Announcing the very early arrival of......

[MQAAord]

Brandon Buchan Smith.

Sorry to those of you who read JC too, I don't have the energy to type up a new story! Here's all about the arrival of our little Brandon:

On Friday morning I got a call from my doctor saying they didn't like the growth comparisons between my last two ultrasounds. I was told to go see a specialist who deals with high-risk pregnancies immediatly. He was not growing appropriately to his gestational age. Another ultrasound and a conference later I was told we were having a baby. Today.

So I called Bill who was in IND at his parents house (his mom had a hip replaced Thursday) and he got on the road to come home. Thankfully his commuter flight that he was going to take to work on his last trip had cancelled, and he'd driven to work so he had his car. All he had to do was drive the 3 1/2 hours back from IND. As soon as he got home Friday we headed for the hospital for the induction.

The induction started at 4:30, and things were happening, but not fast enough. The little guy was starting to get distressed, and at 9 pm we were told it could be 6 or 7 in the morning before delivery happened, and there's no way he would have dealt with an entire night of stressfull contractions. A c-section was done, and he arrived at 9:32 pm.

He weighed 3lbs 9oz. The smallest baby I've ever seen. He was taken immediately by the head of the neonatal intensive care unit, where he remains. The doctors are/were concerned about the size of his head, it's small in relation to the rest of his body. He's undergone a few test, and passed them all no problem. It's appearing he was simply very small, and will be fine once he puts some weight on. No reason has been found yet for his lack of growth, as test results come back we may or may not ever know. He will probably spend 2-4 weeks in the NICU. It was very sad to leave today without him, but staying put in the ICU is the best thing for him. He needs time & nutrition to grow big enough to be able to come home.

So that's where I've been. The recovery from the c-section was not as bad as I thought it would be. I had so much assorted pain after our first was born, that the pain from the incision is certainly painful, but in a different way. I got released a day early, and went from 5:30 am til noon today with no painkillers. It's been said that JC is like crack, and while I missed you guys, once the morphine kicked in, I was in la-la land. Oh, by the way, 4 mg of morphine is WAY too much for someone my size. About 5 seconds after that hit my IV, I grabbed the bedrails and said "whoooooaaaaaa!". The next time I asked for a half-dose.

My parents came to the hospital this morning, and Alex came along with and got to meet his little brother. We don't think he really had an opinion one way or the other. I'm sure that'll change once the little guy comes home.

I literally just walked in the door here at home. I'm gonna find my Darvaset. I'll try to get the pictures downloaded from the camera tonight and I'll post a pic of the little (and I do mean little) man.

[roz]

Welcome to Brandon and we're happy all are healthy and happy! Post the pix when you can!

[jakenash]

Congratulations!!! Thanks for sharing your story [img]images/graemlins/arms.gif[/img]

[ILoveMyPilot]

Congratulations!
I pray for rapid weight gain! Thanks for sharing with us. Please keep us up to date with all of his progress.

[Bigsweetie]

We'll say a prayer for him tonight... I hope he gains weight quickly and you can bring him home soon.

Tanya