Gavin Richard Lance

Last photo of "Lance, Party of 3"

We'd like to introduce our newest addition to our little family, Gavin Richard Lance. Gavin has the awesome privilege of sharing the same middle name as his great-grandfather, Donald Richard Harner.

At 2:41 in the afternoon yesterday, June 27th, Gavin was born weighing in at 6lbs9oz and 19.5 inches long. My c-section went very smoothly, and it was a much better experience this time compared to last. Last time since Elias was in slight distress when he was born, we barely got to see him in the OR. Kevin got a few pictures, they flashed him in my face for 5 seconds, and off Elias went to the NICU. This time however, Gavin was doing perfectly fine! He cried the second they lifted him out of me (which was music to my ears since Elias' didn't cry for a good 15 seconds). They worked on him in the corner of the room getting him all cleaned up and weighed while they stitched me back up. Kevin went over and of course took a ton of pictures. The best part for him was that they left the cord long enough for him to cut it! We thought he wouldn't get to experience anything like that since we didn't do a VBAC, so that was a nice surprise. Then, unlike Elias who was rushed away to the NICU, Gavin stayed in Kevin's arms next to me in the OR for almost the rest of my time in there. It was so wonderful, not to mention a great distraction from the pressure on my belly as they were wrapping things up.

Gavin is doing so well! Both his feet are clubbed, as you can see in the photo below. They don't seem quite as bad as Elias' was, and they're not very rigid (meaning we can move them to where they should be without much resistence) and that's a really good thing! We haven't seen the orthopedic doctor yet, but we're pretty sure he's going to say they'll respond to casting very well, perhaps better than Elias'.

His middle finger on both hands is contracted, similarly to how Elias' thumb was. One is a little less than the other. I haven't been able to snap any good pictures of them yet, but I'll try and get those soon.

The ENT came to see him and at least at this point from what he can see, it doesn't look like Gavin has torticollis! Praise the Lord! Besides those couple things, Gavin is doing so well! 


My recovery is going very well. I've been up and about all day moving about the room, took a wonderful relaxing shower, and managed to sneek in a few cat naps. Thank God for Percoset, that's all I've got to say :)


Thank you everyone for your love, support, and prayers throughout the past few months of uncertainty. 


Gavin is stirring, I've gotta end this. Elias is coming to visit with Kevin very soon for the first time, so I'll post again soon with those pictures!

Elias' Torticollis

I'm afraid if I don't post now, this will be overlooked by the impending arrival of Gavin and I'll forget to write about it!

As most of you know, Elias was born with torticollis (on top of all his other problems). Basically its when the neck is twisted, the head tilted toward one side and the chin toward the other. Its usually caused by tightened  muscles/tendons. If treated right away with targeted stretching, its usually fully correctable. We've been treating it for the past 19 months with physical therapy, and it has improved SO much! However, we think we're reached a point where its probably not going to improve much more without surgery. The doctors said they think its about 80% corrected, which is pretty good considering where he started! Here's a few pictures showing how far he's come.

1 week old

6 months old

1 year old

18 months old

As you can see, he's come a long way! It really is hard to tell he still has some torticollis, but when he fatigues or is just sitting relaxed, he'll tend to tilt his head to the left. 

Doctors have recommended we look into a surgery that will release the tight muscle so that he doesn't always have that tilt. A couple of our doctors have given their opinions on how they would fix it, and while the prodecure itself is the same, they vary on what they think the recovery will be. One said he'd put Elias in a pinless halo for 3-6 months. We cringed at the thought of him having to wear that brace for so long, on TOP of a leg cast he'll be in when he gets his next foot surgery. Kevin and I were asking ourselves "is it worth it" to put our son through so much if its so minor of a thing compared to the rest of his issues. We were learning towards no. Then we met with another one of his doctors (the one who did the AMAZING removal of his skin tag by his ear). He's done numerous muscle releases like this, and even showed us before and after pictures of his patients. This doctor says with the way he would treat it, Elias wouldn't need a brace of any kind. In fact he wouldn't need anything at all except a bandage leaving the hospital and continued physically therapy.

Its really hard to understand how two doctors vary so differently how to treat something like this. But we trust them both, as everything each has done thus far has been highly effective and successful. 

We've decided to go with the second doctor. We've decided that even if it isn't 100% successful, we won't feel like we put Elias through hell and back. And we don't have much to lose considering its not that bad to begin with. 

Now its just a matter of deciding when we're going to get the surgery. Should we do it before we move? Or should we wait until his next foot surgery in the fall/winter and do them both together? We're not sure. Kevin thinks we should wait and do them both together. We're going to wait until Gavin comes, get him all situated and squared away as far as a treatment plan goes, and then meet with the doctor again to discuss when we'll do the muscle release. 

On another note, tomorrow we go for a growth scan to see how much they think Gavin is weighing. As I said before, if he's dropped to the 10% or less, we'll be having a c-section sometime tomorrow! Otherwise, we're scheduled for a c-section next Wednesday at 11! Either way, Gavin will be here in less than a week! 

Elias' 20mo Evaluation

 Today Elias had his evaluation with Early Intervention. In general, it went great. He's 20 months now,  and here's how he scored:

Fine Motor: 21 months
Cognition: 21 months
Expressive Language: 20 months
Receptive Language: 18 months
Gross Motor: 17 months
Social/Emotional: 26 months
Adaptive/Self Care: 20 months

The only thing that really aggravated me was his receptive language score. Receptive language is him following directions and how he seems to understand when you talk to him. Some things they asked him to do were point on a page to certain pictures and to point to body parts. He has known all the basic body parts for MONTHS now (eyes, nose, mouth, hair, ears). But this part of the evaluation was 30 minutes into the test, and by that time he was losing interest. He pointed to half the objects on the page (milk, dog, ball), but then got bored and wouldn't to point to the last two (baby and car). Again, he totally knows ALL those objects. His PT even said to the team, "I know for a fact he can do this". However, if he doesn't do it for them, he doesn't get the points for it. Its just disappointing knowing that he absolutely knows how to do those things (and we've worked hard to get him to do those things nonetheless) and since he didn't do it during those 45 minutes, it doesn't count.

His gross motor score is just a little behind, but we expected that. Gross motor involves things like walking up and down stairs and building a down with small blocks. He's starting to walk up and down steps holding onto the railing, but still needs assistance because sometimes his foot with the brace gets twisted when taking steps. And with the blocks, even though his thumb is now SO much better than before, he still can't bend it at the knuckle like his other fingers, so its harder to grasp really small items using his left hand with that thumb.

Overall, we are very pleased! We are so thankful for Early Intervention and all its done for Elias. I'm a huge believer in the program, and I've seen its positive effects on so many children. Please, if you have any question about your child's development, don't hesitate and have your child evaluated! As far as I understand, its usually covered by the state or your insurance. Its worth it, and actually I see it as an advantage for Elias. Come preschool, he'll already know some things because of E.I. that others might not have been introduced to yet.

Quick Gavin update:

We went in yesterday (Monday) all prepared for them to take us for a c-section if needed. First we had the NST (non-stress-test) and it actually went very well. They put two belts with sensors around your belly, one picks up the heartbeat and one picks up his movements. They look for at least 2 accelerations of 15bpm or more in the 20 minute test. Gavin had 4, so that was great. It also picked up a lot of his movements and kicks, and showed they were pretty strong ones at that. So he didn't appear to be in distress at all, praise the Lord! I still wanted to talk to the doctor, as we were going crazy thinking about this low fluid problem I have. They paged my doctor, who wasn't in clinic that day but was in the hospital, and she came right over to talk to us.

I told her how scared we are about the fluid problem, and that we really want a c-section whenever she'll allow us so that we can get him out before he's in any danger. She assured us that the second they see something troubling or questionable, now that we're at full term, we'll go right back for the c-section. But if he's continues to look okay and not in distress, we'll keep going until 39 weeks (June 27) when we'll do the elective c-section. She even took us to the other room and did an ultrasound herself to check my fluid levels just to put our minds at ease. Fluid levels looked okay, not in the danger zone yet, so that was good! We're going twice a week now until he comes for them to check up on him, so Thursday bright and early we'll be back for another ultrasound. And just in case, we have our bags packed and in the car ready to go at a moments notice :)

Please continue to pray for a hedge of protection around our little boy until its time for us to finally meet him. Thank you so much!

We're ready for you, Gavin!

May/June Update

So much has happened just in the past month or so, and I was hoping to give a nice long update on it all. But I think I'll be brief so that I can update on Gavin. 

We moved the first week of May into a cute little house right down the road from seminary. We were so thankful for our few friends that came out and helped us move despite the rain. When packing up the old apartment, we strategically packed things that we'd need in the next 4 months versus things that could stay put away until we get settled into our next home. So unpacking wasn't too bad, although I'm still working on getting some decor up to make it a little more homey, as well as getting Gavin's things put together. Elias adjusted very well, and really enjoys playing outside in our yard. In fact, all he seems to ever want to do is going outside, rain or shine. 

On May 12 Kevin walked at his graduation ceremony. It truly was a wonderful celebration, with his entire family coming up for the weekend to celebrate with us. We were blessed with wonderful weather, and were able to celebrate mothers day cooking out outside on our front lawn. 

Then a week and a half later we were back in PA. Kevin had the awesome privileged of giving the charge at a friends wedding in Pittsburgh. This was the first wedding he's ever done any part of, and he did such a great job! While we were in Pittsburgh, Elias and Callie got to spend some quality time with Nanny and Pappy. 

We then headed to my parents house for 5 days, caught up with some of my friends and spent lots of time with my family. Elias gets the biggest kick out of Aunt Brielle, and he LOVES playing in his Pop-Pops office, especially with the fax machine :) Its so nice that he now knows who these special people are, and that we've gotten to the point where he's remembering his grandparents and aunts/uncles when we go home. Now he'll pick up my phone, hold it to his ear and say "Nanny...Nanny" or come to the computer and say "Pop-Pop" because he wants to skype with my dad. 

Then we headed to New Albany, PA, up in the mountains in the middle-of-nowhere Pennsylvania for our annual family weekend at Kevin's grandfathers hunting camp. We look forward to this weekend all year long. The weekend typically consists of 4-wheeling, playing in the yard, TONS of food, board games, and wonderful conversations with family. The house is filling up quick now with kids being born! So it was the 3 of us, Kevin's grandparents (Gigi and Great Pap), Kevin's mom and stepdad  (nanny and pappy), and Uncle Josh, Aunt Abby, and Zion. Although it rained practically the entire weekend, we enjoyed each others company and ate all our hearts desired. 

Elias' vocabulary has exploded in the past couple months. He's now attempting to repeat just about everything when we say "Elias, say ___". Our favorite things he says or attempts to say as of late are "amen, love you, thank you, and please". He has his big evaluation with Early Intervention next Tuesday, and I'm very anxious to see where he stands. The only thing he was behind in before was gross motor skills, and thats because he wasn't walking yet at his last eval, so we'll see how it turns out! 

Just a quick medical update for Elias before I move on to Gavin. For those who remember (or don't), Elias was born with torticollis, which basically means tightening of tendons on the one side of his neck, making his head tilt to the one side. Through therapy and just everyday life, he's head has righted itself so well. However, his doctors still notice that he tends to hold his head tilted slightly to the one side. Both his ENT and orthopedist think we should consider a tendon release of the one muscle in his neck. But heres the problem at the moment...one doctor says if he were to do it, it would be a very quick recovery, no brace at all, and just a teeny incision on his neck. The other doctor said with the way he would treat it, he would be in a pinless halo brace for 3-6 months. Um, WHAT?! That's a HUGE difference of opinion! The problem is, both these doctors are absolutely amazing, and everything they've both done for Elias has been very successful up until now. So we're looking into getting another opinion. We're also evaluating whether we think the surgery is necessary in the first place. Is it bad enough that 15 years from now Elias is going to be self conscious about his neck and upset with us for now fixing it when we should have? We also know for sure that Elias is going to be getting a tendon transfer in his left foot around 2 years of age to try and straighten out his foot a little more. That surgery will require him to be in a cast for 6 weeks or so. Which means no walking. I'm having difficulty imagining Elias not having the ability to walk. I'm not sure how we'll react! We just know there's no way we can have him in both the pinless halo brace and the leg cast at the same time. On TOP of Gavin most likely in casts for his feet, too. So that's currently where we are with Elias. I'll try and update with the results of his Early Intervention eval next week!

Now. Onto Gavin...

This morning we had an ultrasound and a checkup to see how our little chunk is doing. At the last appointment, which was May 7, he was measuring great! He was right in the 55th percentile, and measuring right on schedule, and my fluid was looking good. At that point, I was suppose to come in every two weeks from then on to get ultrasounds. However, going to PA threw everything off, and my appointment today ended up being 4 weeks from the last instead of two. So today at the ultrasound, we found out that Gavin's weight gain has slowed substantially, with him now measuring in the 13th percentile at 5lbs 2 oz.  Almost failure to thrive. My fluid was measuring low as well. The doctor came in a did her own measurements, and the fluid measured a little higher for her, which is good. However, its still low. Just not AS low as they first thought. At this moment, the baby isn't in danger. However, if I lose much more fluid, he will be. The problem is, the fluid isn't leaking, so its not like I can visually see that's happening, making it very hard to self-monitor the situation. So I'm going back Monday for a stress test, basically where they'll hook on lots of monitors and listen to him breathe and move. If he's in distress, or if the test shows possible signs of low fluid, they'll take me in for an ultrasound and see whats going on, and if he is indeed in distress or if my fluid is lower, we're gonna call it and get a c-section. If everything is okay, we're gonna try and make it to Thursday, where I'll have an ultrasound to check on the fluid. I have a feeling Thursdays gonna be the day though. This is the same exact thing that happened with Elias. My placenta just pooped out in the final couple weeks, resulting in a small baby and hardly any fluid. I just want to get him out before he's in any danger from being inside and going without what he needs to thrive. We're hoping we can get past next Wednesday, which is when he'll be 37 weeks/full term. Otherwise, if he's born before then, he'll forever have the "preemie" title on his record. 

Its pretty scary. She also checked me to see if I was dilated at all, and I'm not. The baby's head is down pretty far, but there's no sign of my body wanting to naturally end this pregnancy and deliver yet. My doctor won't induce me this time around, as it would be too much stress on my uterus and scar since I had a c-section last time. However, if my body decided to kick into gear and go on its own, then it would be okay to try and deliver natuarally. However, we're not expecting that to be the case, and have resigned ourselves to the fact that it'll probably just be a c-section. Which we're okay with. Gotta do what we gotta do to keep our kids safe and healthy!

Please pray for Gavin's safety and health over the next few days. I've just very nervous that between now and my appointments, my fluids going to drop and he's going to be in distress and I won't even know it. The only thing I can do is try and monitor his movements, and his movements are so sporadic that I'm afraid I'm going to just be paranoid the whole weekend and think any stop in movement is him in distress.  Also pray that we can get the house clean and ready. With having moved, then going away, I still have things left to do before I feel ready for him to come home. I know they're not imperative, and if they don't get done, it'll be okay. But I know I'll be able to rest so much easier at the hospital knowing my house is clean and ready for Gavin to come home with us.