Tis the Season - December 2015

December was really up and down for us. Between all the tests and Drs appointments we were pretty drained and worn out. But, we also had a lot of fun things to do and we worked really hard to still enjoy the season. We saw so many miracles and blessings this month that it really added to the spirit of Christmas in our home. Even with the hard things we are going through we are really blessed.

Abe turned 4 this month! His favorite things are Play Doh and super heros and when he can combine the two he is VERY happy. He loves Pizza and would probably eat it for every meal if we would let him. He takes really good care of his little sister and is excited to have another sister soon.

I usually really like to make fun birthday cakes for the kids. This year I was not feeling up to it BUT we came up with the idea of letting Abe make his own cake! He was so proud of his work and I think he will remember this for years to come. I love my little chef and I am glad there are ways we can help him discover the things he loves to do.

 Not only did he mix the cake mix and do the baking but he also did a lot of the decorating. I put down a layer of frosting and wrote "Happy Birthday Abe" on the cake, but the rest was up to him. He concentrated so hard and put a lot of energy into decorating. Monet sat close by and watched him work. It was a really sweet moment.

The finished product!

We had family and friends over for a party and Abe really liked showing off his creation. I think he had a really happy birthday.

Tyson continues to work on the castle for our little ladies. Monet loves every part of the process!

With Bridget's heart condition, every week that she stays in is a pretty big milestone. She was ALMOST delivered at 27 weeks, so I was pretty excited when I reached 28 weeks and she was still cooking!

We took Abe and Monet to the Aquarium. We had no idea that SANTA and MRS CLAUSE would be there! The kids were more excited than they look in the picture. Abe told Santa he would like "presents" for Christmas and Santa let him know that he thought he could make that happen. Mrs Clause called Monet by name and Monet thought that was pretty cool.

After we saw Santa we went around and saw the rest of the Aquarium. The kids were so interested in the fish that they wouldn't turn around for any pictures. They really loved it!

 I was able to go to a sock exchange party with some friends in the neighborhood. It was so fun to get out and have some girl time. Plus I got some AMAZING socks!

The work on the Castle continues.....

 We went out as a family to Tucanos for Tyson's birthday. It was really fun because we were able to meet up with some of his sisters, his brother and his parents. The kids also really loved seeing the lights that are up all over The Riverwoods.

We spent the night at Nana and Papa's house for Christmas Eve. Natalie and her boys were there too and the kids thought that was really cool! Here they are in their awesome BYU jammies from Nana.

 The morning of Christmas we made them sit on the stairs together. Can you tell they are excited to see what Santa brought!?!

 It is so fun to watch the kids opening their gifts. It is also really sweet when they get excited to give gifts and watch others open theirs. These kids make my heart so very happy.

There was A LOT of snow up there! So Tyson built a snow cave for the kids and Natalie built a big sledding hill! All the cousins spent hours outside playing in the snow and it was so fun to see how excited they were just for snow!

We spent some holiday time at Grami and Grandpa's house as well. We love decorating graham cracker houses with them! The kids worked really hard making their houses perfect, and of course filled their bellies with sugar at the same time!

Tyson discovered the joy of Legos. Abe got Legos from Santa but I think Tyson has spent more time playing with them than Abe has! Maybe we will have to get Tyson his own set :)

AND construction on the clubhouse has begun! This is the area ABOVE the bed cubby. Tyson and his Dad built an area that is great for the kids to play in. As progress continues I will post more pictures.

We celebrated Tyson's Birthday/New Years Eve at the McBride house this year. Spent time playing games with family, watching movies, eating food and really enjoying the wrap up of the year 2015. On to bigger and better things in 2016!

Even with everything that was going on it was an amazing month. We have been so blessed and the support we have felt has been overwhelming. We love our family and friends and we are so thankful for everyone around us.

Baby Bridget's Beats - 31 weeks - Echo #3

Today was another marathon of appointments for little miss Bridget. We started out our morning at Primary Childrens where we had an echocardiogram done for her heart. These scans take a VERY long time and they are getting hard on me physically. Anyone who has been pregnant knows how hard it can be to lay on your back for an extended period of time. Add in the tension of trying to hold still and the anxiety of getting your unborn child checked out and it is just not a fun thing... I had a really rough time of it this morning. I had to sit up several times and take breaks throughout the scan. BUT, we got it done!

The Dr is very pleased with the way the echo went today. He said Bridget is hanging in there really really well. Her heart rate was at 63 today and that is stable for her! She is growing really well. Everything physically is on pace and she is still blowing them away at how well she is doing. (Yes I did still have extra students and Drs scanning me to view the condition again this time.)

I then took a half a mile walk (yes I logged it today) to my next appointment at the main U of U Hospital. Met with an OB from my new group of Drs and got an update on how things are going pregnancy wise.

Bridget is measuring at 31 weeks gestation which is perfect because I am 31 weeks along! Pregnancy is going well. It is looking like Bridget and I will make it to 39 weeks and that is when we plan on delivering. So, we won't have a leap day baby like we thought. But, if she can make it to 39 weeks, she will be born around the 22nd of February. Cross your fingers!

The Dr and I had a talk about depression. I let her know that I suffered pretty severely from "baby blues" after my other pregnancies and I can already feel the depression setting in right now with all that is going on. We talked about the real effects that depression can have and how things might be heightened with our current situation. She warned me that I might find that I feel guilty a lot after Bridget is here. (If I am with my two toddlers at home I might feel I am abandoning my baby in the NICU, or if I am visiting my baby in the NICU I might feel I am abandoning my two kids at home). I let her know the guilt I was already feeling because it is MY autoimmune disease that caused her this harm in the first place. We talked a lot of about real feelings and it was really nice of her to go into details and examples with me. Makes me feel more normal and it helps me be aware of some feelings that could come up in the future. Depression is a VERY real thing and I am so glad to have a Dr that understands and can help. She started me on some antidepressants and I am so glad they are safe for baby and safe for me to start right now! It takes a few weeks for them to really take effect so I am glad I can start even before Bridget gets here, it makes me feel more calm.

Once I finished up there I was sent downstairs to have some blood drawn. My bloodwork from two weeks ago had high thyroid levels. Which could mean I have hyperthyroidism. This is easily medicated and could even be only a temporary thing but if we are having "real talk" I will tell you the news hit me a little hard. I am tired of new diagnosis coming my way. I am tired of adding on medications.  But, we will just have to wait for the test results and go from there. Take it one thing at a time, right?

After I had my blood drawn I made my half mile walk back down to my car and headed out. Bridget is stable and is doing well. I am to keep up with my fetal movement monitoring every day, up my calorie intake and rest when I feel my body needs it. Just need to keep her in there another 8 weeks!

The next echo isn't for 4 more weeks! I do have other appointments between now and then to keep an eye on things, but it is really good that they feel comfortable enough to wait for the next echo. Good job Bridget! Keep fighting girl!

Baby Bridget's Beats - 29 Weeks - 2nd Echo

Braved the crazy roads this morning to make it to Primary Childrens in time for my appointment. We have been getting a lot of snow in the last 48 hours especially in Salt Lake City and I was really worried about getting there. I left the house at 5:45 in the morning! The roads weren't too bad and I arrived around 7:15 for my 7:45 appointment. Lucky for me I took my book with me and read in the quiet waiting room just glad to be safe and off those icy roads.

Today baby Bridget had another Echo Cardiogram done of her heart. These things take a REALLY long time and I have to lay on my back the whole time for them which is not always easy. Bridget was in a really good position for her heart to be viewed but it was a really bad position for my bloodflow so we ended up having to take a few breaks in the middle so I could try to get comfortable. The echo went well and I was able to let a student practice her ultrasound skills while we waited for the Dr to review the data.

Bridget is growing well. I am 29 weeks along and she is measuring right on track. Her heart rate is at 64 BPM and is staying very stable. It doesn't look like any further damage has been done to the heart muscle itself so that is a good sign. The Drs have high hopes that the damage that we have already seen will be the only damage done, but there is always a chance at those antibodies could continue their attack, we just have to keep monitoring.

The Drs really love me and Bridget. Normally with this condition there are other things going on as well. Normally the baby has fluid building where it shouldn't be, the placenta is in the wrong place, there might be damage to the fetal body or something going on with the mom. Bridget and I are in really good health other than her heart block. So the Drs are in AWE every single time I go in. One of the Drs today even asked my permission to use the echo photos in his next book because the rest of her is so healthy that it is really easy to see and study her heart block. I am taking this as a good sign that our odds are better than the ones I have read about online. I also like that there are more smiles in the room than there are worried looks. The Drs know that little Bridget is stable and this allows them to relax and really study her condition. She is already a fighter and I love that little lady so much!

After my echo was finished I HIKED up to my next appointment. Now anyone familiar with the University of Utah Hospital knows it is HUGE. I started at the bottom of the hill in the Primary Childrens Outpatient building and walked all the way up to the top of the hill to the main University Hospital building. (Logged things this morning, I took 3263 steps and 7 flights of stairs going between appointments and then back to my car.) Good thing I am healthy and can actually make the trek! It is a lot easier for me to walk all that way than it would be to drive up there multiple times a week so I will take it!

I was able to meet with the Dr that will likely deliver my baby. She and I had our first appointment today and I was lucky enough to be there at a time where my specialist from the Murray Hospital was there (he happened to be walking down the hall as I walked in, saw me and just came with me to my appointment) so the three of us sat down and chatted. Dr Branch (specialist from Murray) was able to give Dr Sullivan (my new OB at the U of U Hospital) the medical run down so I didn't have to remember all the big words and everything. Dr Sullivan is really kind and she is also very hopeful based on the information she has and the monitoring she was able to do today. She thinks I will make it to 37-38 weeks!

I have some new diet requirements to make sure Bridget is gaining enough and the right kind of weight. I am still on my strict fetal movement requirements and I will continue my many appointments to keep her monitored. But, really nothing is new today! Same steady heart rate, same amount of damage, same little fighting Bridget!

Baby Bridget's Beats - 28 Weeks

Baby Bridget and I went in to the doctor yesterday. Because of my wonderful fainting spell last week I had to reschedule our first visit with the MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) office and I am glad to say we got through the appointment with no problems! No more passing out in the hallway for me!

My mom came with me to this appointment because I was pretty nervous. She and I were talking so much in the waiting room (she was doing a good job of distracting me from my anxiety) that we didn't hear my name called the first time! After they called "Candace" once someone else started calling for "Courtney"..... after about 10 calls for "Courtney" they realized that they were calling the wrong name! Lucky for me..... or not..... they all remembered me from my fainting spell and knew I wouldn't have left before my appointment. I guess this pregnancy is going to be very memorable for many people!

Here are the updates:

I have reached 28 weeks in this pregnancy. This is a great milestone for us because typically all the damage done, by the SSA antibodies that I carry, is done by 28 weeks gestation. So my body should stop attacking little Bridget's heart at this time and no further damage should be done. This means there shouldn't be any damage to the actual heart muscle, just the communication center (as I discussed in a previous post). So YAY!

 Bridget is a rare lady already. Her condition does not come up a lot and this means that A LOT of different people want to check her out and see how her heart works. Yesterday I had 4 DIFFERENT ultrasounds in one appointment because 4 different people wanted to check things out and discuss things. It is a little weird being the one to "bring in the show" but I am starting to appreciate that my pregnancy is one they can study. It is very interesting to me that everything else in my pregnancy is so healthy, so it allows this one condition to really be looked at. That is part of what makes Bridget so rare, usually there are other complications in the pregnancy and usually the damage is onset earlier in gestation. Our little lady is already really special and I am SO glad that people can study and learn from her while she kicks around in my belly. She is teaching people before she even has her first breath and that is pretty darn special.

Bridget's heart rate was higher at this last appointment than it was last week which is GREAT. She was registering at 74 BPM yesterday which is a good 10 beats higher than last week. This is due to a combination of her growing and the steroids I am on working. Mostly the steroids, but that helps us know it is the right treatment and that makes my crazy roid rage a little easier to handle!

I do not YET have Lupus. I have the antibodies that lead to Lupus and these same antibodies are the ones that cause the damage to fetal heart. I will likely develop Lupus in the next few years. (I know that isn't about Bridget per say but I get a lot of questions about Lupus as well as a lot of "treatment recommendations" for Lupus and I just want it out there that I don't yet have it.)

I am not on bedrest (thank goodness) I am on "strict baby kick watch". Each day I am to monitor Bridget's movements and make sure she is active from each day to the next. If she slows down that could be my sign that her heart is also slowing down and we would need to deliver at that time. I do go in often to have her heart rate monitored on the machines but it is also essential for me to mommy monitor her.

Dr Branch is my specialist at the MFM center. He is very straightforward and also kind which is what I need in a situation like this. He doesn't beat around the bush about how serious this all is and he makes sure I understand things before he ends the appointment. 

Right now, that is really the only update. Bridget is doing VERY well right now and we are happy to have her sticking around! I have another echo cardiogram scheduled for next week and we should get more details there on exactly how things are working with her heart and maybe a little bit of a game plan as far as how soon we will deliver if she hangs in there.

We are so very thankful to live in the place we do. With so many specialists and incredible NICU units around we are really in the perfect spot to make sure Bridget has everything she needs. We are incredibly blessed to be able to get this care. We are also overflowing with gratitude for the friends and family we have. It is amazing the amount of love and support we have felt in this last week and a half. I can really say, it is because of these amazing support systems that Bridget and I are able to work through this. Without all these incredible people in our lives things would be near impossible. Thank you all :)

Baby Bridget's Beats - The Story - Part Two

Tuesday December 1st 2015

6:30 AM

We left Tyson's parents house as early as we could muster after a night of restless tossing and turning. We drove up to the University of Utah Hospital. Our directions were to go to the front desk and give them our name, our information had already been sent over so they would tell us where to go from there....... Well..... In a huge hospital like that one it's not enough to just go to the front desk. We were led ALL OVER that hospital. Back and forth we went, Tyson got me a wheelchair so I didn't have to walk and he pushed me through. I was crying and sobbing because I just wanted answers and nobody could even tell us where to go. After about an hour of walking around we found a Dr who knew where to lead us and he walked us right to the fetal heart monitoring area of the Primary Childrens unit. Finally, we were about to get some answers.

8:00 AM

We went into a dark room with a machine that could do an echo of the baby's heart. It looked like an ultrasound machine but the image was so much more detailed we were in awe at the technology. The technician spent an hour scanning the different chambers of Bridget's heart, taking screen shots, monitoring heart rate and checking the rest of the body.

Dr. Pinto, our fetal heart specialist, came in to check on what was found. She did a few scans herself and reviewed the information the technician had gathered. We were then sent to a room with couches, tissues and magazines to "wait comfortably" for Dr Pinto to come explain things to us.

She came in and she was so kind. She was giggly and happy and this gave us hope right away. She took the time to explain to us the structure of the heart and how things work in a normal body. Then came the part where she told us what was going on with Bridget's heart.

9:30 AM

In a normal heart there are two communication centers. One communicates with the brain and starts the heart pumping, this is in the top of the heart so the top two chambers begin pumping based on information from the brain. There is a second communication zone in the middle of the heart which tells the rest of the heart what to do. This sets the pace for the bottom of the heart. 

(green: communication center with the brain
yellow: secondary communication center)

Bridget has complete heart block. This means that somewhere between the first communication zone and the second the signal is being lost. So the bottom of the heart doesn't know how fast to pump. The top of her heart is pumping around a rate of 140 and the bottom of her heart is still at a rate around 60. This means that Bridget will need a pacemaker her whole life.

At this time we were unsure as to why the blockage happened. But I had had some bloodwork drawn the night before and when those test results returned we would know more about the why. What we were focusing on right at that moment was what we needed to do.

Dr. Pinto explained to us that Bridget is not in distress, her heart has adjusted to this slower heart rate and while in utero she would be safe as long as her heart stays stable. If her heart rate drops below 55 then we would need to deliver. She assured me that this was not something I had caused, it was not due to diet, it was not due to stress, this is just something that rarely happens to babies. She went on to tell us I could continue a mostly normal pregnancy, I would not be hospitalized unless the heart rate drops. 

We were relieved to know it wasn't anything we had caused, and that no matter what caused it we would have a solution. 

Bridget has damage to her communication center in her heart. There is a reason it is called "complete" heart block. This is because the damage is done, it is irreparable. It will not fix itself and there isn't a surgery that can repair the damage. What we can do is get her heart beating at a normal pace through a pacemaker. She will live a normal life, with a long life span, only needing to have adjustments and battery changes here and there. 

For now, I go to the Dr two or three times a week to have Bridget's heart rate monitored. We have to see a specialist for this which is pricey but worth it for our little lady's life. I will go in every two weeks for an echo on her heart and we will monitor everything to make sure no further damage is being done.

I have been put on steroids to help with stopping any further damage and to help her lungs develop, they aren't proven to halt damage but they have been shown to help.

She might need the pacemaker right at birth. She might be able to wait 6 months before it is needed. All we know is she will need it and it will help her.

She won't likely make it to her due date. But we are going to keep her in there as long as possible.

10:00 AM

We walked out, with a few answers and a little more hope.

Thursday December 3rd 2015

We had some tests, appointments and scans before Thursday but those had little information in them so we will hop forward.

8:40 AM

We arrived at Murray Hospital. This is where I will have my scans done 2-3 times weekly. It is in the MFM unit and we trust these Drs already. 

While waiting for the appointment we received a phone call with my blood test results. I have an auto immune disease. I have likely had this for a while but it hasn't shown any symptoms on me so far. We don't know which auto immune disease it is, but we do know it is one of them that carries the antibody SSA. This particular antibody has been known to attack the communication center of a fetal heart. There isn't a way to prevent it. 

What happened to little Bridget's heart is due to the SSA antibody that is prevalent in my blood. Essentially something in my body attacked her body and caused the irreparable damage to the communication centers. While it is somewhat good to know the "why" it is REALLY hard to hear that my body hurt her body. It also comes with the news that any pregnancies I have in the future will have 20% chance at this same damage being done.

Right after that call I let Tyson know I was having trouble breathing. I started to have a panic attack. My name was called and we started to follow the nurse back to the room but in the hall I started to get really dizzy. I told the nurse and Tyson that I was going to pass out, sat down on the floor and then I was OUT.

The Dr came over and witnessed my pass out, during which I was convulsing, this worried the Dr that I was having a seizure and he sent me down to the ER.

In the ER I was put on an IV with some anti anxiety medication. I almost passed out again but didn't. Another Dr from the MFM area came down to the ER and did my scan from there. Baby Bridget was stable, happy and didn't even seem to notice the anxiety her momma was going through. 

We stayed at the ER for a few hours under observation. They decided it was probably not a seizure and let me go home.

My next appointment is on Tuesday and we will continue to check in on our little bundle to make sure she is happy in there. We are trying to find what our new sense of "normal" is and I am doing my best to stay calm. We have a lot of family and friends around us that are taking amazing care of us. We are so blessed to live in an area where there are specialists in this area, where they are equipped to deliver a baby like mine. Baby Bridget is going to be taken care of. We just have to take it one day at a time.

Baby Bridget's Beats - The Story

I know I am a year behind in updating our family blog, I promise I will go back through and add in all the fun things we have done as a family throughout 2015. For now, I feel it is important to tell our baby Bridget's story. I want to have this down for our records, as well as have an easy place for people to reference when looking for an update. Here is the first part:

Monday November 30th 2:30 PM

I checked in for my normally scheduled visit with my OBGYN. The kids were with my good friend Lindsay because this was my Glucose screening where they have to draw blood and I didn't want my littles around for that. I drank the "special drink" and sat down in the waiting room for my appointment. I was anxious for some reason but couldn't put my finger on why and figured it was because I HATE needles and was going to be doing a blood draw in an hour.

The nurse took me back into the office area. Took my weight and my blood pressure. She and I joked about how I could run a marathon on the blood pressure I have. We laughed and she let me know the Dr would be right in.

Now I have to say that I LOVE my OB. Dr. Ryan Porter has been such an amazing Dr to work with and he always leaves me smiling after an appointment. He has just the right amount of caring bedside manner paired with the right level of honesty and straightforwardness. 

He could not find the baby's heartbeat on the dopplar machine and asked me to "hop up" so we could do a quick ultrasound. He mentioned my baby is a mover and she might just be moving too much to pick up the heartbeat so a picture of her heart would help give him a better read.

He began the ultrasound, we could hear the soft heartbeat. I felt it was slow but he wasn't saying anything. His face dropped and he told me to sit tight because he wanted to make a few phone calls. He rushed out the door and I was left in the dark room, looking at the picture of my baby's chest on the monitor and wondering what could be going on. I started to cry immediately.

The Dr came back and let me know that my baby's heart rate is really REALLY low. Her heart rate was around 60 when it should be somewhere between 140 and 150. He mentioned that this usually means we need to deliver the baby because it could be heart failure, there could be a cord around the neck, or the baby is in some sort of distress. No matter what the reason for the low heartbeat I needed to be admitted and he was going to make sure there was a room prepped for an emergency c-section. 

Lucky for me, his office is IN Riverton Hospital and right down the hall from the Labor and Delivery unit so we just walked around the corner to get me checked in. As we were walking he mentioned he was going to be calling some fetal heart specialists in the area to find out what the best course of action would be. 

I was shuffled so quickly. The nurses were taking vitals as I was STANDING at the counter to check in. I didn't even have time to call Tyson, so I sent him a text that said, "I need you here right now, we might be having a baby today". He rushed out of work and headed right over.

2:45 PM

I was rushed to a bed, an IV was started and they placed monitors on my belly to hear the baby's heart beat as well as watch for contractions. They were having a hard time getting a read on the heart beat but I wasn't contracting so that was a good sign. Baby girl was also moving around A LOT so they kept telling me that is usually a sign that she isn't in distress. They called up an Ultrasound Tech to monitor her that way.

3:00 PM

At one point, before Tyson arrived, there were 15 people in my room. Many nurses, 3 doctors an ultrasound tech and me. Nobody was talking. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the ultrasound screen and that is when it hit me that this is not normal at all. If I was this much of a spectacle that nurses were there just to watch then something was wrong. I began sobbing so hard that they couldn't keep the monitor steady. That is when I saw Tyson's shoes walk under that curtain. He stared me straight in the eyes and I knew I could do whatever I needed to do. He held my hand and stroked my head and with tears in his own eyes told me he loved me and baby. He was there, I could calm down, and we got back to the spectacle around us.

My mother-in-law arrived shortly after and I immediately told her that nobody was talking and I needed her to help with this. We chatted quietly for a minute until my movements started interrupting the monitoring and we were told to quiet down. 

My Dr was in and out a lot. Making phone calls to the University of Utah hospital. Trying to figure out where I should be admitted long term. Talking about where there was room for a baby of only 27 weeks gestation to be delivered. He was trying to get every piece of information he possibly could.

I wanted so badly to call family members and let them know what was going on but we had no updates. We had no answers, just a whole lot of "what ifs".

4:20 PM

I called my mom, she was working so I knew I had to be quick. I told her the quickest run down that I could. I didn't want her to rush over because there was so much talk about ambulance to Murray Hospital, or life flights to the U so I asked her to stay put and when I knew where I would be heading I would call her and want her and my dad to come over. I had so many people in the room with me and almost no answers so I had to keep things short.

My Dr came back with almost a smile in his eyes. He was relieved at something. He explained to me that there is a Primary Children's Unit in the Riverton Hospital. He explained that there isn't usually a fetal heart specialist there because they work at the U but for some reason there happened to be a fetal heart specialist there that day and he was going to come up and give us some answers.

Dr Miller walked in and I will never forget his face. He had the most kind eyes and he was a comforting presence in the room. He couldn't diagnose anything so he was very careful with his words but he really helped me to feel like there was hope. He explained that the baby wasn't in distress. Her heart rate had stayed in the 60s the whole time I was being monitored and she was moving so much that he had reason to believe she might be used to this slow of a heart rate. He talked a little about the communication centers in the heart and let us know it looks like a miscommunication to him. We talked a little bit about pacemakers but he didn't have the right equipment to really let us know what was going on or what we could plan on.

He spoke with my OB and let him know that things are okay and I should be sent home for the night. I was not in labor and the baby was not in distress, so now the job was to find out what is going on with her heart.

6:20 PM

I was discharged with strict orders of bed rest at home for the night and to head to the University of Utah Hospital first thing in the morning to have an echo cardio gram done of my baby's heart. This would be the appointment that would give us answers and a plan. I still didn't know if I would be hospitalized for the remainder of my pregnancy, if we were going to have a baby within the week, if I would be on bed rest at home or if I could continue a semi-normal life.

We headed home to get a few overnight things for us and the kids. We packed for a few days because we didn't know exactly what the plan was. Our kids were already comfortably at their Nana and Papa's house and I didn't want to be home so we headed up the mountain to stay with Tyson's parents over night. I called my parents and asked them to meet us up there so we could give them the run down.

Tyson's sister, Emily and her husband Andrew drove up as well. Another of Tyson's sisters, Carrie, and her husband Dan were staying with Tyson's parents so they were able to be there too. My mom and dad came and brought my Aunt Pattie with them (Pattie is staying with them for a week or two). We told our story, we talked about what ifs and we tried our best to stay positive. I received a Priesthood Blessing* and we chatted for a while. 

Those that weren't spending the night there left and it was just me, Tyson, Stan (Tyson's dad) and Abe in the room. I was looking for some comedic relief so I turned to Abe and asked, "What is the baby in mommy's belly named?" (he usually answers with Cletus the Fetus so we were expecting a laugh). He looked at me and said in his most matter of fact voice, "Bridget". All of us in the room looked at each other in shock, we don't know anyone by that name and it isn't a name in one of his books or shows. I asked him where he heard that name and he said "I didn't, it's just her name". Tyson and I looked up the meaning and it is "Strong willed", Abe was right.... That is her name.

*A priesthood blessing in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a "prayer for healing, comfort or counsel given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, who lays his hands on the head of the person receiving the blessing."