Wednesday was a momentous day-- 12/12/12! Jillian had a quick doctor's appointment to check on baby boy's progress at 36 weeks, Gail brought Addi to work so Jillian could pick her up after her appointment and take her to a lunch date, with our friend Lisa Scott and her daughter Ella, at Peter Piper Pizza, and Gail and I planned to go to Paradise Bakery at 12:12 pm to celebrate the once in a lifetime minute with delicious cookies. And then Jillian called from her appointment.
The doctor told her that her uric acid and blood pressure had gone up and her blood platelets were rapidly decreasing, and he wanted her to go to the hospital for another non-stress test. And all of the sudden it was four years ago. But Dr. Decker reassured us that he had no intention of letting Jillian's condition progress to HELP or preeclampsia levels. And sure enough, after a short time being monitored, Jillian's doctor made the decision that it was time for baby boy to be born. And everything changed.
I raced to wrap things up at work; Gail agreed to keep Addi; Gail, Addi and I still stopped by Paradise Bakery for a picture and a cookie to celebrate 12:12 12/12/12, and I hurried home to get us all packed for this new adventure. The trouble came when I drove home (all the way across the city) and realized that I had already given my house key to Gail weeks ago so she could get into the house to take care of Addi when this day came. For those of you who don't know, Tucson is a very spread out city. Going back to meet Gail would have meant a delay of at least another 60-90 minutes. I called our neighbor to ask if he knew any tricks to get into our homes, and he said no, but that he was only a few blocks from the hospital! So he got our garage door opener from Jillian's car, and brought it to me! We have awesome neighbors!!
To make the rest of this already too long story short, I packed everything we'd all need (including clothes and things for Addi to stay with Gail), went and met Gail and Addi, and we all went to the hospital to be together before Jillian's surgery.
At 4, Gail and Addi left and things kicked into high gear as the nurses,our doctor, and the anesthesiologist all came through our room to prepare us for what was about to happen. And at 4:30, they took Jillian into the operating room. I joined the party around 4:45 and our baby boy was born at 4:47 p.m. on 12/12/12. He was born with strong lungs that he exhibited for all of us with good, loud screams. It's a good thing they were so strong, because they were also filled with fluid that temporarily compromised his breathing, and bought him a ticket to the NICU. I left the operating room just long enough to watch the nurses get his vitals and stats (he was born 5lbs 15oz, 18 3/4 inches long) before returning to Jillian's side at the operating table.
While the nurses took him upstairs for his recovery period, I joined Jillian in the operating room and then in her recovery room, and we were eventually taken upstairs to Jillian's room.
After rest and recovery (and sneaking Aunt Gail into the NICU under the guise of "Grandma" since it's RSV season and only parents and grandparents are allowed in the unit), Jillian eventually got strong enough to be reunited with our little guy.
It's wonderful to have our little boy here finally, and we are so excited to be a family of four now.
After three days with us, we settled on a name for our little man. The funny story here is that Jillian and I had a short list, but nothing we were set on. People kept asking us what his name was, and we honestly didn't know (even though some of them honestly didn't believe us!). Even when we held him for a couple days, we were still uncommitted. But in the end we chose Jace Lane Holiday.
Our second little miracle was born on my mother's birthday, and was given Jillian's father's middle name as his middle name (yes, and his Aunt Shayla's middle name--fist bump), and to us, that couldn't be more perfect.
Our family of 3, for the final time, just before Jillian's surgery:
One of Little Man's first pictures:
Warming up before being weighed and measured:
Settling in to his new digs:
First visit with Mommy:
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4 comments:
Fist BUMP!!! I love that little guy!
love this post! miss you guys so much! So happy that little Jace is here. Can't wait till he is healthy enough to go home!
I am so happy for you guys! Congratulations on such a beautiful little boy. I know things can't be easy right now, I'm praying for his health and return home.
Some Kinda Wonderful! Congrats Guys!
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