He has arrived!

We arrived at the hospital a little before 8am Monday morning and checked in. When they drew my blood they discovered that toxemia had set in. My blood pressure was the highest it had been, my liver enzymes were elevated, and my platlets were extremely low. To prevent me from going into seizure, the placed me on magnesium which made me feel like I had the flu. When the pitocin kicked in and I started contracting I decided it would be better for me and the baby to have an epidural because of all these complications. (Warning: TMI: David determined that when I had my headphones on there was only 1 orifice that didn't have something in it or on it! I thought was hilarious and asked the nurse if she could find just 1 more thing!) Once the epidural was in, I was better able to handle things, and even able to doze a little (the magnesium made me sluggish). I went from 5cm dialated to 10 in about 30 minutes but everytime there was a contraction, the baby's heartrate would drop to dangerous levels. Even as they were preparing for me to start pushing, there was concern of having to do a c-section because of his distress. We went ahead though and after 3 episodes of pushing - out he came!! The NICU nurses were standing by and after a quick cut of the cord by David, they whisked him away and started their duties. He received high marks (the first of many!) in his initial tests but because of his low birth weight they took him to the NICU for further observation. They let me hold him for about a minute before they took him and he just looked at David and I and was perfectly content! It was amazing! After he spent an hour in the NICU, he was allowed to go to the well baby nursery but had to stay in an incubator for 12 hours. I had to stay on the labor and delivery floor instead of going to the postpartum floor because I had to stay on the magnesium for 24 hours and could only have clear fluids since magnesium inhibits the gag reflex. After delivery my blood pressure dropped and continued to drop into almost dangerous levels - at one point it was 105/50 how crazy is that!?! The low blood pressure made it impossible to keep even clear fluids down. So after battling that for a little while, phenegrin put me out for a few hours and when I awoke, I was able to start the fluids again - cranberry juice, chicken broth, and popsicles never tasted so good!

Around 9pm a nurse brought him down in his incubator for about 30 minutes and we got to stare at him through the glass. Both Grandmothers were still here and we all cried at our little miracle. David and I decided that he would be Reed Matthew Gardner. Our dear friend Amanda was working in the well baby nursery that night and around midnight she wheeled him down to us and let David and I hold him for a total of 5 very short minutes. Up until then it didnt even seem like we had a baby since it had been over 9 hours since I had gotten to hold him last. Around 4am she was able to bring him back down and plug his incubator in next to my bed and around 5:30 I was able to assist in feeding him through the little holes in the side of his "box".

As I write, he is sleeping in his box beside me. David has gone home to get a couple of much needed hours of sleep. They will continue dropping the temperature inside his box until it is room temperature and seeing how well his body keeps a steady temperature. This should take about 3 hours which we are hoping will coincide with me being taken off the magnesium and moved up to postpartum.

From what I have observed so far, and from what Amanda has told me, he is hardly a crier (I'm sure that might change). He cried a little when he got his diaper changed (not by us we haven't got to do that yet...) and when they removed the thermometer from his skins since it was stuck with tape. But as soon as those uncomfortable activities are over, he stops crying almost immediately and goes back to observing the world or falling asleep.

God is so good - we are so blessed. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. He will be checked by EVERYONE tomorrow (pediatrician, audiologist, etc.) but so far it looks like our prayers for a healthy baby have been answered with a resounding YES! Praise the Lord! Throughout this whole pregnancy there has been one set of verses that have resounded with me. I have hung them on the wall of his nursery and brought a copy of them to the hospital with us:

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to You;
the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.
For You created my inmost being;
You knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,Your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
Psalm 139:11-16

None of this went as I had planned - praise be to God for HIS wisdom!

Reed Matthew Gardner
Sept 21, 2009 @ 3:18pm
4lbs 3.3 oz
17 1/2 inches
Head: 11 1/2 inches
Chest: 10 1/2 inches