Waiting for Harvey

Today as I write this, I am 33 weeks and 5 days pregnant.  My belly is growing which means this little man is too!  He stays very active and is always letting me know he is there!  It won’t be too much longer before we are able to meet this precious gift and we couldn’t be any more excited!

I decided to post an update because we have had so many questions.  Right now I am not sure that we know much more then we knew when I first posted about Harvey but there is more that I didn’t share then.  First of all, everything is looking great at my prenatal appointments.  I am measuring about 2 weeks bigger, but had some extra amniotic fluid at my ultrasound so this is probably why.  They are not concerned about it which is great!

I am just going to try to answer a lot of questions that I am getting frequently.  Our plan is to deliver here, not at ACH.  There is not any reason for us to need to go elsewhere.  We will take him to Children’s when he is about a week old for his initial evaluation.  As long as he is able to eat without problems, we should be able to just go home like normal after birth.  So, really the answer to this question is, although there could be complications or issues associated with his cleft, we are not planning on any of them.  We are well informed but plan on a normal delivery.

What will life be like when he gets here?  We do not know the answer to that.  We have so much information and feel very prepared for the unknown- as strange as that sounds.  Until he is here everything is up in the air.  We have been given lots of “this could happen” cases, so we know what could be.  A few things we do know, his weight will be monitored very closely for the first 3 months, with weight checks weekly.  We will be working with the nutritionist at ACH during this time to adjust his feedings/calories to make sure he is on track for surgery.  His first surgery will be at 3 months.

There may or may not be more surgeries, it is all dependent on the extent of his cleft.  The first year of life is hectic, they were very honest about that.  There will be many trips to ACH, lots of appointments, I am going to guess lots of tears!  We know that this is a journey and one that won’t always be easy but we have the biggest peace about it.  We know God is bigger then this and we are just thankful to have so many amazing doctors caring for us!  We are thankful that Harvey is otherwise healthy and that my pregnancy has been healthy as well.

Most of you know I am a photographer but I tend to be terrible about planning pictures that include me.  I realized I really wanted a few good pictures of me pregnant with Harvey but I hadn’t scheduled any AND I am almost 34 weeks.  So this morning, Mr. Meinardi decided to humor me and attempt a few pictures.  I will say, a few turned out super cute.  Being the perfectionist (in recovery) that I am, I am trying hard to remember that he is not a photographer!  He really did do a good job.  Thank you honey!

I think he found it harder to take pictures of all of us! But we captured the moment so that is all that matters!

We used my Tripod and took one of us together.  I am hoping to get a few more of both of us in it later.

I love these of Garner and I!  Probably my favorite.  She is only the baby for a few more weeks!