Happy Birthday, Xavier Michael!
Hello to you all. Rejoice with us in welcoming Xavier Michael into the world!
Today (or almost today; late last night actually) is the long-anticipated day! Here are some of his stats:
- born at 11:41 PM May 13, 2013 (sorry to those I texted the wrong time to)
- weight: 1 pound, 9 ounces (the ultrasound estimate was 4 ounces over)
- length of 33.5 cm or 13.2 inches
- what little hair he has, when it dried, is blonde like mom's
Xavier is strong and breathing on his own (though he has a CPAP in place for the next few days. His need for oxygen is minimal; his last adjustment was nearly down to 21%.
He cried (more of a complaint) strongly right out of the womb.
He has all of his parts, he looks well-formed all over (He's already had a physical and everyone is well-pleased). Ten fingers, ten toes, fingernails, toenails, little ears, little nipples (it was part of his exam to look for and at them)
Rebecca is doing well. She came through like a trooper. The surgery was uncomplicated; they were able to let her see Xavier before he was taken to the NICU. Later, they wheeled her bed in so she could see and touch her son.
The numbness of the spinal is wearing off and she has a magnesium sulfide drip going. We will learn later today if there will be any lingering effects of the pre-eclampsia (she was in a lot of pain the last few hours before delivery). We are also testing frequently for pneumonia symptoms (don't want that!)
Thank you all so much for your prayers, especially these last hours before and during Xavier's birth. What a miracle! I have spent nearly four hours in the NICU watching our son, not wanting to leave.
I will close today's entry by chronicling one of the many miracles we've seen. I mentioned previously that your prayers are conduits for miracles and you all have had a big part in Xavier's life already.
Yesterday afternoon, when Rebecca was still feeling colicky and before we knew or even considered pre-eclampsia, Gwen, our day nurse, came in to draw blood. She told me as we walked down the hall together that she was going to draw an extra vial because she knew the doctors would order it anyway. I thought nothing more of this, as it seemed a reasonable assumption to make, and Gwen is quite a competent nurse.
About 8:30 PM the resident doctor walked in to announce the need to deliver Xavier because Rebecca had gone severe pre-eclampsic. It was what she said next I think exposed the miracle. She said "it's a good thing you decided to have that extra blood drawn." The meaning was the doctors may not have ordered the tests for pre-eclampsia except Gwen had already drawn the blood for labs.
Many of you wrote or told us you were praying for the doctors and staff that they would be on their game. God definitely hears and answers our requests. Glory to God! Thank you, Jesus!
After getting Xavier out of the womb, the NICU team goes to work cleaning him up and getting him warm and stable.
Xavier Michael at about one minute old outside Mommy's womb. It doesn't look like it, but he likes the freedom.
Daddy gets a closeup of his son after his clean up. Daddy was so awestruck when they drew him from the womb tears wet his beard mask.
Now in his room in the NICU, Xavier is breathing well on his own, but the CPAP is still necessary for a few days because of his size and developmental stage. Little does he suspect what other gadgets he must endure before everyone leaves him alone to sleep! You can see his umbilical cord; it has another purpose to serve.
This is about an hour and a half later, after his little surgery to insert really tiny tubes into his umbilical, one in the vein and one in an artery. With these in place, blood draws can be done without poking him, some meds and food can be administered. These two tubes are now Xavier's umbilical to his pod.
The nurse is siphoning off some blood for another glucose test. He was a little low, so a tiny drip bag was set up to feed him some of the good stuff. The drip is through an IV in his right hand.
Everything is done and Xavier is set to have his pod closed. He has his heat lamp, humidifier and all his wires, tubes and little hat. He is snugged in to his little sleeper and has two soft pillows to keep him from rolling around. All of his gadgets are hooked up and beeping. "Can I get some sleep now?" he was complaining during all this or perhaps, "Dudes! Give it a rest!"
It was surreal, a scene from some sci-fi film. The sides of the pod were raised, then the top began to descend. As it began its slow drop, the doors around the heat lamp closed, and the humidifier kicked in. After about 20 seconds, the dome locked into place.
A view of Xavier's room for the next two months. No dinosaurs here, and no pastel yellows and greens. The wall behind has a whimsical "Twinkle, twinkle little star" sentence surrounded by little smiley stars. I thought this fun because the mobile we bought plays "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."
This was a wonderful grace. Rebecca had recovered enough and they wheeled her bed into the NICU. She got to see him and interact with him a little before they fitted him into his sleeping snuggy.
Rebecca pets Xavier. His body still has some of its lanugo, especially his arms.
This is a diaper like the one Xavier wears in the picture above. His first diaper was too big, so they found a smaller size. Even it is too big at the moment. Just before the dome sealed the pod, I got to change Xavier's diaper. It was my first and not as easy as it looks. As I snugged up one side, Xavier felt the need to create more amniotic fluid; we didn't change him again, however. :)