36 Week Prenatal Check Up

"Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am theLord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;"  Isaiah 44:24

It has been so comforting to know our all powerful, all knowing God has this all under His control. It is out of our hands, and in His.  

I am now having weekly Doctor check ups, along with weekly biophysical profiles done on Myles to check on him as well. For those who are unfamiliar, this is an ultrasound that checks on baby's heart rate, muscle tone, movement, breathing, and amount of amniotic fluid. Baby is then 'scored' by these things done within a time of 30 minutes. Last weeks visit was good. However, it was found that I have developed 'polyhydramnios' which is excess amniotic fluid.  Our perinatologist was only mildly concerned about this as Myles got a perfect score of 8 on the test, and everything looked fine. Last week Myles was a bit sleepy during the test, and we had to work to see all they needed to. The other concern last week was that baby flipped from head down to a footling breech position. That was of some concern, as excess amniotic fluid puts me at some risk for preterm labor. But, with a swimming pool as a home, who can blame the little guy for stretching out a bit?!  Ha! 

Fast forward to today. 36 week check up. Everything looked good as far as the Dr. visit goes. The group b strep test came back negative! YAY! 

At the biophysical profile, Myles was showing off how cooperative he is, and decided to be an 'overachiever'.  He did all his breathing movements right away without prompting. 

His heart rate continues to be great. Muscle tone, and movement were also a joy to see. We even had good news as far as fluid goes. It is looking better this week, Praise God! Only He gets all the glory for these things. Once again, Myles got a perfect test score of 8, and in much less time than the allotted 30 minutes.  Also, Myles is back head down. Now we're praying he stays that way! 

We felt very uplifted after such good news. Dr. Peterson is happy with how Myles is doing just now. The longer he stays in, the better he will do once he is out. It gives his brain and lungs more time to develop more fully. We are still taking things week to week, but at this point, it is likely he could stay put until the standard 39-40 weeks. Praise God! 

Thank you all, once again, for checking in on us, and keeping us in your prayers! 

Love, Missy 

Our Prayer Request List

"Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4: 6-7 

I promised you all some specific ways you can already be praying for Myles and his upcoming battle.
Right now, he is safely tucked away!  Upon his birth is when his battle begins until the surgeons and doctors fix him up.
So, after our meetings last week, here is a list of prayer requests:

• Pray that Myles breathing would stabilize quickly after birth. That his lungs will function well even prior to surgery. The more quickly his little body is able to stabilize after birth, the sooner he will be able to have his repair surgery. 
• Along those lines of breathing function, please pray with us that Myles will not need any other breathing assistance other than the ventilator.  If his breathing does not do well with that, there are 2 other steps in order of severity of his condition that he may need. We are praying he is a hearty and resilient little guy, and will do well. 
• Pray that Myles will be able to undergo a less invasive surgery that would only require a few small incisions. The other option is a larger incision in the upper abdomen that would require more to recover from. 
• Pray that Myles diaphragmatic hole is small enough to be closed up by stitches, rather than a patch. If a patch is needed for closure, there is risk in the future(as Myles grows) of that reopening, and re herniation= more surgery. 
• Pray for his esophagus development and function. With many CDHers, due to the stomachs position during development, the esophagus is not able to develop well, and many battle reflux their entire life. 
• We are praying that Myles does well in each phase of his healing, and that the Lord will allow a hospital stay of a month or less. Realistically, it could be even 6 weeks to 2 months, or more. All depends on Myles and how he responds. Pray that he does not develop any infections. 
• Some CDH babies really struggle with learning how to eat well, due to the fact that eating through the mouth is delayed a bit. Pray with this Mommy that Myles will adjust well, and we will be able to have an exclusive Nursing relationship. 

Thank you, once again, for all your many prayers!  We are so humbled and touched by all your love and support. 

The beginning of a Journey

First of all, if you're here and reading this, it means you care about us and our little boy. You're praying for us! For this we thank you so much. God is so good to surround us with so many loved ones during a difficult time.

Psalm 37:3-7 has just been such a source of strength and encouragement already.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him:"

Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. 

Certainly not any words you want to hear a Doctor utter in reference to the child you are carrying in your womb, but God is always good. We are simply trusting Him to carry us through, and accomplish what He wills in this journey. 

What is it? 

From Children's Hospital of Wisconsin website: 

" Congenital diaphragmatic (dye-ah-fra-mat-ick) hernia is an opening in the diaphragm, which is the muscle separating the chest from the abdomen (see illustration at right). This hole allows the contents that would normally be in the abdomen to push up into the chest cavity. The lungs may be underdeveloped (hypoplastic ) because they lack the space to grow. CDH can have an effect on both lungs even though the defect is only on one side. 

If the amount of abdominal contents pushed into the chest is significant enough, the heart will be pushed out of its normal position in the middle of the chest. This shift may also reduce the amount of space for the lung on the opposite side, leading to abnormal growth and development of that lung. " 

When we initially received the possible diagnosis, we did some research that was really pretty scary. There are some bad statistics out there. All we could do is trust when we could not see. 
This past week we finally met with the Perinatologists, Surgeons, and Neonatologist that will be working with our son after birth. They had such encouraging news in the midst of what could possibly be a bad situation.
As far as CDH cases go, Myles case is NOT a severe one, which gives us every reason to believe he could do quite well with correct treatment. His diaphragm hole is not large. He has stomach, spleen, and intestines in his chest. Praise God, his liver and kidneys are where they should be, and are functioning fine. Also, his heart, while space is being a bit compromised, is looking healthy. Lastly, his lung growth was estimated at being 70% of a normal baby his size. We are praising God for these results, and know that He has His everlasting love and care is on this precious child. We have seen answered prayer already. 

So, what are we anticipating after his birth in 5-6 weeks?

• I will be delivering at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin to make sure Myles has the best possible care from the very start. Praise God that we are nearby, and were so quickly referred to such amazing professionals. 
• Right after birth, Myles will be intubated to help him breathe, and prevent further damage that could be caused by much crying. 
• He will be taken to the Children's NICU where they will put more stabilizing procedures in him. He will need to be in pretty good shape before they proceed with the repair surgery.  Repair surgery could take place anywhere from a couple days after birth to even a couple weeks after. All depends on how Myles does stabilizing after birth. 
• After repair surgery is done, it will be a step by step, day by day recovery. First hoping to remove the breathing tube, then feeding, growing, and all those necessary little items that we just take so for granted in a normal healthy child. This could take as little as a couple weeks, to months. This also depends on our little soldier Myles.                         
  

It seems so straight forward, but there is still a lot of potential for things to go wrong, or for Myles to not respond well to treatments. With this in mind, we have several very specific prayer requests in regard to what the professionals have talked with us about. 

I will share those in the next post!  

Thank you for all your love and prayers! We do not take them for granted, and are so grateful for each petition that has gone before the Father on our behalf. 

Stay tuned! I plan to keep this blog updated through out this adventure that God has given us.