JeffDubya
New Member
Hi everyone. Wow, what a long, freaky week it has been, it is amazing how fast your life can change. One minute I'm working of a great night of drinks and dinner with friends, and the next minute, I'm stuffing my wife in a helicopter for critical care in Spokane, WA after her water unexpectedly and unexplainably broke WAY early.
It was one of those "pack a bag and be back in 20 minutes" moments you hear about. As I watched the life-flight helicopter take off from my local hospitals helipad I have to admit I felt like I was sucked into the TV and an episode of ER. Too bad, though... no Neela.
In fact, the following morning, I still felt like it had all been a dream, until I peeled my face off the crappy vinyl couch/bed THING in my wife's room. No bother asking any of the nurses for a healthy pinch, this was reality. For the next 24-36 hours we tried getting my wife Stacy and the baby as ready as possible. She got steroid shots to help develop his lungs. We got 10 different stories from 10 different doctors, all the while as we just waited as long as we could before taking the baby. We were tortured by constant decellerations in the baby's heartbeat, and I was even handed my surgical scrubs by the nurses and told to be prepared. But by the end of the day, I was pretty convinced Stacy would simply be on bed rest for a week, and then they would get the baby in a planned surgery.
Around 3:30 AM, though... that changed. Cameron had a decel to 50 BPM and then they lost his pulse completely. Alarms went off everywhere, and I heard them carting stacy out of the room just about the same time I rolled off the stoop and headplanted onto the psudeo-wood floor.
But to make a longer story short, my second son Cameron Vidal Williams was born on Tuesday, November 21 at 4:17 AM. He was 4 pounds, 10 ounces and 16.5 inches long. He was only 31 weeks (40 is normal) and he immediately had some respiratory issues, since the lungs are one of the last major organs to develop.
He's been on and off breathing assistance (currently on) since birth. I have been back and forth between Spokane and Pullman a few times, and when Stacy is discharged in one or two days, is where the really scary times begin, because I have no idea how we will afford living in Spokane to facilitate Cameron's care. They have told us we can expect him to come home around Christmas if we are lucky.
Well, shoot traditional Thanksgiving straight to hell for my family this year. But I think it was a good thing... the stress, the sleepless nights, the long and boring drives from Pullman to Spokane and back... has given me a great deal of time to reflect on what is important in my life and what I should be thankful for.
Tonight, I got to hold Cameron for the first time! Greatest Thanksgiving ever...
It was one of those "pack a bag and be back in 20 minutes" moments you hear about. As I watched the life-flight helicopter take off from my local hospitals helipad I have to admit I felt like I was sucked into the TV and an episode of ER. Too bad, though... no Neela.
In fact, the following morning, I still felt like it had all been a dream, until I peeled my face off the crappy vinyl couch/bed THING in my wife's room. No bother asking any of the nurses for a healthy pinch, this was reality. For the next 24-36 hours we tried getting my wife Stacy and the baby as ready as possible. She got steroid shots to help develop his lungs. We got 10 different stories from 10 different doctors, all the while as we just waited as long as we could before taking the baby. We were tortured by constant decellerations in the baby's heartbeat, and I was even handed my surgical scrubs by the nurses and told to be prepared. But by the end of the day, I was pretty convinced Stacy would simply be on bed rest for a week, and then they would get the baby in a planned surgery.
Around 3:30 AM, though... that changed. Cameron had a decel to 50 BPM and then they lost his pulse completely. Alarms went off everywhere, and I heard them carting stacy out of the room just about the same time I rolled off the stoop and headplanted onto the psudeo-wood floor.
But to make a longer story short, my second son Cameron Vidal Williams was born on Tuesday, November 21 at 4:17 AM. He was 4 pounds, 10 ounces and 16.5 inches long. He was only 31 weeks (40 is normal) and he immediately had some respiratory issues, since the lungs are one of the last major organs to develop.
He's been on and off breathing assistance (currently on) since birth. I have been back and forth between Spokane and Pullman a few times, and when Stacy is discharged in one or two days, is where the really scary times begin, because I have no idea how we will afford living in Spokane to facilitate Cameron's care. They have told us we can expect him to come home around Christmas if we are lucky.
Well, shoot traditional Thanksgiving straight to hell for my family this year. But I think it was a good thing... the stress, the sleepless nights, the long and boring drives from Pullman to Spokane and back... has given me a great deal of time to reflect on what is important in my life and what I should be thankful for.
Tonight, I got to hold Cameron for the first time! Greatest Thanksgiving ever...
