Labor: It Must Hurt.

We are in the home stretch!  Hard to believe we will be meeting Gavin two weeks from today.  We went up to Seattle for our final ultrasound.  The next time we see him will be his birthday.  Gavin was a little more mellow today, which was odd since his dad was also sleepy and dozed off for 20 minutes during my NST test.  I guess even Ryan and Gavin take naps.  We did get to see his hair and his "fat rolls" on the ultrasound.  Apparently he has stolen Ryan's hair and has been eating all of my food.  Besides being cute, chubby, and having more hair than his dad, Gavin looks great.  Everything looks stable and we are just carrying on like normal.

On another note, I have been having contractions!  I thought I was for the past few days, but I had no idea what a contraction felt like.  Sure enough, I had one during my non-stress test and a nurse walked around the corner at that exact moment and told me that the monitor was picking up a contraction.  Ouch.  I must say that they are not the most comfortable thing I have ever experienced!  They checked me out and it does not appear that I am showing any signs of going into labor, so I can only imagine what active labor feels like.  Eesh.  We did leave the office with a warning that I need to head in if I start having them every five minutes, and that "anything can happen" at this point in pregnancy.  Meaning I could go into labor at any time since I am considered full term now.  Not what I want to hear!  I am anticipating two more weeks of working out, school, and hanging out with Ryan and the dogs!  BUT, I suppose if Gavin decides he would like to come party with us earlier, we will be okay with that.

When we got home there was a package at our front door, and it turns out it was from Gavin's O baby buddy, Hayden!  Hayden and his parents were kind enough to send us a little NICU care package.  Since they were just there with their little guy, they knew exactly what we would be needing.  Best of all was a stuffed seal, which O parents must name Omphalo Seal.  Hayden had his own Omphalo watching over him while his parents were away getting some sleep, so now Gavin has one too.  I can't express how great it has been to have the parents of Gavin's O baby buddies, Hayden and Max, to talk to.  I hope that all parents who find themselves chosen to have an O baby find parents who have gone through the same situation.  I think it has helped Ryan and I feel more "normal."

The photo below is of Gavin's NICU gear.  The gear includes his blanket (from Aunt Stacy, Cousin KK and Uncle Todd), a stuffed Yoda so that the force is always with him in the hospital (from Gavin's awesome parents), and Omphalo Seal.

Monday is our LAST appointment at UW before the big day.  I have to admit Ryan and I are looking forward to not going to these appointments anymore!  They are long, I get hungry, and Ryan gets antsy.  Plus, I think it is just time for Gavin to get out here so that his awesome doctors can get him on the road to coming home!

Hope everybody is doing great!

Carly, Ryan and Gavin

19 More Days?

Hard to believe that Ryan and I are closing in on the last two weeks of our two human and two canine life.  We have been enjoying it by becoming completely addicted to Downton Abbey.  Great show!  We are entertained and the dogs are spending quality time with us curled up in the blankets while we are watching.  Either way, it is a little bittersweet to think that Ryan and I will be scheduling our time together for years to come. BUT, it is definitely heavy on the sweet and light on the bitter.  We have been enjoying reminiscing over the fun we have had over the past seven years, and we are excited for the next chapter of our life, as crazy as it will be.

We were up at UW yesterday for a non-stress test.  I sucked down a smoothie from Jamba Juice on the drive up (I crave strawberry banana smoothies every day and I go through GREAT lengths to find good ones), so Gavin was out of the non-stress test in the minimum time.  He gets pretty wild after our smoothie binges!  So they were able to see his heart accelerate numerous times.  It still looks awesome.  We met with our medical team again so I could get educated on the prep for the c-section and I also signed the release forms for surgery.  Ryan, of course, wanted to know if he could look over the curtain to see what is inside me.  Ugh!  Thankfully he was warned that he doesn't want to see that.  Phew.  So, now all we need to do in regards to the c-section is show up at 6AM on 3/11.  Well, apparently I have to shower two times and use some surgical wipes on my stomach, but other than that we just need to show up.

In regards to monitoring the G Man, we have our last ultrasound on this coming Monday. We will also have our weekly non-stress test and a meeting with the medical team the same day.  The Monday after that we will have our last non-tress test and meeting with the medical team...then it will be 3/11.  So we only have two more appointments up in Seattle.  Time is definitely flying by.  We are both getting excited to get him out in the world so that he can get on the road to recovery.

Speaking of road to recovery, baby Hayden was sent home this past Saturday!  It has been so nice to have a mom that has gone through a similar situation to talk to before Gavin is born.  I have a good idea of what to expect thanks to our conversations.  Hayden is definitely a little miracle baby.  Hopefully Gavin has picked up some pointers so we can get him home in record time also.  Spring and the Foothills Trail are calling him!

On another fun note, it turns out that Gavin is going to be having the same birthday as my cousin Joey's daughter, as long as I don't go into labor early. The strange part of this is that Joey and I have the same birthday also.  Sort of eerie!  Gavin will also have the same birthday as his fellow fashionista and play date buddy, Jackson St. John!  It seems as if 3/11/13 is a lucky day to have a baby.  :)

Hope everybody is enjoying the longer days!  We have seen a few trees starting to bloom around Orting.  I feel like it is a great time of the year for a new life to be brought into the world.

Until next time!

Carly, Ryan and Gavin

A Little Glimpse

About three weeks ago I congratulated the Hoskin's family in our blog because their son, Hayden, had been born with an omphalocele, and he was doing so great.  Hayden's mom, Kelsea, and I have been in pretty regular contact over the past month, which has been so great because I have gotten a good idea of what to expect with our hospital stay, and I also know that I need to get a nice hands free pumping bra so that I can email all of you updates while pumping.  Maybe a little too much information, but it gives me a good laugh.  This will be a whole new level of multi-tasking for me!  Anyhow, Hayden has done so great.  He has required very little breathing assistance and is now eating away.  While Gavin appears to look nothing like me at this point, I am hoping that he has at least gotten the DeVries' love of food so that he can eat heartily as soon as possible, and possibly do at least half as great as Hayden has!

The point of this post is to share with you the story of Hayden that was captured by local news in St. Louis.  Hayden is quite the local celebrity!  You don't get to see much of him, but I can tell you that Hayden is an adorable little baby.  Also, the news segment does give you a good idea of what Ryan and I will be experiencing.  I feel like the reporter does a great job of not making this sound like our kids are zombies, or horribly weird, which I have seen in the past unfortunately.  And, just so you know, Gavin and Hayden won't have a sack outside of their body for a year.  The membrane will grow skin over it and be compressed flat before our kids have surgery later on down the road.  I am hoping that Gavin has a quick turn around time for this since his stomach is growing at a non O baby rate!  But, again, we will have to see what happens when he arrives.  Also, judging by what I have seen of Hayden's omphalocele, I think it is a pretty similar size to Gavin's.  BUT, this is my very non-expert and untrained opinion based on nothing but what I have seen in our ultrasounds and on Hayden's ultrasound photos.  So, take that with a large grain of salt!

Here is a link to Hayden's breakout news story if you are interested in watching it:

http://fox2now.com/2013/02/07/baby-born-with-organs-on-outside/#ooid=IwNzE3OTorA7oREm7TOOXDJkHvgv2UhT

So, this is a little glimpse inside what Ryan and I will be experiencing in about 4 weeks.  Maybe it answers some questions and gives everybody a clearer picture of how things are going to go for us.

Two more weeks of non-stress testing, then another ultrasound on the 25th!  We are trucking along!  Judging by Gavin's movements, I think he is excited to get out and meet you all.

Thanks for reading!

Carly, Ryan and Gavin

3-11-13

Back from Seattle!  It was a long day, as promised.  5 hours of appointments.  Yikes!  Not to mention the UW cafeteria is nothing to write home about.

The omphalocele is still there, but that is no surprise at all!  Gavin's stomach finally snuck into the omphalocele.  Not what we wanted to happen, but Dr. Jolley suspected that this would happen at some point.  This isn't ideal, but this doesn't change anything for our prognosis.  We also met with a neonatologist that had to remind us of all of the potential unknowns.  We hadn't had that conversation in a while, so it was a grim reminder of some things that could potentially go awry.  But, even he stated that he doesn't think that these scenarios are highly likely for us.  That was really the only not great news we got.  Ryan and I both like to end with the good news, so that is next.  You will find that the good news section is much longer.  We like it that way!

Okay, so Gavin has an official scheduled birthdate.  3-11-13.  Kind of a cool birthday!  I, of course, am not looking forward to waiting longer, but if it is best for him then I will survive.  Ryan, on the other hand, is completely excited that this whole ordeal will be kicked off on a Monday because he just feels that starting this on a Monday "makes more sense."  His OCD ways get the best of him almost always.  Either way we will be showing up there at 6am for the 8am c-section slot.

The ultrasound was so much fun.  We got the great news that while Gavin's abdominal cavity is measuring small, which is "normal" for O babies, it is growing at the normal rate.  So, it grew the correct amount in 4 weeks.  This is better than expected, as we were told to anticipate that the rate of growth for the abdominal cavity would start to slow down over time.  They estimate that he is already a little over 4 pounds, which is awesome.  We want him to come out at a good healthy size, and Dr. Jolley stated he appears to be a good sized baby.  We also got to see him chugging down some amniotic fluid!  Good grief, the kid can drink.  He will be a legend among legends if he ever gets into a fraternity, but given Ryan's and my lack of coolness, he is probably destined for the debate club.  Thank God.  While he was drinking away we also saw him sticking his tongue out.  From there he proceeded to have Dr. Jolley and one of the UW Fellows laughing endlessly.  Gavin appears to be very active and was caught playing the air drums on my placenta.  Ryan is famous for his love of the air drums, and will play them on anything (my legs/arms/head included), but I have to say I am not sure that even Ryan has played the air drums on a placenta.  Since the window of opportunity for Ryan to achieve this is thankfully past, I think that this is an experience that only Gavin will possess.  I have been teasing Ryan about how the DeVries' have strong genes, but I think the joke might be on me.  Not only does Gavin have Ryan's air drumming skills and inability to sit still, Gavin also appears to look just like Ryan!  The ultrasound tech got a shot of Gavin's face in 3d and I do not think that my genes stand a chance.  See for yourself:

Ryan (Ryan himself wants me to point out that this is a manly cry)

Gavin

So, I think that it is settled, and I am actually going to be bringing another Ryan into this world.  Can the world handle this?  We may just get the chance to find out.

In terms of pregnancy, everything looks great.  I do not show any signs of preterm labor.  My fluid levels are normal, I am not retaining any water, my blood pressure looks great, and I am STILL jogging on the treadmill three days a week in addition to three lighter work out days!  I do have to say that I think I got genetically lucky.  It just seems like I have my Oma's genes and will not be slowed down by pregnancy!  We are in the final stages of the nursery completion.  I will post some photos when we are done.  We are SO grateful to Gavin's future playmates, Jackson St. John and Emmett Winterfeld, for passing down tons of stylish clothing.  We have no idea what kind of clothing Gavin will be able to wear and when he will be able to wear them for the first few months, so it has been awesome to not have to purchase a ton of clothing that he may never wear.  Plus Jackson and Emmett are some stylish dudes, so Gavin will be ready to flirt with the ladies of the NICU (hopefully he is a little smoother than his dad).  Also, I had such a great baby shower on the last Saturday of January.  I ate a ton of food, and got to see so many of my friends and family that I have not seen in a while due to my crazy work/school/internship/doctor's appointment schedule.  It was a really fun day and a reminder that we have a ton of people supporting us.

Well, from here we continue to monitor Gavin.  He is still doing great with his non stress testing, which we will continue weekly.  We have one more ultrasound on February 25th, then we won't see him again until he is out in the world!  We will continue to hope that he keeps all of this positive progress up, and that he comes out with no other complications.  So far, so good.

Until next time!

Carly, Ryan and Gavin

Big Day!

Well, I am off to the gym in a few minutes, then Ryan and I will be off to our all day appointment at UW!  Keep all 3 of us in your thoughts and prayers!  I will have an update for you all within the next 48 hours.

Hard to believe we only have 31 days until we are supposed to meet this little guy and see what he is all about.  :)

Alright, I have put off the gym enough.  Off I go!

-Carly