Our sweet baby boy joined our family on Monday the 15th at 6:54 pm, four weeks and three days before his original due date. He weighed 3 lbs. 2 oz. We are in love!! We think he is the cutest thing ever made!
Here is the story: (sorry it's a long one!)
Sean was gone to California for some training and wasn't scheduled to be back until December 11th (yes, four days before the due date... scary!)
I woke up really early on Monday morning (very unusual for me, I am the farthest thing from a morning person!) I had a weird feeling all day that something wasn't right with the baby, he wasn't moving very good and I couldn't feel him kicking at all. I was able to talk to Sean on the phone later that morning and told him that I was going to go to the doctor that day and make sure I was just being over paranoid, I told him that I would call back after the appointment and let him know what they said. I went to the doctor around 2 pm and explained the situation to them. The doctor wasn't concerned and told me that the baby's movements would be changing because he was getting bigger and there was less room for him to move around inside. But he decided to do some testing anyway (probably just to make me feel satisfied) I told the doctor that I would rather feel a little silly for coming in to double check something that ended up being nothing than to feel sorry because something was wrong with my baby. The doctor put a fetal heart monitor on me for about 40 minutes to track the baby's heart and movements, it was picking up his heart rate and the baby was moving around so I figured everything was ok at that point. Towards the end of the test the heart rate dropped down really low a couple of times, this wasn't too alarming though because it could've been picking up on my heart rate instead of the baby's. The doctor decided to do an ultrasound since he couldn't say for sure which heart rate was being recorded when in dropped so low. The ultrasound results weren't making the doctor confident that everything was fine because the baby's heart rate slowed a few times during that as well and the baby didn't show enough strong movements (He was acting very sluggish) The doctor told me that he was sending me to labor and delivery at the hospital to do the same tests again but the testing equipment at the hospital was more sensitive and would be able to give better results. By this time it was now around 4pm and I was starting to get a little worried. The doctor told me to drive straight to the hospital and not eat or drink anything on the way just in case I needed to have the baby that night. I was scared for my little guy, but surprisingly I wasn't very scared about being alone... I just wanted my baby to be safe.
I was at the hospital for under an hour before the doctor there said that I was going to have an emergency c-section to save my baby! The test results were still not looking great and they were able to measure the baby and saw that he was measuring about the size of a 31 week fetus (I was 35 weeks and 4 days along) so for some reason he wasn't getting the nutrients he needed to grow. The doctor said that he didn't think the baby would have lasted through the night. I was so sad that Sean was not going to be there to share the experience with me but I never really felt alone (Heavenly Father was definitely watching out for us!) I called Sean and sent an emergency red cross message so that he could get on a plane as soon as possible to come home. I called our friends Adam and Jessica they were able to come to the hospital before I went into the surgery. Adam gave me a blessing and it helped me to feel comforted. Jessica spent the night with me at the hospital. We have such great friends!!
I wasn't able to see the baby after the c-section because my blood pressure was too high and I had to stay in my room for monitoring. I was sad that I couldn't see him but Sean got there early the next morning and we got to go and see our little boy for the first time together, and I am very grateful that we got to have that special experience! We were so happy when we saw him... he is perfect!!
I got released from the hospital on Thursday. Clayton is still there. We aren't sure how long he will have to stay (the pediatrician said 2 weeks was a good guess to start with... it could be more or less.) He just has to gain some more weight and be able to maintain his own body temperature. He is doing awesome! He has been eating and breathing on his own since he was born. He had an I.V. in the first day and a half or so to help keep his blood sugar level normal and to help give him fluids, but he doesn't have one anymore. He got a feeding tube put in his nose on Thursday, but it is only used when it takes him too long to eat a bottle so he doesn't burn too many calories in the process... he usually does well with just eating his bottles though. We are so proud of him! He is such a strong little guy!!!
We have had an overwhelming amount of support from our family and friends. We definitely feel all the prayers and love, and it means a lot to us. Heavenly Father has blessed us more than we could have ever imagined! We are so grateful.
