Dearest Gemma

On Mother's Day I spent it being a mom to this wonderful sweet (most of the time) angel girl of mine! I thank my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a wonderful gift!

Some fun facts Gemma can do:
-bark like a dog
-show you where her nose is
-give you the fist
-give kisses (my favorite)
-laugh at America's Funniest Videos
-put her own shoes on (not always on the right foot)

His heart

All I want to do is just break down and cry. Maybe it will make me feel better but I'm afraid that if I do I wont be able to stop. So, I will do my best to stay strong and look for the blessings that I know are there somewhere in this unfortunate situation.

Baby Vance has Ventrical Septal Defect, VSD for short, or lamen terms a "hole" in his heart AND a double outlet in his right ventricle.

VSD means that his septem, or "wall" didn't finish closing the gap between the right and left ventricle hence the "hole". The double outlet means that his aorta needs to be repositioned so that it's above the left ventricle and not the right. He will have open heart surgery shortly after he is born. Most likely sometime within the first and second month of being in this world. Vance and I will be able to bring him home like normal and then take him back in for surgery. That is, if there's not any other complications that arise right after birth. I'm not sure how long surgery takes, but he will be hospitalized for 7 days during recovery.

As of right now, the doctor is opptomistic that things will be just fine and only one surgery will be necessary to correct this defect. It shouldn't affect baby Vance in the long run and I believe he wont need to be on medication. He should be perfectly healthy without any future complications after he has surgery.

The thought of open heart surgery scares me though. It breaks my heart that this sweet little baby will be cut open, have his heart stopped, and then restarted. I'm sure when the time comes for this procedure I will be a real basket case. I mean, there was nothing wrong with Gemma and all I had to do was look at her and I would break down. There is just something so special about a fresh new baby that can sometimes make you feel a little inadequit and so blessed. Not to mention they just left the most perfect place with there Heavenly Father.

Never in a million years did I think something I like this could happen. But with faith proceeds miracles so I'm gonna work on having a whole lotta faith and never miss my prayers and scripture studies because that's all I really can do.

Addicted.....

Just some of my favorite pictures of my favorite little girl taken over the past couple of weeks. I just can't get enough of her!

Baby Smith

I had my ultra sound with the specialist today. The verdict is that I do indeed have extra fluid floating around in my belly. 5cm-23cm is normal and I measured at 29cm. The Doc says that he still considers this a mild case but that it's still important to find out the cause because there is a potential of pulminary problems during birth. The baby's measurements are great except for his belly. It's a little bigger than what it should be so they want me to do another glucose test. The Doc studied his heart for some time and from what he could see it appears to be fine but there were parts of the heart he couldn't see so I have the pleasure of having another ultra sound with another specialist. He will look at his heart again to make sure nothing was missed and then we will go from there.

So, the run down is this, we still don't know why there is extra fluid so we are on the case to solve the mystery. I'm hoping his heart checks out fine and we find out why his belly is larger than normal. The Doc doesn't seem to be worried but I can't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

Spiders oh my!

I can't tell you enough as to how much I HATE spiders!! Especially ones I have never seen before and don't know anything about. I literally just squished a camel spider or sun spider in my living room! After looking it up online to see if I should worry, I'm seriously freaking out! I called Vance and almost begged him to come home from work and search our home for more. He, of course, didn't care so I called my dad. He just laughed but told me I didn't need to freak out. They are HUGE ugly things that need to be terminated. I will have a hard time sleeping tonight and hope like crazy I don't see another one! The pictures do all the explaining:

This shows two of them stuck to each other.

The one I killed looked just like this one below.

Would you like to see this in your home?! It makes my skin crawl. Did I mention they are HUGE! This is enough to make me want to pack up and move. I love you Vance and I'll miss you!

p.s. The one I killed wasn't as big as the ones in above pics THANK GOODNESS!! If it was, I would have grabbed Gemma and left my house!

Preggo update...

Let's start with some good news. I didn't gain as much weight as I thought I did! I had miss read the scale, phew, so my weight seems normal and steady. Baby boy's heart and fetal movements are doing great but he doesn't move nearly as much as Gemma did. My iron was low but I am now on supplements so things seem tip top.

However, I had an ultra sound done a few days ago and it shows that I have more amniotic fluid than needs to be there. The nurse said it was just mild but they ordered me another ultra sound to get a second oppinion. This will take place April 26th so I have done a little research on this matter. If the fluid measures more than 25cm, I will need to have an amniocentesis done. There are a number of reasons as to why I might have extra fluid:

• Maternal Diabetes


• Fetal abnormalities- in rare cases, a baby will have a medical problem that causes him to stop swallowing fluid while his kidneys continue to produce more urine from the fluid he's already swallowed. This may include any condition that makes it hard for him to swallow, such as pyloric stenosis, a cleft lip or palate, or some kind of blockage in the gastrointestinal tract. Certain neurological problems, such as neural tube defects or hydrocephaly, can keep the baby from swallowing as well.


• Fetal anemia

I got this info off of babycenter.com but there are other sites to look at if any of you are interested in doing your own research.

I was told I didn't need to worry but of course I will until that second ultra sound. I'm praying for the best and hope my little boy is healthy. I hate not knowing the unknown so I'm anxious to find out the results.

HaPpY eAsTeR