Cael's Arrival

Sorry for the delay in writing this update, but things have been a bit crazy and overwhelming! It is to be expected though, from what I have been told! We are slowly getting situated into our new life together.

Here is the story of how Cael made his way into this world.

Monday October 18th

Pete and I arrived at the hospital at 8am to be admitted. They administered Cervedil that was intended to soften the cervix. This process was to take 12 hours. So all day Monday was spent lying down to allow the medicine to take full affect and to keep my blood pressure down. About the middle of the afternoon, I was noticing some discomfort that started to arise. Over the course of the afternoon, it began to intensify. According to the monitors, it wasn't registering as a "contraction" and the nurse just told me it was "mild cramping". Since I was lying down, it didn't give the full affect of what I was feeling. I knew that they were contractions and that the labor process was starting early. From all that I had read and been told this process MIGHT start a woman in to labor but in most cases it doesn't. But for ME, it did! By about 6:00pm that evening my contractions were becoming closer together and intensifying by the hour. It was beginning to get hard for me to concentrate on anything other than just getting through...this is when I went to a "survival place" in my mind. The Cervedil was removed around 9:00pm and the nurse was putting us to bed and told us to get a good nights sleep and then we would start pitocin in the monring. I knew I was not going to make it to the morning for that to occur. Around 11:00 pm, my water broke and the process intensified. That started the longest 4 hours of my life!!

Tuesday October 19th
It was 3:00am when I was far enough along that I could get an epidural...PRAISE GOD FOR PAIN MEDS!! The pain lessened so that I could relax enough to sleep. The doctor came in at 12:00pm and I was dilated to 8cm. He came back around 1:00pm still only dilated to 8cm. Finally he came in around 2:00pm and found that I was still only dialted to 8cm. He did notice that Cael's head was coming at an angle which was not allowing him to decend as needed. He gave us the option of waiting it out or having a C-section. By this time we had had enough and felt that his recommendation of doing the section was the best possible way for him to be born.

They prepped me and sent me down to the surgical room and within 30 minutes Cael Randall Drury joined the world!! I was highly medicated and felt very much out of what was happening. I do remember hearing them say "IT'S A BOY" and I do remember looking over and seeing him. So that was the important parts, I guess.

The rest is all pretty much through what I have been told.....
After recovery, I was able to go back to my room. All the while I had no idea what was happening with Cael. Right after he was born, it was very noticable that he was having very rapid breathing. They tended to his needs and began to assess him. I was in my room and began to come out of my blur. They noticed that my heart rate was near 170bpm. They decided to bring Cael in to me to see if that would make things kind of even out. No such luck. Our pediatrician came into the room and started by saying to me "I really hate to come in here and talk about this matter"...and I remember going cold! I had no idea what was going on and I was very worried. At that point,my blood pressure was 80/60. What the pediatrician was telling us was that Cael had some underdeveloped lungs and some very rapid breathing. They were concerned for his well being and he was going to need to be watched closely. They started by giving him an IV to begin fluids and an antibiotic to ward off any infection that he might have. They gave him some oxygen support just for precautionary reasons. After they hooked him up to a monitor that showed his oxygen rate and his heart rate, they discovered that he was getting enough on his own and didn't need support. While the doctor was telling us about Cael, I began to feel very strange. I then began to pass a lot of blood. They believe this was the reason why my heart rate was up at the time. After the fact, they told me that I passed about 1000cc of blood, which is about the size of a bag of IV fluids. When I arrived at the hospital my hemoglobin was 14 and after the passing of all that blood it went down to 9. The nurses told me that if I would have started out at a 9 I would have needed a blood transfusion after that event.

Wednesday October 20th
I was able to get up and go into the nursery to see Cael for the first time, coherently. I remember walking in and seeing wires out of both of his feet and a loud monitor that kept beeping. As I approached his bassinet, I noticed his little chest palpatating very rapidly. I started crying at the sight of all that because I was so overwhelmed with what was happening. After I held him in my arms the tears began to flow even more. I looked at this precious little life that God had created in my womb and the reality of it all that this one was MINE! I couldn't help but nearly bawl at this precious miracle. Thank you GOD for your goodness and faithful.
Cael had to stay in the nursery to be watched very closely and was unable to come to our room. His breathing rates were in the 80s (they want them in the 60's) they felt that feeding him would induce stress on his little body. This is the reason why an IV was necessary.

Proud Papa



Thursday October 21st
Cael was doing extremely well. Actually so well that he was beginning to stump the doctors. Most newborns that are born with these types of conditions have troubles breathing on their own and are unable to feed properly. Cael did not need an ounce of oxygen support and was able to hold his own just fine. The doctor decided to see how he would tolerate some food in his belly. She planned to put a feeding tube in his belly and start with 3cc of formula just to see how he would tolerate it. Before they placed the tube in they decided to see if he would take a bottle. Sure enough he latched right on to the bottle and began eating 6cc of formula. He stumped the doctor again. He seemed to have tolerated that food well and ate about 10cc, two hours later. They slowly started increasing his feedings and he began to eat like a champ. I had expressed to the pediatrian that I was feeling a bit down from the seperation that was occuring with Cael and I and she agreed to have him come into our room on Thursday night. That night we bonded as a family of three and we loved every minute of it.

Friday October 22nd
There were some tests ran on Cael that morning and found that he had a slight bit of jaundice. The doctor felt that a day in the lamps would help that clear up. He was able to have the lamps in our room the entire day Friday so we could be with him.

I was actually discharged on Friday afternoon, but Cael needed to stay and be monitored closely over the weekend. His breathing rates were still ranging in the 70-80s. Friday night Pete and I left to go get some supper and when we arrived back at the hospital we found that Cael was out of the lamps and the IV had been removed. VICTORY! That was so nice to have one less wire attached to him.

Saturday-Monday
Pete and I were able to stay in our room over the weekend, which was SO nice. The weekend was spent loving on Cael. We had lots of visitors throughout our stay there, which was very nice and it helped to pass the time. The nurses monitored his vitals and breathing rates through the weekend. We slowly saw a decrease in his rates, which is exactly what we needed to see in order to go home!

Tuesday, October 26th
Our pediatrian came through to tell us that we had had a 24hr period of his breathing rates in the 60's and we were able to take him HOME! YEAH!

We were so happy and we couldn't pack things up fast enough. It had been a super long WEEK. We were emotionally exhausted and were ready to be in the privacy of our home and to start our life together as a family.

We are so happy to be home.


We are even happier to report that Cael is growing and getting stronger by the day. We are humbled by the power of prayer. We felt the hand of God in every aspect of Cael's arrival. Thank you so much for all that have prayed for us. God heard your cry and was faithful to answer.

Cael's name actually means "One who is manly and strong". He is only 13 days old and has lived up to his name so far. Thank you Lord Jesus for this precious blessing. Give us wisdome to raise him the way you desire.