Biggie Smalls

The Tale of Two Pictures

Picture on the left is of Whittaker at 21 months; picture on the right is of Harper at 8 1/2 months.  The outfit is size eighteen months.

My Heart Swells

I LOVE MY BOYS!

Five years ago today, Barrett asked me to marry him.  It is crazy to me to look at these two boys, to look back on all that has happened since then and how much we have learned about life and love and each other.  Praising the Lord for what He has done and for what He has in store for us for the future! 

LOOK ALIKES?

Many of you have asked us if Harper looks like Whittaker so we thought we'd let you see the comparison.  We took these pictures of Harper today at 9weeks 2days and the pictures of Whittaker were taken when he was 15weeks 2days.  Tell us what YOU think!

Eight Weeks!

8 WEEKS!  Can you believe it?!  I cannot believe how fast the time has gone since Harper was born, and even more, how big he has gotten!  

We sat down today for a mini photo shoot at home and got some great pictures.  Hope you enjoy!!

Check-Ups

Harper and I both had our two-week check-ups this week.  Both went well and I'm glad I can drive now (like I'll be speeding around town all the time.)  

Harper's appointment was a breeze.  He surpassed his birth weight gaining 10 oz since last Friday, and over a pound since we left the hospital, now weighing  8lbs even and has grown an inch to 21".  He didn't have to get any shots so it was even easier than I had anticipated. 

However, while we were in the waiting room, he decided to have a contained blow out.  So, when the nurse called us back and wanted me to get him down to his diaper to weigh him, I told her I was going to go ahead and change him since he blew it out in the waiting room.  Not taking notice of the temperature drop in the exam room, 2 seconds after opening his diaper, Harper started peeing everywhere, which reminded me of the Huggies diaper commercial I had just seen.  Haven't seen it?  Check it out below!!

A picture says...

...so many words!

How'd he get here?

Short version:
Harper Josiah Snare born on May 29 in Grapevine, Texas at 11:18am via c-section weighing 7lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. Brown hair and blue eyed gift from God!!

Long version:
We arrived at Baylor Grapevine hospital at 5am on the 29th and we were met by a very prepared staff and ready room to deliver Harper by induction since he remained vertex, or head down. By 6am I was connected to an IV, pitocin and antibiotic and began the morning dilated at 3cm. Barrett and I passed the time by watching one our favorite movies "The Italian Job" and dozing as our nurse would come by and periodically raise the amount of pitocin in the IV.

Around 8am my doctor came by and did an ultrasound to confirm his position and let us know that I was now dilated to 4cm but that she was sending one of her colleagues over to break my water a little later.

At 10:15, they broke my water and made sure that Harper's head dropped with the release of fluids and now was dilated to 5cm. They let me know that the epidural was now available, but since I was so comfortable, still not feeling the contractions, I decided to wait it out a bit. After about 30 minutes, I noticed that Harper's heart rate was not registering on the monitor. Barrett saw me notice and asked if I was ok and before I could answer, the nurse came in and had me lay on my side as she was watching the monitors from the nurse station. His heart rate began to register again and now on my side I began to feel the contractions intensely. The anesthesiologist came by to introduce himself and give a rundown of the procedure for getting an epidural and how it would work if I ended up needing a c-section. As he left, the contractions became more and more intense and closer together, so I let my nurse know I was ready for her to order the epidural. She got the fluids ready for it and had me turn to the other side to try and get a better mark on Harper's heart rate which was dropping each time I had a contraction. She had already contacted my doctor to let her know and proceeded to follow the doctor's order to check my progress to see if I was ready to deliver. So, before the epidural could be administered, she discovered a prolapsed cord and went into action immediately to get a crew of about 10 people in my room and me wheeled out of the room and to the operating room in about 45 seconds. She told Barrett he had to stay behind because I was going to have an emergency c-section. They wheeled me down the hall with the nurse on my bed with me while she pressed Harper's head with her hand to keep it off of the cord. As they jogged me to the operating room and had she and I switch beds, everyone sprung into action communicating back and forth with medical jargon. My doctor was already there and put her hand on my arm to let me know she was indeed there by my side. The anesthesiologist and his assistant got the general anesthesia ready and then I was out...

...my nurse returned 10 minutes after leaving Barrett in the delivery room alone to let him know that Harper was fine, 7lbs 9oz and that I was fine.

...they sent Harper off to get a bath, trim his cord and run their tests.

...2 hours later I was finally coming back around to see my boys and receive the news that everything went smoothly and we were fine and in the postpartum room.

I finally got to see my little prince who was wide awake and staring right at me from his cradle. My new nurses came to take my blood pressure which just looked like numbers to me as I was still quite groggy at best. Apparently, when your bottom number is three digits, it isn't good. Because of this, they has to switch us rooms back over to the labor and delivery wing to be able to monitor the IV, the antibiotic from the c-section and now magnesium to lower my blood pressure, which they weren't sure why had spiked. The good news was that I felt fine, Harper was great and we had a new room with 5 windows looking out onto a beautiful day.

I struggled to stay awake through the day from some of the medicine they gave me and I'm sure just from the trauma of all that had happened. Barrett was a champ and helped me stay awake through feedings for Harper and getting me plenty of fluids.

Friday was much easier and finally got to take out all my wires- from catheter to IV and move back over to the postpartum room.

We ended the night with Harper having the most successful feeding yet and ready for some shut-eye.

We'll be heading home on Sunday afternoon. Thanks for all your prayers and words of encouragement!

Can you believe it?

My final trip to the doctor's office was by no means a sad one today.  Barrett and Whitty came along to see Harper Josiah on the ultrasound one more time...and what did they see?  Mister Harper all squished inside my belly with his head down!  How?  God is good!  

This was the first time that the ultrasound tech had a hard time zeroing in on his face because there was no more room.  We did get to see some "rolls" on his side and on his arms and legs...she is convinced that he is a big boy.  For sure I know he is very strong and very determined!

We are praying for green lights all the way...holding a healthy and happy Harper in our arms on Thursday and watching him grow outside the womb still under the covering of a sovereign Lord who has been his support and will remain so as his name defines Josiah as "Yahweh supports!"  

Thank you all so much for your prayers, phone calls, text messages, email and comments of support and encouragement along the way.  Our hearts are at peace with what the Lord will continue to do and pray that His work has been a living testimony for others to see what an awesome God we serve.  

We'll be back to post with pictures of our blessed answer to prayer in a few days!

Adventures in NSTs: week 2

So I had two more non-stress tests this week, one on Tuesday and another on Friday.

Tuesday's test was a walk in the park compared to the inaugural test last Friday. I was back in the recliner, but resigned to not get on my side as much as last time and had to defend my choice to the nurse. She got the heart rate right away and Harper kicked and rolled his movements onto the printer and we were in and out of the office in a little under an hour,
cutting our previous experience in half.

Friday, I knew I was going to have to see the nurser practitioner because my doctor was out of town. This was altogether a different experience than any of my other appointments over the last eight months. There are five doctors and about three nurse practitioners and three sonogram technicians, which translates to a lot of patients and a lot of traffic. I am usually having to wait to see the doctor or the sonogram tech for about 15 minutes each at least. I don't think I have ever gotten in there before that. However, on Friday, I wasn't even seated for a minute before getting called up (knowing the stares and sneers coming from the rest of the ladies waiting for who knows how long...I only know this because I do the same thing, thinking, "who the heck is she and how come she gets to go in so fast?") So this time I'm on the other side of the office and have my NST in a regular exam room and get to lay down on the padded exam table. By now, you've got to know I am feeling so justified, so wide-eyed (almost like Georgie on a Christmas Story) you know, all the things you feel just before reality sets in that there is no such thing as greener grass, just a different a different type that still needs regular maintenance and still has it's share of weeds. To all appearances, laying on a bed would seem easier and much more comfortable than the recliner, but the receptor gelled up on my belly was sitting right on the rounded edge of my prego belly and was having difficulty staying flat to pick up Harper's heartbeat. Finally the nurse practitioner had to come in to find a solution, which was to go get another Velcro strip to attach across the top to keep it flat. "Can you raise up your hips so I can slide this under you?" she asks. I begin to say sure as I attempt to follow her instructions only to find out that lying flat on my back in a presumably more comfortable position has sent my sciatica into twitching and lifting my hips seems to be much more difficult than I had thought....good grief!! He did very well and my appointment with the nurse practitioner was good and brief.

All this a reminder of the suffering Christ did for us so that we may know live life abundantly. And although it is no comparison, I must remember that this momentary suffering is all to benefit this baby boy thumping in my belly so that he can have the safest arrival possible and it is sooooo worth it!

First of the NSTs...

So, today I had the first non-stress test, I'll be having 2 a week from here on out. I wish mine would have been comfortably laying down like the cartoon drawing, but instead, they had me in one of those weird recliners and I had to lay on my side in the recliner. It took a while for the lady to get the receptor on Harper's heartbeat consistently because he started moving around. Then she leaves me in there and says she'll come back to check on me and gives me a JEOPARDY type button to press every time I feel Harper move. So after about 5 minutes, the stupid machine starts making this horrid alarm sound. I'm in the chair trying not to freak out about what is happening when finally the lady comes back in and pushes some buttons on the machine. In the midst of this, she turns off the printout to try and readjust the receptor so that it is in a position to keep picking up his heartbeat regardless of where he is positioned in my belly. So now after about 8 minutes of moving it around, she has it positioned where it is picking up his hearbeat really strong, then again leaves the room saying she'll come back and check on me. About 10 minutes later she comes back and I have to tell her that it isn't printing, to which she first tries to explain that it has to be picking up consistently to print (which it had been for the last 10 minutes while she wasn't in there and continued to while she was standing there) then says well, no it should be printing. Then she hovers over the machine totally bewildered why it isn't printing (all I could think was that she doesn't even remember turning the dumb thing off when she came in after the whole alarm deal). After a few minutes of staring at the machine, she finally hits the red button to make the printer turn on again. The thing is that they have to have like 20 minutes worth of data for this test. I had already been there like 45 minutes and now we are having to start again...if only that had been the last "snag" but no, then the stupid printer paper startes feeding back into itself while I'm in there once again by myself awkwardly situated on the stupid recliner with the JEOPARDY buzzer in my hand trying to reach across to yank the printer paper feed out of the printer. When she came back in, she was so pleased to see the length of the paper like she had some great stuff, only to be shocked by the length of paper that was blank because it had been folded ontop of itself in the printer. ARRGGHH! About 15 minutes later I was finally done, well done with that part. Now I had to do the usual, pee in the clear plastic SOLO cup (don't see this kind in the PARTY-PICS) then had to sit in the room for a little while before my nurse came back in to get me to weigh in and then do my blood pressure. Now back to the examining room, wait some more to see the doctor who really just needs to come in to measure my belly, tell me everything looks great and to make sure I'm there on Tuesday and Friday to go through the whole thing again...all this to say I've been a cranky mess all day and I'm ready to be done with today. Can I get an AMEN?

To See and Know...

I will rejoice and be glad in Your lovingkindness, because You have seen my affliction; You have known the troubles of my soul- Psalm 31:7 (NAS)

Before I write about our most recent update on Harper, I wanted
to just let all of you who read our blog how very thankful we are for your
prayers and lovingkindness you have shown for us and for Harper and how very
blessed we have been to watch the Lord's provision unfold. From the first
visit with the specialist, the enemy has wanted nothing but to steal the joy of
Life and that ended with a decision to share what was going on and not just keep
it to ourselves and fret and worry without the support and care of those we know
and love, and even some that we maybe don't know, but who love the Lord enough
to visit back and check on the progress and continue to pray. We give
entire credit to the Lord for growing our Harper beyond belief and giving us a
peace that surpasses all understanding. But, we'd love to know who you are
that have been such a great source of support for our family so that we may give
even greater thanks to the Lord for allowing others to see our affliction and
soul troubles and let you know how much we appreciate you.

Quick Recap: I am having scheduled sonograms every 3 weeks currently and scheduled check-ups with my doctor every 4 weeks...therefore, they don't always coincide with each other.

My last sonogram was on the 28th of February and I was waiting to post until my visit with the doctor which was scheduled for last Friday. However, the doctor's office follows school closings and delays (I know...I thought this was crazy). So, because of the snow storm that hit last Thursday, there was a 2 hour delay in the Grapevine/Colleyville school district and since my appointment happened to be at 9:30 and the office wasn't going to open until 10:30, I at least did receive a 7:43am call from the office to let me know about this procedure and that I would have to reschedule my appointment. Thankfully this was before getting up and ready and trudging through the crazy, North Texan freak-out about driving in some snow traffic, and I got to sleep in on a Friday morning (plus my sweet hubby let me really sleep in). So...today I had my visit with the doctor. She confirmed that the sonogram was good, at the time of the sonogram I was at 25 weeks 3 days and Harper measured 26 weeks 3 days...so yet again, the Lord extravagantly showed His might with a gain of 2 more days since the last sonogram. Right now I am at 27 weeks and my doctor confirmed today of how my visits will progress so they can closely monitor Harper.

I have another sonogram scheduled for next Thursday, the 20th and my next doctor's appointment will be on the 4th of April. Sonograms will continue every 3 weeks unless there is a concern. In April, my doctor's visit will go to every 2 weeks. She did tell me that at about 34 weeks, she'll want me to come in twice a week until delivery to monitor Harper with a sort of "stress test" to measure his responsiveness and monitor his heart rate. She was saying it almost apologetically about the amount of time I'll be in the office. I told her how rather than feeling put out by the visits that it just gives us another opportunity to see the Lord's faithfulness and how it has put us at ease rather than being anxious. She also said that full term pregnancy is 38 weeks and that is the max that I'll go. So we have just under 11 more weeks before getting to hold our Harper and offer praise back to the Lord once more.

Exceeding...

How many times do we ask and plead with the Lord to answer our prayers, only to find that when He answers He extravagantly exceeds our requests? Well yesterday, we saw yet another example of this as we got to see Harper again. The Radiologist took all the measurements and let us watch our boy moving and even smiling. I asked her how he was measuring and she input all the numbers and said that he is actually measuring 5 days ahead of schedule and weighs even more than expected (already at 1lb 4oz). Barrett and I both said Glory to God aloud and Barrett asked her if she knew why were in there, which she did, and we said we've had a lot of people praying for him and were so thankful with what the Lord had done. She replied with "God is Good." And I replied, of course, "All the time!" (this was always the opening cue at Life Church at the begining of Craig Groeschel's teaching as he would prompt with "God is Good" and everyone would respond "All the time")

When we sat down to wait for my doctor. Dr. Cope came in and with a smile she said, "Well, so you know the results of the ultrasound?" (Barrett and I nodding in agreement) "Well that stole all my thunder!" she said with a bigger smile.

I asked her about the amount of amniotic fluid and she said it looks great. We are just living in the promise of "FR NT" (see http://snareshare.blogspot.com/2008/01/hope-note.html) and seeing just how much the Lord fulfills and exceeds our requests.