Little luvs & sweet dreams

It's 11:00 p.m. and Brighton has woken for one reason or another. She's fallen back to sleep in my arms. It's the moments like this that I love. I know it won't last forever so I shall cherish every moment I have like this. I'd sleep standing on my head of I knew it meant Brighton is comfortable and getting the sleep she needs. I had no idea I was capable of loving this sweet girl as much as I do. Goodnight boo. Mommy loves you always!

Baby B

I've really been horrible at keeping up on this blog.  My life has completely changed since my last post. I've become a mother. I don't know that I ever really got into the pregnancy story but I knew the very next morning that I was pregnant. I could just feel it. I also knew that I would have a girl. During the first half of my pregnancy people would guess the gender and everyone always said boy. I KNEW I was pregnant with a girl. I guess you could say I could just "feel" that too. Brighton was worn via csection on Monday, February 4th. She was perfect! During the second half of my pregnancy we were so worried that she might be born with a CCAM. A few days after birth nothing could be seen in those little lungs of hers. We spent five nights in the hospital due to me needing a blood transfusion but other than that things went great.

Brighton is now 4 and a half months old! I was so lucky to be able to stay home with her for the first 12 weeks. She's grown so much. We just had her 4 month check up and she weighed 15 pounds 12 ounces and is 24 inches long. She's started to eat some solids and she's such a good little eater. She loves her veggies! Her siblings are so good with her. Usually on weekends we have them I get about 30 minutes (the entire weekend) of time with her. They are always fighting over who gets to feed, change, hold, and help bathe her. She's lucky to have such great brothers and sisters. It seems as if she and Parker really have a special little bond. Parker absolutely ADORES Brighton. He loves to hold her and she will typically light right up when she sees him. I hope he will always be her big brother that looks out for her.





It's D day!

It's 3:30 a.m. I am wide awake and ready to get going. Check in time at the hospital is 5:30 a.m. So excited to meet Brighton today. It sure does feel like it has been much longer than 39 weeks. My last visit to MFM said everything looked good (as far as they could tell with the ultrasound) and my doc seemed very optimistic. So... Here is to hoping for a fantastic day!

12 days to go!

12 days! 12! I can't wait to have my little baby B here. Am I a little nervous? Sure, but I am also so done with being pregnant. It really feels like I have been pregnant for...well, forever. It's been an interesting journey. Definitely a miracle. Prior to experiencing pregnancy I would listen to women say how difficult, tiring, painful, exciting, etc pregnancy is. I don't think a person can actually comprehend pregnancy until experiencing it themselves. Initially pregnancy was so peaceful for me. I was so calm, at ease. I suffered very little morning sickness and I slept like a rock. If you know me, you know how much I love my sleep. So the out like a rock was a huge perk for me :) All went well during the second trimester. I wouldn't say I had that burst of energy that  some have talked about but the little morning sickness I did have went away. I also had fewer headaches as I did during the first. I remember a visit with my OB just before the third trimester started. We discussed things I should pay attention to or watch for and then he stated something like "well the third trimester is usually where things get a bit more interesting." He was right, the third trimester began and not to far into it... it got interesting. If you have read my other posts you are familiar with the NuMom2B study I participated in. I'm very grateful for this study because without it my baby's CPAM would have never been detected. I am grateful we were able to catch it early and keep an eye on it. I've been seeing a Maternal Fetal Medicine doc every 2 weeks, I've met with a surgeon, and have already found a pediatrician that is willing to be there for the birth and care of our little B. We were told the hospital nursery, pediatrician, etc needed to be on board and aware of the birth of our baby. So, with that said our delivery is scheduled for February 4th unless she decides to make an entrance before then. I think we are ready for the most part. As ready as we can be anyway. Yes, I have only 12 days left and still haven't bought a crib :) I do have a sleeper/rocker though. Perhaps I'll drag the hubs out to get the crib tonight.

CPAM update

Delivery day keeps getting closer. Things have been going well with the CPAM. I've continued to have scans every 2 weeks with the Maternal Fetal Medicine office. The last visit on January 11th the doctors were not able to see the CPAM at all. They assumed it was because of the baby's position. I am scheduled to go in for my last scan on January 25th. The docs said they are ok with me delivering at Riverton and that my doc is ok to do the c-section on February 4th. I don't think I touched on this in my last post but I also met with a pediatric surgeon from Primary Childrens. He wasn't too concerned and also feels comfortable with me delivering at Riverton. I've followed blogs of other moms with CPAM babies. I feel very blessed that our little bub has such a small mass that has not caused pressure on the heart or any fluid to gather around her little lungs or heart. Of course there is always a chance of complications on her delivery date but we are keeping positive that all will be ok. A few days after birth she will have a CT scan to get a better view of how big the mass is. We'll then follow up with a pediatric surgeon to come up with a game plan to have the mass surgically removed when she is big enough to tolerate the surgery.

Updates and Christmas

Out with the old and in with the new, right? Let's hope 2013 is a better year. We've got a new addition to our family on the way. I can't wait to meet her. After Friday's scan and the Maternal Fetal Medicine doc's recommendation we met with a pediatric surgeon at Primary Children's this morning. So far we've seen 4 different doctors and we've received different information and advice from each one of them. Today's visit gave a little more hope or confidence. Dr Black from Primary Children's told us that rarely will a CPAM cause an issue at birth. He told us we could continue on with our birth plan at Riverton Hospital. They would do a CT Scan a few days after birth, we would follow up with the surgeon a few weeks later and they would let us know what their game plan is. So, being as her CPAM is so small.. things should hopefully go smoothly.

As for the end of the year... Christmas with the kids went well. We had them on Christmas Eve and the first half of the day this year. It was a little harder this year to figure out what to get for the kids. I'm finding that the older kids get the more expensive they want. It's all about laptops, smart phones, iPads, iTouch's, and other electronic devices. One thing I tried to focus on this year were toys/objects that would promote activity or outdoor play. I would say it went pretty well. The kids were happy and were spoiled, especially by grandma and grandpa.

CPAM

As a follow up to the NuMom2B visit #3 post I figured I should fill you all in on what is going on with our little baby B. During our last visit with the NuMom study the Ultrasound tech noticed that there was a bright spot in the right lung. This was a concern but she couldn't give an explanation why because there was not a doctor around at the time. She scheduled an appointment the following day with a Maternal Fetal Medicine Dr at IMC.

I showed up at IMC at 1:00 and had a second ultrasound to evaluate what the tech had found the night before. I was seen by another Tech as well as the Specialist, Dr. Branch. Dr Branch spent a good amount of time in the room with me explaining what he feels is the proper diagnosis. We have been told that Brighton has a small mass of abnormal tissue in her lungs. This is typically known as a CPAM, formally referred to as CCAM. Congenital Pulmonary Airway Malformation's typically go away on their own before birth. Right now it is a very small mass and is not causing any problems. There is no fluid surrounding the heart or lungs.

The plan of action is to keep watching it. Every 2 weeks I will go into the Maternal Fetal Medicine office and a Dr. will do an ultrasound to check the size of the mass as well as to make sure there is no pressure being put on the heart or fluid surrounding it. If the mass continues to stay the same size I will  be able to deliver the baby as planned at the Riverton Hospital with Dr. England. If the mass grows, I will need to deliver at IMC where there is a NICU available. So, for now it's kind of a wait and see. My last ultrasound things had not changed much. It hadn't grown at all... they felt like maybe it shrunk a wee bit.  I have another ultrasound on Friday to check the status again.