Grayson: Our miracle

Our sweet adorable son Grayson was born on 11.11.11

Yes, he has the coolest birthday ever!!

I would LOVE to sit here and write out the birth story (it is amazing) but right now I am exhausted, drained, and emotionally not ready to write it all out. So here are the most important parts.

I was at the hospital for 2 hours (after laboring at home through the night) and he was born. I pushed for only a few minutes and he flew out. 

I did get an epidural, and 15 minutes after it was in they said I was at a 9 and would be ready to push at any minute. Basically I labored naturally for almost the entire labor. I was so thrilled I made it that far. 

Grayson was born at 10:17am. He weighed 7lbs 12oz, the exact same weight as his big brother Camden. He is 21.5" long, he has a half inch on his brother who was only 21". He is perfect!!!

After weighing in and getting all his stats (he scored a 9 on his apgar) I was able to just hold him and snuggle my boy!! He was crying and breathing great...so I thought. Apparently he had a bit of a growl to his cry, which concerned the nurses. They said it can be normal and should clear up soon. Well it didn't and they became concerned. The NICU decided they needed to take a look at him. So off he went to be monitored.

They told us that because of his quick delivery, it is likely that when I pushed him out, the normal contractions that stimulate the babies lungs didn't have time to push out all the fluid. (he also has some bruising from his quick delivery) So he started growling as a way to try and clear that fluid out. After letting him work at it for a while on his own, they decided he needed some help so his body wouldn't have to work so hard.

So right now Grayson is still in the NICU. He had a rough night getting comfortable after stressing so much to try and clear his lungs on his own. After settling in, they put a CPAP on his face which pushes air into his lungs making it easier for him to breathe and relax. The only way he will be able to clear out the fluid in his lungs is by his body slowly reabsorbing it, and he can only do that if he is calm, resting, and not stressed. 

The hardest part about all of this is that last night we were not allowed to hold him. Since he wasn't feeling well, they needed him to not be stimulated at all so he could rest. Let me tell you, that was the hardest thing I have ever had to go through. I can't hold my brand new baby?! 

He did well through the night, and this morning he was a lot more calm and relaxed. I have been able to pump and they are feeding him through a tube in his mouth down to his stomach. He does great with the food, he has pooped and peed multiple times, he loves his paci, and he is doing amazing. I got to hold him for 2 hours today and it made my heart heal! The only obstacle now is just getting his lungs working and cleared out.

Everyone here has been so great. This problem is not uncommon, however for us, we are just torn to see him uncomfortable and not have him all to ourselves. 

The plan for tonight is to slowly lower the amount of oxygen they are giving him. {Just to show how quick he IS healing: This morning they were giving him 100% O2, and tonight he is down to 51%.} He is a tough little cookie. I will get to have some skin on skin time with him either tonight or first thing tomorrow morning. We are hoping and praying that through the night they will lower his O2 enough to get the CPAP taken off. They have told us the earliest he can go home will be Monday morning. {I REALLY hope that is true}

 We are praying for QUICK healing and for Grayson's sweet little lungs to clear out, and take over for the machines he is on. We also would love prayers for our hearts and to trust the Lord has our baby boy wrapped in his arms, prayers for our nurses and doctors, prayers for Camden {we miss him like crazy} and prayers in general for healing.