Declan's CAT Scan, EKG, and Blood Sugars

Another entry in Declan's Diary!

It's been an eventful few days. The CAT scan results finally came back (it has been a long 4 days!!). It showed nothing more than his kidney ultrasound did when he was first born, which was cystic, enlarged kidneys...but no tumors! (YEA!) They're planning to use the CAT scan as a baseline for future ultrasounds that he'll get every 3 months to make sure things aren't getting larger or are multiplying, and of course to check for tumors (if you may remember he is prone to them with the BWS until about age 6). So one biggie down for now...

This morning when I came in the nurse told me that last night and early this morning they heard a heart murmur on him. So they ordered an EKG this afternoon. It was so awful, and I couldn't be in the room for a lot of it as they seemed to be torturing the poor boy. He was so mad and screaming the whole time and it made me so upset. The ultrasound tech was not being gentle at all. The most frustrating part was that they couldn't get an entire view of his heart because of an angle that the lab tech couldn't get to. He has a distended tummy which prevented her from digging down and up his ribs for the pic, although let me tell you she tried with all her superman-might. I could go on and on about how mad I was by the end of the test, but in the end the results came back tonight. So far so good. We haven't heard the official news yet, but if there was something to report they would have told us by now. Tomorrow they'll let us know for sure.

Also, the past 2 days has been a trial and error approach to figuring out what to do with his blood sugars! They are at the max levels they can be at with the meds, so that can't be adjusted, and are now putting quite a bit of formula in the breastmilk I'm giving him (in an effort to make his meals denser with calories) to up those glucose levels. Every day it goes up which has been hard on his tummy to digest, but it was looking promising as in the last 2 days, it hadn't dipped! Well, the boy must have heard the docs talking about the possibility of going home again, because it dipped tonight (42)! (GRRRRR!) So we're back to the drawing board again...so frustrating.

The head of Neonatology at Meriter Hospital came in over the weekend and did rounds on Sunday. Apparently they made Declan into a case study with the other docs in the area. Because of his pretty rare syndrome and the problems he's having with the hypoglycemia, he's famous!! (yea??)

Declan also started getting physical therapy for strengthening his weaker leg and arm, in an effort to stave off problems with crawling and walking later on. He'll be getting that, along with occupational therapy and speech therapy (because of his enlarged tongue) when he goes home. And the best part is they'll come to the house!! :) One less road trip to his many docs! Wha-who!!

Luke also started back to work on Monday, which has made the trips to the hospital more tricky to juggle. But luckily I'm feeling better and am able to do most of the things I did before I was sick. Each day has presented its own challenges for me and our baby boy, but we're trudging on. It's hard to believe that Declan is 2-1/2 weeks old already. We've been blessed with many good test results so far, and hopefully something will work its way out with his blood sugars too. As hard as it is to leave the hospital every night without him, we're glad he's there and are playing it safe.

Thanks for continuing to keep Declan in your prayers and thoughts!! We are so grateful and blessed by them!

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and Declan

A Fun Day

Just thought I'd pass along some pics we took today. It was a full day, and Liam had SO much fun taking 2 rides on a firetruck. He now wants to be a firefighter. :)

Also (another big day!), Declan had his first stroller ride and broke out of the NICU for at least 10 minutes of freedom!! It was more fun than a barrel of monkeys, and I've never been so happy to push a stroller around! :) :) Cheap thrills, but you take 'em when you get 'em!! :)

I also got Declan smiling on camera!! That one's going in the baby book for sure!! :) I'm sure it was gas, but I like to think he was saying "cheese!"

Hope you guys are doing super duper! :)

Christy

Declan's Blood Sugar

I haven't written an update for Declan in a few days, and thought you'd like to know how he's doing.

He's still in the hosptial, and hooked back up to an IV. His blood sugar just doesn't want to behave, and they can't explain what's causing it. He's being heavily medicated for it, and it doesn't seem to be doing a whole lot. Yesterday he had a blood sugar in the 30s, so we were pretty upset about it. They ordered some blood tests to try and rule out some possibilities, but they came back clear. Also, he had a CAT scan done yesterday, which was probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to witness. The poor little thing had a g-tube in his nose and down to his stomach to get everything out and put in barium to be read during the scan. Through all of it, he kept getting poked in the heal to make sure his blood sugar was okay during the test. And he was so good the whole time! I felt so bad for him, and just wanted to rip everything off and hold him. The CAT scan will be read this morning, so we're praying up a storm that it comes out clear (if you might remember they saw both of his kidneys had cysts all over them, didn't see the Neuroblastoma, but again want to rule out the possibility that it could have been missed with the CAT scan).

Well, no date to come home in sight. It keeps getting pushed back, and not having any answers has been so frustrating beyond belief, not only for us but the doctors too. At rounds this morning they'll hopefully come up with something else. I know God's got a plan for him, but it's so hard to see him struggle.

On our way home, we heard the song on the radio that's attached. I've heard it before, but it hits so close to home.

Thanks for your prayers and love. They have meant so much to us, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and Declan

Baby Mail

Hi again!

The hospital that Declan's at does their own birth announcements that I thought I'd share. If you can't tell, the pic was taken on St Patty's Day. You can look at it by visiting this webiste:

http://www.meriter.com/babymail/baby_display2.asp?ID=4540FV&go.x=0&go.y=0

If you have problems, you can visit www.meriter.com and click on "See Our Baby Mail" icon on the right. You then type in the code 4540FV (that's a zero by the way, not the letter O) and it should work.

Declan's doing good today. At rounds this morning, they decided to take away the Billy Blanket for good (yea!), his umbilicus is looking much better, and his Thrush is almost gone (yea, yea!). His blood sugar is still not where they want it to be, but it is higher than it has been. They want it averaging in the 70s before he goes home! He's currently taking a pretty high dose of Diazoxide for it, which has helped a lot, but they keep having to up it so it will get to 70. Bottom line, they don't think he'll be home before Saturday at the earliest if he can keep his sugars averaging at 70. So, we'll see...

Hope you all are having a wonderful Wednesday! Thanks for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts.

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and Declan

Declan Update

Me again!

Just thought I'd bug you with another Declan update! :)

Well after 2 days on the Billy Blanket, Declan's Billy Ruben finally went down. It kept going up, and tonight the nurse said it finally has gone down to the point of no longer needing the UV rays! YEA!! One down...

His umbilicus is worse however. But that's not the biggest concern at this point...his blood sugar is. Endocrinology started him on some medication yesterday in an effort to get it up (it was in the low 40s). He's eating really well, and getting poked in the heel before each meal (he loves that!). So after starting the meds, it kept going down! Hopefully they can adjust it or wait and see if it will take time to start working. Either way, something needs to be done soon.

His thrush is better though! It's not gone, and he's got it on his tush now too. But it is better, thanks to some $100 tube of medication he gets before each meal. Did I ever tell you how much I LOVE Medicaid?!?!?! Not having to worry about how to pay for all this is such a relief! One of Declan's roommate's mom has no idea how they're going to pay for his stay...I'm so thankful that I don't have to deal with that one!! I really feel for her...

So, the Neonatologist says Declan's got to be watched for a few days after his blood sugar decides to stabilize. He's tricked us before thinking it's up and normal...so they're taking extra precautions so we don't have a spell at home.

Attached is a pic Luke took...it pretty much sums up our emotional state...exhausted! :) :) But seriously, we are blessed as lots of other babies in that NICU wish they had Declan's problems.

Also is one of the happy boy who has a full tummy...is there nothing sweeter?? :)

Hopefully the next email I send will the the one where he truly is coming home! Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as each day comes closer and closer to coming though the front door.

Lots of Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and Declan

Declan's Delay

Happy Saint Patty's Day!

I just thought I'd update you on Declan's latest. On Friday, Declan was supposed to come home, but his blood sugar dropped again, and they decided to keep him another day. We were really bummed about it needless to say.

Today we were all ready to take him home again, and his Billy Ruben was up (His Jaundice got worse). So they decided to put a Billy Blanket on him for 12 hours and check him in the morning. In the meantime, he developed Thrush and an infection on his umbilical cord! The poor boy is also healing from his circumcision! Needless to say, the poor thing was very fussy and unhappy today. He wasn't eating very well, and his blood sugar is still below what it should be. We're not expecting to leave tomorrow either unless things do a 180. I know the best place to be is the hospital, and I'm super confident in the NICU staff that they have his best interests in mind. If he can't get his blood sugar up to where they want at least the minimum to be (60), they want Endocrinology involved to figure out what kind of medication to give him while religiously monitoring it at home (we got a fun heel-sticker to get his blood sugar levels before every bottle when he does come home...that'll be fun...). The rest of his ailments are being taken care of with medication, so hopefully that should come to an end soon. I just feel so bad for him with all that's hurting...it doesn't look like fun.

So, two steps backwards... But the day he finally comes home will be even more special! Attached is a pic of my 3 favorite boys in the whole wide world...aren't they just SO cute (not that I'm biased or anything)?! I know I've said this a whole bunch of times, but we really do appreciate your prayers and sweet thoughts. It has been so encouraging and we are so grateful!!

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and Declan

Declan is coming home!

Great news!

Our baby is coming home tomorrow! We are SO excited, and praise God to finally have him all to ourselves. Don't get me wrong, the NICU at Meriter is awesome, but "there's no place like home".
He was taken off of his IV last night and seems to be holding his blood sugars well. He is eating insanely well (the boy is a marathon eater!). Today it was like "I'm hungry now, and I'm gonna make up for lost time". His feedings quadrupled since yesterday and is giving the nurses a hard time when he's hungry, which is pretty often I hear. So tomorrow morning is his circumcision, and they want to monitor him for a few hours after that just to make sure things are going okay, and then he gets to come home.

After Friday will be a battery of tests from all of his specialists (which are many), but everything will be outpatient, to closely watch his BWS and make sure nothing suspicious creeps up. The Nephrologist (Kidney Doc..I'm still learning all this) wants Declan's kidneys watched via ultrasound every 3 months instead of 6. They're trying to not do a CAT scan if they don't have to (to not expose him to radiation), and want his ultrasound redone from the hospital again at UW (the one where they didn't see a Neuroblastoma). But since his hypoglycemia seems to be under control, everything associated with his BWS will have to be treated when it comes up.

So needless to say, we're beyond ecstatic to finally bring our baby boy home. Liam got to meet Declan yesterday after he got his IV out, and he was so excited to meet his new brother. It was so cute. Attached are some recent pics from the past few days we thought you'd enjoy.

Thank you for all of your love and prayers. We are so grateful and blessed to have such a wonderful support system surrounding us.

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan

Declan's Testing

It's me again!

I'm sorry for taking so long to respond from my last email. I kind of left you hanging about what's going on with Declan, but we're still coming to grips with his condition at the moment.

But before I get ahead of myself, I just wanted to say that I came home on Tuesday and am doing pretty well, physically. I'm dealing with my MG mostly at the moment, and will hopefully get some sort of relief when I call to up my Prednisone. My body's a little out of whack as you can imagine! :)

Declan is still at the hospital. We sadly had to go home with an empty car, but we know he's better their than at home. Liam and Declan still have not met, and I'm waiting until Declan gets a little stronger, and Liam eases his way into what he can and can't do around the baby. The NICU isn't exactly the best place for a 3 year old...to many fun buttons and wires to play with! :)

When I emailed last, Declan was admitted into the NICU for a few problems, but most were just precautionary, given his ultrasounds I had while pregnant. One thing they noticed that would not seem to stabilize was his glucose (blood sugar) levels. It would keep dipping and going back up, and then dip again. So, they ran an IV with glucose, and were monitoring it every hour (they boy's heals are so raw, it's unreal!). Then they did an ultrasound on his left kidney that was supposed to have a Neuroblastoma on it, and couldn't find it! But BOTH kidneys they noticed were enlarged and had cysts all over them. The cysts weren't seemingly doing anything to hinder his urine, as he would pee just like every other newborn baby was. Then the Neonatologist was noticing some other differences about him. His right leg as much larger than his left!! Also, he wasn't closing his mouth as his tongue would pop out when he'd sleep. His tongue looked too big for his mouth! All of these things began to make her head start to itch, and she consulted the Genetics Doc at the Hospital. He examined Declan this morning, and told me, Luke, and my dad that he thought he has what's called Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome.

Here's a low down on what it is described as:

Introduction

• Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome (BWS) is an overgrowth disorder.
• The syndrome is usually sporadic, but may be inherited from the mother's side.
• The incidence of BWS has been reported as approximately 1:15,000 births
• The clinical picture of this syndrome can vary from mildly to greatly affected.

• Symptoms (Declan has most of these, by the way):

  • Large newborn (LGA, large for gestational age)
  • Large tongue, sometimes protruding
  • Large, prominent eyes
  • Creases in ear lobes
  • External ear (pinna) abnormalities and low-set ears
  • Abdominal wall defect: umbilical hernia or omphalocele
  • Separated abdominal muscles (diastasis recti)
  • Undescended testicles (cryptorchidism)
  • Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia)
  • Poor feeding
  • Lethargy
  • Seizures
  • Enlargement of some organs and tissues
• These children are at risk for developing various types of tumors.

There is no "cure" or anything for it, and the only thing you can do is to treat its symptoms. The most scary symptom can include (7% of children) cancerous tumors (generally before age 6), which is why early detection is HUGE! He said Declan will need ultrasounds done on his kidneys, liver, and spleen every 6 months until he reaches 6 years old to check for these tumors.

I believe they are planning to meet soon about a game-plan for him. But for now, they need to take care of his hypoglycemia before they can even think of discharging him. Since he's still got the IV, I don't think it will be soon. But you never know how things can go. Kids are amazingly resilient! :) The Genetic Doc said babies with BWS generally grow out of the hypoglycemia by the first month, so hopefully we shouldn't have to deal with that for forever.

I'm sorry if I haven't emailed anyone back yet. I truly LOVE all of your emails, and appreciate your patience while we travel back and forth while watching Liam and recovering from the delivery and my fairing MG. I'm trying to go to every feeding (which as you can imagine is very rigid), but recovering is important too, so we're just taking this one baby step at a time (no pun intended!). :)

As you can imagine, this has been tough on our crew. We've had so many utter crazy highs, and some pretty insane downs. But through it all, God's blessed us with such a wonderful little boy who is more beautiful and flawless than meets the eye. To Him, he is a perfect little angel, baptized through faith in Christ.

Thank you for keeping our little angel in your prayers!

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan

Declan's Birth and Health Update

Hello All-


Declan Asher Johnson was born on March 11th, 2007 at 8:17 pm. He weighed in at the exact same weight as his brother, which was 7 pounds 15 ounces! He measured in at 19 inches.

Declan is doing well. When he was born, he had a great Apgar score (8 out of 10) for what we were expecting. The Pediatric Surgeon and the Neonatologist down in the NICU wanted some cord blood for testing his Neuroblastoma. We're still waiting to hear back on those tests.

But after he was born, he looked great! My dad baptized him right away which was accompanied by an indescribable sense of relief. We all got to hold him for a little bit (my brother and sister-in-law were sweet enough to drive up from Chi-town and make it for his birth, and of course my parent's made it from church - literally in the middle of church - to be by my side), and we noticed he was having some trouble breathing and his blood sugars were low (16) so the NICU came down and got him for some tests. We tried feeding him some formula to maybe help get it to go up, but it was only about 18, so they put an IV and Glucose in him, and his sugars have steadily gone up since then (58 about an hour ago! They like it to be about 50). His breathing is doing well, and the concern at this point is a possible infection since he has a low tempurature (97 degrees). So they've got him on antibiotics for that, and in the incubator to keep him warm.

The CAT scan is being done today sometime to hopefully get a good look at the Neuroblastoma. We're all anxious for that one. Luckily he shouldn't have to be put out for it if he behaves, but who knows... He's still having some trouble crying, and does the whole grunting thing when he's upset. So they're still watching him for the Transient Myasthenia Gravis (as that could be why he's not crying like he should be).

His Pediatrician just came and said he'll be held off for this circumsicion as he may need surgery for the mass, and the Urologist would just do it all at once instead of doing a surgery twice. I'm sure Delcan would agree! :)

So now we just wait to get a bunch of the test results back, and we'll go from there. Depending on how he does with the transient MG, and Neuroblastoma, and the infection, we don't know how long he'll be in the NICU, but we're hoping it won't be for much longer! :) This mama wants to hold her baby boy without any wires! :) I know they have to be there, but it's still hard to see...

Labor & Delivery

Saturday night I was having some pain, in what felt like, severe heartburn. I did my usual method of getting rid of it by drinking mint tea, which has always helped in the past, and went to bed. I woke up during the night with the same pain, but went back to sleep in an effort to actually get some... I then woke up for church on Sunday morning with the same pain, but this time was much more severe and wasn't going away. I drank more tea to no aid, and called my OB sheepishly about my "heartburn". She said to take some Tums... Didn't help. The pain by this point was blinding, and she just said to come in. I felt so dumb to come to the ER with heartburn! Well, after many tests they ran on me, I found out it wasn't heartburn. My liver funtions were going crazy and my blood pressure was spiking! I had Pre-eclampsia, and they said "today's the day!" To try and help me with the excructiating pain, they gave me some Morphene, which did nothing. So then they gave me 2 more doses...nothing. I was like "isn't this stuff supposed to be pretty powerful??"

So then I was checked into our birthing room around 1pm, and they broke my water. Now if you may remember, I had extra amniotic fluid from all the ultrasounds, and let me tell you THEY WEREN'T KIDDING!! You can imagine the river that ran though the room! Anyway, that got me to 3 centimeters, and they decided to give me Pitocin and an Epidural (since my blood pressure just kept going up - at one point it was like 164 over 138) to move things along. They had this sezuire stuff right by my bedside, and ready to go because they couldn't use the normal magnesium on me to get it to go down as they do with most patients with Pre-eclampsia, due to my Myasthenia Gravis. I was also getting Antibiotics for the Group Step B, and a super-duper mega-dose of Steriods, to help me get through labor (this is the only thing that seemed to help with the liver pain, ironically!). With the Epidural, I had an one with Liam and it was the best thing since sliced bread, so I was ALL for it! :)

This time didn't go as smooth however. The first time they tried, they went to far and hit my spinal fluid (a wet tap I guess is what they call it). So they went 1 vertibrae up and the cathiter they put in my back was crooked, so only my right side was numb. It took some time to finally get it right, which was making me a little racky. But, it all finally worked, and I was a happy camper again! :)

I then got to 4 centimeters after some time...so they uped my Pitocin since the Epidural was finally working (yea!). After about an hour they checked me and I was 10! I shot right up! My blood pressure by this point was crazy, so they were happy to see me start pushing. It took about an hour of that, and Declan was born! All in all, from start to finish, it took about 7 hours. Much faster than Liam's, but also very different too.

Nothing will beat that Liver pain though, I have to say. No contraction beat that one, and I feel for all the women who've had to deal with that one!

Today, I'm doing 1,000 times better. I have the usual soreness, but I haven't felt this well in a long time. My blood pressure is back to its normal numbers (110 over 70). They're still watching me as I am still and a little swollen, but I feel so much better it's unreal.

Thank you to everyone who has kept Declan and I in your prayers. They have meant more to us than you know, and we are so grateful for the amount of love and support we've had from you!

Eternally Grateful!
Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan

Group B Strep Test

Happy Friday!

I hope you're looking forward to the weekend as much as we are...it's been a long one for us!

I got a call from my OB yesterday telling me I tested positive for Group B Strep. It's in the same family as the strep throat bacteria, but a different strain of it (strep throat is Group A I guess). Anyway, I tested negative when I was pregnant with Liam, so I must have picked it up sometime since then. Once you have it, you will always be a carrier of it unfortunately, and it can reside in the body without causing symptoms to the mother. But there could be complications when the baby is born who could get it when I go into labor. They're planning to give me antibiotics through an IV, and the chances of Declan getting it is about 1-2%, which could lead to yucky things like Meningitis, Sepsis, and Pneumonia. Now I know 1-2% is rare, and I should just not worry about it, but it's hard to not be when his chances of getting Neuroblastoma's was 1 in 100,000 (ironically about the same chance of someone getting Myasthenia Gravis).

Monday is my next OB appointment, and I'm hoping she'll lend some insight on what's going to happen as far as labor and delivery (remember she thought I shouldn't have to go any longer than next week if I don't go into labor before then).

It seems to be one thing after another lately! This girl is very worn out needless to say. The anticipation of possible complications is what's the most nerve-racking. I just need to keep hearing the Lord say to me "trust me, Christy."

So if you would continue to keep Declan in your prayers, we would greatly appreciate it. He's got a tough road ahead when he comes to meet the world. Transient Myasthenia Gravis, Neuroblastomas, and now the Group B Strep. My problems seem to pale in comparison, and I wish I could just offload them onto my platter. But God's obviously got a plan for this little miracle.

Thank you again for keeping our baby and our family in your prayers and thoughts. It has meant SO much to us!

Love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan

OB Checkup and Declan's Neuroblastoma

Hello again,

Sorry for the flood of emails lately, but these past few days have been pretty crazy.

Monday was my OB checkup. No protein that day, and my blood pressure seems to be stabilizing at the high range...but it's not getting worse, so they're happy about that. I'm feeling better than I have all weekend, which was a triage of nausea, cramping, and contractions...none of which would seem to be consistent, so that was frustrating. But at my checkup, I was 2 centimeters dilated already and 50% effaced, so that was good news! :) She also said depending on how my appointment with the Pediatric Surgeon went on Tuesday and assuming I don't go into labor before that, she wants to keep me pregnant until next week, but sounded like no later than that. So at least we seem to have some sort of timeline in place! Yea!! :)

Today I met the Pediatric Surgeon who specializes in abdominal surgeries. He looked at all the ultrasounds I've had thusfar (which as you know have been many!), and said it looked to him like the baby has a Neuroblastoma ("Neuroblastoma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in nerve tissue of the adrenal gland, neck, chest, or spinal cord" according to a website I searched, which in this case it would be his adrenal gland).

The surgeon sounded positive as there's a HUGE range of possibilities that could occur.

• The best case scenario (the one he's hopeful for and positive about): it could go away on its own! Yea!
• Worse case scenario: Neuroblastoma's have been known to be cancerous, which would require surgery, and then we'd basically take the whole cancer-route if it's not taken care of in time, or spreads.

So, the game plan at this point is to wait until he's born (again, there's nothing that can be done until then) to get a CAT scan and urine tests to see just what he's dealing with. The ultrasounds I've had are good at detecting things, but not good enough to see just how expansive it is. He mentioned that about 5-6 years ago all tumors of this type were taken out via surgery, but now they basically wait to see if it will go away on its own. If surgery can be avoided, why not try and avoid it?!

Another interesting point was that he said that mothers with Myasthenia Gravis have been linked to baby's having Neuroblastomas. Because this isn't very common, he'd like the baby and I to be in a national study to research it further. Lots of fun in the road ahead it sounds...

So now it's "hurry up and wait". We've encountered many hurdles in the past year, and with God's help have gotten over them. I know this instance will be no different, but it's always hard when it is your child (especially a baby) who is going through it. It's hard to not feel helpless since there's nothing I can do to change things, but I know it could be much worse and whatever happens, baby Declan is in his tender-loving Father's hands.

Thanks for your out-pour of prayers and love. Declan's already got many guardian angels awaiting him when he finally comes and meets the world.

With hope and love,
Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan

Growth and Kidney Ultrasound

Hello hello!

We had an ultrasound this morning to check his growth and kidney. I am currently 35 weeks and 5 days today. He is measuring 8 pounds via ultrasound as of today!!! That is so crazy! Liam was 7 lbs, 15 oz when he was born on his due date at 40 weeks. Baby Declan's still got 4 weeks and 2 days until his due date!! He's a big boy needless to say, and his daddy's already got a football career in mind as a lineman. jk...

They checked his kidney also, and saw the same spot again that concerned them from the beginning. It appears to have its own blood supply, but they still seem to be scratching their heads about what it actually is. 2 doctors and a lab tech sat their for a long time trying to figure it out, and in the end decided to forward all the images thus far to a pediatric surgeon. Dr. Lund specializes in abdominal surgeries in newbies and will hopefully lend some insight on what it is and what he wants to do. Again, there's nothing they can do about it until he's born, so they want Dr. Lund to check things out to best prepare him for when the day does come. My appointment with him is on Tuesday.

Monday is my OB appointment to check on things going on with me. Not a lot has changed on my front. Still feel huge and pregnant, and am on bed rest. But, I need to keep my eye on the prize as a healthy baby is what matters most. All these aches and pains will go away soon enough.

Attached are pics from today's ultrasound. Most of them have the umbilical cord in front of his face and his nose was cut off, but his chubby cheeks are still cute! He's got daddy's cute little button nose. We can't wait to google at him in real life and take our own pictures! Our excitement and anticipation is beyond words.

Take care everyone, and thanks again for all of your love and prayers.

Love,

Christy, Luke, Liam, and baby Declan