The Arrival of Jordan Matthew

We have welcomed a new precious little boy into our lives, our family, and our hearts. Jordan Matthew was born at approximately 2:10am on Thursday, September 30, 2010. He weighed 6 lbs 9.5 oz, was 18.5 inches long, and had a head circumference of 32 cm. He is a perfect, healthy little boy. His arrival, however, was very unexpected.

I went to bed, as usual, on Wednesday night. I ended up going to sleep on the couch, knowing I'd probably wake up in my usual 2 hours and head back to bed. Right on schedule, I woke up at 12.15am. I had some cramping but that was nothing out of the ordinary -- I'd been having cramping my entire pregnancy. By 1:30am, when I still wasn't able to go back to sleep, I started wondering if labor was starting. By 1:40am, I had a massive "cramp" and knew it was time. I woke up my husband. He tried to coach me but nothing was working. I went into the bathroom thinking I had to go only to feel the notorious "ring of fire" Uh oh!

And off we went to the hospital. We weren't two minutes away from our home when I felt the strong urge to push, reached down, and realized that Baby was crowning. I spent the 15-20 minute drive yelling at myself to not push -- something that is not possible to stop. By the time we were off the highway and almost to the hospital, Baby's head was out. It's an image I cannot get out of my mind. He was face up, lifeless, with the cord wrapped twice around his neck. I didn't know what to do. His shoulders delivered next and I held him in place until we pulled into the ER, where a mass of doctors, nurses, aids, and security rushed to our car and pulled him the rest of the way out. They quickly cut his cord, yelled for an infant resuscitation cart, and whisked him out of my view. I lost it. I was helped out of the car and onto a stretcher as about 5 onlookers in the ER got a good shot of my naked from the waist down body. Awesome. We were wheeled up to labor and delivery where I was reunited with my son. It felt like an eternity since they took him away. I was able to hold him and nurse him while the placenta delivered.

Due to the stress of the quick delivery, Jordan's WBC (white blood cell) count was elevated at a critical high of 34. He needed extra labs and blood cultures done. By Saturday morning his WBCs had come down to 24, which is still high but no longer critical. He had no other signs of infection so he did not need to be started on antibiotics, which was a relief. Also because of the untrained ER staff cutting his umbilical cord (and cutting it at an improper place) his hemoglobin was critically high as well. This resolved after eight hours. Overall Jordan is doing well at home. He remains very sleepy and because of this struggles to nurse well but he seems to be getting enough to satisfy himself. He will have his first doctor's visit early - on Tuesday - to make sure he is gaining and that he continues to be in good health. I will update more on his progress as things happen. Below are some pictures of our new miracle.