He's Here!!

Landon Edward Walenga was born today, September 25th at 4:59am. He weighed 6lbs 9 oz and measured 20 inches long. We are so excited to finally see our baby boy! He is precious and such a gift from God. He is in the NICU and doing ok so far. They've run a few echocardiagrams on him already today and are monitoring him and have him hooked up to several lines. They will keep him in Colorado Springs until at least tomorrow. Still no decision yet on if he'll need surgery in Denver or not.

We're trying to get down to see him as much as we can but I'm also still recovering and everyone is trying to catch some sleep here and there since last night was a long night! My water broke at 2:30 yesterday afternoon so we came to the hospital and then I wasn't making good progress (even with some pitocin) so it seemed to take forever but I guess we were an "average" first birth at about 14 1/2 hours. It's so agonizing to have to leave him in the NICU while I go back to my room- I just wish I could hold him but for now they're just trying to make sure he's stable. Please be praying for him (and for us!) - he's already shown a lot of strength and we know God will get him through whatever happens.

We're just proud parents right now and so in love with our son!

I am not afraid to ask...

I am not afraid to ask God for a miracle for our son.

Why should I be?

Why can't I believe that he who is in me can do all things?

I have come to the realization that I am ok with whatever God's will is in this situation.  Some roads are certainly harder than others. I see where each of those goes, all with different purposes, but all of these roads lead to the same place.

It ends with our family continually coming back to Christ no matter what.  I am asking you to not be afraid to pray for a miracle for our baby.  I know that God is sufficient and that he is listening.  I know that his will is pleasing and perfect.  I rejoice in the Lord for these tough times for I have seen the amazing community of people that surround us.

And so we wait to meet him...

Gary   

Getting closer. . .

Counting down the weeks is turning into counting down the days and we're getting very excited to meet our son! We've been staying busy trying to get lots of things done around the house and also take a little bit of time to go out to a few nice dinners together before our family of 2 becomes 3! My mom is coming out this weekend (Dad will come out a little later) so we'll be very glad to have her here to help us get some of those last minute things done and to keep me company once I finish up work.

As we thought, the last echo we had a few weeks ago didn't tell us for sure whether he'll need surgery initially or not.  They will administer a series of echos on him after birth to see how is reacting to life on his own and make the call after a few days. I've been going to appointments twice a week to get tests to make sure he's still doing well and so far he's been doing great with them. Driving downtown 2 times a week for appointments that are 1-2 hours has been kind of taxing but I'm glad they are keeping such a close eye on him. I (Allison) am doing well, just getting more tired and achy and stuff.  I'm starting to see myself being really ready to be done being pregnant by my due date! 

For now, we're just trying to enjoy this time together as a couple but also anxious and thrilled to finally see our little boy face to face!

Getting Ready!

Again, it's been a few weeks since we posted (I feel like I say this every time now!) Being back home for a few weeks we've stayed in one place at least but haven't really "slowed down" quite yet. I'm definitely getting there since my body seems like it's going to be limiting me on how much it will let me do! Maybe that's a good thing. I mean, I can't wait until we have this baby and things finally settle down a little bit :-) (hopefully you can sense the sarcasm on that one).

We've been busy on getting some things done around the house, spending some time with friends and overall just preparing our lives for a baby, but I still feel like we've got a long way to go! Luckily we have several more weeks before this guy gets here but it's rapidly approaching!

We decided pretty recently along with the advice of the doctors, to deliver in the Springs. There didn't seem to be a solid reason we needed to be in Denver and the doctors feel confident that the baby will do very well his first few days and that the tests and care will be the same whether he's in the Springs or Denver. If it is determined after birth that he'll need the first surgery, they'll have to transport him up to Denver, but no one has given us any indciation that this would be a high risk scenario or be cause for concern. He have another echo in a little over a week, so they might be able to tell us if they are leaning towards surgery or not, but I think we're both counting on just not knowing for sure until after he's born at this point.

So delivering in the Springs is good news and a relief to both of us that I (Allison) won't have to go up to Denver 4 weeks early. If it was necessary, we'd absolutely do it but it's nice that we think we'll be able to avoid that added emotional stress. The not as great (but not terrible) news is that even though we'll be delivering in the Springs, I'll have to deliver at a different hospital than my OB delivers at, so I am in the process of switching doctors. It's a little nervewracking being as far along as I am (over 34 weeks) and not have even seen the doctor that will probably deliver me, but whatever's best for this little dude!

In the mean time of transferring hospitals & doctors, we're continuing to prepare however we can. We've been getting the Baby W's room ready -see below for a few updated photos - still a few things to hang on the walls and a cube organizer to assemble & get in the room, but just about there! We had a shower at my work this week (a surprise to me) and are having another garage sale/ baby shower next weekend that we are very excited about. We've been SO blessed by people who have offered to do some wonderful celebrations for us and our little one! We've taken a birthing class so we feel a little more prepared for labor and delivery and have been watching some videos online to learn about infant care. We're getting very excited to meet the newest Walenga and will be thrilled to share in the excitement with all of you!

Jet-setting and pregnant

We have certainly been on the go the last few weeks! We were home for a week after returning from Georgia with my family and then went to Michigan for about 4 days to spend some time with Gary's family. We had such a great time with his family but it was a quick trip! After that we came home for two days and left for Raleigh, NC for my cousin Morgan's wedding.

We're in Raleigh now and will be heading back tomorrow!  It has been so wonderful to spend time with both of our families, but we will welcome staying put for a while to rest and get some things done to prepare for Baby W! Traveling takes its toll when I'm 7+ months pregnant and Gary is still in his ankle boot. He's getting more mobile but still needs the boot to get around.

I talked to one of my doctors this week about our plan/location for delivery and he is facilitating some of the other docs discussing where they want me to deliver. It is somewhat of a relief to feel like the decision isn't up to us, but we may not know a final answer until the next echo in a few weeks.  More unknown but we feel confident in our team of doctors and trust that God will have us where we need to be!

I'm 32 weeks now and getting more anxious and excited about having a baby and about his treatment and the affect it will have on us.

Not Good News, Not Bad News, Just News

Today we had another fetal echo to take another look at how everything in the heart is growing. We were hoping to have some more definitive information about how delivery is going to go and whether or not the 1st surgery will be necessary. Unfortunately, we didn't come away with the decisions we hoped for, but we didn't come away with bad news either, so it was kind of a mixed bag of emotions for us.

The blood flow through the pulmonary valve and arteries is the indicator as to whether or not the 1st surgery (the BT Shunt) will be necessary. Right now both the valve and arteries are measuring on the smaller side but not tiny. If they continue to grow at a good pace between now and birth, they might allow enough blood to flow to the lungs that the BT shunt wouldn't be necessary. The doctor seemed to think it could go either way at this point, so we'll have another appointment in about 5 weeks to see if he's able to see any difference one way or the other. Right now, we're pretty much counting on not knowing for sure about surgery until after the baby is born and they can do tests that will be much clearer than while he is in utero.

It also seemed apparent today that delivering in Colorado Springs might be more of a possibility than we thought. It sounds like the first few days after birth will be a lot of testing whether it is in CS or Denver, and if transport to Denver is necessary for surgery, it is unlikely it would create a critical situation. We're still struggling with what to do as far as that goes. The doctor had confidence that going to Denver for delivery is not really necessary but said that if we really wanted to do that then we could. He did recommend that if I deliver in the Springs, that I do so at Memorial Main Hospital- my OB doesn't deliver there, so I'd have to find a new OB for delivery (yet another doc to add to the mix!)

So no specific plan quite yet, but we're very glad to hear that there's still a possibility of skipping the first surgery all together! Thanks for your prayers!

Appointment Today

Today we have an appointment to do another fetal echo.  This appointment could give us a better indication if Baby Walenga can skip the first surgery and deliver in Colorado Springs.  More detail will be posted later to update you.