Happy Birthday Jonah

Friday, June 27th

As I'm laying there praying for Jonah to show signs of breathing all I could think of was that God has a plan.  Jonah never showed the practice signs of breathing in that 90 minute ultrasound.  They told us that they were going to deliver him.

When Jonah came in at 25 weeks he was showing dips in his heart rate but with him being so young they knew it was better for him to stay in utero as long as he could.  Now that he is 28 weeks and 3 days old these dips aren't good which is why they did the ultrasound for the biophysical profile.  Since he failed in both areas they felt him being in utero was no longer the better choice.  It was time for us to meet Jonah.

We sat for what felt like an eternity waiting for doctors to take me back.  We continued to look at the positives.  Jonah was able to get 6 blood transfusions, he was given 4 steroid shots, and he was able to grow 3 weeks since we found out about hydrops.  God had a plan when I was put in the hospital for Cholestasis.  We thought back, if I hadn't been in the hospital and being monitored everyday then after yesterday's ultrasound we would have went home and not come back for another 3 days.  We always knew God had a plan in all of this.  We can see it now.

I'm in the OR now and all ready to go in comes Joel for the c-section to start. The doctors made sure to keep us informed but all we could do is wait. We hear them say, "I see his legs." After an eternity after they said that, they finally said, "I see his body." We could tell that Jonah would be here any second. Then, in unison, most of the doctor's say "17:32!" Jonah officially joined us. This early homecoming was very unexpected.  

As soon as he was pulled out, he was placed on a table and immediately surrounded by 5-7 doctors. We sat in anticipation as they worked on Jonah. Questions clouded our minds. Could they get the tube down his throat to assist with breathing? Will his heart rate remain high enough? Will he be stabilized enough for them to begin extracting the fluid? 

While working on him, Joel can see them pull one syringe full of the fluid in his bell. Then a second syringe. A third. A fourth..........Constant working and doctors moving around. 

Finally, they say, "Alright Dad. C'mon on over and bring your camera!" Relief fell over us. Joel was able to see our sweet Jonah.

Joel came back to me with the picture so I could see our sweet baby.

It took them a little while to transfer him to the incubator to be transferred to Children's.  But eventually I was able to see him laying in there.  It wasn't long before they took him off.

Joel immediately went with them and stayed with Jonah.  After they got me all put back together I had to stay in recovery for another 6 hours before they would take me over to see him.  It was the longest 6 hours.

Welcome to the world, Jonah Donovan Naylor

Jonah was a name we've had picked out since my first son so it was easy deciding on a first name.  However, we had trouble thinking of a middle name.  We wanted him named after my dad and grandpa.  They both have the middle name Don.  The whole pregnancy we were back and forth on middle names.  The minute we found out all that we were going through we knew this baby needed a middle name that stood for being how strong of a fighter he was.  Donovan was the perfect fit since it has Don in it and the meaning is "Strong Fighter."  He definitely is a strong fighter!