The Story of Isaac

24 Weeks and Potty training...

We went to an appointment with my OB-GYN, Dr. Ryder, last Wednesday (also the day after my birthday!) for a regular pre-natal visit.  I will continue to see her every 4 weeks and she will check blood pressure, urine, weight, and heartbeat.  They check urine and blood pressure of all pregnant women to makes sure you aren't showing signs of pre-eclampsia (what Sybil had in Downton Abbey).  She listened to the heartbeat and said everything looked great!  It was nice to go to a "regular" ob visit even though this pregnancy is far from normal.  Our next appointment is next Friday the 15th with Dr. Weiss, the maternal fetal specialist.  And then after that I see Dr. Ryder again on April 3rd and have to drink the dreaded "glu-cola" sugar drink to test for gestational diabetes.   We're hoping to meet with the surgeon and see the NICU soon. It will be good to ask questions and see everything.

The micro-array results came back with some interesting news.  The karyo-typing did not pick up anything wrong on any of the chromosomes but the microarray looks even closer.  It found a "micro-deletion" on the 8th chromosome.  What is that teeny tiny deletion related to?  Yup, CDH.  It is amazing that they can even find this micro-deletion, something even 10 years ago they couldn't even see.  There is a chance that Brian or I have this same micro-deletion so we will get a test done to check.  This deletion is not related to any neurological problems, but it is related to heart problems, so we will continue to check on Isaac's heart and pray that it continues to look great.  I'm sure everyone has some sort of micro-deletion and the more we learn about the genome the better we can learn about and treat all sorts of problems.  Yay, science! 

Isaac is kicking a lot and likes to wake me up at 4 am when my bladder is full.  After I go to the bathroom, it is hard to fall back asleep while he kicks so we enjoy some quality time together.  I'm trying to be thankful for all the time I have with him, even at 4 am.  Thanks, buddy!


In other big news, this weekend is Brian's birthday and potty training weekend! (potty training for Nathan, Brian is pretty good in that department)  So far this morning, Nathan is doing great.  4 trips to the potty and still dry undies.  We're hoping to get him at least day trained because he has to be potty trained for preschool in the fall.  Since we'll be spending a lot of time in the NICU all summer, we figured we better start this process sooner than later! 

I've been doing a lot of research and there is one thing in particular that makes me rather sad and that is that I won't get to hold Isaac for possibly weeks after he is born.  I know it is more important that he is taken care of and breathing well, but I can tell you that holding your baby is all you can think about while you're pregnant and even more so after he is born.  It must be some kind of built-in motherly instinct thing.  Last night as I rocked Nathan and sang him songs, I realized I am also holding and rocking Isaac and that made me smile.  Hang in there buddy, we love you.