Lucas Camilo

Krista went into early labor on July 28, the day we flew into Seattle for a visit with family.  We sent out a number of emails during the 2 1/2 weeks we were there and decided to post those here since they form part of the story of Lucas’s early life.

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JULY 29, 2009

Hello friends,

We wanted to send out a brief update to let you know about some developments with Krista’s pregnancy, as we hunker down in the 100 degree heat of Seattle.

We safely made it to town yesterday but shortly after arriving decided to go to the hospital because Krista was having some pretty bad pains.  As it turns out, she was having contractions, which is way too early for her to be going into labor.  So the doctors here at Swedish Hospital put her on some medication that slowed the contractions, and they ended up draining a bunch of excess amniotic fluid that was likely causing the early contractions.  After that, Krista felt a huge relief of the pressure she’d been feeling and you’ll be happy to know that she’s now resting comfortably in the air conditioned hospital room, and though we’re a little bored, our spirits are solid.

Unfortunately, the doctors have recommended that Krista stay in the hospital for a least a couple more days while they wait for more test results to come back and make sure the contractions don’t start up again.  The various tests that have come back so far show that the baby is healthy.  But it’s a little discouraging to be spending a so much time in a hospital when we were all set to have a natural home birth back in Washington DC, without drugs and other invasive tests.  Most of the doctor’s are nice and answering our questions, and we’ve been in constant contact with our midwife in DC.  It’s also nice to have Burke’s family nearby and we look forward to seeing Krista’s family soon.  Sadly we had to cancel the party scheduled for this Friday in Portland since they won’t let us out of the hospital yet (though Krista has considered tying sheets together and escaping out the window :)

Among the things that we’ve learned is that the baby is probably 2 weeks to a month further along then we had thought, which makes the likely due date late September rather than late October.  We’ve managed to avoid figuring out the sex, and from the pictures we saw on the ultrasound it looks like a feisty little thing… we just hope it holds off a few more months to come out!
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AUGUST 1, 2009

we’re writing to update you on the crazy situation we found ourselves in upon arriving to Seattle last tuesday afternoon.  First and foremost we want to thank everyone for your wonderful emails, calls of support, and visits to the hospital.  It’s felt great to receive such love during a rather scary moment for us and our baby.

We’ve been in the hospital since Krista started having early contractions (on the airplane!) and was eventually admitted and put on some drugs that helped slow down the contractions.  Her amniotic fluid was very high, but once it was drained she felt a big relief and the contractions slowed, and then all but stopped.  Meanwhile, the fluid has remained stable, and all the baby’s vital signs are excellent.  The other piece of good news we got the other day is that the chromosome tests came back normal which means the baby does not have any genetic defects.

So its quite possible that the baby will come out and they’ll find that nothing at all is wrong.  But some of the signs – such as the large excess of amniotic fluid and the small stomach showing on the ultrasounds – lead the doctors to surmise that there’s a blockage in the esophagus that’s preventing the baby from ingesting fluid.  This condition, called esophageal atrasia with  tracheoesophogeal fistula (how’s that for a name!) is a fairly common birth defect that can be fixed through surgery in the first few days of the baby’s life.   So we’ve been talking to the pediatric surgeon about what the procedure looks like, and are heartened by the fact that it has a near 99% success rate… especially if the baby reaches full term.

So that’s the big challenge at this point: to keep the contractions down and prevent early labor.  This probably means that Krista will be on bed rest or partial bed rest for the remaining 2 months of her pregnancy.  That kinda sucks, we admit, but under the circumstances its not so bad.  The other downside, of course, is that its up in the air whether we’re going to be able to make in back to Washington DC anytime soon.   Luckily we’re not scheduled to fly back until August 13 so we’ve got between now and then to keep monitoring Krista’s condition and make a call on whether to return.  Both Swedish hospital (where we are now) and Children’s hospital in DC have some of the best pediatric surgeons around so we’ll be in good hands either way.  And we’ve got lots of family and friends in Seattle, too, so it would be a good place to have the baby.

that’s the update.  Again, its been amazing to get so many thoughtful emails and calls from friends and family, and we can tell you that are spirits are high and that we’re excited to meet the baby… come september! :)

much love, krista and burke

PS: we just received the news that krista gets to leave the hospital!

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AUGUST 15, 2009

Well friends, we made it safely back to Washington DC… and we still haven’t had the baby!  Though s/he is certainly anxious to see the world.

Earlier this week we were back in the hospital with more contractions and it was looking like we might just have to wait it out in Seattle until the baby arrived… which would have been great on one hand since we had so much good support and love from family and friends in the Northwest over the past few weeks.  But ultimately we wanted to get back to our home in DC, ’cause we just can’t stay away from 90 degree humidity.  Oh, and we’re moving into a new house tomorrow :)   So with doctors approval we hopped a plane this morning and made it safe and sound.  And though we’ve spent all afternoon packing, its nice to be back.

The baby remains healthy, having grown a lot over the past 3 weeks, and its kicking more and more everyday.  Though a home birth might be out of the question at this point, we’re excited to be back working with midwives instead of dealing with hospitals (though a lot of the doctors ended up being very helpful.)  We’re exploring the possibility of a co-managed birth with a midwife and doctor in a hospital, and we’ll see how things progress in the coming weeks.  One thing that’s clear is that the baby is a rebellious little one; not only is s/he trying to see the light of day long before 9 months, but its not allowing us pin down the estimated due date.  In fact, the latest ultrasounds have us back to thinking that the birth should be some time in October, which means that Krista still has a lot of bed rest ahead of her.

So send us fun stuff to keep her busy at our new house!  Or give a call now that we’re settled back in.
thanks again for all the support and positive thoughts.

(note: Baby Lucas arrived about 36 hours after we sent this last email)