Graem's Birth Story

It was about 2:30 am on a Tuesday morning.  I was sleeping.  I awoke to feel something trickling  down my leg.  I prayed it was not blood.

I got up, and water started gushing. I knew what this was.  Same thing happened with Sienna. 

But, I was not prepared for this. I still had almost exactly one month to go (35 weeks/5 days).

I woke up Tygh.  Calm and collected, he told me to call the dr.  The dr. told me to go to the hospital. 

I wandered aimlessly around the house, waiting for Tygh's mother to arrive to watch Brae and Sienna.  I had nothing packed.  I didn't even know where to begin.

I finally managed to throw some stuff in a backpack, and we were out the door.

We headed to the best NICU hospital in the area, just in case.

When we arrived in triage, the nurses weren't sure it was really my amniotic fluid.  I assured them it was.  Nonetheless, it took about 45 minutes for a positive test to come back, and they admitted me.  We were going to have this baby, early or not.  I was 3 cm and 80%.

Contractions started pretty soon after that, but then died down.  We started Pitocin.  That was slow to kick in.  I walked around the hospital, bounced on a yoga ball, and they kept upping the Pitocin. 

I labored without drugs until I was about 8 cm.  Then, I got them.  As an aside, I continue to admire moms who labor without any drugs (like Brae's birthmom).  I feel I could have done it, physically, but mentally, not so sure.

I got the epidural just in time.  An hour and three pushes later, we were surprised and blessed with a baby boy.  He is the only genetic link to Tygh's side of the family that will carry on the family name.  I know that is special for Tygh.  Hence, it was important to him that he have a Gaelic/Irish name, like Brae.  Thus, Graem was born.  5:16 p.m.  Tuesday, July 1, 2014.  He was 6 lbs., 7 oz.  18 inches long. 

NICU staff was present for his birth, just in case.  However, when he came out crying, they left. 

Graem did great for about the first hour.  Then, he started grunting when he was breathing.  Slowly, the grunting increased in intensity and was constant.  The nurses said that was a sign he was struggling to breathe. 

Around 10 p.m., the nurses took him to NICU for observation.  At 2 a.m. the next day, he was put on CPAP (a breathing assistance machine), a feeding tube, and hooked up to all kinds of monitors.

I broke down in the nurse's arms when I saw him for the first time like that.  It was so... unexpected.  All of it. 

And, there he stayed, under 24 hour NICU supervision for the next 4 days.  I visited every day, multiple times a day, even after I was discharged just two days after he was born.  It was excruciating leaving the hospital without him. 

On the fifth day in NICU, the doctor thought he was improving enough to be taken off CPAP.  So, he was, and never looked back.  Although he kept losing weight, his breathing was getting stronger.  Finally, a day shy of 1-week old, we were able to bring Graem home.  It was one of the biggest reliefs of my life. 

Graem's birth story is unique, like every child's.  I'm so grateful for the NICU staff.  I'm so grateful Graem was as big as he was, one month early.  The doctor said that is the single biggest factor in why he was likely discharged sooner than expected.  Apparently, most 35-weekers that have breathing problems are in the NICU for weeks.   So, I now look back at the last several months, particularly, where I seemed to be gaining weight so rapidly.  Everyone commented about how large I was getting, for still having so far to go.

Well, now we know.  God was preparing his little body to be better equipped to enter this world sooner than we all expected. 

Graem was the biggest baby in the NICU, by far.  He was also the latest term baby.  Most of his neighbors were born around 31 weeks, weighing just a pound or two.  And yet, by the grace of God and modern medicine, each of them will likely be just fine.  (There's a NICU reunion every year.  A club I never thought I'd be a part of). 

I'm surprised to have a genetic child, period.  I'm surprised it's a boy.  It is all surreal.  I have a picture of Graem as a 4-day old morula.  And now, he lays before me, today, on what would have been his 37th week in utero. 

It's magical.

"Some babies are born in nine months, by the clock.  Some babies are born, and they sit up and talk.  Some babies are born, and no doctor is there.  But some babies come in on a wing and a prayer."

- Garrison Keillor.