I wanted to talk about them because one thing Meg shared was making memories with her daughter before she was born, and telling me how it helped her focus on more positive things. So I decided to do my best to make memories with our little man.
November 12, 2011
To celebrate making it to 25 weeks, we went duck hunting with Grandpa Fife, Auntie Steph, and Daddy! I had never been before and always wanted to see what its all about. We got up nice and early – around 3am I believe – and headed out to Farmington Bay. It was dark and rather windy out, but we came prepared! Steph and I put on our waders and jackets while Scott and Grandpa made sure the boat and everything were ready. Steph and I felt huge, but we were warm!
Steph had so many socks on she couldn't wear her slippers!
Grandpa Fife inherited a very nice duck boat from a friend, so after we finished gearing up, we hopped in the boat and headed out to our spot. It was cold on the ride out, especially with water and rain hitting us in the face, so I kept my face in my jacket until we slowed down. Molly, their black lab, was super excited and kept running around (as much as she could being tied to the boat) and she stepped on me quite a few times. I wished I had her energy!
Once we reached our spot, we were sheltered by a wall of phragmites, so it kept the wind off of us. Steph and I sat and watched Scott and Grandpa set out the decoys. The most entertaining thing was watching Molly. She’d literally bound through the water like a deer, following behind Grandpa. She was just so happy to be out doing what she loved! We had to wait until I think 6am before the hunting could begin, so we sat and talked throughout the morning, waiting for the sun to come up. It got a little chilly – I swear the higher the sun climbed, the colder I got – but we had a heater and hot chocolate to keep us warm.
It was really fun to watch Scott and Grandpa at work once hunting began. They said there weren’t as many ducks as usual. We did have a lot of down time between fly-overs, but it was still fun! And once they hit their ducks, Molly was right out there fetching them. She’s a very good retriever!
I admit, I did fall asleep a couple of times
hahah. But I had a ton of fun and would love to go again whenl I’m no longer
pregnant. Sitting in waders unable to pee when pregnant is torture! We left
around noon and stopped at Arby’s on our way home for lunch and a bathroom!
November 15, 2011
The following Tuesday we had a
regular checkup. Out of five doctors who practice at the clinic, Dr. Brown was
the only one in that day, so he had to see every patient who came in. After
about an hour in the waiting room, we finally got called back and they did the
preliminary stuff (took my weight, blood pressure, and had me pee in a cup),
then led us to our exam room. We waited another 15-20 minutes when Deb (my
doctor’s nurse) came in. She apologized for the wait and explained how busy Dr. Brown was, asking if we’d mind
seeing her instead so we didn’t have to sit and wait for him. She’s seen us
before so we didn’t mind. She measured me and I was at 31 centimeters. Then she
went to listen to baby’s heart.
At first it sounded normal – a little slower
than usual, but nothing to worry about. Then it dipped. She looked at me and
asked if we’ve heard that before. We told her no. She said that’s called a
variable, and we’d need to wait for the doctor anyway. She left to go tell him
what was going on and I sat there trying not to cry – which I failed at.
Doctor Brown came in a few minutes later and
listened to his heart. It started off slow, then dropped even lower – at one
point it sounded like it stopped. We had to sit and listen to his heart
struggle for 3-5 minutes so he could get a good listen, then he sat me up and
told us that we’d lose him within a day. Of course we’d been expecting to hear
that, but it hurt just the same. I wasn’t ready. Especially since last Friday
his heart was in the 160 bpm range and going strong. It had dropped to about 30
bpm.
Doctor Brown told us he’d be in surgery all
day the next day so he set up an appointment with a fellow doctor at the
practice to check on the baby’s heart the following day. Then he told us he’d
be out of town until Sunday and gave us the choice of delivering as soon as the
baby was gone or wait until Sunday night when he could do it for us. He didn’t
make us decide then, but to let them know the following day when we came in.
Needless to say, we were pretty upset going
home. I emailed my boss telling him most likely I wouldn’t be in for a couple
of weeks, and I certainly didn’t go in the following day. Scott still worked,
and we just waited to see what would happen.
November 16, 2011
All day Wednesday I could feel the baby kicking and moving. Honestly, this is one of maybe 2 or 3 days I can remember really feeling him move - because of his condition I rarely felt his movements. But that day he was moving like crazy! Almost as if he was telling me that he hadn't given up the fight yet. But I still had a hard time admitting that to myself because of how weak his heart was the day before. I didn't want to get my hopes up.
In the afternoon we had a visitor stop by. My brother Taylor came to see us after school (He goes to the University of Utah and we live in the neighboring Avenues) and wish us well – on his birthday too! Scott was home from work by this point and it was good to have Tay visit. That meant a lot to us. Our appointment was at 3:40, so we headed out around 3:20, ready for anything.
At our appointment, we had a very
nice doctor see us – Dr. Faircloth. She listened to the heartbeat and it
started off slow, then picked up to around 140 bpm and stayed there the rest of
the time we listened. She shook her head and told us she saw no reason to send
us to labor and delivery – that he was still going strong. We were pretty amazed
to hear his heart back up like that. Seriously, after what we heard the day
before we didn’t think he’d make it! She said it’s pretty normal for hydrop
babies to develop heart arrhythmia and that it can go on for quite awhile. She
set us up another appointment with Doctor Brown for the following Monday and we
left.
It was interesting returning to work the
following day and telling my boss “Just Kidding! He’s still fighting!” I was
beginning to feel like the girl who cried wolf – one minute I had to tell
people we were most likely going to lose him and to prepare for it, and the
next baby was still going strong and we had to say never mind! Normally I’m a
fan of roller coasters, but the emotional one we found ourselves on was
probably the scariest, most unpredictable ride ever!
My sister-in-law Kim got tickets to see the first installment of
Breaking Dawn at 9pm on November 17, 2011 – a special showing for the new release of the
movie. Earlier in the week I wasn’t sure if I’d make it because we thought we
were going to lose the baby. But after our appointment Wednesday went well, I decided
to go. Thursday evening Scott and I drove down to his parent’s house where I
picked up Steph, Cambrey and Cambrey's friend Kira. We headed to Thanksgiving Point, met up with
everyone else, got our tickets from Kim, grabbed some food and watched the
movie! It was…interesting. I could have done without the honeymoon scene…and a
lot of the movie was really just plain boring. I have to admit, the actual
birth scene was kind of hard for me to watch, but more so because I was jealous
that Bella’s baby was healthy and I didn’t know what the future held for mine.
Silly, I know. But I was glad to get out of the house and enjoy some girl time
– especially since the day before I thought I’d lost my baby boy!
25 Weeks, 3 Days
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