Of all the scenarios I could have imagined about this pregnancy, it never occurred to me that Xavier might actually arrive earlier than any of the girls. I knew we wouldn't make it to his due date, April 9, but I was feeling hopefully confident that he would go at least as far as Anastasia, perhaps even further! Maybe we could even skip the NICU entirely this time! Well...that was not to be.
Thankfully, Xavier did give us a heads-up that he might be making his move. We went to the hospital early Saturday morning, December 22, with Xavier at just 24 weeks and 4 days gestation (full term is 40 weeks), and I stayed through the afternoon of Christmas Eve. That gave enough time to stop my contractions and to receive the full course of steroids to help Xavier's lungs should he decide to make an early break for it.
Bill drove me home through the peaceful snowfall on Christmas Eve afternoon. All was quiet inside and outside. And then just as the girls were going to bed, the contractions began again. It became apparent that I was not going to be able to sleep through them. As soon as Bill finished wrapping the rest of the presents and came upstairs to bed, it became apparent that he was not going to sleep through them either. We arrived at the hospital at 3:30 a.m., and Xavier was born by c-section at 5:45 on Christmas morning, just arrived at 25 weeks.
For comparison:
Eva: 27 wks, 1 day; 2 lbs 4 oz; 14"
Camilla: 28 wks; 2 lbs 14 oz; 15.4"
Anastasia: 34 wks; 5 lbs 5 oz; 19"
Xavier: 25 wks; 2 lbs 1 oz; 13.6"
So...we've got a long road ahead of us. Though we've had plenty of preemie experience, in some ways this is entirely new. Though Xavi was almost as big as Eva when he was born, those two+ extra weeks in utero that she had make a world of difference. The ventilator is one of the main differences. None of the girls needed to be on the vent, but as of this writing, just over 3 weeks after he was born, he's still on it. He also had an intra-ventricular hemorrhage the day after he was born, another new and major challenge. He also still has an open duct outside of his heart (Eva's closed with medication, but Camilla had to have hers surgically closed), and the jury is still out about whether they'll have to do anything about his or not. If things go well, he'll likely remain in the NICU until his due date, April 9.
Though there are many challenges, there are more joys. We have lots of small victories to celebrate every day. He is making good progress in getting off the vent, and he is digesting well (he is getting small amounts of milk through his feeding tube every 3 hours). Though most preemies his age are born with their eyes still fused shut, his have been open since his birth, and he has awake and very alert periods of time every day, by which he's making his personality known. He is gaining strength and size every day, and he is beautiful.
The other great thing to report is how peaceful everything has been. We know how much God is with us and how much love and how many prayers are strengthening us. A great part of that provision and strength is that my sister Claire is with us for the next few months to help take care of the girls. Knowing that I would be on a significant amount of bedrest after Christmas, we had arranged that ahead of time, and so she was here and able to step in as soon as Xavi was born. The girls still ask with wide eyes, "We get to see Claire again tomorrow?"They can't believe their good fortune, and I can't either.
Here is the first time I got to hold him, which was about 10 days after he was born.
No comments:
Post a Comment