It's a Boy!!

Yesterday Joshua Eli was born at 10:15am at 7 lbs 11 oz and 19 inches long. He surprised us in a few ways...he was much bigger than we thought he would be, he has a head full of beautiful brown hair, and he was a boy:) It has been so exciting to meet the baby that we've been imagining for so long.

As planned, we had an amnio scheduled for May 4th to check to make sure that the lungs were mature.  The doctor went ahead and schedule me for my delivery on May 5th being 95% sure that everything would be in order for a May 5th delivery.  I began prep for my c-section at 8:00 and was finally wheeled into the OR at 9:45. They got him out at 10:15. Because the sac that covers the exposed area on his back was ruptured, they took him into a separate room within the OR immediately to cover his back with a sterile plastic covering and placed him in an enclosed isolet. It was then that we first saw our beautiful baby boy. Man is he chubby, especially considering that during the amnio the day before they measured him at 6 lbs 10 oz. My OB shared after Joshua's delivery that the only fluid she could find to take during that amnio was right next to his penis...we were none the wiser:)

Rather than the original timeline of 4 hours with us at UAB hospital, the doctors and nurses felt that it was in Joshua's best interest to transport him over to Children's Hospital 2 short hours after his birth due to the risk of infection to his back since it was ruptured. Matt was able to be with him while he was transported and my sister was able to come and be with me in the OR recovery. The nurses told me that with permission or not, they were going to find a way for me to see him even if it meant wheeling him in with a blanket over his cart:) Allison and I were in conversation when we suddenly heard the tiniest muffled cry because he was in his isolet. When they brought him in, they opened his 5 inch round window and we had our first physical contact by holding hands. Though this seems small, it was the highlight of my day.

Once over at Children's Hospital, the NICU did their own assessment and got him settled in while Matt handled his paperwork. We're very pleased with the quiet, peaceful environment that Joshua is in and how loving the staff is. It helps us sleep at night knowing that he's receiving such good care.

By the end of the day, Matt was able to meet with Joshua's neurosurgeon, neonatologist, and anethesiologist. They put Joshua on the schedule for early the next morning to do the closure on his back. Needless to say, I was exhausted from delivering and Matt was exhausted from running back and forth.

Today we arrived at Children's Hospital at 6:30am to meet with the neurosurgeon before Joshua's scheduled 7:30am surgery. It was a very emotional moment when I was able to be reunited with Joshua since I was only able to spend about 2 minutes with him the day before. He had received a sponge bath that morning and the nurse gave him "church hair"....it was parted and combed down on each side of his head.

The OR staff brought Matt and I back with Joshua to where his surgery would take place. We got to say good-bye and they gave us a pager for the OR staff to contact us every hour to give us updates. Surgery lasted a little over 3 hours and we got 4 updates. Each update was very positive about his progress. Since Joshua's repair was quite large and a little tricky, the neurosurgeon called in his colleague to work on one side while he worked on the other. After the surgery was finished the neurosurgeon spoke to us about the healing process which will likely take 4-6 weeks (not the original 2 weeks that we were told). He will lay on his stomach for the first week to allow his back to heal. If by next week he needs a shunt, they will do the procedure at that time. The doctors still do believe that it's a 90% chance that Joshua will need a shunt. We're really hoping to get the opportunity tomorrow!  Joshua is on a morphine right now.

The nursery closed from 2:00pm until 10:00pm today because there was an emergency so I took the opportunity to head back to UAB to get some rest and continue to recover from the c-section. Even though I need the rest, we were excited to possibly have the opportunity to hold Joshua for the first time tonight. Unfortunately it just didn't work out.  So we're hoping for tomorrow!

Thank you all very much for your love, support, encouraging messages, and most of all, prayers. Please pray for peace, upcoming tests that Joshua will have, as well as shunting and God's healing for him. We will put up another update tomorrow!