Baby Kohr Chronicles

We are proud, yet completely heartbroken, to announce the arrival of our daughter, Grace Marie Kohr. Grace was born at 10:05 pm on Thursday, October 29, weighing 3 pounds. We were so grateful to be surrounded by our families for most of labor, and everyone had a chance to spend some time with Grace after her birth. She was not born alive, but she was born into a family full of love.

Shortly after she was born, we were lucky enough to have a photographer from Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a non-profit organization that provides free photography to families of stillborn babies, come in for a brief time to take some pictures. And then we had the Chaplain come by for a blessing with the whole family.

Labor and delivery went more quickly than we expected, and both went pretty smoothly. There were some slight complications after delivery because Kara lost a lot of blood. But the doctors had everything under control, and it didn't take long for her pulse and blood pressure to go back to normal levels. They kept her in the hospital until late in the day on Friday, just to make sure her blookwork and vitals were fine before being discharged.

Thank you all for your continued support and prayers. We cannot articulate how lucky we feel to have so many caring, supportive people in our lives. You all have truly been a huge source of strength for us over these last few months. Thank you all for everything!

We are not sure what will happen with the blog moving forward. More likely than not, we will take a break for a while. But feel free to check back every now and then. If there is anything worth posting we will put it out there.

Well, it looks like the waiting is coming to an end. We are scheduled to induce labor tomorrow, Oct. 29. We have a couple of appointments set up for tomorrow morning with our doctors, starting at 8:00 am. After we are done with them, we will be checking into Labor & Delivery.

The induction process can take anywhere from 12-36 hours, and last time it took about 23 hours. The doctors have said they have no way of predicting how long it will take, we just have to wait for the medication to work.

We are expecting to begin the process mid-to-late morning tomorrow, so we may deliver as early as tomorrow night. We are hoping that it will be more like Friday morning, though. Unfortunately, there is no chance that the baby will be alive when we deliver.

Thank you all again for all of the support and compassion you have shown us over the last few months. W3 are terribly disappointed in how this is ending, but we can't say that we are surprised at all. And, to the extent that we are able, we are relatively prepared for what is going to happen over the next couple of days. Please continue to pray for us- for strength for us and our doctors, and for peace for our baby. We absolutely hate that this is happening, but, unfortunately, we know from experience that the only way out of it is to go through it.

We will continue to keep you posted as we are able. We will definitely let you all know when our daughter is born. Thank you again for the love and support!

The results from today’s ultrasound were pretty similar to the last couple we have had. We still have a heartbeat, but, the hygroma is still quite large and there appears to be more fluid buildup in the baby’s body. We also learned that while we are about 25 weeks along, given all the extra fluid, she is measuring closer to 30 weeks. (Yes, she! For those who didn't know yet:-)) The bones and general development are a little behind the 25 weeks, but the size of the baby's body puts it around 30 weeks.

The doctors are now getting concerned for Kara’s ability to have a smooth delivery. The baby is currently in breech position and the doctors feel it is unlikely she will come out of that position. The doctors are also concerned about the size of the hygroma as well as the amount of the fluid. Both of these could potentially cause complications during the delivery- especially if the hygroma and fluid levels continue to increase in size. The doctors do not want to perform a C section on Kara because it presents more risk and could adversely impact future pregnancies. Given that the overall risk to Kara seems to be increasing each week, it is very likely that the doctors will induce and we will deliver very soon.

All of the doctors in the practice meet on Tuesdays to review all of their patients' cases, and our current situation will be discussed on Tuesday. Prior to today's appointment, there seemed to be some disparity among the doctors we have seen as to how risky our situation was and at what point it they would need to make some strong recommendations about how to proceed. Hopefully the meeting with all of the doctors will give them an opportunity to come to some sort of consensus. After that meeting, we will hear from one of the doctors about how the practice views our situation and what recommendation they have for next steps. Based on the information we have now, we are pretty sure that we have some tough decisions to make in the next couple of days.

Our next official appoinment is next Thursday for a blood pressure/heartbeat check and a consult with one of the doctors.

Thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. Please continue to do so- we will certainly need the support in the coming weeks. We will keep you posted as we learn more.

(Sorry for not getting around to that last post we promised. It was going to be about how we have gotten different opinions so far in terms of the risks involved in moving forward and with our delivery options. Now, that post doesn't seem so necessary anymore.)

Each year, approximately 26,000 babies are stillborn in the United States. Another 26,000 die within their first year of life. Close to one million more are miscarried.

In 1989, President Ronald Regan declared October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. This has proven to be instrumental in bringing the needs of bereaved parents to the forefront.

Several years ago, October 15 was declared Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. On this day, parents, grandparents and friends around the country light candles at 7:00 pm in honor of babies who have died.

We will be lighting a candle tonight at 7:00 in honor and remembrance of Matthew, our firstborn, who, sadly, many of you never had a chance to know.

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Today's appointment was uneventful and quick (first time we have ever been in and out in under an hour!). Blood pressure is holding steady, and we heard the baby's heartbeat right away. It continues to pump away at a strong and healthy pace.

We were introduced to another one of the doctors in the practice. I think we have now met 5 of the 9 or so who practice there. We didn't have any real questions, so the meeting was brief.

On a little more exciting note, Kara has been feeling the baby move more lately. Kara was pretty sure we would still have a heartbeat today because she has been feeling the baby pretty regularly. At our last ultrasound, the technician said that the baby's head is near Kara's ribs on her right side, and that is where she feels the baby after she eats or if she sits a certain way and limits how much space the baby has to spread out.

We go back next Friday, the 23rd, for our next ultrasound. We previously mentioned wanting to give more information on some of the conversations we have had with the doctors lately- we will post an update with that info before our next appointment. Sorry- not meant to be a cliffhanger, but will need a little more time than we have right now to put all of that down in one place.

Please continue praying for us and for this baby to make a miraculous recovery. We are trying to remain as hopeful as we can, and every week we have a heartbeat only helps us stay more positive. Thank you for all of your support!!

Sorry for the late update today! We both took the day off, so it took longer for us to get to the blog than we would have hoped.

We still have a strong heartbeat. The cystic hygroma and hydrops are about the same as they were at our last ultrasound- significant and not good, but not any worse than we have previously seen.

Though this little one keeps on fighting, the prognosis remains the same. The doctors expect the baby to pass away at any time. They seem a little surprised each time we go in and there is still a strong heartbeat. For the first time, the growth seems to be lagging a little bit behind. Previous appointments have shown growth to be very average for gestational age. Today, the growth was only in the 29th percentile.

So, for now we continue to take it one week at a time. We are still holding out hope that we can beat all of the odds and somehow or other take a live, healthy baby home with us in a few months. While that is not likely, hoping and praying for that is helping us cope.

We had some conversations with the doctors about options that we will post about later. But for now, just wanted to get the most important part of the update out there. Thank you all for following and for thinking of us. We can't tell you how much we appreciate all of the support and prayers that everyone is sending our way. Thank you!!

Nothing new to report after this morning's appointment, so I guess it went well. We still have a normal heartbeat, and blood pressure looks good. We go back next Friday for another ultrasound. We will keep you posted!

Please keep praying for us and the baby. We can use all of the prayers and positive thoughts we can get:-) Thank you all for hanging in there with us and being so supportive! It would be much harder to get through this without all of the support and encouragement that we have gotten from so many people. Thank you all so much!!