We listened to Milo's heartbeat fluctuating throughout the day and had a steady flow people coming to update us and explain to us what would happen should the baby need to come immediately. They recommended we take a medication that would help protect Milo's brain should he arrive in the next day or two and we struggled with whether or not to administer it. In the end, we did take that precaution and we are so glad we did. Tessa caught her flight home and we had our second ultrasound. Milo, who had been squirming vigorously all afternoon, stopped moving just in time for the ultrasound tech not to be able to see it. So we played him some music to make him wiggle and it worked. We were so happy that he moved for the ultrasound because we thought that would mean he was okay to stay inside for a while longer. Right after the ultrasound however, our doctor came in and told us that she was worried because his heart rate had dropped a couple of times and seemed to be dropping lower each time. She recommended we get Milo out as soon as possible.
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| Me waiting to be taken into the operating room for Shelly's c-section. |
I put on scrubs and Shelly was prepped for the c-section. They wheeled her into the operating room first and numbed her from the chest down. Then I went in and held her hand while the doctors pulled Milo out of her belly. She was shielded from seeing it by her gown but I got to look around and see them pull out our purplish-blue little boy at 3:26pm - less than 24 hours after her water broke. They brought Milo around the curtain and showed him to Shelly and then whisked him off to the NICU and I followed. His color changed quickly to a nice pink and the doctors and nurses all seemed very happy with how well he was doing.
At 29 weeks a lot of intervention is needed to help babies survive outside the womb. They have not yet fully developed their nervous system, their internal organs, and their ability to regulate their body temperature and Ph levels. Milo was attached to a CPAP device over his nose to help push air into his lungs and expand them, something babies that age cannot manage on their own. He was not needing too much extra O2 added (only 40% which is fairly close to the 21% we all need). I sat with them as the nurses did all their tests and measurements, 2lbs 14 ounces (exactly what the ultrasound technician had estimated) and 15.4 inches in length. He was beautiful and tiny and wailed hearteningly through the whole process.
After things settled down, I went back to Shelly's room where she was recovering and gave her the good news, "He's doing great! As well as can be expected this early." She had a couple of hours before feeling returned to her feet and she was able to come visit him in a wheelchair. After the visit, they moved her to a recovery room just down the hall from where they were keeping Milo in his little incubator bubble which moderated his temperature and accommodated his CPAP needs. He was doing great. We got many visitors and congratulations from friends and family. We were happy he was safe and ecstatic he was doing so well. It felt good that he was being monitored 24/7 and that Shelly could sleep how she wanted and eat anything (no more pregnancy diet, hello turkey sandwiches).
Shelly began pumping colostrum because even though Milo was getting all his nutrients from an IV, they would still be giving him her milk through a feeding tube to help jump start his intestines and get him used to eating. As the hours passed, they increased the amount of caloric intake through the feeding tube and adjusted the IV input down appropriately. Shelly was on a 3 hour pumping schedule and the nurses taught me how to get her all set up and clean the equipment afterwards so we were both up every three hours to pump and get the milk she produced to the NICU for Milo. Not the best way to get a good night's sleep but definitely a good way to prepare for having to care for a baby.
Feelings:
So nervous
Anxiety
Joy
Numb (not yet knowing how to feel)
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