I was scheduled to have a c-section on April 16th when my doctor was back from Hawaii. I kept telling him if he left then I was going to have the baby without him. On the 11th I went in for my last checkup. The nurse came in and checked my blood pressure and looked at my huge swollen feet. She left the room and I could hear her giving report to the physicians assistant. I knew I was in trouble when the PA didn't come in right away. A few minutes later she came in and told me that my blood pressure was too high, there was protein in my urine and I had too much swelling. She discussed this with the doctor on call and they both felt it was no longer safe for me to be pregnant. At that point I was a bit relieved, I was really starting to feel miserable. I was then told that I needed to be at the hospital at 3 p.m. to be prepped for a c-section at 4:30. I called Ben on my way to the car and then went to my mom's house to see if she was still free for the afternoon.
Ben and I arrived at the hospital on time and were taken to a room in labor and delivery. I was given my lovely hospital gown and socks to put on and then I was asked a million questions. I had an I.V. put in and slowly the clock ticked away until 4:30. My anxiety kicked in high gear and I wanted to go home. No such luck. I was walked down to the operating room and got my lovely spinal block. Then the action started. It certainly wasn't pleasant, but I was very grateful when I heard that it was definitely a boy and he was out. Silas Benjamin Yancey was born at 5:00 p.m. on the dot. Ben went over to watch the nurses take care of the baby. I heard him cry and I cried. I was so happy he was finally here and that he was okay. As the doctor was putting me back together Ben was able to bring the baby over for me to see. What a sweet experience to see my baby boy. Once I was in my room my parents brought the girls to see the baby. They were all thrilled to see him. Maren would say "that's my baby brudder Silas" every time she would look at him. The girls were in love with him too. It took me a long time before I was feeling well enough to see Silas again. We had both hit a few bumps in the road during the first night. He ended up in the NICU for a short time. It wasn't until late the next morning that I was actually able to go to the nursery to hold him. He was such a sweet boy. During the night he was able to be moved back to the well baby nursery. In the meantime I had visited with two different pediatricians who were checking in on Silas. The one gave me some news that our baby wasn't quite as healthy as we thought. He could hear a heart murmur and he had pulmonary hypertension. Silas had an echocardiogram and was put on oxygen to help take some strain off of his lungs. Luckily his oxygen sats were good and he didn't need any monitors so he was able to stay in my room with oxygen on. He was also able to stay in the well baby nursery that night. The doctor also told me that he thought our baby had another medical condition (I'll save that for another post later) It came as a little bit of a surprise, but I wasn't shocked. That night I read up on the internet all I could and the words from the conference talk "come what may and love it" kept running through my mind. I knew that Heavenly Father was mindful of us and that whatever came our way, we could deal with it and love it. I am so grateful that Silas is here safe and sound. We've hit some bumps in the road and there are more to come, but Silas is a sweet boy and Ben and I love him so much. He is the perfect little caboose for our family.
