Sunday, May 23, 2010

Baby Max


Ok, so first...a little background info. When I was a freshman in college in August of 1998, one of the very first people I met was a guy named Brien Duke. We met during orientation week at Brewton-Parker College and instantly became friends. Years later after college we both ended up living in Macon and ran into each other a few times. Fast forward.....Just weeks before David and I were to move to Conyers to be a part of a launch team to plant a church, I ran into Brien again. He was leading worship at a college Bible study and asked me to come see him play. I was so impressed and could tell Brien was a great worship leader. And in ways that only God orchestrates, Brien's company had decided to relocate him to Atlanta...just minutes from Conyers. David loved the idea of having someone co-lead worship with him on Sundays and we knew Brien would be a great addition to Discover Point Church.

On September 3, 2006 a girl named Esther Miltenberger walked through the doors of our church (or...uh...movie theater as it was at the time). She had moved to Conyers all the way from West Virginia to teach at a local college. I had an instant connection with her...or maybe it was just that I had a big brother who was single and looking. Again in ways that only God orchestrates, my big brother and Esther began dating. Later Esther would have her twin sister, Hannah fly down to visit. Brien soon fell head over heels for Hannah. In March of last year Brien and Hannah were married and just 2 weeks later, Jason (my brother) and Esther were married. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this guy I met nearly 12 years ago would end up being one of my husband's best friends and my brother's brother-in-law!

Brien and Hannah have become family to us. I give you all that detail so you'll understand why I'm so excited about Baby Max!!! Max was born to Brien & Hannah last night at 7:49pm weighing in at 8lbs, 14oz and 20". Labor was long (nearly 24 hours) and difficult and ended with a c-section, but Max is here safe and sound and just so stinkin' cute!!!!

And just so you know, Max's mommy is exhausted, a little swollen after her c-section and you know how much Mommies just LOVE having their photos taken right after going through hours and hours of labor...sooooo.... you won't see any pics of Hannah in here


Brien, the proud Daddy




Max checking out his Uncle Jason

Aunt Es and Uncle J

One thing is for sure...

this sweet little boy...

will be loved...

I sure think he's pretty special...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Update to Noah's Name Gallery

Thank you to everyone who has sent me photos of Noah's name. I've added more that I have received recently. If you sent me one and you don't see yours, please message me and let me know! If you want to send one in to be added to Noah's 1st birthday video, you can email it to me at Lisacollinsworth@hotmail.com.

http://houseofcollinsworth.blogspot.com/2009/10/noahs-name-gallery.html

Friday, May 21, 2010

Appointment

We had our consultation with the high risk doctor this morning. I guess the old saying "don't judge a book by it's cover" would apply here. The waiting room was less than impressive. I think David and I had this idea in our heads that since this was a "specialist" that it would be some fancy place. It was a little office at the end of a building of other offices and the waiting room was a small area with an uncomfortable couch (that was so light weight that I shoved it against the wall when I sat in it) and several folding chairs. My appointment was at 8:30 and I arrived promptly at 8:20. The doctor arrived at 9:15. He swiftly walked us back to his office and I could tell immediately that he wasn't a warm, friendly, comforting kind of doctor. But that was ok because what he lacked in personality, he made up for by being extremely knowledgeable! He was very detailed and he went through my pathology report line by line and explained everything...but it was also very difficult for us. He gave us a lot more info and details as to how he thought Noah died. There were blood clots around the outside of the placenta that made blood and oxygen flow difficult (causing increased blood pressure for me and lack of oxygen for Noah). It's devastating to think about your body failing your child and basically causing him to suffocate. The placenta was also very small (10th percentile). There was a lot of “if this had been done or that had been done”, Noah might still be here. It was hard to hear all of this (even though we pretty much knew it already) but we try not to focus on the “what if’s”.

There are a few things on my report that alerted the doctor that there may be something going on with my kidneys. He is unsure if my Factor V Leiden had anything to do with Noah’s death. He has ordered 6 different lab tests including a 24-hour urine test and once he gets those results he will call us to discuss them. He is having me tested (again) for Lupus (which was negative in August) and for other auto-immune diseases. I will definitely have to take the Lovenox injections every day in any future pregnancies due to the Factor V Leiden, but he does NOT think that this was the reason (or at least not the only reason) that we lost Noah. He really feels like something may be going on with my kidneys. He was very thorough so we feel very confident in him. On another note, I asked him his opinion on a VBAC instead of another c-section next time and he said the technical answer is that there is only a 1% risk of a problem after 2 c-sections, but the practical answer is that it will be difficult to find a doctor who will be willing to deliver me. My doctor was willing to do a VBAC with Noah, so unless there are complications again, I don’t see why she wouldn’t be willing to deliver me VBAC this time. My #1 focus is to get any future child here safely.

My big question to the doctor was that if (God forbid) we ended up in the exact same scenario next time around, how would we detect that something was wrong and would he know to take the baby before something happened? He said there would be a lot of things they will be checking on regularly and that they WOULD KNOW and they WOULD take the baby early if that is what is needed. He feels there is an 80% chance of us going on to have a normal, healthy pregnancy and delivery. He was glad to know we have a healthy little boy already. It’s the other 20% he wants to focus on so that we can try to prevent future problems.

David and I stood outside the office and hugged and I just fell apart. I did very well holding it in as long as I could while the doctor was talking to us. It was definitely an emotional time....going over the report again. I look at that report and all I see is "this is how your son died". I had to go back to work after the appointment. I have some sweet ladies that I work with who were very encouraging to me today.

I will be going to a lab next week and the doctor will call me when the results come in. I’ll let you know what we find out. Thank you all so much for the prayers!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Appointment TOMORROW

Sorry for the confusion...I posted last Thursday that my appointment with the high risk doctor was "this Friday" and it was supposed to say "next Friday! Anyway...my appointment is TOMORROW morning at 8:30. David will be going with me. I'll update and let everyone know how it goes. Hoping to get some answers to some questions I've been stirring around in my mind for 10 months now. No matter what the answers are to my questions....God has given us HOPE for our future.

Congratulations Angie Smith!

David and I prayed right at 11:00 last night (our time..EST....10:00 Central) for Todd, Angie, and Miss Charlotte. I was so happy to see updates from Jessica Turner on twitter. Charlotte was born at around 10:30 last night - 5lbs, 13oz and 19 inches long. We have prayed and shed tears over this family who has encouraged us since we lost Noah and we thank God for Charlotte's safe arrival!

Read more on Jessica's blog HERE.

A few pics from Todd and Jessica on twitter last night...


Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Prayers for Angie Smith

Please be praying for Angie Smith and baby Charlotte!!!!!! I will be lighting a candle and praying at 10:00pm for the delivery of little Charlotte and that her lungs will be fully developed. To understand exactly what is going on, first read this:

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2010/05/intuition.html

Then read this:

http://audreycaroline.blogspot.com/2010/05/back-to-intuition-thing.html

Thursday, May 13, 2010

High Risk Appointment

David and I are scheduled to meet with a high risk doctor this Friday to discuss my blood work that I had done after losing Noah, my diagnosis of Factor V Leiden, the pathology report from the placenta (after Noah's birth), to have more blood work drawn, and to discuss what will be required of me if I ever do get pregnant again. I am pretty certain I will be on Lovenox injections every day if I get pregnant. My doctor has already asked that I take a baby aspirin a day for pretty much the rest of my life (though I keep forgetting to actually do it!). Please be praying for us as we go to this appointment. I'm always pretty emotional going to the doctor since losing Noah and I get pretty upset/mad/sad/frustrated when I even look at the pathology report from the placenta. I wish there was one clear answer as to what caused Noah to die, but so far, there just isn't ONE (there are many possibilities as to why). There are so many things on that report and I just want someone to tell me what happened!

Thank you for your prayers...

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Happy 4th Birthday

Ethan, my firstborn son. I love you so much and I can't believe how quickly you are growing up. Our lives have been so much richer since the day you were born.

Happy 4th Birthday sweet boy!!!!


Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Noah's Name

I am putting together a video of pictures for Noah's 1st birthday. I will be including all of the pictures from Noah's Name Gallery in the video. If you would like to take a photo of Noah's name, you can email it to me at Lisacollinsworth@hotmail.com. Please remember to include your name, the location where the picture was taken and a link to your blog (if you have one). You can click HERE to see what I have so far. Thank you everyone!!!

If you would also like me to take a photo of your child's name, put that in the email as well!