we welcome the Bugg

The bed-restin' mama,
prego with the Bugg

As if there wasn't enough anxiety going on with the pregnancy, I discovered that I was leaking fluid at 29 weeks pregnant. After getting checked at the hospital, they told me that my water had broke. Great. And that I would be life-flighted to the hospital. Shoot! And that I would stay there on bed rest until the baby came. Holy!!! This is all just too much! I remember wanting to bawl because I was going to miss my husband & daughter. So I get up to the hospital after a terribly motion-sick flight. I had another ultrasound and the amniotic fluid looked fine. They checked me - no, your water did not break but you've started dilating. Oh, man, those danged Braxton Hicks. So apparently, those things work on me super early. I WAS put on bed rest, but I did not have to stay at the hospital. Thank HEAVENS. We lived at my parent's house while I was on 7 weeks of bed rest. I made it past 36 weeks and then I was able to be up and about. The Bugg decided to sit tight, I guess. I was induced at 38 weeks because I was already at a 3. Good thing he was a couple weeks early because the guy weighed 8 lbs!

May 2006

What a sweetie of a lad! So cute and "normal" looking. Surely there is nothing wrong with my boy! He is perfect! All appeared to be in order so I got to take him with me into my recovery room. Yay, no brain surgery!

But just a couple of hours after delivery, I noticed his blue hands and lips. In the nurses rush and whisk him away......and then begins the quest of finding out what is up with this kiddo. His oxygen saturation levels were low as well as his body temperature. An ultrasound of the head showed Lobar Holoprosencephaly. What?!! Some people, the doc says, could have this and they don't even know it. Okay. So how will this boy turn out? Noooooo idea, no way of knowing. More sitting tight and holding on. (5 months later, we found out he did NOT have this diagnosis......we're still looking for one.) He also had an MRI done and it was discovered that his optic nerves were small and the Septum Pallucidum in the brain was completely missing, meaning Septo-optic Dysplasia. He may possibly have vision problems, they said, as well as a strew of other things that will need to be checked on a regular basis. It was also discovered that he was partially missing the Corpus Callosum of the brain, which is called Agenesis of the Corpus Callosum. Oh, wow, all these terms. How will I ever figure all this stuff out?

Bugg spent an entire week in this isolette. I could only take him out for feedings. He had to maintain his body temp and learn to breathe without needing oxygen. The Hunk & I were so blessed to have a room at the hospital where we could stay 24/7. And our wonderful family took care of our daughter. We were able to give full concentration to our newborn. We saw many doctors, asked many questions, did lots of internet searching, said many prayers, grew very tight in our marriage, and even had a good experience despite the circumstances. For one, the kid nursed like a champ! No problem whatsoever (and continued for 19 months!) We had wonderful doctors and nurses, too. Family visited often and brought Meeskii - oh, how we missed her. It was odd to see our 8-pounder boy in a room full of premie babies.

Blessed day! After one week, this special boy was good to come home. We were so happy. And while there were still so many unanswered questions and the unknown loomed in front of us, we had indeed seen a miracle, with many more miracles to come.