Not Quite New Born

Vada is officially ten weeks and three days old. Not quite new born anymore and its showing.

She is sleeping a little less and she is more observant while awake. She follows me with her eyes, and turns to me when she hears my voice.She holds up her neck for longer periods of time, coo's, SMILES, and shows interest in some of her toys. Its all very fun and exiting. This morning around 5am I was talking with her.. well, I was talking she was listening, and she kept giving me the biggest smiles. Id stop talking and she would kind of start to kick her legs. As soon as I started to talk again she would smile at me and stop being antsy. It actually made me tear up. If I have to loose sleep, then this is the way I want to loose it!

Sign Language...?

So, Justin and I had to sit down and have a talk with Vada tonight. It turns out she picked up a sign that was not from the Baby Einstein videos that we've been watching together. We had to explain that this particular sign is not a good choice for her first signing word.

A Day For Mother's

Mother's Day this year was very special this year for so many reasons. Vada was finally here, alive and well, having fully recovered from her Duodenal Atresia surgery. She has officially been home for seven weeks now. Which is kind of sad when you think about it because today is the first time that we have really taken her anywhere, or allowed her to really be around anyone for that matter. Today was her first introduction to our church family. As well as being introduced to the majority of Justin's family as well.

When Vada was discharged from the hospital we were told to keep her home for sometime. She needed time to adjust from the hospital to a new environment. It was the cold and flu season and with her heart issues we wanted to protect her from picking up something as much as we could. We were instructed to keep her away from group settings like preschools and day cares because children tend to carry lots of colds. So we (meaning her and I) went no where. No church, no lunch at the girls schools, no where. It also meant that we limited people from coming over. If you were sick, had been sick or had been around someone who was sick then you were unfortunately not welcome to come over at that time.

So today was big. Today I was able to proudly introduce people to my baby. Finally.



The girls and Justin were with me as well. That may sound like a given, but having Justin home for the holidays isn't always as simple as it sounds. His schedule is a preplanned set schedule. So we can look ahead a couple of years and know if he'll be working on a certain day. (For the most part looking ahead works out fine, unless he switched with someone.) We looked up when he next have my birthday off and its something like in another four years. So having him here today was extra special. The girls are a given because it is Mother's Day, which is my day no matter what day it falls on, but its still special to have them with me



Lately, Justin and the girls have been giving me some great gifts. As my mothers day gift I received a new camera with two new lenses and two beginner classes. I cant tell you ho excited I was to get the it all. I actually got it all early, and had took my first class before Mother's Day. Plus I had messed around with it quite q bit and had taken some pictures I was proud of.



Today I wanted to get some family pictures so after church and before meeting up with Justin's family we went to Black Hawk State Park. It's a pretty place. A nice spot to get some good pictures. Today the gnats were crazy though.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to pictures of me, so unfortunately there really wasn't any that were of all of us that I liked. I took some great ones of the girls and of Justin and the girls. But nothing of the who family. Justin however got two, basically of the same pose, but two none the less that I really like. However they were just of Vada and I. Good because up until that point I really didn't have any of her and I that was really nice. Bad because I kind of felt and feel guilty because the other two girls weren't in it. Finding balance with three kiddo's is still a work in progress.

Either way, BH State Park was a nice detour, and I am glad we took the time to get some really great pictures.



After wards we headed over to Justin's aunts house. The kids ran around with the other kids and someone was always holding Vada so I sat, oddly, because this was the first real stretch of time that I had gone without holding her myself. Everyone just kind of relaxed. It was nice.

I am so grateful to not just be any wife, but Justin's wife. I'm grateful to be able to say he is my best friend and my husband. I am grateful that I get to be the mother of three beautiful daughters who I love so much. God has blessed me richly.

My Mother's Day was a beautiful one this year.

Announcing Vada

This was the first time I was ever able to send out "real" announcements so I was so excited to take the pictures. I had ideas in my head and I ran across Tiny*Prints.com and found the perfect layout. I literly spent hours looking for what I thought would be perfect.I was even more excited when I recievd them in the mail, addresed them and put them back in the mail to send out to our family and friends!

This was the front.


It was in the form of a card. So you would open it up and this was the inside.

Left side


Right side

Update on Vada~ Trip 6 to Peoria

We'll today was our last visit with the Ped.'s Cardiologist, Dr. Bramlett, until after Vada is born. Her heart is looking good, better actually. The ASD (upper "hole") is still the same, large but not an overly large concern for right now. The VSD (lower "hole") looks to have possibly restored itself. Meaning Dr. Bramlett couldn't see it today. He will check it all out once she is born, if the VSD has restored itself, then there is a huge possibility that we could hold off on surgery for the AVC. Dr. Bramlett said that we might even be able to wait until Vada is anywhere from 2 to 4 years old! This was amazing news!

After leaving Dr. Bramlett's we headed over to Dr. Renfroe's (fetal diagnostics specialist) office. There we did another sonogram. Vada over all looks pretty good. Her legs are still behind in growth, about 3 weeks now. As for her arms we didn't ask because we started talking about other things. It looks like she is weighing over 6lbs now which is also great! Her stomach is still the same, we didn't expect any changes because the Duodenal Atresia wont repair itself, so no matter what she will need surgery with in the first 3 days, after birth. I am still measuring over the "norm" for amniotic fluid, again, we didn't expect anything to change there.

For those of you who don't know, which may be many (I haven't really brought it up a whole lot as of recently, because it too has become my "norm") I have been having a lot of contractions, more so than even before. They are starting to be stronger & I am becoming more and more uncomfortable. Yesterday (Thursday) I had my 2nd NST (non stress test) of the week. I ended up staying about an hour longer than usual because of the number of contractions I was having. My Mid wife was concerned enough to ask me to come to her office early so she could do a quick check to make sure all was well. There were some changes so she called Peoria and spoke with the doctor on call (not Dr. Renfroe) and he told her to check me again. When she did, she came to the conclusion that I wasn't in active labor, so I was able to stay at home. I think the week before I was having contractions 2 & 3 minutes apart. I am having them again everyday. Sometimes several with in an hour, but I don't go to the hospital because they haven't really changed in intensity, until the last couple of days. With all that being "said", Justin, Dr. Renfroe and I came up with a new plan. We are all concerned that I wont make it much longer, and we don't want to risk being in Moline when I finally do go into full labor. We feel its too risky, and don't want to be separated from our baby. Sooo... This Sunday Justin and I will be checking into a hotel in Peoria. The next day, Monday the 1st, we will go to the hospital at 9 to have an amniocentesis done, to check on Vada's lungs. There is some question on how far along I actually am. Justin and I were planning on this pregnancy so I wrote everything down, by those notes I am actually a week ahead (however, that would then mean that her growth is even more delayed, so I would rather be wrong on this one). What we are hoping for is that her lungs are mature. The amnio should take a maximum of four hours until we get the results. One those are in & if her lungs have matured then we will check into labor and delivery & begin the induction process. We will be starting with Cervidil to get my Cervix ready, and then start a pitocin drip. This process can be lengthy, so we don't think that we will actually deliver until sometime on Tuesday. So hopefully, with in the week we will meet Vada! We are very excited, and nervous, a little scared too, but I think it's safe to say that the excitement trumps all of the other feeling for the time being. I know that being induced is not the "natural" process of things, but I am hoping to have the least amount of medications as possible. I would like to do it with out pain medication, especially. That's my personal goal.

So that's the newest news. Justin will be staying with me for the first few days. Then he will be coming home & I will be staying in Peoria. Hopefully we will be bring our baby home with in two weeks after surgery. Please continue to keep us in your prayers. So far, all of our prayers have been answered. How amazing is that!?! God truly is almighty!

Like I already wrote, this is the plan & since we have planned it all out we will probably be coming home on Monday, still pregnant. This too is a possibility. :)