It's A ...

It's official! As of May 11th we found out that we're having a baby boy! We're very excited, especially since we had a boy's name all picked out and couldn't even think of a girl's name. We decided that since my dad had all girls and this is going to be the first grandson on my side, that we'd name him after my dad so Rodney Hammer Harper he shall be!

A few weeks ago we got to find out the hard way that this little boy is already trying to find ways to scare his mom to death. We went in on a Wednesday for a regular appointment and heartbeat check. I wasn't worried since I hadn't noticed anything unusual and he was moving pretty regularly, he was even kicking a bit right when the doctor came in. Dr. Horsely seemed to have a hard time getting the heartbeat but I figured it was just because the baby was rolling around but he wanted to be sure so he had us go back to do a quick ultrasound. Once he started to do the ultrasound he explained that he'd heard an irregular heartbeat and had wanted to double-check with an ultrasound. The ultrasound confirmed what he thought he'd heard. Apparently one of the few things that really worries an OBGYN is an irregular heartbeat. He told us that he wanted to send us upstairs to Labor and Delivery for more monitoring and possible preparation for an emergency C-section. That's right, C-section. At that point all I could think about was my friend LeeAnn who had to have an emergency C-section at 28 weeks and I was only 24 weeks along, not even as far as she was! We went upstairs and got checked in. It was so surreal. One minute we're waiting for a simple heartbeat appointment, the next I'm gowned up in a bed with monitors strapped to my stomach and vials upon vials of blood being sucked out of my arm. They had the heartbeat on the speaker so we pretty much just sat there and listened as his heart beat at a normal 150 and then dropped to 70 before going back up to 150. This happened over and over the entire time that we were there. While they were monitoring the heart they also had a sonogram tech come up and do all of the measurements again. While all of this was incredibly scary it was also hard to believe that anything could be wrong with my active little boy. I've actually never felt him move as much as he did during all of those tests. He hated the monitors and would either roll out of the way or kick them. We could actually hear over the speaker when he would kick at it. If it hadn't been so freaky it would have been funny! After about half an hour Dr. Horsely came in and told us that he'd been on the phone with a specialist down at McKay Dee and that he'd had him listen to the recording of the heartbeat. The specialist was positive that it was heart block. Normally they'd send us right down to the other hospital for more monitoring but with a heart problem there are other symptoms such as lethargic movements and underdeveloped growth. Our little guy was obviously extremely active and after the sonogram they realized that his growth was exactly where it was supposed to be. Since everything else was right on they decided we'd be ok to go home until our appointment with the specialist on Friday. We got to check out and go home and then we (meaning Nolan) called our parents. Obviously he called his mom but I couldn't stop crying so he had to call my mom as well. Later that night my parents came over and Nolan and my dad gave me a great blessing. I cannot begin to express how thankful I am to have the priesthood in my life. Having that blessing helped me to calm down and focus on being positive.

On Friday we drove down to the University of Utah to meet with the specialist. The first thing we did was get yet another ultrasound. At that point we got to feel really hopeful because the ultrasound tech could find absolutely nothing wrong. His heartbeat was strong and steady and there was no sign of anything wrong. We waited again before we met the specialist and tried not to get our hopes too high. When the specialist came in he was very excited. He had been certain that what he heard had been heart block but apparently once heart block presents itself, it doesn't come and go, it just stays. He said it was probably Premature Atrial Contraction which is much more common in mothers, not the babies but is absolutely nothing to worry about.

I cannot begin to describe the relief I felt as we walked out of the hospital. It was unreal. All the stress and anxiety of the past few days was gone and everything was going to be ok. All the crazy scary scenarios that had been running through my head weren't going to happen. Even though we had complete assurance from the specialist that everything was fine I still wasn't completely reassured until we had a follow up appointment with Dr. Horsely last week. He found the heartbeat as soon as he set the monitor on my stomach and it was strong and steady. We'll still do one more ultrasound in a few more weeks to make sure but Nolan and I both feel very good about our little guys health. On the plus side we did get some follow up confirmation that he is indeed a boy! I know without a doubt that Heavenly Father was looking out for us and I could not be more thankful for all of the blessings that we've received.

So as of right now I'm 28 weeks along which puts me in the third trimester and my only real complaints are lots of swelling and a little bit of heartburn.