Our IVF Story

Willem’s Upper GI

Matt — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:21:34 +0000

Just wanted to let you all know that we took Willem in for an Upper GI this afternoon to rule out any blockages or twists in his bowels. The test went well and the radiologist said that everything looked very normal. What he did remark on is that he noticed that Willem has reflux. He didn’t comment more than to say that he has it and that it is VERY common in babies. I am under the understanding that there are wide variances in the degree of severity of reflux. I guess we will have to wait and see if he turns into a spit-up king of if we just have to be a little careful not to jostle him too much right after eating.

Quick Trip to the E.R.

Matt — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 01:17:00 +0000

We had to make a quick trip to the ER last night. Terrible how that sounds but it was pretty much a trip that would have been to the Pediatrician if they were open. Willem had a vomit that was bright yellow indicating some stomach bile. Being the first timers we are we called the doc and they said to take him to the children’s hospital to get him checked out. They did some x-rays and blood work. Everything looked ok on them and they said he seemed to be acting and functioning like a normal infant other than the vomit so they sent us home and told us to just watch him closely and if it happen with any frequency and the same color to come back and get checked out. Well he was fine for the night and then vomited again this morning so we are sorting holding out to see if it happens again. Hopefully he doesn’t. We are going to take him to the pediatrician tomorrow as soon as possible.

It has been another 5 hours since I started this post so far no incidents. Keeping fingers crossed and asking for prayer.

The First Week

Matt — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:03:01 +0000

Well Willem is a week old yesterday. We have learned a lot of things in just a week. We have learned that breastfeeding is hard work and has to be done very frequently! We have learned that he is not a great eater but will take just about anything you give him by way of feeding tube on a finger. We have learned that he likes to sleep when placed in the sun (lots of that trying to get the rid of the jaundice). We have learned that his bowels and urinary system work just fine ;). We have learned that our lives changed forever and in the best way we can think of.

We have learned that we are truly blessed beyond belief.

Pray for Erin. She needs sleep and her her blood pressure is up again. The doctor put her on blood pressure medicine and we bought a cuff to check the bp at home. Pray for Willem that he will start eating that way he is supposed to.

First Pediatrician Appointment

Matt — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:36:53 +0000

Willem was in for his first pediatrician appointment this morning. They checked his billiruben this morning too and it has gone up slightly but at such a slow rate that Dr. Coffman thinks it is completely normal and has just ordered that we have it checked tomorrow again and then maybe again if it still goes up a little. So here is the other information…

He has grown by a 1/4 inch so he is now 19 1/4″ long

Gained back a little of the weight he lost since birth so he is now 5 lbs 14 ozs

He is a pooping machine! I was with Erin and her mom at the doc for about an hour and he went twice! fun times :D

Be sure to sign up to be a friend on flickr.com and you can be up to date on pictures. I am putting them there so that I dont have to manage all those images in so many different places. Here is a link www.flickr.com/people/mdunmore

At home now

Matt — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 23:57:18 +0000

We didn’t really know what to expect when they told us that Willem was jaundice and we would have to stay another stay for monitoring. Of course we thought the worse and started imagining having to leave him there for treatments and all that. As it turns out, he responded really well to the phototherapy so they discharged him this morning and sent us on our way.

So we are home now. Feeding is going fairly well all things considered.

Willem Update

Matt — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:51:30 +0000

Couple quick things.

1.) Willem is not breastfeeding very well so we have started supplimenting with formula to make sure he is getting all the nutrients that he needs.

2.) The doctors decided yesterday that he was jaundice and that they needed to give him some photo therapy. What this involves is him laying under a really bright blue light any time he is not breastfeeding. Kinda making us a little sad to see him there and not be able to hold him :( The other thing about the photo therapy is that it makes him feel a little sick (they say flu like symptoms) so he is more fussy than usual and not as interested in eating. Hence not helping with part 1.

Asking for prayers on these to things. Other than that we are still elated that he is so sweet and for the most part extremely healthy and stong. Oh and did I mention CUTE as the day is long? heheh

Willem Alexander Dunmore - September 18, 2008

Matt — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:49:22 +0000

We knew he was going to be the joy of all joys for us but I didn’t realize all of the emotions that would come rushing forth as I watched him emerge and then when I got to hold him for the first time. It was RAW emotion like none I have felt before. I pretty much turned into a crying shaking sap and I loved it. He has forever changed my life and my world. Welcome to the littlest member of our family….

Willem Alexander Dunmore
Born September 18, 2008 at 3:55PM
Weight: 6lbs 0oz.
Length: 19″

Now for the fun stuff!

Update and BIG news!

Matt — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 21:01:33 +0000

Went to the doc this afternoon. Erin’s blood pressure was still up but the ultrasound looked very good. It was the bio something where they evaluate the baby against some standards and he scored 8 out of 8 (that is the best score). Fluids were good at almost 11cm.

They like to see the pregnancy go to 38 weeks. But since they were concerned about Erin’s BP, he did an exam and confirmed that she has started to dilate so they went ahead and scheduled the induction. We will be parents by next Friday! The induction will begin at 12:01 on Thursday morning and he said to plan on laboring most of that day and having the delivery late in the afternoon.

Here is the video from the ultrasound…

36 Week Ultrasound from Matt Dunmore on Vimeo.

Here is a scan so you can see his little foot and head :)

36 Weeks and still Cooking

Matt — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 21:40:38 +0000

We went to the doctor on Monday and everything checked out good. Erin’s fluid level is back up some and they think it is advantageous to wait a bit before inducing. Erin is still having elevated blood pressure which the doctors are “not impressed” by so I guess it is in the normal range of what they see typically.

Here is something I have learned to be true… Pregnant women swell! Poor Erin has been laying around with her feet up for about 4 days now to keep her swelling under control. As of last report and inspection her feet are doing pretty good but if she walks around at all especially in the heat of outdoors she gets big and swollen again. Guess I will be the one going to Wal Mart to pick up some supplies tonight :)

Here is the scan from the ultrasound for you.

Could be an interesting couple weeks

Matt — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 21:22:39 +0000

We went in for Erins checkup with the high risk doctors this morning. They noted a couple things first that her blood pressure was a little high. They are not very concerned with this as it is not out of a healthy range and it seems to go up and down a little since it was high last week and then fine on thursday at her other doc appointment. (which I guess I still need to update about).

Secondly they noted that her amniotic fluid was a bit lower than average at this stage of pregnancy. They recommended keeping a very close eye on it and pretty much told us to be prepared to deliver as early as next week. In case you are wondering and are in the know about fluid levels and stuff hers are at 8cm and normal is around 10-11cm. The Doc said he would have sent us over to labor and delivery if the fluid as as low as 6cm even today.

They switched Erin over to Heparin to prepare for delivery. Lovenox which she takes for a clotting disorder can interfere with the ability or willingness of the anesthesiologist to administer local anesthetic AKA epidural :)

Anyway all is well as far as we know but stay tuned as we may be changing that status soon :) Here is an ultrasound scan from this morning.

Here are the vitals:
Fluid: 8cm
Baby weight: 5lbs 3oz