Peterson Plus One!

Praise Jesus first and foremost. We finally received the results of Megan’s second ultrasound. The scan shows a significant reduction in the amount of blood in her ventricle, which indicates that her body is successfully absorbing it. This is a huge step in the right direction. Complications occur when the body cannot re-absorb the blood and the clotting clogs the ventricle which results in swelling. Megan’s natural re-absorption of the blood is absolutely the best news that we could receive. God is faithful! Thank you so much for all of your prayers.

Megan will remain in the NICU for the remainder of the week, but she should make the trip home on Friday. She’ll have an additional CT scan on Thursday to get another look, followed by an ultrasound next week (outpatient) to make sure that she is still making positive progress.

I cannot say it enough, we are completely indebted to the goodness and faithfulness of our living God. He has been so faithful to us. We have also been completely blown away by the outpouring of prayer and gratitude from all of you. We’ve received prayers from people across the nation and around the globe (Thanks to Melody Dunn in Africa!).

Although we are not completely out of the woods yet, this is a huge milestone and gives us every reason to believe that Megan will be perfectly fine. In the meantime, please keep on sending your prayers.

Bless you all for your faithfulness and gratitude.

Today I thought I would be wheeled out of the hospital with my brand new baby daughter in my arms, welcome her into her new home, and lay her down in her adorably decorated nursery.  Although it didn’t happen quite the way I imagined it, Grant and I were able to end the day with some positive news.  Megan is doing great and we have every reason to be hopeful!

Her EEG results came back late today and all was fine, indicating that her brain function is normal and there are no signs of seizures which are indicative of brain swelling . Her blood culture also came back and showed that she her blood’s ability to clot is normal, giving us every hope that whatever bleeding has occurred from the intraventricular hemorrhage is no longer taking place. PRAISE GOD!

Grant and I have felt all of your prayers and trust that God is holding and comforting Megan, even when we can’t. Grant is the writer in the family, so I wish I had better words to express our sincere gratitude for your outpouring of love and support. We are humbled by how quickly and how lovingly our community has surrounded us. We are in awe of God’s goodness in the midst of this challenging time.

Monday has the potential to be a really long day as we go through more testing, particularly another ultrasound that will give us a better look at her brain since the hemorrhage. Please pray that her body will naturally re-absorb any remaining blood and leave no permanent damage. We have felt an overwhelming sense of peace and we know that it is due to your prayers, so we ask that you continue to pray for God to strengthen and comfort us.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and posts, they have given us the strength to endure this uncertain time.

Megan Irene Peterson was born on Thursday April 2, 2009 at 1:11 PM after 21 hours of labor. She weighs 8 lbs 5 oz and measures 21 inches. She is a beautiful baby girl as you can see. Although everything appeared to be normal in the hours that followed birth, she began to periodically become “dusky” or pale blue due to shallow breathing. She was immediately transferred to NICU for testing. The initial speculation was that she was suffering from acid reflux which may cause her to hold her breath momentarily. Because infants are highly susceptible to meningitis and sepsis, the doctor ordered a spinal tap and a blood culture. The spinal tap was slightly bloody which indicates bleeding in the brain, which is common (in small amounts) in newborn infants. As a precaution, a CT scan was ordered and revealed that her right ventricle has a moderate amount of blood in it due to a ruptured blood vessel. The ventricles are responsible for creating spinal fluid and when bleeding occurs in them, it can cause complications such as hydrocephalus or swelling of the ventricle and ultimately require a shunt to drain the excess fluid into the abdomen.

Best Case Scenario:
The best case scenario is that Megan’s bleeding has stopped and that her body would naturally absorb the blood in her ventricle leaving no lasting effects whatsoever.

Worst Case Scenario:
Megan could continue bleeding and/or the clotting of the blood could lead to blockage of the ventricle and ultimately lead to hydrocephalus and require the surgical implantation of a shunt. Depending on the severity of the hydrocephalus, it is possible for a child to have this procedure and live a totally normal life or, unfortunately, it is also possible for this type of complication to cause some lasting developmental problems (cognitive or physical).

Our pediatric neurologist from Texas Children’s Hospital tells us that we, at this moment, appear to look as though we will experience the “best case scenario,” but we need to keep Megan in the NICU for the next week to 10 days for observation. The most encouraging, but also disconcerting, part of this is that Megan acts and appears totally normal. She has had no more dusky episodes, is eating normally, moving all her limbs like any other baby, has great color, and all her vitals look terrific. Only time will tell what the final outcome will be.

We humbly ask for your prayers as we navigate this challenging time. Please lift little Megan up and ask for God’s miraculous healing and also for strength for Ellen and I as we watch them poke and prod our tender new baby on a nearly continuous basis.

We love you all and would like nothing more than to give you the details face to face, but we also realize that we are stretched beyond the breaking point right now and ask that you please not visit.

We trust that God is good and that his plan is perfect, but now we have to do the hardest part… wait.

Blessings to all and thank you in advance for your prayers.

Well, Ellen is having sporadic contractions and we’re anxiously waiting Megan’s arrival. If she doesn’t come naturally by Friday, we are scheduled to induce on Saturday. Frighteningly, we will be parents by Sunday (hopefully sooner).

I was posting on my other blog about what will innevitably happen to me when I cross the mystic threshold into fatherhood and I figured it was appropirate for this blog as well. As a father I must:

1.) begin wearing tevas with white socks
2.) sport a fanny pack (preferably denim) containing sunscreen, wet wipes, and chapstick at all times
3.) go bald (wait that’s already happening)
4.) drive a van that has little TV’s, DVD players, captain’s chairs, coolers, navigation systems, storage compartments, and curtains.

Does anyone know where I can buy Tevas, a denim fanny pack, and a van in one location? Is there a dad store?