Katelynn's Here!

I know this post is very late but life has been very busy since our precious girl arrived. She was born at 27 weeks and 5 days on April 8, 2010 in the wee hours of the morning by cesarean. She was 2lbs 2oz and 14 in. long. I was only able to see her for a brief second after she was born but she looked right at her Daddy and he's been hooked ever since:)! The NICU team rushed her to the NICU to assess her and get her hooked up on the ventilator, start her on some lipids and etc for food and to put her arterial line through her belly button. I was so thankful to have my husband and my best friend Tiffany through the delivery process. Tiffany was a NICU Nurse and what an amazing rock she has been to us. One of my other best friends, Christie, my parents and brother also came up later that day after Katelynn was born. They were amazing to us!



Matt, Tiffany and I slept for a little bit because it was a rough night and I got some pain meds and then Matt, me, Tiffany, Christie, my parents and brother all went to see our precious girl! What a precious miracle God gave to us. Matt's parents and siblings also came that night to see her as well. She was so tiny but such a fighter. I wasn't able to hold her until a few days later because of her arterial line in her belly button. But when I did, he was so amazing. I had tears in my eyes the entire time. During her NICU stay, I stayed at the hospital with my sweet daughter everyday for 12 hours a day. Matt would drop me off at lunch time, pick me up for dinner and then we'd go back to say goodnight. It was so difficult to leave her there every single night for 2 months. We were so lucky because she only was on the ventilator for 3 days then cpap and nasal canula. She bounced between cpap and nasal canula for a month or so and then she started getting the hang of this "breathing thing". At 34 weeks she started eating and she did so well. We were so lucky because all of the things that could've gone wrong, didn't! She had no bleeding in the brain, no limbs curved and perfect eyesight! She only had one blood transfusion (which is a miracle) and then her red blood cells starting kicking in.

Right before we were able to bring her home, Katelynn got GBS(Group B Strep) which was very scary! We got a phone call early in the morning and Matt and I rushed to the hospital and found our girl so sick! Her wonderful nurse Noelia knew that night something was wrong because Katelynn was not her normal self (Noelia was her nurse many many times during the night) so she pushed the Resident and Katelynn got immediate help. They put her on antibiotics to cover everything and she had to undergo several spinal taps (my poor baby). That was so rough for us and especially her! Matt and I spent the night at the hospital that night and she was like night and day within 24 hours. Our baby was getting back to herself. The tests results showed that nothing ever entered her spine so no Meningitis....THANK YOU LORD! That was such an answer to pray. So they kept her on antibiotics for 2 weeks and at the end she was well!

On June 24, 2010, we brought our sweet girl HOME!!! We were elated!!! I was never so happy to sign discharge papers in my life! My mom flew in a week or so before Katelynn came home and stayed with us for a month! I don't know what we would've done without her help! Katelynn came home on an apnea monitor and she had that for a month. She was doing very well at home, and then she was having some digestive issues and she was admitted to A.I. Dupont (Children's Hospital in Delaware) for four days. She went through many many tests and it was determined that it was just digestive issues so she came home and we just mixed pear juice with her formula and she never had any more problems! At the end of July, 2010, she was off of her apnea monitor...yippee!! Our sweet girl was finally free of machines and probes!!!!! She has just flourished ever since!

Although, having your child in the NICU was rough, we had the most amazing experience as parents. We were able to see our child form before our eyes. I was able to hold her (Kangaroo Hold) which is they put her down my shirt at least twice a day. That was so amazing for me and the bond I was forming with my daughter. I would sing and would tell her stories and I also read to her in the NICU. Daddy was also able to hold her and he cherished every moment. It was the bright spot of his day, because Matt was working so hard and getting his masters while all of this was going on.

Katelynn has just grown and developed like she should and doctor's can't believe she was a preemie. She is beautiful, full of so much joy and loves to laugh and play! She's in the 50 percentile and she's just doing amazing. She is rolling over, sitting up, talking, eating solid foods three times a day. As of today, she's over 18lbs, over 26 in. long and will be ONE in just a few weeks!!! We have a HUGE PARTY PLANNED!!! The party will be in Texas, where we are moving in just a few weeks!! We are extremely proud of our sweet girl and all of our accomplishments. She is truely a MIRACLE! She has overcome so much in her life and we are so blessed! She brings so much joy to all of our lives and we are so fortunate that she is our daughter and love her so much!

We want to thank all of the incredible nurses, nurse practitioners and doctor's for the amazing care of our daughter at Christiana Hospital in Delaware. I also want to think my gynecologist, Dr. Cooksey, for helping to save our daughter and putting me on bedrest for 2 months. It all helped save our daughter and we are so grateful. Thanks to all of our amazing family and friends who were there every step of the way and for everyone's prayers. We appreciate it so much. Last but definitely not least, we want to Thank God for holding our daughter in His arms and forming and protecting her. He is the reason why we have Katelynn today. He gave us such a special gift and we are so thankful!!

27 Weeks

We are in our 27th week and actually 3 days as of today! Me and baby are doing so good! The baby just amazes us everyday with all of the progress! We had a good Easter despite of a little pregnancy drama on my end. The baby likes to sit on my bladder which causes me to be up a million times a night but Saturday night was so bad! I thought I was getting some sort of infection with all of the back pain that I was under but through the tests and blood work, the initial results came out fine. We are still waiting on the culture to come back to know for sure. But my doctor really thinks it's how the baby is sitting and/or laying on me. I had a much better night's sleep last night and am not in any pain.

The Easter bunny a/k/a Matt a/k/a The World's Best Daddy did come by to see me and Baby S. We got a basket filled with goodies and my favorite was the little pink baseball and mit (since we are almost certain it's a girl). It is the most precious thing ever! Now our little one can play ball with her Daddy! My inlaws, Cheryl (my brother in law's girlfriend) and her daughter Destiny also came by to visit and bring goodies as well. It was a great visit and we had a great time. Matt and I got to spend the whole day together that day which doesn't happen very often these days due to Matt having to work so much and keep everything running. I couldn't ask for a better husband and father! He's amazing! Me and the baby appreciate and love him so much for all that he does for us! But we had a great day together and I hope we get more time like that sooner rather than later.

I have another sonogram scheduled for this coming Friday so I am really anxious to see how much the baby weighs now and hopefully my amniotic fluid will be up a little bit more this time. It's always a joy to see the baby and how it is growing and hopefully we can know the gender for sure this time. I'm so happy that my best friend Tiffany will be here to share in this sonogram with me and she will be able to see the baby. It will be so much fun!

We thank everyone so much for all of the continued prayers and support during this time. We truly wouldn't of made it this far without God's amazing hand and our huge support system. We love all of you!

26 Weeks

This past Saturday, we turned 26 weeks! Every week is such a milestone and we are beating the odds! The baby is so active and is moving around everywhere! To get the baby to be still while they are monitoring me lately has been quite a challenge. Our little one does NOT like it at all! Baby Schumacher really likes to be seen and not heard...lol! On Sunday, while I was on the monitor I was having mild contractions and I had no clue because I was feeling absolutely nothing! The nurse turned me on my side and kept monitoring me and they went away. I thought well if this is what contractions feel like then Yippee!! I know when I really start having them that I probably won't be so lucky but I can dream. I was glad to know that the contractions really didn't amount to anything and my doctor said they could've been caused by anything like low pressure in the air or me laying on a fibroid and the list goes on. Matt and I were relieved that it was a false alarm. The baby's heartbeat still is doing wonderful everyday on the monitor and is accelerating like it should. THANK YOU GOD!!

I am very excited that one week from today that one of my very best friends from Texas, Tiffany (who was my matron of honor in our wedding) is flying up here for a few days to spend time with me. I can't wait till she is here so we can have girl time! I am also excited that she will be here for my next sonogram and will be able to see the baby. Hopefully the baby will reveal itself completely to Aunt Tiff! I am so glad that she is able to come spend time with me! I really miss all my best friends and not all of them can just fly up here! I wish all of them could be with me! I love you Tiff and we can't wait till you are here!

My doctor is so pleased with our progress and says that me and baby are just doing so well! We are continuously blessed with the progress that we are making everyday and just want to thank everyone for all of your continued thoughts and prayers! God's hand is so evident on our little angel!

25 Weeks

I know that this post is late but I have been suffering with horrible sinus stuff and migraines for a week! Me and baby made it to 25 weeks and just want to keep sailing along! Everything is going really well! During my 25th week, I had another sonogram and the baby is 1lb 10oz!! The little munchkin gained 8oz in 2 weeks and we are thrilled and everything about the baby is growing properly. We are just so happy and blessed! The only thing that was low on the sonogram was my amniotic fluid, it had decreased but my doctor and the specialist are not concerned because they said that I am going to fluctuate as the baby gets bigger and is more active.

We still don't know for sure if it's a girl but the examiner still is leaning highly towards a girl. Our little one was sitting indian style so the examiner couldn't get a really good view. Hopefully on the next sonogram, we can know for sure.

The nurses monitor me and baby everyday to check the baby's heartbeat and make sure that I am not having any contractions and the baby looks so good. My doctor is so pleased and so are we! I am not having any contractions so far which is such a relief.

More updates to come!

24 Weeks - A Huge Milestone

Yesterday kicked off 24 weeks, a huge milestone for me and the baby. That morning I got my first steroid shot for the baby's lungs and it was the happiest that I've ever been about getting a shot in my life. That day my Mom and Matt brought me balloons to decorate my room for the celebration. Today, I received my second and last steroid shot and this caused me to have a little allergic reaction which they gave me a benedryl shot and I'm getting better. The nurses are now monitoring me twice a day on the contraction monitor together with the heart monitor for the baby. This takes about 20 minutes and so far so good. No contractions and baby's heartbeat is still exceptional! I will say our sweet child is a little finicky about these monitors. It likes to hide and the nurses have to trap it...ha! It also kicks and punches me the whole time. It makes me laugh!

This past week, Matt and I had our second consult with a Neonatologist and it went very well. She was very positive about the baby's progress up to this point and told us that if I could get to 24 weeks then everything will be a lot better for the baby from this point on. The baby is definitely at an advantage because of the steroid shots so that made us feel so much better about everything. It made us feel a little more calm to know that if for some reason that I didn't make it to 34 weeks that depending on the baby they have seen so much success with even 23 weekers. She indicated it would be even better if I could make it to 25 or 26 weeks because those are big babies to them. We are definitely wanting to go the full 34 weeks but made us have a little more peace in the meantime. Matt and I were able to ask all of the questions that we had up to this point and get answers. She actually said that she was impressed because all of our questions were right on point and that we were one of the most mentally stable couples that she has talked to. She said that we were very realistic but very compassionate about our situation. I said well good because I thought I was a complete basket case :)! We will also be able to go and get a tour of the NICU whenever we want so it won't be so overwhelming later.

I also had another sonogram this past Friday and it went very well! My amniotic fluid was up from 3.3 to 4.5 and we were ecstatic! The doctor said that I should be over the critical stage at this point even though the fluid is still low. The baby weighed 1 lb and 2 oz from the 15 oz that it was 2 weeks ago. It is growing just like it should and we couldn't be happier! We tried to find out the sex but the baby's legs were tucked and has the umbilical cord between it's legs BUT they had some good indications and are leaning towards a GIRL! They can't be 100% sure but if the umbilical cord wasn't there they probably could've told us for sure. I hope we can know for sure really soon because honestly the suspense is killing me! Mom and I started looking at baby bedding anyways for both a girl and boy and we found some great options for both! So exciting!

We had another great week and looking forward to many more weeks to come. Thank you for everyone's continued prayers and support. Keep them coming our way!

23 Weeks!!

I turned 23 weeks 2 days ago and we are so happy and thankful to have reached this milestone without any problems. Now the baby is viable from this point forward which puts us both a little more at ease but we still have a ways to go. We have a consult with one of the Neonatologist's sometime this week to discuss what's going on with the baby at this point and to answer any questions that we may have at this point. The ultimate goal is for me to make it until 34 weeks but we set a small goal of 30 weeks. I have a dry erase board in my room which Matt subtracts the days that I have to get to 30 weeks everyday. Right now I have 47 more days to go! We are hoping to go above and beyond. I have a sonogram sometime this week to see how the baby is doing and to measure my fluid. We really pray the fluid has increased! We are also keeping our fingers crossed that our little child will have legs uncrossed so we can see what it is :)

I do have a new contraption on my legs now. I have to wear compression boots 24/7 until I deliver which helps with circulation in my legs so I won't develop blood clots due to the bed rest. I am thankful that they are keeping on top of all of this but I will say it's taken a little bit to get used to. I can unplug them when I need to get out bed. They look like braces on my legs! It looks like that I have two broken legs...lol! Oh well, it's all for the greater cause!

I am very excited this week because my Mom a/k/a Grandmom is coming into town on Thursday for over a week!! It's always wonderful to have my wonderful Mom here with me in my room all of that time! We laugh a lot of course and just have a lot of mother/daughter time which I need right now! It also gives Matt a little bit of a break too since he is juggling about a thousand balls in the air right now.

Thanks for everyone's continued prayers and support, we really appreciate it! We feel all of the prayers that are coming our way daily and it's so encouraging! Love to all!

Why is Rachelle and Baby in the hospital?

For those that don't know what exactly is going on with me and the baby. We wanted to give you the story and then we will just give you updates every week. Over a month ago during one of our sonograms, we found out that most of my amniotic fluid had disappeared. I went to my doctor immediately that next day to check and see if I had a ruptured membrane. At that time, the answer was no so my doctor wanted me to take it easy and hydrate constantly. I did that for a few weeks and then my water broke on Valentine's Day and was rushed to the E.R. It was determined that in fact in the E.R. that my water did break which they also call a Ruptured Membrane. They admitted me immediately and started me on antibiotics for 7-10 days to try and prevent infection to me and the baby. We will be in the hosptial until I deliver and I am on complete bed rest. It is Day 19 and so far everything is going perfect! I haven't gone into labor which is a miracle in itself and this sweet little baby is doing so good. We have had a couple of sonograms since I have been here and the baby is growing exactly where it needs to be at this justation and the blood flow is normal. About a centimeter of amniotic fluid has come back which was good news to us because that means that I am not losing anymore. The goal right now is to make it to 30 weeks but we would really like to make it to 34 weeks. I will deliver at 34 weeks no matter what because at that point the baby is safer outside the womb rather than inside.

I will be 23 weeks on Saturday, March 6 and we are so thrilled because the baby will be viable from this point forward. At 24 weeks, my doctor will start giving me steroid shots for the baby's lungs and we are looking forward to that day. Everyday is a milestone and we are so thankful. It has been such an emotional roller coaster for us but we feel all of the prayers and support of all of our family and friends plus God has given us such a special peace and understanding. It is totally in His Hands and we know He is working on our behalf. We are so lucky to have been given the gift of this sweet baby and that it is such a fighter.

Everyday that me and the baby get through without any contractions is a miracle. The baby is moving all around and let's mommy and daddy know that it's there. It is so refreshing to feel my baby moving, punching and kicking. Mommy and Daddy talk to it everyday and say a special prayer every night. It is so sweet because we both lay our hands on my belly and when Daddy prays, it moves all around. Mommy also sings to baby a lot and will start reading to the baby soon.

We hope this gives everyone a little background on what's going on with our little family right now. Again, we appreciate the prayers and support of our family and friends and so many others! We are so blessed!