Kara's Birthday Party!

Yesterday afternoon Roger and Gail brought the children by for their first visit with Kara. We brought them in to the room to see Kara. They were both very sweet and wanted to hold her. When Connor saw Kara he pointed to Meg's belly and asked, "Do you have another baby?" We had a good laugh.

Because there is not much room with Kara we went out to the lobby and had a birthday party for Kara. The kids ate birthday cookies, that Meg and Connor made last week. Connor and Katie also opened birthday presents from Kara. Connor got a little John Deere dump truck and Katie received a puzzle. Meg is amazing for planning that! I have obtained great favor from the Lord (Pr 18:22).







Happy Birthday Kara! We are excited to get you home!

Kara Update Friday afternoon.

First, thank you everyone for your prayers and kind words! We are very blessed and encouraged to know so many are praying for Kara and us.

Second, I wanted to give an update on Kara's situation. (Picture from last night)



Kara is comfortable and stable. Her blood oxygen levels were low this morning and she needed intubation. The doctors installed a breathing tube with a respirator. The mass had inflated and was creating pressure on her right lung which reduced the amount of oxygen she was getting. She is breathing well and getting the oxygen she needs now. She does need some sedation. She is fighting the breathing tubes and heal pricks. Our little fighter!

Now we wait. The doctors are hoping the mass will stabilize and reduce in size. The main concern is the mass, if enlarged, will create too much pressure on the right lung (good lung) and the heart.

Please continue to pray for the doctor's wisdom and that we would be content with the circumstances God has brought us to. "Our hope is in the Lord, who gave Himself for Me, and paid the price for all my sins on Calvary"

Kara Elizabeth Putman is here!

Kara is here. We are thrilled - She is 7 lb, 20 inches long
We have been absolutely in awe of God's goodness and His choosing to give "good gifts" to us, His children, this last 24 hours.

I will upload photos when my Dad brings the camera cord (currently just have the SIM which doesn't work in the laptop, oops!), but for now here are some of the blessings we're thanking God for:

LABOR:
* Going into labor on my own. (2 a.m.)
* Already had a perinatologist appointment (next door to the hospital) to go to at 11 a.m. so we didn't have to worry about going to the hospital too early or too late.
* Jeremy was home for us to get the car packed and house ready, Mom was home to take Katie and Connor (ear infections) to the pediatritician's just before we headed into the hospital. Dad was still home to stay home from work with the kids.
* Our perinatologist let us admit from her office.
* The same nurse was with us the whole time. She was outstanding and stayed 4 hours past her shift to see us through delivery.
* Our perinatologist (O.B. also) switched "calls" to be here for us. She said her other alternative was to just be here and not get "credit". Wow!
* The perfect epidural (I had a not so perfect one last time and only now do I appreciate the difference!)

DELIVERY/RECOVERY:
* Great staff on hand - 3+ for baby, 4+ for me, Mom and Jeremy
* Delivered at 10:30 p.m. Close enough to midnight so I can stay an extra day if I want (Kara will be staying so this gives me an option of a more comfy bed).
* Awesome nurse just after delivery. Very kind and considerate, took me up to see Kara when I was ready to go (about 90 min after delivery, WOW. Talk about different from c-sec).
* Able to get some sleep afterward because of the time of the delivery - not so many nurse interruptions after 1 a.m., and also because I was not a c-section.
* I am recoverying VERY well. Was able to take care of what I needed to do, in the midde of the night, on my own. I have VERY little pain (and I'm a bit past due for my tylenol and ibuprofen).

KARA:
* Apgar of 8/9 (deductions for color only), cried at delivery, and was able to breath so we were allowed to hold her. This is all WAY above what we anticipated or could have expected.
* Extremely kind, caring, and skilled staff working with Kara.

Kara Update - Last night (and continuing to this morning) the neonatologist and staff continue to problem solve. She is (as we have known all along) quite unique in her circumstances. The shunt remained in place during delivery (it goes from the cyst in the mass in her lung to her back). So they had to clamp it to prevent airleakage. After a chest x-ray, they saw that Kara had oxygen inside the cysts in the mass as well as oxygen between the lungs and the chest wall. They closed up the skin outside the shunt with stitches and steri-strips to see if that would prevent the leakage outside the lungs. Kara is under an oxygen hood and her vitals are usually within normal, respiration rate is a bit high but not worrisome. She will continue to get x-rays every few hours.

Prayers/thoughts - My anticipation is that, with the shunt capped off, the cysts are going to reaccumulate fluid which will make the mass larger. They can open the shunt clamp to release this but don't know what the solution would be long-term (as long as Kara has the shunt in, we're staying in NICU). My prayer is that if Kara needs surgery now (in the next few weeks) that it would be evident sooner rather than later so we can move forward. Otherwise, healing and stability so we can hold off on surgery until 4 months would be amazing.

Please join us in thanking God for His provision. He truly has done above and beyond all that we could ask or imagine, and we are humbled by His grace. God has been so gracious to unfold His plan to us one step at a time. I'm thankful we had to (and still have to) walk through uncertainty and trust in Him, knowing He gives grace sufficient for our weakness and that His mercies are new (and enough) every morning.

2nd to last appointment!

Drs. appointment today went well. We thought it was our last appointment before c-sec next Tuesday (or labor before. However, because baby is running out of room, the shunt is not draining as effectively. We will go back in Wed. to re-evaluate. We are SO thankful for a practitioner who listens to our concerns and is willing to re-evaluate based on present circumstances (not stuck with "the plan")

Ready for Baby3!

We got 3D pics for the first time in a long time (there needs to be fluid in front of the face, you can see that part of the face is blocked by placenta). Hooray! Good day too, the whole crew was at the appointment - Jeremy, Mom, Connor and Katie.

Sticking tongue out!

Smile (a little cuter "real time" but you get the idea)

We had "growth" (meaning they measured to see how baby is growing, a little more of an in depth ultrasound) on Wednesday, and we think that we are ready for baby3 (or Putman5) and baby3 is ready for us! MAX of 2 more appointments, yippee!

Baby was 6 lbs even (well, as close as ultrasound can get with these things) on Wednesday. Pretty exciting for me as that was what I guessed (Jeremy guessed in the 5 lb range).

Today was an awesome day with the kids. We went to KidzBounce, a warehouse with huge inflatable toys, and Katie was really able to climb well (not nearly as much work to help her as the last time! Thanks, God!!)

The kids played together in the backyard for about 45 minutes, I saw them pushing their tricycles around, getting out the basketball hoop, and splashing in puddles.

Before I tutored, Connor asked Katie if she would like to have "play together" time with him (instead of play alone time). Katie said "yeah" so after she had some play alone time, they played in their room for about 35-40 minutes, totally quietly and cooperatively. After I was done tutoring, we had bathtime. I narrate constantly to my children (I'm sure they get tired of it at times!) and I was saying that we should clean up their room after bathtime. Well, by the end of bathtime (warm bathroom, very pregnant Mommy) I told them we were going to have chocolate milk after baths (too late for a real snack but a perfect sugar fix for Mommy). I rushed into the kitchen to make some (quick...calories... now!!) and wondered where the kids were. Lo and behold, they were in their room cleaning up the car racetrack. *sigh* such bliss! No, all our days are not like this... but surely to even have one... we must need another child or how will we ever be more sanctified or earn treasures in heaven? ;)

Baby Update

We have "growth" measurements this week, so I may have a little "new" information after Wednesday. Last growth check was 4 weeks ago, and baby was 4 lb 10 oz (obviously estimated).

We are just over 3 weeks from our scheduled c-section, and praying that God's will would be for me to go into labor early. It seems like wisdom to us for me to have an easier recovery so I can walk to NICU/drive, etc. However, His wisdom is higher than our wisdom, and we are thankful He will choose whether or not I go into labor.

Details are still unknown, but our perinatologist said we are wise to plan for about a 3 week NICU stay and/or recovery from surgery. If baby is doing very poorly, they will do surgery quickly, and that is a few week recovery. If baby is "o.k." then our stay shouldn't be much longer than 3 weeks. That felt really good to hear that our thoughts and anticipations sounded reasonable. We have been informed to be expecting (although these are not certainties but very high probabilities) 1) breathing tube 2) NICU 3) problems nursing

Thank you all for your prayers. God's daily grace has proven more than sufficient, and we know that He will provide a) our needs b) a "way of escape" from any temptation c) strength to stay under/persevere and d) wisdom when we ask

Katie Quotes

While at the breakfast table:
"Oh my Word! I broke this." We sure do love our little girl and her expressions. They also remind me which phrase I need to cut out of my vocabulary (O My Gosh)!!
and often:
"Yah-yee-pop, please?" and while eating lollipops (my kids love going to the bank): "It's de-yicious Tonner, you want some?" This is the aftermath of a blue lollipop