Mommy Finds Her Cub

This is what David titled this collection of pictures from yesterday (Friday) - the day I was dismissed and able to go see my baby boy for the first time since he was born. I was so excited and I wasn't disappointed. He's gorgeous (and tinier than his pictures...I expected a big chubby thing...and there is some "chub" there but he is still a little thing.) I fell in love with him all over again...

I was so happy to have the pleasant surprise to be able to hold him. Not quite the way I wanted to...but he is still healing and has to be on his tummy. So of course I'll take anything I can get! I cannot wait to snuggle him closer. He is so sweet and soft and warm. 

Mommy will help you find your paci baby! He loves it. :)

Peek-a-boo! That's all the eye action we get so far. :)

Jet's First Bottle

I've been blessed to be able to have some pretty good success pumping my milk/colostrum since Jet was born. I've been sending it over with David and on Wednesday evening (post surgery) the nurse fed him his first bottle of "mommy's special milk." hehe. It's so precious! This is my favorite movie in the world now. :) It should win awards.

Since the video he has been eating pretty good (but he is still groggy from his medicine which slows him down some). I am leaving the hospital today and going to see and hopefully hold my baby boy (on his tummy still of course). David brought his camera and camcorder so we are set to capture every moment! We are so excited! Even more blessings - the doctor just called and Jet's second head ultrasound showed no additional swelling - the ventricles are still stable! Of course they will be still be watching him and it can still happen but we are SO happy to hear he is stable. His incision is healing nicely as well and he is sleeping soundly. Going to see him soon! Praise God. :)

Post Surgery Update

Yesterday - sleeping in recovery after his surgery. Look at that giant pacifier! lol.

Baby Jet is two days old today! :) It seems like forever since I saw him in his little bed being wheeled away to his special ambulance, but at the same time time is flying by as I realize I never updated after his surgery yesterday. Updating is a little more difficult when you're recovering from major surgery. In so many ways I'm floating on air - so in love with my little boy and feeling wonderful. But then I move to sit up and I am greeted with soreness and a dizzy feeling that keeps me from staying up for long. Well as my good friends with SB babies can relate... I feel like we still don't know anything! We know he is doing well (vitals are strong, he wiggles around and moves his legs and has good head control already) and sleeping well and eating pretty good so far. 

Here he is yesterday after his surgery.

*** Further on in the post are some pictures of the surgical area on his back. It's not pretty so if your squeamish you may not want to linger on the pictures below.***

The neurosurgeon says the surgery yesterday went well (don' t you love that word "well") and had positive things to say about the location of the SB (l5, s1) - low is good. He did tell us that because of the size of the opening in the skin itself  (around the SB opening) they had to make some larger incisions in order to stretch the surrounding skin to close up the exposed area. This sounded scary to me...not having enough skin to stretch...and painful as I thought of my precious baby, but other than a possible longer recovery the doctor did not seem to think there would be problems. However it did make for a very harsh looking y-shaped trail of staples in our little boy's back.

These pictures are not typical baby photos but David and I found it so helpful to see ANYTHING related to SB and the surgery when we were first diagnosed that I wanted to post it for any mom's and dad's out there expecting a baby with this little "extra" in their lives. :) I've heard from David that the pictures look worse than the reality and that today it's even less swollen and bruised looking. Although I still think he is the most precious thing ever.

David just called me to say that he spoke to another doctor and nurse who had the ultrasound results for Jet's head ultrasound last night and his bladder/kidney test this morning. Everything looks good so far. No further swelling on the brain at this time (praise God) and they will check it again tomorrow. It is very good news that we have avoided fluid on the brain this far. We still know it is a very real possibility that Jet may still in time need a shunt, but every day that he doesn't is a chance he won't have to so we are happy. His bladder is working but not yet emptying fully on his own. They don't know yet whether this is temporary weakness because of the surgery or a more long term issue so they are just waiting and watching. Kidneys tested fine. Breathing/lungs are great. He is sleeping soundly and his back is healing "remarkably well" for the size of the incision the doctor says. No problems so far. Go baby Jet! He is so strong and such a fighter. We will let you know of any news as it comes. Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement. I hope to post a video of him taking his first bottle last night as well as some new pictures from today's visit. 

David is doing a fabulous job taking lots of pictures for Mommy! 

I love seeing my little boy!

Welcome Little Miracle!

Our little boy is here! Jet Montgomery Penny was born Tuesday May 26th 2009 at 7lbs1oz and 19inches long. :) He is doing great so far and scheduled to have his surgery on his back as I write (now about 11:15). I am anxiously and prayerfully waiting for the phone call so say everything went well. Until then here are a few pictures of the precious little boy I got to see for about 5 minutes yesterday and kiss on the check before he left. 5 amazing minutes. :)

The Night Before Baby/Baby Bump 38 weeks

Twas the night before baby and all through the house...

Yep. We are all packed and prepared as much as we can with foggy brains and anxious hearts. Overall we are very excited to welcome our little boy tomorrow morning! I cannot imagine anything more frightening or wonderful. So say a prayer for us and our little angel and we will update with pictures as soon as we can! So here are some last photos of the baby on the eve of his birthday. Tomorrow we get to see how cute he is! Thanks to everyone for the prayers and love we've received thus far. Good night.

Surprise!!!

So after a good appointment at the doctor yesterday (the ultrasound went well...he's still stable and a growing boy weighing in about 5lbs12oz) my first graders (and awesome room moms) surprised me with a baby shower at school today. Today was my last day of teaching and the kids were so excited to do this for me (so excited they had a hard time keeping the secret.lol.). It was chaos of course but they were so sweet to do this. I will really miss them next year.

We played the "estimation string belly" game where they guess how long of a string will go around my belly. Believe it or not the winner was right on! What luck! 

Way to go Lane! (Funny thing is that he is the room mom's little boy. You'd think they rigged it but there is no way to do that! haha)

Opening adorable baby presents.

Needless to say after 3 kids had already brought in cupcakes and cookie cake for their birthdays that fall over the summer....we had more cupcakes. But isn't it cute? It's like a cake made of cupcakes! :)

This is my favorite pic I think. It is a perfect portrayal of how my days feel everyday! I have 15 children! You try getting them to pose for a picture! haha.

Okay that's better. Lots of fun. Happy Summer everyone!

Baby Bump - 36weeks

Yep! Time is goin' by and we are now 2 weeks away from my cesarian date! If all goes according to plan, baby's birthday (May 26th) is just around the corner! I'm so excited but suddenly experiencing anxiety and fear like I haven't had since we first found out about his spina bifida. I find myself talking David's ear off with "I wonder if he'll sleep good?" "How big will he be?" "Will he eat good?"....things I cannot know now or control...worries that are completely unnecessary and cannot be helped by worrying about them but seem pretty common from mother's I've talked to. :) And of course there are worries specific to our baby: "Will I be able to nurse him after him being away from me for several days?" "How long will we have him before they take him to Scottish Rite for surgery" "How will my heart not break in two without him for the days I have to stay in recovery?" "How long till I can hold my little boy". So needless to say, these days are full of joy and anticipation mixed with a bittersweet realization of what is to come. People keep asking me if I'm ready? Such a loaded question for me right now. A huge happy "Yes" and yet a resounding frightened "No." I've heard it is so much easier (from the moms I've met whose babies have SB) once your baby is here. So until he is here, I pray that they are right, and I pray for my little angel's healing and safety once again.