Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas

Alot has happened over the past month in our house. We had a nice 8 pm emergency appointment at the pedatricians because, Owen was gagging and choking uncontrollably for a few minutes sending Mom into a panic state. Turns out he has acid reflux so they gave us medicine for that. We found out he gained an ounce a day since the last time we were there just like real boys!  He is finally longer then the arm on his Vermont Teddy Bear. He loves his teddy bear.

 We also went to CHOP for our monthly appointment. We will be scheduling his catherization at our next appointment on the 12th of January; which will determine our course of action for his surgery. They'll be able to see exactly what the arteries and veins are doing and figure out what they need to do to correct his heart.
 The last few nights he's been so excited for Christmas that he doesn't want to sleep at night or during the day.  Right now he's half asleep half awake looking at me with a goofy smile.
We are trying to lay low to keep him away from germs, he's not allowed to get sick.






It snowed alot here in Lansdale. We got about 8 or 9 inches of snow. The great thing about living on a small road in town is everyone comes out and shovels together and helps dig out each others cars. I think we are the last road to get plowed so it always looks like the roads are a complete disaster up until you get off of our street.

I had some vacation time saved up for when Owen was born but, I got laid off then. I'm taking off the week between Christmas and New Years. Woowhoo!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Owens' One Month photos...





Face to face with the mighty grizzly...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

11/21/2009 one month already!

Owen got his RSV shot this week so we will be at church tomorrow. We also saw the cardiologist and everything is still looking good, they even scheduled are next appointment in three weeks instead of two.  They do want him to be gaining more weight. He is gaining and growing so I don't see the big deal. I think they want him gaining 25 grams a day and he's gaining 17 grams. They decided to start giving him 24 calories instead of 22. We don't give him many bottles though.  He also broke the 6 pound mark.
Here are my two favorite photos of Owen...






Thursday, November 5, 2009

Owen and his Giant

My dad buys equipment from this company called Modern Ice. The salesperson Tim, sent Owen a 36" tall Vermont Teddy Bear...



Thursday, October 29, 2009

What Happened Between 9:38 PM & 2:38 AM You Ask?

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

9:38pm

"At 7 o clock the midwife came in to check Ashleys' cervix and it only grew to 3 cm 60% effaced. Which is only one more cm then when she got checked in the morning. Her and the doctor came back in to talk about our options at this point. Take a break from the Pitocin, Break the water, or go back to Cervadil for the night. We decided to stay on the Pitocin even though she had her dinner sitting there waiting to be eaten. {You can't eat while on Pitocin} At about 8:15 the doctor checked her and she was almost 4 cm and her contractions were starting to get harder, this confirmed our Pitocin decision. The doctor is going to check her again at 10 to see if she dialated anymore. If she did then they aren't going to break the water, if she didn't then they are. They said they think we should have a baby by 1am but, how do they know that?"

The midwife came back and checked her at 10:30 or so and she was another centimeter dialated. Her contractions were getting pretty bad then so the nurse asked her if she wanted to try to the birthing ball. After about a minute of sitting on it she said she felt like the baby punched her; when she stood up we realized her water broke on her own. All this time we are watching, "Meet the Duggars" where their daughter in-law has the home birth. Ashleys' contractions got very intense at this point. After an hour we talked to the nurse about getting an epidural and we decided she should get it.  After the Anesthesiologist finished Ashley started to feel alot better, for about 15 minutes...
 "I just feel alot of pressure." The doctor came in again to check her dialation and he said, "You're fully dilated and I can feel the head. This is good news this is beautiful. I'll get the midwife." Everyones' beepers started going off and people started running in and out of our room. Ashley pushed for about  30 minutes. I had her foot in one hand my camera in the other.  Owens heart rate started to drop and he wasn't making anymore progress to our world, so they had to do an episiotomy and on top of that Ashley ripped inside too. That's when the blood just start gushing out like a waterfall. They quickly yanked him out, cut his cord and threw him {figure of speech} to another doctor to stablize him. It went so quickly the midwife forgot to check to see if he was a he.
  We both think everything is done and they're just going stitch Ashley back up. I went out to talk to the parents not knowing that the doctor has shoved both his hands up Ashley to try to stop the bleeding and yelled at the nurse to get a shot of something to clot the blood.  Ashley never looked so white.  There was blood everywhere! Like I said it was just gushing out. They were able to get it to stop and stitched  her back up. It would of been a million times worse if she hadn't gotten the Epidural. The nurse came in and gave us Owen to hold for a few minutes before the whisked him off to the NICU...

 We will be going back to CHOP on 11/03 to meet with our cardiologist for a checkup. The plan now is to do a catherezation in a few months in preparation for the surgery that he will have in the first year of his life.
The surgery will be to bring all the pulmonary arteries together and fill the hole between the two chambers of his hearts. They will also take care of his MAPCAs.
Owen did pass his hearing test and he doesn't have DiGeorge Syndrome!
The only thing now is he needs to start eating more and needs to put on some weight.  Babies with TOF have a hard time with that and Owen is no exception.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Owen is Coming Home Tomorrow!

We talked to the nurse today and she said he's been eating like a champ. He went from drinking 20mls last night to 50mls today! He also passed his carseat test. He is alot more awake too. They even took his IV out of his hand. We do have to take CPR classes tomorrow before he is released and set up some follow up visits for his heart. Ashley is changing his diaper for the 2nd time as a Mommy as I type.
 Ashley has been having alot pain in the morning if you could continue to pray that she will heal quickly and that she won't over do it. {ha that'll be the day}

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Q&A

If anyone has any questions for us about the delivery, the baby, CHOP, or whatever please post on a comment under this post and we will try to answer it.
       We are going to try to get some sleep now.

Great News!!

We got wonderful news this evening!!!!  When we were visiting with Owen his surgeon came over and told us the results from the CT Scan!  After 4 cardiologists and his surgeon reviewed his ECHO and CT Scan they all agree that they think that the duct that they are keeping open on the Prostaglanden isn't infact what  they thought it was in utero!  They are going to stop the Prostaglanden and do another ECHO while the duct is closing or once it is closed (I am not sure which one.) If everything looks good as it is closing and once it is closed he will be coming home!!!  We will hopefully know the results within the next 2 days!  Pray that everything continues to look good and that he will eat well so we can get him home!  They are saying that he will need a full repair surgery sometime within the first year once he grows a bit!  We are praying that the Lord will completely heal his sweet little body and that he will never need surgery!! 

Our Sweet Little Guy!!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Heart Update

Right before we left to go to the CICU the cardiologist called and said she reviewed the ECHO and everything looks like it did before. They want to do a CTSCAN tomorrow to further evaluate the heart problems and do surgery on Friday.

Baby update

Owen is doing great. He's in the CICU right now breathing on his own.
Ashley lost alot of blood and has had two bad fainting spells. Thankfully someone has been there each time to catch her.  If you could pray for her as she trys to rest and regain strength and blood.
I'll try to put last night into words a little bit later.

-Ian

INTRODUCING OWEN FRANCIS SIRIANNI

Born 10/21/2009






Owen is doing just fine. We got to hold him for a few minutes before they took him to the CICU. Where they'll give him an echocardiogram. Our Cardiologist should be in in a few hours to look at the results.
More details to follow when it's not 4 in the morning.

-Ian

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

9:38pm

At 7 o clock the midwife came in to check Ashleys' cervix and it only grew to 3 cm 60% effaced. Which is only one more cm then when she got checked in the morning. Her and the doctor came back in to talk about our options at this point. Take a break from the Pitocin, Break the water, or go back to Cervadil for the night. We decided to stay on the Pitocin even though she had her dinner sitting there waiting to be eaten. {You can't eat while on Pitocin} At about 8:15 the doctor checked her and she was almost 4 cm and her contractions were started to get harder, this confirmed our Pitocin decision. The doctor is going to check her again at 10 to see if she dialated anymore. If she did then they aren't going to break the water, if she didn't then they are. They said they think we should have a baby by 1am but, how do they know that?
  All the nurses are really nice but, the one we have tonight seems to be pretty intune to Ashleys' feelings and everything.
 The midwife came in and said the NICU called asking where the baby was.

-Ian

4:15pm update

I just woke up from a short nap.  I am starting to feel more and more contractions!  I am having contractions like I should be, every 3-4 minutes but I guess they don't think there is much going on because I am not in pain yet!  The pitocin can only be upped once more!  The nurse just came in and filled me in!  At 7pm they are going to check my cervix to see what is going on and at that point they will make a decision as to what route they want to go!  We will update when we know more!! 

~Ashley

1:43 update...

Ashley is starting to contract more and is starting to feel them.
 They up her Pitocin every half hour. We are getting great views of the SDU hallway walking back and forth.
My parents stopped by because my dad had an appointment at UPENN so, I was able to go out and grab lunch at the caferteria with him. Who would of thought hospital food would be so good?

Labor Day Two

The Cervadil they gave Ashley last night didn't do anything. The midwife check Ashleys' cervix and it's about the same size as last night.We both slept pretty good after watching some Phillies and Ultimate Cake Off.
Ashley just finished eating breakfast and showering. They are about to start Pitocin and her antibiotics for Group B Strep. They will have her on that most of the day and if that doesn't do anything then they'll let her rest and eat and put her back on Cervadil for the night.
 The midwife Karen, just started her shift of 24 hours and is determined for the baby to come out on her shift. We've had her at a bunch of our prior appointments.
The layout is pretty neat in the SDU. Each two rooms are separated by an exam room where they take the baby after it's born. There is a window in our room to look into the exam room so we can watch the baby. After all that's done and the baby is stabilized they'll bring the baby into our room and let us spend some time with the baby before it goes to the CICU. Pray that the Pitocin will kick in soon and won't be to terrible as we here it can be.
Thanks,
                 Ian

Monday, October 19, 2009

At CHOP

We got to CHOP around 4:30 so we could get dinner before we checked in.
Went to a Panera Bread type place called "Au Bon Pain." Why they'd put a restaraunt in a hospital with the word "Pain" in it, is beyond me. We got up to the SDU at 5:15 and were shown our room. They're about to start Ashley on a mild inducer. They said it's basically a test run and aren't expecting much from it. They want her to get a good nights sleep because, tomorrow they'll start Potocin. The doctor said it's not uncommon for it to take a few days to work... Please pray that is not the case!
 Everytime Ashley get's needle work done they always have to do it atleast twice. The IV was no exception. The nurse went right into the vein and right out the other side the first time.
 All the nurses said if they went by the charts our babys' heart is perfectly healthy. We are praying it's not just the charts!!
We will be updating the blog often. Thanks for the prayers.




Ashley finishing up some last minute things before we leave.


Ready to leave!


Ashley all IV'd up!


Our Birth Certificate application, waiting for a babys' name


Our wrist bands.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Time change

CHOP called today and they want me there at 5:30pm instead of 8pm!! 

Please, continue to pray for a safe delivery and that the baby will be stable when it is born so, we can spend a few minutes with it before they whisk the peanut away!!

~Ashley

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Induction Scheduled

Well, on Monday October, 19th at 8pm they will be inducing me!  Unless, I go into labor on my own before then.  I was 2 cm dialated and 50% effaced at our appointment yesterday!  I am really hoping when I go in on Monday night I am dialated a couple more cm so my labor isn't that long!! 

Thanks for all of your prayers we will keep you updated via the blog and facebook! 

~Ashley

Friday, October 9, 2009

Our Little Blessing!

Today as we were driving home from our CHOP appointment, we were driving on a road that we haven't driven on since we were on our way home from when we went away for our anniversay in February. I remember being on the phone with my OB while traveling on that road. They had done bloodwork to find out the possible cause of why I wasn't getting pregnant. They were calling me with the results from the bloodwork. She had told me that I had MTHFR (a blood clotting disorder), but she didn't know much about it. I remember hanging up with her and being very discouraged and thinking to myself that we (Ian & I) will possibly never have the blessing of children. Little did I know that 2 weeks later I would find out that I was pregnant with our little peanut! Today as we drove down that road I thanked GOD for the sweet little baby that is growing inside of me! Our little Blessing!!

The baby put on a whopping 1lb 4oz since our last growth ultrasound 2 weeks ago! Bringing the baby up to 5lb 4oz! Grow baby grow!! The doctors were thrilled with the growth as were we!! They told me today they won't let me go past 39 weeks. So, we will be meeting our little peanut in 2 1/2 weeks or less!! I have been having ALOT of cramping lately. Everyone I talk to acts like it is nothing. Well, apparently it isn't just anything! My OB told me that if it continues for an hour straight to call them!

Everyone tells me how at the end of their pregnancy they are just ready to be done! I can not relate with that!!! I absolutely love being pregnant! I will certainly be sad when this little one isn't squirming inside of me anymore!

All in all our appointment at CHOP today went very well! Every Friday when I go I pretty much have to be ready to have this baby because at any point they might want to induce me. They acted like if anytime I go and I am at all dialated they are just going to go ahead and induce me! Our next appointment is next Friday if we make it that far!

Tonight we went to my parents for dinner. On our way home I was thinking to myself that the next time we go to my parents we will most likely have our little one with us!!!

Thanks everyone for your prayers! It means alot to Ian & I knowing that so many are praying for us and our little one! Continue to pray that if it is the Lord's will that our sweet baby will be healed!

~Ashley

Friday, October 2, 2009

Update & A Bridal Shower

Everything looked great with baby today!! Praise God! They just checked the umbilical cord to make sure the baby is getting the proper nutrients and they checked the amniotic fluid. They will check the growth next week. Hopefully this little one packs on a pound or more come next Friday!! I am hoping for atleast another week and a half then anytime after that the baby can come!!

I am so thankful this week is over! Tonight was Brianna's Bridal Shower (my sister.) I spent this past week preparing for the shower and for baby just incase they wanted to induce me today! The shower was very nice and Bri was surprised!!! YAY! Now, I can relax until the peanut comes! I will update with pictures of the shower later!

~Ashley

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Baby Shower on Friday Night





Saturday, September 26, 2009

Update from Friday's Appointments

Everything went well for the most part on Friday at CHOP.  The only concern is that the baby is measuring small 4lbs. currently.  I have to go back weekly now until the baby is born.  If the baby continues to measure small they will have to take the baby early. 

We will have one more echo before the baby is born at 38 weeks if we make it that far!  Everything continues to look the same.

We met with the surgeon that will be doing the baby's surgery.  His name is Dr. Peter Gruber.  He has been a heart surgeon for 12 years!  He was great and very encouraging I thought.  There is now a possibility that the baby might be coming home until it is necessary to do the surgery.  We will not know that until the baby is born though.  When the baby is born they will put it on prostaglanden and do all of the testing on the baby the same day it is born.  The surgeon acted like we would know within the first 2 days what the plan is.  To do surgery immediately or wait until the baby needs the surgery in the near future.  I asked the surgeon if the baby needs to be a certain weight for them to do surgery and he said "no"  he has done heart surgery on babies as small as a 1/2 lb.  It is amazing what they can do!  They prefer to do surgery on babies that are full term, but if the baby would be born early and need surgery immediately they can do it! 

Please, be praying that the baby will continue to grow the way it should be and that we can get to 37 weeks.  That is only 18 more days! 

~ Ashley

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

34 weeks

I am 34 weeks already!   I can't believe how quickly this pregnancy is going!!  Only 6 1/2 weeks or less and our little peanut will be here! 

It has been pretty uneventful around here!  I have been plugging away at my LONG to do list!  It feels so good to be able to check things off.  Today I packed the baby's bag for the hospital.   I don't even know if we will even get to dress the baby, but JUST in case we can I want to be prepared. 

Two Sunday's ago our wonderful care group at church threw us a church baby shower.  We got all of the remaining things we needed for baby!  Now we are set.  I installed the infant car seat in the car the other day.  It is so crazy to think that very soon there will be a little peanut riding around with us! 

The baby has been very active lately!!  I get alot of jabs anymore I can't even tell you when the baby sleeps.  It seems like he/she moves all day! 

Friday we go to CHOP this will be my transfer of care visit.  After this visit I will go in 2 weeks and then every week after that till the baby is born!  Please, continue to pray that everything will continue to look good and the peanut can continue to cook until it's 37 weeks +. 

I will update after our appointment at CHOP!

~Ashley

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Friday, August 28, 2009

Our day at CHOP

We had a wonderful day at CHOP. We got there RIGHT at 10am and were seen within minutes. We didn't have to wait around for any of our appointments they kept us moving all day! Our cardiologist was out today so we met with a different one and she was so encouraging! They said the baby was so good for the echo it stayed in the same position so they could get some really good pictures!! The baby was laying head down face up! Of course when we went for our growth ultrasound and I wanted a picture of the baby the baby flipped over and had its back to us!! haha! Oh well! The baby is weighing in at about 3 lbs and in the 17th percentile! Babies with TOF are typically smaller at birth! YAY for me! Our next appointment at CHOP will be my transfer of care! This pregnancy is really flying by! I can't believe that in about 9 weeks this little peanut will be here! Today we also met with a lactation consultant and had a tour of the C.I.C.U. (Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.) So many little tiny babies awaiting surgery or just out of surgery! Poor babies! Pray that the Lord would heal their sweet little bodies so they can get home with their families!! Thank you everyone for all of your prayers we have certainly felt them!! Continue to pray that if it is the Lords will that our sweet baby will be healed!!

~Ashley

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Last Day of Work

Today was my last day of work!! It came so quickly! I will definitely miss all my wonderful co-workers but I am also really happy that it is possible for me to be home with the baby! Work had a baby shower for me last Thursday and I got some really cute things for our little peanut! Books, toys, outfits, a bath towel, wash cloths and a play mat to mention a few.

I got my glucose test results back and everything looks great!! Praise God!!

Our next appointment at CHOP is August 28th and I am looking forward to seeing our sweet baby via ultrasound! I can tell the baby is growing it is starting to move around almost constantly!! I could just sit and feel the baby moving all day! It is the sweetest thing!!

Tomorrow I am 29 weeks pregnant already!! Time surely flies!! Our baby will be here in just 10 1/2 short weeks!

~Ashley

Friday, July 31, 2009

Back From CHOP...

We had a very busy day today at CHOP. It took us 53 minutes to get there with absolutely no traffic. It took us 2 hours to get home...
The appointments started at 8am with the growth ultrasound. Baby Sirianni did not cooperate. After about an hour and a half of measuring this and that; the radiologist came in {insert nerves here} and tried to get a good view himself. He was concerned that the baby could have a clubbed left foot but, he couldn't get a good enough view to be confident. We asked him at this point if he saw the thymus. {The thymus has to do with the immune system and they couldn't see it at our last appointment at CHOP} He couldn't see it because of the jawbone shadow. { insert more nerves} Then Kate the ultrasound tech, came back in around 9:50... Finally the baby decided to move around and she was able to see everything she needed to; including the legs {no club foot} and the Thymus. Praise God! I think we finally finished around 10:15.
They switched our schedule around and sent us right back into another room for the echo cardiogram. This also was about two hours long.
We had three different cardiologists looking at the heart. They all agreed that the hole between the chambers is still there and the left ventricle is kind of just going no where. They spoke with a lot of generals because, they won't really know the full extent of the Tetralogy of Fallot, until after the baby is born and they can do testing and MRIs on the baby.
We also met with the Director of the Fetal Heart Program and the midwife who will be our OB after 34 weeks.
Baby Sirianni is weighing in at 1 lb 12 oz,
We are very thankful to be at CHOP. They are all very nice and very helpful. We are very thankful to God for everyone there that He has place in our life.
Pray that the baby will be strong and stable when he/she is born. This will speed up the surgery time and help in recovery.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Glucose Test

Tomorrow is my glucose test to check for gestational diabetes with my midwife. I believe that this will be the last appointment I have with the midwife, as on Friday I will be transferring my care to the High Risk OB at CHOP. My midwife does the glucose test a little different. Instead of drinking that nasty drink (well I wouldn't know because I never drank it, but so I have heard) I have to eat 18 jelly beans one hour prior to my appointment. For 3 days prior to the test I have to avoid all sugar, honey & fruit, but I have to eat a lot of carbohydrates. I am looking forward to this sugar fast being over!!

~Ashley

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Next Day At CHOP

Our next day at CHOP is on July 31ST. Here is a rough schedule of what will be happening that day.
7:45 am - ultra-sound
10:15 - meet with the coordinator in the Special Delivery Unit
11:30 - physical and transfer of care with midwife
{break for lunch}
1:00 - fetal echo
2:00 - meet with the head of the Special Delivery Unit {He'll be looking at everything from the previous appointments.
Somewhere in there we are meeting with the financial advisor too.
Please pray that we won't be overwhelmed with all the information and that we will remember God is in control.