Well, we thought Connor was going to leave yesterday or today, but that is not the case. While all of his GI issues seem to have resolved themselves we are now back to his arm (the reason he was originally brought here). They did another ultrasound Monday morning and saw that Connor has a small blood clot in the upper part of his arm. The good thing is that the clot is not restricting his blood flow at a level that causes much concern.  When he was first admitted here they didn't find the clot, but are very certain it was there and that the tech doing the ultrasound simply missed it. A positive from this is that when they did do the initial ultrasound they tested his blood flow rate and the rate yesterday was better than on the first ultrasound. That fact lends validation to the idea that it is getting better. 

The severity of the clot seems to be fairly low to moderate, but he will have to be given a shot in his thigh twice a day for 6 weeks. Dr. Arnold does not seem to think that he has any sort of clotting disorder and that the clot was likely formed by whatever event happened inside Amy that may compromised his arm. 

Last night Connor got his first shot by the nurse and this morning Amy administered the shot. She did very well, but was nervous to stick her little man with a needle.  Amy and I both will have to be proficient in doing this before we leave as we will administer the shots from home.  They are waiting for some results to learn if they are giving him the correct dosage. Every kid is different in how much they require. 

The other issue is his the lack of movement in his left arm.  The great thing is that it has done nothing but gotten better since we have been here. The doctors seem think he could have a mild case of Erb's Palsy. If that is the case it will be something that usually resolves itself over time. However, the neurology team just came by and assessed him. They have ordered an MRI to be done on Connor just to make certain they can rule out any other type of neurological problems that may have been caused when he was compromised in utero.  They are pretty confident that the tests will come back negative, but they just want to be sure there is/was not another blood clot in his brain. Our doctor who has been very upfront and honest seems very positive that nothing severe is going on, but we won't know until after the MRI. 

A couple of things need to happen before we can leave. 1. We need to get the results from the MRI. 2. The doctors need to dial in the correct amount of blood thinner they will put him on. 3. Amy and I need to become proficient in administering his shot. 

Amy has been such a strong woman and I am so lucky to have her. Today she is struggling and has been sad as all she wants is to take her baby home with us and for him to be okay. Please continue to pray for our little man, that we continue to draw strength from Christ, and that the doctors are able to continue to treat any issues that arise. Please keep praying for Connor's buddy and neighbor Mercer and his family. 

Thanks again for sending prayers, positive energy, and thoughts our way. We can feel the spirit of The Lord working and can feel all of you in our hearts. 

Love,

Anthony, Amy, and Connor.

Sent from my iPad

It's Anthony here, we wanted to give everyone an update. Connor had a good weekend. He began breast feeding (sorry if that is tmi) and this was kind of our last "test" with respect to ruling out any other GI issues. He has been processing his food very well, so the docs feel really positive that we have no more concerns with his GI issues.

Sometime this morning the neurologist will come and examine his arm and they have ordered another ultrasound. While his arm has made progress everyday it is still not 100% and they want to make sure they can rule out everything possible before sending the us home home.

We have been very blessed to have the Ronald McDonald house here on the NICU floor. Since Connor is in the NICU and we are not patients here we can't sleep in his room. The RMH makes it possible for us to be right down the hall.  This is amazing because if we didn't have it we would be staying in a hotel a few blocks away and it would make Amy and Connor's breast feeding sessions a lot more difficult. RMH will now be a charity that we donate too and if you're looking for somewhere to throw some cash we can attest that they do amazing things and make it very convenient for families going through hard times.

Amy is doing so great and is such a strong woman. Her doctor released her from the hospital a little early, so she could be with Connor and I. Amy was in lots of pain and could barley walk but she put her pain and discomfort aside to be with us. She is getting better everyday though.  She is an amazing woman and I couldn't be any luckier.

We hope to go home today or tomorrow. Please pray that that happens.  Thanks to everyone for Your prayers, positive vibes, phone calls, and everything else. This would have been a lot more difficult with out you all.  A special thanks to Amy's parents, my mother and grandmother for being with us through this time. We love you all.

One more thing, we have made friends with the parents of another patient in Connor's NICU.  Their little guy's name is Mercer and he doesn't have very long to live. His parents are followers of Christ and trust in God's plan for them and their little guy. While it kills me to even write about this right now it is such a testament to how strong people can be with the power of The Lord watching over them.  Please pray for baby Mercer and his amazing family.

I was discharged from the hospital this morning and after a brief stop by the house I came down to memorial Hermann children's hospital to see my two boys!!  Thankfully I have had my parents by my side this whole time and they are planning on staying through the weekend.   Anthony's mom and grandmother have been down in Houston with Anthony and Connor the past two days.  We are so thankful they have all been here with us and don't know how we could have made it hrough this time without them!

Connor is absolutely adorable are getting better every day.  They don't think we will ever know what exactly happened to his arm.   They think that he had it caught on something or the cord was wrapped around it or something like that.  The important thing is that it he is moving it more, has a increased grip and his skin color is normal.  There are still two red areas and he will fuss a little bit if we mess with it too much.  They are going to have a neurologist look at it on Monday.  As for his belly he had meconium plug syndrome.  The first poop that babies have is called meconium and usually occurs in the first 24 hours.  When there is a meconium plug it is harder for the baby it pass and they usually need a little help.  This is what happened with Connor and as soon as they gave him an enema it all came out and his distended belly started getting better.  I am hopefully going to get to breast feed him tomorrow and hopefully he will start having normal poops which will allow us to go home sooner.  His breathing is great now.  He was only intubated for one day and then on  C-pap for one day and now he is breathing on his own and his O2 saturation is 100%.

Anthony and I gave him his first bath tonight and he hated it at first but LOVED getting his head rubbed and hair brushed.    

Thank you for all the sweet notes, texts, emails and prayers!  We are going to keep updating this blog when we have any news.  

Connor Joseph Hilbers was born October 3 at 4:00 pm. He weighed 7lbs, 8oz and was 19 inches long.

Monday evening I began to notice him moving much less in my belly. By Tuesday morning I was very concerned and went to my doctors office first thing in the morning. Connor had a great heart rate but had very little fetal movement. We spent the rest of the day in the hospital while I was being monitored.  After tests and an ultrasound they decided I could go home but needed to go back to the doctor first thing Wednesday.  At that time his heart rate was good but he was still not moving much.  My doctor recommended that I have a c-section as soon as possible due to the decreased fetal movement and she didn't think Connor would have tolerated being induced basically he just needed to come out.

My surgery went well and Connor came out crying and looked great!  About 30 minutes later when the neonatologist was examining Connor they noticed that there was a bump near his left elbow and suspected it might be broken... After the x ray showed no break they started to worry about some sort of vascular issue (possibly compartment syndrome) and decided he needed to be transferred to another hospital with specialists.  I made them let me get out of bed so I could see my baby before he left on the helicopter.   When the care flight team arrived I was holding his hand and talking to him.  His breathing was really labored due to pain and from being agitated so much so they decided to intubate him (breathing tube in his throat).  Connor was careflighted to Memorial Herman children's hospital in downtown Houston about 9:00 last night.  Anthony drove down there and has been with Connor all night and today.  Connor's arm has been getting much better without any intervention and they are no longer concerned about the arm.  His abdomen became distended and firm so they placed a orogastric tube which began to drain a greenish fluid.  They suspected that his intestines might be twisted so they did an x ray with dye but that didn't show any problems which is great and he didn't need emergency surgery last night.   He has already had a couple poopy diapers today so that is good news especially since they were worried about his intestines.   

Basically something was/is wrong with Connor but they are not sure what.... All the potentially bad things they suspect are being ruled out which is reassuring.  Anthony has been by his side this whole time holding his hand, talking to him and letting him know how much we love him.  He is still in the NICU and is still intubated, but hopefully they will take it out this afternoon.  We really do not know what is wrong but all the original problems are getting better.  He is moving his arm more, the color is more normal and his abdomen is much less distended.  

My doctor came by this morning and said that she will let me leave tomorrow morning which is 2 days early so that I can be with Connor.  We are planning on getting a room near the hospital downtown so that I can start breast feeding and be with Connor (I have never even held him).  Please keep us all in your prayers for a speedy recovery and no new problems so that all 3 of us an go home together soon!

So obviously I am not a consistent blogger but I am hoping that once the baby arrives I will be better so that I can keep family and friends updated on our lives.  I get asked a lot "how do you feel?"  How is the pregnancy going?" Thankfully it has been quite uneventful so I don't have much of an answer for people, but I do have a lot of thoughts on my pregnancy in general.

1. I feel so thankful and blessed that I am able to have a healthy and uneventful pregnancy and I wouldn't trade it for anything.
2.  I think people who say "I love being pregnant!" are either A. Lying or B. totally and completely crazy!  I mean seriously how can you love weighing 20+ extra pounds?  It just makes life so much harder!
3.  While sitting put a big beach ball in your lap then try to bend over to tie your shoe.  Thats hard you say?  yes, indeed it is!  Welcome to the world of pregnancy!
4.   Some nights I almost want to cry when I think "all i want to do is lay on my stomach."
5.  Waking up multiple times a night to pee is exhausting... maybe it is just getting me ready for what's to come.
6.  Walking is a fantastic means of exercise!  Coming from a girl who has gone running 5 days a week for the last 5 years... walking is so much fun! and relaxing! and enjoyable!  Don't get me wrong I am itching to start running again but I have definitely enjoyed my nightly walks with Maddie (our pooch).
7.  When someone tells you that they don't know the gender of their baby please just believe them and don't say "Oh, you are keeping it a secret!!"  I truly don't know and I won't know until that baby enters the world!

I really feel pretty normal most of the time and have yet to have any swelling or stretch marks but I think I have had a few light Braxton Hicks contractions.  I still have 5 long weeks to go so I'll just cross my fingers for the best.  Since about 15 weeks I have had some pretty killer thoracic back pains and now my low back in beginning to hurt if I am up on my feet a lot.  I have not had any weird cravings but I do crave everything I craved prior to pregnancy but now I indulge in those cravings.... ice cream, donut holes, any and all types of candy, pretty much any dessert.  In the 1st trimester I wanted to (and did) eat a Chick-fil-a sandwich and huge cup of lemonade almost every single day for lunch.

The nursery is almost done!!  I am just waiting to add one more thing and then I will post the pictures!  My mom and sister were here a few weeks ago helping us get it all together and add the finishing touches.  They were SO much help and I just love how it has turned out.  I can't help but smile every time I walk into the nursery.  All we need is a baby and we will be set =)

Here are some pictures from the past couple months.

35 weeks

32 weeks

Jason Marz concert

31 weeks

29 weeks

I am really looking pregnant these days!  The other day I was grocery shopping and they were handing out samples of wine and the worker said "would you like to try... oh nevermind!"  I guess I should take that as an clue that I obviously look quite pregnant!

18weeks 

20 weeks on our anniversary trip to downtown Houston 

24 weeks

On June 6th I went to a fetal heart specialist just to make sure that the baby's heart was looking good. First I had to sit down with a genetic specialist to discuss the possibility of our baby having some type of heart condition. I was told that every couple has about 1% chance of having a baby with a heart defect. Anthony has a 3% chance of fathering a child with a heart defect (it could be any heart defect not just the one he was born with). So 3% seems low that is 3 times more likly than most people. The interesting thing is that they have no idea why these heart defects occur. They think that it is a combination of genetics, exposure to unknown things while in utero and other unknown factors. I absolutely loved the doctor that did the echo/4D ultrasound. The heart looked PERFECT! I saw all the chambers of the heart, blood flow and all the valves. The doctor was impressed with how well she was about to visualize the heart and said that the baby has no major heart defects. She also said that there are some minor ones that do not show up on echo/ultrasound so she recommends the baby to have an echo once it is born. It was seriously amazing to see our little baby so up close and personal. It was moving its arms and legs but kept covering its face as we tried to get a good picture. So maybe this is a indication that we have a shy little one.

This is our baby's side profile at the 20 week ultrasound

This is the 4D picture of the baby's face (honestly I think this picture is a little creepy).