He (God) did it again!

Saturday, February 6th - Sunday, February 7th, 2010

The reason I entitled today's blog "He (God) did it again" is simply becuase he has honestly done it again! Laura Katherine had some breathing problems right after delivery and quit breathing a few times so they put a nasal canular on her that forced oxygen into her lungs so that it would prompt her to breathe. Well, by Saturdday, February 6th, she was breathing all on her own and didn't need the oxygen anymore! Also, on Sunday, and this is the amazing part, the Surgical Team that put Laura Katherine's organs back in came in to take a look at the incision where they sowed her muscle wall back together. When they pulled away the dressing and umbilical cord, the Lead Surgion simply said..."Wow!" At once, Eric jumped up and asked to see. The surgion told him, that he could, but that there was no incision to be seen! It had healed completely and left no scarring! Wow! is right, but I would like to add just a little more to it.....Praise God and all the Glory is His! After that, the Lead Surgion looked at Eric and said that the only explaination that he had for it all was that "It was as if the hand of God, Himself, came down from heaven and pushed everything back into her belly Himself!" Again! Praise God and all of the Glory is His! The really cool thing about all of this is that our church has been praying and fasting for Laura Katherine and one of the Pastor's at my church told us that they have been praying for God's Sovereign hand to guide every step of the Surgion's hand in putting Laura Katherine back together! How awesome and mind blowing is our God!



"Daddy and Laura Katherine giving each other some good'ole lovin'!"



"Mommy just can't stop kissing my face!"

A Miracle In One Hour

One hour after surgery, while I was still in the recovery room, my dad walked in and seemed to be so excited about something! Dad had spoken with Eric, who had gone to visit Laura Katherine in the NICCU, and learned that ALL of Laura Katherine's Bladder, Left Fallopian Tube and Intestines, which were all found to be outside of her body at delivery, were back inside her tummy! I could not help myself, but in my disbelief, I told him to stop lying! Eric then walked in followed up by the Surgion, who also confirmed the story to be true! The Surgion seemed to be in as much shock as we were as he explained to us that NO SURGERY would be needed and Laura Katherine would never need a Siloh!

Yes, I began to cry at the news! All of this time, I have had God in this box that he is so much bigger than! In a matter of just ONE HOUR, God chose to guide the surgions in putting back all of Laura Katherine's organs; completing skipping several days and weeks, as well as procedures, in ONE HOUR alone!



This picture is worth a million words! Here you can see that there are no organs outside of her tummy! Wow! Also, take a look at how they covered the opening of her abdominal wall (to the right of her stomach) with a portion of her umbilical cord. According to the Surgion, this is fairly new research out of Stanford University; which supports that this technique promotes healing.



The nurse offered for me to see Laura Katherine after the surgery, but I was in no position to walk. The nurse ended up wheeling me in my bed to the NICCU and I got to touch her little hand. It wasn't until 11:00p.m that night that I felt like I was strong enough to stand and get in the wheel chair. So off I went at 11:00p.m. on Thursday night to meet my baby girl for the first time! It was incredible and I wanted so bad to kiss her, but the pain from surgery kept me in the chair. She is so beautiful to me and I got to see for myself that her tummy was "whole". Praise God!

February 4th Induction

Hello Everyone! I'm sorry that it has taken me so much time to update you all on the details of Laura Katherine's birth, but it has been a very busy, but blessed ride so far!



On Wednesday, we left Tarboro around 3 in the afternoon to make our trip to Chapel Hill. We got checked into the Ronald McDonald house, had supper and then made our way to the Hopsital. After playing around and taking the last pictures of my pregnant tummy, the nursing staff had me lay down and hooked me up to all of the monitors. The doctor's never ended up starting me on Pitocin, which encourages contractions because I was having a few contractions on my own, and Laura Katherine wasn't responding as she should. Each contraction would result in her heart rate dropping down in the 60s and almost every time, it would take me having to reposition myself to bring it back up.



After a couple of hourse of the same scenario, the doctors chose to break my water (which proved that there was very little amniotic fluid around the baby) and place a fetal scalp heart monitor directly onto her head so that they could better read her heart rate. What this showed was no different than what was known earlier; her heart rate would drop every contraction and it would be a struggle to get it back to an acceptable rate. By this time the doctor's had already mentioned to us the possibility of an emergency c-section and an epidural was started. Several other doctor's were brought into the situation and one decided that he would try to add fluid around the baby with last hopes that it would relieve some of Laura Katherine's distress. However, during the time that we were having this conversation, Laura Katherine's heart rate dropped again, and for about 2-3 minutes, I was put in several different positions with no change in her heart rate so I was swept off to an emergency c-section before I even had time to really register what was going on.



The doctor's were hoping that my epidural could be used during the procedure, however after several failed attempts to numb my right side, there was no extra time left because Laura Katherine's heart rate was continuing to drop. Eric, at this point, was all suited up, but not allowed in the room because I was very quickly put to sleep. I don't remember anything at all when it comes to her birth! All I remember was waking up in the recovery room, with my mom by my side. I was told that I was taken back at 8:22 a.m. and Laura Katherine was born at 8:37a.m. weighing 5lbs 6oz, 19in long. I have never seen so many people in one room, during an emergency situation, that ran so smoothly! Kudos to all the teams at UNC-Chapel Hill who were involved in her birth! You guys (& ladies) are amazing to see in action! (Even though, I only remember about 5 minutes of the entire process!




"Wow! Check out all of my hair! I'm sure glad Mommy registered for 101 bows!" In this picture you can see that the doctors have covered her bowel in wet gauze to keep the organs moist.



After protecting the bowel with gauze, Laura Katherine was put in a clear bag all the way up to her arm pits to provide a sterile environment for her organs.

Non Stress Test: Nash OB-GYN

As is normal with gastroschisis pregnancies, the prenatal visits become very frequent after 32 weeks of pregnancy. In my case, I have to have what is called a Non Stress Test every Monday and an ultrasound every Thursday. Yes, life has become very busy, but at the same time, I am so blessed to spend so much time hearing and seeing my precious baby girl. Pictured above is me during my January 18th NST. During these tests, I simply lay on the bed, with one monitor reading any contractions that may occur and the other reading her heart rate. The third device located in my right hand, is what I have now nicknamed my "Jeopardy clicker" and is used to mark each time that she moves. The test is simple and for the most part only lasts 30 minutes or so. The results showed that Laura Katherine is doing well and is a very busy little lady! She moved like crazy at one point and I felt like I wasn't able to press my jeopardy clicker fast enough! (I beleive that she is going to take after her big brother and Grandma Jo Ellen! haha!)

January 14th, UNC-Chapel Hill Visit

Well, yesterday was my final visit to Chapel Hill. All other visits will be done in Rocky Mount until the big day. Our day began at 10:00 with a level 2 ultrasound and by having an ultrasound once a week, I am becoming a pro at this point! So... when I saw something that I had not seen before I immediately asked a question to the technician and got no real response. At this point, I just lay there and watched as the tech continued to look, measure and listen. I wanted so badly to probe her with more questions, but I didn't want to put her in an awkward or unethical place, so I waited patiently. She then began to look at the umbilical cord much more closely than had ever been done before. My instincts told me that something was wrong, so I began to pray! I immediately laid this at God's feet and accepted His peace yet again. The tech left the room and came back about 10-15 mins later with the doctor and a med student. The doctor quickly jumped on the Ultrasound machine and "gave it a look". She confirmed that there had been some changes. We already knew that Laura Katherine's intestines were completely outside of her tummy, but now the ultrasound showed that her bladder had also found its way out. They also think that there is a chance that her uterus may be following the same path, but believe that it is still tucked inside her abdomen at the moment. After giving us a mere second to process this information, she moved on to the umbilical cord and explained that the umbilical cord is made up of 2 veins and 1 artery. At this point, without knowing what has happened, one of the veins providing blood flow to Laura Katherine has shut down. She did reassure us that the other vein and artery are functioning at 100%, and that they will simply watch her very closely in the coming weeks. I wasn't supposed to have my next appointment until 1:00 in the afternoon, but almost immediately they got me in to see the OB who will deliver her. He decided that, because she is still gaining weight (4lbs 7oz), he will try and give her another 3 weeks and will take her on February 4th, 2010; pending there are no other complications. I will be honest, I wanted him to take me out of work, simply because I was concerned that my movement, as well as caring for my son would encourage more organs to leave her abdomen, but he assured me that there is nothing that I could have done to cause this, nor is there anything that I can do to prevent this. Therefore, my last day will be February 2nd, 2010.
You know, I have always asked myself, "Who am I like in the bible?" I look at other God fearing women and I can see who God fashioned them like in scripture, but when it comes to me, I can't see me! I don't remember reading about any woman who struggled with pride, said things that didn't need to be said at times, and failed Him constantly; to the point that my prayer life is more about begging for forgiveness than anything else. Well, last night, on the way home, I asked God again, "Lord, I understand that you have chosen me for this trial, but I surely don't understand why! Who am I? I am not even worthy to be going through something like this! Your face can be seen in every step that we are taking! Lord, I am not like the women in the bible! I am weak and imperfect." And in that instance, God spoke to me and said, "Christy, I fashioned you after Job." That was such a shock to me because, I've spent so much time looking in the wrong places and yet, this made so much sense. If you know anything about Job, God allowed Satan to toss trial upon trial in Job's life so that Job would turn from God....but he never did! This is such an encouragement to me because if Satan feels like I am worth spending so much time on...then I must be doing something right! AND! Like Job, I REFUSE TO BUCKLE! God is present with my daughter, me and my family and what I've learned throughout the years is to trust Him! He has NEVER failed me! I've only failed myself! So again, even in the midst of more trial, I will CHOOSE to Praise the Lord!