Remember that PDA problem?

Well, it closed! I just couldn't wait to tell you that I've grown up just a little more today.

The doctor says this is a big milestone and will help in a lot of ways. I already have an easier time breathing!

Just so you know how special this is, let me tell you what the nurse said about this medicine. She said they sometimes have to give three rounds of three doses each before it closes. And even then, it doesn't always work. The next step would be to transfer me to a bigger hospital in Salt Lake City for surgery. I guess God knew that I liked being close to my family!

I had two doses of the medicine before an x-ray revealed that it had closed. They'll still give me a third dose to finish up the round and after that, I get to start having my mommy's milk!

Thanks for your prayers everyone!

It's hard work being 10 (days old)

Actually, I don't know if I'm 10 days old, or negative 3 months, but either way it's tiring being this small.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a little bit of hard work now and then, it's just that I don't think my parents agree, and I'm worried about them.

Take yesterday for example - I had been relaxing most of the day when my parents came and visited me. I had just had an x-ray that revealed some developing lung and I thought it would be a good time to demonstrate how well it works.

Okay, so maybe it was a bit early to be showing off, because as soon as mom and dad got there things didn't go too smoothly. Actually, I was breathing just fine, but my heart wasn't ready. You see, there's a duct between the heart and lungs that is supposed to close when you're born. Mine hasn't. So after working my lungs hard to get oxygen in my blood, that blood would just flow back and forth between my heart and lungs and wouldn't circulate.

Sorry for all the complicated details. If you're curious, Dr. Simmons said to look up PDA on the internet.

Anyway, I tried to show off to my parents, and the nurse had to kick them out after a few minutes because she couldn't get things under control.

I'm sure we'll all laugh about it later, but you should've seen their faces! They were as white as hospital walls and I could hear their hearts pounding from the waiting room.

Things are under control now and I'm taking some medicine to close that PDA. It shouldn't be long now. I'm just glad my parents kept coming back to see me, and that I didn't scare 'em off for good!

And I'm REALLY glad that I have so many people praying for me. Some of the doctors and nurses are sometimes baffled by how well things are going for me, some hesitate to attribute my progression to Heavenly Father, and some know exactly why I'm doing so well. I think I've been doing a pretty good job of showing 'em all what miracles look like.

I love you all!

Marshall

Post-Christmas Lethargy

I bet you're surprised I know the word lethargy. Well, anyone with access to the internet and a good spell-checker can seam smart these days (whoops, I mean 'seem').

But seriously, even my leg has been falling asleep constantly since Christmas. It started to turn a bit blue yesterday and kept getting worse. But don't start worrying about that, it's back to the same pink color as the rest of me. I don't quite understand it, but my doctor said the line that goes in my umbilical artery was reducing the blood supply to my leg. All I know is that he pulled it out and my leg feels much better (but not before that prickling feeling you get after riding on your daddy's shoulders too long).

With that tube gone, I felt much lighter and better. I have to say, it's a bit awkward to have tubes coming out of your belly button when family comes to visit (and is that an innie because it goes inside me, or an outtie because it sticks so far out?!) Either way, I wasn't free for very long. They put a picc line in my arm that runs all the way to my 2-centimeter little heart. Evidently there's a quota for how many tubes have to be attached to a baby here. Don't they know I weigh only $1.92 in pennies?

But the good news is that I weigh about 80 grams more today than I did when I was born! I figure since my dad and others are gaining weight during the break that I may as well join them. The doctor says the weight is good, but he says I must've overdone it on the sweets. Evidently the sugar in my blood is pretty high right now, and that needs to get balanced.

The good news is that I'm weaning from the oxygen and ventilator, the super bright lights for the bilirubin are turned off for now, and my right eye is getting close to opening (I try really hard to open my eyes when I hear my mommy's voice. My daddy is always telling me how beautiful she is, but I want to see her myself!).

Thank you for praying me to those milestones. Could I ask you for another favor though? Could you keep the doctors and nurses in your prayers as well? They get pretty tired taking care of me, and someone needs to take care of them too.

Anyway, sorry for the long-winded email. I guess that's what happens when you eat too much sugar and lie around in your incubator all day. I love you all!

Marshall

The Best Hardest Christmas Ever!

This Christmas can definitely be defined as my most difficult and at the same time best Christmas ever.  My lifelong dream of becoming a mother finally came true.  With the fulfillment of that dream came more worry and heartache than I have had to experience up to now.

Christmas day was also a contradiction of feelings.  The previous night I had been released from the ICU and moved back to the post partum floor.  We had been hoping to go home for Christmas.  Christmas morning we got to talk with Tyler's sister Katelyn, serving in Holland over three way facetime.  She told us she had prayed and felt everything would be okay.  She said she told her mission president that she was doing the most important thing she could be doing now - helping bring others to the joy that we have in the Gospel.  Then we got to watch my family open presents over facetime.  All those things made me homesick.

Christmas afternoon the doctor came and said that my platelets, while not back to where they should be, were on an upward trend - the right direction; and my liver enzymes, not yet where they should be either, were on a downward trend - also the right direction.  He said with everything trending in the right direction, and follow up appointments scheduled with doctors, that he would be okay to release me.  At his words I felt an initial leap of excitement, followed by a sadness and dread to be further away from my little boy.  My dreams came true, but in a different way than I ever expected.  I always imagined spending days and weeks holding my baby, kissing him, loving him, and providing his every need.  Instead, I have to leave him in the hospital and shuttle back and forth to see him.  I don't get to provide his every need, because I am unable to right now.  That is provided by his nurses and doctors and I find myself fighting jealousy that all I can do is look, talk, sing quietly to him and pray.  I was excited to leave the hospital, but hated to leave it!

We had missed lots of family time and celebrations during our week in the hospital, and were happy to be home, spending time with those we loved.  I was happy that Tyler would finally have a nice bed to sleep in, instead of chairs or tiny pull out beds, and for the distraction of the excitement of Christmas - but the biggest part of my heart was left in a little NICU basinette, where the best Christmas present ever was sleeping.

Merry Christmas!

I don't know about you, but Christmas wore me out! Is it always this exciting?

Santa came and visited me last night, but no one told me it was him and I thought I was getting a new doctor! It's probably a good thing he's not my doctor though - I think his beard might get sucked into my ventilator.

I just want to share with you, in a few sentences, what I am grateful for today.

The ultrasound of my brain didn't reveal any bleeding to the doctor, but I could've told him that. They say the risk of that is highest in the first few days after leaving mommy's warm tummy. I am grateful that my brain isn't bleeding.

I'm also thankful that I don't have CMV. If you don't know what that is, do what my daddy did and google it. I'll just tell you it's nothing more than a cold virus for you, but would sure hurt me.

The doctor said that he could see my lungs beginning to develop for the first time today. He said, "I don't know how he was breathing for the first five days." Well, I know how. That's why I'm thankful for angels. Sometimes you can't do things for yourself, like preach the Gospel or breath air, and that's when He sends the angels.

I am especially thankful for my mommy and that she got to go home for Christmas today. She had a rough time in here, but she's too tough to stay sick. She walked out of the hospital herself today, but not before visiting me for a long time. I am thankful for my mommy.

Merry Christmas everybody, and if you ever doubt that miracles happen, just think of me! I'm not saying it's easy or that trials end quickly, but things could be a lot harder without Heavenly Father and his perfectly empathetic Son. They make up the difference, and I am thankful for that!

Love,
Marshall

Howdy, partner!

Hi, it's me again.

Thanks for all of your emails. It's exciting to meet new people every day. I'm only a few days old and already I have so many friends.

Since I don't get to see most of you yet (actually, I won't really see anyone until my eyes open up. Grandma Daryl says they'll open any day now), I thought I could tell you how I like to spend my time. If possible, I like to relax and sleep. They say it'll help me develop and be kinder to my body, but I do it so I can stay close to heavenly father and let the angels do their work.

I guess I should tell you why I got so tired today. My dad came to visit me and came at just the right time. I was ready to roll over to my other side with the help of my nurse Renee right when dad came to visit. I had a good idea to make him feel a bit useful (I guess he's been feeling kinda helpless lately, and I thought this would help). I had him pick me up in his big hands so that grandma could take some pictures. It was fun being lifted up so high!

Dad kept worrying he was going to hurt me, but I just thought, "Hey, I'm Stout-hearted. I can handle it!" I don't think he got the message.

Because I enjoy my rest, I schedule all my activities in clusters. So a few times a day I'll change positions, or bedding, or diapers (everyone was so excited that I went number two for the first time today, how embarrassing). During those times the nurses will do what they need for tests and adjusting things like diet and blood transfusions.

Anyway, I don't want to worry you by talking about things like blood, so I'll introduce you to my new buddy. His name is Woody and he's a marshall too. He came with grandpa Paul with a custom metal badge that says "Marshall" and has my birthday on it. I'm proud to say that crime in the NICU has remained at zero ever since we got here.

Right now deputy Woody is taller than I am, but mom says I'll grow bigger than he is really soon. They say they're gonna take pictures of the two of us a lot so they can see me grow, but I think it's a bit much. I do like Woody, but he's got work to do and he tends to sit on my tubes and wires a lot.

Well, I'm getting pretty tired again. The doctor worked with me a lot today to get the sugar levels in my nutrients figured out, and so I have another day of living and maturing behind me. Tomorrow will be a good day I think. As long as the prayers keep coming my way, I'll have the fuel to keep fighting. And He told me that you and I help each other to grow, physically and spiritually. I think we all make a pretty good team.

I love you all! Merry Christmas!

--Marshall

P.s.: Mommy's doing better today. Dad told me she was struggling with something about hi-per-ten-shun and HELLP syndrome. I miss her, and I know she misses me and feels bad she hasn't been able to come see today. So pray for her as well! I think she'd love to hear from you too, so feel free to send her a text!

Deeper meaning to Christmas

Every Christmas I look forward to singing in the ward choir and the hearing music and talks all about the birth of our Savior.  I LOVE Christmas and I LOVE Christmas music.  So when I realized I wouldn't be home for the Sunday Christmas program, I was pretty sad.  But I convinced my wonderful dad to record the program for me!

I also really wanted to partake of the sacrament.  One of the nurses informed us that usually some Elders bring it by every week.  (Elders is a term for an office of the priesthood in our church and also for male missionaries).  I am so thankful for this small kindness that they perform for individuals that are stuck in the hospital for however long.  

Sometime midday, two elderly Elders (probably volunteers from a nearby congregation) stopped by our room with a hospital tray covered in white linen and asked us if we would like the sacrament.  I felt so appreciative for their service! The previous day had been my bout with the extreme pain in my chest, and I just felt like I needed the extra strength and peace that comes with partaking of the sacrament.  One Elder put a towel down on the hard floor and slowly knelt, then pronounced the sacrament prayer for the bread.  The other Elder repeated the same process for the water.  As they finished, one of the Elders wiped tears from his eyes, as I sat doing the same.  A solemn, peaceful feeling pervaded the room. 

As I sat there and pondered the Atonement of Our Savior and the upcoming celebration of His birth, I thought about all that had happened in the past couple days.  The birth of my own little boy.  How much I loved him.  How much our Father in Heaven loves His only begotten Son, and what a sacrifice it must have been to send His Son to the earth to atone for our sins.  I thought of the extreme pain I had experienced the previous day, and thought of the pains that others in the world have experienced that far surpass mine, and how I had just hoped and hoped that the pain would stop.  I marveled that the Savior suffered the pains of everyone so that he could come to our aid to give us comfort during this mortal journey.  But the ability to give us comfort in our earthly pains and trials is only a part of the miracle. The ability to forgive us of our sins and make us clean again is the miracle that allows us to live forever with those we love!  

I thought how when we are more in tune with the spirit, and truly seeking our Father in Heaven, that we feel the pain and sorrow of sin more acutely than when we become distanced.  The Savior being perfect, had a perfect understanding and feeling at the time he experienced all our pains AND our sins.  I felt my understanding of His great sacrifice and sufferings deepen, although it is still miniscule.

I wondered if I felt the pain and sorrow associated with my sins as acutely as I felt the pain of the previous day, if I'd be as slow as I am sometimes to seek forgiveness.  I was so quick to pray and seek help when I was in such physical pain, and when I was seeking physical help for Marshall - why am I not always in that big of a hurry to seek help when I sin? 

Sitting there, the physical pain still fresh in my memory, I realized the wonder of the ability for the Savior to help and carry us in our physical pain.  Yet our physical pain will "last but a moment" (D&C 121:7).  Our spiritual pain can last forever, and I realize we will feel it much more acutely when we leave this mortal body.   But if we seek forgiveness we can be clean, the stain will be removed, and we will live forever with the Savior and our eternal families!

I am so thankful for the birth, life and death of a beautiful baby boy in Bethlehem - JESUS the CHRIST.  I know he loves little children and is standing by and watching over my beautiful baby boy, Marshall.

HELLP!

On Saturday evening, my good friend Janica had come to visit me and brought me some frozen yogurt (my fav!).  Tyler had then taken her to the NICU to show her our beautiful Marshall.  My father-in-law, Paul, and brother-in-law Nathanael then stopped by to visit.  I LOVE visitors and was so thankful for everyone that came to see me!  Within minutes of Paul and Nathanael coming in, a horrible pain erupted in my chest.  It wasn't a gradual thing either.  One second I was fine, the next I was in extreme pain.  I was trying to stay calm so that I wouldn't alarm 12 year old Nathanael, but the pain was the worst pain I had ever felt.  I quickly pushed the nurses button to tell them that I had a really bad pain in my chest.  As soon as I started speaking, I began to cry.  Those of you that know me well, know that I have a high tolerance for pain, and I'm usually really good at keeping tears at bay until I am alone.  The nurses rushed in, Paul quickly ushered Nathanael out, and Tyler and Janica came in shortly after.  Tyler held my hand, as I closed my eyes and tried to breathe calmly to endure the pain.  The rest is all hazy.  I know Janica was doing her best to comfort me as well.  Many people rushed into the room, putting probes all over me, drawing blood, taking various readings, and filling me with various drugs.  They kept asking me to rate my pain (Brian Regan fans out there?) I think I said 8 or 9 :) . . . and they seemed surprised every time they asked that it hadn't gone down - all I know is that I felt horrible and it took a LONG time to go away!  I know they took me to at least one other room where they took a cat-scan or something of the sort - I remember them lifting me from one bed to the other, as I laid there freezing and shivering, the pain still hadn't subsided, and then they slowly moved me into the round chamber and asked me to hold my breath! I'm sure I didn't do a very good job of it.  I think that from there they took me to the ICU and the pain slowly subsided.

I don't remember much at all after that.  The next morning a doctor came in to talk with me.  They never did find anything wrong with my chest - but said that it could have been caused from the stress my body was enduring because of other things.  They told me I had HELLP syndrome - which stands for H -- hemolysis (the breakdown of red blood cells); EL -- elevated liver enzymes; and LP -- low platelet count.  I guess my blood pressure had also gone extremely high.  HELLP syndrome is basically a list of symptoms that have been associated together to which there is no cure - the doctors can only treat the symptoms.  Usually HELLP occurs before the baby is born, and the thing that often mends it is to remove the placenta.  It was a little unusual that I developed it after my baby was born.  After the initial chest pain, though, I felt fine, although the doctor said that I was extremely ill.  

I write this a couple weeks down the road,  and I have since seen my obgyn again.  He always says to me that nothing about my pregnancy was normal, but that the fact that I got HELLP after the baby was born was the least unusual out of everything else.  We first found out that I only have half a uterus.  When I delivered, the doc said that my placenta was flaking away.  They sent it for testing, but nothing came back identifying a reason.  I tested positive for CMV, which is a common virus that most individuals get before adulthood, but Marshall did not have it.  Despite the fact that my obgyn and I are positive of the general date that I got pregnant (as I received a shot to release the egg), the neonatologist and nurses in the NICU say his development when he arrived was more like a 22-23 week baby, than a 27 almost 28 week baby.   And they have not been able to identify any reason for why my placenta wasn't giving the nutrients to the baby, or why there was such a small amount of fluid in my uterus.

I don't know why this was God's timing for Tyler, Marshall and I, but I know that in the process many miracles happened to enable Marshall to come to our family . . .

Here are a few of the miracles so far.

Miracle #1 - That we got pregnant

Miracle #2 - Because of the fact that I had only half a uterus, I received more ultrasounds than most women,  and because I received more ultrasounds my obgyn was notified to the fact that the blood flow to the baby wasn't sufficient, and the fluid in my uterus was low.  He had me schedule an appointment with the hospital specialist.

Miracle #3 - I was able to get into the hospital specialist within less than a week - which my obgyn said was rare,  and he was able to compare the blood flow from my previous ultrasound with the one he took and see the urgency because of the quick deterioration from one ultrasound to the next.  

Miracle #4 - Despite his small size, Marshall made it through delivery.

Miracle #5 - The HELLP syndrome developed after delivery - had it come before, Marshall never would have survived.

Miracle #6 - As a sweet friend of Tyler's from Germany reminded us, we are here in America, with wonderful doctors and nurses and facilities, and Fruit Heights where we have an amazing support network of family and friends.  (We had tried for 6 months to get a job in Germany, where Tyler could use his business and German skills, but nothing ever worked out.  We were sad at the time, but so thankful now that it never worked out.)

You'll read more about Marshall's miracles in the other posts!

Three days old and I'm already sending emails!

My dear family,

I haven't met most of you yet, but you've kept me alive. Your prayers have given me strength and determination to keep fighting. And I know your prayers have helped my parents too (they've got all sorts of emotions going, but they're hanging in there).

I guess I better fill you in on my little world. For such a lightweight, there sure are a lot of people fussing over me. I've got a couple doctors and a team of angels in scrubs that spend twelve hours at a time watching over me. I guess that makes me feel pretty special, but I'm trying to stay humble.

I've been pretty stable these last couple of days. I recently moved to an oscillating ventilator which helps me take 12 breaths a second (try doing that without hyperventilating!). It is a bit more gentle on my little lungs and helps exchange the oxygen and carbon dioxide. I've gained about two ounces since my birth, which is mostly water and makes my hands and feet all puffy. The doctors say I'll start losing weight soon, and that's normal.

Here's a picture of me from today. I usually like to keep my head and eyes covered to protect me from the bright blue UV lights (they don't make sunglasses in my size evidently), but I was cleaning up at the time and posed for dad's camera.

Although I've been doing pretty well, it hasn't been easy. Early on my left lung was hurting and got a bit deflated from lying on my side. They've switched me to my other side now and it's helped. I also admit I'm a bit picky when it comes to my electrolytes. So although your prayers have produced miracles, I am still many miracles away from crossing the finish line. And I hope that you'll keep my beautiful mommy in your prayers as well. She has sacrificed so much so that I can be a part of my new family. She's pretty sick right now and needs all the help she can get. I think she's being sick so that I don't have to. I hope she gets better soon though - I miss seeing her!

Love,
Marshall Jonathan Stout

Delivery

We were up pretty early on Thursday morning, and the nurses were kind enough to allow me to take a shower.  It's amazing how good it feels, especially when you haven't been allowed to for a bit of time!  I have to put a plug in for the most amazing husband - it's mine.  He has been so helpful and patient and kind to not only me, but all the nurses and staff that we have had helping us.  He always amazes me with his solicitousness.  I finally got to have my catheter taken out - they hadn't wanted me to even have to get up to go to the bathroom the previous 2 days.  I also hadn't eaten anything but about 3-4 popsicles for the past two days, as they hadn't known for sure when I would deliver and didn't want anything in my stomach.

I must admit, I wasn't too scared or worried about the c-section, just ready to go and give my baby a fighting chance at life.  They gave me the spinal block - a shot into the spine to numb you up from your belly down.  I wasn't able to have the morphine that usually goes with it - as I'm allergic.  Things went great, and baby Marshall came out kicking and crying at 7:49 am, December 20, 2012 - 14 ounces and 10.5 inches long.  I got to see him for about 2 seconds before they rushed him away to the NICU.  Tyler was taking pictures during the process and the anesthesiologist commented to him that he must have a morbid curiosity.  He replied that he knew I would be curious later.  Shortly afterward, they brought a mirror so that I could watch over the blanket that was shielding me from the view of what was going on.  I do have a morbid curiosity, and find it amazing what the doctors can do and the attributes of the human body are quite miraculous!

Once they were finished sewing me up, they took us into the NICU and we got to see Marshall.  He looked beautiful, and I ached to hold him!  He is the best Christmas present ever, in a tiny package accompanied by a huge lesson on miracles!

Naming Baby

We were originally told that our baby was going to be a girl - "but don't go on a buying spree yet", said Dr. Johnson.  There were quite a few girl names that I liked, and Tyler and I talked about some of our favorites.  The following ultrasound "looked a bit boyish" - and I was worried as we started brainstorming boy names.  At first we couldn't think of ANY that I liked.  The next ultrasound confirmed it - BOY.  I was thrilled, but in a conundrum about names.  But we had plenty of time to think about it.

Fast forward to now, December 18th.  That plenty of time I thought I had . . . GONE.  The following day, my baby boy would be born.  We still hadn't made any decisions, and we spent a bit of my bed-rest time talking about names.  We had liked a couple - Grant, Ike, Truman.  Tyler liked to throw around names like Thorin (The Hobbit), Leif (a Norwegian ancestor), and any other name we would never choose, which always made me laugh, or roll my eyes.  Tyler recalls me having brought up the name Marshall - his middle name - but I hadn't been able to disassociate the name from a former student and had ruled it out. But anytime names were brought up, Tyler mentioned it.

On the night of December 17th, I laid in my hospital bed, awake during much of the night, listening to the babies heartbeat.  It sounded like horses trotting.  As I sat there listening, and thinking, about my baby coming, and all that had happened, and my amazing husband and all that he does for me, and a name - I thought of how great it would be to name him after his amazing daddy - my pillar of strength and love of my life.  Then I thought of how the definition of the name Marshall had been a horse servant.  That was fitting as I listened to the heart monitor over and over.  I looked up the definition for Marshall in the dictionary and one definition for the word as a verb (without the double L) that stuck out to me was "to usher or lead ceremoniously" (dictionary.com - marshal).  Next came into my mind the name of my younger brother Jonathan.  Probably partially because he had constantly been saying how we should name the baby Jonathan Robert Stout the second, after him.  He would then name his first son Jonathan Robert Thornton the third :).  We told him that's not how it works, but he persisted.  In reality, I have always loved the name Jonathan - which means gift from God.  Additionally, I have always felt a special bond with my youngest brother, Jonathan.  He is 10 years younger than the next sibling, my only sister Camille.  He was born when I was 18 years old.  Since I was 12, I have struggled with severe depression and when he was born, he was always a reason for me to live, and sometimes the only reason I could come up with.  I know it doesn't quite make sense, why not for the rest of my family or so many other reasons, but depression does not make sense.  I spoiled Jonathan rotten, and spent time with him as much as possible.  I always felt a special bond with him, and know that he was a gift from God to my family, and to me, to give me strength and a reason to go on.

Since I was young, my one and only true ambition has been to be a stay at home mom of lots of kids.  In my ideal timetable for myself, it has been a long time coming.  In my head, I combined the definitions for Marshall (to usher or lead ceremoniously) and Jonathan (gift from God) and I thought of how my little boy will usher or lead ceremoniously our gifts from God (our baby being born the following day, and the many we hope will yet come to our family) and the name seemed perfect.

I suggested it to Tyler - and of course having always wanted Marshall - he loved it.

Marshall Jonathan Stout

27 Weeks and another ultra sound

On Tuesday, December 18th, my mother and I went to the hospital for a visit for another ultrasound.  The previous week, I had just had the detailed ultrasound where they do an extensive check of baby, uterus, placenta etc.  The doctor had expressed concern about the amount of fluid surrounding my baby and again they told me that he was smaller than usual, placing the due date according to size at April 25th instead of March 15th (the date according to 40 weeks from my last menstrual cycle.)    He wanted me to follow up with a specialist and we were blessed to be able to get in to see him within a week - which my OB said was pretty rare.

The ultrasound technician did the ultrasound and left, saying she would give the doctor all the information and he would be in shortly.  The doctor came in and said that the blood flow to the placenta was too low, that my baby was really small for his age, and that the fluid in the uterus was also extremely low.  He said "It's not an emergency, but there is an 'urgency'."  They would need to monitor me and probably take the baby in a couple days.  I think I was in shock, and asked him, "So you're saying that I might have my baby in two days?"  He confirmed that and said I would need to check in with Labor and Delivery right then.  

I called Tyler, pretty emotional and told him what was going on.  I think my mom took care of everything else.  She called the school to let them know I'd be out and possibly having my baby, I had an appointment that afternoon with an endocrinologist that we had to cancel, and I was stressed that I still had a bunch of tests that I promised my students I would grade that afternoon, which needless to say, didn't get done.

Come to find out, it wasn't really a might, but a pretty sure thing.  They hooked me up to an IV, placed a monitor on my belly for the baby's heartbeat, put me on magnesium (which would help me and the baby - reducing the risk of cerebral palsy) and gave me a steroid shot to help my baby's lungs develop.  Normally they give another shot 24 hours later, but my blood pressure started rising, and they gave the second shot at midnight, 12 hours later, letting me know that if my blood pressure continued to rise, we might deliver the next day.

Again we were blessed - my blood pressure evened out, and we were able to hold out for another day.  Wednesday they let me know that the c-section was planned for the following day at 7:30 am.  They predicted my little guy would be about a pound!

If we hadn't caught this when we did, Dr Johnson said it would have been pretty likely that our baby would have been still born.  Even though it's scary and a bit overwhelming, we are so thankful our little guy will have a chance.

We are so thankful for our wonderful family and friends, who visited, sent flowers and gifts and gave us encouragement and prayers.