Hemophilia 101

Trying to decide where to begin this post has been my holdup for the past few months....

I was born a carrier of a blood clotting disorder called hemophilia. Hemophilia is a disorder that only women carry (and pass on through having children) and men are the ones that can have the trait (there have been rare cases where women display the trait as well, but it is VERY unlikely).

So what is hemophilia? Hemophilia is a rare blood clotting disorder where your blood does not clot normally if you are cut, have a nose bleed, have surgery, loose a tooth or any other way of bleeding externally. It also means that you have spontaneous internal bleeds which backs up in your major joints which causes deterioration of the bone and the need for joint replacements. It can be a life threatening disorder, but science is making some great gains in the study and treatment of hemophilia. Because of the type of hemophilia I carry is the most severe (hemophilia type A severe) any time a boy with this type of hemophilia bleeds externally or internally, he would need to go to the hospital and receive a blood transfusion of factor 8 blood (this is the type of factor blood that is lacking in men with my type of hemophilia). From the information we gathered from our specialists, this could happen 2-3 times a week, even with a newborn. This also means all contact sports and many physical activities are ruled out due to the nature of the spontaneous bleeds.

So back to the beginning...I found out I was a carrier when I was 19 and had wanted to be tested because I knew my mom was a carrier. Even though I do not have any blood clotting issues, I displayed several characteristics of being a carrier such as frequent nose bleeds and I bruise very easily. I was not surprised when the results came back confirming I was a carrier (I had a 25% chance of being a carrier, which will be the same percentage if Bruce and I have a baby girl in the future).

Now what this meant for our son Nolan is a very different story....

Once we found out we were having a little boy, we have spent many hours working with genetic counselors and hearing from hemophilia specialists about what this could mean for Nolan if he tested positive for hemophilia. Nolan had a 50% chance of testing positive for hemophilia as well as any of our other potential sons. We were given the option to wait until he was born to be tested, or be more proactive and find out while he is in utero. I felt as a first time mom that it would be better for me to know if he had it before I delivered because I wanted to be able to focus on labor and delivery and not be wondering about hemophilia at the same time. Also, if he had hemophilia I would have had to have a c-section, so if we didn't find out, I was going to be scheduled for a c-section. So on December 22nd I went in for an amniocentesis, where they drew four tubes of amniotic fluid. We were told it would be 4 weeks before we knew anything.

Fast forward to current time....We received a call from our genetics counselor late Thursday night and found out that Nolan does NOT have hemophilia!!! He will never have it, nor can he pass it on to his future children. Of course he would have been loved either way (the same feeling we have if any of our children in the future have hemophilia) but honestly I was VERY nervous about being a first time mom, plus having a child with a severe blood clotting disorder. This has been a very difficult and stressful process, but one we knew we would encounter if we wanted biological children. So for those of you who knew about this already, thanks so much for your prayers. For those of you who did not know, I hope you learned something new today :-) and can rejoice with us as well! God has been gracious to us and we are rejoicing in His goodness.

Grace and peace,

Renee

P.S. The nursery is basically done, but we have one more shower next weekend so I will be posting FINAL nursery pics in a week or so!!! 5 more weeks to go!!!

Let's Hear it for the Boy!

Greetings from baby boy Puckett! He was waving at us during the ultrasound, which of course we thought was the best thing ever! The doctor told us within the first 15 seconds of the ultrasound he already could tell what we were having, so we pretty much figured out that he must have seen a little something. The last 40 minutes were spent watching our son move around and seeing all of his wonderful features. I will be honest when I say I fully thought I was having a girl, so after the initial boy shock, I loved having that 40 minutes to fall completely in love with him. Bruce of course is over the moon at the thought of having a son and is already planning father son trips with some friends and their sons as well as taking a Grandpa, son and grandson trip to Minnesota (a Bussone family tradition)! We also found out what we were having on his birthday, which was a great gift for him! Here is a good pic of his spine!

In a effort to feel closer to our families in Illinois and Indiana, we decided to do a cake cutting party at the same time we were cutting ours here with our NC friends. We ordered cakes made with the inside being blue, but frosting covering the cake, and were able to skype and watch as our families cut the inside of the cake and found out about their grandson/nephew/cousin/great nephew. It was a blast and everyone enjoyed experiencing it together.

I am beginning to show and at 18 weeks can FINALLY wear maternity clothes. I started feeling our little boy at 15 weeks (I know this may be unbelievable to some, but trust me) and can feel him like crazy all of the time now. Bruce has not felt him from the outside yet, but I'm thinking that will be coming soon! All morning sickness is gone, my energy is back and I'm really starting to enjoy the 2nd trimester. We are now looking forward to shopping for our little one and getting the nursery ready. It will be a while before anything gets done, but I will post pictures when it starts looking cute :-). I'll leave you with a pic of our little boys face, I think I can see a little of Bruce already!

love and peace,

Renee

Ohhhhh BABY! (first trimester summary)

What a summer it has been! One week after school let out for the summer, Bruce and I found out we were expecting! I had felt different that Friday night but was busy helping Bruce pack for his trip to Haiti that next morning, so I didn't have time to think about it. However, when I wope up the next morning (at 4:00 am to take him to the airport) I decided to go ahead and take a test before he went. We could not believe the results and Bruce ended up leaving some very important things at home due to the excitement (like his malaria medicine for example).

After I took him to the airport, I made my solo journey back to the mid west and could not wait to share the news with our families. The trip was planned, the news was not! I still cannot believe my enormous family kept it quiet until we were ready to share the news with the world! Great job everyone!

Once Bruce finally came home, we began thinking about what our family will look like as a family of 3. There was obvious excitement, but I had an overall sense of anxiety and worry. Due to our prior losses, it was difficult for me to become excited about something I wasn't sure I would get to keep (I still struggle with these feelings but have come a long way in understanding them). Needless to say, when we saw our little peanut during my 10 week ultrasound, I had a complete joyful meltdown. It was the most beautiful and amazing thing I have ever seen. Because my ultrasound tech remembered me she decided to treat us to a 4D ultrasound which was incredible!

Next stop......morning/afternoon/evening and night sickness! I truly believe I have thrown up in every possible place in public and in our home. I think my favorite was going 70 mph on I40 throwing up in a cup during rush hour ( I got a ton of strange looks that day). It helped to know that the reason for my sickness was for a great cause, but let's be honest, after 10 solid weeks of puking I did not have the greatest attitude. Bruce has been amazing throughout the entire process and is in charge of making sure the freezer is always stocked with popsicles. The great news is that I woke up last Friday and felt like a completely different person and have been feeling great ever since.

Back to current day, I am now 15 weeks pregnant and am loving every minute of it. I'm not showing yet, however the clothes are beginning to get tight. I am finding it slightly difficult to teach 25 kindergarten students for seven hours a day, but going to bed at 8:30 every night has solved many of those problems. We are finding out what we are having on September 21st, Bruce's birthday! The worries tend to arise now and then but I'm learning how to let go and trust, I'm hoping to continue this philosophy when our child is out in this crazy world.

Because of the difficultly we have faced trying to conceive, we are going to put as few updates on facebook as possible. We know our fair share of couples dealing with the same issues we have dealt with and are not looking to cause them anymore hurt at this time. However, because Bruce and I are super excited and want to share all of the big and little updates with our friends and family, we decided a blog was the best place to share all of our baby news. So, feel free to come with us on our baby adventure, we hear its a crazy but amazing ride!

love and peace,

Renee

(here is baby Puckett at 10 weeks and I believe it is sucking it's thumb, even though the nurse said it wasn't likely :-)).

Graduation 2010!

So it seems that I like to graduate in 4 year increments. I graduated jr. high in 1998, high school in 2002, Olivet in 2006 and now graduate school in 2010. Unfortunately since getting a PhD requires more than 4 years, it seems my streak in now over. For the past three years I have really enjoyed being in school and directly applying my new knowledge to my kindergarten classroom. The past semester was the most challenging due to my huge research project, however I managed to make it through with the loving support of Bruce, my family and close friends. The overall purpose of getting this degree is having the opportunity one day of becoming a reading specialist. I now have the tools to detect, diagnose and treat reading disabilities in elementary and middle school children, which will hopefully create successful and independent students. With being tenured at the end of this school year and my new abundance of free time, I have been asked to be the grade level chair of my kindergarten team as well as the student support team K-2 representative for the 2010-2011 school year. I am honored and excited to begin these new leadership roles in my school next year.

Lots has happened since the looooong hiatus of blogging and I will be trying to catch everyone up on the adventures of the Puckett family. Until then, I will leave you with some pics from my graduation weekend!

love and peace,

renee

Loving the N.C.

Upon reading many of my friends blogs and realizing how far away some of my friends and family are, I have decided to begin my own blog. I first want to express how thankful I am to have such loving, supportive and patient friends. Moving from the midwest to the south? (I am still unclear if N.C. is considered south, east, or southeast) has been a challenging and yet a rewarding experience thus far. Bruce and I miss our families like crazy, and it is especially difficult for me to be here while my baby cousins are growing up in IL without their "neigh neigh". However, we have been blessed to find an amazing group of friends here in N.C.

Here is a quick update on what we are doing here in N.C. for our friends we may not have spoken to in a while. Bruce is attending Duke University as a masters student at the Divinity School. He is in his third year (in a three year program) and has maintained his all "A" streak he has been working on since 4th grade (yuck). Being a student at Duke has many perks, but the best perk by far is having Duke basketball season tickets. We have embraced the basketball phenomenon out here and cannot express how much fun it is being a Cameron Crazy! LETS GO DUKE!

I am in my third year of teaching at an elementary school close by, teaching kindergarten. It really isn't as scary as it sounds. I love my job and enjoy getting to know my students and their families and building relationships with the surrounding community. I have a very diverse group of students, which may be the coolest part of my job. The academic part of my job is teaching kids how to read and write, but the social part of my job is to introduce common life and social skills. We work on waiting in line, listening while others are speaking, sharing, speaking kindly to others, public speaking (show and tell :-)), tying shoes, cleaning up our own messes, helping others clean their messes, working together as a team, taking turns, and learning to be a member of a community. It's fun, it's hard, it's rewarding and sometimes it's enough to drive me crazy. On a different note, I am also in graduate school. I am working on my masters in Reading Education, which will allow me to be a reading specialist in a elementary or middle school. I am half way done and am scheduled to finish May of  2010. 

I wanted to end by reiterating how much we appreciate our friends and family and the kindness we have felt by many. We love you all!

P.S. The pic is from the top of Duke chapel. It is one of the most beautiful and meaningful buildings we have come across here.  I had to walk up a million stairs in order to take it, so please enjoy!