32 Weeks

David has made it three whole weeks past where Austin was born. That makes such a huge difference! Even if he were born today, he should be able to breathe without oxygen and take food by mouth instead of through a feeding tube. It also wouldn't take too long for him to regulate his own body temperature and sleep in an open air bed instead of an incubator. He would probably only have to stay in the NICU for a few weeks instead of the 2 1/2 months that Austin spent in the hospital. We are so thankful for this great blessing, and we are optimistic that I will go to full-term. If all goes as planned, I will likely have a scheduled c-section 7 weeks from now. That isn't very much time at all! Since Austin is fully recovered from his surgery, I have been plugging away at my master to-do list, trying to get as much organizing and cleaning done as I can before the baby is born. I've made some progress, but I still have several projects to complete.

We put up our Christmas tree last week. Austin is thrilled with it. He gets to turn the lights on every day when he wakes up, which is a responsibility that he takes very seriously. Austin has also been introduced to the world of video games, and he is already hooked. Joseph got out his old Nintendo 64 system the other day, and Austin loves to sit and watch him play Mario. I think Joseph is happy that Austin shares his love for playing video games.

Austin had his wound checked at the surgeon's office last week, and his incision looks very good. The first thing Austin wanted to do when he got home was to take a bath. He hadn't been able to take one since the surgery, so he was ecstatic to be able to splash around and play with his boats and fish. Austin can now officially resume normal activity, so we are happy to all be able to go to church in the morning, barring any sudden illness. Austin will be so happy to see his friends again.

31 Weeks and a Update on Austin

Well, Baby David has made it to 31 weeks gestation. That is almost two weeks past where Austin was born. We are so grateful for the Lord's protection over our second son. Things are going well with the pregnancy- no signs of preeclampsia this time.

Austin is doing very well after his surgery last week. The incision on his back looks great, and we visit the surgeon's office next Thursday so they can check it out and give us the all clear to resume normal activities. Austin is so ready to get out of the house! Tuesday night, his friend Ali came with her parents to bring us a meal, and Austin was so excited to have a friend over for a little while. They played puzzles in the floor, and I think he would have played with her all night if she could have stayed.

One of the disadvantages of having spinal surgery on the lower back is that baths are a no-no. This makes for a very sour and stinky child. Even Austin himself is begging to take a bath these days. He told Joseph this morning that he couldn't take a shower because he had just had one yesterday. I'm sure his logic was, "Dad, if anyone needs a shower, it is me. You think you are dirty? I haven't had had a bath in a week and a half!" We gave Austin a sponge bath the other day, and he was very cooperative and happy while we wiped him down; however, it was all a big misunderstanding. He thought that once we had given him the sponge bath, he was going to be able to take a real bath in the tub with his toys. Needless to say, we had a very upset child on our hands when he realized that he couldn't get in the bathtub.

Austin's Recovery- Pictures

Austin had a very hard time the first 24 hours following surgery. He wasn't able to sit up and had to remain completely flat in his bed at all times. This was frustrating to him, and he was also not tolerating the heavy pain medication very well. However, he turned a corner on Tuesday afternoon when the nurse was given the order to raise the head of his bed. This was much more comfortable for him, and the heavy pain medication had worked itself out of his system by this time as well. Here he is with a capri sun watching TV with his sock monkey.

Enjoying his first real food- a banana. I thought it was funny that he was eating the banana instead of the monkey.

Austin had a good sleep on Tuesday night and woke up to the good news that if therapy went well he would be going home sometime on Wednesday. He was so happy to get out of the bed. Here he sitting in a chair for the first time eating his breakfast after walking for the first time.Daddy happened to walk by the playroom on his way in from work and got to see Austin playing. He was like a different boy from when Joseph left the night before.

Austin had a good time playing with his Ninja Turtles balloon.

After all that activity, we had to encourage Austin to take a rest. Here he is watching TV again. It was so good to see him smiling again.

Here Austin is sleeping in his own bed again. He is so happy to be home.

Resting with Daddy on Thanksgiving.

Friday morning, painting a picture. Other than needing to rest a little more than usual, he is back to his normal self. I don't know how many times I have had to remind him not to run, jump or climb since we have been home. We have to keep an eye on his incision and make sure it doesn't get rubbed or dirty, and he is taking a muscle relaxer called Baclofen. We got a prescription for Tylenol- Codeine, but he hasn't needed it. We give him regular tylenol a few times a day when he is looking uncomfortable and before bedtime, but it is amazing what a trooper he has been. Not once has he complained or cried about pain. He just come up and wants a hug sometimes when he isn't feeling well. I am so proud of our little boy.
Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement this week. God has been gracious to us.

P.S. I am 30 weeks now. That is farther than I ever went with Austin. We are so thankful for God's protection over this second pregnancy.

Austin is home!

I am so happy to report that Austin was able to come home this afternoon. He made a surprisingly quick recovery once he got some sleep and was able to get out of his bed. Physical therapy went very well, and Austin was discharged from the hospital early this afternoon. We are so thankful to have him at home and feeling well. Some of our dear friends from church are bringing us Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow, and we are thrilled to be able to spend the whole day at home resting.

Happy Thanksgiving Everybody! We definitely have much to be thankful for this year.

Wednesday Morning following Surgery

Austin is doing so well today! He slept for most of the afternoon yesterday and ate a good dinner. The nurse was able to raise the head of his bed, so he was a bit more comfortable and able to play better. My mom helped him do an art project with some paints, which he enjoyed immensely. We don't paint much at home because it can be such a mess, so he thought it was a great treat. I was a little worried that he wouldn't sleep as well last night since he took such a long afternoon nap, but he was asleep by 9 and slept straight through until 4 this morning. I was able to get 7 solid hours of sleep myself, which was a great blessing and much needed.

Austin seems to be functioning much better on less pain medication. They were giving him morphine and valium because he was having such a hard time, but I think they mostly hyped him up and made him feel worse. He is acting like himself now, and he is only taking regular tylenol and his muscle relaxer. He hasn't had morphine since yesterday morning, and he has actually only had two doses of tylenol since then as well. I am so proud of how he is handling the pain. He seems to be coping better. It was such a joy to see him chewing on his orange UT blanket this morning. He sucks on it every night at home because it acts to comfort him and help him go to sleep. Until last night, he hadn't used it. I'm glad he is feeling more like himself.

Austin will play in his bed for most of the day and should start physical therapy later this afternoon. He has been asking to get out of the bed, so I am hoping that he will do well with the therapy.

At the moment, he is watching The Land Before Time and playing with race cars in his bed. He is ready to go home, though. He told me a few minutes ago to, "Get me out of here" and last night he was actually asking to go to the potty. He never asks to go, so I know he was really wanting to get out of the bed. Of course, I couldn't indulge his request. He has to stay in the bed until post-op day 2 (48 hours following surgery- about 3 this afternoon). Overall, his attitude has been pretty good last night and today. He is more cooperative and reasonable than before. He still doesn't take his medicine willingly, so you can pray that he will become more cooperative since we will have to give him medicine once we get home.

Austin's Recovery- Tuesday

Austin has had another challenging day, but he is finally enjoying some rest this afternoon. He got about 6 hours sleep last night and was up and ready to watch The Tigger Movie at 4:30 this morning. Keep in mind that he didn't sleep at all once he was taken to his own room following surgery until about 10:30 last night. He gets more sleep than that on a normal day at home. We were expecting him to sleep for most of the first 24 hours following his surgery, so he has definitely been keeping us on our toes. We are thankful, however, that he finally settled down to sleep around 12:45 this afternoon and is still sleeping now at 3:00. I think he will feel much better after having a good rest. He will also be able to sit up this evening for the first time, and he will be able to eat regular food when he wakes up instead of just Popsicles and juice. He sure was hungry this morning after not having any solid food for a day and a half, so he was able to eat a pancake and a piece of bacon for breakfast. He missed lunch since he is napping, but he has some food that he will be able to eat once he wakes up later this afternoon.

Joseph has to work tonight, so my mom will be staying with me. Please pray that Austin will have a good night and that we will all be able to get some rest. I haven't slept much the past two nights, so I am hoping for at least a decent stretch of sleep this evening.

Tomorrow we expect to begin physical therapy, and hopefully Austin will feel well enough to get up and play. His dressing will also be removed tomorrow. Surprisingly, the bandage is very small, so I don't expect his incision to be very large at all. We have to cut the back of his diaper out at the top so it doesn't rub the incision area, but other than that, we haven't had to do anything special to it.

We have definitely not had any time to be bored the last two days. Austin has kept us quite busy. It is only a matter of time before he starts feeling better. This nap today should help, and hopefully he will be happier once he is off bedrest.

Austin- Monday Night

Austin's surgery went well. It was completed quickly this afternoon, and we have been in a private room with him since about 4 or 5 o'clock. He has had a hard time dealing with the effects of the anesthesia, however. Whenever any of the nurses need to give him medicine or do anything to him, he gets very agitated and volatile, which is problematic since he must remain flat at all times. This has required us to physically restrain him at times until he calms down. He hasn't slept at all since we woke up from the surgery this afternoon, so we are hoping that he can get some rest this evening and feel better tomorrow. He will need to lie flat until tomorrow afternoon when they will raise the head of his bed. He will probably start physical therapy on Wednesday. Please pray for us that Austin will sleep tonight so we can get some rest ourselves. It didn't work out for us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House, so Joseph and I are both sleeping at the hospital in less than ideal beds. However, it is for the best since Austin may be a bit too strong willed for one of us to handle by ourselves this evening. I will try to update again tomorrow.

Austin's Surgery Details- Monday

Austin is having spinal surgery today at Kosair Children's Hospital. His doctor is Dr. Moriarty, and he is basically the only pediatric neosurgeon around. Thankfully, he is known to be an excellent surgeon. We are suppose to arrive at the hospital at 11:00 this morning, and the surgery is scheduled from 12:30 to 3:30. Austin will go to a recovery ward immediately following surgery where he will have his own nurse to care for him until he wakes up. Once he wakes up, they will notify us that he is being moved to a private room, and we will be able to meet him there.

A little detail about the problem that Austin has can be found HERE.

Doctor Austin

We took Austin to Kosair today for an appointment with a child life specialist. She gave him a little patient that he could play with and lots of real medical stuff to use on the doll. He was especially enthralled with her stethoscope, so we took a little trip to Target after the appointment to find Austin a doctor kit.

Daddy helped work on the sock monkey while Austin took care of the doll.
We had an informative visit and were able to take a tour of the surgery floor.

After we register, Joseph and I will accompany Austin to the pre-op area where they will get him all ready for surgery.

During the surgery, we will wait with the rest of our family and friends out in the main waiting room. There is a new system they have recently put in place for parents to gain information about their child. Austin will have a special code, and different information will show up on a flat screen tv in the waiting room. It reminded me of the screens at the airport that tell you stats about your flight. We should be able to tell from that information when they begin and end surgery, etc. They also told us that we are free to ask for an update at any time throughout the day.

After the surgery, we will not be able to be with him until he wakes up and is taken to his hospital room. Immediately after surgery he will have his own nurse who will care for him in the post-op area. Austin is a heavy sleeper, so I don't imagine he will be waking up very quickly from the anesthesia. I'm sure it will be a long afternoon as we wait for him to wake up.

We were able to see one of the hospital rooms, which are quite spacious. Most of the rooms are private, and they all have their own bathroom. There is a little window seat where one of us can sleep at night that is about the size of a twin bed. We will probably make use of the Ronald McDonald house some as well. It is expected that he will be in the hospital for three days and nights. The first day he will be kept completely flat on his back, but after that physical therapy will start working with him pretty aggressively. The child life specialist warned us that this will not be pleasant for Austin. He is not going to want to get up and move because it will hurt. Please pray that God will be gracious to him as he recovers.

Austin's Funny Face

I've had a request for some new pictures of Austin, so we took a few in his room this morning.

Austin is growing up so much lately. His vocabulary is very extensive, and he surprises us with some of the things he says. It is pretty entertaining to hear him make up phrases, one of which is "last- morning." (in reference to sometime yesterday)
He is learning the concept of time and constantly tells us, "one second!" especially when he is stalling for bedtime or potty time or anything else that would interrupt his activity at the moment.
As far as the surgery is concerned, Austin seems pretty matter-of-fact about the whole thing. We've explained it to him in simple terms, and we will be meeting with a child life specialist at the children's hospital later this week. They will give all three of us a tour of the pre-op area, an inpatient room, and they will do some medical play with Austin to help him understand what is going to happen before, during and after the surgery.
One thing that Austin is looking forward to is watching TV after the surgery. We told him that he would have to lay flat on his back in the hospital and then he would come home and watch TV. He was pretty excited about the idea of having extra TV time.

Austin's Surgery

I have been waiting for weeks to share this news on our blog, and now we finally have a date on the calendar. Monday, November 23rd (Thanksgiving week), Austin will be having spinal surgery to correct a birth defect that we have recently been made aware of called a Tethered Cord. You can click on the words "Tethered Cord" in the preceding sentence to be directed to a website for a description of the condition. Basically, the surgeon has to cut a fatty string that is tying Austin's spinal cord down when it is suppose to be free moving at the bottom. They have to correct this now before it causes him serious problems as he grows. He will be in the hospital for a few days after the surgery and will need to rest for a few weeks after he comes home; however, he should be fine once the surgery is completed. I will post more details as I receive them from the surgeon's office. For now, you can pray for these specific things:

1. For the surgery itself, that the surgeon will be successful and that Austin will recover completely.
2. For Joseph and me, as we make preparations and as Joseph wraps up the semester at Southern.
3. For the pregnancy, that the baby and I will stay healthy through this time.

If you have any questions or would like additional details, feel free to contact me at mrsjgould@hotmail.com.