No Drama From Mama

After Saturday, things have pretty much gone back to calm. We got back to CHOP yesterday by 2pm and were very excited to be back. HUP is a decent hospital and I'm sure they are good at what they do...but the service is just not the same. It's like staying at the uptown Hilton and then being sent to the Motel 6 in the shady part of town...same basic function...different people and scenery.

Kate has been improving with every passing day. She is very sore and is taking pain meds every few hours since she is off the epidural. It hurts the most when she gets up and goes to the bathroom. The 20 ft walk is enough to take it out of her. Despite it being painful, she was very happy to get a shower last night for the first time since Friday.

We found out today that the baby's heartrate is good and a few things have changed for the better. However, the fluid hasn't gone up much and that is of some concern. Frogger used to have too big of a pond to swim in and now the water level is a bit low. Their main fear is that some fluid might be leaking out of the incision on the uterus.

So the game plan is to watch it over the next few days to find out what the trend is. If it goes up then we might be able to leave the hospital. If it stays the same...they could possibly do an embryonic fluid transfer and add some fluid. If the fluid level goes down any then they might consider opening Kate back up and sealing the uterus better. After the progress we've made, we really aren't big fans of the last option there.

Needless to say, we aren't going home today or tomorrow. And by home we mean Kate's relative's house in New Jersey. I think most of you are aware that we won't be coming back to Ohio until the baby is born. Frogger has to be born here. And as I said before the biggest challenge is making sure the little one doesn't try and come early. For those of you who haven't been tracking, Kate is at 25 weeks and 5 days. 30 weeks would be better if the baby has to come.

We have to be moved down the hall to a double room tonight. Kate will be staying with the another girl who had fetal surgery on spinal bifida on Saturday. She will go home tomorrow and then we will be moved to another private room. But the good news is that we will still be at CHOP.

Our spirits are good. Kate is eating whatever she wants and we are sleeping a lot better. Tomorrow is Kate's birthday so we will have to find some ways to make that special. Kate's just feeling the soreness of post surgery and the annoyance of bed rest. But all in all...we are doing good. Thanks again for the prayers, support, and more prayers. Hope you all are having a great week. God bless!

Quick Trip to HUP

We had some excitement last night. Dr. came in and did an ultrasound and said that Kates embroyotic fluid was a little low and so was her blood count. Nothing of major concern...it just means Frogger and Kate are both recovering and figuring out the change. The Dr said we might do a simple blood transfusion to help things out. She walked out of the room and I told Kate I was gonna step out for a second and tell my parents what was up. I stepped out and 10 seconds later 2 nurses went in.

I went back into the room to find Kate's heart rate elevated a bit. The Dr came back in and we tried to get Kate's heart rate down. She was alert and said she felt fine...her heart was just in her throat a bit. Her heart rate went from 150 to 160 to 170 and our room went nuts. CHOP is great at fetal care. University Hospital of Penn (HUP) ,just across the road, is great at cardiac and mother care. So all of our nurses and docs and a cardiac unit from HUP came into our room. I counted 28 people at one point. Kate was calm, I was very calm...everyone else was freaking out a bit. It looked like a scene from ER or Greys Anatomy or something. They got her heart rate down but moved her over to HUP for the overnight just to watch her. They don't know what caused it but said it was normal.  Sometimes after fetal surgeries...the body has trouble adjusting and a little anxiety can set you off.

Kate leveled out and feels good today. They did an ultrasound and found that our baby's heart is doing even better and there's more fluid. Frogger peed! So if Kate continues to well, and they think she will, we will take the underground tunnel trip back to CHOP...where we have more perks, food, and nicer care.

So all is well. I know you all are continuing to pray and I will tell you that we need that. Pray specifically that Frogger stays in for at least 2 more weeks if not more. Pray that Kate can get some sleep and good rest. And since I have you on the line, pray for Scott Miller, a guy at our church who is having some serious heart complications. Thanks and have a great Sunday!!!!

Post Surgery Update

First off, let me say that God is good. He is in control and is amazing. God would still be good even if we didnt get this outcome...but boy are we glad he chose this route for us today.

We got here at 6 and did the ultrasound to make sure nothing drastic had changed. If there had been a significant change we would not have been able to do the surgery...we were very nervous about this. It came back positive and they prepped Kate for surgery. She took the needles like a champ. I would have cried.

They took her back at 7:45. If you ever need to go to a children's hospital, thus far I will tell you that I HIGHLY recommend CHOP. They kept us very updated and are super friendly and understanding.

By "us" I'm referring to the 16 people or so we had filling up this waiting room. Awesome to have family and friends here. Good to see Jeff & Tonnie, Nathan & Carley, and the crew from Woodsfield.

They updated us around 9:15 and said that the tumor had been removed and weighed 1lb 5oz. Very big for the baby's size. They also said the baby held up strong and didnt have any problems. They did give a precautionary blood transfusion to Frogger before they even started.

Dr. Flake, the lead doctor, came out around 9:45 and said that all went well. The incision they made on the uterus was the biggest he had ever done. He also said that the tumor was the biggest he had seen...in proportion to the baby's size that is.

They wheeled Kate back to our private room around 10:15 and had me go to work. She was very disoriented and heavily medicated. She calmed down after a bit a started to sleep some. Her only complaint right now is that her eye feels like it has something in it and it's watering. Considering the surgery that she's been through, we'll take a leaky eye.

After the surgery the nurses in her room were commenting on the surgery. They commented on how Kate and the baby both did so well. One of them said "that's probably do to all of the praying that was going on in the waiting room". I'd have to agree.

Kate's got a long day ahead of her. The drugs they have her on to prevent preterm labor are rather harsh and really take it out of her. They are going to wean her off of those over the next 24hrs.

We just want to say thanks and that we love all of you for praying for us. We still have a long ways to go. The biggest concern for the next 30 days is preventing preterm labor. We'll cross those bridges a day at a time. For right now we are thankful to still have our Frogger and that Kate is recovering.

O and mark your calendars for April 26, 2014...we will celebrate Frogger's 1st Butt Birthday.    :)

Fetal Surgery Tomorrow

We went in for our ultrasound today and CHOP and for the first time we received bad news. The tumor has grown significantly in the past 3 days. Frogger is in the danger zone big time. Dr.Flake explained that we have a window of time before the tumor will progress and it will be too late. He said we are candidates for the fetal surgery...the one where they put Kate under, open up the uterus with a very big incision, take out the bottom half of the baby, remove the teratoma, put the baby back in, and seal everything up. They have done fetal surgeries many times with a high success rate. However, they have only done 5 fetal surgeries on SCTs.  4 out of those 5 have survived. Delivering the baby early is not an option. The baby is at 25 weeks and when you mix prematurity and major surgery the results have never proved successful.

There is minimal risk to Kate yet it is surgery and surgery on the uterus. If surgery goes well she will be in the hospital 4 days for recovery. If successful, however, these SCT tumors tend to cause pre term labor. The average time the baby will stay in is a month. That would get us to 30 weeks which would significantly increase our chances of survival.

We meet with every doctor and specialist on this surgery today and get ready for surgery tomorrow around 10.

Being direct, this is our baby's only shot at making it. Kate and I both believe we came here just when we needed to come. A week late would probably have been too late. We need you to pray like crazy today and tomorrow. There's a chance that if he tumor grows wildly tonight that we wouldn't qualify for the surgery tomorrow. The doctor does not think that will happen but it is the risk. He said we could do surgery tonight but not all of the specialist and his team would be there. He think tomorrow the window of opportunity will still be there.

If I told you we weren't scared, I'd be lying through my teeth. We are shaking...literally. But I want to tell you this...we found this out less than an hour ago...and we have a peace about this like you wouldn't believe. I hope and pray that God will let us meet our baby. We know hope of that rides on tomorrow. But we also know that even if what we fear happens...God Is Still Good.  We love you all and can't describe the love we have felt from you all. We need to ask you what we have been asking you to do. Pray. Please pray.

Good News/Bad News From Philly

We spent from 8:15 to 4:30 at CHOP today. They ran several tests...most of which we have done before. It made for a very long and tiring day.

We sat down with Dr.Kaylic, Dr. Flake and 3 other people on their team at the end of the day. Good news: our baby is currently healthy. There was no growth in the teratoma and Frogger's heart beat was good. There was no swelling. Also, our baby is big for its age which helps its chances. So nothing has changed and the baby is doing good.

The Bad News: they want us to stay here for at least a month. They explained that while the tumor is not growing, teratomas are very unpredictable and can change very quickly. Our thought was to keep going to OSU and if things show signs of going bad we would then go to Philly. From what hey said if things started to go bad, we probably wouldn't have time to make the 8 hour drive without losing the baby or harming Kate. They also explained that they deal with about 15-20 Fetal teratomas a year.  OSU probably has 2 or so a year. They know what to look for.

As for prenatal surgery...they said that it is not needed currently. That's only something they do if there's no other option. They could deliver the baby early in a few weeks as another option. The longer the baby stays in though, the better the chance of survival. So our goal is still for the baby to make it to week 34 or so. They will continue to meet with us twice a week. We have to go back on Thursday for an ultrasound.

So tomorrow I (Travis) am riding back to Ohio with Kate's parents and then driving to Belpre to pack our stuff, take care of some chores, and then I will head back to New Jersey. Kate and I will be staying with her aunt and her family during this time.

We are thankful that our baby is healthy and we know that we are where we need to be. We are not pumped about having to stay and wish we could be home and continue life as normal. But sometimes God changes your plans. We look to Him for guidance and comfort. And we are thankful for our family and friends that will no doubt help us during this time.

Do the Indians play the Phillys anytime in the next month? :)

Road Trip!

After our OSU visit on Wednesday we agreed to have our information sent to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). They contacted us on Friday and asked if we could come on Monday to do a full day of tests and evaluations. We obviously will not turn that down. They deal with 20 or so teratoma cases a year which is very significant. They are also the best in the nation at the fetal surgery if it came down to that.

So Sunday we will hop in car with Kate's parents and make the 8 hour trip. As of right now we are just meeting with them Monday and possibly Tuesday. Whether or not they will want us to come back and stay is yet to be determined.

We are in pretty good spirits and we contribute that to your prayers. God most certainly is in the center of this. We met Dr. Rink on Wednesday and we asked her if teratomas could be hereditary and what causes them. She said they are not hereditary and that they don't know what cause them...they are rare. Then she said "It's like getting struck by lighting. And for some reason God gave this to your family because He knew you could handle it." I'm not sure about all of that but we do know this...we can handle this because God, family, and friends like you strengthening us. Please keep our little Frogger in your prayers.

O...and some of you have asked if we actually plan on naming our baby Frogger. I don't want to be too sarcastic here so I'll just say...no. Kate's brother gave the nickname when he first saw the 8 week ultrasound picture. And since we are trying to not find out the sex before the baby is born...Frogger stuck!

We will post on Monday night to bring you up to date. I know some of you might be interested in where we are going and what our options our. Below is a link to a video series produced by CHOP on how they deal with teratomas. Please keep in mind that we have a SCT type...and honestly...I think that is a blessing. See ya!

http://www.chop.edu/video/teratomas/home.html

Quick Update

Everything was the same as it was on Monday which was a good thing. We met Dr. Rink and Karen Rossi today and they helped us get our minds around everything. Kate and I had been thinking tha we should wait on pursuing anything with CHOP (Childrens Hospital of Philidelphia) until we saw signs of "bad news". Dr. Rink explained that it might be better to get our ducks in a row with them and meet with them while our baby is stable rather than rushing there in the middle of the night for an emergency. That does make sense to us. We aren't even sure if we qualify for the prenatal surgery so we are going to start the process of making CHOP an option if we need it.

We meet with Dr. O on Monday and Thursday and they will be sending the paperwork to CHOP tomorrow.

So far, so good. Keep the prayers a comin and we love and appreciate all of your encouragement!

Frogger Report April 15th

Back to OSU medical today for an ultrasound and to hear the results of the MRI. We are getting very acquainted with the drive! The ultrasound went pretty well. Had an OSU medical student practice on Kate. I don't think she had much experience with babies that move around a lot...like Frogger tends to do.

We met with Dr. O' Shaughnessy in his office. He told us that the heart rate, MCA, and embryonic fluid were the same...which is good. We don't want to see any strain on the heart or any more of the fluid...excess fluid could equal early birth.

The MRI revealed that the teratoma is mostly external which is a great thing. It also showed that there wouldn't be any damage to the spinal cord itself which is an awesome thing!

After this went went on an emotional ride. Dr. O told us that he measured the teratoma and he believed that it had grown since Thursday. He thought it gone from 9cm by 9cm by 9cm to 12 by 9 by 9.(Note: a teratoma is an odd shaped tumor that is hard to measure due to it being irregular)  He said that was major concern and that he could have us in Philadelphia by the the end of the week. He said that they could monitor us and if they had to do the prenatal surgery they would be ready. If everything went well and we didnt have to have the surgery we could come home. We asked how long we would have to stay in PA. He said until week 32 which would be 2 months!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  

We asked him a few questions about the MRI and he got to looking closer at it. He said "wait a second...this MRI shows that on Friday the teratoma was 12 x 9 x 9".

Kate responded "So...there hasn't been any change in size since last week". He looked at us and said "Yep...it appears now that there hasn't been any change in the size." His measurement Thursday was apparently off by 3cm or so. So everything is the same as it was last week. That's the news that we wanted!

He told us to come in Wednesday and then again on Monday of next week and they will do the ultrasounds again. He has a method of measuring the teratoma now and says that we are starting to see some trends. (So far the trend is that there is no change). If he sees any trend that points to the "deteriorating state" of our baby then we will have to go to Philadelphia.

So minus the false alarm of a growing tumor, today was a good report. We are praying still that God will shrink that tumor and make it so we don't have to go to Philadelphia. Kate's family that lives in New Jersey has graciously offered their home for us to stay if we end up having to go. But Kate's uncle is a Michigan and a Yankees fan...so...we pray we don't have to go to Phili. (Love ya Uncle Tim!)

We are in good spirits and know who's on our side. We heard God of Angel Armies by Chris Tomlin on the way to and the way home from the hospital: "I know who goes before me, I know who stands behind. The God of angel armies is always by my side. The God who reigns forever, He is a friend of mine. The God of angel armies is always by my side!" Amen.

April 11th

Headed back to OSU today to meet Dr. O'Shaughnessy, the Fetal Specialist. He did an ultrasound and also did an MCA which checks blood flow to the brain. Everything seemed to look okay. The tumor hasn't grown since last week and the blood flow is good to the baby. The tumor appears to be mostly external which is also a good thing. The tumor is also looking cystic...which means it's not taking a lot of blood. The only area of concern is that Kate has some excess embryonic fluid.

He explained all of the scenarios. Basically here are the things that can happen:

-The tumor can stay the same size or get smaller and the baby can continue to have very little blood go to the tumor. The baby will make it to 37 weeks and they will perform a C-Section and then do a surgery to remove the tumor. This is the option we are praying for!

-Frogger could bleed where the teratoma connects to it. That could be a bad scenario. It would require a blood transfusion which could be done at OSU.

-The tumor could grow. The more it grows the more little Frogger's heart has to work to keep the blood flow going to it and the body. If that continues then it could be very bad for Frogger's heart. The options are to just let it be and see what happens or they could attempt a prenatal surgery. They would pull the baby out, remove the tumor, and then put the baby back inside Kate. This is a very risky surgery. But Kate and I both agree that if it came to choosing between just riding out what appears to be heart failure and taking a chance with a surgery...surgery it is. OSU is not able to perform such a surgery and the doctor told us that Philadelphia is best in the nation at prenatal surgeries. Kate has relatives close to Philly so that could work for us.  

We have an MRI tomorrow that should help reveal more about what the tumor looks like and will confirm that it is mostly external. Then we have to come back on Monday. Dr. O wants to closely watch this tumor and see if anything is pointing to one of the scenarios above. This will require weekly ultrasounds at OSU at least for the next 2-3 weeks. 

We are very happy to have everything looking good today. I agree with everything that the doctor said...minus one thing. He said we want that tumor to stay small and we also do not want it to bleed and for that to happen we will have to get lucky. We smile because we know that "luck" has nothing to do with it. God's in charge and will decide which of those scenarios above he wants us to go through. We pray and ask that it's scenario 1. We will wait and see what He does. 

Thanks so much for the prayers! We appreciate that and know that God is listening. I told Kate that the neat part is that we get to look at lil Frogger every week! God bless!

Frogger Blog: 1st Post

Hello! Welcome to our blog on the story of our little baby that we are expecting in August. Kate and I decided to write this to bring you all up to speed on what's happening with our little one. This is going to be quite the journey and we know that many of you are praying for us. We really need that! Here's the story as of right now.

Back in November Kate started feeling kind of tired and had some headaches. After about a week of it she thought that maybe it could be a baby. We had been trying but not for very long so we were not sure. She told me she thought that she might be pregnant so we bought the test and after taking two...she was right!

It didn't quite seem real to me or to Kate for that matter until we went into Dr.Irvin's office in December and heard the little one's heartbeat. Life. What a miracle! A few weeks later we were able to get an ultrasound. All I could see was something the size of a peanut that was moving around...and you could see the heartbeat! Life! What a miracle! Our due date is August 8th.

We decided to wait until Christmas to tell our family and man were they excited. This is the first grandchild for Kate's parents and mine. If you didn't get the chance to see the video of my mom freaking out...it's worth watching:  Mom's Reaction

It was at that time that Kate's brother, Kurk, affectionately named our baby Frogger. I'm not really sure why but since Kate and I are waiting until the baby is born to find out the sex, Frogger will work.

Everything seemed to be going pretty good. We had one little scare in January that turned out to be nothing...just first time expectant parents being worried. Kate was getting bigger and we were excited for our
next ultrasound on April 4th.

We went in and to us the ultrasound looked good. They had us turn away when they looked at the baby's legs so that we wouldn't find out the sex. It was at this point that Kate felt the first kicks. Apparently Frogger didn't like that wand pushing on Kate's belly! The doctor came in and told us that the baby all in all looked healthy but she needed to let us know about something.

Then I heard the term...Sacrococcygeal Teratoma (sct). Dr. Irvin described it as a large mass at the base of the baby's spine. She told us that Camden Clark wasn't equipped to handle it so we would have to go to a high risk pregnancy hospital. She told us that Kate would have to have a C-Section and once the baby was born they would remove the growth. So to us it was disappointing that Kate would have a C-Section but it didn't seem to be too serious. We chose OSU as our hospital. They scheduled us for the next day and we took the 2 hour trip up to the medical tower just past the OSU campus.

They did a very extensive ultrasound. It was kind of funny because Frogger is very active...and like I said before is not a big fan of that ultrasound wand pushing on Kate's belly! They would stick the wand on Kate's belly and Frogger would hop to the other side or turn around in there. We got several good pictures and then we met Dr. Shellhouse who told us the news. SCT is a somewhat rare type of cancerous growth that shows up in 1 in 40,000 live births. The U.S only has 300 some cases a year. So it is rare but not uncommon. She told us that the growth is at the base of the baby's spine and looks to be about the same size as the baby's head right now. Now when I say cancer understand that this is not malignant. It is a growth.

She explained that the danger is that if this large mass continues to grow it could potentially start to take blood away from our baby and that could result in cardiac arrest for Frogger. She then dropped the bomb on us and told us that the chance for survival is 50/50. I can't quite describe how that one sentence can rock your world. This is kind of what the thing looks like:

Hopefully the tumor is mostly external and doesn't go inside the baby like the one pictured. 

There is nothing they can really do to shrink this tumor. What they can do is monitor it. Shellhouse told us that the goal is to get the baby full term and then deliver it via C-Section. Afterwards they would perform the surgery. From what I understand is that usually when they remove it, there isn't much lasting damage to the baby other than having a scar. However, any surgery on a newborn is risky. In order to make sure that the blood is still going to our baby and not to the tumor we will have to have a weekly ultrasound...1 week in Parkersburg and the next week at OSU. She also wanted us to get an MRI.

Yesterday we found out that on Thursday we will meet with a specialist and they will tell us what the real options are. Shellhouse isn't the surgeon or the specialist. We will meet this person on Thursday and they said that there is a possibility of taking the baby early if it starts to show signs of heart problems. Our first goal they said is to get to 28 weeks so that this is a more viable option. Kate is currently at 23 weeks. So we will meet the specialist on Thursday and then have the MRI at Children's Hospital on Friday to get a more in depth look at the teratoma.

That is basically what we know. What I also know is that I serve a God who is the Great Physician. I know that right now there are over 1000+ people praying for Frogger. Kate and I believe that our little baby is perfect and while we don't know what God' will is...we are going to trust him. And we are going to hope. Last night we went and registered at Baby's Our Us. We are going to have some baby showers and we are going to get the baby's room together. Faith can move mountains and we have faith that our baby will come home.

Frogger is in a win/win situation. We just pray that God will let us meet and raise this little one. We thank you for your prayers and concern for us. We thank the Belpre Church for the outpouring of love we received on Sunday...and we thank our close friends and family for being there for us too. We have a journey before us and we look to you...and to the Lord for strength and guidance. We will keep you posted. God bless!