Life is hard. Life is good.

Our new normal life. Well lets just say it's busy. It sure doesn't feel normal yet, as we are still trying to adjust. You may be thinking, well our baby boy isn't hear yet.  No he's not but in 5 short weeks he will be. Being pregnant with a child who had Spina Bifida requires a lot of extra specialist appointments. We've had a min. of 5 appointments a month. Our lives feel like they are being taken over by appointments or our appointment have become our second job. I know over time these appointments will feel more apart of our life. With the added doctor appointments, we are still juggling life with our other two children while both Josh and I are both working.

Some may be wondering how we are doing? Life is hard. Life is good. I still feel utterly inadequate as most days I feel like I fail or I could of done better as a mother. I love being a mom, and it's something I have to work on daily. Adding another child is overwhelming at times.  I know I'm going to love this child just like my other two, as I already do. Our future has so many unknowns that can be very overwhelming at times. Yes I still have my emotional days. I'm just trying to have faith and trust in the Lords plan for us.

School Christmas Concert

Lincoln had his first school Christmas concert and he loved being involved. The school put on a afternoon and evening performance at the South Minister Church. We attended the evening performance. Lincoln was quit opinionated that he wanted us to sit close to the front, so that he'd be able to see us watch him. We tried our best by arriving early, and were able to find seats on the third row.  He was pretty excited when he was able to spot us in the audience before they sang their two songs. It was so fun watching Lincoln do an amazing job and seeing how proud he was of him self after the concert.

This picture is of all four kindergarten classes.

Lincoln's in the middle row, 3rd in from the right.

Update on Papa Stewart Recovery

Surgery day ( December 9)- My dad was scheduled for a 9:00am surgery. But with the business of a hospital he didn't go into surgery till 1:00pm. He said waiting four hours was killer. Surgery could take any where form 3-7 hours. My dad was out of surgery at 6:00pm.  Dr Ali said everything went well.  My dad still had a breathing tube in but that could be up to 24 hrs. His heart is beating on it's own.  Dana was only able to see him for a few minutes. Sound 9:00pm Dana was able to see him again.Just got to see him again and only for 5 mins. Around 9 they were able to take him breath tube out. Dana said his name and he opened his eyes for a second.  They said he is doing good. Dana then couldn't see him again until 8:30 am the next day.  But she can call in during the night for an update.

Day 1 of recovery (December 10 ) Dana called the hospital several times during the night and everything seems to be going well.  First day of recovery is pain management since he will be awake.  

Dana wasn't able to see my dad till10:00am.  He is doing okay.  Today will be about controlling his pain.  The Dr will see him later to assess if he can be move to a Step Down ICU unit.  Right now he has a nurse just for him.  At 2:00pm they moved him into a step down ICU unit.  Still restricted visits.  He's in pain, wants Pepsi they won't allow Dana to give him any.  The none smoking is brutal for him.  They finally gave him a patch.  Hope it helps take the edge off.  Around 3:30pm they allowed him to stand up and walk about 20 steps.  Then again at 9:30pm the nurse and dana took him for a short walk.  His blood pressure is a little high but other than that he doing okay.  

Day 2 of recovery (December 11)- Day 2 and 3 are the worse for pain. He's in pain so they used his pain meds. His blood pressure is a bit higher then they would like so they are assessing his meds. In the afternoon my dad was off oxygen and the chest tubs and other lines later that afternoon. They also changed his bandages so he is looking better. He did a little loop around the hallway. This morning he had to sit down half way but he pushed through this afternoon. Late Friday evening my dad was moving to the step down ICU as he was the most stable in ICU and someone needed his bed. He also went for x-rays, whites routine after they take chest tubes out.

Day 3 of recovery ( December 12)- Today's Saturday, Josh and I were able to make a trip to Calgary to see my dad. Wish we could of gone earlier, but with work we couldn't. We got to the hospital right when visiting hours started at 10:00am. It was good to see him.  We went for a walk around the 9th floor with him. Around 11:30am they took out his wires in his chest.  He has  bit of a fever that they are controlling with meds, might be a since of infection. Logan and Kara also came up to visit. Since they limit visitors, Josh and I went for lunch to allow them time to visit. we got back in the early afternoon. The physiothherepist came in to do a stair test with my dad. The wanted him try one flight of stairs while they monitor his heart rate. He passed! It was good to have a day to visit with my dad. Later Saturday night my dad had cold chills and his heart went into A Fib, doctors and nurses monitored him close through out the night.

Day 4 of recovery ( December 13)-  My dads heart went into A Fib a couple more times during the night. He didn't get much rest and easting much. I guess my dads heart was in a A Fib for 12 hours, good thing he had doctors and nurses close by. By Sunday afternoon things seem to be okay now, the meds they gave him seem to be doing there job.

Day 5 of recovery ( December 14)- They are telling my dad that he will be able to go home Tuesday.

Day 6 of recovery ( December 15)- My dad was released from the hospital and able to go home.

Papa Stewart

My dad is going in for a heart surgery today. He has a leaky heart valve (aortic stenosis) but things have gotten worse in the last 6 months.  On Friday October 30 my dad and Dana were in Calgary for his angiogram.  They went up through his groin and his wrist to see how soon he would need surgery,  then they met with a surgeon.  After the angiogram they told us my Dad will be booked for open heart surgery in 6-8 weeks.  They told us they would like to do surgery before Christmas.

Today my dad's having open heart surgery. The surgeons have decided to use a muscle valve.  Muscle valves lasts 10-15 years before he would need another valve replacement. The surgeon said my Dad is otherwise in good shape/health and that things will be fine.

We are all praying that all goes well with the surgery and he has a successful recovery.

32 Weeks

How far along? 32 weeks. Only 6.5 weeks until baby day - Kind of scary thought, but I'm excited.

Baby Stats: Baby weights 3 lbs 13 oz.

Cravings: No big cravings. I do like a mandarin orange or two each day, like when I was pregnant with Lincoln.

New Symptoms: A little lower back/ hip pain. I think it's just from how the baby is positioned as it usually only lasts a few hours each day.

Big Sister: Lacey still convinced that it's a girl. I know she will love him even though he's a boy.

Big Brother: Lincoln's pretty excited to be sharing a room with his little brother, as it's going to be the boy room. But he only wants the baby to sleep in his room if it doesn't cry. Good thing we have a bassinet in the master bedroom for the first few months.

Highlights from the week: Josh built a built in closet in the boys room. So that we are utilizing all the space possible since there will be twice that amount of clothes and stuff in the room.

Merry Christmas!

Ultra Sound/ OB-GYN

Yes another appointment. It feels like we were just up in Calgary, well we were two weeks ago. From our ultra sound appointment we found out baby is growing. He's already 3 lbs 13 oz. which falls under the 50th percentile. The ultrasound tech. could also see that our little one has lots of hair. Now we just have to wait and see if he is a blondie like Lincoln or brown haired like Lacey. The baby's femurs are measuring a bit longer then they normally do at 31 weeks, so it looks like he's going to be tall and skinny like Lincoln and Josh. We were able to see some leg movement during the ultrasound which is good. Our little one is still in the breech position. He's ventricles in his brain are still enlarged but stable. 

The OB-GYN appointment was just a basic check up. Weight. Heart rate, my heart rate is always little low when I'm pregnant, but has never been too low to be a concern. Baby's heart rate is 160.
We still have not received our Fetal MRI results back yet.