Saturday, July 19, 2008

A Dinner with Friends from Church

We just got home from our friends Thomas and Beth's house. They live just up the street, and we also attend the same church. Beth invited us and a few other couples from church over for a cookout, and surprise!...it was a "Welcome Little Slugger" party for Colby! Beth had decorated with baseball items, and Karen even made some baseball cupcakes. Everything was adorable! It was so much fun visiting, and Colby got some super cute gifts! As I have said several times before, we are so blessed with the wonderful people around us!

Thanks so much for thinking of us and organizing this get together Beth and Thomas, and thank you Wilkinsons, Richardsons, and Swints for your kindness and words of encouragement!! It means so much to us!!!

Friday, July 18, 2008

We love our neighbors!




I am convinced that we have the best neighbors ever! Three of our neighbors, Jennifer, Tracy, and Annie, planned and hosted a baby shower for our little Colby last night, and several of our other neighbors joined us to celebrate. We had such a great time eating, talking, and laughing...it is always nice to spend some time with just the girls! We have been so blessed with not only a wonderful family, but also with great neighbors and friends! We are so thankful to have such an awesome support system in place for when Colby arrives. Thank you to everyone who came last night, especially Jennifer, Tracy, and Annie for hosting! All of your friendships mean so much to us!

Monday, July 14, 2008

Delivery Date Scheduled

Jason and I went for our 36 week visit and weekly BPP this morning. Colby is still looking great and fortunately, I am showing no signs of labor (no dilation). We will pray that continues, because our C-Section has been scheduled for Thursday, August 7! I am excited to have the date and time on the calendar, but I am also very nervous! It has finally hit me that we are about to have another baby! I have a lot to get done in the next 3 weeks!!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

A Surprise Baby Shower!


Last night, my mom had invited us to come over to my Grandmother's house for what I thought was a late 4th of July cookout. I was so happy when we got there, because the majority of my cousins, my 2 aunts and uncles, my grandmother, my sister, and my parents were all there. It is not an easy task to get everyone together at one time! As we finished up dinner, they brought out a baby cake...I thought it was really nice, but I was still clueless as to the fact that this was a surprise baby shower. After cake, my dad comes walking in with several gifts. That is when it finally hit me!! I know, I am kind of slow these days!


My family had organized this whole surprise for our little Colby!! I was so excited!!! We have not really bought Colby anything yet...I guess the shock of our situation has kind of delayed us in our preparations for his arrival. Now, though, Colby has bouncey seats, a new swing (which is great since Brody kind of made ours sit a little crooked), pajamas, diapers, wipes, loveys, onesies, etc. This makes Jason and I very happy!!!


As I have said before, we have an amazing family!!! I am so thankful that they are in our lives, and I don't know what we would do without them! God definitely blessed us, and in doing so, He has blessed Colby with such an incredible and loving support system!


Thank you family for your love and for the big surprise last night!!! We truly appreciate it!! We love you all!

Friday, July 4, 2008

Colby's Cardio Update

Jason and I returned to our cardiologist, Dr. Liske, yesterday. I have to start out by saying how thoroughly impressed we are with Dr. Liske and his office staff. We could not be happier with the treatment we have received this far, and we are positive that this is the best possible place to care for little Colby!! This makes dealing with what we are facing a little bit easier.

After an extensive echo cardiogram/ultrasound, Dr. Liske has concluded that Colby's heart is showing no change. This is so good to hear, since I of course had fears of them finding more abnormalities now that he is bigger. He also said that there is adequate blood flowing to Colby's lungs, so he should not be blue when he is born (this is a common problem for babies born with heart defects). The adequate blood flow also means that there is a very good chance Colby will not need his first surgery immediately!!!! Thank you God!!! Dr. Liske told us he was about 75% sure we would leave the hospital with our baby before he has to undergo any major surgery! This is such a blessing!!

As far as our initial stay in the hospital post delivery, which has been a huge question in our minds, Dr. Liske seems to think he will probably need around 5-7 days in the NICU for monitoring. If no other complications occur, such as feeding problems and weight gain (also another common problem for heart babies), we should be able to take him home after this week or so stay. This sounds great to us...we were fearing a much longer stay.

All in all, Colby is looking pretty good! Jason and I agree that he is probably going to be feisty and resilient...he was jumping around the whole time they were trying to look at his heart. I think we can all agree that an active baby is a good thing in our case, and he is definitely active!

While we were speaking with Dr. Liske, Jason mentioned that he would love for us to wait the full 40 weeks before we deliver. Dr. Liske did agree that it wouldn't be a bad idea...one more week to develop and grow. For me, at this point, I guess one more week of being a little uncomfortable would be worth it if it would give Colby the best start possible. So, now we just have to speak with our OB office and make sure they are okay with this. If they are, then we could deliver on August 8th. We will never have a hard time remembering this birthday...8/8/08! We will have to let you know when we finally decide on a date.

Thank you again for all of your prayers and support! It is clear from this Echo that God is answering these prayers!! God is good!

The Hitchcock Family