Graham was born on August 14th at 6:27pm via a c-section. He is 8.3lbs and 21.25″ long.
We were into the eleventh hour of labor and the doctor had just come in to check on Abbi. About five minutes later our nurse and Dr. Rainwater came back into the room due to Grahams heart rate rapidly dropping. She suggested we get him out before that happened again and it stayed that low. So Abbi and I were quickly escorted to the C-section area and the work began. They had the room calm and relaxing (for an operating room!) with worship music playing (they asked what we wanted to listen to) which was nice for Abbi to take her focus off of everything else that was going on. Shortly after that they had Graham out and were cleaning him up. He had alot of fluid in his lungs that they were pumping out and he was breathing very rapidly. They then wrapped him, let Abbi breifly see him and kiss him, and then gave him to me to carry quickly to nursery.
When we got to the nursery they began to clean out his lungs a little more and did the routine cleanups and checkups. I then left to go check on Abbi and see how things were shaking with her. She was recovering nicely…so back to Graham with the camera in hand. Got there in time to see the first bath and them heating him up and then lit him up with camera snaps and flashes (iphone,my camera, grandparents cameras). They then said they would do the routine stuff…x-ray,warming, etc. etc…and then bring him down to the room for mom (abbi) to see him.
I headed back to Abbi and showed her more pictures and told her that she would soon see him and get to hold him, but that he would have to head back to NICU for the evening. The Nurse then brought Graham in and we go to spend a few minutes with him. But, she then took him back and that breif moment seemed to fly by. The nurse told us that she needed to hook him up to some monitors for the evening and so we would be able to get to see him soon.
Abbi was in and out, loopy on drugs! Grandparents waited around for a good hour and we heard nothing from the nurse. They finally called and said that the doctor needed to see me first w/o visitors to explain to me what was going on. At this point I am just thinking his is going to explain the fluid thing and we are good.
When I got in the NICU they had Graham under heat and a small little plastic “hood” was over his head. The doctor then explained to me that he had a small hole in his lung that had created a nemothorax (? the spelling) or a pocket of nitogen in his lung cavity.
Basically, he explained it like this …our lungs sit in a vacuum chamber to where no outside air comes in to put outside pressure on the lungs, but with his small pinhole in his lung tissue it allowed nitrgen into this “chamber”, therefore, not allowing the lung to fully inflate. So what they do is force 100% oxygen (which is better for us) into the little “hood” and he breates that in, pushing the lung against that poket of nitrogen forcing the lung to absorb it as though it were nitrogen inside the lung and he then breates it out just like he normally would in any other exhale of the lungs. Going back to the room Judi and I cintemplated whether or not to tell Abbi since the drugs were working on her. We decided against it and as I entered the room I had to remain composed, but she was out…I went into the bathroom and had a good cry and heart to heart with God…spending time reading scriptures that Abbi had earlier put on flash cards talking about fear and just the birth of a child. She got a good amoutn of rest while I spent most of the evening tossing and turning.
But everything has now turned for the better. His lung is now fully inflated and the nemothorax has disappeared on the x-rays. His latest x-ray show no sign of any nitrogen which is great news. We know our son has been bathed in prayer from many of you and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It has been an encouragement to see all the messages and comments on facebook and things like that. Again we thank you for your prayers and your great words, and calls from all of you… Thank you again, God is Great and mighty…his power is beyond our understanding….!!!
Ray
We Three Peeps 