Mercy All The Way (part 3)

So there I am, sitting in a room at the birthing center, text messaging anyone who should be aware of the fact that I was going to have a baby that night.  Michael seemed a little shocked, which really how shocked could he possibly have been at the idea of having a baby when he knew he had a wife with a huge belly who was just 37 weeks.  But apparently he didn't expect to have a baby that day.

Here is where Dr. Blondie comes back into the picture.  Since she is a general practice doctor, and the dr I had with my other kids not only didn't practice at that hospital but also was no longer a provider under my insurance, I wanted Dr. Blondie to be the baby's doctor.  Well when they called her she apparently had some hesitation and reconsidered.  She had a hunch that if there were complications related to the antibody we would need a pediatrician who had a lot of experience with this rare problem.  She placed a call to the top pediatrician at the hospital (we'll call him Dr. Rockstar) and explained my pregnancy to him.  She knew he wasn't accepting any more newborn patients at the moment, but she was hoping for an exception. 

It turns out that Dr. Rockstar was actually covering another doctor's week of being the on-call pediatrician at the hospital... even though he stopped his own on-call rotation last year.  So he was happy to step in, especially considering that he was more experienced doctor when it comes to antibodies and the like. 

So Dr. Rockstar became my baby's pediatrician.

With all our ducks in a row it was time to have a baby.  I wasn't scared.  Even with the baby's lack of action in the lungs I still wasn't afraid because I could feel the baby's kicks just as strong as ever and it was comforting.  They started the whole process after giving me a chance to shower and the arrival of my husband.  It was around dinner time when they gave me my i.v. and I'll skip all the lovely details of being checked a million times for dilation and how the epidural wasn't nearly as strong as it could have been.

Instead I'll skip right to the fact that at around 11:00 that night I started pushing and at 11:05 I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who we named Caleb Jack.

His lungs were certainly healthy and we could tell that by the way he yelled out at us.  Then he quieted down and looked around as if trying to figure out what planet he had landed on.  

Dr. Rockstar discovered that Caleb's blood sugar was dangerously low (because of my gestational diabetes) and that he was tongue tied so he couldn't take a bottle or nurse.  He put an IV in his arm to be sure that he could give him something to raise his sugar at a second's notice. 

Caleb drank sugar water at first, as a temporary precaution and then by the time his blood sugar dropped again Dr. Rockstar had us give him formula a tiny bit at a time from a little cup.  It took some time to get him in a safe zone, but we finally did by the following day.  Dr. Rockstar asked me to start trying to nurse, knowing that since Caleb's tongue was tied downand he couldn't suck that it would be pretty much impossible.  But he wanted to at least get him used to the comforting aspect and the idea of nursing.  Since my milk hadn't come in anyway and it was purely for practice purposes.  I still had to cup-feed him formula after every nursing because if he didn't get a good amount of milk his blood sugar would drop all over again.

As for the antibody, his blood was drawn and tested for various things, various times.  Dr. Rockstar really was a rockstar when it came to the care of my child.  He was incredibly fond of Caleb and took every precaution to make sure everything was normal.  Caleb's organs were all healthy and the anti-body seemed to no longer be a threat although we were told the testing would happen periodically for a while just to be sure.

Dr. Rockstar came in and sat for a while each day we were at the hospital, explaining stuff to me.  During these visits he advised that we keep Caleb very anti-social for first few months with no unnecessary contact with people because while his organs were good, his blood was unhealthy.  His immune system was exhausted and his reticulocyte count was high, meaning he was breaking down red cells too quickly which meant we'd have to watch for jaundice.  So Dr. Rockstar wanted us to become germophobes until the baby had a chance to become healthy again and his immune system was strong enough to hold its own.

Normally I dislike being a germophobe.  Something about that level of paranoia stresses me.  In this case however, I truly knew that Dr. Rockstar had the best intentions.  He did not want to see someone give my newborn a regular common cold and have it turn into a case of pneumonia that was fatal, or on the less dramatic level just have to pump the poor baby up with medicines at such a young age. 

So I agreed.  They discharged us and I took my little pumpkin home, with orders to return for blood work in two days.  Then he turned into a real pumpkin.  The following day when we took him to have his tongue fixed he was yellow.  But at least he took an immediate interest in nursing after having full use of his tongue.

He was bright orange/yellow by the time we took him in.  And his bilirubin levels were indeed too elevated. They readmitted us and put him under the UV lights. 

Dr. Rockstar came and checked in constantly.  He was so on top of things.  And he knew I was teetering on the edge of insanity over all of this too I think because he even gave me a big old hug at one point.  I must have looked entirely exhausted and unstable.  Kudos to the guy for having the tact not to tell me so.

By the following night we were able to take Caleb home again.  The nurses were heartbroken to see him leave at this point because he had become a favorite, but they knew we were not heartbroken ourselves about it. 

I've been back to see Dr. Rockstar since then and he is thrilled with Caleb's progress.  We've chatted via phone also and he's just monitoring Caleb at this point.  (In case you were wondering, he truly is the rockstar pediatrician.  He does house calls, places phone calls to me in the evenings on occasion, gives out his cell number to parents... carries toys in his pockets, sugar free lolly pops, the works.)

So that's where we are right now, secluded but happy to be healthy.  It seems odd to have a baby who has not yet been officially introduced to anyone other than his immediate family, but we know that the days of his social interaction are coming and until then we'll keep him in this nice little bubble we have at home.

Now it would be neglectful of me not to point out the hand of God in all of this.  Had Dr. Blondie not looked so sweet in her picture I wouldn't have picked her office, thus never have had the excellent care of Dr. Brunette, or the watchful eye of Dr. Buffalo, and last but not least the incredible care of Dr. Rockstar.  Think about it.  Dr. Rockstar is NEVER on call any more.  It was just a "coincidence" that another doctor decided to take vacation that week so Dr. Rockstar was asked to help out. Just a "coincidence" that my health started to waver that week and Dr. Brunette was cautious enough to induce.  Just a "rare exception to the rule" that my S antibody didn't do true damage to Caleb.

But you see, there is no such thing as coincidence.  Everywhere you see the word "coincidence" you might as well delete it and replace it with "God's hand".  Nothing happens by chance.  And that "rare exception"?  That could be removed and replaced by "the power of prayer".  Because God is the exception to any earthly rule, and we as his people have the privilege and sometimes even the responsibility to call upon Him to act.  Sometimes it's even necessary to call upon him in order to be faithful, rather than accepting the human or scientific verdict laid out before us.  The final verdict comes from the Lord, so do not accept substitutions.  I have a sweet baby boy who is proof that God still answers prayer.

I'll end this little saga by giving you the part of the description of the name Caleb, which we did not even know until after we had officially named him.

Caleb, a companion of Moses and Joshua, was known for his astute powers of observation and fearlessness in the face of overwhelming odds.

Hmmm... "Overwhelming odds"?  Funny.  That seems like a "coincidence" considering what the specialists said my Caleb would have to overcome in order to even be born.