President's Day - 28 Weeks, 6 Days

It's President's Day today and Amaraa had her appointment with the perinatologist. We were excited about this one because they said they would give us a measurement on the baby. He measured just over two pounds a couple of weeks ago, so we were hoping for three pounds or more this time around. The nurse said that they usually only measure the baby every three weeks or so, but Amaraa said "pretty please" and they measured him for her. 3.3 POUNDS!!! Another milestone reached!  Dr. Feltovich, the perinatologist, said that she was really encouraged by the progress Amaraa is making. She said that she never thought Amaraa would make it this far when she was admitted to the hospital a month ago. She was sure the baby would be sitting at an incubator in the NICU at this point. Amaraa has been bleeding into her amniotic fluid which can sometimes cause babies to not grow as well (drinking more blood than amniotic fluid = fewer nutrients), but today, he measured 6 days larger than our dates suggest!  He's doing great! We feel so blessed. Every time Amaraa has an ultrasound, the baby puts his hands over his face, so we always get pictures of his hands and feet. Since I posted pictures of his hand last time, I won't post the one from this appointment. Hopefully we'll get some good pictures of his face at the next exam.
Today, Amaraa had a lot of visitors. My mom and dad came and several of our Mongolian friends visited. They had Mongolian food in tow, so Amaraa was very happy.
Yesterday, Amaraa didn't have much bleeding, so she was joking that she was going to start packing her bags to go home. She told the perinatologist and they all had a good laugh. The doctor said "No packing bags for you!  You're here for the long haul!"

February 16th, 2011 - 28 Weeks, 1 Day

Yay! We made it past the 28 week point and into the third trimester! We took a tour of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit last week and several of the babies in there weren't that far along, so we feel fortunate for every day this baby stays put.

Amaraa has been uncomfortable ever since she had her blood transfusion. Her face, hands, and feet have been puffy and she has had some chest pain and body aches. Her nurses said that it is pretty common to have some discomfort for the first day or two after the transfusion, but they said that ultimately, the new blood should make her feel better. With the discomfort, she has had a hard time sleeping, so the lack of sleep doesn't help either.

During our ultrasound on Monday, they printed two pictures for us. One is a hand and the other is a foot. I'm posting them here. It's fun to see the little dude's little fingers and toes.

Amaraa has been dismayed at the fact that she gained 9 pounds in one week. She's worried that if she stays here for eight weeks, they might have to knock a hole in the wall and lift her out with a crane. Her nurses think she's funny to worry about the weight because most of that was the IV fluids they have been pumping into her. They didn't weigh her after the blood transfusion, but I'll bet she has gained a couple more pounds from that. The blood they gave her had all the plasma spun out of it, so it was all bulk!

Amaraa's poor arms are all bruised and battered from all the needles they have been sticking into her. Every time she has an episode of bleeding, they stick the IV in again for a couple of days and they take blood from her to do blood work every morning. She looks like she has been through a battle. She jokes that the only reason her blood count was low enough to need a blood transfusion was that they are taking all of her blood for tests! Ha! Ha!

Amaraa says the only enjoyment she has in the hospital is the shower. She also enjoys a few steps when she goes to the bathroom. Since the doctor only allows her out of the bed for those two reasons, she feels like a free woman every time she has an excuse to get up.

Thanks for the prayers, and for the comments and emails so far on the blog. Keep 'em coming!