What an exciting day as we prepared to meet our baby! We awoke early to head to the hospital, giving soundly sleeping Samuel & Oliver one last glimpse and entrusting them to dear friend Nanci. We prayed for a healthy delivery for mommy and babe. Dad readied his various recording devices and got into his scrubs. At last! We would soon find out the gender of our last remaining embryo, our baby conceived with Oliver and Samuel February 24, 2009. What miracles the Lord has brought into our lives!! All three frozen cryogenetically then, in complete faith as we trusted the Lord for the outcome. Today would mean the result of a journey begun almost 3 years prior. When it was time to bring forth our child, kind surgeon Dr. Voung asked Matt to look and announce. Proudly he said, "We have a beautiful baby boy!" Joyous laughter erupted as the baby was taken by a team of nurses. However, he was blue and in distress. Praying all the while I watched the tiny baby, Noah, being cared for. Matt hovered between mom and son. "Go to him," I softly said. I asked for the camera and took Matt's picture even while being worked on by steady surgeons' hands. We had discussed my desire to hold the baby ahead of time, but of course I had no such expectations if he was in distress. Nonetheless, the nurse quickly laid him to my chest. "Kiss your sweet son," She told me. My precious son! Then she whisked him away to Nicu where he needed intensive care.
He received oxygen and IV and other special care for more than 26 hours. We prayed and prayed in recovery, not yet knowing and hoping that his Nicu experience would be a quick false alarm. We were told he may have breathed in meconium, a dangerous event. They said when possible, Matt could be taken back. I continued to try to stay calm as Nurse Anya finished the cord blood collection kit so we could donate the cord blood. We were taken back to our room, where nervously we waited for news of Noah. We continued to pray. Matt was soon taken. I waited endlessly, unable to rest. Finally Matt returned and then the neonontologist came in. He said x-rays would reveal what was in the lungs, but the baby was still having trouble and needed the breathing apparatus and IV. After what seemed like hours, They finally decided to wheel down my bed to see the baby. Eagerly I drank in the sight of his tiny body receiving life sustaining care. I asked and was granted to do kangaroo care, a skin to skin method known to improve Nicu babies, preemies and every baby's healthy start in life. When they placed him back in his bed, I was talking to him. He opened his eyes wide and searched eagerly for the voice he recognized. Our eyes met and our gaze held. He seemed to speak volumes through that gaze, and I knew I needed to keep coming every possible opportunity to see him. As soon as they mentioned that I would soon be walking, I got up and started practicing, with trips every 3 hours to Nicu! All night I walked down the hall to visit him. Sometimes he was awake, other times I could only softly sing to him from arms' distance. By morning the tide seemed to have turned. His color seemed brighter, the nurses were eagerly encouraging me that he would be in my room within a few hours. Sure enough, he passed muster. The Doctor also reported that while Noah had breathed in amniotic fluid, it did not appear to have been tainted with meconium.
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