The Big Arrival!

My C-section was scheduled at 38 weeks and true to form my little one decided to come on that day but early! At 5:00 am my water broke (c/s was scheduled for 4:30 pm). He clearly already had a mind of his own =). Since my water had broke and his sac was rather large (think Grapefruit/large orange) the dr. wanted to do a vertical incision. EEK! Not what I had pictured but it was best for Little G. At delivery they discovered Little G had ruptured his sac...since all the amniotic fluid was gone and with all his wiggling, he had ruptured the sac. Panic set in!! Especially when the doctor followed that statement with "His legs aren't moving"! I thought, "How could this be??? I felt him kicking for the last 20 weeks!!" They quickly wrapped his back in a saline soaked bandage and sent him off the NICU. I was able to hold him very briefly (well he was laid on my chest so I could see him) before being taken to the NICU. I couldn't wait to get out of surgery and to the NICU to see my little man. Once the anesthesia wore off I was taken to my room, but not without a quick stop to the NICU to see my little man. And yes, he could move his legs! He must have been in shock in the delivery room from birth.

Here is a picture of him right after delivery in his bandages (they wrapped all his back and top of legs)

And here he is on the NICU (just to give you an idea of what it looks like with all the machines)

The next day Little G would need to have surgery to close his back. Luckily for us we were prepared for this. We had met with several neurosurgeons during the pregnancy and had already selected the best choice. This made it much easier!

Here is Little G headed off the surgery:

And here he is post surgery (off the respirator and IV but does have a feeding tube):

There is only a piece of gauze covering the incision inside the diaper, no tape or anything!

Surgery was a success! Little G pulled through like a champ. We did get a bit of bad news though...the  specialists had been wrong about his lesion level (this is VERY common so do not get your heart set on a level till after surgery!!!). Instead of a S2-S5, Little G had a lesion at L5-S1. He would need leg braces to walk. But let me tell you...all the worrying I did about his condition while I was pregnant disappeared when I laid eyes on him. I had heard this from SEVERAL moms but I didn't understand till G arrived! Normally this would have been upsetting news but I didn't even flinch. I knew my little man was going to be just fine. He was absolutely perfect!

Little G was on pain meds and sedatives (he was very active after surgery--tried to pull out the respirator and IVs not to mention trying to roll off his belly) for the next 2 days. They took G off the respirator within 24 hours of surgery...as soon as he was able to breathe on his own again. After getting rid of the IV they had to put in a feeding tube so he could get nourishment. I still was unable to feed him because the dr. hadn't cleared him to be picked up yet. I had only been able to lay him on a pillow on my lap up until this point. At 5 days old he was off of all the machines except heart monitor and oxygen monitor (standard in NICU) as well as the feeding tube.  Also, he was promoted to the lower level of the NICU where we were able to care for him ourselves for the first time. AND....the dr. cleared him to be held! I could finally hold him like a regular baby! And I could feed him! He had his first bottle on day 6 and within 24 hours he was taking the full 2 ounces every 3 hours and could have his feeding tube removed! He had to take his bottle consistently and finish it for 24 hours before they would remove his feeding tube.


His is a picture of his incision right after surgery (looks scary but it DOES get better!) And yes, he does have an IV in his head but this is only after he pulled it out of both hands...last resort!

Looks much better now... hardly even noticeable (here's a picture @ 2 months). His scar basically still looks like this but less pink and he lost his "tail"--the scruff of hair on his lower back =). Little G is now 5 months.

After 8 days in the NICU Little G was released! He still was not showing signs of hydrocephalus, his ventricles were stable and within normal limits. SB babies usually develop hydrocephalus after back closure if it isn't present in utero but can happen anytime during the first year. We would have to bring him back for head u/s over the next year to monitor for hydrocephalus. So we were ecstatic to hear that his head was stable! And even more ecstatic to take our little man home!

Here he is ready to go home: