May We Introduce...

John Daniel

Born by emergency Cesarian Section

at 29 weeks and 5 days gestation

(roughly, 7 months, 1 week and 5 days gestation)

(roughly, 11 weeks early)

on Thursday May 28th, 2009

at 1:20 p.m.

Weighing 3 pounds and 4 ounces

and 14 inches in length

1 Day Old

Wearing the tiniest diaper I have ever seen, and it swallows him. One of the nurses told us that diapers this tiny are not available in stores.


Holding Daddy's hand. His little body is bruised from the IV needles. One of the nurses looked at my matching, purple bruises and told us, "He bruises like his Momma." Poor little man.

Sweet little feet.

1 week and 1 day old. He has a scab on his scalp from an IV and is still a little jaundiced. (He was under the "Bili Lights" for 3 days.) He now weighs 2 pounds 13 ounces. The nurses and the neonatologist assure us that weight loss is common in the first week of life.

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*Deep Breath*...*Exhale*...now I will attempt to explain all that has happened in the past 3 weeks that has changed our lives forever...(I just read this last sentence to Mike and asked, "Did that sound too dramatic?" He smiled and said quietly, "Well, it has been pretty dramatic."

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So, I am sure the telling of this story will be infused with a dramatic tone, and will be quite lengthy...I want to attempt to record all that I am feeling for posterity.
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About four months into my pregnancy with John my O.B.G.Y.N. told me that he was concerned that my blood pressure was elevated. He put me on a pregnancy safe blood pressure medication and the problem seemed resolved by my next office visit. During the office visit that he originally prescribed the medication I asked him what kind of effect an elevated blood pressure could have on my pregnancy and he replied that his main concern, because at that point my blood pressure was only slightly elevated, was a low birth weight for the baby.

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Considering that Adam was 9 pounds 13 ounces at birth, and Brian was 10 pounds 3 ounces, I suppressed the urge to snort loudly and tell him flippantly, "A low birth weight? I should be so lucky."

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My O.B.G.Y.N. kept a close eye on my blood pressure by having me come in weekly and when I reached my 6 month mark he became concerned because my blood pressure was on the rise again, despite his increasing my medication. At this point he started having me come in twice a week and monitor my blood pressure at home as well.

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I came for an office visit on April 30th and showed the doctor the blood pressure readings that I had recorded at home using my cute little electronic blood pressure cuff. He became very, very quiet as he studied my at home recorded readings and then turned to address me. I wanted to yell, "Good Heavens, Man...why are you looking at me like that?" He said calmly and evenly, "I don't want you to think of this as some sort of a punishment (okay Doc., a preface like that is certain to lower my blood pressure) but I want to send you to an area of the hospital we call 'Observation'. I want you to lie down and relax and we are going to observe your blood pressure for a 3 hour period. He then explained that if my blood pressure did not come down he would admit me to the hospital for a 4 day stay to receive an IV treatment of a medication called Magnesium Sulfate to bring my blood pressure back down.

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I headed to Observation and tried to concentrate on relaxing. They hooked me up to a fetal monitor to make sure John was not in any sort of distress. My blood pressure came down within the first hour. During the second hour John became, according to the monitor, a little lethargic so one of the nurses in Observation (I found out that that area of the hospital is also called, "The Triage", and it is in the triage where patients are sent to for a decision to be made as to whether they should be admitted to the hospital or sent back home) brought me a snack of graham crackers with peanut butter. I was hooked up to one of those dreadful blood pressure cuffs that squeezes your arm hard enough to bruise you (I am not joking, I had little red marks from the repeated squeezing of the cuff) so I was unable to spread the peanut butter by myself and so my sweet nurse offered to do it for me. Shortly after receiving the protein from the peanut butter John perked right up and began to dance a jig on my bladder. I told my nurse that my baby likes to eat, just like his momma.

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I was relieved that I was able to go home that day because after laying down and resting my blood pressure dropped down to a very respectable level. As I was being discharged I told my nurse, "Okay...lemmie get this straight...all I have to do is lay around and have an entire team of kind hearted people serve me and grant my every wish and even go so far as to spread peanut butter on my graham crackers for me?" She laughed and said that I was probably a prime candidate for being placed on bed rest. I was sent home and told that I would be on, "partial bedrest" and that I was not to do any outdoor activities or stand for longer that a span of an hour.

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Okay...Methinks I am getting a little too detailed with this story...

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Suffice it to say, that I continued to go into the doctor 2 times each week and visited, "Observation/Triage on May 7th and May 14th. I tried not to feel picked on by the doctor and trust his instincts that my blood pressure was an item of major concern. The thing is...I felt fine...so it was hard for me to wrap my mind around the situation being so potentially dangerous. I followed my doctor's orders with exactness however, and limited my activity just as he had prescribed.

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On May 21st I took my blood pressure on my cuff before going in for my scheduled appointment and was alarmed to see how high it was. I called Mike and told him that I was really concerned that I would not be returning home that day, and went in to the doctor hoping that I was needlessly concerned. The doctor was not only concerned about the extremely spiked blood pressure but was also very concerned about the traces of protein in my urine sample. It was explained to me that when the body starts, "spilling protein" as he called it, it is usually due to the development of toxemia. (Evidently, the medical terms "toxemia" and "preeclampsia" are basically interchangeable, or at least my doctor used them interchangeably.) If I understood the doctor correctly toxemia/preeclampsia is dangerous because it can shut down the umbilical cord and compromise the functioning of the placenta and can starve the baby of nutrients and endanger the baby's life. Basically, it can make your body toxic for your baby.

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As feared, I was sent to Observation but my blood pressure did not drop back down to a respectable level with relaxation as it had in the weeks prior. The doctor said he felt that the blood pressure spike had triggered the onset of toxemia and that I should be admitted to the hospital immediately. The days leading up to my being admitted to the hospital I had jokingly bragged to several friends that I think every woman pregnant in the summertime in Georgia should get the chance to be put on mandatory bed rest and that a hospital stay would be a dreamy, relaxing experience. When the doctor told me that I would not be going home that day my tears quickly gave away that I wasn't as excited as I had tried to lead everyone to believe.

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With a steady, yet somewhat controlled stream of tears making their way down to my cheeks I said to the doctor when he said I would have to stay in the hospital, "Well, please...make it a room with the view." My nurse laughed and told me, "Well, at least you have a good sense of humor." I then told them that it was my 15 year wedding anniversary today and that this was my way of keeping the excitement and intrigue in my marriage. I went on to say that I just wanted my husband to come meet me in an exotic and unexpected locale for our anniversary.

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(Okay...I promise to return with another installment of our story. I need to go right now because the NICU is opening for visitors and Mike and I are anxious to go and see our sweet, little man.)

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...yes, I know... the last time I said that I would return I never came back...but I will return soon to record the rest of the story of our Little John's arrival...

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Um, something is wrong with my spell check...I am doomed without spell check...

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