Rockin' and Rollin'

For anyone who may still be checking in on us, Drew is doing extremely well. Although we haven't had a CT or MRI lately to know what's going on in that little head of his, he's showing signs of progress in every other way. We're a little biased, but we think he's pretty cute, too!

He's growing by leaps and bounds...he had gotten down to the 3rd percentile in weight last December, but is now around the 20th percentile in weight and 25th percentile in height. He definitely doesn't appear to have missed many meals lately. Thank goodness he finally figured out how to eat!

He's rolling all over the floor...according to his Physical Therapist, everything he's doing is very age appropriate although we do have a few areas that need a little improvement. Right now we're working on developing his core muscles, encouraging him to bring his arms and hands mid-line more often and spending LOTS of floor time.

Our little cross eyed joe...fortunately, it's considered a "false cross eye" and is the result of a large nose bridge, not because he is really cross-eyed, so no pirate patches for our little man. The Pediatric Opthalmalogist also checked his optic nerve while we were there and said everything looks perfect. Music to our ears!

We'll be heading back to New Orleans for appointments, an MRI and a CT and will post the results after the appointments. Please pray for continued good news!

Looking Good

Sorry I've been slow to post the results of our Doctor's visits from last week, but life with 2 under 2 is a bit hectic, to say the least.

We had a GREAT trip to New Orleans for our follow-up visits with Drew's specialists. The trip certainly surpassed our expectations...

We started at the Neurologist's office and in a nutshell, he didn't expect to have to see us ever again. He checked Drew's fontanel, measured his head, asked us a few questions and was very satisfied that Drew was recovering well. Again he reiterated that we will likely be dealing with possible coordination issues, but only time will tell.

From there, we moved on to the Hematologist who reported that Drew's bloodwork has come back normal so far. While we were there, he consulted with a coagulation expert and thus ordered one more series of tests to which we should have results sometime next week. He didn't expect abnormal results from these either, though, because Drew had no bleeding issues when he was circumcised. We should be done with the Hematologist, as well.

Next we were off to Radiology where we had another CT scan. We didn't get to see the Neurosurgeon because he had 2 emergency surgeries arise that day. Anyways, his office called to say Drew wouldn't need to be seen again until spring and at that time, he'll have a repeat MRI/MRA/MRV study to see if the original hemorrhage was caused by a malformation.

Finally, some of the best news we heard all day was that our little man gained nearly 1/2 lb in a week! He was up to 7 lbs 7 oz as of last Thursday and we're hoping he'll be up to 8 lbs by his appointment on Friday (time to start immunizations).

I'm off to get some sleep while the babies are sleeping...

Together at Last

Alyssa's home! Ryan's parents flew in last Thursday and brought our baby girl back to Mississippi. I love it when she says "Drew" in her cute little 18 month old voice. She's given Drew lots of love and kisses, but the older sibling torture has already begun...she thinks it's lots of fun to steal his binky. Sometimes she'll actually give it back, but more frequently holds on to it for herself.

Drew's still doing well. His stitches are out and the last of the blood has been drawn for tests - the most recent was for a platelet aggregation test that needed 3 adult-sized vials of blood. The poor guy looked like he needed a transfusion after that one! His weight is still a bit of an issue, but we've reminded ourselves that he's only been nursing for 2 weeks, thus he's still new at this eating thing. Hopefully he'll start packing on some weight soon or Ryan's dreams of producing an Aggie Linebacker will never be realized. Of course, if Ryan really wanted an Aggie linebacker, he probably wouldn't have married me :)

We have so much to give Thanks for this year. Having our little family together is at the top of the list, but we also give Thanks to our extended families and friends for your incredible love and support. Happy Thanksgiving!

Life is Good

We've been home now for almost a week and have been enjoying what life with a newborn is supposed to be like...eat, poop, sleep, poop, eat...you get the picture.

We had a busy day at the hospital yesterday. Since we left Hattiesburg is such a rush, Drew didn't have any of his regular newborn screenings/procedures, so he had a rough day of pokes and prods yesterday. We also had his first visit with his Pediatrician and he did great. She was a little concerned about his pale skintone, but the hemoglobin test she ran came back normal. Unfortunately, he didn't get my olive skin like his big sister. We're also going to track his weight somewhat closely because he was only 2 oz. above his birthweight. He has a tendency to binge and purge if I don't burp him frequently and time his feedings just right.

The apnea monitor is about to drive us nuts. Fortunately, it's because the heart rate parameters were originally set far too narrow, not the result of actual apnea episodes. His Pediatrician sent in new orders and the home health nurse just left, so tonight should be much more restful for Ryan and I.

We had a wonderful (albeit quick) visit from my my Uncle John & Aunt Allis from California last Friday. Allis brought Drew all sorts of goodies - Thank You!!! I know Alyssa is going to love the massive stuffed dog :)

My parents headed home on Saturday so that they could get their lives back to normal before the Holiday season hits and Ryan's parents are flying in with Alyssa on Thursday - yeah! We're having serious Alyssa withdrawals right now and cannot wait to see her!!!

A Joyous Homecoming

Home. I never thought such a simple thing could mean so much. Sure, it's nice to return home after a vacation or after we've been visiting family in OK or TX, but to finally bring Drew home from the hospital was so special. We arrived home shortly before 7:00 last night and it felt so nice to be home again. We even had a meal waiting for us on the stove - Thanks Vanessa!

We had one last CT scan yesterday morning and although it showed his ventricles were slightly enlarged, the Pediatric Neurosureon felt comfortable sending us home. We have a follow-up CT scan and appointment scheduled with him on 12/7 and an appointment with Drew's original Neurosurgeon (he's been on vacation) next Friday to remove all his stitches (32 in total). We also have an appointment on 12/7 with the Pediatric Neurologist to track Drew's progress and see what, if any, complications the hemorrhage will cause down the road.

We are still awaiting the remaining blood results, but we've been asked to follow up with the Hematologist in 3-4 weeks. They'll be drawing blood for another test at some point, as well.

Finally, we successfully lobbied for a home apnea monitor, which will be set up sometime today. We don't anticipate any apnea episodes, but since that's how this all started, we prefer the peace of mind of having the monitor.

God certainly has a plan for us all. Several of you have commented that Ryan and I were chosen to take this journey with Drew because of our inner strength. I'm not sure if that is the case, but I will tell you that the events of the past two weeks have undoubtedly strengthened my relationship with God. Thank you for all your prayers and we ask that you continue to pray for Drew's full recovery.

P.S. I'll post lots more pics in the days to come!

Movin' on Up

We've graduated from PICU to the Pediatric floor, yet I've never been so paranoid. For the first time since his apnea episode that started our journey, Drew is not connected to a monitoring device. Don't get me wrong, this is a good thing, but I'm so paranoid that he's going to stop breathing again that I can't put him to sleep in his crib. He's not even had an apnea episode since being extubated 5 days ago, but I can't seem to put the memory of that morning behind me. For nearly 7 straight hours until Ryan returned this evening, I've held him. I check to be sure he's breathing constantly. We're going to request the doctors write orders for a home apnea monitor so that we can rest easy once we get home.

Speaking of HOME, we should be headed that way no later than week's end. He's scheduled for a follow-up CT scan in the morning and pending those results, we're not sure why they would keep us here. Please pray that everything checks out okay on the CT scan so that we can take our little man HOME.

We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. Even though so many of you live far away, you have lifted our spirits each and every day with your thoughts, prayers and encouraging comments. Thank You.

We're Tubeless!

Alleluia! We're tube-free!

Ryan and I were pleasantly surprised yesterday when we got to Drew's room to hear that his drain tube was going to be removed later in the day. Neurosurgery came by around noon, removed the tube and added another stitch to his poor little head. They came back late last night and added more stitches because he was leaking fluid. Thankfully, he's had no additional leakage since.

In all, he has 3 incision sites...a 1-inch spot on top of his head, a 1-inch spot a little bit behind his right ear and a 4-inch incision from the base of his neck up the back of his head.

Since his drain tube was removed, he no longer has to be on IV antibiotics, so his IV's were removed last night, as well. All that's left connected to our little fighter are the leads for the monitors. Yeah!

Ryan and I got out of the hospital for a little bit yesterday and had a late lunch with our friends Brian and Kelli Dorris. Thanks so much for the basket of goodies (we've made quite a dent in it already) and for bringing our mail.

Today's big news is all about food...Drew nursed for the first time since this all transpired. He latched on right away and had no issues with breathing while eating like he had with the bottle. Also, depending on which nurse he has tonight, I may sleep in his room and nurse him through the night rather than waking up to pump like I have been doing.

Rumor has it that if he continues to do well tonight, we may be moved out of the PICU into a room in the pediatric unit as early as tomorrow.

I can hardly believe that 10 days ago, Drew had brain surgery. 10 days ago, we were taking life one day at a time, not knowing what to expect when we returned to his room each morning. What a difference 10 days can make. God's presence in Drew's room has been palpable. He is answering our prayers each day. Please continue to pray for Drew's recovery so that we can go home soon.

Football!

Alyssa is obsessed with football. I can't imagine how, but we've managed to brainwash our 17 month old daughter to absolutely LOVE football. Since today has been pretty low-key around here, we've decided to start on Drew. First was Missouri/Nebraska, we're watching LSU/Tenn now, next is OSU/UT (Go Pokes!) and we'll finish off the day with A&M/OU (Gig'em Aggies!). Hmm...I just don't know how Alyssa has come to love football like she has.

Drew's Neurosurgeon stopped by this morning and opened the drain again to let a little more fluid out. He anticipates removal of the drain early next week, but wanted to check the fluid one more time before he did so.

He's taking breatmilk via bottle really well, so they have stopped his TPN (IV nutrition) and we are down to just one IV - lipids to fatten the boy up a little. Apparently his intensivist doesn't realize those skinny legs are genetic, not a result of a lack of nutrition :)

His feeding tube was removed this morning, as well, which is making it easier for him to breathe and eat at the same time. I guess it's normal for newborns to have problems breathing and eating early on, so no major concerns there, but we are still keeping an eye on his respiratory and heart rates when he eats to avoid any major fluctuations.

Ryan's brother Mike flew down for a quick trip to see Drew last night. We enjoyed a little New Orleans cuisine, good conversation and took a few pics of Drew in his new Aggie hat before he flew home this afternoon. He also confirmed that little Drew looks to have gotten mostly Lyon genes...yeah! After Alyssa, I was certain all our kids would take after the Gehrigs.

A Little Piece of Heaven

There is absolutely nothing like holding your newborn baby in your arms. We got to experience that again for the first time since Drew's first day in this world and I tell you...we were in heaven.

I suppose breathing on your own must be tough work when you are used to a machine doing the work for you because the little guy slept most of the day today. By the time we got to the room this morning, he was simply breathing room air and was doing great. He still has to be suctioned every once in a while, but you can tell that his throat is still very irritated, so this should resolve itself as his throat heals.

Tubes, tubes, tubes...let's get rid of some more tubes. We fed him a bottle of Pedialyte this afternoon and he did so well, that they'll be feeding him breastmilk via bottle until his drain tube is removed and I'm able to breastfeed him again. Word on the drain tube is that it may be removed in the morning. Please pray that his ventricles continue to drain well tonight so that both his feeding and drain tubes can become history.

Drew's doctors continue to be amazed at his progress and we know that it is a result of all the prayers each and every one of you have said for him and our family. Thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank You, and keep on praying that we can get a healthy little boy back home soon.

Ahhh....

No more ventilator!!! Yeah!

Drew was extubated yesterday afternoon around 3:00 and as of 10:30 pm, had not had any apnea episodes. He is, however, producing massive amounts of mucus, which he's had a tough time taking care of on his own. It's nerve racking watching him struggle to breathe, then watch his heart rate dip, but he's recovered on his own every time. The nurses have been suctioning him regularly to help get the mucus out. This should resolve itself as his trachea heals from having the vent tube for nearly a week, but I'm very anxious to get to his room this morning to see how he did overnight.

He's having an ultrasound today to see how well his body is absorbing the fluid and we'll post an update once we have the results.

Lee and Courtney Guidry (Lee is a Subiaco friend of Ryan's) came by last night and delivered our first home-cooked meal in a week - Gumbo. Yum! They also arranged for a couple from the Father Francis Xavier Seelos Shrine to say a special prayer over Drew last night. Father Seelos was a priest in the 1800's and was Beatified in 2000. He was known to have healing powers over the sick and there is currently a movement for his Canonization. You can read more about Fr. Seelos at www.seelos.org. Thanks Guidry's.

It's been a week now since I found him lifeless in his bassinette and I'm in awe of how far we have come so quickly. We thank God for continuing to bestow His healing powers on our son.

Let me out of here!!!

It's tough seeing him with all the tubes, but they all have a purpose and they're helping him get better.

Let Me Help You With That

Our little man apparently wants out of his bed really bad. Yesterday afternoon, the nurse was working on removing his arterial line, which is a gradual process. Well, Drew must have thought she was taking too long because he wrapped the tube around his long, skinny Lyon toes and yanked it out. One less tube, I suppose.

Drew has continued to perform well on his CPAP trials and is up to 2 hours without any forced breaths from the ventilator. He is doing so well that he may be extubated (off the ventilator) by the end of the day!

The Hematologists report yesterday was also all good news. Although we still await results from the 2 send out tests, results from all the other tests have come back negative of any blood disorders.

The dr's have also closed off Drew's ventricular drain to see if his body will absorb all his cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) on its own, which would mean no permanent shunt. He has been absorbing all but about 20 cc's every 12 hours and the doctor feels that most of what is draining is being caused by gravity. Please pray that his fontanel (the soft spot on the top of his head - I think that's how it's spelled) remains soft and that his body absorbs all that CSF so that we can hold our son in our arms again.

He has been tolerating the breastmilk very well and even had his first real poopy diaper since Saturday. They continue to increase his feeding rate - he's now up to 5 cc's per hour. He's also sucking on his vent tube, so hopefully once we get him off the majority of his tubes and IV lines, I'll be able to nurse instead of pump.

It's hard to believe our little guy is a week old today. He's had to endure so much in his short little life, but he's a fighter and we know we'll soon be home and our family will be together again.

As for Alyssa, you could probably tell from the picture with Justin and Katy that she's having a great time. Of course we miss her dearly, but we know she's in good hands. Thanks, sis, for all your help. Thanks to my brother, Kevin, too for posting the pictures.

As for Ryan and I, Sylvia Roberts and Paula Ward, two of Ryan's coworkers came to visit last night. They brought a laptop for Ryan and took us out for dinner. Sylvia kept us laughing. The laptop is wifi enabled, so we should be able to check email and update the blog outside of the library hours...if only we weren't so technologically challenged. Hopefully we'll get that up and running soon.

Thanks again, to all of you, for your thoughts and prayers. It is through your help that God continues to work His miracles on our son.

A few more pictures

Here are a few more pictures my mom took before heading back to Tulsa with Alyssa. Here we are, one big, happy family!

















Alyssa is sure happy to have a little brother!

















Trick or Treat! Look at our litte lady bug. But more importantly, notice who is eating the "loot".

















Alyssa arrived in OKC last night and gets to spend some time playing with her cousins, Justin and Katy.

Breathe, Baby, Breathe

Whew! What an eventful afternoon.

The Grandma's brought Alyssa to the hospital for the Halloween Parade. It was rather overwhelming and I think she lasted 10 minutes, but got more loot than had we walked our entire neighborhood! She was a cute little ladybug (thanks for the costume, Katy!) and charmed all around her. We'll work on getting her pic up here, too. She left for Oklahoma yesterday afternoon and will be b/w OK and TX for the next 2 weeks spending time with cousins, aunts, uncles and, of course, getting spoiled by her grandparents.

Drew's had an exciting afternoon, as well. While I was typing away in the library, they started CPAP studies for 30 minutes every 4 hours to see how he would do off the ventilator. This study forces him to breathe, as needed, if he hasn't on his own. He did okay on his first few tries, especially when he was awake, but had frequent apnea spells when he would fall asleep. This morning, the respiratory therapist (RT) changed the settings to lengthen the time b/w forced breaths and he made it a full 30 minutes without an alarm. Our brain is supposed to be set so that we breathe when our CO2 levels require it and the doctor felt the previous settings may have forced breaths before his brain told him breathe. God is truly working miracles on our son.

His next study is at noon today and they are stretching it to an hour, then possibly 2 hours tonight and if all goes well, he may be off the ventilator by tomorrow (I don't know how to spell the real term).

The nurse also successfully placed the feeding tube, so he began getting my breastmilk yesterday at 1 cc per hour. At that rate, it would take him years to eat all I've pumped! Fortunately, they are working on increasing that rate, as well, but we have to remove a few more tubes before it's safe to put him on full feeds. Unfortunately, this means removing his arterial line and sticking him every 12 hours to get blood to monitor his gasses (oxygen and CO2). They will space out all his other labs to every couple of days to prevent further sticking and with the feeding tube in place, we also hope to move to oral meds so that he doesn't have to be on an IV b/c they are so hard on his little veins.

His CT from yesterday looked good. His ventricles are smaller and the amount of hemorrhage is the same, if not smaller, but it will take some time for all that blood to be absorbed. They will only be repeating the CTs every few days now instead of every day.

We're waiting on the Hematologist to read the results from yesterday's bloodwork to check on clotting disorders. We won't know all those results for a few days b/c some of the tests have to be sent off to another facility. We also haven't spoken to the neurosurgeon since Monday, but are keeping with the no news/good news theory there.

We still have a long way to go, but each day seems to bring encouraging news. We won't know all the effects of what he's been through for a long time to come, but we continue to thank God for each of his little baby steps. Please pray that Drew continues to breathe well during the CPAP studies and that his blood work comes back negative of any blood disorders.

Several people have asked about how I am feeling. I'm feeling 10 times better post c/s than I did with Alyssa. In fact, I've stuck with the lower dose of pain meds b/c I don't feel I need the narcotic. Come to think of it, I haven't taken anything today. Dr's. McIntire and Washburne, I'm not sure what you did differently than my previous doctor, but a huge Thank You to you. I've been able to concentrate on getting Drew better and not had to think about each and every move being painful for me.

Finally, I forgot to thank Vanessa Troutman for so willingly watching Alyssa on Monday on very short notice so that both grandmas could be at the hospital and for cleaning my house while they were gone. Also, Thank You Steve Schmitz for arranging and Father Nicolas Fuhrmann for holding Mass in Lindsay, TX yesterday morning in Drew's name.

Baby Blue Eyes

Tuesday, October 31

He opened his eyes this morning! A BIG step! He's also crying and his stats are responding to his mood. He may get off the vent in another day or two. He pulled out the feeding tube (that took 4 trys to get right the first time) the other night when he pulled out the breathing tube, so we're working on that some today.

He's getting repeat CT's each day, but I haven't talked to the neurosurgeon to know what today's results were...I'll post them in the morning.

They're closing the library now, so I'll finish this post in the morning....just wanted to let you in on the good news! I'm also going to try and get some pictures up so you can all see how beautiful our little boy is (yes, I'm still a proud new mom!).

THANK YOU for all the prayers - we know they are working. Keep them coming!

More Surgery

Monday, October 30

He's a fiesty little fellow....pulled his breathing tube out last night. It's back in and his arms are secured down with a blanket across his chest.

Off to get an MRI, MRA and MRV to try and understand what's going on in that little head of his, then off to get a drainage tube to help out with some of the accumulated fluid. His ventricles are blocked with part of the hemorrhage, so his spinal fluid is not draining correctly. The MRI/A/V did not reveal the reason for the hemorrhage, so we will keep looking. Some doctors seem to want a reason so that it can hopefully be fixed, others seem to want it to be inexplicable and something that will hopefully never happen again.

The Pediatric Neurologist joined the team today and gave us the encouraging news that the area of the brain where the hemorrhage occured affects mostly coordination and dexterity-type functions, in addition to many of the basic functions he seems to have recovered. If all goes well, we may have a clumsy son. Oh well, we'll take clumsy!

The Hematologist consults us about possible blood disorders and we will begin running tests tomorrow.

Another emotional day, but he came out of surgery well and is breathing over the ventilator quite a bit. Maybe he'll be able to come off it soon...

The Zoo

Sunday, October 29

Drew had a restful night and was wiggling around some when we got to the room this morning. Baby Steps...remember? The nurses were going to work on getting a feeding tube in so Drew could start working on the growing stash of breastmilk in the freezer. Drew's stats all were stable and things seem to be going well.

Mom brought Alyssa to New Orleans today so that Ryan and I could spend some time with her before she goes on "vacation" to Oklahoma and Texas. We went to the zoo (sorry Dr. McIntire!) and had a great day with our little girl.

Ryan's mom came in from Texas this evening and Ryan's cousin Daniel, who's in school in New Orleans joined us for dinner.

Today was a good day.

Our Journey to Recovery Begins

Saturday, October 28

We were both sick to our stomachs waiting to see how Drew did through the night. The nurses had our phone numbers, so we went with the "no news is good news" approach, but the walk from the hotel room to the PICU was terrifying. Did he pull through surgery okay?

He had a CT scan done early that morning, but being a weekend, we had to wait for the radiologist and neurosurgeon to read the results. Around noon, the neurosurgeon reported that they got about 50% of the hemorrhage and the remaining blood was too deep into the brain tissue to risk further surgery, so we would have to let his brain absorb the remaining blood, monitor his progress and take the "wait and see" approach. Fortunately, Drew responded slightly to pain and his eyes responded appropriately - a "better than expected" response from the neurosurgeon.

Our friends, Brian and Kelly, watched Alyssa for the day so that my mom could visit us in New Orleans. Ryan and I took turns with naps, spent as much time with Drew as possible and forced ourselves to leave the hospital during shift change and get a bite to eat.

We have no clue how long we will be here. Weeks? Months? It's just too soon to tell.

Something's Not Right

Friday, October 27

I woke up at 6 am and he didn't seem interested in nursing. No big deal, I'll get some more sleep. I woke up again at 6:45 am, his cheek was cool to the touch and I couldn't tell if he was breathing. I got him out of the bassinette and he was limp, took a startled breath, but then stopped again. The nurses were in the room in seconds and took him to resucitate him. He came around quickly and was moved to the NICU.

In the NICU, he had a few more apnea spells, but seemed to be doing better with a little oxygen. I went to the room to rest and shower and Ryan stayed with Drew. After a while, things appeared to be going well and we breathed a sigh of relief. Our guardian angel had worked yet another miracle on our son.

Around 11:00 am, the neonatalogist decided to get a CT scan in order to try and identify the problem and as they were prepping Drew, he had a severe apnea spell. He was immediately put on a ventilator and taken to CT. The news was not good - something was seriously wrong. The doctors couldn't tell if it was a tumor or hemorrage, but either way, Drew needed more help than was available in Hattiesburg. The life flight team was called to transfer Drew to Oschner Children's Hospital in New Orleans and, unfortunately, weather was going to delay the transfer, so we sat and waited for what felt like an eternity.

In the meantime, our Priest, Father Tommy, came to the hospital, baptised Drew and prayed for him. Friends helped us gather our belongings, I was discharged and we waited some more. The transport team finally arrived around 4:00, loaded Drew and we got on the road to New Orleans.

Upon arrival, Drew was immediately taken for another CT, then directly to surgery. Ryan and I pulled up to the hospital as they were prepping Drew. He had a large Spontaneous Intra-Cranial Hemorrhage and the Pediatric Neurosurgeon was preparing him for a Posterior Fossa Craniotomy and Parial evacuation of the hemorrhage. It was 8:15 pm and the nurse advised us to check in to the hotel and check back in an hour.

What is happening? Where did our beautiful, perfect little boy go? Where did this come from? I racked my brain to think of anything that I could have done to cause this in utero. We were both in shock.

The nurse called the room just before 11:00 pm to let us know Drew was out of surgery and we could so see him in the PICU. The Neurosurgeon told us he got as much of the hemorrhage out that he could without damaging Drew's brain.Drew was so still. The nurse told us it would be morning before the anesthesia would wear off, so we chose to try and sleep.

How do you sleep when your 2 day old son has just had brain surgery?

Introductions

Thursday was a busy day with all our friends from Wesley stopping by to meet Drew, photo sessions with Grandma Janie and Alyssa's introduction to her new baby brother. Drew was wonderful and very alert through it all.

As night came, he started getting restless and we couldn't find anything to calm him. Swaddling, nursing, shushing, rocking...all the things that worked like a charm for Alyssa were failing. Ryan tried for 2 hours, then passed him on to me. I finally calmed him down and got him to sleep and fell asleep myself. I noticed late that night that he was a little wheezy, but he was a c-section baby and they often are...no worries. Time to get some sleep.

The Grand Entrance

Wednesday, October 25

My dr's report the day before was "no progress," so we decided to relax and watch a few of the shows we had saved on the dvr. Throughout an entire episode of Desperate Housewives, I tried to stir the little guy, just to be sure everything was okay....normally 8-10 pm was soccer practice in my belly, yet he hadn't moved and wasn't reacting to my pokes and prods. On to the hospital we go...

Fortunately, my mom (Janie) was in town anticipating her grandson's arrival, so we let her know what was going on and she stayed at home with Alyssa. In the ER at Wesley, the nurse found Drew's heartbeat right away. What a relief! We still went ahead and were admitted for monitoring to see why he was so sluggish.

After a few minutes on the monitors in OB Triage, Dr. Washburne noticed Drew's heart rate dipped during a contraction and let us know if it happened again, we would be on our way in to surgery rather than take any chances. Sure enough, in the midst of an ultrasound, I contracted and Drew's heart rate dipped again. Off to surgery...

It's a Boy!!! Drew William Gehrig made his entrance at 12:27 am Thursday, October 26 at 6 lbs., 13 oz and 20 inches long. He's got Grandpa Larry's toothpick legs and dark brown hair (not yet sure where that came from!). The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck 3 times, highly unusual and had we not gone to the hospital when we did, the outcome likely would not have been good. Our guardian angel was watching over us and brought us our little miracle baby. As Ryan and Drew rested, I watched our beautiful son sleep and recovered from the anesthesia. Thank you, God, for giving me the wisdom to go to the hospital when I just didn't feel quite right.