Baby's doin' good!

We are officially past the high risk time and any risk of miscarriage is now below 5% for the remainder of the pregnancy. Yay! We had a good check-up this morning and baby's heart was strong and loud! The doc had just finished warning us that we might not hear the heartbeat with his tiny doppler machine, and as soon as he put the wand on Debbie's belly "WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH" a loud and clear and perfect baby heart rate! It was great to hear that baby is doing so well.

Provision

The most wonderful and comforting thing to me about the entire experience so far has been God's affirming reminders of His provision for us.

We had tried to get pregnant. When we affirmed God's supremacy and the full sanctity and personhood of our potential child, and therefore relinquished the idea that we had any "rights" to this new person, we stopped our planning and plotting, gave up our supposed control, and immediately found we were pregnant.

I thought I knew what my role was. I thought, "I must have a job and earn money in order to be a good husband." Deb got really ill, and I forgot all about my job search in order to learn how to adapt and be her best caretaker. No sooner had I learned how to relinquish my ideas of control here too, than He has now provided an excellent job offer.

I'm amazed, humbled, and happy to confirm that, "[His] yoke is easy and [His] burden is light." When I stop "figurin'" and trust Him, He is faithful.

Doing much better now

We finally got the dosage of my meds right and I am doing great. Here's a picture Pete took from the depths of my dispair, shortly before I was hospitalized. I'm so glad those days are behind me! Phew!

Eventhough I lost 15 pounds, my belly pooch is still growing! Someday soon, I hope it will look more like a baby and less like too much beer!

Hello World!

Here is a picture from Baby's First Photo Shoot!

Good appointment today. Ultrasound tomorrow!

We were told today's appointment was for our viability/dating ultrasound, but were surprised to learn that they weren't doing the ultrasound today. They instead wrote us a referral form to go have the ultrasound performed at the lab downstairs in their building. The lab's earliest availability is tomorrow afternoon.

So we will go in tomorrow afternoon. The lab offers a free DVD recording of the ultrasound (as long as we bring our own blank DVD-RW), so we'll have our first movie of baby tomorrow! I'll see if there's some way we can put the pertinent parts on this website so you all can see the heartbeat too!

It was a dark and stormy night...

No sooner did I write the previous post, then my health took a turn downhill. The past 48 hours have been gruesome. Pete is a fantastic help, reminding me to do basic things and bringing me a steady supply of plain toast. My ketones spiked this morning to a dangerous level, but we redoubled our efforts with gatorade and nutrition after a rough night, and my ketones are headed back in the right direction. Just the fact that I am able to sit up and type is a great sign of improvement! My condition makes me very weak so simply sitting up in bed can be very tiring. I have lost 7 pounds since we returned home from the hospital last week, and about 10 pounds since the start of the pregnancy.

My goal is to treat the dehydration and starvation from home so that I don't have to return to the hospital. As long as my ketones stay under a certain level, we feel okay staying home. If they hit a certain "critical" level, as advised by a nurse, we will head to the hospital immediately.

We have a doctor appointment on Monday. Hopefully, the doctor will have some additional steps we can take since the medicine is no longer controlling the hyperemesis gravidarum.

One day at a time, one hour at a time, one sip at a time!

Home Sweet Home

We are home after a week in the hospital and more harrowing experiences than I care to recount. After a few days home, I had my PICC line removed, and have regained my ability to eat and drink normally. I feel more healthy every day. I am so grateful that my wonderful husband was able to be with me 24/7 during this time, which was one of the most frightening experiences of my life. Since regaining my health, I find myself savoring many simple experiences like the flavor of food, the warmth of sunshine on my arms, the songs of the birds outside my window, and the refreshment of a deep breath.

Today is my first day back at work in my home office. The normalcy is exhilirating!

We are both looking forward to Monday, March 14th, when we will get to see baby for the first time via ultrasound. Once we see the heartbeat and have confirmed that things are progressing well, we intend to "go public" with our good news. From all outward signs, Baby Tebault is eating well and growing strong!