He's Here

Brody Vaughn Liljenquist

Sunday, May 11, 2008

9:51 am

3 lbs 14 oz

16 inches

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO ME!!!

He is doing great, especially for being only 30 weeks. He only needed a breathing tube for a few hours then he was breathing on his own. He still has a feeding tube but eats very well; up about 2 Tbl per feeding already. All the nurses comment that he is feisty. Lets hope grows out of that some. Here are a couple of pictures of him, anyone who wants a few more gory details-the painful story is below.

OK, for a few more details: I had just been sent back to ante-partum on last Thursday which is like a long term, stable wing. I had a bleeding scare the Monday before. I was excited to be back from High risk cuz they are less fussy. I woke up on Mother's day to a little bleeding. The nurse put me on the baby monitor and about 30 minutes later--Whoosh--blood started coming out. The Dr. came in and said lets head to the OR and get this done. As they wheeled me down, I called Ryan and my mom to let them know what was going on. I was in the OR pretty quick and the rest of the story is from what other people have told me cuz I don't remember anything til Tuesday. When they put me under they quickly did the c-section with a vertical incision. Then the surgeons went to work. It was a lot worse than they thought. I was in surgery for over 5 hour. I used 18 unit of blood(drs are nervous if you lose 4 unit) and 8 more transfused over the next two days in recovery. When I came out of surgery I was minus a baby, uterus, cervix, 1/2 a bladder and 1/2 another female organ. But I had a tube down my throat, an a-line stitched into my jugular, an a-line in my left wrist, 2 IVs in my right arm, a catheter, lots of staples up my tummy and a drain line in my side. So i guess it was a give and take situation. All of the Drs and surgeon have let me know that I am lucky to be here. When I woke up they had my arms strapped down to the bed(It's a good thing cuz I would have ripped that stupid tube out of my throat-that thing sucks) So far everything has been removed except for one IV line, the catheter, the drain line and the staples. I have physical therapy now to try and build up my strength after being in bed for the past 45 days. It is exhausting. I get to see Brody once a day cuz that is all I have the strength for right now. If anyone else wants to see him AND visit me let me know when you are coming and I can take you into the NICU.

I wanted to thank everyone for their prayers and for helping out with the girls. Ryan has done a wonderful time stepping up to the plate but I know he has been very appreciative of everyone doing what they can. Things really have worked out well. Brody is doing very well despite being born at 30 weeks and if the drs. were able to wait longer for the surgery things really could have turned out worse. I also wanted to thank my Father in Heaven for looking out for both of us, He has been a real comfort.