October 2006 - Rees is Born!
10/31/2006 Rees' Birthday
We had a miraculous tiny surprise on Monday night.
Rees Gerard Potts
1 lb. 4 oz.
11.5 inches
October 30, 10:42 p.m.
gestation age 23 ½ weeks (4 months early)
Although he is very tiny, baby Rees looks like a precious little doll. For his age, he has a
very good weight and has a high activity level. All fingers, toes and parts accounted for,
just teeny—the cutest feet and toes imaginable, a dimple in his chin like his daddy, light
eyebrows and long fingers. He taps his feet and puts his finger on his chin, grabs at his
wires and monitors. If we could turn him over, I’m sure we could see his angel wings.
We were terrified that he had decided to come so early, but right after his delivery, we
heard his little cry and we knew God was closely keeping watch and Rees was going to
be ok. The doctor was happy that he was feisty and kicking.
We expect him to stay at the hospital until his original due date Feb. 22. The first 48
hours were the most critical and he did very well. On Wednesday night he had a fairly
standard surgery to close the PDA valve, which for full-term babies closes on its own
after birth. He did very well. His parents also did pretty good going through the first of
his many possible procedures.
Rees is in the Level 3 NICU at The Woman’s Hospital of Texas. The only visitors allowed
to scrub-in are parents and grandparents. There are no windows for family or friends to
catch a glimpse. The doctors and nurses taking care of him are excellent.
Everyone’s prayers have kept baby Rees going thus far. Please continue to keep his
growth in your prayers. There are milestones every week for his brain, lung, eye and GI
development.
Right now his eyes are still fused. He should open them in a few weeks. We haven’t
been able to take a good picture yet, since he is under cellophane (to keep the
temperature regulated) that has water droplets from the humidifier (so he doesn’t loose
too much moisture).
Week 23 is the borderline week of “viability” for preemies. Any earlier is much too early
and a week later is significantly better. Because they were so closely watching me and
had given me steroid shots to give him a boost, and God timing everything precisely, of
course, Rees is doing extremely well for his birth at 23.5 weeks of gestation. I can’t
express how grateful I am that my blood problems don’t seem to have had any negative
effects on his development. We are so thrilled we were able to buy him the extra 3
weeks while I was on bed rest upside-down.
For those of you who want the play-by-play of Monday…..All day I had had cramping, but
no contraction activity registered on the monitors. I was told it was probably gas or
constipation from lying upside-down for almost 3 weeks. About 9:30 in the evening, I
had a little bleeding. The doctor came in and took a peek. I was 8 cm dilated. The
bleeding was from my cerclage stitches ripping. At 10:15 they gave Mark his scrubs as
they wheeled me to the operating room.
Rees was born at 10:42. It was a drug-free vaginal delivery. They repeatedly asked if I
wanted an epidural or pain medicine, but I was too afraid I would miss something. After
the delivery, an even longer time was spent repairing my cervix—I did get a little
Demerol for this phase. By the time they were finished with me, the neonatal team was
ready to move Rees to the NICU. We meet in the hallway and I finally got to see him.
Mark and I both got to touch his little hand. We knew his approximate weight from an
ultrasound that weekend, so we were expecting him to be itty bitty. Rees was actually
much bigger than we imagined.
Mommy update: I feel better than I have since our roller coaster ride started in June. My
only aches are in my back from being in bed for so long. I am still shaky on my feet, but
my sea legs are slowly returning. My blood counts have been steady in the normal
range for a couple of weeks. They were expecting to give me a blood transfusion
immediately after delivery, but I didn’t need one. Next Thursday, I will have a bone
marrow biopsy to get a baseline analysis as I start taking Gleevec, the miracle drug for
CML. After a few weeks adjusting to the medicine, the leukemia worries will subside so
my blood and my life should return to normal (well, as normal as it can be until Rees
comes home).
I came home from the hospital on Wednesday night. It was very strange to “come
home” to a new house. I can start having visitors, but please stay away if you have any
kind of cold, etc. or have been around sick kids. If Mark and I are exposed to anything,
we are banned from visiting Rees. The neonatologist said the greatest danger for
preemies is infections.
New address:
Amy & Mark Potts
3431 Linkwood
Houston, Texas 77025
Just a reminder for everyone with healthy blood: Please donate as often as you can. I
may have had my last transfusion, but now my sweet baby who only has 1.5 oz of blood
in his system is receiving regular transfusions. His transfusions are a few drops at a
time. If you donate 1 pint of blood, you can help 15 full-term babies and dozens of
preemies.
10/24/2006 Bed Rest at the Woman's Hospital of
Texas
I have a new location.
Since Oct. 13, I’ve been resident of Woman’s Hospital. Now baby Rees and I are doing
well, but we will be here until he is born==hopefully not before Christmas (official due
date is Feb. 22.) I am on complete bed rest, lying flat on my side. I can’t lie on my back
or get out of bed for any reason. The stay is a pure ob issue and not related to my funny
blood. (more details below on the hows & whys of the hospital stay) Great news: Rees
is now a little over 1 pound, perfect for his age. It has been so amazing for Mark and I to
watch him grow so closely. At our first ultrasound he was the size of a grain of rice.
Other moves.
Mark moved us on Oct. 21 to a 1-story rent house off Buffalo Spdwy & Braeswood (very
close to the med ctr). The move was originally scheduled for the 14th. We are in a
great family neighborhood. Our landlord is a sweet oncologist who was with MD
Anderson for 30 years, and we heard our next-door neighbor is a neonatologist (he has
no idea how fast we are going to try to make friends). Many thanks to all of those who
helped orchestrate the move, especially my mom and Joan for carefully packing all of
the boxes, and Laura, Cindy and Bill for serving on moving day crew. If you know anyone
who might be interested in our med ctr condo, let us know.
Mark & Amy Potts
3431 Linkwood
Houston, Tx 77025
Mark’s new job.
If that wasn’t enough change in one week, Mark started a new job on Oct. 12. He is now
with Robert Half Consulting. His client is Intertek in the Galleria area, who is an oil
services company that primarily focuses on specialty product testing.
Fantastic blood news.
On Monday my white blood count went down to 5.2K—well within normal range!!! After
only 2 weeks, I have stopped taking the chemo drugs! They will check my blood often
and will give me as needed doses if/when needed. I am hoping that my final blood
transfusion was last week. The catheter in my chest is gone too. I am much more
comfortable and don’t have to worry about infections. What awesome timing for such
dramatic improvements! Now we can worry less about blood and more about keeping
baby happy inside my belly.
What happened?!?
On the 13th, I called my ob because I had a little bleeding and felt a little different. I wasn’
t too freaked out because I had had many bleeding episodes earlier because my
placenta was over my cervix and was told repeatedly in the past not to worry, but
decided to call because I had just increased my chemo dose. For the first time when I
called about the bleeding, they told me to come in right away. When we got there, the
doctor checked the baby’s heart rate and he sounded great. Then she checked me and
said keep to keep my legs closed because I had started to dilate. She told Mark to get
the car and take me directly to Labor & Delivery where they would “put me upside-
down.” They wheeled me down and made me lie down in the back seat.
At the hospital, the high-risk ob did an ultrasound. By then, I was 2.5 cm dilated, lost my
pug and having contractions. Luckily “upside-down” does not mean hanging from your
ankles on monkey bars—I was tilted in my bed with feet up and head down. They
started me on an i.v. with anti-contraction medication (magnesium) with several
vaccinations. In the morning I had another ultrasound: I was almost 3.5 cm and the
amniotic sac had started to descend. We had the option to stay “upside-down” and see
what would happen, or to have an emergency rescue cerclage, which is a surgery to
sew your cervix shut. If the surgery went well, it was the best way for the baby to stay
put and grow for the longest amount of time with a smaller risk of infection. The highly
risky part was the chance of rupturing the sac since it was now descending into the
vagina. We decided on the surgery and they immediately whisked me away.
My family said the doctors and nurses came in grinning afterwards. It went better than
expected. I have recovered very well from the surgery and am off of the anti-
contraction i.v. which made me feel very crummy (the med was a muscle relaxant and
nervous system depressant).
The condition that started the pre-term labor is called incompetent cervix. It is fairly
common, but sadly many many women with this condition loose their first baby. In
future pregnancies a non-emergency cerclage is done very early and a normal
pregnancy follows. I feel so lucky that I was already taking it slow and easy. Perhaps
the outcome would have been different if I had been my normal active self be-bopping
around.
Currently
The hospital is wonderful. They deliver 800-900 babies a month, so they really know
what they are doing. I have now graduated from the labor & delivery wing to the “ante
partem” wing—a whole unit of ladies trying not to have babies. I have room service and
wifi in my private room. I am just starting to feel like visitors, but visits need to be pretty
short. To talk on the phone, it is best to call my cell phone: 713/502-2590. The room
phone is how the doctors and nurses call me and I like to keep it free. If I don’t answer
my cell, don’t get worried. I may be talking to my doctors, on the baby monitor, etc. It
may take a while to return calls so please don’t get hurt feelings. I am hoping I can start
e-mailing regularly to stay in touch.
The Texas Woman’s Hospital
c/o Amy Potts, room 344
7600 Fannin (at Old Spanish Trail)
Houston, Tx 77054
What can you do?
Since so many of you have asked….please forgive me for possibly sounding tacky and
upfront….there is something that would be a huge treat: a massage. There is a
massage therapist here that specializes in high-risk maternity massages. Massages
really help keep your muscles healthier while on bed rest with movement restrictions.
They have very reasonable rates and they have gift certificates starting at $40. You can
call 713/363-6125 for more info.
My room is full of gorgeous flowers that are cheery and appreciated, but they are now
starting to put them on the floor where I can’t see them because we have run out of
space in the room. If you are a flower sender, please start pacing the deliveries over
the next 3 months.
Mail can be sent to our new home address or the hospital.
Hopefully the next several months will be boring and non-dramatic. With luck time
passes at a fairly quick pace, as the holiday season usually does. Please keep Mark,
baby Rees and me in your prayers. They are definitely working!
Love, Amy
P.S. Don’t forget to donate your healthy blood. Even though I’m not a regular right now,
there are so many others that depend on it.
10/06/2006 Halfway
We are officially past the half-way mark and I have a big belly to show the progress (well
it is huge to me—it’s hard work, so I’m very proud). Mark and I were both sure we were
having a little girl and then 2 months ago the doctor said "it's a girl--90% sure." Then a
month later, he said he was now 110% sure that it’s a BOY. It took us a few days to
adjust. Baby is doing very well--now over 6 inches long and over 1/2 a pound. His growth
and all ultrasound measurements are right on track.
Our little angel's name is Rees Gerard Potts. Rees is Mark's dad's middle name that
goes back several generations. St. Gerard is the patron saint of expecting mothers.
Our priest gave me a St. Gerard metal the day after we got the scary call from the
oncologist--I wear it pinned to my yellow Livestrong bracelet everyday.
We need a few extra prayers. On Saturday I start taking a chemo drug (Hydrea) which
the doctors feel is pretty safe during this stage of pregnancy, but I am still nervous
about it. They actually wanted to start it about a month ago, but let me put it off a little
bit. I will do the blood filtering for at least one more week and hopefully they’ll take the
catheter out of my chest in a couple of more weeks, which is a risk of infection. Right
now my white blood cell count yo-yos between filtering, but the medicine should keep
my counts stable and low, which is best as we get closer to delivery. (Yea! They are
finally talking about delivery--at first we couldn't think that far ahead.)
Hydrea is a pill that I can take at home. The main side effects are nausea and a rash—
nothing new. There is a slight chance of hair loss, but usually after a longer period of
use. I will only be on it for 3 - 4 months. Other great benefit: no more long days of blood
filtering and transfusions.
The official due date was Feb. 22, but the ETA for baby is now sometime between Jan 11
(week 34) and Feb. 1 (week 37). The obs say that when mommies are sick, babies
usually come early on their own. If he doesn't come on his own by Feb. 1, they will
probably induce. As soon as he arrives I will start taking Gleevac (the CML miracle
drug).
Please keep us in your prayers—they are working wonders, Amy, Mark and baby Rees
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