Gratitude Tuesday - Megan

As today is Megan's birthday I am very grateful to have her in my life. I shared her birth story yesterday, but there is more to her story. Before she was born, during one of those routine blood checks that they do, it was found that I was positive for the group B strep. I was told that all this meant was that I was to have an injection of antibiotics given at the time of the delivery and everything would be okay. Because Megan came so quickly they barely got the injection to me before she was born.

Later that night while Megan was in the nursery, I got a call from the nurses in the nursery. They were calling to let me know that Megan was having some minor breathing problems, nothing to be concerned with at this point, but they were monitoring her closely. They wanted to keep her there. A short time later they again called to let me know that they were admitting her to the NICU (newborn intestive care unit). They were now very concerned about her breathing and had put her into an oxygen tent. I am sure you can imagine the feelings that were going through my mind at the time. I was terrified and felt completely helpless. Scott and I were able to see her in the NICU, but to begin with we could not hold her. This was heart breaking.

Immediately we called our home teachers to assist Scott in giving a blessing to Megan. Jay, who know serves with Scott in the bishopric, gave the blessing and assured us afterwards that Megan would be just fine. I believed him and had faith that she would be okay, I just wanted some answers. The doctors really couldn't give us any answers as to why this was happening to her. They ran several tests and did x-rays, but had no real conclusive reason as to why she was struggling to breathe. One thought was that the antibiotics to prevent the group B strep infection had not had a chance to do their job yet before Megan was born. Another thought was that she inhaled some of the meconium before she passed through the birth canal. There were lots of ideas thrown around, but no clear answers. I just wanted my baby home safe and sound with the rest of my family. Compared to many of the other babies in the NICU, Megan was healthy and strong. This was extremely comforting, yet I felt such sympathy for many of these babies who were struggling with so much in their short lives and their parents.
After 24 hours Megan was taken out of the tent and we were able to hold her. She was still on oxygen and had all kinds of wires and things attached to her, but at least I could hold my prescious baby. We were blessed to have a great support system from our ward members who brought us meals and provided child care to our other children so that I could spend as much time as possible at the hospital with Megan. I just wanted to hold her all the time. The nurses were great with the exception of one. I hated it when she was there because she would tell me I had to let Megan sleep in her bed and that I couldn't hold her all the time. Pshaw!!! This was my brand new baby and she needed her mommy's loving touch and there wasn't anything that was going to keep me from giving that to her. When I wasn't holding her I was pumping like crazy to keep my milk supply coming in.

After a week, I had the best Valentines Day present ever. We got to bring Megan home. They finally started her on some medicine that helped to regulate her breathing and after a few more tests decided she was able to come with us. What a glorious day that was! She continued on the medicine for another 3 months and then was taken off. She has not had any problems since then. I am so grateful that Megan was okay, that she didn't and hasn't had any lasting effects from her initial breathing problems. I am so grateful that she was born into our family. She is a ray of sunshine in our home and is a joy and a delight to each of us. My older children adore her and she feels much the same about them.

Happy Birthday Megan! You are loved more than you will ever know!