Reed All About It!

          Because the primary purpose of this post is to remember our journey with our little one, I will be going back to the beginning of that story. It might take me a few days to get that caught up. I should also point out that unless being graded I have never been one to take time to make sure all my writing is grammatically correct. So, all my friends that happen to teach, you are gonna have to excuse the commas in the wrong place, etc. :)
          We had been trying to get pregnant. I was concerned it might take awhile. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and humbled by such a huge blessing when it happened the first month. Akita was the first one I told. I could tell from the wag of her tail she was excited. :0) I remember pretty much telling my sister that she needed to have me a "birthday dinner" with all the family there because I wanted to surprise everyone at the same time. I took a picture of the positive pregnancy test (I took three and had already been to the doctor and then to the lab to pick up my own results. Afterall, we all know Dr office's are way to slow for a gal waiting on news like that). So I told the family I had finally made copies of wedding pics for everyone and when they opened the envelope it was a pic of the pregnancy test. I did the same thing with Marty's family. I remember walking away from that weekend thinking about how much love this kid already had coming his/her way.
          I had a subchorionic hemorrhage early in the first trimester. It took care of itself (or JC had a role in it) and we thought all was well until I had my 20wk ultrasound. Long story short I went back and forth from being low on amniotic fluid to borderline low. We now know that was because of a placental insufficiency. We were told that Bricen's long bones were short and this meant we could not rule out Trisomy 13, Trisomy 18, Down's Syndrome, or a Skeletal Dysplasia (dwarfism). I joked and said "Little People, Big World" was one of my favorite shows so that would be ok. :) Marty and I were both scared. But scared for our little guy. We knew whatever it was, whatever condition he was born with, we could handle it. We would make it through, we just hated to think of our child going through testing, surgeries, or any other challenges in life. I knew that Marty's family would love and accept this baby no matter what. And if there was ever a family fit to care for a special needs child it's mine.
          My mom showed me for almost 14 years how to do that and she did it WELL. In fact we always question why things happen. I'm sure God knew what he was doing when he put me and my mom and sisters together. My mom took care of my sister with Cerebral Palsy and showed me by example what it was to love unconditionally. For that and countless other things I am forever grateful to her. Both her and my sister are dearly missed but still such a big part of our everyday lives even on the days we don't realize it.

This is Brett sleeping in the waiting room. Love this kid. :)

          So, I had started having monthly ultrasounds with the high risk OB out of IU. At 35 wks. my ultrasound showed the fluid had dropped significantly. I was put on bedrest and told to come back Friday for another ultrasound. That was Tuesday. On Wednesday I saw the regular OB and then back to the high risk Friday. It was decided then that it was more detrimental to keep Bricen in than it was to deliver early. We were sent straight from that OB appointment in Carmel to St. Francis South to be induced. We started that process Friday. After trying with the usual pitocin, etc the baby started showing signs of distress so Bricen was born Sunday via C Section. Marty's and my family pretty much camped out during that weekend. It was great to have such a big support group (even tho it probably drove the nurses crazy) especially with the possibility of a Trisomy 13, 18 baby.

          Bricen was born at 3:42 Sunday Oct 16,2011. He was 3lb 13oz and 16 in long. They held him up for me to see and I saw the biggest set of little eyes I had ever seen. He looked alert and like he was checking out the world around him. The anesthesiologist said it best when she called him a little peanut. I held my breath as I waited for a cry out of him. It didn't take long at all before they took him away to NICU because he was having trouble breathing. It was 09:30 before a doctor came to talk to us about Bricen's condition. We had asked several nurses and they had given us answers such as they were busy working on him. As a nurse myself, I knew what kind of answer this was. The Doctor explained that Bricen was born with a small chin and that he was having trouble breathing so he had to be intubated. In the process he got a pneumo. And further more he needed to be on a vent called an oscillator that St Francis did not have the means of doing and he would need to be transferred to Riley. My sister and Marty went to see Bricen in NICU at St Francis before he was transferred. Then once the lifeline team got there from Riley to transport they wheeled the incubator in for me to see Bricen for a few minutes before he went. That was horrible to say the least. They took a couple pictures before he left NICU at St Francis. Marty and Brianna went on to Riley with Bricen.