Welcome baby Jack!

It's been an eventful 2 weeks since our last update! Laura's blood pressure started to get a little out of control, so we called Dr. Reidy Tuesday morning and were told to come in to the office at 1:30. Once there, we found out that her proteins were up so they told us to go ahead and check into the hospital. Shortly thereafter, we learned that her platelettes were dropping which was not a good sign for Laura. Jackson meanwhile seemed to be happy as a clam, unaware of all the excitement. The initial plan was to make it to 34 weeks assuming nothing changed. That would be Monday, but the ORs were booked solid so a C section was scheduled for next Tuesday. Wednesday rolled around and everything seemed to be going well until her blood work came back and showed her platelettes were continuing to drop. At that point, Dr. Reidy said it was time to deliver before things got any worse, so they scheduled an emergency C section for the end of the day.

Thinking I had a whole week, I had gone to work to get some things done and was now headed home to get some last minute items and do a little work on our kitchen floor. As I was pulling into the subdivision Laura called with the news of the imminent delivery, so I made a mad dash through the house and quickly returned to the hospital.

Fortunately I got there in plenty of time as we wound up waiting about an hour and half. We then got word it was our turn and as an added bonus, even though Dr. Reidy was not supposed to be on call, she stuck around to do the C-section herself.


So at 7:37 Jackson Riley was born. In my excitement and picture taking distraction, I forgot all the pertinent information so everyone in the waiting room had to settle for "He's |<------------>| this long, and here's a picture". Fortunately a nurse soon came to my rescue with the details. He was 4lb 10oz, 17 inches long and scored 8 and 9 (out of 10) on the two evaluations they give newborns which I'm told is very good even for a full-term delivery.


After weighing Jackson in the OR, Laura got to see him for just a few seconds before he was whisked off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I got to carry him almost the whole way. He'd fuss a little then take a few breaths. Then he'd fuss a little more. By about 10PM Laura had made it out of recovery and we got to go visit Jack together.

The next day, with Laura doped up on pain medication we went back to see Jack. Laura lasted about an hour and he opened his eyes for the first time and spent the whole hour looking right at her.


So far mom and baby are doing very well and we're very blessed to have a beautiful baby boy. We're also very thankful for such good support from our families and friends. Thank you all!