December 19 - 3 weeks & 2 days

Where does the time go? I know...eating every 3 hours, changing diapers, changing sleepers, changing Mommy's clothes, changing diapers and sleepers again, finally getting to sleep and starting all over again! Oh yeah... and don't forget running to the Doctor's to check that Noah is growing. Whew!

Noah went up to 6 lbs 9 oz at his two week check up. Everyone was so happy that he had gained more than his birthweight. The doctor gave us the OK to try on-demand nursing (but still wanted it to be every three hours...huh?!?) and said that we could drop the supplimental bottles and see how he did. 24 hours later, Rosie was ready to quit. You can only stand so many feedings trying to get a preemie to latch on for 45 minuteseach time. So...we spent a week using some guards that make it easier for the baby and still weighed him every 3-4 days. At 3 weeks he was 6 lbs 14 oz, which is OK....but not the 7 oz per week that they want to see. We got to be weighed again today - still 6 lbs 14 oz. We see the Doctor again 12/26 and if he doesn't really catch on to nursing and gain, we will need to go back to supplimenting with bottles.

Rosie also found a "bubble" on the back of Noah's head last weekend. It is probably a hematoma or a cyst and we will have a cranial ultrasound on the afternoon of Christmas Eve at Children's Hospital. It is about the diameter of a peanut M&M but the Doctor can feel bone underneath it, so that is a great sign. I guess that this is just another thing that is common with preemies.....

We can't believe how much has happened these last few weeks... we didn't even expect Noah to arrive until sometime between now and the 29th! We spend a lot of time marveling at how amazing Noah is and considering all the times that we thought the pregnancy had terminated and all the close calls with his delivery. Thanks for the dinners, rides for our kids and extra concern and prayers. We are so grateful for our friends and family, especially during this holiday season.

Here's some more pictures for all you self pronounced "cyber-stalkers" who have been emailing me wanting more pictures. We are glad that you like the weblog. We are not sure when we will stop.... but for now, everyone seems to enjoy it.

Aaron and Noah are spending some quality male bonding time. Noah looks so tiny!


Noah cheers on Seth at his first wrestling tournament (Sedro Wooley) in style with hoodie, hat and sweats made from big brother Jacob's old sweat pants


Even the preemie outfits are a little too big, but he loves his "soothie"


Here's all the "brothers" and Zoey posing for Mom's Christmas photo

December 6, 2007 - 10 days old

Noah weighed 6lbs 2 oz yesterday...he is doing great. Rosie's doctor said that she is healing well also and to just remember to not carry anything heavier than Noah. She can't wait to be back to doing everything. Here's some pictures from the last few days:


Eli trying to wake Noah


Jacob and Noah catchin' some zzzzz



Nothin' like a warm brother


He is so tiny compared to Jacob's hand


Fast asleep in the sweater knit by Aunt Eva

11-26-07 through 12-1-07

Our busy first 5 days....

Meeting "the brothers"

Our first evening and night were full of tests and times when Noah was doing just great (like how his 1 minute Apgar score was a 9!) and others where there was serious concern. By morning, we realized that he needed to have higher calorie formula and that it was too much effort for him to try to nurse. His blood sugars were all over and he could be very lethargic. We were able to get him to keep 30 ml (which was great!) of formula using a special preemie nipple that requires no sucking on his part at about 6am. It took an hour to get that amount in, but it was a step in the right direction. We also started the Jaundice game that morning and learned how to be sure to measure everything that went in and came out of Noah. We check his temperature every hour also. Bruising on Noah and Rosie from how aggressive the c-section was starts coming to the surface. Again, we are thankful for miracles and for how well things are going.

Tuesday, 11-27-07

During this day Noah increased his feedings to 40 ml every 3 hours. We still had 2 times where he lost the entire feeding and his blood sugars dipped, but each time that it was the “determining test” that would send him to the special care nursery if they weren’t up, his numbers would be just above the cut-off. We feel so blessed that he gets to stay with his mom! The doctors have no idea when he could go home; it just depends on the blood sugars and his temperature control. He still is in the highest range for jaundice that a baby can be before needing the lights. He has a knack of being right on the edge of needing more intervention so he keeps getting test after test after test. His poor heels! Darren has no vacation or sick leave time until Friday, so the days are long until he can show up in the late afternoon each day. We again were grateful that Noah could still be in the room with Rosie so we could spend some family time with our new little miracle. Test results came back for Noah and Rosie: Noah’s hematocrit was good at 47, but Rosie’s only 27. It is another indicator that the Lord blessed us during the c-section. Our visitors are a little limited to minimize Noah’s exposure. We are told to spend a few weeks being careful… visitors can come, but need to wash with anti-bacterial soap and just look – not to “pass him around”. Grandma Doherty and her friend Billy came to visit today as well as Lori and Coleman Oviatt after an ER visit for Coleman, Aaron visiting for lunch and Kimberly Kosorok, who popped in long enough to drop off a bag of clothes from her baby that was early. Noah is soooo tiny that even the smallest hospital tops look like dresses on him. We will have to get new baby clothes since we had gotten things that were all for the 8-12 lb range. We had an idea that Noah might come early with all the pre-term labor, but we figured that 8 lbs was tiny compared to his brothers’ birth weights (9-4, 10-4, 10-3, 10-8… all at 38 weeks)

Wednesday, 11-28-07

Rosie’s doctor cleared her in the morning to come home Wednesday night with directions to be checked the next day. She drew lines on Rosie’s stomach to show how far the bruising had spread so anyone checking her could see and track the changes. Noah is now keeping 45 ml at each feeding and we only had 1 feeding that all came back up. His blood sugars dipped after that, but were still 1 point above the cut-off! He is doing better with his temperature but it still flexes all over the place. He weighed 6lbs 2 oz today which was great. The nurses keep saying that Rosie’s “mom-experience” is what is keeping him out of the special care nursery. Each feeding takes about 1 hour and you have to be very gentle and patient with burping, or he loses everything. They had him try to nurse at the start of every 3rd or 4th feeding. He can latch on and suck for 2-3 sucks, but then he just relaxes and falls asleep as if to say “This is sooo exhausting!” We saw a rooting reflex once today… yea! He definitely does not like anyone touching his feet…. Too many pokes. (sad face) The process begins to test Noah and see if he could tolerate going home. One thing is to see if he can sit in his car seat without aspirating of stressing his heart. Aaron came at lunch again and brought our car seat. He is too small!!! Aaron saves the day by running to Babies R Us and getting a car seat that has extra adjustors for preemies. They hook him up to an EKG and to an oxygen meter and take him and his car seat to the special care nursery to sit and be observed for an hour and a half. He passed! Another miracle and we are so thankful. At about 5:00 it is decided that we can go home, but with follow-up appointments for 9am the next morning. Aaron, Jacob and Darren pack up all the stuff that can accumulate during a long stay in the hospital, we go through another round of checks and just after 8pm we are headed to the car. Because we don’t have all the necessary things for a “half-size” baby, Noah has his first trip to the store on the way home. Luckily, Target has a wheelchair and Darren pushes Rosie and Noah to get tiny diapers, formula, and a few other necessary items to get through the first day at home. It was the quickest Target shopping in history… we were back in the car in 15 minutes. Needless to say, Rosie and Noah were both asleep before the car left the parking lot!

Thursday, 11-29-07

We need to wake Noah and make sure that he eats every 3 hours. We still track everything that goes in and out. Aaron drives to the follow appointments which take 2 hours! His jaundice is still too high so we are off to the lab for more blood work. He weighed 5lbs 12 oz so we are still above the cut-off for losing 10% of his birth weight. He passed his hearing screening and Aaron gets us back home for some rest. We wait all day for lab results and finally at almost 5:00 get a hold of the results. He doesn’t need lights today, but see the doctor again tomorrow. Rosie is so grateful for friends who have brought dinners in… it is so nice to just heat things up for lunch. This whole bottle feeding/pumping thing is time consuming! We can’t wait until he can just nurse. We watch to see if the yellow moves to his legs, monitor his temperature and try to rouse him several times between feedings to check for lethargy. Noah had his first bath at home….everyone got involved except for Seth who amazingly slept through the entire circus on the couch that is about 10 feet from the kitchen sink. Noah looks like a little doll…We have never seen such skinny legs in our family!

Noah likes the water on his skin...but what a lovely shade of yellow he is!

So cute and actually awake after his bath at 4 days old.

Friday 11-30-07

Darren’s vacation date has rolled over so he was at home today. He had put in for vacation this day weeks ago, but he was originally going to get some things done around the house…how quickly things change. We went to the doctor and Noah was completely full of milk but weighed 5lbs 12 oz. At the hospital, they take where he is in his feeding schedule into account, but now that we are “on the outside” they don’t take note of it. He was empty and ready to eat yesterday when he weighed 5lb 12oz, so in reality he lost a little more, but it won’t really matter unless it looks like a big drop the next time he is weighed. His jaundice is still right under that upper cut-off and he has switched off of formula and didn’t have a big drop, so that is wonderful. He actually was rooting for food two times today; it is nice to see those reflexes kicking in. We all went to CHS to see Seth in the play…his last one since he is a senior. Noah was a gem and quietly had is bottle and slept through most of the play. We kept him all bundled up and Rosie got settled into a seat early to keep interactions with others to a minimum. We know that everyone is happy that he is here and healthy, but we need to protect him from all those germs out there for just a little while.

Saturday 12-1-07

Noah actually woke up hungry about a half hour before his 3 hour feeding mark! How many people are excited when their newborn wakes up rooting all over his blanket at 2:30 in the morning hungry? That was a great sign. We had a quiet day at home resting after such a busy Friday night. Noah and Rosie are both pretty tired! He has increased the amount he eats to about 50 ml every 3 hours and all his feedings have stayed down in the last 24 hours. He still looks yellow, but has lots of wet and messy diapers, so that shows that his liver is working on processing all that yellow. The rest of the family is spurred on by the snowfall and are putting up the Christmas tree. Our dog, Zoey, has finally gotten used to the baby noises and she doesn’t look like she needs to come and try to help with Noah every time he squeaks.

Sleepy Noah - all wrapped up to keep warm at 4 days old

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 35 weeks, 2 days

The ultrasound showed that almost all the fluid was gone around Noah. That is a sign that the placenta is not functioning correctly since there wasn't a leak anywhere. Noah hadn't really grown in the week since the last ultrasound either. As soon as Darren arrived at the hospital from work, they started discussing delivery options with us. It was clear that Noah was coming very soon and that it would be better for him to be out instead of in. The doctors presented pros and cons of trying labor and of a C-section with the low placenta and past bleeding, but said that they could have things all set to dive into an emergency section if we wanted to try labor.





Darren and I asked for a few minutes to ask the Lord about our decision and we were surprised when all the medical personnell respectfully left the room and told us to take all the time that we needed. We both felt that both Noah and I would be in too much danger if we tried labor and within just a few minutes, I was walking into the surgery area...it was the first time I had walked out of the hospital room in a week. As the surgery proceeded, Darren and I could feel an intensity and focus from the doctors and nurses as Noah just wasn't coming out. Several people were pushing on my ribs and the doctor tried the extractor and ultimately foreceps to deliver him through the incision. As it turns out, the placenta was very low (2cm from the cervix) and had to be cut through for the surgery and the cord was coming out from the edge of the placenta rather than the center, right between his head and the cervix. The doctor said over and over, "This surgery was such a good decision" as she went on to explain that the cord would have just ruptured if we had tried labor. We were amazed and thankful that we were being watched over once again.





After a slight delay, Noah started cryng and pinked right up. We both felt a huge relief and we know that all our prayers are heard. Thank you for yours....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOAH!!!!!
Noah Dean Gremmert
11-26-07 @ 5:48 pm
6lbs 4 ounces - 35 weeks gestation

Monday, November 26, 2007 - 35 weeks, 2 days

On Sunday, we had gotten the word that Rosie might be able to go home today using two oral meds to control contractions, but a little bleeding Sunday afternoon may have foiled our plans. We are waiting for an ultrasound today to see if the cause of the bleeds can be determined, and then we will know more.

Noah still looks great and his heartrate has perfect responses to movement and contractions. We are very thankful for that.

11-23-07 - 34 weeks 6 days

Rosie is all the way off the magnesium sulfate and taking a different oral medication along with terb as needed to keep contractions down to less than 6 per hour. It takes a couple days for the "mag" to get all the way out of someone's system, so she is still recovering from that and at the hospital for monitoring and observation. We made it through the transition without any more bleeding, so that is great. Noah is still really active and has the nurses chasing him all around with the monitor to try and keep his heartrate on the strips. His responses to the contractions and his movements are healthy and normal. The day that they can come home seems to always be "maybe in about 48 hours"; so really... we don't know. There is talk about Saturday... but time will tell. Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers!

November 21, 2007 - 34 weeks 4 days

Monday 11/19

Darren and I headed off to the ultrasound and we got to see great pictures of Noah and how well he has been growing. It is so amazing! We could even see the hair on his head and the little curls at the back. He has been growing great and weighs about 6.5 lbs. The placenta was still pretty low so the doctor wanted to do an internal ultrasound to get accurate measurements. I went to empty my bladdar first, and we were all shocked that when I stood to use the restroom I was bleeding pretty heavy. Luckily, We were just in another part of the hospital, so they whisked me to labor and delivery. It was frightening, but since we had just been seeing Noah jump around on the screen, we felt pretty lucky that we knew that he was doing well.

I was quickly prepped for possible emergency section and pumped full of meds that hurried Noah's lung development, slowed the contractions and eventually stopped the bleeding. Now we have been waiting the 48 hours that the lung development shots need to be the most effective and the will try tomorrow (THANKSGIVING!) to taper me onto a medication to slow contractions that I can take at home. Darren says that I just didn't want to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year! :) If that transition doesn't work, I will stay on the magnesium sulfate (yuck is putting it very mildly) in the hospital until his lungs are mature enough. His lung development willl be determined by amnio, if we need to go that route.

The bleeding was probably caused by my placenta seperating from the uterine wall so I will be on strict bedrest until delivery and the placenta will probably not tolerate labor. We are looking at a C-section almost no matter what. The great news is that Noah is showing absolutely no signs of stress. They have us hooked up to all kinds of machines and he is doing great. Your prayers must be working!

Thanks to everyone who has been helping transport our kids and for your calls and prayers. Although I normally would like visitors, it will have to wait until I can get off this magnesium. I have a whole new level of respect for people who have dealt with long term illnesses and strong chemicals to combat them since it has taken me basically all afternoon just to do this post. Please understand if I am not up to a visit or talking on the phone. I do appreciate your concern and don't worry, my kids really will call if they need any help! Our phone bills attest that they know how to use phones :)

Overall, we feel very optimistic that things will turn out great, we just don'tknow exactly when that will be :) Please continue to keep us in your prayers and thanks again for everyone's love and support.

November 16, 2007 - 34 weeks

Everytime that we reach another weekend and another week has gone by I am amazed! Since the last post we have had a couple more runs to the hospital but all is well. If he is like his brothers, he will stay in there for a couple more weeks after they let me stop taking the medication at 36 weeks though! Noah is growing well and is very active. The boys have a good time feeling him kick and punch them and we have gotten the tiny clothes and blankets all washed and ready.

A final ultrasound is scheduled for Monday so we can check where the placenta has ended up. If it is still too close to the cervix, we will schedule a c-section at the next doctor's appointment. With Thanksgiving in there, I don't see her again until the week after the ultrasound on Tuesday 11-27 so we will all have to wait a while to hear her decision. We should get a little bit of an idea how big he is from the ultrasound too.

I am sick of "taking it easy" and wish I could do everything again. My days are spent counting and timing contractions, drinking water and modifying my activity. I am already so sick of contractions that labor sounds untolerable. Many days, I have to "let go" of everything that I thought I was going to do or pick just one thing for the day. Everything aches...it doesn't matter if I am sitting, standing or laying down. I wake up about every hour through the night either from contractions or to use the bathroom. (poor Darren too!) It may actually be a relief to wake every 2-3 hours with a baby....Please bear with me if I am grumpy or tired....Maybe I should just hibernate until Noah shows up!

November 1, 2007 - 31 weeks, 5 days

After having to leave work early twice last week and barely making it through 1st period on Monday without too many contractions (even with the terb), the doctor has put me on modified bedrest. So, Monday was my last day teaching. The nice thing about being off my feet more is that I don't have to take so much medication to keep the contractions down to less than 6 per hour.

Noah is still comfortable laying sideways which makes it so there is nothing putting pressure on my cervix and causing lots of dialation. Unless the placenta moves drastically in the next 4 weeks, it won't matter how he is positioned and right now, it is helping keep him in there! We have another ultrasound 11/19 to check to see if the placenta has moved. If not, we will be scheduling a C-section.

Thanks to everyone who was able to come to our shower or sent gifts. It felt a little odd to even have one for a 5th baby, but friends kept assuring me that after a 14 year gap that everyone knew that we were starting over! The gifts are wonderful and since my chances to go shopping will be slim, it really helps! Of course, I can visit Target.com from my laptop, much to Darren's dissapointment! :o) I just wish I could have visited with everyone more. Many of you have followed this roller-coaster pregnancy closely and I know that you are just as excited to see him get here as we are. I want you all to know that your support and prayers have made all these months of complications easier. These last few weeks will drag for me, but we are almost there!

October 19, 2007 - what is my family up to?

Hey...this is Noah here.

Something was happening last night at my house!

As soon as Seth got home from football practice everyone got together in the

family room, which was weird because usually

they all eat first. I was hungry too. I think they all forgot about me.....I heard something about big white

envelopes from the First Presidency and then all I could hear was the camera beeping over and over.

They all took turns asking questions and I could hear Aaron and Jacob saying "yes" or "no" like it was some kind of a game. Something about Aaron going to Melbourne, Australia and Jacob going to Sapporro, Japan and the "empty sea" on January 30th.

Someone said that at least I should old enough to be able to go drop them off.....

What is going on?

October 18, 2007 - 29 weeks 5 days

We had an ultrasound yesterday to see if all the contractions have been making any changes and things are basically the same. That is such a relief! It would be nice if I could keep working long enough for my insurance to still be in effect when it is time to deliver.

Noah measures in about the 65% and the doctor estimates that he will weigh about 8.5 lbs. That would be a miracle for me since my smallest so far has been Aaron at 9lbs 4oz. Of course, a lot can change in 8 weeks. Seventeen years ago, I was told that Seth would weigh around 8.5 lbs and be soooo much smaller than Jacob and he came out just .5 oz smaller at 10 lbs 3.5oz!

The placenta hasn't moved up anymore....it seems to like where it is at about 3.5-4 cm above the cervix. Unfortunately, when I go into labor that isn't enough space to dilate fully without the placenta separating from the uterine wall. We have another ultrasound scheduled for about 5 weeks from now to see if it moves anymore, but if not, Noah will arrive via C-section.

My niece, Karen, got to come with me to the ultrasound. She had never seen one before, so we had a great time asking the technician lots of questions and checking Noah's heart, organs and growth. Technology is so amazing! We didn't get a good look at his face though because he was laying sideways, on his face, with his feet pointing down. It looks like I finally am getting a baby that likes to lay on his stomach right when "the authorities" say that they need to sleep on their backs :) My ribs don't think Noah actually ever sleeps though....

October 13, 2007 - 29 weeks

We have had a nasty stomach flu run through our family this week....I was the last one to get it. We were all hoping that it was going to pass me by, but we were not that lucky. I had been feeling yucky all week, but had no way to know if that was just because my iron was low. Friday morning seemed worse, so I had only had some pop to try and settle my stomach when it hit me. Unfortunately, I guess I was already dehydrated and so contractions started again and we called the doctor, spent several hours in the hospital again and got re-hydrated. They also controlled the vomiting with meds and I had more terb. At least I got to come home last night and Darren and I hit the pillows in our own bed about 12:30 am. Between the vomiting and several hours of contractions that were 2-4 minutes apart, I am pretty sore. Noah dealt with the contractions well and was very active. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Wednesday and will have more information about any cervical changes from this round of contractions.

We tried to isolate our family during this flu, but if we pass it on to any of you...I am sooo sorry! Stock up on crackers and ginger ale....

October 8, 2007

I saw my doctor today and got the results from the tests that were run last week. I have actually seen her a few times since the last timeI posted, but I just haven't had time to update. Here's everything that's been happening....

• I still more"contractions" than what the doctor wants to see, but the telltale sign of whether it is pre-term labor or Braxton-Hicks (false labor) is cervical change. She doesn't want to check that too often because just checking can stir up more contractions... so I have another ultrasound within this week.
• My iron is low (31 and they want it between 36-42) so I am dealing with anemia and get to take lots of extra iron. I told Darren that I need to go to Black Angus for steak more often too!
• The test for gestational diabetes came back with great results...I got a 60 and normal is all the way up to 130. I am so glad that I don't have to prick my finger and test my blood sugars 3 times a day this pregnancy! Maybe this will be a normal size baby too...
• Noah is still breech....there is still time for him to flip before he runs out of room so send thoughts of him flipping our way. I am still hoping to avoid a C-section!
• My due date has somehow moved by 1 day to Dec 29th. The doctor didn't have a good explanation for it, in fact she was a little puzzled by the two dates both being written in my chart.... hmmmm. But I guess it is now Dec 29. We are still looking at two weeks before that, so I'm not complaining!
• The blood test for spina bifida came back negative... yea!
• The ultrasound will check placenta placement and see if that pesky blood vessel has gone away too.
• Last, but not least, we hired a leave replacement long-term sub for me last week! She came and met my students today and spent the day with us. Her father is a pastor for a Deaf congregation so she is a great signer having grown up around Deaf and attending a Deaf church all her life. She has her teaching certification in K-8, but has also had experience with high school. She seems great!

Thanks for all the prayers. I know they are making a difference! Check back in about a week...

September 20, 2007 - 25 weeks 4 days

I am having the worst week! It started w/ a little runny nose and sore throat last Wednesday and the next day I hurt all over, had stuff running out all over (TMI!), had a migraine, was dizzy, yuck! Then I ended up w/ secondary infections in my sinuses and lungs and started an antibiotic on Monday. Of course, I started having contractions, way more than the normal braxton hicks. Soooo, I went to the hospital where they shot me up with meds to stop the contractions. It makes you feel so awful and shaky; your head pounds and your heart just races. There were some long hours there, but I responded after the third dose. The good news is that my cervix is still 4 cm thick and I am back home taking the meds orally with success. I have no idea what all this means long term for work. The dr thinks that when I get healthy and recover from the flu and infections, my uterus will calm down. I hope so!

Noah looked great and is 2 lbs. That puts him in about the 85th percentile for weight so MAYBE we won't have another 10 pounder! (cross your fingers!) He tolerated all the activity, tests, meds and contractions well, so that is a great sign. The placenta has moved up the uterine wall and away from the cervix, which is great news, but it left a blood vessel behind where it had been. That still means a c-section, unless that blood vessel "dries up" which can happen. December seems along way off when things like this happen....

It is nice to have 3 other adults living here with me and the other 2 people are pretty independent kids.... I am well taken care of. I remember the last time this happened, Darren and I had 3 kids instead! Jacob cooked dinner for his brothers when we were at the hospital and transportation for Eli is never a problem with so many drivers. If you are wondering what you can do for us.... pray. I think we will save the offers for dinner for December in case we do end up with a c-section, especially since Darren will be on 2nd or 3rd shift then. We know this spirit will make it to our family somehow and he must be as stubborn as the rest of us since he has fought so hard this far. I am supposed to follow up with the doctor with an appointment next week, so I will post again after that. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers!

September 6, 2007

Darren and I met with our midwife for the first time today (yea for no more hematoma!) and everything is great. My "bump" measures at 26 weeks althought I am not yet 24 weeks. We talked about how that was probably just normal for me since I tend to grow big babies (yikes!) We are planning on a gentle jumpstart at 38 weeks...just long enough to ensure good lung development, but not too long. (we don't need an 11 pound newborn!) It sounds like that would be around December 15.

Our baby boy was jumping all around and kept moving away from the doppler so we got to peek at him with the portable ultrasound machine to get a good listen to his heartbeat. He had his hands up by his face...soooo cute! We were sent home with that "yummy" (grimace) glucose solution that is used to screen for gestational diabetes. I am supposed to do that in about 3 weeks, so we will post the results after it's done. The appointments at this time are pretty quick and to the point... weight check, measurements, blood pressure, listen to the heartbeat, "any questions?", bye-bye!

Work started full-time for me again the last week of August. I pace myself, try to sit to give instruction whenever possible, and try to get lots of sleep at night to prepare for the next day. So far, all I have been is tired (who isn't?) and have had a backache... but neither of those are new events for the first couple of weeks of school and happened even when I wasn't pregnant (smile). We have been interviewing candidates for my leave replacement, but there are still a couple left to look at before we need to make a decision. The plan is that I will work through November 30th.

August 9, 2007

We had our 20 week ultrasound today followed by a doctor's appointment. Darren and Seth both came with me since this was the big hour long ultrasound. (Aaron and Jacob were at work and Eli was at scout camp) I think that Seth wanted to be the first of his brothers at something, so he ended up being the first one to know that ITS A BOY! I know that is was 25 girl votes to 10 boy votes in our poll, but I suspect that some of you may have voted for a girl more than once to be sure your opinion was known!

During this scan they measure everything. Ultrasound has become so clear compared to the scans we had with our other kids! It is really amazing. We could even see all 4 chambers of his heart, the valves and the arteries. The internal organs, the spine, the brain, arms, fingers, legs and toes all look great. They can even check for cleft palette. He measures a little bit bigger than normal (no surprise) at about 12 ounces. His foot is 3.4 cm long. So tiny!

The ultrasound tech and the doctor both searched for the hematomas and couldn't find any. YEA! There hasn't been any bleeding for about 6 weeks, so we were hoping that they were gone. But, there is opposition in all things...and the palcenta is on the edge of my cervix so we now have a diagnosis of placenta privia. Placentas typically move up the uterus for the next while of a pregnancy, so the odds are in our favor that this will not amount to anything. Of course, if it is still on the cervix when it is time to deliver, it will mean a C-section.

We are all gearing up for school to start again. Summer was too short! I plan on working until the end of November and then having a few weeks to get organized before baby and Christmas get here. Hopefully, baby and the placenta are aware of my plans!

The next appointment is in a month (doesn't it seem like forever?) so if there are no updates until after that, just know that all is well and you can feel like me that this pregnancy is just crawling along!

July 16, 2007

I got my results from the AFP blood screening today (it tests probability of Spina Bifida) and the results were great. We now have a 1/7,800 chance of having a baby with Spina Bifida. Of course, it is a screening rather than a diagnostic test but we are really encouraged by the results. My doctor doesn't recommend amniocentesis because the risk of a problem with that test by far outweighs the risk of any abnormalities with the baby with our results from our tests. Yea!

I encourage all of you to buy stock in the GlaxoSmithKline company. They make Tums and I think that they will do well this quarter based on the amount I am having to take....(heehee)

July 12th, 2007

I went to the doctor and everything looks great! The baby's growth is right on track. I have been a little over 3 weeks with no bleeding so she has given the OK to being up until I feel crampy and then she wants me to get off my feet for a while. No lifting at all or any straining (Can you tell that I am really disappointed that someone else still has to run the vacuum?)
I can even swim or use an exercise bike, but no exercise that is jarring or with impact.

She didn't schedule an ultrasound to check the hematoma until the one that is normally scheduled one at 20 weeks to check growth and anatomy. If the hematoma is not bleeding, it must be healing and hopefully when we peek in a few weeks, it will be gone! I am still feeling sick and have headaches most days, but am completely off the progesterone supplement and haven't actually been getting sick for about 2 weeks. That improvement made it so I only lost 1 lb between appointments, but don't worry about that; (the doctor isn't) I will gain enough to make up for it later! It is common to gain very little or lose weight in the first trimester.

We discussed the results from my screenings for trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and 2 other genetic disorders. The numbers were great and statistically my chances of Downs dropped from 1/88 to 1/800. The chances for either the other 2 dropped to 1/1200. The risks of an amnio outweigh the risks of these disorders so she doesn't recommend doing it. That's great with me because I wasn't planning on it anyway :)

I went for another blood draw to check the levels of a specific protein in my blood that could indicate spina bifida. We should get those test results in about a week.

The baby's heartbeat was 140.... don't forget to cast your vote about if it is a boy or a girl. Just scroll down and click which one you think it will be on the right. Thank you for all your prayers, emails and words of support....we are so lucky to have so many people around us who love us. I will get the old ultrasound pictures up soon!

July 4th, 2007

July 4, 2007

I am still being up for 4-5 hours a day w/ mild activity and so far so good. It is really nice to be able to get a few things done and get out of the house sometimes. Hopefully, the doctor will think that I can add a little more to my routine. I would love to start doing some walking and getting a little exercise. Just to ease my worried mind, we rented a baby doppler so now we can listen to the baby's heartbeat! Scroll down and click the play button on the right, and you can hear it too.

6/27/07

Why a blog?
Everyone is so great to ask, "How is it going?" and we know you all want to know and are concerned about us and baby, but.... it is hard to tell the same story over and over so we decided to create this blog. Rosie will update it from time to time whenever anything noteworthy happens.
You can click on the dates lower on the right to read her ramblings that journal this journey from the start and can leave comments if you want. Careful! They can be read by anyone that visits this site! ;) Besides, it is always hard to catch us on the phone and this way everyone can know what is going on.

Why "grempuppy"?
Well, when Darren was in 6th grade he had a friend named Jeff Graham. Darren called him "graham cracker" (in the true Gremmert nickname fashion) and that friend started calling Darren "gremdog". We have called our other kids "grempups" and so it seemed to fit now that all our other pups are so big! (they are all taller than both of us except for poor Seth...he needs about a half inch to pass his Dad)

Thanks for your care and prayers and for sharing our journey with us.
Darren and Rosie





13.5 weeks and baby is still doing well.
I can feel little flutters sometimes very late in the evening or early in the morning when I am still. I am still only doing a few hours of limited activity each day; that is all the doctor recommends until the hematomas are resolved (but it is sooo much better than strict bedrest!)

Thanks to everyone who has shared an occasional meal, books and phone conversations.... they have been appreciated. It is tiresome to have to have others move things for me and to ask for help all the time, but everyone has been wonderful. The next appointment (as long as things continue without any complications) is July 12th.

6/21/07

It's been a week of good days so I again have clearance to go to work for half days. "No prolonged standing or any lifting" was written on the doctor's orders this time. It is just in time to sign finals for 4 of my classes and see most of the students one last time since there are only 3 days left of school (and the last one is a really short day where they just come and see their final grades so it really doesn't count). Eli came to school with me on the last day since his school was already out and packed up what the TAs hadn't been able to get to. THANK YOU ELI!!!! My back, hips, arms and shoulders are SOOOO sore. Whoever thinks bedrest is easy should try it!

I am now 12.5 weeks and the chances of miscarriage have dropped dramatically. There is now only a 5% chance of losing this baby, even with my past history. The sac that the baby is in is now 3x larger than the hematoma, so that increases the chances of a full-term pregnancy too. It is time to start tapering off the progesterone and hope that all continues as it should. It's as good a time as any to let everyone in on the secret!

6/15/07

Good news!!
off to another level II ultrasound.... the baby is doing great still. Whew! The hematomas are about the same, unfortunately. The area involved now measures 3 cm x 2 cm x 2 cm which is only 1 cm smaller. This ultrasound is also to screen for Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome), Trisomy 13 and Trisomy 18. The tech measures a space between the spinal cord and the skin at the back of the baby's neck. Babies who show a pooling of fluid at that location at this point in the pregnancy are more likely to be born with one of the above chromosome defects. Our baby's measurements averaged 1 cm and up to 3 cm is in the range of normal. Statistically, the chance of this baby having Down syndrome dropped from 1/77 to 1/800. The chances of either of the other defects dropped to 1/1300.

I got a call from the secretary at work and so many of my co-workers donated leave to me that my days are covered until the end of the year. ....must be pregnant since I cried when she told me.... Darren and I were so surprised. It was was truly an answer to prayers. I have no idea how we could ever pay them back; we don't even know who it was since it is all donated anonymously. There is still more good in this world than bad....

6/12/07

I've gotten so I only call the doctor if the bleeding/cramping gets so I'm not sure that everything is alright. I am amazed by how much my boys and Darren do to keep our house going through all this...it has been almost 6 weeks since I was first put on bedrest. Another visit to the doctor to be sure that things are OK, going to Aaron's UW graduation was too much walking. I should have had Darren pick me up and drop me off :)

The baby is amazingly still growing a doing great. I know other people have bleeding a still deliver a full-term baby, but I just can't believe this. It feels like a miracle. "He" now measures 5.7 cm which is actually the same as a fetus that is 5 days older as far as averages go. There was lots of kicking and jumping around...maybe this baby is a gymnist?

Work is killing me. There are days where I put in 12-14 hours and there are still problems with miscommunication and subs not getting information to students/parents. I finally contacted an administrator after a 2-day headache and told her what was going on and that it was just too much to expect me to do since I wasn't supposed to be having stress. She is now handling all student and parent concerns. What a difference! One teacher ferries paperwork back and forth every day and the office secretary is an answer to prayers. My subs and I are in contact several times a day. I don't know what I would do without such wonderful people at work. We filed a "leave sharing request". It allows any other teachers who have extra leave hours to donate some of their leave time to me. We have no idea who may even have extra leave to share, but we figure that even if only a few hours come our way, it will help with the medical bills.

6/6/07

well, the half days at work were productive while they lasted. More bleeding last night and we're back on strict bedrest. After a quick check in the OB's office, it is off to another level II ultrasound to get a better look. Aunt Eva drove me to the ultrasound appointment and Darren met us there after work so we had a party in the ultrasound room. I figured that if it was bad news, that I needed all the support that I could get.
The baby is growing great and the hematoma now is two pieces. The mass has gotten a little less dense, but is still involving the same amount of area. The doctor asks, "do you want to know the gender?" We held our breath and he (who didn't know that this wasn't our first child) said, "it's a boy!" It is still too early to be sure, but we laughed and told him that we thought it would be a boy. We got to see the brain, a well developed heart, and arms and legs waving at us. It was very reassuring.

5/29/07

It has been 8 days without any bleeding! What a relief after being on bedrest since 5/8, bleeding every few days even though all I was doing was managing my subs and sub plans (and students' emails and parents' emails), grading and entering grades (propped on one elbow or the other) using my laptop. Of course, many days that was more hours than if I had just been able to go to work! And much more stress, too. The sick leave ran out on 5/9, so the big question of this appointment is "can I go back to work?" The doctor and I agree for me to try half days and see how it goes. The baby is now 2.81 cm and the hematoma looks just the same.

5/18/07

will the bleeding never end? Another check after a bad night, found a heartbeat again and now we are off to a level II ultrasound to get more accurate measurements on the hematoma. The baby looks great and is growing well, in fact measures 1 day larger than expected. Yea! The hematoma is 4cm x 2cm x 2cm, just a little bigger than the sac that the baby is in. The baby is only 1.2 cm.

5/08/07

Had cramping and bleeding in the wee hours of the morning and thought we had miscarried, again. That would be the 5th one. Dr. Otto told us to come in and let her look around. She found a heartbeat right away...tears over one still there and one lost. Now we have this hematoma (or blood clot) to deal with.
I am put on bedrest until there is at least 1 week without bleeding. We started progesterone supplements to help sustain the pregnancy since the embryo is developing normally and blood tests showed a drop in my own progesterone. (which normally tells a woman's body to start a cycle) The supplements will have to continue through week 12 when the placenta is developed enough to have taken over all progesterone production.

4/30/07

Our official pregnancy test, bloodwork and ultrasound to see if all is well. We could see two sacs in the pictures, but at 5 weeks, it is way to early to see anything in each one but a little clump (fetal poles).

"Come back in 9 days and we should see heartbeats. How do you feel about twins?" the doctor says.

FAQ

Q: Was this an accident?!?
A: No, we have been wanting more children for years :)

Q: Does this really happen to women your age?
A: yes. watch out.

Q: Do you KNOW you'll be ready to retire when this child graduates from high school?
A: That's the plan

Q: Is this a secret?
A: No, we want to give everyone something to talk about :)

Q: Do Rosie's students know?
A: yup!

Q: Do you want a girl?
A: We want a healthy baby

Q: Do you want ANOTHER boy?
A: We want another child in our family; boy or girl

Q: How old are you?!?
A: Rosie is 40, Darren is 46

Q: How old is your youngest?
A: He will be 14 when this baby is born.

Q: How many children DO you have?!?
A: 4 boys. They will be 20, 19, 17 and 14 when this baby is born.

Q: When is the baby due?
A: December 28, 2007 but all the others have been started 2 weeks early, so we'll see...

Q: What the heck is a hematoma?
A: Well, I'm no expert, but here's what I've gathered: When it is in your skin, it is basically called a bruise but when it is internal, it can commonly be called a clot or a hemorrhage. It depends on the medical professional, whether it is actively bleeding or not and the size of the hematoma.

Q: Where is your hematoma?
A: It is intrauterine (in the uterus) and has been below the embryo/fetus. It is currently not affecting the placenta or it's attachment and is not affecting the cervix, which are good things.

Q: What are the chances of problems during delivery from the hematoma?
A: There isn't alot of information out there, but they seem to contribute to preterm labor. It is unclear if the position of the hematoma and whether or not the placenta is affected is a factor. There do not appear to be any other problems during delivery and most hematomas have resolved themselves by then. (you can see the links in "more than you would ever want to know about hematomas" on the right if you want to know more)

Q: How do "the boys" feel about this?
A: They are glad to not hear about fertility and mom's cycle anymore... and they tell us they are looking forward to it. (on the condition that they get to sleep in the garage room and the baby is on the other end of the house)

Q: How is Rosie feeling?

A: Sick, tired and fat! (see picture below)