Babies, CF and how we are coping

As we enter into a new phase of parenting with our second baby, I thought it would be a good idea to start a blog with updates on the latest happenings on both baby and Teri's health. We are super excited to be having a boy, and Ari talks about him everyday. At the same time, we are getting nervous about how well Teri's health is going to hold up through the rest of the pregnancy and beyond, not to mention our worries on if the baby is going to stay healthy in the following weeks given his mom's state.

I for one am beyond thrilled to be having a boy. I knew this was going to be our last kid, so the fact that it is a boy makes it that much more exciting. We didn't find out what Ari's sex was before we had her, and I remember it was hard to imagine what the baby would look like given we didn't know what she was. Now I find it easier to think about, and I have a clearer picture in my head which makes it more exciting I think. Coming up with names has been tough. We had a list of about 3, but now we keep expanding that list as we become more unsure of the originals. Our plan is to go in to delivery with a list of our top 3-5, and then choose one once we see him. I am really not worried about this because I know that one will stick sooner or later, but I have found boy names to be much harder to decide on.

As I said, Ari is just as excited for the baby to get here. Her tune might change once he is here and is crying all day and night and never leaves, so we are trying to milk her positive attitude and hope things stay that way. She always sneaks up to his room and puts his clothes on her dolls. This morning I went up there, and she had every one of her blankets on the floor, every baby on top of them, and ALL the babies clothes laid out all over the room. I know she will be a big help to us when he comes because she is so sweet about those kinds of things, but it will be an interesting transition for all of us I'm sure.

Teri is not having the best time right now. Without getting into the scientific details, I will try to explain what is going on at the moment. I will assume for those reading this, you already know all the things that CF can affect (if not, go here http://www.cff.org/). There are multiple factors attributing to her poor health right now.

One is her lungs. For lack of better terms, they are full of crap and infected. The main infection taking over is STAPH/MSRA, along with a fungus that is growing wild in her mucus called Aspergillus. She is currently on antibiotics to treat the staph, but she has been on them for awhile and they are becoming less effective as time goes on (as antibiotics do when used for a long period). The result of these infections starting to take over is her cough is way more mucusy, and she wakes up during the night coughing and sometimes gasping for air during coughs. Another problem is that she will start coughing so hard that she starts throwing up, which happens during the day and in the middle of the night.

This leads us to the second biggest issue, which is her weight. During this entire pregnancy, she has gained 4 pounds. Yes, she is 31 weeks and she weighs only 4 pounds more than what she weighed at week 1. Obviously throwing up multiple times a day has contributed to this, as well as the typical affects of CF. The baby is growing perfectly fine and is measuring great, so he seems to be taking all he needs from Teri... but that doesn't leave much for her.

Now for some solutions. They put a pic line in on Friday and she is on IV lipids (which is basically fat pumped into your veins) for 6 hours a day at home. To treat the Staph, there is another antibiotic that can treat it called Vancomycin. They tried putting her on this med about 5 years ago, but she had an allergic reaction to it and broke out with a burning itch all over. Being that it is about the only option left for taking out the Staph, they are going to try it again. She is going to the doctor on Monday and they will give her some benadryl and then start it and hold her for a few hours to see if she has any issues.

Needless to say, we both have a lot on our minds right now. There are many fears and it is hard to stay strong sometimes, but we are trying to keep our heads up and stay excited for our son to be. I am amazed at Teri's strength in dealing with all this and am proud to call her my wife and know she will pull through. I am doing my best to help her when I can around the house and with Ari when I am not at work, but it is hard to be there for her all the time. We definitely appreciate all the help we are able to get from family and friends, although this is sometimes a challenge as well since people have jobs during the day and busy schedules of their own.

Stay tuned on the blog for periodic updates on the latest news. Both Teri and I plan to write on here, so between the two of us, we'll try to update it as often as we can. Here are a couple pictures of what keeps me going everyday :)...