8 Months Along

I cannot believe I've hit my 32 week mark already. The weeks are just dwindling down so quickly. I feel ready in some ways and in other ways I am not sure what to expect. Her room is ready to go for her to come home to. Clothes are washed and hung, blankets are cleaned, diapers have been bought...so we are prepared in that way. But I honestly don't think there is a way for me to prepare for what is to come.

So to catch up a little bit about what's been going on...at my 30 week appointment I had gained a total of 9 lbs since I found out we were pregnant. I went and saw my regular OBGYN who told me I would likely deliver at McKay Dee or Ogden Regional and that she would be delivering me. So I called my insurance and found out that McKay Dee wasn't covered like they once said. Which means, I had to cancel my Perinatologist appointments because our doctor we had been seeing was in network but his office wasn't. SO FRUSTRATING! Not the time to be switching doctors.

30 weeks...

 

So at 31 weeks we met up with a new Perinatologist at Ogden Regional who we really liked because he was so straight forward and honest with us. Our appointment with an ultrasound ended up being 3 hours long. Baby A weighs approximately 3.6 lbs and Baby B weighs about 3.9 lbs, so they are fairly close in weight. He recommended that starting at 32 weeks I get non-stress tests done twice a week as well as seeing a Perinatologist weekly to get an ultra-sound. He said he wouldn't let me go past 36 weeks due to the health complications of Baby B. He said that if needed, I should be ready to deliver anywhere from 34-36 weeks. He had me get Steroid injections, so that the lungs of the babies would be better prepared for early delivery. He also recommended to us that we deliver at the University of Utah or St. Marks. So since we know the U is covered under our insurance, that's our new plan. The only bad thing was that the doctor we met with doesn't deliver at the U. So guess what? We had to meet up with a new Perinatologist at 32 weeks. Seriously! So stressful, especially since I could now deliver in 2-4 weeks. Not much time to get to know our new doctor and for them to get to know all the information about our babies.

Yesterday we met with a Pediatric Surgeon to discuss what we could expect if we ended up doing surgery for Baby B. The appointment itself wasn't too informing, since we already know everything that's wrong. It just helped us decide what our birth plans are for Baby B.

Today we met our new doctor at the University of Utah. I have now gained a total of 12 pounds and everything looked good with me. Our new doctor went over all our records with us and talked to us about our upcoming weeks. They thought they could see some fluid around Baby B's heart today, so they admitted me to the hospital to get further testing. I basically had an extensive non-stress test for about 2.5 hours. Thankfully everything looked fine but since they still have concerns with Baby B, I have to go back tomorrow morning for another ultra-sound. I also am going on Friday for another non-stress test. I will have gone to the doctor within a weeks time 6 out of the 7 days. It is exhausting. But I'd rather go to the doctor and have them be sure everything is fine than to send me home worried and wondering if anything is wrong.

So that's it as of right now. We're just hoping they can stay in my belly for a couple more weeks, the longer the better for them.

Happy 24th of July!

It's always nice to have an extra holiday every year that only Utah celebrates. Our city does fireworks over the weekend instead of on the actual day of the 24th. So last weekend Cambree and I made cookies to take to watch the fireworks.

I bought this apron for Cambree probably about 5 years ago. It was me hoping I would have a girl one day and that she and I would make cookies together. Well my wish came true and Cambree is finally at the age where she can help me and wear her cute apron!

Looking pretty cute...

 

Helping me pour things into the mixer, her favorite part...

 

Watching it mix...

 

She says "Nummy" the whole time because she knows we're making a treat. So I of course let her eat the frosting from the spoons...

 

I didn't take any picture at the fireworks, but it was so nice that they were at the park at the end of my street. I loved being able to just walk there and back.

Today for the 24th I met up with my parents and Chelsie, Spencer & Emma at Chuck-E-Cheese. Benton unfortunately had to work. But it was still nice getting together with my family to celebrate. Cambree loves to go on the rides and get tickets.

 

 

 

Afterwards we went to Red Robin for lunch. I am in love with their fry sauce, it's so good!

 

 

Hope you all had a great 24th!

Hoogle Zoo

I've really been wanting to go to the Hoogle Zoo since they added onto it. I finally was able to go down and it worked out that my mom and sister were able to join us. I knew that as the summer progressed so would my lack of energy and I really wanted to take Cambree so off we went. It was REALLY hot and I was a little slow at walking around, especially up hills but we still had fun.

Cambree and I had to get a picture in front of the elephants, it's tradition :)

 

Cambree LOVED the rhinos and loved sitting on this statue.

 

The Rocky Shores exhibit was pretty neat. We unfortunately couldn't get a good look at the polar bear but it was still fun to see the other animals.

 

 

 

Us girls, it's so nice to have my mom back. I only wish Karly lived here with us, then we'd be complete.

 

Don't get too scared of this picture...it's Cambree ROARING like a lion. So scary!

 

We rode the train, which Cambree loved! She cried afterwards because she wanted to ride it again.

 

 

I caught this picture as we were in the tunnel. She looks a little surprised how dark it was but she didn't seem to care. I love her side profile, too cute.

 

I don't know about you, but I always love trips to the zoo!

Liberty Park

For those of you who live in the Salt Lake area and have kids, you really need to take them to Liberty Park. Benton and I keep talking about taking Cambree down there, we just haven't quite gotten around to it yet. Well my cute friends Stacy and Jessica invited Cambree and I to join them the other day.

I had no idea there was so much to do down there. Splash Parks, regular parks, rides, paddle boats, Tracy Avery, and so much more. We went to a part of the park which has little streams and ponds for the kids to splash around in. They brought sticks for the kids to let go and chase as they went downstream. Cambree really enjoyed it and I know we'll be back!

 

 

 

Thanks again girls for inviting us, I seriously have the best neighbors ever!

Baby Egg

Cambree does and says such odd things sometimes that I'm so grateful that I can document it all on our blog. I have a horrible memory, so it's nice to put it on here so I can remember all the funny things she does.

She has this obsession with eggs. Well anything that looks like an egg. Also pretty much anything and everything is referred to as a baby.

When we go grocery shopping and I put a couple avocados in our cart she has to hold them the entire time. She says "Oh, tute (cute) baby egg." And to make things even better she will kiss them the entire time as well and cradle them close to her face while walking through the store. The other day she saw an avocado on my kitchen counter when I was holding her and her face lite up. She was so happy we had a "baby egg" in our house.

Surprised and excited about finding her baby egg...

 

Cradling her baby egg...

 

 

And of course she has to give it kisses...

 

We love our little Cambree and her imagination.

Appointments

Last Friday we went and had a couple appointments to try to figure out more what's going on with Baby B.

We first went to Primary Children's and got a fetal echo-cardiogram done on both their hearts. Baby A looks normal, her heart is functioning the way it should. However Baby B has a small hole in her heart. She has Ventricular septal defect (VSD)a hole in the wall that separates the right and left ventricles of the heart. Ventricular septal defect is one of the most common congenital heart defects. The baby may have no symptoms, and the hole can eventually close as the wall continues to grow after birth. If the hole is large, too much blood will be pumped to the lungs, leading to heart failure. So once she is born within an hour or two they will take her to get an echo-cardiogram done to see if the hole is the same size or if it is smaller than it is now. The Cardiologist said if it wasn't all the way closed they would need to do surgery between 6-12 months of life.

Afterwards we rushed over to the University of Utah Hospital where we got a fetal MRI done on the babies. I must say I hate being crammed into that little machine to get a MRI, it makes me feel so claustrophobic. Luckily it only took about 30 minutes and it gives us more information on Baby B, so it was way worth my fear.

Unfortunately the information we received from the test wasn't what we wanted to hear. As far as her Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia (CDH) is concerned she has the kind of hernia you don't want. It's on her left side and her liver is up where her heart should be along with her stomach. Babies who have the liver up above the hernia have a lower life expectancy.

She also has what's called Omphalocele. Its where the muscles in the abdominal wall do not close properly. As a result, the intestine remains outside the umbilical cord. So basically her intestines, liver and possibly other organs are on the outside of her body held in a sac.

And to top it off she also has Cloacal Extrophy. This is very rare, it only happens 1 in every 500,000 births. The doctor said she's only seen about 4-5 cases in the 25 years that she's been a doctor and she's never seen a baby that has both Cloacal Extrophy and CDH. Cloacal Extrophy is where the bladder/vagina/rectum don't form normally. And that's why they were unsure if her bladder was on the outside of her body because hers haven't split the way it should. There is a high association with other birth defects when a baby has Cloacal Extrophy, especially spina bifida, which occurs in up to 75 percent of cases. And we know she has that as well.

So as of right now the doctor said she had a pretty good chance of making it till delivery. We meet up with our Perinatologist on the 26th and we will talk to him about meeting up with a Pediatric Surgeon to get their opinion to hear what our options are if any. The doctor let me know it's highly likely she won't be able to survive once she's delivered with the combination of problems she has.

I feel like I had a sliver of hope up until I heard all this information. It really is hard to explain to anyone just how I feel. I know of families who have lost their babies early on and felt compassion for them and thought how hard it must be. But to be experiencing it myself, well it is a lot worse than I ever imagined. So many emotions all at once. I feel scared for both babies, hopeful that Baby A will make it, sad, sick to my stomach, terrified for the day to come, helpless, angry and so much more. Part of me can't wait until delivery so that I can see my two precious angels but at the same time I am so sad to know I will probably have to say goodbye to one of them. Hopefully during the next 6 weeks I can figure a way to accept whats going to happen either way. I'm still hoping for a miracle but we are ready to do whats best for our sick little baby, even if that's saying goodbye so she doesn't' have to suffer.

Pool Day!

Yesterday Cambree woke up remembering we had set the pool up for her on Sunday to swim in. As soon as she finished breakfast she said "play in water?" I thought for sure she would feel how cold the water was and want to go right back inside. So out we went.

I mean come on the moon was still out...

 

But nope, she got naked and jumped right in...for an hour.

 

 

We came in and about 11am she asked to swim again, sure why not? We didn't have any plans, so we swam for another hour.

 

And then after her nap about 4pm she remembered the pool, "play in water?" Wowsa, really? It was so hot outside, but might as well.

 

After playing in the pool for another hour, I let her have a doughnut. I mean who doesn't get tired and hungry after swimming?

 

 

We finally let the water out after swimming in it for the third time in one day. Guess I now know that if I set the pool up we will be outside all day long!