Sam is Here {And The Ride Has Been Wild Already!}

Warning...long post about Sam's birth, heart defects, lung issues, and more.....stick with it if you want the scoop :)  I'll add pics later, the hospital WiFi is not all that fast :)

Sam is here and we just love her already :)

Yesterday was probably one of the weirdest days of my life....it started out by getting up super early to get the family ready for Sam's arrival, and by getting up, I mean Johnny yelled down to me from the top of the stairs..."are you up and moving"...I yelled back "define moving".  I was so tired, but we knew it was Sam's big day, so we got up and got moving!  Joey had a great morning meaning she woke up happy, went pee pee on the potty, got dressed without a fight, and stayed in a good mood all the way to Holli's house :)  We dropped her off with Miss Holli and headed to the hospital.

Once we got to the hospital, we checked in, I got on the ever so beautiful hospital gown, left my sample in the bathroom, and started prep for Sam's arrival just 2 short hours away!  When we were talking through some check lists, the nurse asked me if I had eaten or drank anything after midnight...this is where we almost lost it!  Let's rewind about 2 hours.....while we were getting Joey ready to go, I got hungry!  The nurse the day before hadn't told me not to eat or drink anything, so I decided it might be OK if I have a little teeny weeny granola bar before we left the house!  Fast forward a few hours....so the nurse asked me if I have eaten or drank anything after midnight, and I had to tell her about the granola bar.  She said that they might have to postpone the surgery for a few hours, or even a whole other day :(  After my mild panic attack, we got word that I was not going to be pushed back, and that my anesthesiologist said "Next time you get breakfast, make sure you bring some for everyone!".  So the surgery was going to go on as planned thank goodness!!  I was going to be so mad at myself if that stupid granola bar messed us up!  

We got in for surgery, and I got my spinal block, we cranked up the 80's tunes, and batta bing batta boom, we had a baby!!!  Sam was born at 10:06a and weighed in at 7lbs 14ozs, and is 21 inches long. It took FOREVER for them to sew me back up and I started getting antsy, so I just started singing along with Jon Bon Jovi "Livin on a Prayer".  My doc was like "only you would sing during your surgery!"  Once we were done, I was taken to recovery and they brought Sam to me!!  She's so beautiful!  She as dark brown wavy hair, a little pug nose, a tiny chin, and chubby cheeks!!

I was able to feed her and hold her for about 30 minutes and then the lactation nurse said she was breathing kinda fast.  She called the nursery and they came and got Sam to check her out.  Johnny and I were taken back to our room and a while later they came in to tell us that Sam was breathing fast because she had swallowed some of the amniotic fluid on the way out of me.  Her lungs aren't fully developed as of yet, so they wanted to watch her all day and night to make sure she was getting better.  Also they were hearing a heart murmur that was pretty significant.  Turns out Sammy has the same thing as her big sister...Atrial Septal Defect and Pulmonary Valve Steno-sis.  Joey's pediatric cardiologist happened to be in McKinney, so he came to check Sam out.  He said that he's not worried about her heart, and he thinks it should heal on it's own as Joey's heart defects have.  He also said it had nothing to do with her breathing fast.  So they kept her all day and night and her breathing was not getting worse, but wasn't exactly getting better either :(

This morning I was able to get all the wires taken out of me and I felt well enough to walk down to the nursery and see our beautiful baby girl for the second time.  She has a breathing tube in her nose and a feeding tube down her throat and is under a heat lamp {Johnny says he wants one for the house}.  She's super warm and soft :)  We were able to talk to her doctor and he said that most babies come out of the womb ready to go, but some come out wanting some extra lovin......Same needs her some lovin!!  She will be in the nursery until they get her breathing under control.  She is supposed to be breathing between 40 and 60 breaths per minute before they will let her eat from me, and it keeps fluctuating between 40 and 90.  Nothing is consistent yet.  Once it is consistently between 40 and 60, they will take her tubes out and keep her for another 24 hours, then if she does well with that, she will either get to come in our room, or go home depending on what day this all happens!

My doctor also came in yesterday to let us know why it took so long to sew me back up...she said when she got "in there" that my bladder was on top of my uterus and when they moved it there was a window in my uterus.  Basically it had healed from Joey's surgery 2 years ago so thin that they could see Sam floating around in there...CRAZY right?? This was the reason it took so long to sew me back up {a full hour}...they were being extra careful making sure that everything was reinforced and sealed tight.  Dr. Roberts told me that had I gone into labor, my uterus could have ruptured and that would have been bad for Sam and I both...YIKES...Thanks God for watching over me on that one :)  Anywho, what does this mean??  It means that Johnny and I are done having babies on our own.  We have always wanted to adopt a child, and want a family of 4.  Now instead of us being blessed with 1 adopted child, we get to care and support for 2 children in need {not sure how this whole process works, but we have helpful friends who we will be seeking wise council from in the upcoming years}!!! We know this is a God thing and we know that he already has our future children picked for us and we can't wait to meet them one day!!

Back to Samantha Lynn...

Her doctor also told us today that they are going to do some chromosome testing on our little bundle.  She has a couple of features that have made them want to do this.  They are going to take her blood and we will get the results back in about 2 weeks.  They are specifically testing for Noonan's Syndrome.  I guess she has a dent in the bridge of her nose, and something about the creases on her hands which are causing them to want to test.  It's crazy because Joey has had chromosome testing too, and everything that is "wrong" with Sam has been "wrong" with Joey.  The Lord has prepared us well for this situation, and I have a feeling this is why we are not worried.  God's provision is insane, and we feel blessed!!

It makes me sad to think that we may have to go home without Sam, but I am taking JOY in the fact that our Savior Jesus is with our precious baby girl and knows the outcome of this situation.  I don't have to worry because he is in control and he knew that she would come out with hair on her ears, nails that are long, a little wave in her hair and every other detail about her!  He also knows the woman she will grow to be and every detail about her life, we just get to be along for the ride!  

There are more stories, but I will write those later...thanks for sticking with this post if you have, Johnny and I have appreciated all the visits from friends and family and your prayers have been felt and coveted.  Please continue to pray for Sam's healing and for the doctor's to have wisdom when it comes to our little girl!  It's hard to believe just how much we love her already even though we have only gotten to see her a handful of times, and haven't been able to snuggle our little one.  She is a gift from God and we are so thankful!  I hope all this makes sense, and I'm sorry for no pics....I'll get some up ASAP!!