Chloe's Birth

Well, I didn't get into all this in my last post. I just was excited to put a little picture of our new cutie on the blog! But there was a little drama with Chloe's birth.

When Chloe was first born, they cleaned her up a little and brought her around the good ole c-section "curtain" so that I could see her up close and to take a couple first pictures. Everything seemed fine. As they usually do, they took her down to get checked out (with Chad following along) and I stayed to go to recovery for about an hour or so. I was anxious to get down to my room so I could see and hold her ... and of course check for 10 fingers and toes. :) But when they wheeled me to my room, Chad came out with a nurse and they said that Chloe was in the NICU. Not what I was expecting to hear. So I asked to see her and they wheeled my massive bed all the way into the NICU nursery so I could at least see her for a couple minutes. I was worried, but really, I didn't feel panicked. At all. All I can say is that MANY people were praying for us that day, and it really helped that the neonatalogist did not seem overy concerned. I suppose if a group of people were gathered around and working on her I would have felt more upset. But she was resting comfortably in a little oxygen tent, and the doctor explained that she had inhaled a large amount of amniotic fluid on her way out. This resulted in her having some difficulty breathing, having an elevated heart rate and needing some oxygen. I think their main concern was that she would have an infection in her lungs so they were being cautious and had begun giving her IV antibiotics.

Anyhow, they wheeled me back and I tried not to burst into tears ... basically I wasn't so much worried that something terrible was going to happen, but I was so sad to not be able to hold her and have her with me. As I said to Chad later that day - it doesn't feel like I just had a baby. I just felt like a patient in the hospital. Thankfully, later that evening they managed to get me and all my equipment (IV's and such) piled into a wheelchair and they took me down to see her. That was SO wonderful. Everything the staff had to say to me about Chloe was positive. The oxygen level in her tent was lowered from 50% to 21% (which is basically normal). Her heart rate was returning to a normal rate. And most importantly, they were happy that she just seemed content and not in any distress.

The next morning, the improvements just continued. Her chest x-ray was "like a totally different baby" - no more fluid in the lungs. And they told me that after lunch she could come be with me in my room! I spent a LOT of time just holding her. I felt so thankful and blessed ... they said that usually kids did not leave the NICU so quickly. She spent that night in the NICU again (at this point they were giving her antibiotics by IV every few hours in case of infection). By the next day, her blood work showed NO signs of infection, and she was officially discharged from the NICU. And best of all, they said that she would be able to come home with me!

In hindsight, I just praise God for watching over our family in those few days. Chad and I both felt a tremendous amount of peace throughout Chloe's time in the NICU and I know that was God's presence with us. And we are praising Him for His speedy and complete healing of her initial health issues. I took her for her first doctor appointment yesterday, and the doctor said she was perfectly healthy. This is God's kindness to us ... God would still be good if He had not healed her ... but we are so grateful for the happy ending He gave us. Thank you to all of you who prayed for Chloe and us through those first days ... we know your prayers were answered!

"How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?" - Psalm 116:12

Chloe's first day ... in the oxygen tent

Chloe before going home