Nicu day one

April 18
We went down for rounds and they told us he would have a chest x ray and then likely be extubated and we could hold him. Later our nurse called and said nope he would stay intubated for the day. We went down and were hanging out with him and they changed their minds and started him on caffeine and took out all his tubes!!! Praise God he is sating awesome on room Air with no pressure support at all. No tubes, just him. We were allowed to hold him and enjoyed every second of it. We even got to change his diaper for the first time! He is soooo sweet and perfect. Can't even believe he is here and we praise God for the miracles we are seeing. Mattias is so strong! He is on antibiotics and something to increase his perfusion to his feet and also tpn for nutrients.

What a blessing to hold our son in our arms. What a miracle he is!!! Thanking God every moment!

Birth story

At 5:50 am on April 17 I woke up with painful contractions and a weird burning sensation in my back. Knowing my placenta was posterior made me nervous something was going on (ie abruption). After an hour of contracting every 4-5 minutes I got up to go to the washroom and found I was bleeding a lot. So I rushed out the door after waking jason and called my physician friends who kindly met me at the hospital. As I walked in to the hospital two amazing nurses helped me and got me hooked up the the monitor and I breathed a sigh of relief once I heard his steady heart beat. I was checked and was 1cm dilated and effaced about 25 percent at that time. I had steroids given and was air lifted out to the city. Jason went home to pack the kids and drive the terribly long 3 hour drive to the city. We are so thankful to everyone who dropped everything to help us that morning with the kids and since we have been in the city to everyone who is still helping us and praying for Mattias. We couldn't do this without you all.

When I arrived in the city my lovely friend Alana, who is a fourth year on resident was here waiting for me and thankfully stayed with me through the whole labour. I was 1-2 cm by then and the decision was made not to try and stop labour as they felt I had a partial placental abruption which caused labour. By 4 pm I was 3 cm and having very painful and regular contractions. I had an epidural at 5pm. Thankfully the abruption did not continue and I was able to avoid an emergency c section. Mattias was born vaginally after a very smooth labour that he tolerated excellently! His apgars were 7 at 1 minute and 7 at 5 minutes. He had the cord around his neck and a true knot in the cord. Crazy. What could have happened. Shudder.

Initially he cried and then his lungs collapsed and they had to intubate him in the room and give him surfactant to help keep the lungs open. They took him to the nicu on the ventilator and there we were alone in the room.

Within a couple of hours we were able to go and see him and touch him. He was stable on the vent and had an ng tube in as well and an Iv line with tpn. And now the learning curve begins...

Mattias Luther

Born April 17,2013 at 11:18 pm at 32 weeks plus 4 days gestation.

32 weeks!

32 weeks! I feel like the last 4 weeks have flown by and now we are into the final stretch! Baby boy Funk is doing very well! Kicking and moving up a storm, which I love! Last night the kids were all gathered around watching my belly jump from side to side when he was really active! You could even make out some feet and his leg! The kids are super excited and counting down the weeks until he arrives! I feel really good. I actually feel quite small this pregnancy, although my pregnancy app says he will be gaining half a a pound a week from this point forward, so in a few weeks I might not feel so small :) I am thankful to have borrowed some new maternity clothes, all my maternity pants were too small and shirts too short... I guess I am carrying really low this time around? Weight gain so far: 27 pounds, not bad for all the chocolate I've been eating to satisfying my crazy chocolate cravings! I'm starting to feel like its time to clean out the dressers and make room for baby clothes. Can't wait to wash them up and get things in order! This week we have an ultrasound coming up to check on growth. Will post photos from that. So incredibly thankful for this baby! I'm looking so forward to meeting him, and often wonder what he will look like. I keep dreaming he is born with super long, thick curly black hair and dark brown eyes. We will soon see :)

28 weeks

The last couple have weeks have been a little crazy around here, not pregnancy wise, but Xander, our 8 year old ended up admitted to hospital with Kawasaki disease and then aseptic meningitis from the treatment. I'm happy to say that, Praise God, he is fully recovered and we are home! Very scary stuff.

Since this is a pregnancy blog, I won't write about all the details here. Baby Boy Funk is doing very well. The big thing I have noticed is how much his movements have changed. They have gone from being really wild kicks to more rolling and stretching. Sometimes I can actually feel that its a foot or and elbow moving across my belly. Other times his little bum will push out and I can push a little on it and he will move in response. Its kinda fun to interact! I'm feeling good, so far I have gained 23 pounds. I feel like my appetite has tripled in the last month! The last month has sped by and I am so thankful that this baby is healthy and safe. I look forward to meeting him and wonder what he will look like :) I love feeling him move and I love watching the kids get excited as we get closer!

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with Meg and Tyler. My first niece or nephew is due in 2 weeks!  So here we are at 38 weeks and 28 weeks! So excited to meet these little babies!

24 week belly picture

24 weeks!!! Yahoo! Did my gestational glucose challenge today, and thankfully, passed! No diabetes here. I celebrated by eating a nice large slice of Xander's birthday cake, complete with thick chocolate icing. :) 

I'm feeling super great, loving every kick. Baby has started having occasional hiccups, or at least that's what it feels like!

Weight gain so far: 14 pounds 

Cravings: chocolate brownies, chocolate cake... you get the idea :)

Name for baby: a major work in progress... unique name suggestions are welcomed!!!

23 weeks

This past Thursday we were able to have another ultrasound, to check on baby boy Funk, and everything looks perfect, Praise God for that! He weighed 1 pound 5 oz at that time, which was 22 weeks 5 days. He has been moving around so much more and his kicks are getting so strong now. You can actually see my belly move on the outside when he kicks. All 6 of the kiddos have felt him kicking, which has been really special. They all love to feel him move and ask if he is kicking and if they can feel. Navae is always kissing my belly and tells everyone, that when he comes out only SHE gets to hold him... NO ON ELSE. We will have to work on that one ;)

When Nesha felt the baby moving for the first time, she asked me if he was trying to get out of my tummy. When he kicked really hard, she jumped and said " OH Mom, he's gonna get out of there, I know it!" So cute to see the shock and surprise that a little baby inside my belly can kick her hand so hard!

I'm so very thankful for every kick and sharing these moments with our other kids! They are loving following along in the pregnancy week by week books to see how big the baby is and what he is developing that week. Every Saturday Xander tells me what week we have completed and what week we are entering. Its a super special thing to be sharing with them! Our baby is loved so very much already, not just by us, but by all 6 of his siblings! I am thankful every day for this blessing!!