Welcome Baby Deven

To avoid posting to the blog, I told Ange I wouldn't do it until I had something interesting to say....I don't think I can put it off any longer. Today at 8:36am we welcomed Deven Porter Johnston into the world. He came in at a whopping 10lbs 11oz. and was 21" long. Needless to say, the planned C-section was the right way to go. Angela and Deven are doing great. Both are happy, healthy, and currently napping. Ah, the calm before the storm...

A Plan

Just wanted to give everyone the scoop! Based on our doctor visit today we have decided that this little guy MUST make his appearance tomorrow morning!

There are just too many variables working against our desire to have a natural birth. The doctor is estimating given the last ultrasound that baby is likely to be around 9.5 - 10lbs. His weight/size increases the chance that induction will not work and/or baby will not be able to fit. There have been studies that show significant and long lasting damage can be done to a babies shoulders if they get stuck in the birth canal. I guess my cousin's shoulder actually broke when he was being delivered.

Also, I still continue to have contractions and yet there has been no progress at all which is leading the doctor to believe that, for this baby, my body is either not capable of contracting because the uterus is too thin (due to baby's size), that my body knows that the baby is not going to fit and is therefore not making the transition and/or my Bicornuate Uterus condition is not allowing my body to make the transition.

Regardless of the reasoning, the doctor is estimating a 40% likelihood of a natural birth without significant complications; risks appear greater than the benefits at this point. Therefore, we have scheduled a cesarean surgery for tomorrow morning. We are disappointed that surgery ended up being the answer though Nick and I agree that we have given our best effort and this will keep everyone as safe as possible which is the most important.

So expect some updates/pics tomorrow afternoon/evening of the cutest baby ever.

This week's doctor visit...

We had our weekly doctor visit today. Driving has become pretty difficult due to my ginormous belly so thankfully Nick has been able to help me out and drive me to our appointments. I think we secretly are hoping that each time I will miraculously go into labor while at the hospital and so it is better if he is with me...no such luck today.

To ensure baby is still healthy and happy in this big belly we did a non-stress test which essentially mirrored our adventure last Monday. They hooked me up to a monitor that both read the babies heart rate and identified whether or not I was having contractions. Turns out I continue to have contractions (I did not need a monitor to come to this conclusion) but the baby appears to be very healthy happy, which is the most important thing.

We again all agreed that because everyone is healthy we would continue to wait for the official due date, 6/28, before making any other decisions about induction. Generally, doctors will not intervene until two weeks after the official due date; however, given the babies potential size it looks like this next Monday, 6/29, we will all sit down and "make a plan - pick a date" that this little guy will grace us with his presence. Please note, I will be adamantly against waiting until 7/4. It would be cool to have a 4th of July baby but I am advocating for Monday night at this point!!

Wish us luck and as our doctor said as we left today, "think labor!!"

Father's Day 2009

So no baby yet but that didn't stop the celebrations! Last year we went to the Washington Brewers festival in Kenmore and we saw absolutely no reason not to attend this year. Beer is good, God is great and people are crazy.

Pics, Left to Right:

1. Us doin' what we do best: Listening to good music and drinking (just a few sips for the expectant mother though!!) 2. Baby holding his first beer (creative inspiration via Ryan Wright)

3. The Wrights, drinking obviously! 4. Al and Codie...awwww!!

Ultrasound Results

Yesterday Nick and I went to our ultrasound appointment and got some interesting information. We knew that this little guy was going to be big but according to estimates, which take into consideration the diameter of his head and tummy, length of certain bones and etc this little guy could be as big as 9lbs 14oz. I was assured that this is just an estimate with a margin of error up to one pound...that is an over estimate of one pound, not an under estimate.

We then met with my doctor to go over the results. We all agreed that since I have yet to meet my actual due date, technically 6/28, we would continue to wait and hopefully we can go naturally. We all discussed that this little fella's potential size does increase the risk of having to deliver via c-section but there is still no reason to believe that things will not go normally.

So for now we are just hanging in there and waiting for signs of progressing labor!! Wish us luck!!

A McFlurry...well deserved!!

So the last couple days have been very interesting and unfortunately not resulted in the ultimate prize, our little baby boy!!

It started about 3:30am Monday morning when i decided i was too uncomfortable to sleep any more. Sam the man and i decided to go down stairs and trying to wait it out, nothing we couldn't handle! About 5am when the pain still wasn't gone it was time for nick to get up and we called the doc who had us come in to get monitored. 4hours later with contractions that where 2 to 3 min apart they decided to send me home. Apparently you can have contractions that don't do their job. These ones appeared to just be causing me pain and were having no benefit to the whole labor process. They gave me a shot of morphine and home we went.

A five hour sleep coma and a two mile walk later the same unhelpful contractions continued through the night until early this morning. We had our regular weekly doc appt today at noon and nothing new came out of it other than the reiteration that this little guy is going to be big! Doc is hoping i will go in the next couple of days but if not we will have an ultrasound scheduled for Friday. This ultrasound will check the little guys health and size so we all know what we are in for if he decides to keep us in suspense!

We will keep you all updated and thanks for all your kind words and support!!

Ange and nick

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Email blogger function

I have also set up an email function so we can easily post pics from our phone. This is Sam, ecstatic to have me home all day!!

Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

I have set up the text blog function so we will be able to let everyone know when the little fella has arrived!!

Its done...almost!

Nick,with the support of a bunch of our friends and family (you know who you are), was able to finish up construction on the inside of the nursery this week. We then got to go crazy putting away all the goodies that all those friends, family and co-workers gave us to help dress, feed, diaper and clean the little guy! Here are some quick pics of the room...we still need to put the dresser, curtains and wall deco up but we are calling it good for the moment.

The doctor is still "hoping" that he decides to come in the next week. We are trying not to get too antsy about it though because if he is anything like Nick or me, he will show up when he is good and ready! So for now we are enjoying hanging out at home, venturing out for weddings, hockey games and what seems to be endless trips to Target and Baby's R Us.

We will keep everyone posted! This is me at 37.5 weeks!

SOON...we hope!

We've been pretty busy the last couple of weeks; nick finishing the room, me trying to read as many baby care facts as possible... We also took a new born preparation class this last weekend and decided that we were very prepared to swaddle the baby; other things may be more of a challenge but at least we have one thing down!!

We have started visiting the doctor once a week. During this week's visit we discovered that the little guy is in fact a big boy! The doctor "hopes" he decides to come around 38 weeks and we concur! He is in the right position and I have started dilating so who knows...maybe he will share my sister's birthday on 6th or the grandma's birthdays on the 18th!! We will keep you posted!

This is me and the little guys at 36 weeks!