Isn't she lovely!!

Grace Abigail Pearson joined our family Friday night at 9:09pm. She weighed 6lbs 2oz and was 18.75" long. Her official gestational age is 36 weeks to the day. She is beautiful!! We had our hopes that Grace would be far enough along to not need the NICU but about 4am Saturday it became clear that she needed a little extra help breathing. Currently she is in the level 2 NICU. She is doing well, breathing easier with some oxygen assistance (as of this writing, 33% 02 by nasal CPAP). She is no longer tachypnic so we are hoping she can continue to be weaned and can come off oxygen soon. I so wanted to post more traditional hospital photos, free of wires and medical devices, but it wasn't meant to be. This particular picture is from Saturday AM when Grace was under an oxygen hood -- she was moved to CPAP Saturday PM. Rest assured I'll post more -- complete with lots of big pink bows!

Gracie wins!!

I posted a status update on Grace about a week ago only to remove it less than 6 hours after it's penning. Why? I didn't like what I wrote -- it sounded...dumb. Turned out to be a good decision because like all things in my life the status changed the very next day. BUT after meeting with my doctor today I'm confident in relating some of the latest news.

First -- as of 9:19pm today Grace will officially win the longest gestated baby for the Pearson house! Good job little girl! Way to hang in there!

I am seeing my OB weekly now and we are having weekly biophysical profiles of the Little Miss. Last week the official weight was 5.5lbs. We didn't measure exact weight this week but there's a good chance Grace is 6 lbs today. She seems to be loving life and enjoying her swimming pool. She did finally turn head down and seems to be happy to remain that way -- either that or she ran out of room to make the large movements necessary for a flip. Last week my OB started me on blood pressure medication. There doesn't seem to be an indication that things will turn to pre-eclampsia so we are calling it gestational hypertension. The meds are working...sort of. We are working to find a balance in dosing. My body responds VERY WELL to the meds -- sometimes too well making my pressures go too low. Dr. M remarked today that the meds I'm on don't usually result in this type of control. I'm still not making many treks out and about and I'm nowhere near going back to things as usual -- gotta make sure the bp stays in control.

Here is the big news from today -- Dr. M and I set a date for Grace's arrival. Unless she decides to come on her own, Grace will get an eviction notice on Thursday, November 12th. That is one day shy of 38 weeks!! Things are seeming to move toward baby day on their own -- contractions (mild) and such are beginning but I know these could last for weeks. Dr. M will be out of town next week and the beginning of the following week but she did mention that if her associate is comfortable with it, we could strip my membranes next week. If not, we can definitely strip membranes the following week. I'm hoping that will help things along naturally without induction medication. All this means for me...I was hoping for a sooner date BUT I know that liability issues are present when voluntarily inducing before full-term. I gathered from comments made by Dr. M that she isn't sold on the fact that I will go that far. Bottom line -- we'll have to wait and see.

That's about it! Yea for Grace!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy Birthday Luke! I love you! Thanks for being better than the best husband and father we could have ever hoped for. Hope you have a fabulous birthday extravangza!

Name and Nesting Needs

I've been attempting to deny this for about a month but it seems I'm officially nesting. After waking at 4am with an almost unbearable desire to vacuum the ceiling it seem I can no longer avoid the label. Not having done this with the boys I find myself a bit unnerved by the entire situation. I'm the logical pregnant person (ha -- what an oxymoron!), not getting trapped by all things commercial when it comes to having a baby. Practical has always been the name of the game (at least in my warped pregnant mind). Yeah -- that's gone now.

One small kink in my plans to nest and make ready for little Miss is my very inconvenient stays at Camp Hermann. While only lasting about 28 hours each, they seem to destroy the weekends leaving us facing Monday with no progress done to baby's room. As d-day looms ever closer on the horizon, it's beginning to stress me a bit.

As of this weekend I can proudly say that at least one piece of the room is DONE (and I didn't have anything to do with it!)

Take a gander at Grace's name art! Lovingly crafted by Luke's mom, these letters are perfect!! I've included pictures of the entire name and then closer shots of each letter for detail. SOOOO excited!!!

Whew, what a week!

It's been quite a week for our family! The best description is that it feels like I was about to get hit by a truck but managed to step out of the way just in time. Still a little shocked at what the outcome could have been but so eternally thankful that God had other plans.

Wednesday morning I went into my OB's office for a regular visit -- knowing it wouldn't be a regular visit. I had been struggling with high blood pressures and headaches and knew that my kidneys weren't functioning up to par. I walked into the office in tears because I felt so badly. After a poor result on my protein test and a poor BP reading it was quickly decided that I should head to the hospital. We checked into Memorial Hermann downtown shortly after lunch, me feeling worse with each passing moment. Doctors checked me and Grace, determined that she was breech and that there was a possibility I would deliver that day -- no more food or drink for Val as a c-section was in the future. By dinner the doctors decided to wait until 9pm to make a decision (to allow 6 hours for the steroids for Grace to work) but told me not to be surprised if they woke me in the middle of the night to deliver. In their words, "there is no doubt you are pre-eclamptic."

Up to this point the progression of the evening was something with which we are VERY familiar. However, about 11pm I began having contractions. Because I received epidurals so early into labor with the boys it took a few contractions for me to realize what was going on. After two hours of contractions coming about 2 minutes apart it looked as if Grace was deciding to come on her own. Of course as soon as we thought a decision had been made the contractions stopped. I was told to rest and drink fluid. About 2am contractions began again and I was back on no-food or drink. I contracted until about 4 and once again doctors began making noises about immediate delivery. But once again the contractions stopped and plans changed again.

About 6am the doctors decided that they were not willing to stop labor if it was coming but they were also not prepared to help it along at that point. It was decided that we would wait for more tests results. At that point my blood pressure had been GREAT but I still had a terrible headache. By 4pm, Thursday it was appearing that the decision would be NOT to induce but not to let me go home. The tests seemed to indicate that while I had been getting sick when I checked in, at this point I was now getting better. BUT it was the doctors opinions that I would in fact get sick sooner rather than later...they were hoping to get me to last a few more days.

My final test results came back around 7pm -- my protein levels for the 24 hour period were PERFECT. Last week I tested at a level of 277 (300 is abnormal/BAD), in the hospital I tested 102. About 9pm the doctors returned to tell me to GO HOME: my labs were good, my headache improved (didn't disappear but was manageable) and my blood pressures were the best they've been since I got pregnant. This time doctors words were "you are NOT pre-eclamptic." I practically RAN out the door.

Truthfully there is no other explanation for the 180 degree turn-around other than a miracle of God. While improvement was a possibility, the complete disappearance of all symptoms shouldn't have happened. But it did...and here we sit -- at home, with Grace safely tucked away in mommy's tummy where she belongs for the next few weeks.

So where do we go from here? Good question. Luke and I both realize the bullet we dodged so to speak so we are natually cautious. While I was not told I was on bedrest Luke and I have decided that a modified bedrest approach is a good idea. So I'm homebound until Grace's arrival. I ran a few quick errands today but they only lasted about 30 minutes. Luke will take over the major errands (groceries and such). My sister, Kristen, will join us on non-school days to help me corral to wild little boys. On Jack's school days I should be able to handle Sam on my own. Luke and I have agreed that the non-essential household chores will be left undone for the time being. I'll do a little here and there but my main goal will be to take it easy and stay pregnant. I won't be going anywhere really -- including church -- for a while. I see my doctor Wednesday of this next week so we see if she has a different idea. I'm still taking my blood pressures at home to watch things. The doctor mentioned that we were hoping to make it to 36 or 37 weeks. My guess is with the recent hospital time we will probably stop at 36 weeks which puts Grace's arrival sometime around Halloween. Again...I'll have to ask my OB when I see her.
Right now I'm excited to still feel Grace kick instead of sitting beside a NICU isolette.

Here's praying for a very UNEVENTFUL four weeks!!