July Liam News

7-29-02: JORDAN'S BIRTHDAY!!! She went to soccer camp today, and then to her mother's. She did call to say that she had a good time at the camp. She will be going for the rest of the week. Liam is being bad! Kneecoal's cervix is still funneling and he has his foot shoved into the space. He keeps flipping from vertex to breech and back. Right now he is breech, and like I said he has his foot in her cervix. He is tall and skinny his foot is 4cms long. He weighs about 2 pounds! Dr. Meadows said again today that everything looks fine, but that she will not be coming off bed rest. He also looked concerned about Liam's foot being in the cervix. The cervical length is still fine, but with him kicking so much it's just a bad place to put extra pressure. This next month while we are out of school I will try and get the site updated. I have FrontPage 2002 coming in the next few days, and it should make things go faster.

7-27-02: Today went well. I'll be teaching musculoskeletal trauma in the morning. After class Kneecoal gets her reprieve from bed rest. Memaw is bringing her to Toccoa to met me, and we are going to the Meadow's house for the party. Kneecoal said she was staying until the last person leaves! She plans to make the most out of this time away from the bed. It will be the first time she has stepped foot out of the house in two weeks. That was her last OB appointment. Everything has been going great. Liam is rolling and kicking. Kneecoal hasn't been too bored. Jordan had her last regular soccer game today. I'm sad to say the Vipers lost again. That makes them 1 win and 4 loses for the season.

7-26-02: I think I would have to say that today was the worse day I can remember working at Stephens County Hospital. I won't go into detail, but it was a real bad day. I have to go back tomorrow to teach TNCC. It's better than going back to work. Kneecoal got some good news today. Dr. Meadows is going to let her have one day out of the house. She won't be allowed to do anything, but she will be let  out of the house. He will be there so it will be safe. It has really given her something to look forward to. He is a great guy and I hate that my clinical rotation with him is over. In other news I have added a recipe  page. I will try and add a recipe every now and then that we like. If you have any that you would like to add, please email them to me.

7-25-02: We had a little party for Jordan's birthday today. She will be ten on the 29th! We had the party at my mom's house, and then came over to our house to open presents. Jordan had a great day even though we only had family at the party. After the party my mom took her to the Old Navy to shop. Kneecoal's mom took her the day before and bought her some clothes and a new pair of shoes for school. She had a blast both times. She is at the age where shopping is "cool." Please pray for my wallet! Kneecoal had a big day today. She got up to pee about at least 12 times!! Loads of fun. Liam is still growing and growing. I'll try and get a new picture on the belly page this weekend.

7-22-02: I must avoid the wrath, so here is an update. I've been having some problems with FrontPage, and have been unable to save my pages. The important news is that Kneecoal is doing well. She is getting bored, and sore. I bought her an egg crate mattress the other day, and it seems to be helping. The next step will be to switch the sofa to the other side of the room. I may be switching my host provider. I use Wyatt Web right now. There are several advanced FrontPage features they do not support. I have found a host provider that supports them for about the same price. If you check the site and it is off line in the next few weeks that is why. I'll post something before I do it, but if you don't check the site the day before you won't see the message. I also plan to add a recipe page. I want to share some of my favorite, easy recipes. So check back soon for the new changes.

7-15-02: Most of you have heard that Kneecoal is on bed rest. She had an appointment with Dr. Meadows today. Her internal os was still open. He told her she would have to be on bed rest until 34 weeks. He also started her on steroid injections. She'll have to have an injection every 12 hours for 4 doses. This will help to develop Liam's lungs in case he comes early. He said he didn't think he would come anytime soon, but he would be here before 40 weeks. I'm thinking about a way to get people to sit with Kneecoal while I'm at work. I was thinking I could pay any women that want to stay with her, and I could charge any men that wanted to sit with her. That should balance things out. Kneecoal's sprits are high, and we found out that the big hump that Liam is causing is his narrow little butt. He pushes it out so hard that you can feel how wide it is. Well, give her a call if you can. She loves hearing from everyone.

7-14-02: All is well is the sickbed home. Kneecoal is expecting some friends from work and I have fixed lasagna and stuffed manicotti. Jordan had her soccer game yesterday. Her team won one and lost one. I thought she did great, and her team played well. They were the only team with 4 players. All the other teams had 7-8 players. They would switch players when they would get tired, and always seemed to have fresh players. Her team was also the only one to play two games.

7-11-02: Kneecoal is doing well. She has already started getting bored, but she is following Dr. Meadows orders. We had a nice visit yesterday from Kneecoal's Grandparents, Aunt, and cousin. Her grandfather and dad stopped by today. Liam is a little wiggle bug. I think he is wondering why his mom is being so lazy. It's sad when she is looking forward to her next OB appointment, and refers to it as the "trip" we are taking Monday. Jordan had soccer practice today with a scrimmage game. Her team won by one point. She has two real games on Saturday at 9am and 11am.  If you get bored over the next few days, give Kneecoal a call. She will be here on the couch trying to think of something to do.

7-08-02: Well, we had a bad visit at the doctor today. Kneecoal spent her morning doing clinical with April. I met her for lunch in Toccoa, and then she was to see April as a patient. We went back to the office around 1 pm and she had her ultrasound at about 1:30. When Michelle (US tect) first looked it was obvious. The top of Kneecoal's cervix looked like a a large funnel. I guess that is where they get the term cervical funneling. This picture is a great example of what we saw. Kneecoal's external os (the part on the right side of the picture) is being held closed by the cerclage. If you look at the picture and think of the dotted line as a "T" the top of the "T" (left) is marking the internal os. The other is going down into the cervix and from the little cross to the end little cross is a measure of the outer cervical os. Kneecoal's outer os is still over 3 cm because of the cerclage. That is good, but not great. It is the best we can hope for right now. So what is the plan? Kneecoal is on bed rest. This is only for the next week. At that time we will go back for another US. If the funnel is gone she "might" be on limited activity. If not she is on bed rest until 34 weeks (10 weeks). I doubt she will be going back to work, but she may be able to go back to school. My guess (and this comes from doing clinical with him) is that he will put her home on limited activity, but no school and no work. What ever it takes is fine with us. We just want to get Liam here safe. Keep him in your prayers and call Kneecoal. She'll be getting bored!