Friday Update

Sorry we have kept you all waiting two days for an update.  Since coming out of surgery Wednesday afternoon Clara has been doing really well...to God be the glory!  Jeremy and I have spent the last two days either with Clara, or trying to rest and recover from the whirlwind of activity that we had at the beginning of the week.  

Wednesday evening we sat with Clara and it was clear that she was in some pain from the surgery.  She hasn't been able to cry because she has a big breathing tube down her throat, but she can squirm around and grimace in a way that just breaks our hearts.  Yesterday she was much more calm.  She was moving her arms and legs a fair amount, but her face was completely calm so she appeared to be very comfortable.  One of the nurses said she looked like she was relaxing on the beach!

This morning we went up to the hospital right away in the morning so we could be there when the doctors do their rounds to discuss the status of each baby.  The nurse encouraged me to hold her, which I was more than happy to do since the last time I held her was Tuesday night.  She still let us know this morning that she doesn't like the breathing tube in her mouth, but thankfully the doctors plan to remove it today.  They also will continue to wean her off the morphine today and only give it to her as needed.  This is great for obvious reasons, but it will also mean she'll be able to wake up more and interact with us.  And if the surgeon approves, they will start feeding her breastmilk through a feeding tube today.  

Jeremy and I are just continuing to praise God for the wonderful work he has done in Clara in just the first four days of her life.  I was reading Morning and Evening by C.H. Spurgeon yesterday and it was so fitting.  "Hath the Lord been gracious to thee, and inclined his ear to the voice of thy supplication?  Then praise Him as long as thou livest... Deny not a song to Him who hath answered thy prayer and given thee the desire of thy heart."  God has surely been gracious to us.

Here are a few pictures from this morning...

Give Thanks to the Lord for He is Good!

As [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him."

-John 9:1-3

The works of God have been displayed indeed! We just received the report from the surgeon that the complete tracheoesophageal disconnect has been repaired and Clara made it through with flying colors! The Lord has done great things indeed and there is much reason for praise! Please take a moment today and rejoice with us, for the Lord is glorified by our praise!

The recovery time depends on each case, but they're expecting to keep Clara in the NICU for about 1.5 weeks. During that time she'll be transitioned from IV to an oral feeding tube for her primary nutrition to test out her esophagus. Near the end of her time Cristina and I will stay with her at the hospital to do the regular new parent things that we missed because of the surgery. 

If you're interested in seeing some more technical information on the procedure, you can visit this website. Clara had Type A shown. Thank you again for your prayers and support, we look forward to keeping you informed on her progress!

Surgery Wednesday Morning

Clara is scheduled for surgery at 9:30 Wednesday morning. They expect it to last 2-3 hours and they are confident that Clara will come through it just fine. About 1 in 5,000 babies is born with this condition so they are familiar enough with it to know exactly what they need to do for her.

Today has been a long day for Jeremy and I so we are trying to get into bed soon, but we will try hard to get some more info on the blog tomorrow while Clara is in surgery. In the meantime, we cannot thank you all enough for your prayers and words of encouragement. The Lord is definitely blessing us through you!

We did get to spend the afternoon with Clara and she's doing really well. I was able to hold her for a couple hours, which was SO wonderful! That's the most time we've been able to spend with her yet.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday...

And her name is...

Well this day hasn't exactly gone as expected so several hours passed before Jeremy and I were able to be alone together with our baby to settle on a name.  

But it did finally happen and we're happy to report that she no longer needs to be called "baby" or "baby girl Hermann" or "baby Hermann."

Her name is Clara Josephine Hermann.  Clara was my great-grandmother and Josephine was Jeremy's great-grandmother.  We had this in mind as an option, along with a couple other names, but after meeting her today and spending a little bit of time with her we both happily agreed that her name is Clara Josephine.

So there you have it...the suspense is finally over.  :)

Update from Cristina

Baby Hermann is still in the nursery being monitored for a bit.  She's had an excessive amount of mucus making her all congested and giving us some scares so they are watching her and cleaning her lungs out right now.  So Jeremy and I were just sitting here looking at his last post and trying to decide what her name is and I thought I'd add a little note to the blog.  

I'm still a bit groggy and very tired, but other than that I'm great.  I told Jeremy I can't quite believe that the baby is out already.  I expected it to be an all day event today so I feel like there must be more pain to come, but it's true...she's out and she's so cute!

The doctor that I've seen throughout the whole pregnancy was able to be with us for the delivery, as well as two amazing nurses that were just perfectly suited to us.  Jeremy did a fantastic job as well.

We learned what the cause of baby's extra mucus was. The nurses were having trouble passing a tube through her mouth into her stomach, so they took an x-ray which showed that there is a small section of her esophagus missing, which means that her throat isn't connected to her stomach right now. She'll be transferred to a special neo-natal surgery unit tomorrow at Riverside Hospital. They feel like it will be fairly routine and should go well. 

We'd welcome your prayers, for peace and trust that the Lord would bring her through safely. We'll keep you posted on the progress. I may not have thought to include everything, so if you have any questions please don't hesitate to write. 

She Made It

Praise the Lord, for He is good! After 1.75 hours of pushing and 3
hours of hard labor, baby Hermann has arrived! Weighing in at 7lbs
13oz and measuring 20in, baby is doing well, but is still without a
formal name. We'll let you know! Thank you all for praying!

She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain...

Things are happening fast now. Cristina's had a couple hours of hard labor at this point and just received an epidural. At 8:00 she was 3-4 cm dilated and 100% effaced. Now they're turning on incubators and getting instruments out and getting all ready to push maybe. At 10:00 she's 9-10 cm dilated and chillin'. Baby's at +1 now, woah nellie!

Monday 5:30 AM

Well here we are.  Jeremy just took this picture of me a few minutes ago.  He thinks I look nervous.  Truth be told, I am!

Thankfully we were both able to get a few good hours of sleep last night to carry us through this big day.  I took a quick shower this morning and had some Berry Berry Kix for breakfast.  They hooked me up to Pitocin at 5:00 this morning and will increase the dosage every half hour.  From here on out it will be nothing but clear liquids for me.  The nurse said my contractions throughout the night were impressive - 2-5 minutes apart and lasting 60-80 seconds each.  I expect that this will be the last time I will feel like posting on here before the baby is born.  By the time all of you are reading this I imagine I will be quite uncomfortable, and quite focused on the task at hand.  I'll try to let Jeremy sneak in a few quick updates from time to time though.

Thank you for all the emails and blog comments!  I've enjoyed reading them and knowing how excited everyone is with us.  

Sunday 11 PM

Well we are getting ready to sign off for awhile.  In talking to our nurse a little more it turns out the doctor wants us to wait until the morning before starting Pitocin, so it's not an option for us to start it sooner after all.  On one hand we would have liked to get things moving sooner, but waiting until morning means that my doctor that I've been seeing through the whole pregnancy will be able to manage my labor and delivery, which is great.  Contractions still aren't really doing much so I had a snack and we're getting ready to settle in for some sleep.  If something changes we'll try to get an update on here.  Otherwise they're planning to start Pitocin around 5:00 AM to make the contractions more effective and get this baby delivered!

Sunday 9:30 PM

Cristina here...we haven't seen the doctor yet, but she spoke with our nurse and said she is willing to let us go until 5:00 AM tomorrow without giving us anything to induce labor, if that's what we want.  At this point we are thinking we will try some things on our own to try and get things going, knowing that at any time we can ask for Pitocin to help speed things up.  I am having contractions, but they just aren't doing much yet.

I think our prayer requests right now would be for me to relax and not be afraid of what's to come, for Jeremy to have the stamina to coach me through this and that he can recall to mind tips that we've learned, and for the baby to handle labor well.  Thanks for praying!

To The Hospital!

My water broke at 5:00 and we are on our way to the hospital. Will
try to keep you updated as things progress.

Baby Tummy!

This just seemed too special to not share with everyone, plus it gave Jeremy a good reason to try out iMovie! Not too many days from now we should be blessed with the opportunity to see her face to face! We're looking forward to that day, for sure!

A gold star day!

I just got back from another visit to the doctor. They wanted me to come in for a bio-physical profile to make sure everything is still looking good with the baby and the pregnancy. Baby scored 10 out of 10 points and the nurse even said she gets a gold star for being so busy! They were checking to make sure my placenta was still functioning well, that there was still an adequate amount of amniotic fluid, and that baby is still doing well. Everything passed with flying colors. This means that I get to continue being pregnant, at least for a few more days. They also are estimating baby's current weight at 7 lbs. 12 oz. (give or take 7 oz.).

So that's the latest update. We're scheduled to be induced Monday morning, so at most we're looking at three more days until we meet our little girl!

Look Mom...no hands!

My sister captured this moment last weekend when she was up here for a visit. I'm balancing a full glass of water on just my belly!

40 Weeks

Another Doctor Update

So today is our due date and I'm still pregnant. We are so thankful that we've made it to 40 weeks with really no concern for the baby's health or mine, but at some point she does need to come out. :) Here's what the doctor had to say this morning...

I am still dilated one centimeter, but now I'm 80% effaced. While she was checking me she also stripped my membranes, in an effort to make something happen to get labor going. She said the baby is putting a lot of pressure on the amniotic sac (and on the lower half of my body which is causing my right foot, ankle and leg to be in an almost constant state of pudginess).

We also talked about what we will do if the baby continues to not be born. If she's not born by Thursday I will be back at the doctor's office for a bio-physical profile. This is a group of tests to make sure the placenta is still functioning well enough, that the baby is still doing well, that there's still enough amniotic fluid, etc. Although the doctor will let me go up to two weeks overdue, for multiple reasons she would prefer to induce me at one week overdue. Thankfully if it comes to that she said my cervix is progressed enough that they would be willing to just break my water and see if that starts labor, rather than going straight to drugs to start labor. So we're going to schedule an induction for next Monday so that they hold a spot for us, but we won't have to decide until the end of this week if we actually want to do the induction on Monday or if we want to wait longer. We're just praying though that she comes on her own before then. In fact, tonight would be great because it's my doctor's night to be on call and I'd really love for her to be able to deliver our baby.

So that's pretty much the scoop for now. We'll probably take the 40-week picture tonight when Jeremy comes home from work. Thanks for your prayers!

Pregnant Mama Slideshow

My sister Angela took these great pictures for us a couple weeks ago. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do; they're a great gift to us!

Cleaning Day

So this morning I'm cleaning the blinds on our windows. I've been wanting to do this since we moved in 6+ weeks ago, but this is the first day that I've had any motivation to do it. Thankfully two of them were replaced right before we moved in so they are sparkly clean, but the other four are really gross. I'm sure I'll be lucky to get even one done today, but at least it's a start. As I'm wiping each individual slat I'm wondering if there's a person on the planet that actually enjoys cleaning blinds? I tend to think there isn't. I mean, I realize it's rewarding to see your progress as you move from one slat to the next, but what a pain!

39-weeks doctor update

Well we're 39 weeks today! I had a doctor appointment this morning and not too much has changed since last week. I'm still dilated to one centimeter, but now I'm about 70% effaced (last week I was 60%). They are also still marveling at how low the baby's head is. If she's really that low, then I'm marveling at how much pain she is still causing in my ribs!


Here's what babycenter.com says about our baby this week:

One uncomfortable complaint of late pregnancy is frequent hiccups. No, not you, your baby. Because there is no air around your baby, when she practices breathing, it can cause amniotic fluid to get into her windpipe, resulting in those regularly spaced thumps that make you think you're carrying a jumping bean in your belly. Other news this week:The lanugo (an exotic word for soft, downy hair) that used to cover your baby's body has mostly disappeared, but you may find a bit leftover on the shoulders, forehead and neck. Don't freak and think you've given birth to a monkey: It'll fall out soon.The color of baby's skin is changing from a red-pink hue to a white or blue-pink color (even in babes with dark skin). These changes are due to the amount of fat your little pudger is putting on. The circumference of your baby's head and abdomen are about the same size now (though you may not be able to tell if your baby's born with the common cone-shaped head!).The placenta is lending your Mini antibodies that'll keep him strong and healthy after birth. That said, it's still a good idea to invest in that mega-size bottle of hand sanitizer.At this point your little critter is about 19 to 20 inches long and weights about 7 pounds. That's just around the size of a large rabbit. What's up Doc?

Here's the 39-week pictures:

Cradle

My dad made this beautiful cradle for us. My parents just brought it over last night. Now the baby's room is pretty much complete...except for the fact that the baby isn't here yet! Maybe she'll come now that she knows we have a place for her to sleep.

Baby's room

Jeremy hung some things in the baby's room tonight, so I'm feeling now like the room is more complete and ready for us to bring the baby home. Here are some pictures.

This is the room.

This is her closet. Can you tell we're expecting a girl??

This is a painting that my sister and brother-in-law made for the baby. I love it!

This is an angel that Jeremy's grandma gave us. It's hanging over the doorway of the baby's room.

Nesting?

My family thinks I am "nesting" today since I've been doing so much, so they're expecting us to call soon and tell them we're in labor. That would be exciting, but we'll see. I've heard that "nesting" involves doing things that really aren't necessary, like rearranging your cupboards. I don't think I've been doing unnecessary things today, but I sure have had an endless supply of energy. Even now I'm still not tired! I want to vacuum our apartment because it really needs it, but Jeremy is playing video games so I don't think he'd appreciate me making all that noise.

We'll let you know if anything happens overnight (ie. we go into labor). :)

Busy girl

Yesterday I pretty much had zero motivation to do anything even remotely productive, but today I have been one busy girl. Here's what I've done so far...

• tidied up our apartment
• gathered baby clothes, towels and blankets to wash
• stopped at a nearby thrift store to look for baby clothes (I bought a sleeper and a pair of pants for $.99!)
• went to Walmart to return something
• went to Cub to pick up a few groceries that were on a good sale this week
• went back home to have lunch and do some reading about labor and delivery
• went to church for coffee break (the department I worked in has coffee break every Wednesday afternoon)
• went for a short walk with my honey
• stopped at Rainbow on the way home for a few more groceries that were on a good sale
• hauled two loads of laundry to the basement and put them in the wash because my poor honey was completely out of clean undershirts and socks!
• climbed the two flights of stairs back to our apartment (yes, that's considered an accomplishment when you're 38 weeks pregnant!)
• made a doctor appt for my honey
• went back downstairs to put the laundry in the dryer
• climbed two flights of stairs again
• went through today's mail and the pile of mail that I've neglected the past few days

My plans for the rest of the evening? Well, I'm still feeling pretty good so here's my agenda. We'll see how much is actually accomplished.

• retrieve the two loads of laundry from the basement, haul them up two flights of stairs, and fold them
• make dinner - grilled BBQ chicken, roasted potatos, steamed veggies
• go out to the car with Jeremy and figure out how to strap the carseat into the car
• direct Jeremy in hanging decorations in the baby's room

Days like this have been few and far between during this pregnancy, but when they do happen I'm very thankful. I feel more like my old self when I can actually accomplish some helpful things around our home. Hopefully I'm not completely pooped tomorrow as a result of my busy day today!

Doctor update

We were 38 weeks yesterday. We didn't take our weekly picture yet, but I did have a doctor appointment yesterday so I can at least fill you all in on that.

I am now dilated one centimeter and 60% effaced, so at least we're making a little progress. My doctor also said that the baby's head is lower than average, which I probably could have told her myself considering the pain that I'm sometimes feeling from her head pushing down! The other thing that surprised me a bit is that I gained 3.5 pounds in the past week. Yikes! The doctor said it's probably mostly water weight at this point, which would explain why my feet are more swollen now. Thank goodness it's not the middle of winter. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't wear flip-flops!

In the past week Jeremy and I have both hit the point where we are ready to be done with pregnancy and start our life with this little baby. Jeremy keeps telling her that she can come out any time. I think my mom and I are going to go walk the mall this afternoon - partly to give my back some relief from sitting down, and partly to get some exercise and try to encourage labor.

This past weekend we also spent some more time working on the baby's room, so I'd say it's about 90% ready now. It's still pretty bland looking since we haven't hung things on the walls yet, and we're not allowed to paint, but I'm sure we'll find a way to spruce things up. At least we have a place to change her diaper, and her clothes are all put away, and later this week my parents are bringing over the cradle that my dad made for her so she'll have a place to sleep. And we've managed to get pretty much all the non-baby things out of her room now so you can actually tell that there is a floor in there! I'll post some pictures after we hang things on the walls and get the cradle here.

I think it's time for me to try taking a nap now. We'll let you know if anything exciting happens this week!

Homemade bread bowls!

On friday I made yummy potato soup for dinner...and I made bread bowls for us to eat it out of! I think I baked them a touch too long (I'm still trying to figure out this oven in our apartment - it cooks really hot I think), but they were pretty good. And I just thought it was really fun to eat out of bread bowls that I made!