Normal Test Results!!!

PRAISE GOD!!! All of Nolan's test are normal. He is compltely healthy!!!! What a relief. How wonderful that all of this is behind us and that Satan is defeated. God is so good. Thank you all for your continuous prayers! You have been a huge support to us through this entire ordeal and we cannot tell you how much we appreciate it.
We are so very blessed to have friends and family like you. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Wonderful News

Well....Nolan's test today was NORMAL!!! PRAISE GOD. He does not have any reflux of urine to his kidneys. That means this infection was a fluke and a one time deal. We are still waiting on some blood results and are believing that those will be completely normal as well. We will continue to keep you updated. Thanks again for all the prayers. Obviously prayer works!!

Thursday Update

Well we are at home and trying to readjust. It is almost like starting all over again. We are so thankful to be out of the hospital though. Nolan's procedure to test for urinary reflux is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10:00. We ask that you continue to pray that the test is completely normal and that Nolan has absolutely no problems or long term complications. We are also still waiting on blood results. We will continue to keep you updated as we get results back.
Thanks again for all the prayers. I know we are asking a lot. We are hoping that soon this will all be behind us and we will be getting on with a "normal" life.

Going Home!

We are going home today! PRAISE GOD!!! Nolan will get a noon dose of antibiotic and then we will be out of here. So far things with his tests are looking good. However, like I said yesterday we are waiting the results of one more blood test, the repeat Newborn screen (that tests for genetic, metabolic, and hormonal problems) and the urine test to see if he has reflux. We are continuing to believe that all will be absolutely normal!
Thank you so very much for your continued prayers! Again, we are beyond blessed to have friends and family like you. We would not be able to get through this without ya'll! We appreciate all the words of encouragement and support.
We'll continue to keep you updated as we get results back.

Tuesday Update

Still not much new. All the final test results are in and they all look good. He still has to undergo the invasive test to see if he has reflux of urine to his kidneys. That test will be next week most likely. Please continue to pray that the test is negative and we never have to deal with this again.
Also, Nolan continues to be very fussy in the late evening and night. He didn't go to sleep last night until after 1 AM. Very tiring. Please pray he gains peace and rests well at the right times.
We are for sure going home tomorrow. Praise God! We are so very ready to be in our own environment.
We really appreciate your prayers! We cannot tell you how much it means to us that you would take the time to pray for our family.

Good News/Continued Prayer Request

More good news! Nolan's blood work all looks great. His white blood cell count is almost back to normal. The CRP (inflammation level) is normal. His second urine culture was negative! Praise God.
However, the MD still highly recommends that we stay in the hospital for a total of 7 days to ensure that he continues to recover and does not relapse. She mentioned that the real reason for this is that there is simply no literature that indicates guidelines for our situation and Nolan's age. So basically we are erring on the side of caution. Frustrating because that keeps us in the hospital, but good because we will be able to go home worry free. He will still be on antibiotics when we go home, but for 7 days. He still has to endure the test to see if he has some urine reflux into his kidneys.
So our prayer requests continue. Please pray he continues to improve. Also that he does not catch any other bug or infection from being in the hospital. Please pray the test is negative and that he does not have any urinary reflux. Please pray for financial provision so that we are able to pay for the hospital bill quickly.
We are so very appreciative of all the prayers and support. We could not get through this without such wonderful friends and family.

More updates

Well good news and frustrating news. So far his second urine culture shows no growth after 24 hours. This is great, but they will not actually say it is negative until 48 hours. The antibiotics he is on seem to be working well. However, the MD who rounded on Nolan today called the Infectious Disease Center to run our situation by them. They strongly suggested because of how young he is that he be on IV antibiotics for 7 days and then oral antibiotics for 7 days just to be safest. This of course means we have to stay in the hospital until at least Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Although this is tedious and frustrating, if it is the safest way to go we are ok with that. This is not final, we will talk with the MD more in depth tomorrow morning. However, a second issue that we are now facing is that of the financial cost of such a long hospitalization and so soon after I was in the hospital for several days with his birth. Health care these days is not cheap even with insurance. Please pray that God provides abundantly and that these hospital bills do not put an added burden on us. Thanks again for everything!We are blessed to have friends and family like you and we don't take that for granted.

Saturday Update

Well, Nolan seems to be showing conflicting traits. Clinically he looks great. He is eating wonderfully, filling his diapers well, and hasn't run a fever since Thursday morning. However, his urine still looks pretty bad. On a positive note his blood culture and spinal fluid cultures were negative. That means he did not have infection in his spine or his blood. This is a very good thing. Right now we are playing the waiting game. He will continue to get antibiotics to get rid of the bacteria in his urine. Tomorrow he will get blood tests again (a complete blood count and the crp to test for inflammation). When those results and repeat urine culture results come back it will be decided if we get to go home tomorrow or on Monday. We are praying of course for tomorrow, however we do not want to go home and then have to turn around and come back. We also don't want to go home and worry that he might not be getting better. Most likely next week he will have the test to see if he has any reflux of urine into his kidneys. We are praying hard that this test is negative. If it is positive it is possible that this could be a life long issue for him. We prayed and sewed for a healthy baby through our pregnancy. We are believing that this will hold true and he truly is healthy without long term issues. Thank you for praying with us and for us. We appreciate it so very much.

New Update

Well there isn't too much to tell at this point. Some good and some not as good. Nolan had blood work and a urine test today. His white blood cell count has come down some, but not as much as we expected. The other blood test that looks at how much inflammation there is in his body as a result of infection actually went higher, which was frustrating. According to the MD this can happened occasionally, but we will certainly be looking for it to come down soon. His urine still looks rough, but some better than it did. Things just seem to be going a little slower than everyone would like.
Good news is that he is eating very well and is more alert. He has not had a fever since yesterday morning. We are waiting on the cultures and sensitivity to ensure he is on the correct antibiotics.
We want to say thank you so much for all the prayers and encouragement. We are believing that Nolan is healed already, we are just waiting on the labs to show it. We will be in the hospital at least until Sunday. It is a 50/50 chance we will go home that day. Please continue to pray that things get better each day and we can return home soon. Hospitals are no fun! And Jonathan can't stay the night because there is no place for him to sleep. I certainly can't leave because I am Nolan's source of food. It will just be nice to return to some semblance of normalcy.
We'll keep you updated!

Nolan Update

Nolan had a renal ultrasound today which was completely normal. Praise God! We are now waiting on urine and blood culture results. If they are negative and his fever stays down then we can go home. If it is positive he has to have an invasive test to see if he is refluxing urine into his kidneys. Please pray that his cultures are negative and this is just a one time fluke never to return.
Thanks so much for the prayers. We really appreciate it and know they are working.
I'll continue to keep you updated.

Prayer Needed!

Hey everyone. We have not so good news. Nolan has been admitted to the hospital due to fever. It is a long story and he has been through so many tests. Currently the main issue seems to be a bad urinary tract infection. He goes for another test today and then more blood work tomorrow. We are in the hospital until at least Friday. Nolan is so new and precious to us. This issue was very much unexpected and difficult to deal with. Fortunately we have a Good God. He has a plan to prosper Nolan, not to harm him.
We will keep you updated. Thanks so much for the prayers and support.

First Day By Myself!

Well today is the first day Nolan and I are by ourselves. Hemi (our lab) is here of course, but he can't get things for me like Jonathan can. So far so good. Last night was a little rough. Turns out Nolan has some reflux issues when he eats too fast and swallows too much air. Scary moments when your 13 day old throws up all you just fed him. But he's better now and I have made some adjustments in how I feed him. He also stays upright now for a minimum of 30 min after a feeding and we work on getting good burps.
I actually didn't cry when Jonathan left this morning. Probably because I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to say goodbye, but hey...no tears is a good thing regardless of why. For now Nolan is back on his schedule and he actually did it all by himself. So I will enjoy the predictability of feedings and nap times as long as it lasts.

So much for the schedule!

Well, Friday Nolan hit a growth spurt sending our wonderful schedule into a tail spin. Who knows what schedule he is on now. As the days go by it has become evident that our little man likes to sleep late at night and into the morning, but come afternoon and evening he is wide awake. The only real problem with this is that he becomes overly tired from not napping and then won't go to bed until midnight. This is not very good for Jonathan and me. So please pray that he gets back on a schedule of some sort so Jonathan and I won't go insane from lack of sleep.
Last night was the first night I got up by myself to feed Nolan. Jonathan has to go back to work tomorrow and needs to catch up on sleep. Things went well overall. At what was supposed to be a 4:45 AM feeding, Nolan didn't actually eat until 5:20. I guess he decided he wasn't all that hungry after all. Other than that it went relatively well. I pray tonight is even better.
I am pretty sure he is growing. Certainly feels heavier when I pick him up. I go for my two week check on Wednesday and Nolan goes for his first well check on Thursday. My biggest prayer is that Monday and Tuesday go well since it will be my first time at home all day by myself. I still cannot carry Nolan up and down the stairs so we will be downstairs all day. Jonathan will come home at lunch if he can, which will be nice.
Nolan has been a wonderful blessing and a great adventure, but I tell you what...no one can prepare you for life with a newborn. I've read about every book out there and talked to numerous people who have been through it. But experiencing it is in a world by itself. My goal is to cherish each moment, even the ones where he won't sleep and I don't know what to do. Life is so fleeting and he will be big before I know it.

Another day.

Not too much to report. We are starting to settle into a routine. Nolan mostly eats on a 3, 6, 9 , 12 schedule, which is nice for predictability. Overall he is doing really well with this.
I am getting very sad about Jonathan going back to work on Monday. He has been such a huge help and I have really enjoyed spending all this time with him. I am afraid I'll go through Jonathan withdrawals. Its great to realize how much I like my husband!
Thanks again to everyone who has brought us meals and has been a huge support. We really appreciate it.
Please continue to pray for strength and energy for Jonathan and me and also for healing for me. Recovering from surgery is no fun at all. We went to Target yesterday just to pick up a few things and I realized real quick I can do far more in my head than my body is ready for. I'm getting there though. I also realized that when I am cleared to start exercising again, cardio is going to kick my rear end. I'll have to start back very slow.
We'll continue to keep you updated.

Wonderful Husband

All I have to say is that I have an amazing husband. He has done an amazing job since we have been home. He has helped with Nolan. Gotten items for me since I am limited in my ability to go up and down the stairs. He has kept a positive attitude even in frustrating moments. He is a great dad and husband! I really don't know what I am going to do when he goes back to work. We are worked so well together it has been amazing!
We are continuing to adjust. Life is beyond crazy. Time is flying. Nolan is already a week old. Hard to believe. Keep praying that our schedule starts to pan out and that Nolan continues to feed and sleep well. We are having some issues with him wanting to fall asleep during feeding and wanting to stay awake when it is time for bed. But what baby doesn't go through these things?
Thanks for all the tons of support from friends and family! The meals have been wonderful and a blessing. We could not do this without you.

Adjusting

The first day and night went great. Saturday and Saturday night were a little tougher. He likes to stay awake in the AM and then again at night and sleep all day. But things are overall going well. He is nursing well for the most part. He loves to cuddle, so when he gets close he wants to sleep. Therefore he has to eat pretty much naked!
He is too cute! He makes lots of adorable noises and interesting faces. We have had several visitors and will have tons more today. Hopefully he'll be worn out and sleep good tonight.
We'll keep updating.

He's here!

Well......we are happy to welcome Nolan Bryce Seymour to our family. He was born last night at 11:04 PM. He is 19 3/4 inches long and right at 7 pounds.
Unfortunately he was born via c-section. Things progressed well for a while, but then I got stuck at 5-6 cm and Nolan's head was continuing to descend despite me not being dilated. This caused his heart rate to decrease several times for a significant amount of time. Thus the c-section.
In the end we are happy to have a healthy baby and a healthy mom. I think my biggest frustration comes from all the preparing and research we did on natural child birth. It was all natural until surgery.
He is too cute! I know I am completely biased, but still he is so darn cute. I will post pictures when I can. We'll keep you updated on how he is doing and when we will be heading home.
Thanks again for all your prayers! We couldn't have done it without you.

Baby Seymour is Coming Today!!!!!

Yay! My water broke at 11:45 today at work. It was hilarious now that I look back on it. I went upstairs to eat lunch. Drug reps bring lunch most days. Today it was from Firehouse Subs. They usually bring warm subs and put them in a cooler on the floor to keep them warm. I squatted down to pick out a sub and felt a little pop. The next thing I knew I was soaking wet. I stood up said "oh crap" and flew out of the room holding myself like a 2 yo who had to go. I had to go downstairs to get to an open bathroom. On the way down I called for Debbie (she is a lady at work who knows everything and fixes everything). When I got to the bathroom of course I was still gushing (sorry, probably TMI). Well they got me a towel and Sandra (another lady from work) called Jonathan. Every time I thought I was done leaking and stood up, it started again. I had no idea there was that much fluid in me.
Well, Jonathan got there and we left with tons of well wishes and hugs from co-workers. They say that you are supposed to make sure you have half a tank of gas or more in your car from 36 weeks on. Well we have been very good about this until today. My gas light came on today on the way to work. So on the way home we stopped for gas.
Now we are at home waiting for things to really get started. I have had several contractions, but nothing too bad yet. We will do our best to keep you posted. Please pray that he comes quickly. If he comes during business hours then the Nurse Midwife that I really want will deliver me!
We are so very very excited. Thanks for sharing in our joy!

Slight Progress

I went in the OB today because I had had so many contractions over the weekend. She checked me and said I am almost 2 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and he has dropped to -2 station. All of this is good, just not quit what I had hoped for. She thinks the baby is about 7 pounds, but very likely long because of how bunched up he is in my tummy. She thinks I will go sometime this week, but said she is wrong as often as she is right.
Please continue to pray that I go into labor when she can deliver me. This would be amazing and it would be so comforting for her to deliver me since she is on the same page as I am. We really appreciate all the prayers and encouragement. Now that I know things are ok and normal I can concentrate on being positive and excited.
I am headed back to work tomorrow. I couldn't stand staying at home again just waiting and waiting. It is like waiting for the water to boil. We will continue to keep you updated.

Prodromal Labor Stinks!

I am apparently having prodromal labor...almost all of which is during the night. For those of you that do not know what this is, it is basically labor contractions that are regular and uncomfortable, but that do not progress. This started Tuesday night and has happened almost every night since then. Last night Jonathan and I very much thought I was is active labor. The contractions were 3-4 min apart, getting stronger and very uncomfortable. Then 4 hours into it (3:30 AM) things just kind of stopped.
So obviously things are getting close, I am just not sure how many more sleepless nights I can take. We are trying to stay positive and catch naps when we can. Please keep us in your prayers. It is a tough time right now. It is tough to stay positive and excited with things continuing to start and stop so many times.