Wednesday, August 11, 2010

BOY OH BOY!!

That's right.... It's a BOY!! We are so excited to be "evening out" our family; in more ways than one. Justin is excited to even out our house boy-to-girl wise, and the new baby will also make an even parent-to-kid ratio (ahh! scary!)

His name is Brigham Justin Greer and so far Carrie's called him both "Bub" and "Gigah". I guess she still has 5 months to learn how to say "Brigham" a little better. She loves to give my tummy kisses and then likes to pull up her own shirt to look at her tummy. I think it probably wasn't the greatest idea to learn where the baby was and "belly button" at the same time. Cute though :)

At the ultrasound this morning we got a profile shot with his hand up by his face (we have an almost identical one of Carrie).I know it's hard to tell, but here's a foot (toes are on the left)

And here's "the proof". He's a pretty shy little guy and had his legs totally squeezed together the whole time. We got just enough of a peek though... He's a boy :)

He's right on my dates as far as size goes, has all the necessary organs, 10 fingers, 10 toes etc. so everything looked pretty good. We did, however, have an unexpected surprise when we met with the doctor after the ultrasound...

Brigham has what's called a DIAPHRAGMATIC HERNIA

This means his diaphragm has a hole in it which is letting his stomach and intestines come up from his abdomen into his chest. This will mean his left lung will be very undeveloped (just because there won't be any room for it to grow in his ribcage). He will need surgery to repair it right after birth and will be in the NICU for probably a couple of weeks with recovery and breathing problems.

Luckily, we know about it now. This is a big step in helping him get the medical attention he'll need at birth. I will be seeing a perinatologist in the next few days to get better quality ultrasounds and more in-depth specialist advice. I will likely be seeing them for the rest of the pregnancy so we can keep up on Brigham's development more closely.

Another "luckily", I've been a NICU nurse before. Although it certainly won't be fun, at least I feel comfortable in the environment and will hopefully be able to help Justin understand some of the things that are going on.

I've seen this condition once before, but apparently it's pretty rare. I had a baby with it in the NICU in Rexburg when I was only a few months out of nursing school. A co-worker said she'd been a nurse for 25 years and had never actually seen one. Because we were in a small hospital in a small town, we had to life-flight the baby to Salt Lake City for emergency treatment.

So, for now we're counting our blessings that we know ahead of time and will be able to be mentally, spiritually and physically/medically prepared. We'll keep everyone up to date as we learn more about his condition

WE'RE SO EXCITED TO BE HAVING A LITTLE BOY!!!!!

15 comments:

Laura Cook said...

SO exciting!!! A little scary that he's going to be in the NICU. We will be praying for him and your family. That's neat the Carrie understands there is a baby coming. We've tried to tell Crystal but she doesn't quite get it. She even says Lily but she doesn't know why ... hehe.

Laura Cook said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Laura Cook said...

k well apparently it posted twice and i tried to delete it but i'm not sure it worked ... lol ... the first time it said i typed the word verification wrong and it didn't post but apparently it actually did.

Brittney said...

Good luck with everything!! I am super excited for you. Brigham is such a cute name. It definitely is nice to know ahead of time about complications to better prepare yourself, but I'm sure things will turn out great!!! I'll pray for you and the little guy. Take care, and keep us updated!!! Again, Congratulations!!!

Meagan said...

Congratulations! Little boys can be quite the handful :), but so much fun.

Haylee said...

Congratulations. Boys are great! I love the name Brigham. You guys were quick to pick out a name. We don't have that easy of a time agreeing. I"m glad that you have time to prepare. We will be praying for you guys.

Jacob & Clarissa said...

Wow, sounds like it's been quite the day for you. Isn't modern technology incredible? It's so nice to know exactly what's going on and what can be done.

The High Family- said...

I am so happy for you! Boys are so much fun and I bet Carrie will adore her little brother.Really sorry about his health challeneges, but I know you can handle it. You were so sweet with Carter and I know you will have nurses that put your mind at ease and your little man will be home before you know it. Sending prayers your way!!!!

Catherine and Derrick said...

yeah for boys that is exciting. We will keep you in our prayers that all goes well.

LUCKY7 said...

Yay for boys! :)
We will pray for baby Brigham to come out as healthy as possible.

LUCKY7 said...

Ha! I just saw the comment above mine! I'm soo super original.

Unknown said...

Thats good that you know ahead of time so you can be more prepared once he is born. Will he be able to make it to full term okay with this condition or will there be a chance hes early?
Its great that you guys are having a boy! Boys are so much fun and now your house will be a little evened out now.

Simpson Family said...

So happy that Carrie is getting a sweet little brother! PS...we love the name Brigham, so cute! We'll be praying for ya. What a blessing modern medicine is!

The Gatherers said...

Yay another boy is coming into the word, they are wild little angels! Sounds like he's giving you a run for your money before he even arrives! In way though, it makes you love them even more. Congratulations!

Rachel Burt said...

YEAH Congrats on the upcoming baby boy!! I hope all turns out well. Keep us updated!