Introducing Mr. Dominic Alexander!

On Feb. 23rd, Rick and I went to the Doctors as usual for a non-stress test and the baby did great. Then we had an ultrasound to check his growth and the Doctor noted that he hadn't grown as much as we thought he should by that point. She suggested we should induce which we were totally fine with- she checked with the NICU, labor and delivery, and the surgeon and everyone was on board, so off I went to get checked into labor and delivery! I got all hooked up and they checked my cervix... I was only at 1cm and my cervix was "long and hard" which meant it wasn't ready for labor. They gave me some medicine to get me ready and then we waited. Next time they checked me I was only at about 2 so they put in a foley bulb and gave me pitocin and within a couple of hours I was at 4cm! This is about the time I requested my epidural... getting it in wasn't a pleasant experience but SO WORTH IT. I don't understand why someone would want to be in that kind of pain without drugs. =) They checked me 2 hours later expecting me to be about 6cm and I was 10! My cervix was totally ready and the baby was down and in position! We woke Rick up and he hopped right up and was by my side =). They got the room ready and then after just 14 minutes of pushing, Dominic Alexander came into the World!

He weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz and 18 inches long and simply beautiful. I only got to see him for a minute before they took him for surgery. The surgery lasted less than an hour, and eventhough he had a lot of intestines out they got everything back in and closed him up. This put a lot of pressure on his little lungs so they had to put him on a ventilator for the first day after that.
He's just making so much progress and is now off the ventilator and breathing on his own. His bile that's being sucked from his stomach is still green and we're waiting for that to run clear. The day after the surgery his tummy was all red and looked like it was getting infected but it's looking much better now. They have him on antibiotics so hopefully there aren't going to be any infections.

He was getting really cranky the other night because he was in pain so now instead of waiting for him to be in pain and giving him narcotics, they have him on a system on tylenol which helps keep the pain away. It's just so heart breaking to see the little guy squirm in pain, I hate it =(.

He just got his PICC line yesterday which will give him more nutrition and hopefully stop him from losing so much weight... he's already down a pound, but the doctors aren't too concerned yet because he's basically peeing out his weight in the swelling that was in his bowels so it's kind of a good thing.

We've gotten to hold him a bit, and I was there for a couple hours last night holding and rocking him, it was wonderful.

So far so good- please pray that his bile runs clear, that he's pooping, and that he's not in pain and recovering well. Thanks so much and we'll keep you updated!

Hopefully this week!

I'm now 38 weeks pregnant, and at the last Dr. appointment she said that if this baby doesn't come by 39 weeks and we want to induce, that they would do that. We go in today for a non-stress test and have a growth ultrasound to see how he's growing in there and how big he is. I also want to try to set up a date to induce, so I'm hoping to do that! We are more than ready to meet our little guy! I'll update later on what we find out today! =)

No amnio =(

Well, we went in yesterday to get the amnio done and the Doctor couldn't find a good pocket of fluid to draw from. Either the placenta was in the way, the intestines, or some part of the baby was just too close for comfort. She sent me on my way with orders to drink a ton of water, and to go to Labor and Delivery at 5:30pm to try to get the amnio done with another Doctor. The hope was that the water I was drinking would increase my fluid level, and that the baby would move into a better position. After waiting for hours to see this Doctor, he couldn't find a good pocket either, so no amnio was done. I am very disappointed. I should know better not to get my hopes up about this kind of stuff, but I was really ready to be in labor right now, instead of waiting to talk to the Doctor again to see what's next. I'm supposed to call back later today to see what she says, but she didn't seem real supportive of delivering at 37 weeks and I might have to be insistent. We just don't feel comfortable letting the baby stay in there with all his intestines and his stomach outside his body, because the longer that's in the amniotic fluid the more opportunity for damage there is. I don't want his bowels getting kinked or dilated if we can safely deliver instead. 37 weeks is full term and I plan on insisting to be induced soon. After 37 weeks you don't have to have an amnio done, so hopefully we can just set up a date to be induced. *sigh* It seems every step of the way, something has to come about and make this more difficult.

Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers, thank you all for the support and love thus far.

Stephanie

News from the OB today

We went in to see the high risk OB today for a follow up ultrasound and the baby is measuring at 5 lbs. 2oz. That's a measurement taken with his smaller stomach size, so he's closer to 5 1/2 or 6 lbs.!! Can you believe that!? Everything looked good except now not only are his bowels outside his tummy, but so is the stomach. The Dr. says this isn't going to affect delivery or his surgery, and shouldn't affect his recovery too much. Of course it makes us worry more, but we're still hoping for the best. The procedure will still be the same- the baby will be born and his lower half placed into a plastic bag so that he doesn't lose heat and hydration. When he's stable the surgeon will place the contents back into his stomach as much as possible, and whatever doesn't fit will be placed in a silo. A silo is basically a plastic tube that is hung above his belly with the intestines in it, and every day a bit of pressure is put on the intestines to get them to go into his body. This usually takes a few days to a week. Another thing the Dr. saw is that his bowels are now a bit more dilated than last time we checked. More dilation equals longer recovery time for our little guy, so now we decide that early delivery is best. The head surgeon is out of town from Feb. 6-11 so we'll be doing an amnio on the 11th to check for lung maturity, and if his lungs are ready, we will induce on the 12th. An amnio is when they stick a needle into my abdomen and take a sample of the amniotic fluid from the uterus so they can check protein levels, which will tell how his lungs are doing. So as of now, we plan to induce on the 12h of Feb. and he'll be born soon after that! Please keep us and our baby boy in your prayers so that his surgery and recovery go perfectly. If his lungs aren't mature enough then, depending on the level of maturity, we will either just wait a week and induce, or wait a week and do another amnio. We're hoping that his lungs work perfectly so that we can get him out of there and into surgery.

Thanks everyone, I'll keep you posted!