Welcome Vanessa Brady!!

After a week in the hospital our little girl was born on May 20, weighing 7 lbs 6 oz.

This is her favorite place to sleep.
Vanessa is already being spoiled by her grandparents.
She is definitely a momma's girl.
She also has a bit of an attitude and is grounded for this one.

We spent a total of 11 days in the hospital but finally were able to come home. Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers; despite the circumstances we feel that we have been tremendously blessed. Lynette's blood clot is not getting any worse and the doctors are confident that with time it will dissolve completely. Vanessa is healthy and beautiful and we couldn't be happier.

The Hospital Suite

Well, we're still in the hospital. The doctor decided with so many things that can potentially go wrong, he felt more comfortable keeping us here. We have another ultra sound on Tuesday to look at the clot. We'll look at the results from that and then decide when to get this baby here!
It's kind of a crazy cycle. We need to get the baby here to really fix the clot. But I'm not at all dilated so I'm not very favorable for induction. A C Section is riskier at this point than a regular birth. And an induction that doesn't go well would lead to a C section. Also because of the blood thinners, they can't even go near my spine with an epidural so I would have to have general anesthesia for the C section rather than an epidural. Oh, and an epidural (pitocin or not) is not really an option during labor either. The other problem is the clot dislodging during labor and going to my heart, so they might have to put a filter in. That means another surgery with just the local anesthetic and two gimpy legs :) They would insert the filter through the back of my right knee. I know it wouldn't be painful, but I'm still a little scared after the last experience.
So, still a lot of details to be worked out. At this point, all we're doing is waiting. Labor starting on its own would be ideal. At this point I don't have a problem with being induced (I definitely didn't want to be induced before all this) and I think I can make it through the pitocin without an epidural. I think the increased risk of paralysis would be a BIG motivator :)
I think we have a two week window from the formation of the clot to get baby out and then get the clot out. The two week window is up in six days. If we go over that window, I don't think anything bad happens, the clot just becomes like cement and will take even longer for the body to disolve.
I've really learned a lot about hospitals and our nurses have been so awesome! They take such good care of us. We also have the best room in the house, by far. We're at the end of the hall in Labor and Delivery. We have tons of huge windows and we're up on the third floor so that equals lots of sunshine and a good view. It keeps us sane, we love it!
Thanks again everyone for all the prayers! We'll let you know as soon as we have a baby!

A Little Update

Well, I am sure that many of you have heard I'm in the hospital...and not to have the baby. I'll start at the beginning....

Last Friday I started getting some pain and swelling in my left leg. I thought at first that it was my sciatic nerve. Then by Saturday the swelling was worse and my leg was turning blue sometimes. We called the midwife on-call and she sent us to Labor and Delivery to do a non-stress test on the baby and get an ultrasound of my leg. She wanted to make sure there wasn't a blood clot. We got the ultrasound and everything looked fine. They sent us home with the sad news that I was entering my final weeks of pregnancy and weird stuff just happens.

My swelling continued but it stopped going blue. I went had court on Monday and Tuesday so I went to all of that. I ended up working about seven hours each day. In hindsight, maybe not the best idea. My leg was getting enormous! And it was extremely painful to walk. On Wednesday we went for our next prenatal appointment. The midwife was still concerned so she sent us in for another ultrasound. This time, they found a blood clot and they admitted us to the hospital. Here it is Saturday and we're still here. It's been a crazy ride so far, but at this point, things are looking okay.

On Thursday morning they took us in first thing in the morning to try to break up the clot. I was glad they hadn't told us ahead of time what was coming. It would have just kept me up all night. They wanted to go in through the back of my knee, insert a "egg beater" like thing that was supposed to break the clot up. The internal radiologist said there is a strong drug they use in conjunction with the "eg beater" but they can't use it on me because I'm pregnant. So they were going to try it without. The scary part was that they had to use radiation, taking X Rays throughout the procedure. I was worried for the baby but they promised I was far along enough that she would be fine. Then they said that they usually sedate people, not because of pain but because of nerves. For me, being pregnant, they would just use a local anesthetic but they thought they pain would be minimal. I was doing fine until they kicked Jon out and wouldn't let him be there during the procedure do to the radiation. I cried a little at that point but the aides and the nurse were great and they talked to me to calm me down. They had the baby hooked up to a monitor and continually gave me reports on how the baby was doing. She was such a trooper and did so great throughout the entire thing!
They had expected the whole to take maybe 45 minutes. It ended up taking 2 hours. The first procedure didn't work. The "egg beater" isn't as effective without the other drug, which they couldn't use. Then they tried ballooning the vein. Neither of these were very painful. It was the third procedure that took my breath away. Veins don't have pain receptors so that's not what was painful. It was some intense pressure in my knee. I cringed and cried but made it through. At that point, what choice do you have? They were suctioning the clot out with a long catheter. They felt fairly successful with this method and finished up. They weren't able to clear out the entire clot but they cleared a path through it so that at least the blood flow would improve. They hoped that the anti-coagulants would break the rest of the clot up. They showed us the pictures afterwards and we were both amazed at the size of the clot! It goes from high up in my pelvis, down to about midthigh. It's about foot in length. The Dr said it is really stuck onto the sides of the vein pretty tight.

So they decided to keep us overnight into Friday and would possibly let us go Friday. Well, Thursday night I thought my water broke. They tested it with the amniotic test strips and we were all a little confused about whether or not it had broken. So they sent us in for an ultrasound on the baby. The fluid levels were actually on the high side, so they decided it hadn't broken. While there they quickly checked the clot and first impressions: it looked bigger. So the doctor got these results and sent us back down for a more thorough look at the clot. It hadn't actually gotten bigger, but it wasn't smaller either. Also come to find out, the baby's bowels are a little larger than normal. So they were concerned about that. They moved us up to Labor and Delivery and I'm on constant monitoring. The baby's heart is doing great. We just finished up another ultrasound this morning on the baby and we're waiting to hear from the doctor regarding those results. The tech said the bowels still look a little large, the same as yesterday but the radiologist has to go over and he sends up the report.
From this point, we're just waiting to see what is going to happen. There is a risk in almost every route we take from this point so it's just deciding which route is the least risky. I'm not dilated at all, or else we probably would already have a baby. Induction isn't very favorable for me, because my body just doesn't seem ready to go into labor. He doesn't want it to end in a C section because that increases risk of blood clots and I'm on anti-coagulants. Oh, the other kicker is that I can't have any type of epidural or spinal blocks due to the anti-coagulants. I wasn't planning on getting an epidural and have ready TONS of natural childbirth books. The only problem is that when you're induced, labor is different, usually more painful, and harder to get through without pain relief. It could be interesting!

That's all the updates we have at this point. We're in good hands, the doctors are all communicating with each other and trying to decide the best course of action. They have been really good about explaining everything to us and keeping us in the loop. Thanks to all our wonderful family and friends too for all your prayers and fasting. We are so grateful to hear of all your concern for us and feel blessed to know such wonderful people! I'm sure your prayers are helping to guide the doctors and keep us safe! We'll keep you all updated as we know more (it seems to change frequently). Thanks for your faith and prayers!

The Last Month (hopefully)

So I am sitting in my office staring at my rather rotund belly, thinking about how huge I really am. I have a turned over box underneath my desk so that I can always put my feet up. My chair is a good foot away from the desk and my tummy still touches the desk. What a sight!
Being pregnant for the first time is a rather interesting experience. I have to be honest and admit that I have had a fairly "easy" pregnancy. I got sick the first couple months but didn't throw up. (I could probably count on one hand the number of times I have thrown up in my whole life. I'm lucky like that). I haven't had serious swelling problems, just occasionally and it can always be remedied. My hips ache, but nothing too painful. My back is sore occasionally but not as I would have expected. My ribs, I'm pretty sure they are bruised and probably permanently damaged on the right side. But I would rather have her kicking and letting me know things are okay than just sleep all day. I have always had a little bladder so I haven't noticed a dramatic increase in the amount I go to the bathroom. I hardly ever get up in the middle of the night. I just refuse to lose out on my sleep and I eventually foget about it and can go back to sleep. Sometimes it results in a sore tummy when I wake up, but so worth the sleep! :)
In the last week or so she has "dropped" and that's kind of interesting. When I sit it feels like she is literally in my lap. Jon says I don't waddle yet, I'm hoping it stays that way. I try to concentrate on my walking so that I walk normal, but sometimes I forget and then who knows what I look like.
Final purchases are coming to an end. We still have a couple things on the list but we're pretty prepared, thanks to my awesome family and friends who gave me all those wonderful gifts at my baby shower!
Oh, there is one more thing that might be helpful....a name. Ha ha, we still haven't decided on that yet. Everyone keeps asking but I'm pretty sure we won't decide until we're signing the birth certificate.
I would have to say we're ready for this baby to make her debut! I guess now we'll just have to wait and see when she feels like she's ready to come out. I don't blame her for taking her sweet time. I have no doubt life is a lot easier inside than out...but hopefully she gets here before June 8.