Another milestone for baby jacob!

  Jacobs new big boy bed!

Jacob 3 weeks in his crib at the nicu

Well at 3 weeks old today i walked into the NICU to find Jacob's warmer bed out in the hall... and into his room to find my lil big boy in an open crib!!! Another big step towards going home now just to get my lazy little guy to eat right.

3 weeks old, 21 days!

Jacob last night at 20 days he weighed 5lb 15oz!

Well the last three weeks have really flown by but baby jacob is doing really well. He had his kidney ultrasound and they said there is no reflux but ill have to take him for another scan around 6 months and it may require surgery. Still saying duplicated ureters and duplication of the collecting systems so far. He is doing ok on feeds though he hates the bottle and hes still to young or lazy to nurse or eat, so he eats through his OG tube. He is up to 30 ml's every 3 hours not as much spitting up these days.

Jacob day 17 update..

Well my lil guy is 17 days old now, its day three of feeds and we upped them to 15 ml's per feed, now to just get him to take a bottle he just gets to sleepy or fakes sleep so he doesnt have to work for it.. haha.. He is doing really well and pooping with the help of glycerin right now.

Jacob is 2 weeks old!

Well the surgeon gave the go ahead for feeds today, but his nurse told the neo that he was "throwing up" most of the pedialyte she was giving him and wasnt ready, which wasnt true i watched her repeated suck it back out of his belly with a syringe... i will talk to the doc again tomorrow and see if we can start tomorrow... Jacob turned 2 weeks old today, cant believe how fast time is going still! Well here are a few pix of him today, none of mommy and jacob no one was around to take any..

Jacob day 13 update

Well today we tried Jacob's first feeding with pedialtye it went very well so we gave another 5mls to him at 5pm he was tolerating it well when i came home. I will find out tomorrow if we will try feeding  milk tomorrow or the next day.. Did a photoshoot today, not perfect but hey its in the NICU.. turns out Jacob loves his tummy.

Day 12 update

Well the kidney ultrasound was done today, just waiting on results though the tech said she didnt see any reflux so hoping its not an issue. His repogle was taken out today to, so far so good on that one just waiting to see if he can start feeds soon and have his first poop which as of yet hasnt happened yet. He is off the Fentanyl (pain med) drip and just getting some every 4 hours right now to finish weaning him off of it. Daddy came up to see him again today, its nice to see father and son together and im sure Jacob likes when he comes up.. down to just the broviac now and leads!! No repogle, no O2, no Vent!! Its so nice to see him not covered in stuff. Daddy also changed his first Jacob diaper today, after some insisting.. was hoping he would get pee'd on, bad mommy huh lol.

First Bath

Jacob and his Daddy Chris 1st time daddy ever held him

Bathtime.. we are taking off all the leads

All clean and tuckered out from screaming.. he hated being naked and getting a bath

Jacob had a bath today and mommy got to bathe him. He wasnt fond of cold and wet or naked but he got all his lines out for it, i got to see my baby boy with just his Broviac it was so nice to not be completely wired to everything, then daddy showed up to see jacob again for a while that doesnt get to happen often so i got a picture. Aunt Heather and Uncle Kenny came up from Arkansas to meet baby jacob to, they wont let his cousins back to see him though only siblings. Hoping we can start feeds soon, the stuff coming out of his repogle is alot lighter than it has been, it sucks the bile out of his belly since his bowels arent moving it yet.

Jacob 10 days old..

First time in clothes.. 9 days old

Big sister Charlie holding Jacob 9 days old

Big sister Chloe holding Jacob 9 days old

Mommy and Jacob 9 days old

Jacob 10 days old.. wrapped in his monkey blanket

Well yesterday was a much better day no brady's and so far none today either. Jacob gained up to 2300 grams!! Thats almost back to birth weight! just 1 gram shy of 5lb 1oz now! He is doing so very good and had his pictures taken yesterday with Santa.. He also met his two big sisters from his daddy's side yesterday to, Charlie and Chloe got to hold there new baby brother and they were pretty excited. Doc says as soon as Jacob starts having bowel movements it will be getting close to time to start feeds, so come on baby jacob ten days with no poo you got some catching up to do.. Jacob will also be getting a bath soon, cant wait to get to take part or at least take pictures for that.  He also got to wear clothes for the first time yesterday!

Brady Update..

I just talked with the Neonatologist, and Jacob will have a formal EKG in the morning to see what is going on with the Brady's (his heart rate keeps going down and stopping). Answers will be a good thing.

8 days update

Room air trial, another tube out for now

Well Jacob is doing very well, he kept pulling his nasal canula (O2 nose thing) out of his nose and into his mouth so we are doing a room air trial and if he does good and keeps his O2 up he is off the oxygen... also he has really good bowel sounds which means its all starting to work so they are talking about turning off the suction to his repougal (sp?) which is the suction tube that goes into his belly to keep anything from making it to his intestines and if he does well that comes out as well... that means we are on the verge of losing yet two more lines and im so thrilled with his progress.. if he does well with losing the suction we will start feeds soon, and soon as he is eating and pooing and all he can go home.. maybe the surgeon wasnt to off when he said he could be home by christmas.. not getting my hopes up to far but hey i can handle having him home soon.

Jacob is one week old today!

Jacob 6 days no more vent!

Jacob 1 week old.. 2nd time mommy got to hold him.

Well one week old now, my how time is flying for me!! Jacob weighed 2150 grams last night that is a great gain from the night before at 2085! That is 4lb 11oz!!! Such a strong lil man and such a fighter to! He is doing amazing on the nasal canula for a 33 week preemie i think thats amazing esp with his issues!! He had a few brady's this morning (heart rate went down to the 70s and 80s but only 2x so far.. i told him not to do that it scares momma... I cant wait to bring my little guy home and have all my kiddos under one roof again. My big 5 may be back up here after school tomorrow for christmas break im really hoping that happens i miss them alot, its been 6 weeks that they have been in Cheyenne now. I have a few new pix of Baby Jacob i will post today ill try not to overload LOL.. Now to think up a nickname for this little guy?? Hmmm gotta get to thinking all my kiddos had nicknames. Cant wait for him to be able to wear clothes and socks and hats and ya i cant wait to dress my little man up.

I have a few ideas for his first pictures when we bust him outta this joint, one is with Mr. David's flag from his funeral, David would have loved this little guy had he been ours and even without him being his David loved babies, i still remember that grin that no one could get off his face when he held Liv.. I can see him in my mind standing over Jacob with that grin... Jacob has a gaurdian angel and what a good one at that, i have to say i think thats why he is making such progress David is cheering him on!! Hmm more pic idea's lil man in the kevlar cushioned with a bit of something hehehe.. and in his little butt cover with his last name on it.. and mabye with his daddy's uniform somehow.. if Daddy ever decides to come see his baby boy again that is... if not ill just do something else.

Jacob 6 day update 2

Jacob has been extubated and his PICC line is removed, i got to hold him for the first time today. Wish i could have had a picture but no one was there to take one and my camara card was at home. Its ok though ill get a picture tomorrow and hold him again to.. He is doing so well i cant wait to bring him home.

Jacob day 6 wonderful updates!

The neonatoligist came in this morning and said that jacob is doing so well and breathing over the vent that he will most likely be extubated (vent removed) today in a few hours!!

Then the surgeon came in to ck his belly from primary closure yesterday and said it was amazing it was so soft, he said jacob really wants his guts inside because the reductions went faster than normal and he took in about a 1/2 in of bowel every day other than the one inch reduction and his surgery was a day early!! He said that he is doing so great his original thought of feeds in 3 weeks has now been bumped to ONE WEEK!!! He also said he could possibly be home by christmas, im not holding my breath on that one but hey if it happens and hes outta here in 10 days ill be so freaking thrilled!!

 Im hoping things keep going great and i have my baby boy home soon.. oh ya and if he gets off the vent today I GET TO HOLD HIM for the first time, not just lift him, but hold him... i am having an awesome morning.

I left my camara at home, i headed up here at 5am so total exhausted brain fart so i will get it in a bit and bring it up to take pix of lil man without the vent later!!!

5 days old Primary Closure surgery today and Broviac placement

Jacob before his surgery

Well today is the day!! Jacob is having primary closure ( they are closing the big hole in his belly ) and placing his Broviac line ( it will be a much better way to give him lipids and sugars basically feed him until he can eat ) we are about to get underway with prepping him for surgery so i will update again after its over. This is a big step im excited but nervous and scared but it will go well.

Jacob after surgery.. no more silo!

No more silo.. and broviac is in!

Surgery is over, it went well and he now has a closed belly and makeshift belly button. Looks like he has an infection in his belly so they are doing cultures to see what antibiotic to give him. He has his broviac in place as well. Now its a waiting game to see when we can start feeds.

Primary Closure!!

He got his hands stuck.. so cute

Heres my handsome lil man..

Bowel is all in!!!

Final reduction done surgery is tomorrow!

Well all his bowel went in this morning so we arent waiting till wednesday!! Primary Closure and Broviac placement will be tomorrow, still waiting on a time but this is a big step!! Jacob is doing really well the pain meds are keeping him so calm and sleepy but not in pain so that is good, he had to have a bolous after the reduction but is sleeping again and no pain. I am amazed at my lil boy every single day at how well he is doing and how much he is going through.

I got to change his diaper this morning for the first time, and i will start being able to do some of his other care as well, i also got to give him his Nystatin this morning, its so nice to be able to help take care of my baby boy... and he didnt lose much more weight only around 5 grams or so so he is holding steady around 4lb 7-8oz right now.

Well im going to go back in to be with him now but i will post new pix soon, i left the camara in his room...

Jacob day 3..

Jacob

This is today after the reduction!! Look how much is in now!

Well Jacob's pain meds increase is working so far.. hes far less unhappy and in pain with more meds in him. They are working on his fluids to since he is peeing alot and losing alot of weight from that. The surgeon came in while we were letting the kids meet baby jacob one at a time and he reduced about another inch of his bowel into his belly!! So far we are on track for a primary closure surgery on wednesday the 15th!! He is doing ok, i will be going back to the NICU later after i get a nap and the kids leave. I will update more later after i go back.

Jacob day 2..

This silent cry breaks my heart.

Jacob under the bili lights.

Well Jacob was in a bit of pain today but his pain med drip is starting to help.. The surgeon came in and reduced his bowel again a bit so far im hearing that surgery will be next wednesday the 15th. They tried to extubated him but it didnt work so hes still on the vent but very low settings, they think hes just in to much pain to worry with breathing all the time alone so far. He went from 2235 grams to 2045 grams from last night to tonight to. That is a drop to 4lb 8oz in 2 days but i guess thats to be expected. His bili lights that they started have been discontinued because his level's came down. He is holding his own and it really hurt to walk away from the NICU today without him and leave the hospital but i have to stay strong for him, seems im in this alone...

Jacob is HERE!!

Jacob Alan David Stone named after the strongest man i know is here. He was born Dec 9th 2010 at 4:37pm at 33w gestation. He was 5lb 1oz at birth and 18.5 inches long. He was a big boy for his gestational age i think, wonder just how big he would have been had he gone to term? Ok heres the story.. pull up a chair.

Dec 3rd I had permission to make a trip 3 hours away to spend the weekend with my kids and what a weekend it was, it was Jacob's big brothers 8th bday coming up so i went up. On Dec 6th i woke up and was still sitting on the couch at my moms house, it was time to go home day... and my water broke. No contractions starting so i saw the kiddos off to school then threw my things in the truck and mom rushed me back to the springs 3 hours away. Got home got my car from a friends picked up a few things, yes this redneck momma stopped at walmart first LOL. Then headed to L&D where it was confirmed i was indeed ruptured.

Dr's decided since i was only 32w5d by there due date of 1-26-11 that they would start antibiotics and try to keep me pregnant for awhile. I heard first till 34 weeks which would have been wed dec 15 then they said mabye 36 if we could get that far.

Dec 7th started feeling pain in my belly... it was pretty bad so talked to nurse who told doc.I also started passing meconium Jacob had a bowel movement while inside.

Dec 8th Dr came in i think around noonish and talked to me, felt around and said that i may have an infection so they would do an amnio to ck for that and lung maturity 2pm rolls around and they do the amnio 4pm rolls around and i get the results that i am indeed infected and its baby time.. about 6pm they finally bring in the pitocin and get the party started.. ya.. about i think 10pm that night we started to see some contractions it was very slow going my infected uterus didnt want to contract and make progress so it was a long road.. after laboring all night and only getting to a 4 i think they decided to bump the pit from 28 back to 8 and start over. Then jacob's heart which had been decent 120s-150s with some decels some that went low enough to scare this mommy.. jumped up to the 170s and was racing along no matter what we did, so oxygen it was until the birth..

Dec 9th they started the pit back from 8 and worked there way up, heart was staying high for almost the entire time, i was scared but trying to get through. His dad never showed up while i was laboring despite telling me he would and the pain from the infection hurt so bad i gave in and got the epidural. I figured without chris there for support and everyone else had gone home for the night i couldnt do it alone.

By 1pm i made it to 5cm
230pm made it to 7.5 FINALLY progressing!
315pm made it to 9!! Kept feeling lots of pressure from contractions
by 4 i was really feeling different so i called the nurse in.. she was very rude, asked me if i thought they werent ready for me cause i told her i felt like it was time, i asked her to ck me and she just lifted the blanket and said nope no baby there you have to wait... i was discouraged.. i refused to call the nurse again she said THEY would know when it was time and basically i had no say.. so i sat there and breathed through it all, i knew i was ready to push long before they decided it was time to stop chit chatting and come in but i breathed through it and breathed and breathed and wanted to cry.. Anna was mad she was standing right by me and heard the nurse and well she was angry.
Kept feeling pressure, kept fighting the urge to push finally doc comes in and says you feel like pushing and i may have yelled yes a bit loudly.. this was what 420pm they start getting things together and they say ok lets try a few "practice pushes" around what 435pm didnt even pull up the stirups just laid down the pads and stuff i did my "practice pushes" and 1st push his head was out.. doc said WOW you werent kidding your a really good pusher.. 2nd barely a push and baby was out!! 4:37 pm Jacob graced us with his presence.. NICU nurse came over to take him and someone said do we have confirmation that its a boy?? Couldnt see a penis his bowel was all in th way but i saw the stream of urine.. he said ill teach you all to mess with me and peed LOL.. Such a handsome little man with a full head of hair, they took him straight to the warmer and bundled up his bowel and started bagging him then intubated him. After he was stable they asked if his daddy was going to be there and i said yes he says he was close they said we cant wait we have to get him to the NICU so Annalise cut the cord and off he went.. about what less than 5 minutes later they tell me Chris is in the hall, i said he can come in and the nurse said he doesnt want to he wants to see the baby.. they told him he had to wait they were working on him so he came in the room. After they had me cleaned up and then moved up to mother baby we waited around for a bit longer and around i think 7pm we were finally able to go to NICU and see the baby again.

Dec 10th Jacob is doing better today, he doesnt like the beeping of the machines he kinda jumps at each beep, he is not sedated heavily now. The nurses changed his bed and made a little hole for him to lay in to feel closed in a bit more and he likes to kick his foot up at the bottom and get comfy its so cute.. he is also under bili lights because his level was a 7 and they wanted to get treatment underway.. they say he will be extubated in the am if he does ok... cant wait to see his little face without that tube in the way at least for a little bit..

weight is 4lb 14oz today!

26 week appt/ultrasound.. update not so good

Well little man has officially be diagnosed with IUGR interuterine growth restriction. He is in the 10th percentile at 1lb 11oz at the moment.. he also had a out of range renal measurement that they will be following as well, hoping that clears up. They said he is viable and if things go south they will take him right away now.. his movements somedays are few and far between so im keeping a close eye on that. Im worried about my lil man Jacob.. i love him so much already and just want him to hang out in there for as long as he can to get bigger. Trying to deal with all that is going on along with not having much in the way of support from his dad but my friends are my rock and they will always be there for me i know that much. I am glad i have such good friends which most are like my family as well. I will have my last 3D sonogram tomorrow, lots more pictures of my fave lil man i love seeing him move and kick and be all cute on the sonogram!

23 week pictures

22 week belly

23 week belly

22w3d face look at those lips

22w3d face

Here are the face pix i got at the 23 week sonogram the pix in the last update are 17 week sono pix

23 weeks pregnant now.

Well now that lil man has a set in stone name which is Jacob the blog is here to stay, just fyi sorry for the changes. I had a sonogram at 22w3d and Jacob was 15oz. Im still not showing much but he is a good size so its all good i guess. I also had the echo of his heart which showed us that so far the gastro is his only midline defect his heart is perfect looking on ultrasound. He has been getting more active but has his times and such when he is really chilled out. His room is almost complete since he turned into a boy we had to exchange all the girl stuff then repaint the nursery since the old owners had it done up for a girl. Well that is all for now next growth ultrasound is Oct 20th hope to see him packing on some weight by then.

21 weeks 1 day First high risk OB appt

21 week belly

Well i had my first ob visit with the peri's. She said my uterus is right where it should be so all is well even though i sure dont look 21 weeks. I have another growth ultrasound and his heart echo on the 22nd so i should get to see how much he weighs then, i know at 18 weeks he was 8oz. Cant wait to see how much he has grown. They will be setting up appts  for our nicu tour and i will be meeting with the baby's doctor ( for after his birth) soon to. Then i will be able to ask all the questions he can answer about this.

20 weeks

20 week belly

Well i have made it to the halfway point of this pregnancy and still not really looking to pregnant but oh well i guess there is nothing i can do about it. I have my first full ob appt with the MFM on the 13th and my next sonogram to check on lil mister Jacob on the 22nd. They will do a full sonogram and growth and an echo of his heart as well.

Ciera grew a penis...

Well the baby formerly known as Ciera is now known as Jacob and i don't know how to change the name of this blog so I'm guessing ill probably have to make a new one and delete this one. I went to my Level 2 ultrasound today and found out that the baby was weighing 8oz and that he was doing ok and stubborn LOL.. just like daddy. We saw his face, legs, arms, feet, back and then finally the tech said Well i think the first thing you should do is stop calling the baby a she... she has a penis. I was well shocked.. so now we have a baby Jacob on the way. I see the Peri on Monday for the first time and have an echo of his heart in 4 weeks on 9-23. We will just keep on going and get ready for our sons arrival. Now to return all the pink stuff for blue.. LOL... Sorry Jacob for thinking you were a girl for a few weeks, daddy and I love you that will never change! So excited to prepare for the son i wanted from the time the stick turned pink now!!!

16 weeks 2 days general update

16 w belly

19 w belly

17 week sono.. looks like hes screaming leave me alone i have a headache mommy

Well I'm 16 weeks and 2 days now. Starting to feel little mister Jacob moving some but mainly at night, this little boy really likes to kick at night when i lay down in bed. I am still not showing, i get the wow your pregnant, your HOW far along.. nooooo... But ya i honestly think if i hadn't seen the ultrasounds i wouldn't believe i was pregnant either. I probably could have ended up being one of those that didn't even know for the whole time if i hadn't been so sick in the beginning but I'm glad i know because that means we know he is going to need medical intervention when he is born. I need to figure out how to post pictures on this blog that would really help i guess. Thinking of doing my second 3D/4D sonogram next week since i will have so many in the end that i don't think i will really have time later on. Cant wait till Jacob is released from the NICU after his birth i think then i will breathe a huge sigh of relief and not worry as much.

Jacob's diagnosis.. the start of it all

You can see his gastro defect here

Another good shot of the gastro i guess she was really looking at it

And that hiney i was talking about

I found out back in may that i am pregnant with baby 6, a few weeks ago his father and I broke up. We are trying to work on being friends right now. But on to his update.

On Aug 3rd i went to a local 3D/4D Ultrasound place, just for fun and to see if i could find out if the baby was a boy or a girl. Well he was very stubborn and turned to face my back but completely adorable when we saw his handsome little face for a few seconds. And of course his hiney is cute to. I kept seeing something on his tummy but figured if something was wrong she would have said something, turns out she couldn't say anything because she isn't allowed to diagnose. The lady that runs the place got on the phone right away to my OB, she told him that during my exam she saw a defect and sent him a disc of my pictures. The Dr's office called me on Aug 4th and told me that something was found and i needed to come in the next morning during walk in. They said that i may have to see maternal fetal medicine which is the high risk Dr's for problems i knew then that something was very wrong and i was scared to death.

On Aug 5th i went to my OB's office, my good friend Katie went with me since the baby's father didn't come, Katie didn't want me to get bad news alone. As soon as i sat down the Dr asked me what i knew so far. I told him i hadn't been told anything, he said well from the pictures what do you think. I said well their is this thing on his belly and i know it shouldn't be there. He said I was right, it is called Gastroschisis which is the long name for his intestines are outside of his belly. I just sat there scared thinking what will i do now, how will i handle this. I was very scared and am still scared but talking to people who have been through this and reading alot. I have an appt for a level 2 ultrasound on Aug 26th and then i will go talk to the Peri and get counseled on what this all means and what will happen from here.

Basically as soon as Jacob is born they will take him straight to the NICU team, he will be placed in a sterile plastic bag that will go up to his chest that will keep him warm and keep germs off his organs. Then he will be taken to the NICU to be stabilized and they will be able to tell from there if he can have surgery to replace his intestines in his belly that day or if it will take a few days and the help of a "silo" to get them back in his tummy. Then it will be time for him to heal and learn to eat and be able to get better and that part may take a bit of time. He will probably be in the hospital from 4-12 weeks or more from what i have read. It will be so hard to go home and leave my baby boy in the NICU but its where he will need to be.

I'm scared to set up his nursery and feel like shopping for him now is going to jinx things, Chris says i have to stop thinking that way. I need to think of a good outcome so that we are ready for him when he finally does come home.  It is scary but i need to do it and work on my being scared. I need to be strong but I'm so tired of having to be strong all the time but i know i need to be.

Maybe if things were different between Chris and I right now this would be a slightly easier thing to deal with, we have this huge rift between us and i really cant even lean on him for the support i need so badly but I'm glad i have wonderful friends to lean on instead.

Jacob will probably be coming early, somewhere between 35-37 weeks which puts his birth around Dec 19th and Jan 2nd i guess.. that is where things stand right now. I guess i will update when i have news to update with.