Gigi's Journal - July 29, 2011 - The Birth

The Story of Their Birth

I'll set You as a seal upon my heart

As a seal upon my arm

For there is love that is as strong as death

Jealousy demanding as the grave

And many waters cannot quench this love

On Wednesday July 27, 2011, Brooke went to see Dr. Tabb for her routine weekly visit. She had made it to 35 weeks and 2 days! I was unable to be at that appointment. As is customary, Chris would text me updates. He started with his own concerns about Lennon and her not really growing much in the last two weeks. It would turn out that Dr. T was not concerned at all about Lennon's growth. In fact he thinks they are both growing just fine. He was concerned about Brooke's high blood pressure. Normally her blood pressure is low to normal range, today it was dangerously high. Even on a repeat check it continued to be high.

Dr. T made the decision to send Brooke to the hospital to monitor her blood pressure and draw labs. It may be something simple like pregnancy induced hypertension or something very serious called pre-eclampsia. He wants to be safe, afterall, we made it this far and through so much. They will do an ultrasound in the morning.

Thursday July 28, 2011 at 11:02 AM, I texted Chris to see how the ultrasound went. He said that they hadn't done it yet. Brooke was sleeping when a nurse came in and told Chris that Dr. T's associate doesn't want her to eat or drink. (Dr. T is at his other office two hours away.) When asked if she mentioned why, Chris didn't know. I knew. The only reason to have Brooke go NPO (nothing by mouth) is because they were preparing her for surgery. The doctor was in surgery so Chris couldn't get details other than Brooke's platelet count was low. That in and of itself could

present a problem. At this moment I was wishing I could be transported to Kentucky.

At 11:32 AM Chris texted - "They're gonna do it" The

doctors came into the room to talk to them. Chris: "Are you coming?" Me: "Duh"

At 1146 AM Chris asked it I would tell everyone in the family what was going on. Brooke and Chris had grown so attached to Dr. T but the other doctor (a female) was very nice. Chris said she is a lot like Kim. She sounds like her and has similar mannerisms. That was a great comfort to both of them.

At 1246 PM Chris sends me a text pic of him dressed in scrubs. Brooke is already in

the OR getting her spinal. A good husband and father, he just wants everything to be ok. I reassured him we were praying.

At 1:12 PM Coeur d'Lane Rae weighed 4 pounds 13 ounces, 17 inches long.

At 1:13 PM Lennon Ann weighed 3 pounds 12 ounces, 16 1/2 inches long.

At 1:13 PM Emerson Kay a tiny 2.25 ounces and 6 1/2 inches long.

By 3:09 PM Both Coeur d'Lane and Lennon are breathing room air. Well, Coeur d'Lane was never on supplemental oxygen. Lennon ripped out her O2 canula and her levels were 100% without the added oxygen so they left it off.

Seperated for the first time in their lives, Lennon is in a step down unit while Coeur d'Lane stays with Brooke.

5:00 PM Coeur d'Lane and Brooke get to be skin to skin. Coeur d'Lane wakes up and becomes very alert on her mother's chest. She is home near mom's heart.

5:19 PM Coeur d'Lane nurses for the first time. She will need a little practice but she is getting it.

Meanwhile Gigi and Papa are Road Warriors working their way to Kentucky. We are driving all the way through with plans to go directly to the hospital when we get to town.

We arrive at 2:30 AM. Chris meets us and escorts us to see Lennon. I lean over and tell her that Gigi and Papa have arrived and she opens her eyes and smiles. Thinking it must have been a coincidence, I remind her again that we are here and she opens her eyes again. This time I smiled.

After we visited with Lennon, Chris took us to meet Coeur d'Lane and see Brooke. Brooke is tired and hasn't been able to sleep yet. She lets me hold Coeur d'Lane who was sound asleep. We leave to give Brooke time to rest before the next feeding or nurse interruption.

More updates to follow...