Skyping Fun

 We do most of our communicating with family by Skype since my family is in Iowa/South Dakota and Daren's family is in Pennsylvania. I think this is much more fun than just a regular phone call because we get to experience some fun things. Like a cello concert by my niece Stella.

Good Morning!

I have a very happy baby in the morning. I don't always get to see her before I leave for work. Today I got lucky and Willa started stirring just before 7am.

Nine Days

I have nine days until I give my little girl to Dr. Adamson and his team of doctors. I have nine more days of my mind spinning out of control. I can only imagine this is how I would have felt had Willa been born on the date of the scheduled c-section.  The times where my mind races are when I'm driving to work in the morning and the middle of the night pumping session. I get lost in my thoughts of the what ifs....

I do have a second distraction besides my own beautiful smiley little daughter and that is Olivia. Now, Olivia has yet to be born. Amy's mom found my blog and we have been corresponding since early January. Olivia also has an omphacele which containes her liver and intestines. Olivia's grand entrance has been scheduled for March 4th in Winston-Salem. I've never met Amy or her husband but I feel like we are family.

Another quick update about another om baby. I posted a news story/video about an om birth in Missouri. Well, baby Hayden went home this weekend after 30 days in the NICU.  I wish all the luck and love to his parents. I loved the NICU at UNC but I will say there is no differentiation between day and night in a NICU.  Those first few days at home can be tough trying to get the baby to sleep when you want to sleep.

Okay, lets bring this all back to my little girl. I have nine more days until we go in for her surgery on the morning of the 27th.  We do have our pre-op appointment with Dr A on the 21st.  I view the closure surgery the same as the birth. We don't know what we will find until we get in there. I'm teetering between concern and worry. I really need to go back and read my post from 9/26/12.

This morning while driving to work I was listening to The Message on my Sirius radio. I caught the end of a song I've never heard before and it really shook me. I can't listen to this entire song being nine days from surgery. I want to...but I can't.

Kutless - "Even If"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqOkZiOb9u0

Happy Valentine's Day

Daren + Shelly = Willa

Information Overload

I am obsessed with omphaloceles. I am constantly searching for blogs to read. I love the two Facebook groups dedicated to oms. I'm part of a Yahoo group. I want to know how the pregnancy progressed. I want to know if their pregnancy went full term or if the babies were delivered early. I want to know what the treatment plan was like for the om babies. Did they doctors do an immediate closure or is it delayed? I feel like we are all one big family and we support each other.

Just last night a news story aired in St. Louis, Missouri about the birth of Hayden. The camera crews were in the delivery room!!! Unbelievable! Watching the video brought the emotions rushing back from October 27th when Willa was born. I was that person walking down the hallway in the hospital gown with a cap on my hair. Actually, this video showed me what I missed with Willa's birth. We don't have a video of her birth. We only have just those quick cell phone pics Daren took just before she was whisked away to the NICU.

I think Hayden's parents are so strong to let this television crew into their OR. I'm not sure I could have done the same. Obviously, both Hayden and Willa are some of lucky om babies who were born without additional complications. Both babies have strong lungs, the membrane covering remained intact, and all chromosomes are as they should be. Not all families are as lucky as we are.

I will continue to follow Hayden's blog as he remains in the NICU. I believe he is nearing the three week mark. He is struggling with feedings like Willa. His parents have a very strong faith in God and seem to be handing the stress like champions.

The Fox 2 video -   http://fox2now.com/2013/02/07/baby-born-with-organs-on-outside/

Three months!

I was all smiles wrapped in my towel.

Hi again, Willa here. I'm a little late in writing this, but I've been busy celebrating. You know, I'm three months old now. Things have been about the same though. Doctors visits, day care, sleeping, being cute, crying... it's just what I do. I'm just getting better at it all with some more practice. One thing that was new was this thing called a "bath" that I got this morning for the first time. It was very strange. I'm used to just having the wash cloth in a basin. I'm not used to being in the water!  I don't think mommy is going to post the video of me screaming in the water.

I am also starting to talk a little bit - well, I consider it talking. Nobody can understand me yet but that's their problem. It makes perfect sense to me. I guess it could also be that I'm hard to understand with my hands in my mouth all the time. I'm also doing this thing that mommy calls tummy time. I'm not that good at it yet but I can turn my head from side to side.

One thing did make my celebration a little annoying - I had to avoid both mommy and daddy when they were sick. First mommy, then daddy. I think I have managed to avoid it, though.

I'm also getting ready for my surgery. My belly is getting smaller and smaller, so I'm thinking it should go smoothly and I'll be back home and getting to normal in no time. To get ready for this, mommy got me lots of new clothes. Hopefully I'll be ready for pool season!