A BABY STORY
Well...where to start. Ive just had the scariest day of my life and I am exhausted. I dont think too many people know half of the stuff that went on today, even the ones we talked to. So here goes.
WAKE UP CALL
April's water half ass broke this AM at around 2 in the morning. We called the hospital and mozied on in there at about 11 AM. They tested a few things, hooked her up to some monitors, and tested the gunk that was coming out of her. Sorry...gross, I know. Anyway, this "gunk" turns out to be amniotic fluid and menconium (fancy word for baby poop). This concerned them some, as he may be breathing this stuff in, so they start April on Pitocin to induce labor.
An hour or so later comes the first stressfull moments... contractions are beginning, but Aiden's heart rate drops with every contraction, then goes back up again. This also concerns the doctor, who after an hour decides to get April a C-Section.
INSANITY ENSUES.
They are just telling us that she will be getting a C-section with spinal anesthesia (kinda like an epidural) when the anesthesiologist (whom I believe recently emmigrated from somewhere mildly Pakistani) rushes in with about 5 surgical nurses, grabs April, and wheels her to the OR, telling her that she will be put under instead.
So they put her under, prep her and make me wait in the waiting room. STRESS.
Finally (ok like 15 minutes) later they bring me into the OR and drag my son past my face, and begin doing all sorts of procedures to him.
NO CRYING. SILENCE.
Holy shit can this be any more stressful. I have NEVER in my life wanted to scream more than I did right then. After an eternity (Ok maybe 2 minutes tops) he begins crying. Best sound I have ever heard. They close up april, and bring Aiden off to the NICU where they monitor him and let me come in and meet him. And he was cute. 5 lb 4 oz... small, but cute. And he seems to be doing well. This is when I call most everyone I had the time to and where most people probably still think my day ended. Our folks show up, see the baby, and april gets moved into recovery. April takes an hour or so to recover, and we adjourn to her room to await the nurses bringing Aiden in to meet her.
INSANITY AGAIN ENSUES
Our pediatrician, a great great lady, comes in and tells us we have a very sick baby. WHAT??? He was doing well like an hour ago, now he is gravely sick??? I can tell you I thought I was going to puke right there. She procedes to tell us that his blood oxygen (from now on referred to as Bl. O2) was going down. She said she was concerned that he had a heart problem.
HEART PROBLEM.
Put yourself in a parents shoes and say those two words. If I had the choice, I would take a bullet rather than hear that again. I couldnt speak. They said they were running tests, but that he would be transferred to mayo via helicopter. Ok...thats bad. Helicopters to mayo are NEVER, EVER, good. April loses it, for good reason. They decide to wheel her, bed and all, into the NICU to see him before he leaves. We all go in and they put him in her arms with all his wires and tubes.
I LOSE IT.
I started crying like a little girl. Ive never seen ANYTHING so sad in my entire life. They came in and baptized him on the spot in aprils arms. I thought this kid was going to die right there, in her arms, and there wasnt a damn thing I could do about it. She held him for about 15 minutes, we talked to him, kissed him, played with his tiny fingers and toes. And he was ours...and always will be after that moment. That moment right there completely stopped me thinking of myself, and everything focused on him.
THE PHONE CALL
We stayed in the room while they did further ultrasound tests on his heart, via live feed with a cardiologist at mayo. He called our pediatrician, who proceeded to tell us....
NO HEART PROBLEM
She said that the structures of his heart were fine. However he had high blood pressure in one chamber of his heart. This was normal when kids are still inside mom, but should be resolved when they come out. His was not. She thought he had an infection, and was under stress from that, as well as the trouble keeping his Bl O2 up. She recommended we put him on a ventilator to breathe for him and allow him to rest, be less stressed, and antibiotics to treat the infection. It was a go.
THE COLOR OF HEAVEN
An hour later I went back into the NICU to see him. He was hooked up to a vent, but he was bright pink and kicking. There was no better sight to see in my eyes than to see him looking like that. The MD said his Bl O2 was at 100% (was a t 60% previously) and that they had given him some morphine to help him rest. April was brought in and we looked at him and sat with him for about half an hour before it was time for bed.
THERE IT IS
So thats it. At this point he still is a sick little kid, but he is stable, and they will be trying to wean him off of the vent and such when they are able. Please keep him and us in your thoughts, and thank you everyone for everything and all the support. We will get him better, god willing, and I cant wait to show him to everyone.
