Latest Visit at Mayo

We had an OB appointment at Mayo yesterday. It went well; there is no more good news and no more bad news to report. Everything is stable and the baby is growing. The baby was waving all eight fingers at us and making fists during the ultrasound (read other posts below if you are confused why I said all eight fingers.)

We were able to kind of read through some notes in Sarah's electronic medical records. The cardiologist has written notes to the neonatologists about instructions following birth. They involve putting an umbilical IV in and administering a drug that will keep things stable until the baby gets to the NICU for tests.

We have appointments coming up on December 2nd, 17th and 24th. Sarah needs her glucose test and a blood test. We also have appointments with neonatology, cardiology, obstetrics, pediatrics, genetics, and finally a birthing area tour.

Job Change for John

It was told to me at church tonight by a blog reader that I hadn't posted anything about my upcoming job change!

On October 28th I gave Christ Community Church a four-week notice because I accepted a job as Chief Financial Officer at Zumbro Valley Mental Health Center in Rochester. This coming Monday (26th) is my last day at CCC and Tuesday (27th) is my first day at Zumbro.

I am looking forward to having a more "normal" work schedule that is Monday through Friday. Working at the church has definitely been a good experience for me but with the baby on the way we decided that it was in our best interest for me to have a job that wasn't seven days a week with mandatory weekends.

Ironically, I will be helping CCC through their transition by working part-time at an hourly rate for them on the weekends checking in on finances and HR stuff until they have found a replacement. I am expecting this to go on into January as this time of year brings a lot of year-end accounting work.

Baby Update

Today we were seen by another cardiologist at Mayo Clinic. There is not any new bad news nor good news to report. Our baby boy has something wrong with his heart and it is still stumping the doctors. The opinion today from cardiology is to wait four more weeks and look again. They (cardiology) would like to see him stay in the womb as long as possible and would prefer to do any necessary surgeries after he is born. We have our next OB appointment (with ultrasound) on Monday to look more at the overall growth and the left hand.

We are in the middle of taking our childbirth series classes at Olmsted Medical Center Hospital even though Sarah will give birth at Methodist Hospital and then the baby will likely be transferred to Saint Mary's Hospital.

Bella

I wanted to take a minute to tell you all that Bella is a great movie! It's not playing in every theater, and The Chateau in Rochester is the only one playing it, but only for a limited time. It was only supposed to play through yesterday, but I just checked out their website and they currently have it scheduled for another week. Anyhow, this movie is a great film with an excellent message. Apparently the people behind making it are involved in a grassroots effort to promote good cinema. I really don't know much about the background, but I do know the theater was packed, and it was excellent! If you have some time and it's playing nearby, I highly recommend it. :)

Sarah's Favorite Things...

I've been thinking that I want to share my favorite things, so here goes. Raindrops on roses, and whiskers on kittens... :)

• I love singing and being a part of the worship team at church. I was able to do that this weekend again, and it was such a joy! It was a choir weekend, which is even more spectacular and fun, and I just kept thinking that it felt like worship the way it was meant to be-- a total PARTY!
• I love my cat. This has come as such an unexpected surprise. I never cared that much for animals, but getting Blazer has been so entertaining, and he really is a sweetie!
• I love Sunday afternoon naps! John and I will often fall asleep on Sunday afternoons with the football game on, and there just is nothing more relaxing and comforting. (We did get a short one in this past Sunday- yeah!)
• I love reading! Students in my class will occassionally be rewarded with "Read and Relax" times. It's kind of a sneaky way to get kids to read and be excited about it, but it is so fun. I've planned one for tomorrow. I tell them the key word of the day is "Read," but to feel free to bring a pillow, blanket, slippers, snack, and/or beverage to help them relax. They really get excited about it- and it's not even a true "party." They just come and read for a straight 45 min. to an hour! It's fabulous. As an aside, my favorite way to read is of course on a beach or curled up by the fireplace on a snowy day.
• I love laughing! John and I totally got the giggles tonight while at our birthing class. It was completely embarrassing because it was while we were supposed to be quiet and practicing breathing, but just when one of us would calm down the other would start up again. I was crying I was laughing so hard!
• I love Thanksgiving! It is one of my favorite holidays- all of the food and family time is fabulous. Plus my birthday is always nearby, which is an added bonus. This year it is on Friday, and I get a real kick out of telling my students that we get that day off especially for me. I tell them that I arrange it every year with the Superintendent. It's pretty funny because they're not quite sure what to think.
• I love dates with my husband. This weekend I got 2! First, we went to a local "Ice Hawks" hockey game on Saturday night after church. We met up with the Jones' from church, and had a great time. Then on Sunday we saw the movie Bella, which I highly recommend, by the way. This Friday for my Birthday we are going to a MN Wild hockey game. I am pretty pumped about that, too. This week should be a blast.

Okay, I suppose that's enough favorite things for now! I'm sure I'll think of more later, and I can have a "Part 2" post sometime. :)

Picture of our Boy

Here is a picture of our boy!

Baby Update

Today's baby appointment raised more questions than answers and we request your continued prayers.

First, the condition with the heart... the baby's right ventricle is twice the normal size it should be. This could be a condition called premature ductal constriction which means the vessel that is used for blood bypass during pregnancy has been either cut-off or narrowed somehow. This duct normally closes within two days following birth once the baby is breathing on its own through its own lungs. It's not normal for this to happen in the womb. A follow-up appointment with the cardiologist has been scheduled for November 21st where they will be doing an echocardiogram (again). The good news here is that most parts of the heart are good -- blood flow, all the parts are there, etc. We have not been given any information about how the enlarged ventricle will affect the baby throughout the rest of the pregnancy and beyond.

Second, there appears (again) to only be three fingers on the left hand. While there is a slim chance that the other two are just "hiding", that is not as likely now that only three have been seen two times in a row. A third ultrasound with Mayo has been scheduled for November 26th.

Third, we have been advised to see a genetics counselor on December 3rd. The purpose is to trace back family history for three generations and to also start Mayo's researchers looking at a possible "why this happened" and "what should be done" for the rest of the pregnancy and following.

All in all, this has led to many more questions than answers and we believe that we will now be transferring our care from Olmsted Medical Center to Mayo Clinic since this isn't considered a "routine" pregnancy anymore.

Thank you for all the kind words of encouragement and prayers offered on our part. More are definitely needed.