She's coming soon! And depending on the day I may or may not be ready. I am getting extremely nervous and scared. So most of my thoughts have been depressing and angry. But on the flip side - I am very excited and ready to meet Miss Merritt!
"When you lie down, you will not be afraid... For the Lord will be your confidence" Proverbs 3:24, 26.
I would love for yall to read a blog post that is in my list to the right - or you can click HERE for Finley's update. It is long - but an excellent example of future struggles for O babies after their initial 'fix'. I've had alot of people assume that after the surgeries - she'll be "fine". It is a sneak peak into one day in the life of an O baby (that I consider one of the lucky ones).
As of today, I've got exactly 3 weeks left (21 days and counting now). I am 34+ weeks pregnant and I've had 31 doctor appointments, 21 ultrasounds, 9 BPP's, 3 echocardiograms, 1 amnio, and 1 MRI.... so far. You can add 6 more ultrasounds and 1 more amnio that I know about in the coming weeks. They plan to do another amnio that I am NOT looking forward to the day before the section to see if her lungs are developed enough to deliver. It takes only 4 hours to get those results back. Which reminds me of another FAQ: Why are they taking her at 37 weeks? Apparently there is an extremely high risk of her being stillborn after 38 weeks. I quote from one of the doctors "there is something magical about the 37th week" as far as stillborn goes. We plan to take her at 37 weeks 3 days. The other FAQ lately is: Will we have any more children? I.Don't.Know. Not likely, but we're not ruling anything out just yet. I may become another Duggar and let go and let God! lol! ;)
Here's a few pics over the last few weeks. The sonographers see me so much that they love me Merritt and give me a few extra 4D pics. Today they estimated her weight at 3 lbs and 12 oz (minus the O) and said she has ALOT of hair! I can't wait to see how accurate they are! (fyi - hair doesn't show up in 4D pics like you think it would so you won't see it).
"For the love of all that is holy... STOP looking at me!" ;)
"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear... he who fears has not been made perfect in love." 1John 4:18
Happy Father's Day to the best dad anyone could ask for! And the best Poppy! I could go on and on about how great he is, but just wanted to say I love my DAD! And no one can make the kids laugh like you do!
And to the other greatest Dad, Matt. He works a crazy schedule just so he can see our kids more. Believe it or not, if he worked a "normal" day schedule, he would be gone before they wake up and wouldn't get home until after they went to bed = never see them. By working nights, he gets to come home to them waking up and we get to have a family dinner every night before he goes to work. It took me 2 years to get used to this concept, but its days like today, that I truly appreciate it. Happy Father's Day Matt! from Mati Claire, Mattox, and Merritt!
I guess since I have only 4 weeks left, I've been asked several of the same questions lately. I will try to answer them here for those who are wondering and have not asked yet. I am also going to throw in some general fyi.
1) What kind of surgery is she having and what does it involve?
I mentioned a long time ago that Merritt has 2 options. I call it Plan A (the faster route) and Plan B (the slower route). We decided with the surgeon that we will try Plan A, called the "Shuster or Silo or reduction" method. I am posting this video because they describe it better than I can. I am warning you now that images are graphic in some cases. I really try to limit those, but with the delivery nearing I don't know how to avoid it. This is actually one of the nicer videos I've found... you could easily go on You Tube and search "omphalocele" and find very disturbing images... which I have found to be my life now.
IF Merritt is one of the babies that can't handle the organ reduction and her lungs go into distress, we will attempt to pull back and begin Plan B, which is called the "Paint and Wait." That is where we will "paint" the O with different types of medicines (antibacterial and skin thickening agents used for burn patients) and "wait" for the skin to grow over the O sac... which will take weeks to months. During this time, Matt and I would apply ace bandages over the dressings with some pressure to gradually push the organs back in over several months. Then when she's older (usually around 12 months old) the surgeon will perform the final closure of the abdominal wall.
There are pros and cons to each Plan. And I don't think there is a perfect way to do this or a right or wrong way. We are letting Merritt and her lungs decide which road she wants to travel.
2) What kind of clothes can she wear? Not sure yet. The NICU told me she won't be wearing any clothes anytime soon until she reaches the crib stage. You can see that because of a protruding belly, "normal" baby clothes won't fit over it. And with numerous tubes coming from every part of her... onesies just don't fit the case. As of right now, I have bought a few kimono style shirts or anything that buttons down the front so i can leave a few buttons open around it. I am assuming that gowns and dresses will be the easiest on everyone later. I am open for suggestions from any NICU nurse or other O mom reading this that is familiar.
3) What can I pray for specifically? Please please please pray for strength. Physical and emotional. For both me and Merritt. Pray for a smooth delivery, recovery, and no complications. Pray for weight gain. The bigger she is the more room she'll have for the organs.
4) Will I breastfeed? I will have to pump. I won't be allowed to pick her up and she will only be allowed a few drops of breast milk later to see how her body takes it. O babies have absorbing issues and don't gain weight like they should... for obvious reasons. I am heartbroken over this but its something I have to get over. Never fear though - I think I was a cow in a former life... I can feed the entire NICU with breast milk. ;)
5) How long will she be in the hospital? Best case scenario, we were told around 1 month. With complications and MOST (not all) O babies stay on average 1-3 months (so we were told). Severe cases will stay longer.
6) Will I have a C-section? Yes. I have to laugh at this question, because I've had 2 previous sections. And I do not dilate. And for safety reasons (we do not want to harm the O sac).
7) How many weeks do I have left? And why am I not showing much? Approximately 4 weeks and 2 days. We scheduled her delivery for Tuesday July 10th. And because God makes everyone different. I told one lady (a GAP employee) that Merritt had one leg in my leg and the other in my other leg and she was standing parallel with me. Sad thing is I think she believed me. I've gained a total of 16 pounds now and Dr. T is not worried about it. I eat plenty. And that's all I can do.
Her BPP's are going well. She has passed every one with 8/8 scores. She has hair and personality! We estimated her weight yesterday at 3 lbs 7 oz, but that is off because they can not measure her abdomen correctly which throws off the calculation. So she probably weighs more than that. I will leave with you with a few baby shower pics from this past week. Our Sunday School class threw us a joint shower for me and Cari Jo. Thank you all again for doing that - I had an awesome time! Yall are wonderful and I appreciate everything!
Thank you Tiffany for hosting! AR and M love ice cream!
CariJo and I coincidentally each bought our gifts from Hopscotch
She may not be able to wear clothes, but she will be the best accessorized baby in the NICU! How cute is this pixie hat?
More headbands! Yay!!!
Cari Jo and I (with Merritt and Addy Ryan)
Such a sweet gift: a headband to wear as newborn and garter the day she gets married.
Probably my favorite picture of the 100's we took!
MC and my nieces, Kerigan and Kennedy, in their dresses that match the cake!
Love. Love. Love.
Food table
Our 5 Glofish (Nina, Pinta, Santa, Maria, and Phoebe) that were originally named Ariel's sisters because we had King Triton and his castle under the drink dispenser. But MC insisted on having a Nina.
My new favorite drink dispenser that I found at Sam's ($20)
I want to be a cake baker. This is amazing. No I did not make this.
Sushi Sandwiches: Sea "Cucumbers" and Ham and Cheese
Goldfish and Blue Licorice
Oyster Cookies made by my sister, Heather
Spicy oyster crackers
Fruit Beach Ball Cookie made by mom, Gigi
Oreo balls AKA sea urchins
Rock candy
"A Splash of Water"
My hanging poms....how they originally looked and I made them into:
Beautiful hanging poms! one of my faves of the party! Suppose to resemble coral or maybe a barrier reef or barnacles...what do you think? coral?
Treasure chest, made by my mom
Amazing what you can find at your local Cracker Barrel restaurant: mermaid doll and blue sand hourglass. Below is my jellyfish! and the starfish table.
Did not make this.
She got bashful when everyone started singing Happy Birthday!
That is one big waterslide
The backyard
She is so happy in her "non-ruffled" swimsuit. My love is your love, babe. ;)
We FINALLY got her out on the slide and smiling!
Where was Mattox during all this? Playing in the bubbles...
Or in the pool with Daddy
What are the rules and laws of an arranged marriage? Love me some Kellan.
Mati Claire and Claire. Probably the last time they will see each other. *sniff sniff*
And the last two pics are the party favors.
We had to have Mati Claire's 5th birthday party a little early this year since we have set Merritt's arrival date of July 10th = 2 days after Mati Claire's birthday (July 8th). I do think it loses some of the excitement by having it so early and MC has been totally misunderstanding the situation. She thinks her birthday is the day of the party. But...she'll thank me later. I couldn't have done half of this party if I had waited until 37 weeks pregnant. I almost went into labor this past Friday though = a snake crawled over my foot while cleaning up the pool area. The 2 delivery guys that were setting up tents and the waterslide literally ran away when I told them. I had to wake Matt up after he had been up almost 24 hours straight. Ugh! It took me almost 3 hours to finally calm down and catch my breath. I was pretty much worthless after that.
LOVED having my family here for a visit. But no one enjoyed it more than MC. She has been in a depression since they left. But they helped me do everything for the party and then some! My mom worked hard on another table cloth for me that I loved but the picture is not cooperating with me and my computer. I should have renamed this party "Ruffles and Bubbles" instead of Mermaids.
This party has taught me: how to fish-tail braid hair, make a piñata, connect tissue poms, that fondant icing does NOT go in the fridge or it will melt, that real starfish STINK, MC does not like ruffles on her swimsuits, and that black men will run away from a snake leaving a very pregnant lady to fend for herself. ;) many lessons learned here, people.
Here is the list and links of where I got all the party stuff for those of you wondering. And I have already resold some things if you are interested in anything. If not, it has gone to the lake house to decorate the last bedroom! ha! Some of the ideas came from Pinterest. You can follow my boards there and check all this out, or click on the links below.
Whew!!! I'm tired now. I can relax and enjoy the month of June now before the real drama starts. Happy (early) birthday to my sweet and beautiful girl, Mati Claire!
