Scottish Rite Hospital for Children

We had our appointment at Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (http://www.tsrhc.org/) yesterday afternoon to check Gwendoline's hip alignment and sockets. Sometimes babies that are in the "frank breech" position in utero for an extended period of time, like our Gwendoline, have some level of hip dysplasia that needs to be treated before the hip cartilage starts firming up. Although he was fairly confident that Gwendoline's hips were normal, our pediatrician did feel some "clicks" he wanted to get a second opinion on, so he referred us to the experts at Scottish Rite for further evaluation out of an "overabundance of caution."

At Scottish Rite, we learned that Gwendoline meets three of the four risk factors for hip dysplasia: female, firstborn, and breech; the fourth factor would be a family history of hip problems, but we don't have that. After being checked by two physicians at the hospital, including the head of the orthopedic department, we were happy to learn that Gwendoline's hips seem to be just fine! They did feel the clicks our pediatrician felt but said that is fairly common in newborns who still have more cartilage than firm bone. We are taking Gwendoline back in one month for a follow-up hip ultrasound just to be sure, but the doctors think that should come back normal as well. 

While we were very happy and relieved to learn that Gwendoline doesn't have any hip dysplasia, our joy was a little tempered by what we saw at Scottish Rite. It reminded us in big ways how incredibly blessed we are to have a healthy, whole child. There are so many precious children who are not as fortunate to have all of their limbs, and have them in good working order. So many families are blessed to have the Scottish Rite Hospital, its doctors, and volunteers available free of charge to provide excellent and much needed care for their little ones. The hospital relies completely on donations from individuals and corporations to operate; they receive no federal or state funding. And I'll say it again because it still blows my mind- all of their services for children are free of charge, therefore a huge blessing to those families who may not be able to afford care for their children otherwise. If you are interested, there are several ways to give to Scottish Rite: http://community.tsrhc.org/.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; 

your works are wonderful, I know that full. -Psalm 139:14

By the numbers, newborn edition

We love our baby girl! She definitely has us (especially daddy) wrapped around her little finger. And for good reason... She's quite helpless. As a newborn, I knew she would be, but having never spent extended periods of time with a newborn before, I am still shocked by just how much she needs us. And we are more than happy to comply and come running at her every whimper (though we never have to run more than about two steps). We're whipped.

We're also learning that there is a lot of math and numbers associated with a newborn. Here's a breakdown of some of the numbers that are floating around our house lately.

• 19- Number of days old Gwendoline is today. I can't believe she's already almost three weeks old!
• 3- Number of hours between each feeding around the clock. When I learned that she would be eating every three hours, I assumed that meant we'd be getting a three hour nap in between each feed. This is not true. By the time we have changed her, fed her, cleaned her up, changed her again, and gotten everyone resettled, about an hour and a half has passed. If you do the math, that means we get an hour and a half nap every three hours, around the clock. But we love seeing her belly full and hearing her satisfied coos and squeaks.
• 7 lbs, 4 oz- Gwendoline's latest weight. Those three hour feedings are paying off- my little piglet gained over a pound in ten days and is still going strong!
• 288- Number of diapers we have gone through in just 19 days! I've been told that doing the math on the monetary value of this statistic is depressing, so I haven't done it.
• 320- Number of wipes we have gone through in just 19 days! 
• 3- Average number of outfit changes, for mommy and daughter, in the course of a day due to "baby explosions."
• 6- Average number of loads of laundry required each week to keep our clothes, blankets, and sheets clean.
• 2- Number of very confused, depressed dogs moping around the house. They still don't know what's hit them; they just know there's lots of new rules and less doggie snuggle time.
• 1,000,000- Approximate number of kisses we've given Gwendoline since she was born!

She's here!

She's finally here! And she's utterly perfect! Our daughter, Gwendoline Celeste, arrived as scheduled at 9:43 am on Sunday, August 26, 2012. She weighed in at a respectable 6 pounds, 9 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. After a rather eventful and somewhat complicated pregnancy, the birth was smooth and absolutely textbook. Praise God!

We are so in love with our little girl. The magnitude of it seemed to hit Jeph like a ton of bricks as soon as he saw her in the operating room. He'll tell you he cried because he stubbed his toe, but that man was absolutely captivated. Before the procedure started, I had made Jeph promise to go with Gwendoline to the warmer for tests and cleaning once they got her out. As soon as she emerged, he was off like a shot! I didn't get to see either of them for several minutes, but I could hear them. Those strong cries and first comfort coos from daddy are the most precious things my ears have ever heard. During this time, I heard them announce that Gwendoline had two arms, two legs, ten fingers, ten toes, and scored a 9.9 (out of 10) on the Apgar. After what seemed like an eternity, Jeph came to give me a report. His first words, through tears, were "She's perfect." And so she is! She's also the most beautiful baby I've ever seen, if I do say so myself.

After four days in the hospital, we are now at home and trying to settle into life with a newborn. My mother has been staying with us to help and our house has never been so clean! She's making excellent food every day, too. We're not getting much sleep, of course, since Gwendoline feeds every three hours around the clock, but we're loving every minute and are fully enjoying her preciousness. Though it has taken me four days of typing a few sentences at a time to finish this post. Ah, the life of a new mom!

Please enjoy these pictures of our beautiful girl.

First family portrait

Alert baby girl

Hanging out with daddy

Spending time on the big bed

Final prenatal appointment

We've reached another milestone- our final prenatal appointment! There was not much change from last week, other than my putting on another couple of pounds, of course. Gwendoline is sticking to her guns and is still breech, so we're on for our Sunday morning (August 26) delivery! That's only three days!!! We're so excited and ready to meet her. Our next post should include some baby pictures.

T-minus 20 days!

This morning, Jeph and I had the privilege of selecting our daughter's birthday! If everything goes according to our new plan, Gwendoline will arrive via scheduled c-section on Sunday, August 26. She's still staunchly expressing her independence by remaining a breech baby. We learned this morning that her exact position is called "frank breech," which means that she is completely vertical, with her legs extended above her head. My doctor likened her to a diver doing a front pike. Though that doesn't sound the least bit comfortable to me, Gwen seems completely undisturbed and ambivalent about the whole thing. Be looking for Gwendoline in the 2032 Olympics!

Other than being breech, Gwen is really bulking up and looking great this week! She's up to 5 pounds, 12 ounces now and falls somewhere around the 25th percentile. A huge improvement from the 9.7th percentile of a few weeks ago! The doctor estimates she will weigh around 6.5 to 7 pounds and be tall (19.5 to 20 inches) at birth.

We are eagerly looking forward to holding this little sugar in our arms very soon! Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers- we truly appreciate them!

I'm sorry... Does that say watermelon?
Where do we go from here?

Healthy at 34 weeks

We had our appointment with Dr. Zaretsky, our favorite high-risk specialist, this afternoon and he gave us a great report! Yes, Gwendoline is confirmed as a little nugget. But she gained an appropriate amount of weight in the last two weeks (almost one pound) and now weighs in at 4 pounds, 9 ounces. That puts her close to the 13th percentile (12.9th, to be exact)! Dr. Zaretsky says that is just fine and there is nothing to be concerned about. He even shared that each of his own three babies measured around the 9th percentiles when they were born. Dr. Zaretsky hypothesizes that Gwen will weigh a little over 6 pounds at 40 weeks (full term). We'll take it! Thank you to everyone for your prayers and support- it means so much to us and makes these victories even more special.

Now if we could just get her to do a flip... That's right, she's still breech. We still have some time for her to rotate, and knowing Gwen, she's going to make us sweat it out till the last minute. While we're thinking positively and sending her strong "flip vibes," we'd appreciate more prayers for her rotation. After attending the first half of our childbirth class this weekend, I feel even more strongly about having a natural birth. So Miss Gwendoline, obey your mother and FLIP! :) 

Guess who looks like her daddy?

But those are definitely Giddens lips she's puckering!

The best things come in small packages

Gwendoline, Jeph, and I had our 32 week visit this afternoon. If you recall, this appointment was for a growth scan, in addition to the normal check up. The results of the growth scan make it official that we have a tiny bun in the oven. The good news: Our bun seems to be completely healthy despite being tiny! The less-than-good news (though not necessarily bad): She only weighs in at the 9.7th percentile (3 pounds, 11 ounces). Weights under the 10th percentile are cause for more investigation, though Dr. Holt says she doesn't begin to actively worry until a baby's weight drops under the 5th percentile. But since everything else looks healthy, Dr. Holt thinks Gwendoline has just inherited my small body habitus. Just to be cautious, Dr. Holt has referred us back to the high-risk specialist, Dr. Zaretsky, at UTSW Children's Medical Center. We'll see him in two weeks for another growth scan and to get his opinion on Gwendoline's growth and overall health.

The other thing we learned at the appointment today is that Gwendoline is still in the breech position. The doctor says she usually likes to see babies in the head down position by 30 weeks and that it must be done by 36 weeks to avoid a c-section. So little Miss Diva has four weeks to flip herself around. Dr. Holt says this is more than enough time for Gwen to work her way around, she just has to do it!

While we are encouraged by this visit because our little one got a healthy report, there is still plenty of room for some specific prayers to be said. For those of you praying for our growing family, we ask that you pray for the following specifics:

• Pray that Gwendoline would begin putting on weight rapidly to get bumped up to a more acceptable percentile. 
• Pray that she would flip herself around to the normal head-down position as we'd prefer to bring her into the world naturally rather than through c-section.
• Pray for continued overall health and that the high-risk specialist would also find no cause for immediate alarm.

In other baby-related news, Jeph and I have started our childbirth and parenting classes. They are a lot of fun (for me, at least) and make us feel so much more prepared! So far, we've completed Infant Safety & CPR and Baby Care. Still to go are Childbirth (a two-part series), Breastfeeding, and Daddy Boot Camp.

Gwendoline Celeste @ 32 weeks

We didn't get many good photos of her today (she decided not to cooperate and didn't show us her profile). The above picture, if you can make it out, is of her head and face, staring at you straight on. The top of her head is to the far left, with her mouth to the right a couple of inches.