Best Case Scenario

Well, first we would just like to thank all of you who prayed for baby Asher today.  The news couldn't be better at this point!

Here's the whole story:

The charge nurse called this morning and asked if we could come in early because they needed to get my blood type before the procedure.  After heading to the apple store to get some questions answered about my new ipad (a Mother's Day gift from Philip), we went on in to the hospital and arrived at about 10:40am.

Since it was a possibility that this procedure would lead to the baby coming early they prepped me like I was coming in to have a C-section.  I was hooked up to monitors, anesthesiologists came by to get my history, nurses checked me in and started me on fluids, etc.  Through all of this we got to share Ethan's story over and over.  How God stepped in and saved his life through a very scary and dangerous event: emergency C-section because of a prolapsed cord (the mortality rate for babies with a prolapsed cord is 11-17%).  The fact that he was born via "stat-C" most likely saved his life and we know it spared him from having severe cranial bleeds because of our blood condition (which at the time we did not know about).  After hearing this story the reaction from all involved today was just neat to see.  Some would say, "Wow, God's hand!" while others said, "Someone was watching out for you."  To which I replied, "Yes, God Almighty was watching over us!" 

One of the neatest parts of the day happened in the OR after the PUBS was complete.  As we were sitting there waiting for the lab work to come back we got on the topic again of my first C-section and one of the OBs that hadn't heard the story made a groan when she heard we had a prolapsed cord.  Before I could say anything the anesthesiologists said, "No it was a good thing.  It saved his life!"  Praise God!  Our prayers of being able to share Ethan's story with those that were present today was answered in a big way!!

Anyway, the procedure itself was pretty uneventful.  We got a late start because the hospital was low on platelets and not just any old platelets would do.  We needed special baby platelets in case Asher was born.  This just means they had to be irradiated and negative for a certain type of virus that causes blindness and deafness in babies.  The procedure was suppose to begin at noon but we didn't get started until after 12:30 when the platelets were finally ready. 

After 3 minutes of having a needle in my uterus (I do not recommend this, as it was unpleasant) we sent the blood off to get tested and then we monitored the cord to make sure that it was no longer "oozing" into the womb.  The oozing stopped pretty quickly so Dr. Howard was confident that whatever number we were going to get back to the lab, it was probably going to be a good one.  Sure enough 162,000 was the result which falls right in the normal range of 150-300 thousand.  This is great news!!  It means that the IVIg that I have been taking is working and that my body is not making anti-bodies against the baby.

After we got the results from the lab and I was going to be moved back to recovery I excitedly asked if I could eat the Nutty Bar that I brought from home, but Dr. Howard said that I could only have clear fluids until after we monitored the baby's heart rate for another couple of hours.  Well, when I got back to the recovery area I realized that Philip hadn't had anything since breakfast and since it was going to be a couple hours before I could have anything I offered him the Nutty Bars as a snack.  Finally at 4:30 Dr.Howard returned and checked the cord via ultrasound one more time.  When he walked in the door he had something special for me: another package of Nutty Bars!!  My nurse apparently told him that I sacrificed my snack to Philip and Dr. Howard was sweet enough to run down to the gift shop to buy two Nutty Bars - one for me and one for my great nurse!

What a blessing today was and how great our God is!