Catching Up

So sorry I haven't written in a while - gosh, where did the time go? Emily is 2 months old, Ryan is 14 months, I've returned to work, things are approaching "normal."

The latest news... we took Emily for her 2 month checkup and all is well with her. She weighs 9 and a half pounds and is at the 40th percentile mark for height, weight, and head circumference. AWESOME! That is compared to other 2 month olds - not taking into account that she was 5 weeks early! She's doing great and we couldn't be happier.

Ryan was such a little ham in the doctor's office today. Dr. Boylston is back from her own maternity leave and Ryan was really showing off for her. He was hilarious. We spent most of the appointment laughing at him - he was like a little pinball bouncing around the office from one thing to the next, trying to see what kind of trouble he could start. He ran straight into the door (on purpose) and then turned around and ran straight into the opposite wall (also on purpose). He got a little red bump on his head but it didn't slow him down. He then decided to open one of the drawers and empty out the specimen cups that were in there. They were clean. :) He is just always going 100 mph. He has really been enjoying the top of the dining room table - we can't keep him off of it. I cleared it off thinking that if he didn't find anything interesting up there he wouldn't care to get on top of it. Nope. He must think I cleared it off to give him more room to play! He pulls out a chair, and just climbs right up. He can get himself up and get himself down. Totally scares us though.

Ryan has started crafting at daycare - here are some pictures of what he's done for us!


(sponge painting, a bird feeder, a flower fan?, and a mobile)

He has also "planted" grass in a small container and I have to admit it's greener than the grass in our yard! (Darn drought!)



Also, Ryan has really taken up swimming. He has been to a real pool twice now and he just loves being in the water. It is so fun to watch him! Here are some pictures of us at Cousin Annabel's birthday party last weekend!








And here are a few more pictures of our little Emily. The first picture is her 2 month picture that we took today at JCPenneys. The quilt she is on in the second picture was made by Ms. Donna - isn't it great?




Emily is very laid back (especially compared to our super busy Ryan). She sleeps a lot, rarely gets worked up, and spends a lot of her awake time stretching! (Super cute!) She tolerates her big brother well and is just a really good baby. Her hair has a touch of strawberry blonde and her eyes are still blue. We'll have to see if they stay that way!

Phew! That was a lot! Enough for now! I'll write again soon.

(Oh, real quick - Father's Day was great - Shane's mom has been in town and she was able to celebrate with us as well as Ryan's Uncle Scott (who is also his Godfather) and his beautiful fiance Sarah. We had a nice lunch. And going back to work has been challenging but also fun. Everybody has been so welcoming and nice and I haven't forgotten everything - except all of my passwords, I had to reset ALL of them! Ha!) Until next time... much peace.

Emily's Doctor Visit

Emily went in to see the doctor today - we were concerned about the shape of her head and the shape/size of her abdomen. Her head is kind of elongated toward the back and her tummy looks a little swollen compared to the size of her chest. It turns out both of these things are very very common with preemie babies and they should clear themselves up with time. She was not concerned about Emily at all. We can start putting Emily in the bouncy chair and I can take her out shopping and we can take her to church. The doctor recommended that I carry Emily in a carrier up against me (we have a sling and a Baby Bjorn) so that people won't be tempted to touch her and give her their germs. Shane and I are germ freaks and it really scares us when people touch her without washing their hands (you'd be surprised, it happens A LOT) so the doctor validating our concerns about germs makes me really want to stick to my guns. :)

Emily is 5 weeks old today and has just reached her "due date." That is so crazy to me! She weighs 8 lbs, 1 oz and is almost 21" long. She is at the 50th percentile for length (yay!) and 25th percentile for weight. Those percentiles are for 5 week old babies, and it doesn't take into account that she was preemie at all. I am VERY happy about that! We have stretched out her meals and instead of waking her up to eat every 3 hours we go about 3 and a half or even 4 hours. That may not sound like much of a difference to you but in the middle of the night it is a BIG difference. :) And because she is gaining weight so well, we are sort of waiting for her to tell us when she's hungry and not just offering a bottle because it's time for one. (But don't worry, we don't let her go more than 4 hours. A growing girl's gotta eat!)

The current debate in our house is about getting Emily's ears pierced. I would like to have them done sooner rather than later. Shane wants to wait until she is 8 or 9. And only if she wants to have them done. I asked the doctor about it and she said that it is so interesting because in the south many people think that the baby gets her ears pierced as soon as she gets out of the womb. (She's from the Midwest so that was a real shock to her when they moved to San Antonio.) I had no idea that piercing a baby's ears at a certain age was a regional thing! Anyway, the doctor recommends to either do it when the baby is very young (2-4 months) but not before she gets her first tetanus shot or wait until she is able to understand that she can't mess with her ears and she needs to clean them everyday for a while to prevent infection. Dr. McNair had her daughter's ears pierced in Kindergarten. My fear is that if we wait until Emily is older she might get one done and then get so freaked out that she won't want to have the other one done! Maybe that's just my fear of needles but I can tell you I am grateful to my parents for having mine pierced so young. I was only two days old and I am so glad that I have my ears pierced! I'm glad it was done and I don't remember any of it! So, I will work on Shane. This will probably be as difficult as trying to convince him to get a cell phone. :) I will still try. After all, Emily already has a pair of beautiful diamond earrings courtesy of Grandma Margaret and Grandfather, Sir. (Probably doesn't help my argument with Shane though.) Ha! I wonder what Shane will be like about makeup and dating! :) Poor sweet Emily.

Sharing

I had to share a sweet story about our little boy. Last night, little Emily was crying while Ryan was trying to go to sleep. He gets a bottle every evening and when Daddy went over to pick Emily up, Ryan came over and offered her his bottle. How sweet!! When we can get him to pay attention to her (he usually just acts very uninterested) he will smile at her or try to put his head on her tummy. I think that's his version of a hug.

He has been funnier than normal lately - he does something really cute and then smiles and laughs at himself. Even if he's misbehaving (like climbing in the drawer of the coffeetable) we can't help but laugh at him. He's such a little goober! He also thinks kissing is funny. He'll come over to give me a kiss and then just laugh afterwards. It's so cute.

He's also getting too smart for his own good. He has figured out how to use the remote to knock Emily's bottle off the table so he can have it. And he knows that the remote makes something happen to the TV and he'll push the buttons while aiming it. Maybe we watch too much TV?? He also will bring a pillow over to the couch so he can stand on it to climb onto the couch. Nothing is safe around here!!!!

We are really enjoying our little ones right now. We are so blessed.

Ryan in the pool!

Ryan got a kiddie pool for his birthday this year from Uncle Scott and Sarah - here are some pictures of him playing in it yesterday!

Doctor checkups

Emily had her checkup today (she turned 2 weeks old yesterday) and everything is looking GREAT! She is gaining weight like a champ. If you remember, she was born at 6 lbs, went down to 5 lbs and 7 oz, last week was 5 lbs 13 oz, and today weighs an astounding 6 lbs, 8 oz! YAY! I'm so relieved. She is also more energetic and is acting more and more like a newborn. She actually has outgrown one of her preemie hats! The doctor said it is not unusual for preemies to kind of "sleep" until their due date so we are not as worried about that. She sleeps most of the time. She has short periods of quiet alertness (my favorite is the 1 am bout of "alertness") and otherwise is really only awake for eating. And for some reason when I feed her I have to constantly wake her up in the middle of eating! I think she just gets too comfy and cozy. Unless something else comes up between now and then, she won't have to be back at the doctor until she is 2 months!

I had my checkup yesterday with my OB and everything is looking good. The incision is healing nicely and I am feeling a lot better, too. I'm down to taking Tylenol only once a day. I'm ready to be off of Tylenol! I don't like taking meds everyday so I'd really like to decrease anything that I can. I actually went shopping yesterday at Target and then went back today. It was so fun to see everything that has changed! Today I actually drove myself! I felt so empowered! I have not been able to drive since the middle of January so it was great to actually get behind the wheel! Anyway, I couldn't stay out long - I got tired very quickly and I am still experiencing a lot of back pain. I will just keep trying - I'm sure I'll be back up to a full day of shopping soon! (But the baby shouldn't go out until she's at least 6 weeks old so that might cramp my shopping habit just a bit!)

Emily Grace

Emily Update and Grandfather Sir Update

Emily went for her first post-hospital checkup today and the pediatrician said she was doing "perfect." She weighs 5 lbs, 13 oz which is fantastic news! (She was born at 6 lbs and went down to 5 lbs, 7 oz when she left the hospital - that might sound scary but it is very normal to lose up to 15% body weight after delivery and then the baby should regain that weight in 10-14 days.) She's right on track! (Of course we have to realize that all the scales could be slightly different so the real measure will be when she goes for another checkup next week.)

Also, the "substitute" pediatrician (our regular pediatrician is on maternity leave) said that it is so good that the hospital does the Car Seat Tolerance Test because there are many "miracle" babies that are born at 2 lbs or whatever and finally get released from the hospital after doing so well and then die on the way home from the hospital because of the car seat! Who knows what might have happened had they not tested Emily and sent her home earlier or in a different car seat! We're glad she is in a better car seat. The pediatrician also said that when Emily gets to the age where she would have been "full-term" we no longer have to worry about her breathing/oxygen levels in the car seat. Until then we will limit her trips strictly to the doctor's office and back. She is just too fragile although you can't tell by looking at her - she looks and acts like a normal newborn! We were so happy to get a good report from the doctor. The doctor was very pleased at how much Emily is eating and says she's right on track. The "substitute" doctor was not the same doctor we saw in the hospital but she will see her again next week for consistency. We have been so pleased with the pediatrician's practice that we have - they are always better than we expect. Either we have low expectations or they really stand out in the health care industry.

Grandfather, Sir has finished his radiation treatments! He is in San Antonio with us for the weekend and then will be returning to Midland on Sunday. The doctors have warned him that this next week will be the hardest on him and he is already starting to feel that today. He is extremely tired and in physical pain at the site of the radiation. The radiation actually burned the hair off on the side of his head and his neck and shoulder look like they have been badly burned as well. The skin looks almost raw - I can't imagine the pain associated with that. He said it is a burning sensation. In addition, his tastebuds have been dramatically effected. Nothing tastes good, even water is almost unbearable. But he has to drink more water than usual because he had one salivary gland removed in surgery a few months ago and the other has been "blitzed" by the radiation. We take saliva for granted - you NEED saliva to be able to chew and swallow and digest food properly. Think of eating a biscuit that is already dry by itself and then not being able to produce enough saliva to break it down. It would be a big doughy ball in your mouth. Everything feels like eating a big doughy ball. Except most things taste really really bad. He says the best thing to eat is anything with some kind of broth base like wonton soup. How much wonton soup can one person eat? I don't know. I can't imagine going through this if he was a picky eater. I'm sure picky eaters would automatically have to get a feeding tube just to get enough energy to make it through the day. Thankfully he hasn't had to have a feeding tube but this has been really really hard on him. His discipline and faith I'm sure have helped him through his worst days - I hope they continue to support him in what lies ahead.

My mom is planning to go back to Midland with Dad (if Ryan will let her go - he's pretty attached - probably because he sees a pair of arms that are not too busy or too tired to pick him up!) for this most challenging week and then hopefully will be back here to help take care of us next week when Shane gets back to work. She is going to be SO EXHAUSTED by the time this is all said and done - she's going to need a vacation! (But she'll probably want to take a vacation in her own home where she can sleep in her own bed! It's been a long time since she's had much time there! Her golfing buddies miss her a lot I'm sure! Margaret?! Margaret who??!) We'd like to keep her for the rest of the summer but we'd settle for anything she wants to give. There's nothing like having your mommy to take care of you.

Anyway, I'm recovering as well as possible, I guess. I had a regular delivery with Ryan so I don't have anything to compare this c-section to. I hoped recovery would be quicker and less painful - shows how much I know. I don't know what those celebrities are thinking when they "elect" a c-section. IDIOTS! Abdominal surgery is right up there with medieval torture for me! (Okay, in medieval torture they probably don't offer pain pills afterward or a spinal or epidural of which I had both - but you get my drift.)

Mom and I want to thank everyone (again) for all of your prayers and thoughts and time and everything else that you all have been so generous with. Our friends and family have helped us through this very difficult time (you know who you are) so thank you thank you. I hope that we will recognize the opportunities to "pay-it-forward" to you or to other people that need us as much as we have needed you all. Thanks again. We are truly blessed. We will keep adding to this blog - hopefully with all things light and cheery from here on out. No more dangerous pregnancies, no more cancer or radiation, no more sadness. It will be all things bright and beautiful. :) Much love...

Emily Grace

Yay! Emily is home!

Emily passed the Car Seat Tolerance Test and is home with us now! She passed the test using the preemie car seat and it just seems SO big for her little tiny body. She has lost weight (always happens in the first week after birth) so she is down to 5 lbs 7 oz. She was born at an even 6 lbs. She needs to return to her birth weight in 10-14 days. She has a checkup at the pediatrician's office on Friday.

Meanwhile, Ryan is going for his 1 year checkup this afternoon. He will have immunizations and we will be told the changes we can make to his diet (i.e. we can introduce whole milk, etc).

We are SO happy to have both of our kids safe and healthy and HOME. Thanks for all the extra prayers.

Love,
Becca, Shane, Ryan, and Emily

Mommy's home; Emily's not

I was discharged from the hospital last night but Emily had to stay because she failed the Car Seat Breathing Tolerance Test again. The pediatrician on-call (our pediatrician has a 2 week old baby and is still on maternity leave) recommended that we purchase a "preemie" car seat and try that to see if it would help. It didn't. So the pediatrician ordered that Emily go into the NICU to see the car seat "specialist." She had to stay overnight in the regular nursery and then transfer to the NICU this morning. There are two things that could happen if she fails the test again. First, she could stay in the hospital until her breathing improves while she is strapped in the car seat. They will continue to test her and then will release her when it is safe. The interesting thing is, we thought this had to do with lung maturity, a common problem with a baby born at 35 weeks. The charge nurse from the NICU came to visit us before we left the hospital last night and she said that it probably has nothing to do with lung maturity and more to do with positioning in the car seat. Her little body probably has a hard time keeping her head up and her chin probably drops down to her chest, cutting off her oxygen supply. (The nurse we spoke to had not been there for any of the tests that Emily had failed but gathered that from the fact that Emily doesn't seem to have any other breathing problems except in the car seat.) The other thing that could happen is the NICU could recommend a "Car Bed." Nobody could give us too many details about the Car Bed I guess because it is pretty rare for a baby to have to go home in one. Most babies in the NICU that would require a Car Bed have other health issues that have to be resolved before they can be discharged. It appears as though this is the only problem that Emily is having so nobody that we spoke to can really explain what might happen. The Car Bed is like a car seat, the baby gets strapped in and everything, but is in a completely horizontal position, from what I understand. Car Beds are not available for regular purchase and would have to be cleared by the pediatrician before they would let a baby leave the hospital in one. I guess the hospital provides one if they decide that it would be the best way to go? We don't really know the answer to that.

I called the hospital a few minutes ago and Emily has already transferred to the NICU and they are conducting the test as I am typing this. They were using the preemie car seat for the initial test. I am to call back in an hour to get the results of the test.

It was nearly impossible to leave Emily at the hospital last night. We knew prior to delivery that a stay in the NICU was possible but then they said everything was fine and she was able to sleep in my room and it appeared that she was going to be able to come home with us and there would be no more chance of her needing extra medical attention. We had no idea that there was a Car Seat Tolerance Test (they call it a "study" and I recommended they change the name to something that would convey to parents that the successful passing of the "study" would be required before the baby would be released from the hospital). We thought it was a safety test, to make sure the baby was buckled in correctly, etc. As it turns out, I'm glad they do this kind of test - it would be horrible if we were driving Emily home and something tragic happened because she couldn't breathe properly and we had no idea that anything was wrong. So, I'm glad they do this test - they require it for any baby that is born less than 37 weeks gestation. I just wish that our little one was a bit stronger and didn't have to be put through all of this. And I wish that insurance would have let me stay in the hospital as long as my baby girl had to stay there. Alas, that is not the case. I have never had to do anything as difficult as leaving my newborn baby behind in the hands of strangers. I completely trust the caregivers in the nursery and especially in the NICU but it still was SO HARD to leave her there. I'm anxious to get back to the hospital to hold her and love on her. I really enjoyed coming home, showering in my own shower, sleeping in my own bed (haven't been home in 2 weeks and a day) but I'd trade that to be with Emily in a heartbeat. Funny how motherhood changes your perspective on things. Please pray that Emily is strong enough to hold her head up in one of the car seats so she can come home soon.

For those of you wondering about my dad... after today he has 3 more treatments of radiation and will be done on Friday. He is really having a hard time eating and has lost a lot of weight because of it. I hope that he has seen the worst of it, but we can't be sure until everything is said and done. (I've been told it will probably get a bit worse before it gets better.) He is incredibly strong and I can't imagine going through that kind of treatment. I hope everything heals as quickly as possible.

Thanks for all the extra prayers for our family. We'll keep in touch.

Baby Details

Gosh! I didn't realize I hadn't updated this with baby info! Emily Grace Siebenaler was born on Thursday, April 30th at 2:52 pm. She was 6 lbs and 19 inches long and came out kicking and screaming! It was such a relief to hear her crying in the operating room!

Because she was premature, she did have to go the Transition Nursery in the NICU but only had to stay about 6 hours. Then, Emily was able to join me in the Post-Partum room and has been doing very well. We were supposed to go home on Sunday but Emily had some trouble breathing in the car seat. Here at Methodist they have a policy to conduct what's called a Car Seat Study on all babies that are born before 37 weeks. They place the baby in his/her car seat and check oxygenation, breathing, and heart rate. Emily took the test twice and failed both times so they want to try to take the test again tomorrow (Monday) to see if that was just a fluke or if we need to get a special car seat designed specifically for premature babies. We're crossing our fingers that she will pass the test today - I'm not sure that a different car seat will fit in our car with Ryan's new toddler seat!

Other than the car seat study, Emily has been doing great. Ryan doesn't realy know how to act around her but watches very intently if anyone in the room is giving her attention. He just stares at her - it's pretty cute. He's not sure what to think. :)

My Mom was able to come down to San Antonio on Thursday and went back to Houston to be with my Dad on Saturday. I'm glad she got to meet Emily. Mom thinks Emily looks like me as a baby - but I can't tell. We'll have to look at my baby pictures when we get home.

Thank you to everyone that has come for a visit and/or helped with Ryan. Scott and Sarah have helped us with Ryan A BUNCH and Fran was able to spend the night with me on Saturday night so Shane could take care of Ryan at home. We are so lucky to be surrounded by people that are so willing to give up their time.



Here is a picture of Emily. She has strawberry-blondish hair and lots of it! It looks like it will be curly or wavy. Her eyes are blue-gray right now but they probably won't stay that way. Her face is nice and full and in pictures she looks like a full-size newborn but if you see her hands and legs your realize that she is premature. Her legs are teeny tiny as are her ankles and feet. Her head is also very very small - I'm sure she'll grow into everything soon. :)

Update on Nurse Paula - after the 8 hour surgery, it seems like everything is going well. Shane ran into her on the elevator yesterday. She is still in the hospital but she was going to check on her friends in the Antepartum Unit. She probably tried to make rounds and help patients - I wouldn't be surprised.

My Dad is doing okay. He has really lost his appetite and strength. I suspect it will get a little worse before it gets better. Thankfully, he only has one more week of treatment and then will be coming up to San Antonio on his way home to Midland.

Lots of love to you all,
The (bigger) Siebenaler Family

Today's the Big Day

Eek! Today is the Big Day for our Baby Girl! The C-Section is scheduled for 2:30 today. We will start "prep" around noon which includes a shower, some topical antimicrobial solution, and a "drink" that will help with acid reflux, etc during the surgery. Then they will take me to the "Holding Room" until the Operating Room is ready for me at which point the anesthesiologist will come in and give me the epidural (or the spinal, I'm not really sure) and they will get me all draped up for surgery. In the mean time, Shane will get scrubbed up so that he will be as germ-free as possible as well. We will have a bunch of people in the Operating Room - the normal staff (my doctor, another doctor that assists with the surgery, the anesthesiologist, an attending nurse) and also some extra hands for the baby. The baby will have about 4-5 people just for her including a respiratory therapist and a neo-natologist because of the risks that come with delivering a pre-term baby. She is 35 weeks. Any baby born before 35 weeks is an automatic patient into the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) but at 35 weeks there is a chance that she will go to the Transition Nursery or an even smaller chance that she will go to the regular Newborn Nursery. The most common problems with babies at this age are that their lungs are not quite developed completely, they don't really know how to eat, and they can't regulate their own body temperature because they don't have a lot of fat on them. There's no way to know how our baby will do outside of the womb until she is actually born so we will just be praying all day that she is as healthy and mature as she can be. Something interesting, girls' lungs tend to develop earlier than boys' but Caucasian babies statistically are among the last to mature. We'll just have to wait and see.

If the baby has to go into the NICU, I will stay in the room that I am in now (it is SO close to the NICU and they want me as close as possible) but if she doesn't go into the NICU I will be transferred to a Postpartum room upstairs, closer to the Newborn Nursery.

I was supposed to have breakfast before 6 this morning but Food Services "was not staffed properly today" so I didn't get my breakfast until 6:30. My doctor told me not to eat anything after 6 because of the risk of asphyxiation (sp?) if there is an emergency and we have to do a general anesthetic. So I declined breakfast. I can have nothing to eat or drink until after the baby is born and I'm sure that sounds worse to me than it does to you! :) You know, I'm sure I'm going to be SO hungry and SO thirsty only because I can't have anything to eat or drink! Ha! Oh well. I did have some juice and crackers early this morning because I was getting worried that my breakfast wasn't here. I'll survive.

Update on my nurse friend, Paula. She was in surgery for 8 hours yesterday and is recovering well from what I understand. I can't imagine being in surgery for that long. Paula elected to do the double masectomy. She previously had Ovarian Cancer and received chemo and radiation and learned that she was at high-risk for Breast Cancer. Instead of waiting for the breast cancer to develop, she chose to have the masectomy. How brave. I keep telling myself that if she can do that, I can do this life-giving C-Section today. I'm sure her recovery will not be easy, she will continue to be on my mind and in my prayers.

Ryan will go to daycare today so Shane can be here at the hospital with me. Sarah will take Ryan after work today and the next time we see him he will be a big brother. YAY!

That's all I know for now. We will update the blog as soon as we can (no promises) and I'm sure we will post her name, if nothing else. :)

Love to you all. Thanks for your prayers and well wishes.

Love, Becca (and family)

Prayer for Strength:
Dear heavenly Father, Your Word tells me: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phillippians 4:13) and "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah 40:31).

I need Your strength today, O Lord. I ask You to fill me now with Your presence and power, to strengthen and sustain me for the work I have to do and for all that lies before me.

I love my husband and my children very much and I beg your help to do all that I need to do as wife and mother. Some days I feel overly tired and worn down, and it is then that I need Your powerful help, O Lord.

O Blessed Mother Mary, Morning Star, your intercession with God is powerful, for you are His Mother. Your love for us is tender and true, for you are our Mother as well.

Confidently then I come to you to seek your aid and protection today. In every trial of motherhood, I beg your help, dear Mother. For your special help in guarding and directing each soul that God has given me, I call on you. In every sorrow, I confide in you. Please pray I will have strength to bear cheerfully all the hardships I may have to face.

Through your intercession, O Mary, I pray that I will do my best to live the present with joy and the future without regrets. May God's Will always be done in me through each act of motherhood, great or small.

O never forsake me, dear Mary, my life, my sweetness, and my hope. Amen.

Mary, Mother of mothers, pray for us!

Prayers for Paula

I mentioned before my favorite nurse, Paula. Paula is having a double masectomy on Wednesday, please keep her in your prayers. She is AMAZING and I'm very sad that I won't be having her as my nurse anymore. I hope to send a note up to her room and maybe I'll figure out a way to keep in touch with her after the baby is born. Please say an extra prayer for her.

The "Plan"

Well, my Doctor came back in town and was pretty upset that the on-call doctors didn't deliver me on Friday when we had such a scare. As such, she doesn't want to risk a bleed that could indeed be catastrophic so we are going to deliver this baby girl at 35 weeks - this Thursday at 2:30 pm unless there is reason to do so beforehand. We will not do the Amnio to test the baby's lungs and there is definitely a chance that her lungs are not fully mature. She might have to spend some time in the NICU or in the Transition nursery. Transition is for babies that can't quite be left alone with the mommy yet (maybe because they can't regulate their own temperature or haven't quite figured out the eating thing or maybe need a little help with breathing). Dr. Largoza is quite confident that this is the best plan of care and I completely trust her judgement.

I got my second IV last night to be prepared in case of an emergency (you need two IV sites during a c-section). I'm not a happy camper about it - I am a big baby when it comes to needles and IVs and such. Oh well. I pray that they won't have to redo either of them before Thursday - I will really raise heck if that's the case.

Today is Ryan's Birthday - we will have a small cake and I will be sure to post a picture of him as soon as I can.

Grandfather, Sir is doing okay in Houston. Apparently it has been flooding there and many of the highways are closed. Their apartment is just down the street from the hospital so they haven't had any trouble keeping their appointments.

We'll let you know if anything changes for any of us... Lots of love to you all.

34 weeks today - not quite done yet!

Well, I started out the day with a pretty good scare. We had a serious bleed this morning and I was convinced that meant that I would be delivered today. As usual, I had no idea what I was talking about and worried all morning for nothing. :) Oh well. We saw the High-Risk Doctor this evening and he did an ultrasound on the baby. She is doing fantastic and is much larger than I expected. She actually weighs about 5 lbs, 10 oz. Incredible. You might think that makes her big enough to go home if we delivered today but it doesn't really work like that. The nurse said she's like a really good chocolate chip cookie in the oven. From the outside it looks big and perfect but on the inside (her lungs) it's not quite done and it needs a little more time to bake. Fair enough. I'll do what I can to stay as sane as possible (no promises) and try not to get kicked out of this place for being too ornery. Ha! I am on the "schedule" to have the Amnio on May 6th - forget about any other date I've said before - to test her lung maturity. If they are okay, we will deliver the next day. If not, we will wait one week and deliver then, provided there are no other complications between now and then.

Yesterday, I had a great day. Aunt Phyllis (Shane's aunt) came by and took me for a ride in a wheelchair in the hospital. We went up to visit the newborn nursery and saw the beautiful babies. We marveled at the different sizes and shades of red and really enjoyed pointing out our "favorites." Then, we went to the gift shop. I have not been in a shop since January and I love to shop. Good thing we didn't take any money. We had so much fun setting off all of the musical stuffed animals - yes, we totally annoyed the gift shop staff! And we picked up just about every knick-knack and purse in the place. We still couldn't find a "I'm the Big Brother" shirt small enough for Ryan. I guess normal people have babies a little further apart! :) Ryan will be 1 year old on Tuesday! Yay! I hope this baby girl waits long enough for her brother to turn 1!

Thanks to all my visitors today, Tia and Becky from The Container Store, Grandma Ruth and Aunt Marianne, Phyllis and my new parrot friend that sings "Don't Worry, Be Happy," Shane's coworker Flavia and her mom, and my friend Monica. Flavia's Mom is visiting from Venezuela, and made a beautiful little outfit for our baby girl with a matching hat and bloomers. How sweet! She and Flavia were able to stay for the ultrasound to see our little one - it was very special. I'm quite sure I would not have made it through the day without my new favorite nurse, Paula. Everybody should stop and give Paula a mental hug - she deserves it for putting up with me today. :)

About my Dad, he has completed 4 weeks of radiation and has 2 more to go then one week of recovery. Boy, time flies! Physically he's feeling okay, just tired. They have had many visitors this week, I'm sure that helps the time pass. Thanks to everyone that has asked about them... it means a lot to all of us.

Here is a picture of Ryan playing with his Easter Basket from Uncle Scott and soon-to-be Aunt Sarah. He particularly liked all of the snacks! (Wonder where he gets that from!)


Here is Ryan after a nap - Uncle Scott calls that "weekend hair!"


And here's Ryan with one of his favorite toys - anything he can find in the recycle bin! In this case, it's a water jug! You can see he's walking in this picture! He's doing so great!

Back in the hospital

Well, our "emergency" run to the hospital happened this weekend. We had been taking it for granted that I had been at home for so long I guess it was time for a change. Sunday afternoon I was admitted back in to Methodist Hospital because of bleeding and will be here until the baby is born - at this point we're not exactly sure when that will be.

My OB came in this morning and said if there is another heavy bleed then we might "bail out of the pregnancy" and deliver the baby and if there is not another heavy bleed then we will just wait as long as possible and probably deliver at 36 weeks. I had the "rescue dose" of the steroid shot today to help the baby's lungs be as mature as possible for delivery so all we can pray for now is time, time, time. (Although that means I will be bored, bored, bored.) We want the baby to stay put as long as possible.

I should be getting a visit from the High Risk Doctor either today or tomorrow and we will do an ultrasound to see how the baby is growing, etc. She has been looking great on the heartrate monitor but it would be good to get a "visual" as well.

Ryan and Shane are doing great - they are pretty much the only people I know that are not sick. I am still having problems with my ears but most of the pain is gone, so that's good. Here is a picture of Ryan that we had taken a few weeks ago. He was not in the best mood - he had a little fever and 3 days after we had this taken Tooth #2 popped out! Yay! He is walking more than ever but still loses his balance when he gets too excited. It's so fun to watch - I wish we could turn him loose here in the hospital but he'd probably just crawl everywhere and pick up all kinds of nasty germs. Yuck.



Oh, speak of the devils... Shane and Ryan just got here to visit. Shane took one look at my dinner and is off to the Food Court to get us both something to eat. :) I'm already tired of hospital food... This could be a llllllooooooonnnnnnngggggggg couple of weeks. :)

33 weeks and halfway done with radiation!

Well, it has been a challenging week in the Siebenaler House. First, my horrible cough came back - something that makes us very nervous because a strenuous cough can easily cause a bleed. We've been doing so well without bleeding, I'd hate for something to happen now. Then, to top it all off, Wednesday night I perforated one eardrum. I have not done that as an adult, I'm sure I did as a baby, but it is EXTREMELY painful. I'd much rather be in labor than go through that kind of pain. It also produces a sticky discharge and a buzzing/ringing in your ear. All of it is just horrible. I thought I'd seen the worst of it. Then, 24 hours later, I perforated the other eardrum. If one is painful, two is nearly unbearable. There is no postion, sitting, standing, lying down, crawling, nothing makes the pain lessen. It just plain hurts. Although most people think that there's no medication I can take because of the pregnancy, that's not really true. There are a few medications that are safe, especially because I'm so far along and the baby is mostly developed. So fortunately I do have some medication. I saw the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) Doctor today and he tested my hearing because I am suffering from hearing loss. Everything should return to normal once the ear infections (and my sinus infection - to add insult to injury) have cleared up. Unfortunately, because I am pregnant, we have no idea how my body will react to the antibiotic so we're not exactly sure when the pain will start to subside on its own. Right now, it hurts a lot, particularly once the pain medicine wears off and it's time for another dose. I hope the antibiotic kicks in soon. You're probably wondering how on earth I could bust both eardrums just lying around on bed rest. I guess it's just all the pressure that has built up in my ears because of allergies and sinus infection and finally my ears just had enough. And now they are showing their disapproval. :)

On a side note, Grandma Belle flew home last Saturday and prior to leaving was experiencing some of the same allergy/cold symptoms that I was having and she also perforated one of her eardrums on the airplane flying back. What are the odds? At least we can commiserate together. Poor thing. And she is still going to work with the pain. I can barely concentrate on a TV show.

I also saw my OB doctor today for a checkup. Everything looks good there. I had her check and double check my medications and any drug interactions and everything that I'm taking is fine. The baby's heartbeat is fine and the height of the fundus is right on track. (The height of the fundus is measured in centimeters from the top of the pubic bone to the top of the uterus with a tape measure. The number of centimeters should be the same number of weeks that you are pregnant. This tells the doctor that the baby is growing fine and everything is on track - isn't that incredible? I wonder who figured that out... It's almost like the thing where you can measure the length of your foot on your forearm. Just crazy!) On Monday I will see the High Risk Doctor and pending his schedule we will be able to tentatively decide on a c-section date. Stay tuned and I'll let you know. I think we'll have the baby just in time for Mother's Day - a perfect Mother's Day gift.

Dad has completed exactly 15 treatments of radiation and has 15 more to go! That's the most exciting news of the day... he sounds good. According to the doctors the half way mark can really be a turning point for patients, it might really start getting more difficult and painful so I'm praying that everything stays as smooth as it has been. Only 3 more weeks for both of us!!!

Thanks to everyone that helped out this week. Especially Mishial. I think she was over every day for a shift or part of a shift or something. So nice. I can't begin to convey how appreciative we are. And it's nice seeing her so much.

32 weeks pregnant and 2 weeks of radiation complete!

Happy Easter! It was Ryan's first Easter! Yesterday Uncle Matt and Aunt Lisette (and family), and Grandma Margaret and Grandfather, Sir (George), and cousin Mishial came over for dinner. We hid Easter eggs in the backyard (Ryan just watched - he really had no idea what was going on) and each of the kids (and the adult kids) got an Easter basket filled with bunnies and chocolate - and in some cases - chocolate bunnies! Thank you Grandma and Grandfather, Sir for staying overnight so Daddy could go to Easter Mass early today. Hope you had fun with all of the other family you saw today!

Then, today, Ryan's Uncle Scott and soon-to-be Aunt Sarah came over and made a wonderful lunch. It was so yummy you'd think we hadn't eaten in a month which I assure you is not the case! Ryan got another Easter Basket filled with goodies, including Gerber Graduate snacks - his favorites!! We had such a nice afternoon (even though we watched golf most of the day). It was a great holiday - thanks to everyone that came to us since we can't go out anywhere.

Also, thanks to Grandpa John and Grandma Belle from Georgia who each spent a week here taking care of us. They came separately to "spread the wealth" and cooked and cleaned and waited on me as much as I would let them. :) Thanks for taking time out of your schedules to be with us. Grandpa John left last Saturday and Grandma Belle left yesterday. It was great to visit with you both!

As of last Friday, we are 32 weeks pregnant! YAY! In 4 weeks we will have the amnio done to check the baby's lung maturity and if they are mature we will deliver (via c-section) the next day! It's getting close and we are getting so excited! It's nice to have a couple of weeks with just Ryan, Mommy, and Daddy - before the baby gets here - but we are still excited to meet our new baby!

Thank you to all of the people that are helping out this week - cousin Teri, cousin Mishial, a friend-of-a-friend named Anna (I know, I think it's incredible that STRANGERS are so willing to give up their free time for us... just amazing), and my friend/coworker Michelle. We are SO lucky to be surrounded by such sweet people... Thank you in advance.

My Dad (aka Grandfather, Sir) has completed 2 weeks of radiation - that means he is one-third of the way done. He has started to feel some of the effects of the treatment. To put it in his words he said that it felt like he had a dead possom in his mouth. HUH!?!? I guess the radiation has started to change his tastebuds - nothing tastes good and he has dry mouth and his throat just feels yucky. I wish I could say that it will get easier but that is just not the case. I know a lot of people are praying for him... thank you for that.

As for me I am feeling a bit under the weather... I'm sure it's just allergies or something - I've had a sore throat since Friday night... Just feeling crummy. Hopefully it passes soon...

Much love to you all,
Becca

We need help

Hey you guys - we really need help from April 13 - May 7, Monday through Friday (except for Friday, May 8) while Shane is at work. I can't stay home by myself or the doctor will want to put me in the hospital for those 4 weeks. If you can help (or if you know of a kind soul that might be willing to help) please please let us know. Right now we have only 2 days covered so ANYTHING will help us. You can even do just a few hours and we can figure something out for the rest of the day. It was SO hard on all of us (Shane, Ryan, and myself) when I had to be in the hospital before so we don't want to have to do 4 weeks there if we can avoid it.

On another note, my Dad has had his first 4 radiation treatments this week. Day 1 was "torture" but it seems like it has gotten a little easier. Only 26 more treatments - hopefully it will go quickly.

Love to you all,
Becca, Shane, Ryan, and Baby

CareCalendar - how you can help

People have been asking us how they can help so I created a CareCalendar online (Lisette, thanks for the idea - I had no idea something like this existed). It's basically a website where I can put things on there that we need, like food for example, so that people know how they can help without the pressure of being asked, etc. Hopefully that will give more people opportunities to bring food, visit, etc and we don't have the stress of having to ask the same people all of the time. Anyway, if you want to check it out here is the information:

To access Becca Siebenaler's personal CareCalendar site,
visit http://www.carecalendar.org/logon/14195 and enter the following
information in the appropriate spaces:

CALENDAR ID : 14195
SECURITY CODE : 8921

It's kind of neat - anybody with the ID and Security Code can access it. Sometimes people just don't know HOW to help and this should clear that right up.

Thanks for checking it out.
Love,
Becca (and the rest of the family)

Grandfather to start treatment on March 30th

Hey all, my Dad will start his radiation treatment on Monday, March 30th and will have to go to MDAnderson every day, Monday through Friday, for six weeks. There is a myriad of side effects, some short term, some long term. Hopefully the worst he will have to endure is dry mouth, although if you've ever really had dry mouth you know that that's not fun in itself. I guess everything is relative.

Everyone here is doing well. Ryan is getting excited to see his Grandpa John and his Grandma Belle in the next couple of weeks. He will turn 11 months this Saturday - I can't believe he's almost 1!!!

The Baby Girl is doing great, growing like she is supposed to and making me more uncomfortable every day! That's okay though. Big is beautiful, right!?!? Hahahahahah... We are in our 29th week now and we are trying to get to 36 so we have a little less than 7 weeks left! Time flies! The plan, as of today, is to have an "amnio" on Friday, May 8th. If the test shows that her lungs are mature enough, we will have a c-section on Saturday, May 9th. If they're not developed we will wait one more week and then have the baby.

That's about it for us. Ryan (and Mommy) is hoping to get a puppy dog for his birthday (even the pediatrician recommends it!) but Daddy doesn't want to comply. Maybe one day... Maybe a little girl will help change his mind. He has no idea the control a little girl can have over her daddy... This should be fun to watch!! :)

Until next time...

Pregnancy Update - 28 weeks!

Hey all! We met with the high-risk pregnancy doctor on Friday and got to see our baby girl (on the ultrasound machine of course). It was kind of neat because Grandma Margaret got to see the baby also. It was fun to share that with her. All is well - no news is good news - he just reiterated everything that we'd heard before. The baby is growing like she should be (one of the risks of placenta previa is that there is not adequate blood circulation from the placenta to the baby and that can affect the baby's growth and development) but she is a strong 2 lbs, 12 oz - we are so proud! The doctor reminded us of some of the other risks of the complications of this pregnancy and checked to see if the placenta has moved. There was little chance of it moving from the bottom to the top (where it's supposed to be) so they checked it, but it didn't move. So, right now the plan is that if there are no further bleeds we will get to 35-36 weeks and then do an amniocentesis (where they take a sampling of the amniotic fluid through my abdomen) to check the baby's lung maturity. I think it's amazing that they can tell if her lungs are mature just from the amniotic fluid! Anyway, at that point, if her lungs are developed we will deliver the next day and if not we will wait another week or so and then deliver at that time, by c-section of course. We can't afford to risk any contractions as that increases the risk of hemorrhaging and could put my life in serious danger. So, 36 weeks puts us somewhere around the second week of May, depending if they do it at the beginning of the 36th week or the end.

I will meet with my regular OB later this week and let you know if anything changes!

Yesterday my Aunt Jeni and Uncle Mohammed came over and made Kabsa (an arabic chicken-and-rice dish). It was SO good. My cousin Mishial had a few of her Arabic friends over as well and all had a great time. We ate traditional Saudi style - on the floor with no table and chairs. I'm sad that Aunt Jeni and Uncle Mohammed had to go back to Jeddah (they were only in town while Mishial was on Spring Break) and I can't wait to see them in the summer with the boys.

Ryan, Shane, and I had a pretty quiet day today. Grandma was out most of the day so the three of us just hung out on the air mattress in the living room for much of the day. Ryan is learning how to throw a ball and had so much fun laughing (a full belly laugh) when Daddy would throw the ball off his head (he threw it off his own head - he was not bouncing it off Ryan's head). Ryan was a sure chatterbox today! We have no idea what he was saying but he was saying it a bunch! It was so much fun - too bad the work week starts tomorrow.

xoxoxo,
Becca, Shane, Ryan, and Baby Girl

Sad day for The Lange Family

Yesterday evening our sweet Chocolate Lab, Chief, passed away. He was 14. Grandfather, Sir brought Chief down to San Antonio on Tuesday so that he wouldn't be left alone in Midland while he is going through his radiation treatment in Houston and he was staying at my brother Matthew's house with his Chocolate Lab, Beau Jangles. Chief was a dear member of our family, he was the last puppy from the last litter that our beloved Hershey mothered. He was born my Freshman year of High School and I've always considered him "my dog." His favorite thing was to get the paper every morning and was able to do that yesterday morning (even though my brother and his wife don't actually get the paper delivered - maybe he got the neighbor's??). He will be buried down at Grandma Eunice's Ranch. Shane took Ryan and I over to my brother's yesterday - we were trying to get there for Chief's last few moments - we were about 5 minutes too late. I'm glad that I was able to see Chief (on a very temporary reprieve from bed rest) though our hearts are still heavy this morning. It was interesting to see my brother's children deal with death - Max (almost 7) was very mature, he was visibly saddened but coped with it better than I did, petting Chief and assuring Beau Jangles that everything would be okay. Juliette (5), the dog lover like her Aunt Becca, was just crying and crying, like her Aunt Becca. Alexis (3) was somber and just hugged me for a long time while I sat in front of Chief. There is such comfort in children, I'm so proud of them, and I'm grateful to have spent the time with them.

Update on Grandfather, Sir: Dad got a tooth pulled yesterday morning in Houston and is recovering well. He and mom came back to San Antonio yesterday afternoon. He will be back in Houston on March 17th to be fitted for a mask that will guide the radiation and also be fitted for a device that will push his tongue as far away from the radiation as possible and also to meet with the group of doctors that are working on his case for the the final "plan of attack." Progress is slow, it seems, and MDAnderson doctors don't seem too concerned about life outside of MDAnderson. There is never more than one appointment in one day (even if it's just a consult) so Mom and Dad have had to "waste" most of the days waiting for one appointment and then the next day do it again to meet with a different doctor - not very efficient and VERY frustrating.

Update on me: I got news yesterday that I am NOT diabetic (thank Heavens!) so I don't have to restrict my diet like I thought. Today I am 27 weeks pregnant, so we have 9 more weeks to go! This week I had a lot of helpers while Mom was in Houston with Dad. Emily Middleton came over again this week - she spent more than 12 hours with me on Wednesday - we had so much fun! She showed me her handmade cards and I taught her how to make bows! Thursday, my cousin Mishial came over early early, and then Shane's Aunt Phyllis came over for the rest of the day. She helped me make some decorations for a baby shower (yes I can do that laying down) and we just enjoyed each other's company - laughing mostly and then crying together when I found out about Chief. I know I've said this before but we are so blessed to have such special people in our lives. Thank you thank you. (And thanks to everyone who brought food over this week - Scott and Sarah, Emily, Phyllis, and Matt and Lisette. That takes such a burden off of all of us - and it has been very enjoyable.) Also, thanks Grandpa John and Grandma Belle - the cleaning service was FANTASTIC - our house feels so clean!

Until next time,
Becca

Diabetes Testing

I went for the Gestational Diabetes 1-hour Test (also known as Glucose Tolerance Test) on Friday and got the results today. The test checks to see how effectively my body processes sugar. They'd like the results to be 135 milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood plasma or under and mine was a whopping 177!! That doesn't mean I HAVE gestational diabetes, it just means I need further testing. I will do the 3-hour test soon - I really hope that I DON'T have diabetes (obviously) - it can really complicate the problem that we are having now. (My good friend Michelle had gestational diabetes with her baby and the doctor had her restrict her diet, check her blood sugar levels, and walk the neighborhood every couple of hours! She couldn't stop moving! How will I be on bedrest AND keep exercising??!?!?) All doctors and probably all patients have different protocols on how to deal with it so we'll just have to wait and see the results from this next round of testing.

"The will of God will never take you where the grace of God will not protect you." (Kristen Faudree Mar 13, 1980 - Nov 22, 2008)

Baby Registry

Some people have been asking... I have made a Baby Registry at Babies R' Us - if you want to look at it you can see it online (babiesrus.com) or in a store but be sure to choose the registry from 2009 or you'll be looking at the registry we did last year for Ryan!

Thanks!

26 weeks pregnant and other miscellanous updates

I had a appointment with my OB on Wednesday and the baby sounded good. We bombarded the doctor with all kinds of questions about what may or may not happen over the next couple of months, questions about her philosophy on things, how she normally performs procedures, and all kinds of things. Poor thing should have cleared her morning schedule to talk to us - we took up so much of her time. I have so much time to just research all kinds of things on the internet - I probably read TOO much and then ask too many questions! Ha! She answered everything (with a smile), added an iron pill to my regiment, and sent us on our way.

Today I did the gestational diabetes testing (they test everyone these days) and should find out the results on Monday. We have an appointment with the high-risk pregnancy doctor in 2 weeks and then a follow-up with my OB the following week.

Grandpa got the results from the chest x-ray and the CT scan and both came back normal so the cancer has not spread to his lungs or lymph nodes respectively. This was a proactive measure to make sure we were not dealing with something even more complex so we are considering it good news. Radiation will begin two weeks from next Thursday (or thereabout).

Ryan got his first tooth yesterday (yahoo!) and definitely has the drool to show for it! He has learned to clap and also learned his part of peek-a-boo if there is an available blanket lying around. He's not walking quite yet but tests his balance without holding on to anything - he lasts about half a second and then succumbs to wobbly gravity. It's pretty fun to watch him!

Thank you to all the kind people that have helped out this week - on Monday Brooks, Kristen, and Brooklyn came over for a visit and brought yummy food, Stephanie came over with fruit and entertainment, and Letty brought communion. Grandma was sick on Tuesday (hey - who's taking care of whom?) and Amy and the kids brought dinner over and Sarah helped with Ryan in the evening. Wednesday Grandma and Grandpa went to Houston so Shane stayed home and took Ryan and I both to our doctor appointments (Ryan has thrush - yuck!) and Sarah helped us with Ryan again in the evening. Then on Thursday (Grandma and Grandpa still in Houston) my cousin Mishial came in the morning, my friend Emily came for the bulk of the day with lunch and made dinner, and then Aunt Mary took the late afternoon! Whew! So many kind people thinking of us and helping us get through this incredibly trying and humbling time. Thank you Thank you. The food has been SO DELICIOUS and takes so much off our plate (hahahha - kind of a backwards pun I think)! And thanks Sarah, in advance, for helping with Ryan tomorrow. You are truly a blessing and you are going to make a great Aunt!! We can't wait!

That's all I have for now. This is longer than I thought it would be but sometimes its just like that I guess! I'm looking forward to the weekend - that means another week has passed without us being in the hospital! :)

Talk to you all soon - feel free to comment on any of our blogs - we'd love to hear from the people keeping up with us!

Lots of love,
Becca and family

Update on Grandpa at MDAnderson

Dad had his first couple of appointments at MDAnderson yesterday and today. Yesterday he met with the Head and Neck Oncologist who sent him for some testing. He had a chest x-ray to see if the cancer had spread into his lungs and also a CT scan to see if the cancer had spread into his lymph nodes. Both of these are unlikely because the cancer that was removed from his salivary gland a few weeks ago was "totally encapsulated" and had "no positive margins" but we don't want to assume anything. We will find out the results from those tests next week. Today he met with the oral surgeon to see if he needs to have any teeth pulled (the radiation can cause some problems to the jaw bone). He will have to have one tooth pulled. He will meet with the radiologist next Wednesday and have the tooth pulled next Thursday. After pulling the tooth he will have to wait 2 weeks and then start radiation. Radiation will last for 6 weeks, will be administered at MDAnderson in Houston, and will only take about 15 minutes a day.

I will update this as we learn more...

Grandpa going to MDAnderson

Dad has an appointment at the Head and Neck Center at MDAnderson in Houston Wednesday morning. I'll keep you posted.
Becca

I'm home

Well, I was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday with the agreement that I would no longer be left unsupervised at home (in case of emergency). It has been SO GREAT to be home and away from all of the hospital germs. I was kind of a germ freak before but now I'm really a germ freak. We already ask people to remove their shoes before coming in the house, is it too much to ask them to bathe in antibacterial hand sanitizer? Hahhaha... J/K (sort of)

Shane's mom was here this week - helping out around the house, helping with Ryan in the middle of the night, etc, etc and Shane was able to get a little sleep this week. (Thanks, Grandma!) Ryan was able to stay home from daycare yesterday so I could at least see him for a while and play with him a little on our inflatable air mattress in the middle of the living room. It was so fun! Grandma Belle left today to go back to Georgia (somebody has to teach those kids how to read!) and we will definitely miss her.

That being said, Shane had to come home from work to "supervise me" and make sure I'm not doing anything I'm not supposed to be doing. My parents are coming in for the weekend (Mom will stay indefinitely - at least until Dad goes to MD Anderson or has some kind of radiation treatment in Midland) so I'm excited to see them. I'm sure Ryan is excited too! He loves company!

The doctor thinks it is inevitable that I will be back in the hospital prior to delivery. She said that would be a great time to arrange a "Painting Party" to have the kids' rooms painted - any volunteers?!?!? :) We are just trying our best to stretch my time at home - I really don't want to be at the hospital for 3 months even if they do bring me unlimited Honeydew or Strawberries or whatever. (I love fruit!) So we'll take it day by dad and see how everything goes... of course I'll keep this blog updated - what else have I to do?? :)

Love ya,
Becca

Hospital Trip #2 OVER!

I'm being discharged as we speak, waiting for my nurse to remove my saline block (IV entrance), and waiting for Shane to pick me up. Hallelujah. Until next time...

Baby Girl Update

As you see at the top of this page, we had an ultrasound last night and we have a new picture of our baby girl! She is 24 weeks, 4 days old in this picture - we can't believe how clear the picture is! Shane thinks she has Ryan's nose!

We met with the high-risk pregnancy doctor, Dr. Gordon, last night. He did the ultrasound and answered all of our questions. Basically, this baby is facing the most important month in her life right now. It is imperative that we get to 28 weeks. If we had to deliver today (very rare and not very likely at this point), she has about a 50% chance of survival. The further we get along in the pregnancy, the higher her chance of survival. It would take a lot of uncontrollable bleeding at this point for them to make the life-saving decision for me, in order to make them deliver the baby at this point. It would only be to save my life. Dr. Gordon feels confident that my body will stop bleeding (in fact, we haven't seen any blood since about 2 pm yesterday afternoon) and I will be able to go home soon. With the complete previa (he confirmed that on the ultrasound), it is likely that I will bleed again before the baby is born. I need to be on bed rest and really take it easy from here on out. Yes, I've been on bed rest for a little more than 3 weeks now, but he is pretty strict about the bed rest and it doesn't sound like they will be lifting any restrictions. (Quite the opposite, in fact.)

I posted something yesterday about the steroid shot they gave me to help the development of the baby's lungs. I misunderstood and said the wrong thing in my blog. The steroid will help the baby if we had to deliver in the next 2 weeks or so. I don't think this is going to happen, it would be pretty rare, and it is not usually recommended or helpful to repeat the steroid shot later. There is something that the Neo-Natal Doctor could recommend called a Rescue Steroid but usually those are not administered. It is an option and if we had to do it, I guess we could. I don't know too much about it - we'll cross that bridge later. Or hopefully we won't have to. :)

I feel good about going home. I know everyone would think that I'm just dying to go home and be in my own bed - yes, in some ways that's true. But, I know that I'm safer in the hospital, the baby is safer in the hospital. The food is terrible, the TV has only about 4 channels that I would watch, I don't have all of my "stuff" from home, I miss Shane and Ryan immensely, but I do have constant care and that is reassuring. It's hard to say what I would prefer but I feel stable enough to try being at home again.

It's important to note that this trip to the hospital was not as a result of my bleeding. I came in with some kind of GI bug - apparently it's going around - and the vomiting, etc caused the bleed. It would be more concerning if it had been a spontaneous bleed that didn't have anything to do with doing something strenuous (like throwing up).

Anyway, long story short - baby is fine at this point, mommy is fine (and will be better every day that we go without bleeding) and we just have to wait and see. My doctor still has a 3-strikes-and-you're-out policy. The next bleed will constitute a long-term hospital stay.

I'm not very good at asking for it, but if you're looking for a way to help... :) At first I thought I wanted phone calls or company. I don't NEED that. What we need are extra hands around the house. We could use food or prepared meals (makes it easier when Shane gets home from work), we could use basic household help, you know, vacuuming, dusting, unloading the dishwasher, laundry, etc so Shane doesn't have to do it in the few precious hours he has at home. It is very strange to have someone clean your home or do work around you but we realize that people want to help and these are things that we need help with. Extra hands with Ryan would help as well - Shane is still trying to maintain his philanthropic work at The Food Bank, Habitat for Humanity, and is going to work at The Special Olympics this weekend. (We have a lot of support from our future sister-in-law Sarah in regards to taking care of Ryan but we don't want to wear her thin - she works full-time and is getting her Master's Degree and is planning her wedding!) I will work on having a list of things that would help us out on our refrigerator - if you call and ask I'll probably tell you we don't need anything. :)

Of course we know not everyone can help physically. Prayers are so helpful and we appreciate all of the thoughts and cards and everything that so many of you have sent. It really helps in keeping our spirits up and our hopes high. The other thing you can do is support your local March of Dimes chapter. They do research on and are "dedicated to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality." (marchofdimes.org) Of course this has become a priority in our minds at this time.

Thanks for reading. I'm also on facebook if you have a facebook account or our email addresses are becca8780@sbcglobal.net or shanes.me01@gtalumni.org.

Talk to you soon,
Becca

Grandfather Sir (Becca's Daddy)

I should have written about this sooner but I just realized how many people don't know yet. 2 years ago in April, my dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer. They did a radical prostatectomy (basically means they removed the entire prostate) and thus far has had very good results from the checkups and blood tests.

The first week of February my dad had a tumor removed from his cheek (right in front of his ear) that appeared to be benign. The surgeon said it was benign and the pathologist said it was benign. The surgeon did a great job of preserving his nerves and despite some excess fluid drainage for a couple of days post-surgery, it was a successful operation. He had a tumor removed from the same spot about 35 years ago that was also labeled as benign and because of that, as a precautionary measure, they sent the most recent tumor to the Mayo Clinic. Upon dissecting it, the good people of the Mayo Clinic found some cancer in the middle of the tumor.

It appears as though they have removed all of it (the cancer was only in the center of the tumor and they removed the entire tumor) but the surgeon believes that radiation of the tumor bed is still in order. My parents will be seeing an oncologist soon to get his or her recommendation. Radiation is not an option until the surgery he had has healed (about 30 days) so there's not a lot to do until then.

I will update this post after we hear from the oncologist. Thank you for your concerns and prayers. I will let you know what happens.

Love,
Becca

Hospital Trip #2 - pregnancy is 24 weeks, 4 days old

Well, I'm back at the hospital. I came in late late last Thursday night/Friday morning with some kind of stomach virus or food poisoning or something and got to hang out for a while with all of those WONDERFUL symptoms and then lo and behold when they were about ready to send me home, my placenta previa started acting up again. (That's bleeding episode #2 - the last time my doctor said that 3 strikes and I'll be in the hospital on bedrest for the rest of the pregnancy. The doctor that visited me today said sometimes they have a 2-strike policy.) So, with that said, I'll be here in the hospital for an undetermined amount of time at this point. My doc has been out of town so all of this has come from "on call" doctors and I will get to see my doctor tomorrow morning. The high-risk pregnancy doctor (never met him) has suggested that I get a steroid shot today and tomorrow in case the baby needs to be delivered in the next 24-48 hours. I'm not ready for that mentally, the Lord knows we are not ready for that as a family, but we'll do the best we can. Hopefully the baby will get to stay put for a while longer. Like 12 more weeks. The steroid would help develop the baby's lungs which at this point (from what I understand) have just started developing. Pretty scary stuff. Hopefully all of this is just precautionary and we will hear some good news in the next day or two and the news will not involve the delivery of this baby girl. That's what we're praying for.

Ryan is still doing great. He went to daycare today while Grandma Belle is cleaning the house and doing laundry (thank you thank you). I hope to see him tonight - after all, I did wipe down almost my entire room with disinfecting wipes in preparation that he would be back to see me! :) I have a much nicer room now at Methodist - I have a window that actually looks out at something other than a brick wall and lots of party space if anyone wants to come over and play. :) Ha!

The nurses have been great - they keep me company most of the day and definitely most of the night (I mean seriously, do you have to WEIGH ME at 4 IN THE MORNING?!?! Can't that wait?!!)

Letty and her husband Norm (from our church) brought me communion today. They are so sweet. Apparently Norm just got over the stomach bug too. Something is definitely going around. In any case, I won't be having any chinese food any time soon. How sad for me... it's my favorite.

Anyway, I'll keep you posted on what happens in the next couple of days. No news would be good news. Keep my husband in your prayers, it's really hard for him to not be able to "fix" this and to be acting as a "single parent" in the interim.

Remember, life is precious. Every day I feel even stronger in my sentiments AGAINST FOCA - every single life is precious - the unborn are innocent little beings with tiny beating hearts - they need someone to protect them. Write your congressman. Sign a FIGHT FOCA petition - these little ones need your help. (There, there's my soapbox for today.)

Lots of love to you all...

Baby and Bedrest

Wow! I can't believe it's been since August since I've posted on this blog. I'm so sorry! What a slacker! If you haven't heard already, we are expecting Baby #2 - a baby girl! She is due in June (June 5th actually) but she will probably be delivered via c-section at the beginning or middle of May. If you're counting, that would make the babies about 13 months apart. Because of some "complications" with the pregnancy, the doctor has put me on bedrest (started about 2 weeks ago in the hospital). I'm getting used to being alone during the day and then getting to play with Ryan and Shane at night. We have received cards and well wishes (thanks to all of you - you know who you are) and my good friend Tia brought over some of my favorite people - the 6 Franciscan nuns as well as food and entertainment on Friday. That was definitely the highlight of the week! Imagine what the neighbors thought when they saw 6 nuns (in their full habits) come to the door! It was such a treat.

I contacted our church, St. Francis of Assisi, asking about receiving communion here at home - a kind lady named Letty should be bringing it tomorrow. The coordinator, Agnes, told me, "You're going to need the Lord through all of this, and we'll see about getting Him to you." I thought that was so perfect.

Shane bought me a laptop! Yahoo! Now I can stay connected with the outside world whenever I want! It came in yesterday and I am so excited about it. We have wireless connection here at home, so I'm literally laying down to write this blog! (Not breaking the doctor's rules!) I'll try to be better about updating this blog, I promise.

Ryan is doing GREAT! He is tall and thin for his age (we're excited about the tall part!) and is eating finger foods. He likes everything we've tried except green beans - go figure. He is crawling SUPER fast and cruises along the furniture (he stands and walks along the furniture as long as he has something to hold on to). His favorite thing is bath time - he splashes water all over the place and laughs the whole time. We can't wait for the summertime so he can play in a kiddie pool in the backyard.

Ryan is getting excited to see his Grandma Belle - she is coming on Saturday and will be staying for a whole week! I'm sure we will have more pictures and stories to share before the week is done!

Thanks for your prayers and well wishes. Our best to all of you.

Love,
The Siebenalers