First Photos!

Very intellectual from the start, as you can see ...

My first good nap since being born!

Proud Daddy if I ever saw one ...

Hangin' out with Dad in the NICU

Luke's here!

Email sent from Jesse's sister announcing the arrival of Luke:

I wanted to let you know that the unbearably gorgeous Luke Scott Smith joined our family today at 12:14pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs. 4 oz. and measured 20 1/2 inches - a big boy for my tiny little sis! This, coupled with the fact that the medical personnel were being extra careful because of Luke's heart condition, he required some suction to make his way out a bit faster. Jesse handled every moment with grace and determination.

Right after birth, Luke was able to spend a few minutes with his mommy and daddy, then he was taken down to the neo-natal ICU for tests and monitoring. Every piece of news that came out was encouraging: strong heart rate, steady breathing, good coloring, and when it came time to feed, he took to the breast like a champ!

Jes will be recovering in the hospital for the next day or so, and Luke will have to stay for two or three days before any determination is made about the timing of his first surgery. If all continues to go well, he'll be able to come home for a few weeks (or more!) before any major procedure is done. We're hoping...

In all the excitement, my mom left the camera with all the great pictures on it at the hospital. I'll send a few along as soon as I can. Y'all have to see Luke. He's gonna be a heartbreaker.

Lots of love,
Aunt Jenny

Any day now ...

Well, I'm dilated to a 3 already an 80% effaced. I like this part of labor ... my body's doing the work but I'm not in any pain yet =) My OB this morning said it's a good sign to be dilating and effacing before true labor sets in ... it supposedly can mean a shorter/easier labor. Wouldn't that be great? She also said she didn't expect to see me at my appointment next wednesday. Unreal. I'm feeling a lot of emotions right now, fear of the unknown, excitement, anxiety that we have everything ready .... Plus I'm not sleeping very well, so I think I'm all-around just low-energy. I'm planning on working through this week and if the baby hasn't come next week, working from home. They say you go into your "nesting" mode and it's true. I just want to be at home with Rog.

I thought I may be going into labor on Christmas eve ... was feeling crampy and a little nauseous, but Luke decided to hang out a while longer. Which is good! I want him to be as big as possible. Rog has been amazing. He is so attentive and available for me. I'm so thankful for a partner like him in this.

I have to share with you the coolest blessing we got on Christmas eve. We left my mom's to go home for a few hours and both of us were just feeling so unsettled. Part of it was that Dr. Stefanelli was out of town until the 26th and we really want him to be there when I go into labor. Anyway, we just prayed on the way home for peace and strength and that Luke would wait until Stefanelli was back in town. We got home and within 30 minutes, Dr. Stefanelli's number came across our caller id. I talked with him for about 15 minutes, he said he was back in town and not going anywhere and we got some last minute questions answered. He is just so calm and reassuring. God knew we needed that. What doctor calls to check in on Christmas Eve?? It was awesome.

5 weeks and 6 days to go

I am in absolute shock that I am six weeks away from meeting my son! Aaaah!

Our nursery is pretty much done, I even washed all Luke's clothes this weekend and put them in drawers. We have one more birth class this Wednesday (which we've actually really enjoyed ... although the trying out different labor positions last week got us giggling pretty good). In one station, we were supposed to put our hand in ice for 60 seconds, and carry on a conversation with your partner. Then, you switched hands for another 60 seconds, this time concentrating on visualization and breathing. Not a good sign when that didn't help at all =)) Rog said I was a sure candidate for an epidural ;-). Then I told him I'm much better under pressure =))

We met with our pediatrician we've chosen last week, and absolutely loved him. He loves the Lord and is praying for Luke's health. Next week is my last appointment with the OB before I start to go every week. At that point, they start checking to see if you're dilating! Very exciting. I have still been feeling pretty darn good. The hardest part lately is not feeling like I can get full breaths. He's really squishing my diaphragm/lungs. A few weeks before labor, the baby is supposed to "drop" which will help, I've heard.

He's still aerobicizing like crazy and I can't wait to meet this little wiggle-worm!

We had our final appointment with the pediatric cardiologist last week, and he was really happy about how Luke's heart is growing and looking. He basically is leaving it up to Luke, when his first surgery will be. Anywhere between a few weeks to a few months. Our cardiologist is so great, and has already communicated to my OB that he does not want my delivery to be any different if at all possible. I feel like he's really protecting that for us. He doesn't want extra docs in the room, or for baby to be taken right to ICU (which if not communicated, I'm sure would happen). So we're very thankful for that. He'll come by about 6 hours after baby is born, to check how he is doing. But because baby's circulation isn't truly his own for a few days, he doesn't feel like there's any need for him to be in the ICU.

So, along with Luke's heart, please keep that in your prayers, that I will have a safe and normal delivery, and that Luke will get to stay in the room with us!

Update on little Luke's heart

Our appointment went well yesterday with the cardiologist. We are still looking at a ventricular defect in Luke's heart (the right one being deficient and the left being functional). The great news about that is the left ventricle in a normal heart should be the dominant one and actually does most of the work. A much scarier scenario would be if the left were deficient.

Dr. Stefanelli starts by telling us that what he's seeing is very, very rare. Like 1 in 10,000,000 rare. Of the 400 diagrams of heart defects they have, he doesn't have one that specifically matches our case. He had to find the closest one and then draw what's different about Luke's heart. The crazy and good part is that the rarity in our case is a positive. A lot of this kind of defect has the aorta and pulmonary artery reversed. In our case, the aorta and PA are in the right spot (the aorta pumping to and from the left ventricle). So, even though this is extremely rare, he made it clear that we shouldn't equate that with complexity or severity. It's actually a bonus in our case, simply because we may not have some of the other complications that go along with the aorta and PA in the wrong places.

So, some things we learned:

• If no other complications arise between now and Luke being born, Luke will be able to wait six months for his first surgery. And his second would be at 3 years. That is definitely what we are praying for right now, that he would be able to wait and only have 2 surgeries. The first surgery is about a six day stay in the hospital and the second at 3 years is about a 9 day stay for recovery and to watch him. I can't imagine trying to keep a 3 year old resting for nine days!!! We're so thankful we'll be at Children's hospital. Dr. Stefanelli said he used to send patients with this kind of defect to have their surgery at Stanford, but he's found children's to be as good, if not better, and much closer!
• There are 3 things he's watching for as Luke's heart grows even more and right now they all look really positive (one thing is an obstruction of the aorta and another is the diameter size of the aorta compared to the diameter of the pulmonary artery — they should be fairly similar in size. If not, they have to basically band the aorta to balance out blood and oxygen flow). If for some reason, these complications arise (and we may not know until Luke is born) he would have to have a surgical fix at about a week old. The Dr. assured us this is a simple and easy procedure with less than 1% risk, but we hate the thought of having to put him in surgery that early. And even though it's a standard procedure, the time in the hospital will be longer, just because he's a newborn. Please pray that he would not have to have that first surgery! In the coming weeks, Dr. Stefanelli will have a fairly good idea if that one will be necessary, but he won't know for sure until Luke is born and they can actually get pictures of his heart (not through me). We are feeling positive, tho, that everything looked really good as of yesterday.
• The other good news we got yesterday is that Luke's heart rhythm is perfect, he's growing great, and there is no sign of fluid or stress on his heart. That's great news because he's doing well and there's no expectation that we would have to deliver him early. He still feels confident that Luke will be able to be delivered naturally, that he'll be able to breast-feed and that this is an isolated problem, with no linkage to anything developmental or chromosomal. Again, positive news!

So, bottom line is that we have a very special kid entering our lives! We'll be able to tell him he's 1 in a million and mean it! We are so thankful for this doctor's office and feel like we're in such good hands.

Dr. Stefanelli already has a surgeon in mind for us up at Children's, so we'll get to meet him before the birth.

What a journey we're on, one that will keep us dependent on the Lord and on our knees. But God is faithful to His promises and we have seen that so clearly these past 2 months. We have felt peace and strength when we least expected it, and He is continuing to unite Rog and I as husband and wife to take on the awesome task of raising this little boy.