Sunni is now 4 lbs! I was so excited to hear that because I was worried she might be small and want her to be big enough at birth to be eligible for ECMO. Her heart rate was 143 which was normal--yay! And everything overall looked pretty good and as "normal" as could be. I was a little concerned at first because the lady was waiting for her to "breathe" and it took a good 10 minute wait and the help of a buzzer. When I got home I googled to make sure that is normal--and from what I read it is. (Thoughts?)
I got to see her precious little face and the lady printed me a picture this time. Her eyes were open the whole time. Her cheeks have gotten plump which I was so happy about. The picture melts my heart. I can wait to see it in person :)
***SO---the PLAN is****
At 36 weeks I am supposed to relocate to Houston to continue care there for the remainder of the pregnancy and just to be there when Sunni decides to make her appearance. I carried both boys to 40 weeks exactly so I feel like it will be the same with Sunni. I have really wanted to wait til 37 or 38 weeks to go down there but my dr here told me that would be too risky--and I agree.
BUT the hard part is going to be that I am leaving my husband and 2 boys (ages 3 and 5) and will be 11 hours away. My oldest son is going to be in kindergarten this year and I wanted to be here for that. I am also leaving my job, which I love, which just happens to be right across the hall from my son's kindergarten class. I keep thinking that I will *probably* be missing their birthdays, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and *maybe* even Christmas. (Yep, there's the pessimist in me talking/thinking). It breaks my heart. I will be gone a month before she even gets here and then only God knows how long after that.Shawn, my husband will not be able to go to Houston til after the baby is born. It just kills me. This will no doubt the the hardest time of my life *and thats in addition to this roller coaster we are about to step on.*
My mom will be taking care of my boys from the time I leave til the time I get back. Shawn works shift work and will be able to spend a little bit of time with them here and there. I never wanted her to have to do anything like this. She should be Mimi and not mom. I know they will be in great hands but I hate that she has to become a full time mom again.
I have been so grateful for all the people praying for me and the outreach of support. Thank you all so much! Please continue to pray for Sunni and her development and also my strength and my family's strength to step into what could be a very long journey.
Whitney, thinking of you and Sunni. I was so fortunate to have our amazing hospital less than 10 minutes from my house that it breaks my heart a little to know that you will be away from your family for this. You will become a Skype master!
ReplyDeleteSuch good news that Sunni is growing so well! You can do this! Sending strength to you.
Corinne
Mama to Samuel, lcdh, Feb1/11
www.samuelslight.blogspot.com
You are in the home stretch! (mildly terrifying, I know!) I am so sorry that you will be far from your wee ones and your hubs, but thank heavens for Mimi! Sending lots of prayers for you and Sunni.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand what you are going through. I moved at 36 weeks to the hospital area 2.5 hrs away from home. My son arrived at 39 weeks and 1 day (Aug 18- he is 5 days old now). I have an older son-4 who is shuttling between here and home with daddy. It is a hard transition, but I think getting the baby home will be worth it. My blog is at http://ourcdhherolittlea.wordpress.com/ in case you want to follow his journey. Hang tight!!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear that you will be so far away from your husband and boys but know that you are going to be in great hands at Texas Children's. Their pediatric surgery team is amazing and very knowledgeable when it comes to CDH. I emailed you earlier today so feel free to call me or email if you have any questions or just need to talk. I am sending lots of prayers for you and your baby girl! Hang in there!
ReplyDeleteWhitney, I moved away from my family 2 months before our baby arrived (though I got to see my almost 2 year old 1-2 times a week when her dad brought her down). Essentially i missed her whole summer by the time I finally slept in my own bed. It was, is a very difficult portion of this journey but now, a year later it is truely an insignificant blip in our family story. Make sure you have friends/family take pictures/videos of those moments you don't want to miss out on (1st day of school, etc) and watch them, cry over them, laugh over them as much as you can and know that when it comes down to it the sacrifice is yours (your little ones will miss you for that moment but in the coming months/years won't know what they missed) and yours alone but it is so worth it...to give little Sunni the best chance is a gift you cannot make up for or repeat and that committment and dedication is one of the amazing things only a mom can do.
ReplyDeleteMany hugs to you and I hope that the weeks away from your family are fast and as stress free as possible. If you don't mind I hope I can add your website to our own as a 'blog we love'.
Thank you and much luck to you all ((hugs))