Rooth Family: February 2011

Weeks 20-22

Currently in week 22 (day 2) and overall still feeling good but have begun to face some challenges. I am definitely feeling more aches and pains, mostly in my back and sacrum. It seems no matter what I do, how I sit / lay / sleep, what my posture is, what exercise / stretches I do, etc. - they are always there at the end of the day. I could take more Tylenol I suppose, but prefer not to. As of last week, I had gained 15 lbs total with the pregnancy. (As evident by my belly button. During the day the top part is an outtie, which can be seen through my clothes. And by the end of the night it's a full around outtie jr.) And this seems to only be picking up speed now. The doctor told me I should expect for my body to be the size of a full term singleton (40 weeks) when I am only 28 weeks! (That's only 6 weeks away!!) You can say I'm a little freaked out, or you can say I'm a LOT freaked out which would be more accurate.

Not sure if it's weight gain / size increase related, but I did take a trip to the ER last week. (Well specifically, OB Triage - which is amazing by the way!) I had started to notice my heart rate would increase above normal pace (tachycardia). The crazy thing was this was happening while I was at rest; just sitting doing nothing and even while laying down trying to go to sleep. Typically in the past, I've been able to slow my heart rate down just by focusing on being calm, taking deep breaths, etc. However, this was not working at all. These "episodes" were lasting anywhere between 30-60 minutes, from what I noticed. They were also accompanied by shortness of breath (though not severe) and then even tightness in the chest (it felt like someone was sitting on me). After having what seemed to be the worse and scariest episode, I called my OB. Unfortunately, he wasn't working until the afternoon and his staff advised me to go to OB Triage or make an appointment. Instead, I called my nurse (through my insurance's maternity program) and asked her what to do. After a lot of questioning, she too advised me to go to OB Triage. At this point, I had just started work and had a super busy day ahead of me. Knowing there was no way to leave, Kenny and I decided I would finish my work day and go to OB Triage after work. We said if I had another episode, then I would leave work and go in at that time. Well, I had another episode and this time I was so freaked out after talking to the nurses, that I began to panic and lost it (in front of my boss :( ).

My boss wouldn't let me drive myself, so she took me to SJ's. Kenny met us there since he was already on the SJ's campus, in the middle of a training class for work. I was waiting for Transportation to arrive at the ER to take me over to OB Triage, when my knight in shinning armor arrived. :) It was awesome, he just told the gals at the front desk he was taking over, put me in a wheel chair and off we went.

They ended up running an EKG, chest x-ray, blood work, checked the babies & their heart rates (which were perfect - 140 something & 150), and monitored my pulse ox and heart rate. They told me overall everything looked great and was "normal" (that's my current favorite word). I did have an erratic heart beat and it was tachycardia. Blood test showed I was "slightly" anemic and fighting off some sort of virus. These paired with my high stress and how tired I was, were the apparent causes. They gave me a prescription for Iron pills that I have to take x2 a day, and told me to rest.

I've been doing much better since. I've increased the number of times I'm doing yoga each week & have reduced (kinda) my work hours. I'm still working 6 days a week right now, but my boss has been really trying to make sure I’m out the door on time each day. I also just had the president of my company pull me aside this week and talk to me about everything. She was encouraging me to reduce my hours even more than they are now. But with the current status of our work, this simply isn't a good option right now. We only have 2 more weeks where we have to work 6 days, so I figure I can hang in there. Maybe in a couple weeks I'll truly reduce my hours where I'm not just getting out on time, but not working as much. I really have been getting exhausted lately, and so much more regularly.

OTHER NEWS...

I'm still eating popsicles but now only 1 at a time, and only occasionally. However, I have moved onto baked goods! Yeah, much worse I know. I've been trying to be careful. The first week was a mess, but since then I've reined the cravings in a bit. :) I'm also eating a lot more in general. Not sure if the girls are just hungry and need the extra nutrients, or if I'm burning more calories with my work and/or weight load, or if I'm just giving into being pregnant and "eating for 3" (though I really don't think it's the latter).

Feeling the girls move a lot more, and regularly. I can feel them playing/fighting with one another, which was confirmed when I watched them on the ultrasound doing this. I simply tell them to stop fighting now, lol. And I swear Isabella has her back to my belly and is pushing with all her might to break out of there! This is truly a bizarre feeling! I keep asking her to stay put for a while longer, and then we can play. :)
We finally decided on some major items: double stroller & car seats, bedding & room theme & baby carrier (sling). *Actually, today a young tech that Kenny works with bought the stroller and both matching car seats for us! They are being shipped to the house now. A-mazing!* We're also getting ready to pick up their furniture soon! Let the nursery work begin!

OH and the girls now have their wardrobe started! Here's a sneak peek.

Party dresses with socks and hair accessories

*1st present / outfit ever received*

"Sleeping bag" night gowns & booties

(that's what Kenny calls them :)

These onesie sets I broke down and bought myself. How could I resist?!

And here's the latest baby bump pics...

22 Weeks

21 Weeks

20 Weeks

Health Risks for Gracelin Joy

As touched on in a previous posting, we learned of some potential health risks for our sweet baby Gracelin Joy. When we went to the OB to get the results of the 3D/4D ultrasound, the doctor walked in the room chipper and full of pep. After saying good morning to us, he began looking over my chart and the two results pages (one for each baby). It became so quite you could hear a pin drop in the room. You could see him really starting to concentrate and began scanning back and forth over the papers, in dead silence. It was at this time I noticed 1 of the papers had bold red text on it while in the exact same places on the other paper the text was normal black. It was at this moment I realized it was emanate that something horrible was coming. I am sure my face went white. My heart started racing and I almost laid back because I thought I was going to pass out. Though my back was turned to Kenny, he could clearly sense what was going on as he quickly grabbed my hand for support.

After what seemed to be an eternity, the doctor finally spoke. He was very serious and seemed to be searching for the right words, and stalling. He started off with the good telling us Baby B (Isabella) looked perfectly healthy and great. He proceeded to then tell us that Baby A's (Gracelin) long bones measurements had been a little concerning. He told us this is a common indicator of Down Syndrome. He proceeded to tell us her odds of having DS were now 1:412.

He gave us the odds in numerous perspectives, but none really seemed to make it seem any better. He explained how the odds that she didn't have this were still really good, that he'd "love to go to Vegas" on them. (Still didn't make it any better.) He told us there were really only 2 ways to know if she for sure idid have DS. We could do an amniocentesis which would tell us 100% yes or no. There are however major risks involved with this procedure, including miscarriage. Because we are not willing to terminate the pregnancy based on the results, this was really not an option for us. The 2nd way to know for sure, and the one we'll be taking, is seeing what she looks like when she is born. There are 4 very distinct features they will review right away; slanting eyes due to extra skin, lower set ears, shorten neck and the pattern of lines on her palms (straight line = DS, curved = normal).

My initial reaction was shock, followed by fear and sadness. I simply don't want my children's lives to be any harder than they have to be. And though he mentioned how the odds were still really good, it's pretty different when you are sitting there being told YOUR baby now has these scary odds against her. It's like, I understand those odds can sound "great" when you're applying it to someone else, but that number seems horrible when it's your child.

As soon as we left the doctor's office, I mean barely out the front door to the hallway, I lost it. Thank God for Kenny and his endless comfort. See, one of the first things that had come to my mind was how I felt God would give us a special needs child because He knows we would love them the same and still provide the best life we knew how to. (I would later find this feeling only grew strong as time went on.) But after I was able to compose myself enough to drive home, off I went. (Kenny met me right after work so we had to each drive home.) I proceeded to call my mommy and cry like a baby the whole way home. Once home, I went back into a state of shock and then numbness. Kenny, again to my rescue, begin looking up facts about DS to ease my mind. After letting this sink in, I realized something; God already made Gracelin and did so with his perfect design in mind. How on earth could I possibly be upset knowing she is already perfect no matter what that means mentally / physically?!

At this point, I was calm and had a good perspective about things. Kenny later got out all his text books from his nursing classes and we read up on the scientific facts about DS. I also got to see a couple pictures of children with DS, specifically infants and a toddler. After the comfort of knowing God & how His plans work, it was these pictures that would have the greatest impact on my outlook on this situation. They all had something in common, incredible smiles that you could almost hear the laughter through by just looking at them. I was reminded of how happy DS people are. Remembering this fact and realizing if Gracelin did have this, she would still be full of joy - made the fear and sadness drift away.

In the end, I know without a doubt no matter what happens...
She will be perfect.
She will be happy.
She will bring everyone joy.
She will learn about how amazing God is in all He does.
And she will be incredibly loved.

It's times like these when a person realizes how grateful they are to know our amazing Creator; to receive peace and comfort with no effort at all. I know I will never look at a special needs person the same ever again as my heart has been permanently changed. Truly, through ALL things God is good, and this my friends will never change.