We have made it past 24 weeks! Thanks be to our heavenly Father for watching over all three of us during this entire process and allowing us to still be in a "waiting" position. Thankfully we have had an uneventful week since we updated you last week. My parents were up over the weekend and Andrew and I were able to enjoy the fireworks from the 4th level parking ramp on Monday night. Andrew did go back to work this week and the plan is that he will continue to work as long as we are stable and return to Sioux Falls some nights to spend time with me.
Dad & Mom came to visit for a few days over the holiday weekend.
Below is a picture from the 4th of July Fireworks.
We joined a few other families on the Sanford Hospital roof to see (couldn't really hear them)
the firework display at the fairgrounds. The nurses were so kind to make popcorn for us too.
We had an ultrasound and white blood count early in the week. Surprisingly we had 4.3 cm of fluid at that point and my blood count was in the 11's. Both great numbers for us since that is the highest fluid level we had since 16 weeks and a normal pregnant woman usually isn't in the 11 range for blood count. Dr. Boyle informed us that they don't start to get alarmed with a white blood count until it is 18 or 19 which is higher than what we were thinking originally so they will continue to watch mine twice a week.
We also want to update you on our ultrasound today. If we were not in the hospital we would have had another appointment in Sioux Falls today so this was another big ultrasound with growth measurements. Our baby is currently 1 lb 10 oz. This is great to hear and the tech said that is in the 68 percentile for babies at this stage. Our fluid level was down to 2.6 cm today which I don't think we were expecting since we haven't been losing a lot of fluid this week. On the flip side, at the beginning of the ultrasound our baby had a large pocket of fluid by its mouth and when the tech went to measure fluid levels the second time that pocket was gone. Baby had swallowed the pocket and we could see that its stomach was now larger and its bladder was full. So that does give hope that baby is getting to swallow some fluid at least. And the tech's measurement of fluid was the same not including that big pocket the second time. So fluid levels are fluctuating but we are still above two which our specialist said he would be more than thrilled with for the entire time in our situation. After our ultrasound we were given a tour of the NICU. We are confident that no matter what happens God will be working through great nurses and doctors. It is amazing to see technology at work and the various sizes of babies they are treating. They currently have 51 babies in the NICU department! On our tour, I asked out of curiosity what was the smallest baby they have ever had survive....14 oz. Just a reminder that God is good and He can work miracles.
Thank you to all of you who have visited, sent emails, brought care packages, or offered to help with anything we may need. We greatly appreciate your offers and will let you know if anything arises. I knew, Lord willing, I would have a hospital stay of some kind so we were prepared with some stuff to keep me occupied while at the hospital.
We ask that you continue to pray for time. We have set a new goal now of 28 weeks. This is another month away but it is considered a big milestone for the baby again. Every day is so important for the baby to grow and develop. Also we ask for patience and safe travel. Mentally I know I can sit up here as long as we need to but it is still not the same as waiting at home. My day begins at 6 am and ends at midnight which makes for a long day when you have to try and keep yourself occupied. Andrew will be driving back and forth a lot and with crop dusting season right around the corner he will have some long days ahead of him as well.
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