Welcome, Ian!

Ian Joseph Grodz arrived on May 24, 2011, at 9:25 am. He weighed 8 lbs 15 oz and measured 21 1/4 inches long. Needless to say, Joe and I are in love with him. He is so adorable and sweet. He has a full head of light brown spiky hair with blonde tips just like his big sister! His APGAR scores were 9 and 9; we couldn't be happier with that. The NICU docs did take him pretty much right away to await his fetal MRI. My doctor and the pediatric neurologist were a little ticked at this. They felt he could easily wait with me until his procedure, but all worked out in the end. Joe spent most of the day with him in the NICU. I missed them both terribly, but my sister, Linda, and my sister-in-law, Kelly, stayed with me. We just received the preliminary MRI results. His ventricles are normal sized; no need for a shunt at this time. YAY! Dr. P (his pediatric neurologist) called to talk with us, and he is thrilled with what he is seeing. He has the variant, so when you are researching Dandy-Walker you'll run across malformation and variant. It's all very confusing. Anyway, he is happy with what he is seeing, so I am going to be happy, too! Dr. P will be here tomorrow to go over the full results with us, but as of now, he'll be monitored every two months. That's about it for now. We thank you all for praying. Prayer is so powerful. I know your thoughts and prayers are why he is doing so well and the only reason I have made it through these last 4 months. Please continue to pray for our Ian. We are so blessed.

2 Weeks To Go!

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks from today (hopefully at this time) I'll be holding my baby boy. Pray that this is possible, please. I am so excited to meet him..to look into his eyes and whisper in his ear that I will always protect and take care of him. We'll be amazing together. He'll see me. He'll hear me. And, I know he'll hold my hand and walk along side of me someday. I just know he will.

Thank you to all of you that are praying for us.

Counting down!

In exactly four weeks Baby Boy Grodz will be here and maybe some of our wonders and worries will be answered. I am getting anxious to meet him! He continues to be an active baby. He doesn't let me forget for one second that he is busy growing bigger and stronger. I have entered that uncomfortable stage of pregnancy. It is hard to sleep, heartburn is a killer, and I am quite swollen. I am actually sitting with my feet up now while Joe gives Ally her bath. It is hard for me to sit still; I keep thinking of the many things I hoped to accomplish before our new addition. Joe says what gets done will get done when it gets done. Perhaps he's tired of the nagging! I go for my weekly appointment on Thursday which feels like a giant waste of time. We have seen so many doctors! Oh well, anything could come up I'm sure. That's about it. As we get closer, my fear of the unknown gets stronger, but I know deep down, we'll be fine. Change is never easy, so I am sure I am scared of "rocking the boat" as well. I just hope our future isn't hospital stay after hospital stay keeping us away from Ally. I pray that he is healthy and happy, and I ask you to pray for that, too. Thank you!

Big Boy!

We had another ultrasound appointment today. Baby boy is growing. He's in the 78th percentile for weight which the doctor of fetal maternal medicine was very happy with. As soon as the technician started the scan she said, "Wow...look at all the hair on that baby!" I had no idea what she was looking at, but she pointed out the spiky shadows. Cute. He is also quite bored with us. We witnessed the biggest baby yawn ever! We couldn't get 3D shots though cause he was covering his face with his hands and when I rolled to make him roll, he smushed himself up against me. Guess he's tired of us messing with him! There were no surprises in the visit. DWM still present, but not worse. Everything else "looks" normal. The doctor said at this point, "It is what it is." and there is no need for another ultrasound until delivery day. Yay, I guess? Now it's just a wait and see..oh yeah, and PRAY.

Nothing new. Just thankful.

Well, I'm pretty huge and working is getting exhausting! But, I am thankful for work. It keeps my mind busy, and I am surrounded by very supportive people. And, I am so so thankful for Ally. She cracks me up and makes me feel like there couldn't be a thing wrong in the world. We were sitting on the couch this evening and she looked over at my belly and rubbed it and said, "I love you baby brother!" Joe and I were both there to hear it. It was the first time she said anything like that without being questioned first. Our family is perfect. Just perfect! I am so thankful for all the prayers being said for us. When I say it is what is getting us through, I honestly mean it.

Baby boy is so very very active. Can he be too active? His Aunt Chele got to feel and see him in action this weekend. I think she was a little freaked out with seeing a limb of some sort poke out and roll across my belly! Back in January, I asked the doctors how he could be active in the womb if he were going to be in a vegetative state when he was born.  They explained it as primitive movement. This can't just be primitive movement!

I am going to ask for more prayers. We travel to the hospital again on Thursday to see how our little man is doing. I'll let you know.

32 Weeks

Baby boy and I went for a belly check today. Our scheduled c-section has been moved to May 24th. That's probably better than Friday the 20th because he'll need to see specialists and have tests performed, and they are only in on weekends for emergencies.

I stopped to talk with our family doctor's office (Ally's pediatrician) about baby boy. The receptionist started to cry; she's a mom. Anyway, at this point we don't see any reason why he can't go there for regular pediatric care. He'll be monitored by specialists regardless. I guess it's a wait and see kind of thing.

I am starting to swell and get a little uncomfortable, but I am still loving being pregnant!

Ultrasound in 2 weeks!

March 17th Ultrasound

I saw my regular OB the morning of the 17th, and everything looked good as far as the belly check and heartbeat check went. She told us that she has/had a patient that had Dandy-Walker, and that she is fine and had a healthy pregnancy. Interesting.

We had to wait about a half an hour for our ultrasound with genetics. I was okay waiting this time.

We had another amazing tech. She was super sweet. I told her that at our last visit it was mentioned that we may be able have a 3D ultrasound performed. She promised she would try if he was cooperating.

The ventricles in his brain continued to measure as "normal" other than the one in the fourth ventricle, but it is only a couple of mm larger than it should be. No huge cause for concern at this point. He looked amazing. I have to admit with each ultrasound, I stare hopefully at the screen wishing the malformation would disappear. A mother can dream. Baby boy cooperated. Our tech switched over to 3D and 4D. I watched him open his mouth, lift one side of his lip, and smile! He is so sweet.

A new doctor of genetics came in to meet with us. He was very nice and wanted to sit with us and learn all about what we know and add what he could, etc. Nothing new was discovered. He did float up above the cyst to show us what they think might be some vermis. WHO KNOWS. He was surprised that we hadn't been sent for an echocardiogram, so he had our genetic counselor arrange a scan for us. Thankfully we were able to get in the same day. We have had to miss quite a bit of work because of all our appointments, but that's just how it is. The scan of his heart was normal. Thank you God.

Before the echo, we did meet with a neonatologist to discuss what would happen right after birth. I can't say that we enjoyed that meeting. She was the black cloud of the day. For some reason she felt the need to remind us that what he has isn't normal and that we have no idea how he will do mentally or physically. She said, "I can't tell you what kind of Kindergartener he will be." Well, I didn't ask her any of those questions. I know we are facing the unknown and that's the most terrifying part of it all, so thanks lady. One thing that she did say that was kind of like an, "Oh," moment was that just because the rest of the brain, body, etc. is developed and present, it doesn't mean that it will function correctly. I hadn't really thought about that. I was always encouraged that everything else appeared to be "normal" so I just thought it would "work" too. Add more worries to my list. Anyway, she said that directly after birth, he'll be taken to the NICU for a full evaluation. Worst case scenario, he'll be transported to the children's hospital for surgical intervention. Best case scenario, he'll be able to return to me and wait for his MRI or head ultrasound. She said it all depends on whether he knows he has this. Interesting. Please God, let my baby stay with me.

So four appointments later, we were able to head home to pick up Ally. She was so excited to see the awesome pics of her baby brother.

Next ultrasound/genetics appointment is April 14th. Prayers and hope until then.