The Insane Delivery-- Skyler 7

Jan 16th
Later that night I started to have contractions again. They were more painful than the other ones but much farther apart. I was having 2 to 4 every hour. They were keeping me up at night. At 1:30 am, I got the second steroid shot.
Since my contractions were so painful, the doctor came in and checked me around 11:00am. I was still 80 percent effaced and dilated to a 2. The next few hours I was having what I think they call back labor but it wasn't as painful as the other contractions. They were a little bit closer but not close that I was extremely concerned. I also started feeling a lot of pressure. I thought it was because I had to go to the bathroom.
At about 1:18 I went to the bathroom and felt pressure in the front. I looked down and could see something. I walked quickly to the bed and told Chris, "The baby is coming!" He had taken off work and school again so that he could be there in case anything happened. He was sleeping on the chair in my room when I said that. He looked down at me and ran to get the nurses. It was literally like a dramatic scene out of a movie or television show. The next thing I know, the nurses are running, wheeling me in the bed over to labor and delivery. Doctors are running beside me. I just look up and say, "What do I do?" They tell me not to push, so I don't. I'm afraid that its bad for him to be stuck in there for too long. They get me into one of the rooms and stick something sterile under me and I push two or three times and two doctors deliver my baby. His butt comes out first instead of his legs, making it so his head didn't get stuck-- Another miracle. I had decided at this point that I probably would do a c-section but since he came out so fast, we didn't have to make that choice. At this point Skyler hasn't made a sound, of course, and I don't think he's moving. They hand him over to the team of NICU doctors and nurses. Later I learned that the doctor on call was the head of the NICU team at the hospital-- another blessing.
I tell them over and over just to resuscitate him. Save him. It doesn't matter if he isn't moving or anything. Just resuscitate him. Resuscitate him and if he is a vegetable we can always take him off support later. I say it over and over so that there's no confusion about what we want. Even then a NICU doctor tells me that they can stop at any point if I want to, and I say "Don't, just save him." It's then that I cry. I have a gut wrenching sob. They take Skyler away.

Chris' hand has been on my head the whole time. You think you love someone, but then you go through something like this with them and it becomes something so much deeper. All the petty stuff you ever fought about before just doesn't matter anymore. Chris and I had talked about it earlier, and he said of course we would love Skyler if he was handicapped and had disabilities. Just as much. And I know Chris means it. He would love him just as much and he would never resent him or the situation. That's who he is.
My mom left the room and Chris and I had some time together. It was about then that all the pain started to hit me. Right when they started pushing on my stomach. I pretty much went into shock and started shaking and having tons of pain and nausea. It was then that they gave me some pain meds and an hour later they kicked in and I felt better.

We got to go and see our son in the NICU around that time. He was stable and doing good. I listened as Chris put a finger on Skyler's little head and gave him a blessing. It was one of the sweetest moments of my life. To watch my husband give our son, our miracle baby, his first father's blessing.
He was so small. A little longer than Chris' hand but probably not as wide. They told us that once they resuscitated him, he started kicking and punching them. They had to sedate him-- a really good sign. He's a fighter. If I hadn't gone into labor the day before, he wouldn't have had time for the steroids to work in his system. They weren't planning on giving them to me for a couple more days. Just another one of the many miracles. And now he is doing so well. He doesn't even have any bleeding in his brain. Something that is rare and truly a miracle for a premature baby like him. We feel so blessed that he is doing so well, so blessed to have him.