Follow Up Appointment

We had our regular doctor appointment today and everything is looking great! Apparently last week there was a misunderstanding and the fluid level was never even at 33. So they checked it again today and it was at 21.6! (High normal is 25). So that is great news and makes me feel so much better. Her heart rate is a strong 156 and she is currently breech. But last week she was head down, she sure is an active little girl! All the kicks and punches are an amazing feeling. I could sit and feel these forever. But I am also so excited that she will be here in 8 1/2 more weeks. Everything is ready in her room as well. We have her crib all set up with cute pink bedding, a stocked changing table and a closet full of clothes!
I'm having my baby shower December 18th and couldn't be more excited. I will have to post some pictures afterwards.

Next doctor appointment in 2 more weeks! Can't believe we're already at 31 weeks!

A day in history

November 29th is an important day in the history of Congenital Heart Defects. On November 29, 1944, the Blalock-Taussig Shunt was born. The BT Shunt (as it is now commonly known) gave many CHD infants like Hailey a fighting chance at life. There is a great movie out there called Something The Lord Made. It's a movie on the pioneering of open heart surgery. I highly recommend it!




Today is also a sad day in the heart community. Steve Catoe one of the most vocal, active, inspiring people in the CHD world lost his battle to Tricuspid Atresia. He was 44 years old. You can check out his blog here. And here is a link to the blog talking about his passing. You will be greatly missed, Steve.

And last of all, Hailey's 1st Angelversarry is coming up on Thursday. This is going to be a very hard day for us, I know I don't write many post about how I am personally feeling throughout this year of firsts without our daughter, but I will try my best to write something on Wednesday. There's a lot I want to say but I have never been a great blogger and getting my feelings out there. But I want to do it for all my followers, especially the one's who have recently been through their own loss.
On a good note, our blanket colletion for Doernbecher Childrens Hospital is going great! We have about 70 blankets so far that we will be bringing in on Hailey's Angelversarry this Thursday. Just going to try and keep ourselves busy that day and making children smile, is a great way to do so!

Doctor Appointment and Amniotic fluid

So we had our monthly appointment on Friday. I also had to drink that lovely orange soda (glucose test). I passed the glucose test at 114 (need to be under 140). The doctor said that Leyna is measuring a little big, being at 3 pounds already. He also said that my amniotic fluid level is at 33. Apparently 25 is the high end of normal. So now that has me a bit concerned after reading up on it on the internet. I just got off the phone with my doctor's office a few minutes ago and the nurse said yes, my fluid level is high but to not be concerned about it. She said the doctor is not worried, so I also should not be worried.  Well I'll tell you something.....I'm worried!!! How can I not be? We lost our first daughter, I really don't want anything to happen to this one either. I'm already always checking to make sure she's moving and worrying about her, and now I have this to add on top of all the worry. Just great.
We have another appointment on the 30th, so I am going to try and not make a big deal of it and find out where the fluid level is at our next appt. Hopefully it went down. If you're at all into praying, please pray for this!! And if you have experienced this of have any info, please let me know!

On another note, we did get some great pictures of Leyna!


A great profile shot

Look at those chubby cheeks!

I think she looks a lot like Hailey in this picture.

25 week update and Blanket drive

Josh and I went to another ultrasound appointment on the 15th, and everything is still looking as perfect as ever! We got a great view of her heart and I can't believe how beautiful it looks. I never knew what a 4 chamber heart looks like on ultrasound, but now I do and it's amazing to see. She is growing like she is supposed to and is even up to 1 pound 10oz already! Only a week and a half left in this 2nd trimester and we're on to the 3rd!!! It's so exciting! We also tried to get a 3D picture of Leyna but she was not wanting to cooperate at all. She kept her hands in front of her face the whole time. So we're hoping at our next appt we will get a good look at that beautiful face of hers!

I also wanted to mention that we are currently doing a blanket drive in honor of Hailey's life. We plan on collecting new and unused blankets between now and December 1st. We will be bringing them to Doernbecher Children's Hospital on December 2nd (Hailey's 1st Angelversary). This will be a great way to help us get through an emotional day for us. Click Here to see the facebook event we created for our blanket drive. If you need more information and would like to donate, please respond via facebook or e-mail me labradorgirl1981@msn.com. 

Appt went great!

I know I am a little late updating my blog. But our appointment on the 16th went great! We had our Fetal Echo and everything is looking just like it's supposed to. They also did another anatomy scan and everything there looks perfect as well. All her organs are in the correct place and working like they should be. Other than that, there really isn't much to update about. Our next ultrasound will be on October 14th where we will be getting more pictures like these:

Isn't she just so cute?!

Look at that face!

Yup, still a girl!

4 chamber heart

Profile shot












We are at 21 weeks as of yesterday, only 19 to go!!! Hoping these months go by fast!

Lost and Found Connections Abound

I just wanted to introduce you all to a great blog I came across while reading a fellow heart mom's blog. They offer a list of blogs for everyone needing help and support at the moment. The blog is Lost and Found Connections Abound. You can submit your own blog as well.
One of their links is all about pregnancy and infant loss, I haven't read much on it yet but I do plan on it. Here is the link to the pregnancy and infant loss support page. This page contains a list of blogs on people going through the same thing as many of my followers.

On other news, everything here is still going great! I have been feeling Leyna move more and more. It's only once or twice a day, but the movements are getting stronger! We will be going in for our fetal echo next Thursday, the 16th. We will also be getting another ultrasound to check out how she's growing. I can't wait to see more pictures of her!

Here is the link to the blog I was reading when I came across LFCA. She is a new "heart mom to be" and could use lots of support.

Dear Leyna

People notice there's a special glow around you.

You grow Surrounded by love.

Never doubting you are wanted;

Only look at the pride and joy in your mother and father's eyes.

And if sometimes between the smiles

There's a trace of tears,

One day You'll understand.

You'll understand

There was once another child

A different child

Who was in their hopes and dreams.

That child will never outgrow the baby clothes

That child will never keep them up at night

In fact, that child will never be any trouble at all.

Except sometimes, in a silent moment,

When mother and father miss so much

That different child.

May hope and love wrap you warmly

And may you learn the lesson forever

How infinitely precious

How infinitely fragile is this life on earth.

One day, as a young woman

You may see another mother's tears

Another father's silent grief

Then you, and you alone

Will understand and offer the greatest comfort.

When all hope seems lost,

You will tell them

With great compassion,

"I know how you feel,

I'm only here

Because my mother tried again."

by Pandora MacMillian

Leyna Faye McCrow

As you know, we will be having a heart healthy baby girl this January! It feels so good to say "heart healthy". We are so excited that we will be able to have a "normal" pregnancy from here on out. It's something I have never gotten to experience. I don't have to worry about what's going to happen after she's born. I don't have to ask myself questions like "Will we ever get to bring her home?" "Will she survive open heart surgery?" and "What's will the future with a heart baby be like?" I wish more than anything that Hailey was here and we knew what it felt like to live life with our heart baby, but it's also so wonderful to know we won't have to worry about these things with our new little girl. I can't even describe how it feels, we're just so relieved to be having a healthy baby.
During the ultrasound as the technician was looking at her heart, she was very quiet and didn't say much. She knew our past and so we were getting really worried. My heart was about to come out of my chest it was racing so fast. But finally she typed "4 CH" on the screen! What a relief that was! She really had us worried for a minute! After she was all done with the scanning, the doctor came in and told us that everything looked perfect! She's growing just like she's supposed to, along with that 4 chamber heart of hers!
We decided on the name Leyna (pronounced lay na) it means "Little Angel" and "Bright and Shinning Light" because she really is!
We have the actual fetal echo on September 16th to confirm the 4 chambers and to take a detailed look at her heart. But we at least know for sure that there are 4 chambers! Anything else would be a piece of cake compared to HLHS!
I will update as we hear more after our appointment. (Sooner as well).

Who's ready to hear about our day!?

We are having a HEART HEALTHY baby GIRL!! She has a beautiful 4 chamber heart!!

A beautiful 4 chamber heart!!

It's a girl!!!!!

Her cute little profile!






I'll post more later, right now we just wanted to celebrate!!

Tomorrow is the BIG day!

Tomorrow morning we will be going in for our 16 week ultrasound and they are going to take a look at the baby's heart to make sure there are 4 chambers and that the aorta is the correct size. We won't be going for our fetal echo until around 20-22 weeks. But for now, at least we will know of any major defects (even though there will not be any!!) We will also be finding out the gender at this appointment! So exciting! So nervous about the whole thing as well. We know we have only a very small chance of it happening again, but you just never know with these things. We're staying very positive though. If anything happens to be wrong, we are on the next flight to Boston to have a fetal intervention where they are able to to an in utero surgery to try and correct any abnormalities. Even after all we've been through, I still feel an abortion is not something we could handle if something was wrong. But there won't be anything wrong, so nothing to worry about!

So who wants to take any guesses as to what we are having? I'm guessing a heart healthy little GIRL!

I will update tomorrow as soon as I can, we plan on going shopping for baby clothes after our appointment, so it may be a while, but if you're on my facebook I will post an update on my phone as soon as we are done at the appt!