Happy Birthday!! -- November 30th, 2010

I want to first apologize for the SERIOUS delay in my posting, but I am ready to get this blog back up and running!! I posted some pictures in the slide show of our miraculous day and we hope you enjoy them. :)

We actually thought we may have been welcoming our sweet baby boy here on Monday, November 29th. However, after a quick exam, Dr. Moore decided to let us get one more good night's rest and report to the hospital early Tuesday morning. So, bags packed, babies cared for, and with anticipation at its peak, we headed off in the dark knowing that soon we would be holding proof of God's miracle in our life.

We somehow ended up with the revolving door of nurses, which would later prove to be NOT the best of situations. But, Dr. Moore was ready for business (as usual ;) and she immediately broke my water. The waiting game began. The Pitocin was working, and considering I had been experiencing contractions for the last 2 weeks, I was handling the contractions just fine. We had decided NOT to have the epidural since our past experiences didn't yield much pain relief. However, Dr. Moore suggested it may be best option considering my heart condition, so we agreed. The initial procedure went fine, but within an hour I had a fairly severe reaction including my blood pressure dropping dangerously low and little Eli's heart rate doing the same, ending up somewhere in the 20s and once dropping off the monitor completely. Unfortunately, due to the multitude of nurses that helped care for us that morning the medicine used to stabilize such a situation wasn't present in my room. So, for a short time, our faith was forced to show through again... and again God was good. Within a few hours we were back on track and labor was resumed.

Just as I thought Dr. Moore would never make it on time, she showed up, scrubs and all, from a C-Section she literally finished moments before. She said SHE wanted to deliver our Elijah and she did a fantastic job. With only a few pushes later... HE WAS HERE!!

Those first few moments were some of the most emotional I have ever had in my life. Dr. Moore handed Elijah to me and gave me a moment to take in the reality of our little miracle. She didn't rush me and allowed me the time that I needed... for those moments I am forever grateful, they will never be forgotten. I could feel all of the anxiety and stress and anticipation beginning to let down as I stared at my beautiful boy who at times in the last 7 weeks had seemed like merely a dream. I handed him off and watched fervently at their every move desperately looking for a response from the NICU team that he was "ok." I watched and looked at Matt's face for reassurance as the tears of fear and joy streamed down my face. He continually gave me that sweet but scared smile that told me as well as he knew Eli was fine, but I could sense our fears were the same. Once they were able to clear out all of the extra fluid from his little lungs, (it was an extremely fast delivery), we were able to visit with his fan club for a few moments and then it was time...they whisked him away for his cranial ultrasound... this wait seemed endless.

He was finally brought back to us after quite some time and we started settling in with our new little one. It is kind of a tradition that our dear friends "Uncle Ron" and "Aunt Kristy" hang out with our new bundles of joy on their first night here, so we expected none-the-less with Eli and couldn't have been happier to have them with us. Ron even made my night a little more perfect with a huge box of Krispy Kreme Donuts!!!! (He loves me ;)

We would not find out about the ultrasound report until just before we were to be discharged. As I have stated before, God has been abundant in Eli's life in ways we could not even have imagined. By "coincidence" ;) the exact neonatologist that had received Elijah's perinatal report and would have been scheduled at the delivery if immediate action was deemed necessary for his brain, was the VERY SAME doctor that was on call to evaluate the babies the day Eli was there!! He already knew of his background and was very aware of the purpose of the ultrasound... The Results... All measurements within "NORMAL" ranges!! Praise God!! The most notable comment was simply that there was a "Prominent Cisterna Magna" observed, which as a solitary finding is considered a completely "normal anomaly." (seems like an oxymoron I know)

We were eventually discharged and on our way home, which was a great feeling. We were home only a couple of days before we found out that Taylor had the Flu!! Eli would shortly after catch a little cold and at some point during everything I said to Matt "I'm ready for normalcy..." to which Matt replied "I think this IS normal!" :)

We couldn't be happier with our “normal” and each day is simply a blessing...

More to Come I PROMISE!!!! :)