leading us and providing some direction and answers for some of the very specific prayer requests that we have listed. I haven't posted "answers" yet because there are still some variables, but I wanted to at least give a little bit of an update.  Drew has an interview scheduled for this Thursday at 9:30, and we are praying for very clear direction as far as his job situation. Some of you may not know this, but Drew has not had a permanent, steady job since April of last year. Due to the lack of steady work and our own financial insecurity, our pregnancy was not at all planned. But God knew, and we know that He has a plan for our lives. Please join us in praying about the interview and that we will be sure of what the Lord's will is in this situation.

Also, we have found a little more information about the Ronald McDonald House (RMH). They provide housing that would accommodate our entire family (Drew and I and the boys) if we wanted to have them with us for a weekend or a few days, so that is a huge relief to know that we would have a place for them when we are able to bring them down. Also, the RMH is just a block and a half from the entrance of the Children's Hospital. As it looks right now, if we are able to stay at the RMH, we would not have a transportation problem, and we would not need to have an additional vehicle in Charleston. That would be a definite answer to prayer as an additional vehicle would be more costly than the two we already have (obviously!). We will know more about availability and have more specific questions answered when we go to Charleston for our meeting with the doctors there in May, but we were very encouraged to see some possible answers to prayer regarding our housing and vehicle situation in Charleston.

I received a couple of email updates today from Angie, Andrew's mom. Andrew was scheduled to be released from the hospital today, but developed some complications in the night. Thankfully, they were still at the hospital and not already at home. The doctors had to place another chest tube in a procedure this afternoon to drain fluid from his chest. The last I have heard from Angie is that Andrew should be resting more comfortably once the fluid drains off, and the doctors will watch him carefully through the night. Please continue to pray for Andrew, Angie and the rest of their family! If there is one thing that I have really learned from talking (blogging, emailing) with moms of other Truncus babies is to expect the unexpected!

We will be meeting with Rebekah's cardiologist tomorrow afternoon, and we are praying for a good report - good growth, normal amniotic fluid levels, and no further heart defects or complications. We will be sure to update tomorrow evening with the latest news and maybe some new pictures!! :)

Nancy

Andrew's Surgery Update

I received an update from Andrew's mom, Angie, a little while ago, and Andrew made it safely through surgery (his first surgery to replace his outgrown conduit) with no complications! This is a huge blessing, and his family is very grateful right now. Please continue to pray that he recovers quickly and is able to be home soon! This is the same surgery that Rebekah will need when she outgrows her conduit, so it's encouraging to us to hear of a great outcome for Andrew! 

Please continue to be in prayer for our next meeting with the cardiologist on April 14. As Rebekah grows, it will be possible for the doctors to see more of her heart and be able to tell whether or not there are any other visible defects. Obviously, we hope that there are no other defects, but if there are, it would be nice to know about them so we don't have any major surprises at her delivery!

And we received a nice blessing today. Some sweet friends of ours sent a card in the mail with some money to be used towards our expenses with Rebekah. We are so thankful for all of our friends who have supported us in prayer and other ways!! God bless!

Nancy