THE GOOD STUFF: Introducing Our Little Angel

We are more than proud to announce the birth of our precious angel, Brooks David. Brooks was born on April 1, 2010 at 3:32 in the afternoon. Even though he was 4 weeks early, he weighed in at 6 pounds and 8 ounces, measuring 19 inches long. He is absolutely precious, looking just like his daddy, with a head full of blonde hair.

The last week has been absolutely amazing. I cannot put into words how in love we are with this little boy. Our new favorite thing to do is sit and watch him breathe, sleep, and make the cutest little squeaking noises. He is just such a miracle and we feel so blessed that God has given him to us.

So here's the birth story:

After my blood pressures went up, Dave decided to fly home early. He did not want to risk not being here when our baby boy made his arrival. Good decision Dad! Just a few short days later, Brooks was here!

At our doctor's visit on last Wednesday, the doctor expressed some concern about the baby's heart rate dropping when he would move. Adding that to the preclampsia, the doctor said he wanted me to have an amniocentesis to see if his lungs were ready. He said that if they were, he thought it was time for baby to come, even though I was not due for another 4 weeks. He felt like it would be a bit of a risk for the baby to continue with the pregnancy. We have an amazing Christian doctor, who I have seen since I was 15, so we truly trusted that he would only do what he believed to be the absolute best for our baby. So off to Dallas we went for the amniocentesis, and then home to wait and wait and wait for that next phone call.

Thursday morning the doctor called and said that Brooks' lungs were showing as extremely mature, and that he really felt like it was time to take the baby. He asked if we could be at the hospital by noon...and we realized that we were SO close to being parents. So after going to have a nice breakfast together and stopping to buy a video camera, we headed to the hospital.

And that's where things got a little crazy. I really insisted on trying a natural delivery. So shortly after checking in, the doctor came and put some medicine on my cervix to try to get me ready to have him naturally. He told me that it would be a "slow induction" taking several hours for anything to happen, that it might even be the next day. Dave and I had brought some cards to play and had planned on watching some movies to pass the time. Well APRIL FOOLS!!!

Almost immediately, I had an intense negative reaction to the medicine. I began to have a contraction that would last for the next hour, never letting up. The baby began to become distressed, with his heart dropping continuously. So they rushed me off to an emergency c-section. And just 3 hours after getting to the hospital, we met our perfectly healthy baby boy. (Interesting side note: the surgeon that came to help my doctor deliver me was the OB/GYN that I worked for in college. So between the two of them, we knew we were in good hands.)

Although we were prepared for the idea that Brooks might need a little time in the NICU, he was 100% healthy. As a matter of fact, he went straight to the hospital room with us, where he stayed until we left. Hearing that first cry was a huge relief to our ears, proving that those little lungs were just fine! He is absolutely amazing!

And we are not the only ones who think so!!! Brooks has been a busy boy this past week, with a steady stream of visitors coming to meet him and adore him with us. My friend Leslie is even flying in this next week from Georgia to take his newborn photos for us. Everyone wants to meet and hold this little man!!! Which is a good thing for us too, because it has given us a chance to see a lot of our loved ones before we head to South Dakota on Wednesday. We have decided to split the 13-14 hour trip into 3 days to make it a little easier on Brooks (and Momma). It's hard to believe that a week from now we will be in our new home, and Brooks will be meeting his Grandma and Grandpa for the first time!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for a safe delivery and healthy baby! God is so good!