Tucker has arrived...early!

The last week has been kind of a blur for our family. While being 7 months pregnant, I was diagnosed with deep chest bronchitis and pneumonia. I went to the ER twice and was sent home with antibiotics. The third time was the charm, I was having chest pains and trouble breathing and was taken to the ER and was thought to have a blood clot to the lung, but after a CT Scan that was ruled out. Jason had been in the field all week long and once the doctors decided to admit me, he was able to come home. While being admitted, my blood pressure was sky high and they became very worried, but at that point in time, the baby was not in harms way. The doctors gave me morphin to help with the pain, but it didn't help much, which again worried them. After the first night I started to feel a little more normal and could at least take a breath without pain. Things were looking up. After the second night, I woke with a terrible headache and again high blood pressure. The doctors feared I was developing pre-eclampsia. The next day, my symptoms worsened. I started developing more and more signs of pre-e. At about 3 pm, it was decided they were going to deliver Tucker at 30 weeks and 5 days (9 weeks early). If the symptoms got any worse, they worried what my body would do to him. At 5:38 pm on July 2, Tucker entered the world weighing 2 lb. 13 oz. He was taken directly to the NICU with Jason in tow.

He had to be on a ventilator to help with his breathing, but was doing ok. After the first night he was taken off the ventilator, but not long after had to go back on. The doctors did chest xrays and found he had some pneumonia and his little lungs weren't quite ready. He had some swelling in his throat from the tubing of the ventilator, but he was given some medicine to help with that. After a couple days, the doctor ruled he had an open PDA. It normally closes after birth, but Tucker's had not, so he was still getting blood in his lungs making it hard for him to breathe regularly on his own. He underwent 3 steroid treatments to close the PDA and praise the Lord, it worked! He came off the ventilator that day and has been off since. He is breathing well with the little help of the nasal oxygen (it has a proper name, but I don't know it). He has become quite the voisterous one, now, and lets the doctors and nurses know he is not happy. Today (8 days after he was born) I was finally able to hold him! "Kangaroo Care", as they call it, is a very vital key in his development. He is placed skin to skin with me and settled in very nice and slept. His heart rate slowed (it had been way up...he was telling them he wanted his mommy) and he was very relaxed, as was mommy. It was a very special moment for all of us. Every day still brings challenges that he has to cross over, but we are very hopeful, as are his doctors. There will be many more milestones he has to reach and we're sure there will be some setbacks as well, but we know that we will get through them all. God has been every so present throughout this whole thing. Our family has been leaning on him to get us through, and strangely, we all have a peace...a peace that only God can give...that everything is going to be ok.

We cannot thank everyone enough for all of the prayers, comments, phone calls, cards and support that we have received. They mean more than anyone will ever know. Please continue to pray for all of us, but especially for Tucker. He has a long road ahead of him still, but he is a tough little guy and we will get him through it. We love you all and will keep you updated with his progress!