25 days and counting

Well, we have picked a name...first a little background before his name is revealed...being a teacher makes names VERY difficult...you may love a name and the child who has that name, and then the next year a terror with the same name enters your classroom...therefore, making it nearly impossible to find a PERFECT name.  Almost 36 years ago when I was born my mom had been a teacher, and decided upon my name...but I know nothing about the Jessica from all those years ago, as my parents moved to Lake Charles, LA and well, the internet didn't exist.  :)  We knew we wanted Kenneth to be the middle name, as it was my Papa Steger's name, my dad's/Judd's/Knox's middle name, and my mom's brother's name....so with Kenneth and Cozens...that was two hard C sounds, so we/I wanted another hard C.  We had it narrowed down to two, one had no sentimental meaning and the other was/is the name of two of my favorite guys from my BEST year in the classroom (2011-2012) and one other student from the year before I met Bryan, a boy who was a twin and living in foster care.  Secretly, or not so secretly I knew that would be his name but we still came up with other ideas but continued to go back to the two C names.  While walking on the beach in Gulf Shores this past week, we decided on his name...I told Bryan I wanted birth mom to be the first to know his name, as she had been asking what we would name him, as she wanted to call him by name.  So, we took a family picture to send to her....

 

 

And here we are, just before sundown, just beyond the stairs of our beach house.  And then we began telling people his name.

 

 

This past weekend a new complication was added to the long list of troubles this pregnancy is causing her...it breaks my heart to know how her body is reacting to this pregnancy, but I am reminded that the Lord has had this in HIS hands the entire time and He will continue to hold birth mom and Cooper in his hands and deliver him to us and heal her body.  Due to the added complication the doctor is even more aware of birth mom's safety and has decided that Cooper will arrive at the 32 week mark, May 22nd.  She will be admitted on the 21st to begin to wean her body off of the blood thinners for her blood clot, so we will already be there as he may come prior to the scheduled surgery due to the complications of taking her off the blood thinner. An earlier than that delivery is always a possibility, but we pray he can stay baking until then.  So...we'll have a baby and then I'll get to have my baby shower.  :)  We know he will be in NICU for a period of time, however the doctor believes it will not be until his July due date, as he is already in the 90th% in growth and organ development...but once again, it's in the Lord's hands.   We are prepared to be in Austin until he's ready to come home...minus a few trips back home for my shower and my best friend's bridal shower and wedding....but we will tag team for those and Bryan will be with Cooper when I leave for a day. 

 

We still covet your prayers....safety of birth mom at all times is our most important prayer, her peace, Cooper to keep baking until the 22nd, wisdom and guidance for the doctors, and for the doctors to remain just as cautious as they have been.

 

25 days...oh my!!! 

Growth

In my Bible study we've been studying Gideon, Gideon had an army of 300 to fight the Midianites who numbered over 100,000 people...Gideon God won that battle, with the use of Gideon and his men.  The relevancy of that story to our story right now is right on target, when have to rely on the grace of God to protect baby and birth mom.  Up to this point, there have been several sticky situations with mom's health...here is a brief update, so that you can pray specifically.

We are 27 weeks and 3.2lbs, in the 90th percentile.  :)  Birth mom has Placentia Previa, and it has dropped completely to her cervix, along with being attached to her C-section scar.  HOWEVER, she has not thinned out or dilated, so for hemorrhaging purposes, that is good.  She is on full bed-rest for the next week, and as long as she doesn't bleed again in the next week, she can return to her desk job for 3 hours a day...staying on partial bed rest.  The high risk OB is on top of things and very aware of the situation and keeping BOTH baby and birth mom's safety at his highest priority.  He knows that she will bleed again, as long as they can stop the bleeding and the placenta doesn't tear, we are fine.  If she has a 3rd bleed, then she will be hospitalized for bed rest until baby arrives.   Today she was given the first of 2 steroid shots to help boost baby's development (from my understanding particularly the lungs), tomorrow she will get shot number 2, and as long as he stays baking until Friday at 11am (not that we are expecting him to arrive before then or even then), the shots will be in his system and he'll have the added "stuff" he needs to finish developing....whether still in birth mom or in NICU.

At this point, we have a scheduled C-section at 34 weeks, June 5th.  It's nice to know that he won't arrive any later than that date for the safety of both birth mom and baby.   She will be admitted June 4th to be prepped and weaned off of blood thinners (due to blood clots in her leg)...at that point, baby could make his appearance.  My gut feeling, he will be here in May. 

I've been kind of an emotional mess today, we are so ready for him to get here, but we want both of them to stay safe. So here are our specific prayer requests...we are firm believers in the power of prayers, so please feel free to pass along to your other prayer warriors.

Please pray for...
- Birth Mom: healing of her blood clots, protection of the cervix, rest and sleep, peace/comfort/support as she learns her new normal after baby, her job to continue to be supportive of her and her pregnancy,
- Baby: he learns to sleep during the night so birth mom can get some rest at night, continued strong weight gain, continued growth & development of his organs and body, to continue to not feel any distress with birth mom's complications, to fully know how loved he is by birth mom, and his biological and adoptive family
- Doctors: Continued diligence in treating her complications seriously, watchful eyes, supporting her and her decision to place baby for adoption, respect her as a person and not just a patient, doing what's best for BOTH of them
- Birth mom's family: peace about her health, peace about her decision, support for themselves and her, wise words to help all involved to heal/grieve
- Us - remain calm, to continue to be reminded that this has totally been the Lord working, nothing we did and nothing we can do, HE has this...we know that...just continued reminding that HE still has this

We are so overjoyed with this whole process, knowing the details of her health, understanding the risks, the joys of a friend hearing his heart beat, feeling him kick/turn somersaults...we know our journey is unique and very rare and for this we are truly thankful...but of course it wouldn't be a "Jessica" situation if there weren't a few extra hiccups.  :) 

Oh...we think we have a name....maybe after our vacation next week, we'll be ready to make the "official" announcement.  Stay tuned and keep those prayers coming!

We love you all!