Fast track...Noah's Birth Story...

For those of you who are new to my blog, here is the story of how our little Noah came to be...

I warn you it's VERY long. I relized that I left out a lot of the story, but this is a (lol) condensed version. I know somthings may have been remembered differently by other people, but this is from my perspective, and how I remember it....enjoy!

Jeff and I had been married about 2 years and were doing great. We were both working full time, making really good money, we had two paid for cars, a 2 bedroom townhouse we owned, and were very much enjoying being together. We both felt like we had things pretty lined up and were doing really good, so we decided to try for a baby.

After about 6 months of trying, we became pregnant, and were due to have a baby on November 17th 2005. My pregnancy went wonderful, I felt better than I had ever felt, I had lots of energy which was wonderful since I was working close to 50 hours a week as a hairdresser in a busy salon with a full clientele. We were so excited! We had all these Ideas of what our little boy (Jeff was secretly praying for a boy, I on the other hand was petrified of boys or anything boyish, since I had been raised in a house full of girls and everything girly) would be like. We thought about all the things we wanted to teach him, the things he would do...would he play baseball, basketball, we joked maybe he would be a male ballerina dancer but as long as he was happy that was ok with us.

Jeff and I had decided to take one last spur of the moment trip as a childless couple. Jeff's family is big into motorcycles and there was a big hill climb in Billings Montana that his Uncle was riding in. We talked to the family, found out all the details, map quested it and decided that it was very do-able. So about a week later we headed out at 4 am on July 29th for Billings. I still think about the details of that trip. We hoped in the car and began our 9 hour drive. I remember feeling a little uncomfortable but nothing unusual, I was after all 24 weeks and 2 days pregnant. We made it to Montana without a hitch,

The first night was great catching up with family, we all went to bed around 10 to be up in time for the hill climb the next morning. The hill climb turned out to be really fun. Lots of people, we were right up front, under a little sun tent with camp chairs. It was really hot, and I was exhausted, I tried to keep well hydrated, but honestly I could help but fall asleep. I love stuff like this, the crowds, the excitement, but literally I could not stay awake. I must have slept under that tent for several hours, because I remember getting up to go get a drink and feeling like I had laid there a month. I was so sore and achy, and tired. We soon left to go back to the KOA campground we had been staying at, and to cool off, we decided to take a dip in the pool, then dinner and a campfire. That night we went to bed a little later maybe 11. Little did I know my entire life would change within 24 hours.

The morning of July 31st, I woke up sore, but when I made a trip to the rest room I noticed on single drop of blood in my panties. I had never had any bleeding, but I had heard that some women did, so I was kind of worried but not super stressed. I went and told my husband Jeff and he said to call my doctor just to be safe. (Our doctor is a family friend and I had her cell phone number) When I talked to her, she said she would like me to just go into the emergency room and have them check me out real quick. She reassured me that we had just had the 20 week ultrasound, everything looked picture perfect and she figured they would just watch me for a bit and send me on my way. I told Jeff what she said, and he completely agreed, although he was bummed that he would have to miss his uncle in the finals, but when I suggested that he stay back, and I go alone, he said no (thank God he did) So we loaded in the car with my mother in law in toe, to the little hospital in Billings.

When we arrived, the terror began. It was the strangest thing. We checked in and they made me sit in a wheel chair, when I objected they said it was policy and everyone has to so I sat down. Right then I started contracting. I didn't tell Jeff right away, but I had a very sick feeling in my stomach. As they wheeled me into the room, I continued having them. I got up on the bed and they put the contraction belt on me and hooked me up to the machines and then asked me a bunch of questions. Then they left me to be "watched". They monitored me for an hour or so, but said that they couldn't see any major contractions, and decided to call my doctor and tell her that everything seemed ok. When they talked to her, she asked that they do an ultrasound and vaginal exam to make sure, and also to reassure me. I was happy, because I loved seeing out little Noah on the screen and seeing his picture with him moving and his little heart beating would help put me at ease.

The ultrasound Tec came in and started getting to work. Everything seemed very normal, then all the sudden her face went kind white and she told me she was going to go get the doctor. Within about a minute our room was filled with people. I remember the doctor and a few nursed gathered around looking at the monitor, and I remember this as clear as day...one nurse asked "Is that his head" and the doctor saying in a really nervous voice "No that is". Then I started crying and freaking out and said what's wrong...what's wrong....talk to me! The doctor pointed to the screen and said that Noah's entire foot and leg was through the birth canal. I remember not really understanding what that even meant, or ok so let’s just push it back up...so I said what does that mean? The nurse who was giving me my IV said in a stupid happy voice "you are having a baby today!" (To this day I'm not sure if she even knew how far along I was or if she was just trying to make me feel not so scared) The room was buzzing...there were so many people and I felt numb, paralyzed, I knew this was not good, but no one had told me how bad it was yet.

When the doctor was cleaning me up from the vaginal exam, he told me that Noah foot was just barely inside me and the water sack was still intact. (Through this all my husband was so strong, I asked him later and he said he knew he had to hold it together for me, but he was scared out of his mind) The doctor told me that they weren't sure what they were going to do, so they would call my doctor. I remember the nurse telling me that she was going to give me a shot, and it would "burn like fire". Before this incident, I use to have my mom sit on me for shots and I would cry if I knew I had to get a shot, but I didn't even care now. I just wanted my mom there. I felt like if my mom was there, she could fix it.

The doc came in and told me that they were going to do another ultrasound and take some measurements of the baby. I didn't realize it then but there were looking to see if he was "viable" worth saving...it makes me discussed now. It was like I was in a dream. Like I was floating above my body, watching all this happen. The nurse and doctor started explaining to me that they didn't know if he would make it or not. He would likely be a little over a pound and he may turn out to be a vegetable. It was just a guessing game, they had no idea what would happen. They decided to send me over to the bigger hospital down the road so I rode in an ambulance for about 4 min until we got there. It was so annoying, having to get all new nurses and doctors and answering the same questions a hundred times. I just wanted it all to stop. The new doctor told me that they weren't equipped to handle a baby on a ventilator, so he would not survive there. I'm guessing that my doctor at home in Utah, was discussing with these doctors what to do...It seemed like I may stay there and deliver since I really couldn't go anywhere with a baby sticking half way out of my body, by this time I had also begun heavy bleeding and heavy contractions. I was so in shock I really didn't understand anything, but the next thing I remember them saying was "You going home." The plane will be here in 10 min, then there were people putting me on a different gurney, and some guys came in with different clothing on, they were the "flight nurses" I remember them asking my husband what he weighed, and Him saying 180...I asked the nurse (who was very nice to me, she is the only one whose face I actually remembered, she kind of reminded me of my momma) why they needed to know, she told me that we would be on a small Jet and it had a weight limit. I told her with tears in my eyes and panic in my voice that I would not go if my husband wasn't coming with me. I heard her tell someone he weighed 150 then look at me and say that she would make sure he got on that plane. That woman was my angel I am so thankful to her. All the while, Jeff's mom was calling my mom and had the entire church praying for us. She herself had just landed in Billings with my little sister. A few minutes later they said "Ok lets go" I felt my body start to roll down the hallway. I remember it being really hot and loud all of the sudden and then realizing that I was outside. I remember the inside of that white little plane, and panicking because I didn't know where Jeff was and wondering if they hadn't let him on. I started sobbing and yelling "where is my husband"...then them pointing across the plane and like a movie it went quiet and I could see him and things felt calm for a minute, he smiled and held up the I Love you sign...and I closed my eyes.

Taking off was hell, I literally felt like Noah was slipping out. I had painful contractions and all the medications they shot me up with were beginning to take effect and they made me feel like hell. I literally remember thinking at one point "this is the most uncomfortable I have ever been in my life." The nurses kept pulling bright red blood soaked towels up from the gurney and replacing them with clean ones. That happened several times. While we were up in the air, my mom had landed, and found out that we had just taken off for salt lake city...there were no seats left on the plane back to salt lake...so some kind person gave my momma a seat and miraculously she arrived in SLC before I did due to the fact that the small plane I was on had to go around some big storms to keep me from having the baby in the plane and to keep me from hemorrhaging. I also remember going in for the landing and feeling HUGE relief because we were going down head first and I felt no pressure!

When we landed, I was rushed to an ambulance and then to the university of Utah. When we got in my room, I saw my momma!!! There were also 20 or so close friends and family gathered in a near by waiting room to support me. Then the whirlwind started again. Once again the ultrasound Tec did an ultrasound, only this time what they told me was much more gut wrenching. They told me there was less than a fifty fifty chance he would survive his first night. If he did make it, he would most certainly have major difficulties in life and he would also have a much worse outcome because he was a boy. I remember feeling like it was the end of the world…now I feel much differently.

Noah was born 20 min after I arrived...at 6:08 pm on July 31st 2005...weighing 1lb 13 oz and 13 inch long. The only thing I remember in the operating room was Jeff holding my hand and saying "crys, he's bigger than I thought he would be" Since no one was sure he would survive, as soon as he was stable enough in the NICU they let my pastor, family and friends go in and circle around him and pray for his little life. Noah's ears were not even fully formed yet, his eyes were still fused shut, and you could see his veins or organs through his thin skin, but he was perfect to us. I was so drugged up when they wheeled me into see him, I was hitting my face when they put our beds side by side trying to make my eyes open so I could see our little boy. I wanted to touch him because I was sure he was scared and I wanted him to know that I loved him and I was so sorry I couldn't keep him safe any longer. I never got to and I couldn't wake up enough to see him...but he was loved, he always had someone from my family by his side...for that I am so thankful.

I woke up later that night, with tons of people in my room...praying for me, two of my favorite girlfriends running my puke buckets too and from the sink (now that’s true friendship). I saw my Jeffy and that made me smile, I asked how Noah was and he smiled and asked me if I wanted to go see him. He wheeled me in and we put our gowns on, and scrubbed with a brush from hands to elbows...Jeff had already gotten to know or little guy...he had written a verse about how God knew Noah when he was knit in my womb, and hand taped it to his isolette. Noah was so beautiful, his little hands and fingers, and tiny feet...he could literally fit into the palm of your hand. He made it through the first night....and the next and the next...he survived a grade 4 bilateral brain bleed on his 5th day of life (which is the worst brain bleed you can have)...but fought right through it...several times he almost lost his life due to massive infections, and he were asked if we wanted to keep him on life support...we prayed about it and we did. We are realistic people and Jeff and I had talked and agreed about what would have to happen to have us take him off support, but that until those things happened, we were going to let our little boy decide for himself how bad he wanted to live...and he sure did. I know there were many nurses who asked themselves why this little boy just wouldn't die, me and my mom use to joke about it through our tears about how stubborn he was and how "he just wouldn’t die" and we were so thankful that he wouldn't!

In the end Noah was in the New Born ICU for 103 days...He had a brain bleed, hydrocephalus, was shunted, had 3 brain surgeries, a heart surgery, survived countless infections...but SURVIVED!! Today our little guy is about to celebrate his 5th birthday, and is walking with a walker, eating by himself, playing, laughing, and going to school! He is the happiest little boy you will ever meet, and he loves life.