Happy Birthday Myles

After a very short morning with Maelyn and Levi it was off to grandmas so we could be to Children's by 9:00. After they started the Pitocin around 10:00 the waiting began. After hours of inducing and labor Myles was born at exactly 7:00 pm on August 19th. There is so much to praise God for, a labor that was not longer than the other two. We were able to hear him give a little cry before they put in the breathing tube. Then he stabilized very quickly and his oxygen level was 99% right from the start (before he even left for the NICU). Over the night they were able to lower the amount of oxygen he needed to assist his breathing. They were able to get his level to what they call "room air" which is 21% oxygen, the same as the air we breathe. We know that we are in a great hospital with an amazing staff but we praise the Lord for His goodness, that He hears our prayers, and that in His grace He has answered our prayers.
~ Missy

NICU Day 1

Where to start?

Myles is doing so well! We slept so good. We were able to have a good nights sleep and some breakfast. We headed down to the NICU and found Myles doing as well this morning as last night. His breathing tube is still only giving him "room air" and is even getting the hiccups still. They ran a list of tests overnight, blood tests, x-rays, EKG, and many more and they all came back with very positive results.
The team of surgeons came to check on Myles last night but we missed them in the morning and found out after lunch that his surgery would be at 8:00 am on Friday and that they were quite optimistic that they could use a less invasive type of surgery to move his organs where they need to be and fix the hole in his diaphragm.
Another blessing was the fact that they not only allow us to touch Myles they encourage it. Our NICU nurse even waited a few extra minutes to do a few things for Myles so we could finish dinner and make it down to help her. We are so thankful to be able to feel him and touch him. He even likes to hold our fingers and it seems to help him stay calm.
The other good new was that his lungs needed suctioning. You may be thinking what I was...how is that good news? Well, his body is telling us that it does not want the tube in anymore, he wants to breath on his own. It's his body's way of trying to get rid of the tube (along with him trying to grab at it to the point they needed to put socks on his hands). After they suction his lungs he relaxes and falls back asleep.
The Lord continues to bless us more than we deserve (Psalm 81:10)

In The Day Of Battle

            Myles... early on, shortly after we found out he was a boy, we were compelled by the Lord to choose the name Myles. We desired a strong name (and a name we just liked). Myles is a variant of Miles which was thought to mean "gracious" for the Germans and meaning "soldier" at the earliest in Latin. We choose names based on not only meaning but preference. When we chose Levi it was because in Matthew 9:9 the disciple is referred to as Matthew where as in Mark 2:14 and Luke 5:27 he is referred to as Levi. Our Levi is a Matthew Jr. without being called Matthew. As far as Myles goes we had no idea why we would name him Myles but as it turns out his name will come in handy. Myles is in for quite a battle early on in his life. If you keep up with all that has been put on here you are quite aware of that.

            Also, in Gods providence, we have been studying the "mighty men' in our teen guys class on Wednesday nights this summer. I have not been teaching but have been intrigued by David and his mighty men and have done some reading on them. They are some of the most fascinating characters in Scripture, Ishbaal  the leader of them and having killed 800 in a single battle. Eleazar who stood against the Philistines when no one else would and even ran away from the fight. Shammah who stood his ground against a garrison of soldiers. I'm not sure what number to put on a garrison because it refers to a camp or a fort, so probably no small number. Then there is the one who isn't quite good enough to be one of the "three" but stood out ahead of the rest to be named David's personal body guard, Benaiah. I've loved reading and studying these stories the last several weeks. There is one thing that stuck out to me that has become a prayer of mine for Myles as I'm sure it was for David on behalf of his soldiers. It is Psalm 140:7 "Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle." Here David is praising Yahweh for answering his prayer for protection in the day of battle. I believe that on a regular basis David prayed not only for Yahweh's covering on his behalf but on behalf of his mighty men. David asks for a covering, in other words, for Yahweh's protection. The other word that is used when this Hebrew word comes up in translation is found in Psalm 5:11 "...because thou defendest them...", God is our defender. What a comfort to know that when tough times come we have a covering available from He who is our defender.

            David also prayed to be covered, or equipped. When we call out to Him to cover us in the day of battle it is like the day the football player goes into the equipment room and is equipped for that battle. God gives us what we need to succeed regardless the circumstances. When David prayed for Yahweh's covering his head was protected from deadly blows. When David prays about "the day of battle" he is not necessarily speaking of a large military campaign but any time the armor that the Lord gave him was needed, no matter the size. It did not matter if David was facing a lion or a bear, a man or a giant or even an entire army.

            David prayed for and received God's covering in his day of battle and I am praying for a covering for Myles during his battle. Please pray for Myles, he has a giant he still needs to face. Right now he is like David at the stream, waiting for the coming battle. Pray that the Lord would cover him in his day of battle.

Matt

It's Baby Month!

38 Week Check up~

Yesterday I had yet another weekly Biophysical Profile done to check up on our little guy. 

He passed once again with flying colors. The doctor has no concerns at this point! Myles is continuing to do his practice breathing, and moving around in there like crazy!  

My fluid level is still high. No wonder I'm so big, and uncomfortable. 

We also found that Myles has moved again. Rather than being head down, he is transverse, or, laying crosswise in my belly. 

So, all things considered, he is doing well. The end of the pregnancy is very much in sight. 

We are praying fervently that Myles will go head down, and stay put so that a csection will not be necessary. 

They did a weight estimate as well, and are guessing him to be at about 8# 2oz right now. 87th percentile.

 I just don't make small babies, folks.  

I know these reports are always upbeat, and all seems well. But we need to be mindful that Myles still very much has his CDH birth defect. It will not heal on its own prior to birth, or without surgery. We are still facing a very stressful and scary few months or so following his birth. We have so much peace about what the Lord has brought our way. We know this is partially from the prayers of His people. Thank you for that! Please continue to pray that God works greatly in and through this trial, and He is glorified. We know God can do amazing things, and are expectantly waiting to see what He does. 

Please be praying for our kids Maelyn and Levi who will have a very crazy time of upheaval in their own little lives while Mommy and Daddy will be needing to be with their baby brother until he is well enough to come home. They will need LOTS of love from people!  

"Yet you are he who took me from the womb;

    you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.

10 

On you was I cast from my birth,

    and from my mother's womb you have been my God."

Psalm 22:9-10 

( oh goodness....those cheeks!!!...and that cute tongue sticking out!? Cannot wait to meet this sweet boy and get him home!)  

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.