Gracie girl is here!

As usual, I am WAY behind on my blogging. That is what happens when you are chasing around a 16 month old and trying to care for a newborn!

Gracie arrived at 36 weeks 3 days on Wednesday, 7/22/09 at 2:53 PM. She weighed a whopping 7 lb 6.9 oz (not bad for a 36 weeker) and was 19.5 inches long.

I had an amnio done on Monday, 7/20 that came back indeterminate. My OB tossed around the idea of waiting until Friday to deliver, but she was concerned about my incision and if it would hold up with the contractions I had been having. She called me Wednesday morning around 9 AM and told me to come to the hospital and bring my hospital bag, but be prepared to go home. They wanted to monitor me for contractions and see what was going on. Of course I was contracting every 7 minutes when I got there because they had told me the night before to prep for a c-section, just in case, so I hadn't had anything to drink since midnight. They eventually spaced out to 15 minutes and then 30 minutes, etc. with fluids, but she was still worried about my incision and decided to section me that day. At 2 PM, I was brought to the OR and prepped for surgery. Once the spinal took effect they brought Ian in and 10 minutes later Gracie was out!! This is where all the drama begins. Apparently, Grace did not want to be shown up by her brother's story of survival and needed a story of her own.

The first thing my OB said when she opened me up was, "good thing we took her today". That was all I got. Once Grace was out, I had seen her and Ian was wisked off to the nursery with her she informed me that my incision had not held up well at all. In fact, my uterus was paper thin and they could see through my skin to the baby! She asked if we plan to have any more children and I said we were thinking about possibly a third, but if she told me it wasn't safe we would be done. She said she was going to go ahead and open my old, classical incision and remove some scar tissue. After that she would close it back up again and overlap the old incision to make it thicker so it would hold up again if we have another pregnancy. This was scary news and enough to make me think I may very well be happy with the two healthy children that I have. My doctor said if we had waited two more days like we were going to it wouldn't have been good. Once my surgery was over I had been on the table for 2.5 hours!

That being said, Gracie is here, she is healthy, I am healthy and that is all that matters. The Lord has blessed me with two beautiful, healthy children and two very amazing birth stories. I am very grateful for the countless blessings I have been given.

As of her one month check-up this past Monday she is 10 lb 1 oz and 20.7 inches long! She gained 2.5 pounds in 3 weeks!! Next month is her 2 month and Jacob's 18 month check-up. We are hoping Jacob will make the charts for his actual age this time. Last time he was still -3% for both height and weight and 75-90th for his head circumference!

This weekend we are off to Eastham, Cape Cod for our first vacation as a family of four! We are very excited for this time away and hope to post lots of pictures when we return!

July is here!

When I found out I was pregnant back in December I thought that August would never come. I kept thinking how the summer seemed so far away, but here we are July 1st and my c-section is scheduled for this month instead of August! Only 3 weeks to go!

Luckily, we had so much going on in June that the month flew by despite the 20 or so days that it rained. I am starting to forget what the sun feels and looks like. Last month Jacob started pulling to stand and cruising which has made life interesting to say the least. As soon as he mastered that he learned how to crawl on his knees. His army crawl was cute and I am going to miss it although he still does it on occasion. He also erupted four teeth in June and they are all on top! The past couple of nights our 10+ hour sleeper has been up multiple times crying so I think more are on the way.

I had a doctor appointment yesterday and fortunately nothing has changed since my discharge from Tufts earlier in June. It is looking like I might go all the way this time and actually have a full-term (well, relatively full-term) baby after all. My OB is scheduling my amnio for Monday, 7/20 to check for lung development and if all goes well at that appointment I will be having Gracie on 7/22 or 7/24. I will be either 36w2d or 36w4d along. That is close enough to full-term for me. Then again, if the amnio comes back immature then we might have to hold off another week and I will make it to 37w! As long as the amnio comes back good it will most likely be the 22nd.

We are attempting to finish Jacob's new room, but I am not sure how much we will get done before the baby gets here, but no big deal since she will be in our room for awhile anyway. The carpet company is coming today to give us a quote on Jacob's new rug so hopefully that will be installed in the next week or two. We still need to install the replacement window, his closet door and organization system, replace the heater covers (which in Jacob's room is THREE ENTIRE WALLS!) and replace all the outlets and switches since the hacks who owned our house before painted over every single outlet and switch in the house. They also painted all of our doors (one side) white, however, when they painted over them they painted over STAIN. Yes, they were not very bright so every door is half dark wood stain and the other half is painted white and peeling/chipping since you can't paint over stain. Because of this all our bedroom, bathroom and closet doors need to be replaced as well. Once everything is done though the house will look like new!

Happy fourth of July to everyone and hopefully we will have some good weather for the weekend! I am looking forward to spending some QT with Ian and the Chicken Wing. Ian has been working hard to make sure all his loose ends at work are tied up by the time Grace is due to enter our crazy world so we haven't seen much of him lately. He is working in Waltham and his commute is two hours! As soon as we get Jacob's room together I will post pictures!

One month to go.....hopefully!

Well, this last week has been very eventful to say the least. It all began with a trip to my OB last Tuesday. It was my normal weekly appointment where they check to make sure my stitch is in place (it was), give me my weekly dose of progesterone to keep me pregnant (they did) and discuss the course of action as far as delivery is concerned which never really seems to change much week to week. This past week we did discuss my increasing Braxton Hicks contractions and how frequent they had become. We decided to keep an eye on it.

Fast forward to later that night as I am laying on the couch watching TV. My contractions, which usually only occur while standing and/or walking, are now happening as I am lying on the couch and I am feeling mildly crampy with each one. I decide for peace of mind to head to the hospital *just in case*. I call my Dad who comes over to sit here with Jacob who had just gone to bed and off Ian and I go to Jordan Hospital. As I arrive and get hooked up to monitors I have two intense contractions that I can't even breathe through. This was not happening at home! They decide to keep me overnight for observation and Ian heads home to relieve my Dad.

Around midnight a contraction woke me up (again not painful, just tight). I had a few between midnight and 2 AM and when the nurse came in to check on me I mentioned the past few contractions had woken me up. Her response was, "What contractions? There wasn't anything on the monitor." Okay.....

She comes in again at 3:35 AM this time with the doctor and another nurse and they announce they are hooking me up to an IV drip of Magnesium Sulfate and preparing me for transfer to Boston. I ask why and they proceed to tell me that I have been having contractions every 4 minutes for the past 35 minutes. Really?! I didn't feel a thing! At 6 AM, I am transported to Tufts Medical Center in Boston via ambulance for pre-term labor. I spend a glorious 5 days there begging to go home. The first 48 hours I am on the Mag drip and hardly remember a thing. I guess the only way to explain it is to say you feel really drunk and are completely out of it. I remembered a conversation I had with my friend Jessica on my cell phone a few days later and had to question Ian whether or not it was a dream.

While at Tufts, I received the two rounds of steroid shots to develop Gracie's lungs which makes me feel much better about delivering early if and when it should happen. I was sent home on bed rest and I am now just hoping to make it 4 more weeks to our planned c-section around 36 weeks. They did an ultrasound when I arrived at Tufts and she was measuring around 3.5 pounds which is great! Let's just hope she stays in there a few more weeks and packs on a few more pounds!

Busy week....

In baby related news, I passed my glucose test with flying colors! One less thing to stress about during the last seven weeks of pregnancy! The nurse said my number had to be less than 140 and mine was a 26! The bad news is that I am "severely anemic" and now on iron supplements which make me want to vomit immediately after taking them. Add that to my Hyperemesis and Zofran will be in overdrive for the next 7 weeks. I will be 30 weeks on Saturday and at this point Grace should weigh around 3 pounds which is officially more than DOUBLE what Jacob weighed at birth. YAY!

Jacob started pulling up to stand this week! Normally, I would be thrilled (especially as a preemie mom, milestones are extra special with a preemie), but he does one of two things once he gets up:

a.) starts screeching because he doesn't know how to get down or
b.) lets go/knees wobble and he smashes his face off whatever he is using to pull up

Fun stuff! So far this week he has managed to smash his head on his crib rails, land face first on his Crawl and Cruise Musical Jungle and tip his toy box (canvas bin) over on top of him as he falls backwards. I am waiting for the bloody lip or bruises to appear, but so far nothing.

Because he is now pulling to stand I need to buy him his first pair of shoes. I tried to go today and shop the clearance sales and his feet are so small he doesn't even register on the sizing chart. At Stride Rite he came in at a 0 and for Robeez he came in at 1 which is the smallest size they have. Up until now he has been wearing crib shoes and the ones he has now are 3-6 months. Yes....3 to 6 months as in INFANT shoes. I really want to get him good shoes as he learns to walk. He has low muscle tone so he needs every bit of help he can get. I think I am leaning towards Robeez right now. BabyGap carries them and right now they are on sale $19.99 and an extra 25% off. Pretty good deal for Robeez and they are soft soled which will help his foot development.

Jacob's new obsession this month is screaming. Not because he is sad or angry, but because he likes to test the limits on the volume of his voice and hear himself screech. When he does this he tilts his head back and I caught a glimpse of two new teeth coming in! That gives him a total of four!

We went out today Father's Day shopping and picked up a few things for Daddy. We told each other that our very expensive double stroller would be our Mother's/Father's Day gift to each other this year, but I had to get him a little something. Ian loves everything "Daddy and Me" related so we picked up the Mercer Mayer book "Just Me and My Dad", a card and a t-shirt Ian has been wanting for Jacob for some time now. It is from Gymboree and says, "My Dad has SUPER POWERS!" across the front. Since Gymboree is ridiculously expensive and I refuse to pay over $10 for anything Jacob wears....EVER... I have been waiting for it to go on clearance and I got it today for $7. Even though they are little things, I think Ian will be happy considering I am not supposed to be buying him anything. :)

28 Weeks!!

I started a blog shortly after Jacob was home from the hospital, but I didn't keep up with it and it was shut down so this is attempt number two!

I am now 28 weeks pregnant with the second addition to our family. We have decided to name her Grace and she is due to arrive the week of 7/26 via c-section. As most of you know, Jacob was born at 24w5d so 28 weeks is a huge milestone for me! When I went into pre-term labor with Jacob they assured me that I should have no problem making it to 28 weeks which is the first big goal with women who threaten to deliver early. It seems 28 weeks is the magic number as far as development goes. Although nobody *wants* their baby born at 28 weeks, at this point the baby has fully developed organs and has an 80-90% chance of survival. The only issues now would be size (still only around 2.5 pounds), lung development, growing and eating. Here is a belly pic for your enjoyment. :)

This week I met with my Perinatologist for the very last time. I have been monitored bi-weekly with ultrasounds to check my cervical length since an incompetent cervix sent me into labor early with Jacob. They were only following me until week 28 and now I have been turned over to my OB until my scheduled c-section. I am also receiving weekly shots of Progesterone to stop any pre-term labor I might have (contractions). So far, so good!!

Jacob is now 14 months old (10.5 months adjusted) and has started crawling in the last month or two. He started with an army crawl which he is very efficient at now. He has just this past week started crawling on his hands and knees, but he alternates between hands/knees and his army crawl. He has two bottom teeth, is eating just about everything as far as table food goes and is starting to try and pull up on things. He will be cruising in no time! I am amazed at how well he has done. He is our little miracle and we thank God for him every day. It is hard to believe that a year ago this Memorial Day weekend we were visiting him in Boston and he was not even 4 pounds! He was already 2 months old and we had just started trying to breastfeed because he was finally old enough. He has come a long way from the fragile, one pound boy that he was last year!

Final Caring Bridge Post

This is it! This will be my final post on Jacob's CaringBridg

e website. Our new blog is up and running and you can check it out at http://thelittlechickenwing.blogspot.com

This will be more of a family blog and is to keep you updated on the current events of the Stewart Family so feel free to subscribe to the updates or just check it out whenever you feel like it if you don't want to receive e-mail updates.

Thank you again to all of you for your support, prayers and encouragement during our time of need. I've been thinking a lot lately about the day Jacob was born. Instead of the sheer excitement most parents experience during the birth of their child, Ian and I were terrified, anxious and nervous wrecks. It was great to come here not only to update you all on Jacob, but to have a place to write it all down and get some things off my chest.

I am excited that this journal will be a book and that someday, God Willing, when Jacob takes his first steps, climbs the bus to Kindergarten and heads off to his Junior Prom that I will have these memories to look back on and remember how so many people were there for us when we needed it the most.

Please feel free to leave any final comments in the Guestbook because they will be published in the hardcover book! Thank you again and I hope to see many of you over on our new blog.

Moving to Blogger!

One year ago tomorrow Ian and I found out we were expecting our first child. What a difference a year makes! Jacob will be 7 months old on Thursday and I can't believe that a little over 3 short months ago he was still in the hospital. It seems like so long ago which I am sure is a good thing. We are so happy to have him home and thriving and October has been a great month.

Jacob had a pediatricia

n appointment this morning (his 6 month well visit even though it is about a month late). He had his 6 month vaccinations and a flu shot so he was not a happy camper! His weight was 12 lbs 4 oz which surprised me because I was sure he'd be bigger than that, but he is right on his growth curve and his doctor was thrilled. He is 22 3/4 inches and his head circumference was 16.5. He still has a huge head, but his body is growing into it now so he looks more proportioned and his face isn't as full now that his body is catching up. We discussed his RSV shot and unfortunately the insurance company has to approve the application and they are taking their sweet time with this. There is no way he'll be denied based on his extremely low birth weight and gestational age so hopefully we will have this taken care of by 11/5. The doctor said one of her patients has just been admitted to Children's in Boston with RSV so it concerns her that the season has started so early and she doesn't have a good feeling about this Winter in general. Let's hope Jacob can steer clear of this!

Jacob is finally starting to hold his head up and as soon as he can sit in his feeding chair the doctor has cleared us to start solids. We were going to wait until 6 months adjusted instead of the recommended 4, but Jacob is having some "irregularity" of his bowels and even after stopping his iron vitamins and switching to Fluoride vitamins it is not getting any better. We have been cleared to skip right over cereal and start prunes! I'm sure Jacob will love them. ;)

He continues meeting with Early Intervention once a month and we are currently working on his rolling. She is very happy with his progress and he remains on target for his adjusted age. He is a very happy baby and constantly smiling. Last time Carrie (our EI specialist) was here she told Jacob jokingly, "We need to work on your social skills!".

We took our first road trip this month out to Ohio and stopped in Pennsylvania on the way home. The foliage was beautiful and the scenery amazing as well. It really is a beautiful drive and we went during the best time of the year. The drive was a challenge with an infant, but we learned many valuable lessons that can be applied toward future road trips. All in all, we had a great time and we would like to thank everyone in PA for their hospitality during our stay. It was also great to visit with so many in Ohio. Our trip seemed way too short!

In conclusion, we have decided to start a Stewart Family Blog and close down the CaringBridge website. This website has been great, but the purpose of CaringBridge is to update friends and family during times of critical illness and since Jacob doesn't fall into that category anymore we are going to switch over to a Blog hosted by Google. It is not up and running yet, but I will post an update as soon as it is. If you wish to receive future updates on Jacob you can subscribe to his blog. You should stop receiving CaringBridge updates after my last post which should be sometime in the next few weeks. The great thing about this website is that we have the option of having Jacob's website printed into a hardcover book as a keepsake. All of my journal entries, pictures and all of your treasured comments in the Guestbook will be printed and bound. It will be a wonderful keepsake for Jacob (as well as Ian and myself) of his journey over the past 7 months.

Thank you so much for your continued support, prayers, emails, cards, etc. and be sure to check out Jacob's new pictures. I'm sure most of you have seen them by now. In the default picture, on the welcome page, Jacob is modeling his new Winter hat which was a steal at $0.94!!! Stay tuned for updates on our blog and hope everyone is enjoying Fall!