What an exciting week it has been around the LeMaster household! This is my first week as a "temporary" stay at home mom, and Dave is not starting his job until after Jake is born, so we have been able to get quite a bit done around the house. It has been nice to be off work together, without school work or studying being the priority! Although I already miss my co-workers and kids at school, I am SO excited for our big day!
Speaking of the big day, at our doctors appt on Monday, she set the time and date for Baby Jake to make his entrance into the world!! We are happy to announce that Baby Jake will be arriving Monday, October 4th, between 8:30-9:00 a.m.!!!!
Also, we received the results of our last amnio on Monday. The tests showed that Jake's condition is NOT the result of an x-linked chromosome!!!!!!!! This is fabulous news and we are so thankful. An x-linked chromosome would have meant more severe delays as well as possible other problems. Also, we have decided to take Jake to Duke University Hospital as soon as he is released for travel. They are the only place in the nation right now that will perform cord blood transfusions for children with hydrocephalus. This is still an experimental procedure, but, after many, many hours of research and talking to all of our doctors involved in Jake's care, we feel like the potential benefits greatly outweigh the minimal risks involved. So, basically, the doctor will collect his cord blood after he is born, we will ship it to Duke, and they will store it for us until he is released to travel. We will then go to Duke, where they will give him back his own blood through an IV. Because the cord blood contains stem cells, which are the building blocks for all cells in the body, doctors are hopeful that they are able to help heal any areas of the brain that suffered trauma. We will probably never have "proof" that is definitively helped to heal any part of Jake's brain, but there has been significant positive improvement in children with CP. We prayed about this and talked to our doctors, and we feel that it is something that will be a positive experience for our family.
And, just because the teacher in me cannot resist, I would like to recommend a book to all of you with children from birth to adulthood. It is called The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease. It is a book written for adults to explain the importance of reading aloud to your children every day and how to choose books appropriately. The back of the book also includes a wonderful list of the author's favorite books for each age with a short description of each. One of the chapters in this book gives results of research that shows that 10 books a day can significantly boost brain development in children. Thanks to my mom and myself, Jake's library already contains over 400 books, and we will be reading at least 10 to him every day!
Also, anyone living in TN or surrounding areas, do not forget to register your baby with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. This is a free foundation that provides FREE quality children's books to every child ages birth through Kindergarten. They send one a month through the mail. It is an awesome program!! Who doesn't love free books??