Conversations with Connor & Katie

The kids' vocabularies are growing! I took the time yesterday and today to write down some of our conversations.

Two days ago -
K: "Woo hoo! Drink Milk!" (she had finished her cereal and was ready to drink her milk... yes, out of the bowl!) Didn't know she knew woo-hoo.

K: "Mommy's a 'silly may' ".

Yesterday -
Morning, all 3 of us keeping Connor company on the potty.
K: "Connor's trying get you." (you meaning me)
K: "Mommy no get you-ing."
M: "Mommy's not getting you?" (trying to gently correct her grammar)
K: "Brother no getting you."
M: "I have to go write this down!"
K: "Come too? May I come too?" (She says "may I" about everything! even things she really doesn't need to ask about... we think she just likes to be talking all the time).

This morning, I am hearing this from another room -
K: "May I have?"
C: "No, I'm reading it."
K: (again) "May I have?"
C: "No, I'm reading it."
K: (after coming into the room where I am, asks me): "Connor's reading. May I have a book?"
M: "You may pick a different book or you may wait for a turn with Connor's book."
K: (leaving) "Wait a turn. Wait a turn."
3 minutes later, I'm changing Katie's diaper, Connor comes over and says -
C: "Here you go, Katie, I'm all done reading." (giving her the book).
K: "Help? Mommy." (the back of the book is bit broken, tricky to explain via blog post)
C: "May I help you, Katie?"
K: "yeah."
C: showing her how to work the book since it's broken "You have to use fine motor skills." (Jeremy had explained yesterday that the kids would need fine motor skills to make the book's noise now since it is broken.)

We are so thankful for God's grace in our lives. What a blessing to see the kids grow!

Putman 5 Update 1/13

Hello Friends & Family,

Sorry it has been a while since our last update. I spoke with a friend on the phone today who reminded me that my last update was (regarding visits to the perinatologists) "8 weeks down, 10 to go." Well, about the only thing (thank the Lord) that has changed is "10 weeks down, 8 to go." Baby is still looking good (well, you know, besides the large mass in the chest =), and our surgery options will remain the same until birth. We will know more birth plan-wise (such as if we will be scheduled induction or c-section or "just wait") at 35 weeks, we are just over 32 weeks now. Feel free to ask at that point, but I imagine that many of you aren't too curious about those types of details, so I may not think about posting.

We have "growth" measurements for baby this next week. At least growth (they do them every 4 week), baby was about 3.5 pounds, and 35th percentile. Apparently this last Monday baby had a 60th percentile head circumference. I don't ask about every detail each time, so my information is always a bit scattered. The mass actually did look a little bigger, but baby is growing so well that it shouldn't create a problem.

We continue to rejoice in God's provision and His providence. Looking forward to meeting this little one. It will be interesting to see how much he/she looks like the ultrasound photos!

Specific prayer requests:

*God's will and my contentment re: delivery of baby. My desire is for an easy recovery so that I can better care for baby.

*We would prefer to have baby either a) need surgery immediately or b) be able to nurse efficiently enough to compensate for increased heartrate (and increased caloric needs) so we do not have to supplement with formula. Above all, we are praying for God's will, but we would be so thankful if His will is one of the above!

I do not think we will do any more official updates until birth (unless something changes) but do feel free to call/e-mail it's always a blessing to catch up, and then I'd be able to get your update too!!

Meg

Pictures 12/30

For update on "Putman5", see below. Here are some fun pictures (I've not posted pictures in a while, and Jeremy has gotten some great pictures of our kids this month!)

Katie and Connor both love to "pat" and "tickle" and "poke" (belly button) baby. They are so sweet!

Update 12/30

Happy New Year!

We met with both the pediatric surgeon and our perinatologist this week. We now have more questions than answers (which is probably good since the answers we thought we had were not necessarily accurate). Baby will need surgery after birth... sometime. (We are still praising the Lord that baby will, Lord willing, be fine until birth - hooray!). Surgery will be depending on both baby's breathing ability and weight-gaining ability. There are about 4 or 5 "typical" scenarios that we could fall under. Each would require surgery after a different amount of time (hours, days, weeks or months). Part of us wants to just "get it done", but the Drs. would prefer that baby make it to 4 or 5 months and then do surgery. We are thankful that it is not a decision that we make, but that we can trust the Lord to do what is good "for we who are called according to His purpose." and that He will give us sufficient grace for whatever situation that is. We are also resting on His ability to do "above and beyond all that we ask or imagine.

One other piece of truth has helped me put this all in perspective. We have been going to the specialist since 22 weeks (23 weeks baby developed hydrops, drained at 24 wks, shunt at 25). We are now at 30 week. That's only 8 weeks. We have 10 left. A LOT can change in that amount of time. I need to remember that. The last 3 weeks the mass has stayed about the same, it has not been shrinking which we were hoping for starting at 28 weeks.

Thanks for your prayers and support.

In other news, we have had a wonderful Christmas. Meg's brother and aunt have been in town and Connor & Katie are very fun ages. Excited to work on establishing more traditions for next year to remind us to focus on the Lord instead of all the "other".

Putman Update 12/17

Hello friends,

Our littlest baby is still without hydrops and swelling - hooray! Statistically, it looks like we're stable until birth, we'll continue being monitored weekly until then. Just 2 things we are thankful for:

*That this is our 3rd baby. We are getting quite spoiled with the luxury of weekly ultrasounds, and we will have a growth check (yes, we will know the weight of baby) next week - that is done monthly. I think a "normal" pregnancy after this one )

would be tough on us ("what's going on in there?")

*The shunt is still in place. The part of the shunt that is outside of baby is wrapped around his/her arm. The doctor thinks that, if anything, it can cause cosmetic damage. Thankful we can continue to monitor to make sure blood supply is still good in that arm.

In other news, Connor is officially a 3 year old (Dec. 14). Hard to believe he's that old. Today we are enjoying a gorgeous, clear, sunny day! This morning Connor says "Look, Mommy! Sunshine! Thank you, God." (He hears me point out every ray of sunshine). Despite my best efforts to instill a love for sunshine in my children with comments such as those he has his own opinions. In the car about an hour later, he said "Mommy loves sunshine. Connor and Katie don't like sunshine. It's too shiny. People don't like sunshine. Cars like sunshine." Oh bother!

As we near the end of the year, I am tracking our Drs. appointments and mileage, etc, and we have had 15 visits to the specialist and/or hospital, and 1419 miles. Impressive, right? I also had to chuckle as it looks like we will just reachy our "out of pocket maximum" (for this calendar year) on our insurance almost exactly at Dec 31. I love that as I realize these things, the Holy Spirit immediately follows with the truth of "God knew that and will provide. He is in control of both the cells in baby's body and all the financial arrangements in the world," and I can respond by laughing.

Merry Christmas, all! We have one more appointment before Christmas and hopefully it will be "no news". The week after, we are meeting with surgeons at Children's.

Meg

Putman 5 Update 12/8

Three exciting words:

NO MORE HYDROPS!

At today's appointment, baby looked normal (well, except for the mass that's still in the chest). No fluid in abdomen, no swelling in skin or skull. We are SO thrilled and thankful. Our risk level for the hydrops re-developing (based on mass size and head circumference) is in the lower category. Woo-hoo. This means that we can start thinking about delivery, etc (first week of March, Lord willing) and going in weekly.

I continue to be incredibly thankful for the quality of care that I am receiving. Absolutely exceptional. I am also thankful for the Lord's timing... we may be able to get Christmas decorations up this year =)

Sending our love and gratitude for your prayers and support,

Meg

Saturday 12/4 Putman5 Update

We had another ultrasound/perinatologist appointment yesterday (Friday) and everything looks as good or better than it has. Thank the Lord! We are so amazed and thankful for several things:

1) That the fluid in the stomach - hydrops - is decreasing (hooray!)

2) The mass is approx. the same

3) We only have to go in weekly (unless something changes) here on out!!

4) Our children are growing more affectionate with baby (they kiss, tickle, and pat baby voluntarily)

His mercy is new every morning, and we are especially feeling the mercy of relief right now. Moving forward, the things we are praying for are:

1) Continued reduction/elimination of the hydrops (which indicates strain on heart)

2) For the mass to begin to decrease

3) God's will in delivery (c-section vs. VBAC) - this is not affected by baby's condition, but Meg's.

4) God's will post-delivery with baby's surgery and recovery.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers.

Love,

Jeremy, Meg, Connor, Katie and Putman5 (or "baby")