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Challenges & changing perspective

Our sweet Jack is 6 months old. I wanted to take some time to reflect on the challenges we've faced over the last year and how my perspective has changed as a result. I also want to raise awareness about the types of challenges parents of preemies face. These challenges are not unique to us. In fact, the challenges we face are minuscule compared to parents of babies born earlier than Jack. Parents of micro-preemies face challenges that are likely to stick with them for the rest of their lives. Financial Burden I write about this particular challenge not to garner sympathy or charity, but to raise awareness about the problems with our health care system (I don't know the solution) and how we view pregnancy/maternity leave in the workplace.  I am public school teacher and because my husband is self-employed, the school district's health insurance is the only real option for me and subsequently for Jack. I am on the best available healthcare plan offered in my district. To...
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Jack's arrival

In honor of Jack turning 1 month old on Sunday, I decided to write a post to reflect on his arrival into this world. I think taking the time to reflect and write about this will be good for me and nice to look back on in years to come. This will be a long post! I'm going to pick up where my last blog post left out - the Wednesday before Jack's arrival. That morning I had my steroid booster shot along with my flu shot and TDAP vaccine. All of these were important to receive before Jack was born and the steroid shot proved to be a factor in the decision to deliver Jack. That Thursday (September 28th), Justin and I were feeling especially restless. The closer we got to October 4th, the harder it was to be stuck in the hospital room. That day also marked 8 weeks in the hospital. I remember we were especially "feisty" and joking around with our doctor when she made her rounds that day. I was also really tired. The steroid shot really impacted my blood sugar and all I...
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1 more week!

We have made it to 33 weeks and this time next week our sweet Jack will be here! Things have been progressing smoothly. We will get an update on Jack's growth when we see the specialist this Friday morning. We are still all set for a scheduled c-section next Wednesday at noon. Here are a few updates from the past week: I got my steroid booster shot this morning. I had 2 initial steroid shots when we arrived 8 weeks ago. So today was just the booster. These shots should help Jack's lungs be developed enough even though he's arriving 6 weeks early. We've heard from multiple preemie parents that the steroids worked wonders for their little ones. My gestational diabetes has been incredibly stable. In fact it had been so stable that I was able to go from 4 finger pricks a day to 1 fasting prick. Unfortunately, steroids can increase your sugar so I am back to 4 pricks a day as a result of the steroid shot this morning. My post breakfast blood sugar read was significan...
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32 weeks!

We hit another big milestone today for Jack - 32 weeks! This milestone seemed so far away & unlikely when we first got here so it's amazing to think that it is finally here. 32 weeks also means that we are now 2 weeks away from meeting Jack. We have a c-section scheduled for noon on October 4th (the day I hit 34 weeks). Today is day 49 in the hospital with only 14 more to go until Jack's arrival. Time seems to be moving a bit slower as the end approaches. I've been going a little stir crazy and had to be more creative in filling my time. I'm also trying to fit in more naps - if nothing else, it makes the time go faster! I haven't been sleeping great either so that combined with being pregnant and not getting out of bed makes me pretty tired a lot of the time. Things have been going smoothly over the last week. We had a scan with the specialist Monday and Jack looked good and the fluid was still stable. Jack had the hiccups during the scan so we could see h...
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31 weeks & growing

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but it's safe to assume that no news is good news! We've had an uneventful past week here in the hospital, which is always a good thing. The countdown is really on. I am 31 weeks and 2 days and we have a c-section scheduled for October 4th (the day I hit 34 weeks). So less than 3 weeks to go until we meet baby Jack! We went today to the specialist for our bi-weekly scan. Today's scan was extra exciting because we got an update on his size (they tell us every other Friday). He is up to 3 pounds and 8 ounces! At this rate, he should be anywhere between 4.5 to 5 pounds by the time he's born. I was really excited that he had gained 10 ounces over the last 2 weeks. For the most part he's done really well on our monitoring lately. They watch his heart rate for about 20 minutes twice every day. Yesterday, he gave us a little scare by having his heart rate drop several times, but once I repositioned he did much better. The ...
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30 weeks!

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Today is a big milestone because we've made it to 30 weeks! We have been here for 5 weeks now and have 4 weeks to go, so we are on the downhill slope of our 9-week journey. We saw the specialist yesterday for a scan and everything is still looking good. At this point, no news is good news! Jack continues to look good on the monitoring and is kicking a lot - especially late at night when I try to sleep. We won't get an update on his size until next week. For now, it's looking very promising that we will make it to 34 weeks, which would mean a c-section on October 4th. Of course, we are still taking it one day at a time. With the blood vessels so close to my cervix, things could change quickly. That being said, we are feeling optimistic that we'll get to the 34 week mark. Today also marks 1 week of dealing with diabetes and monitoring my blood sugar 4 times a day. So far my blood sugar has looked good and my doctor has given me the go-ahead to eat outside food....
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Hello September!

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We have filled up the August calendar and moved on to marking off days in September! It's hard to believe that I've been here for over 4 weeks now. Things have been (mostly) much better since my last post. Last Thursday my friends and family threw us a virtual baby shower! Justin took me for a wheelchair ride (I get 1 a day) while they set up the room. When we got back to the room, our hospital room had been transformed!  The shower was streamed on facebook live and we loved getting to open presents while so many friends and family watched online. It was such a wonderful day! On Friday we saw the specialist again and got an update on Jack's growth - he was up to 2 pounds 14 ounces! We're really excited about how much he's growing. He's still looking great.  The only negative news we've had since my last blog post was that our bank account got hacked. Thankfully, our bank is really on top of security and they caught it before anything...
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