First Night Home

Last night was Ian's first night at home and I have to say, it was interesting. He woke up a whole lot and I know it's because he's getting adjusted to the environment. I did get to take a little nap during the day though. Other than that, it was fine. He's eating well and breastfeeding is going ok. It can go better, but right now it's going well. I just have to remember not to give up and keep going because that's what's best for him. I thank God for getting us through our first night with Ian and I look forward to many more sleepless nights. :)

Baby Ian Came at 34 Weeks

Where do I begin? I am writing now that I actually have time to do it. The last couple of days have been exciting. On Sunday I started losing my mucus plug. On Monday I didn't go to work because I had terrible lower back pain. On Tuesday I went to work, but I started noticing that the baby had not been moving or kicking as much as he normally did, so I called the doctor and they told me to go to the hospital. I left work at around 11:30 am. We came to South Miami. The first thing they did was an ultrasound and the baby was moving and his heart was beating fine. Then in triage I was hooked up to the monitors to monitor his heart rate. It started out fine, but then for about 4 minutes, his heart rate completely dropped. Like a scene out of ER, I was rushed into another room and in a matter of 2 minutes I was hooked up to an iv and in a hospital gown. They hooked the monitors back up and his heart rate picked up again. We waited it out for a while. We were nervous, but praying to God. He is always in control and knows why He does things and so we completely trusted in Him and let Him do what He wanted to do. About an hour later the nurse let us know that the baby's heart rate was not stable. It was going down and up and down again, so my doctor arrived and decided to do a c-section immediately. Getting the spinal block was the worse because since I'm so petite they had a really hard time doing it, but again, with a lot of prayer, it got down and I didn't have to go under general anesthesia and got to experience Baby Ian come into the world at 3:34 pm. Everything happened very fast. My doctor told me that my placenta was calcified and if I wouldn't have come in when I did, Ian might not have made it. He weighed 5 lbs and 1oz and measured 17 1/2 inches. Even though he has had to be in NICU, he is doing great. He is now off the oxygen and breathing on his own. He is drinking out of a bottle. The doctor says I might be able to keep him in my room tomorrow and we might be able to bring him home before Christmas Day. I cannot even begin to express how absolutely grateful I am to God for taking care of our baby boy. It has been an emotional, scary, happy, exciting past couple of days and I have felt God's presence all throughout this experience. Thank you all for your prayers. They are very much appreciated. We will soon be bringing Ian home and eventually to church so everyone can meet him.

With love,

Chris and Keren

Soldier Daddy Comes Home

This one's for Priscilla. I'll totally join you in the crying for this one.

Week 32

This past week has been rough. I've had a lot of leg and back pain and even walking is difficult. Let's not even mention sleeping. I really thought I was probably going into labor, but today we had an ultrasound done that the doctor requested and it was not a surprise to see that Ian is extremely big. That explains all of my discomfort. He's healthy. Has a head full of hair apparently. The only problem is...he's weighing around 5.9 lbs and he shouldn't even be near that right now. According to BabyCenter.com he's supposed to be weighing around 3.75 lbs. I hope those were miscalculations. But it was very clear to see how little space he has and how crammed he is in my belly. We got to see half of his face on 3D because the other half was being squished. I'll post up pics as soon as they get scanned. Please continue to pray for these last weeks of my pregnancy. I have to work for another 2 weeks and then I'm putting myself on bedrest. Just pray I make it far enough to a point that his lungs will be healthy enough for him to be able to come out.