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...